Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 103: Clearing the Air

Chapter One Hundred and Three: Clearing The Air

When Xaphile woke the next morning, he stirred slightly, still exhausted beyond belief. His eyes felt glued shut, but someone was gently caressing his hair and it both roused and soothed him.

"Face the day with courage and conviction, my darling one," a gentle voice murmured. "I will return to you later this evening, once everything calms down. May you be blessed with joy, and may the road you walk lead you to true happiness."

He heard some shuffling, then all became quiet again and he slowly began to fall back asleep, wondering who it was who'd been speaking, but what felt like seconds later, his eyes flicked back open and he found himself face to face with Ella's long white eyelashes.

Sinmir and Gus were both snoring loudly behind him, and on her other side, Vrael was awake and reading another book on plants. Glancing down, he realized how tangled up the two of them were and carefully tried to extract his limbs from her own, but the movement woke her.

With a soft mewl, her eyes fluttered open and she stared at him through her lashes.

Xaphile couldn't look away.

The color of her irises had locked his body in place.

"Good morning," she sleepily mumbled, pulling her arms out of his own and untwisting herself from their combined pretzel. He watched as she yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Whew, I'm tired."

"Good morning to you, too," he rasped; carefully sitting up and looking around, he realized that breakfast wasn't being made and that Amelia was nowhere within sight. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a yawn himself, then glanced at Vrael. "Morning. Have you seen Amelia?"

"She left early," Vrael absently replied, turning the page of the book. "Said she needed to have some private time for herself."

"Who's making breakfast, then?" Ella groggily asked, letting out a sleepy yawn. "I'm afraid to say I have no skill with culinary arts, so anything I attempt to make will just go to waste."

Xaphile blinked, remembering with a flash of bittersweet nostalgia that Ella Richardson had also been a terrible cook. No matter how many times Connie had walked her through the simplest process, she'd somehow managed to end up making horrible tasting results.

Watching people try her concoctions had been some of the funniest moments of his life.

"I'll do it, then," he sighed, standing up and cracking his back with a series of pops. "First, though, I'm going to go take a quick walk to wake myself up."

"All right," Ella mumbled, sleepily closing her eyes. "Once the others have woken up and we've all eaten, we still need to sit down and have yet another serious talk with everyone."

Xaphile reluctantly nodded.

"I'll be back in a little while," he promised. "See you soon."

"Mhm."

Rolling his shoulders, he walked outside to see that the sun was already high in the sky.

The air was crisp and slightly damp, but it smelled of earthy grass and moisture; taking a deep breath, he stretched his arms high above his head and arched, muscle and sinew pulling tight; then he lowered his arms and flexed his back muscles to let his wings unfurl.

He shivered when they stretched.

Every part of him felt good... he felt alive.

The sun was warm on his face, the wind felt good on his skin, and the air smelled good.