Risk

Chapter XXXIV

"Jasta!" Etta shrieked and dropped her armload of wood, running forward and smothering Jasta in a hearty hug. She was shaking violently, and a sob escaped her lips after a moment of crushing the breath from Jasta's chest.

"Etta. I'm back." She whispered. She could hardly believe it herself.

"Jasta..." she sobbed out, hugging her tighter for a brief moment before letting her go and holding her at arm's length. "We all thought you-" she broke off quite suddenly, her face going white as a sheet. Her eyes were trained on something over Jasta's shoulder. "Is that..." she took a stumbling step backward.

Jasta turned to look at what she saw, but there was nothing there except for Rowan. There was a hurt look in his eyes, and he glanced at Jasta. She read the look. He knew he wasn't welcome here now. He would have to leave soon. And that tore her apart inside.

"Etta, it's okay." She said desperately, almost pleading. "This is Rowan. He's my friend."

"But... he's one of them. They kidnapped you! He's one of them, Jasta!" her eyes were still trained on Rowan. She looked almost horrified.

"No. He's different. He helped me escape. If it wasn't for him, I really would be dead." She walked backward a couple steps to stand closer to Rowan, trying to show that she wasn't afraid of him.

"But..." Etta frowned and finally tore her gaze away to look at Jasta. "They took you. He's one of them." she finished in a half-whisper.

"No, he's not. I trust him with my life." Jasta said with finality. "Now I want to see my family." Her voice cracked near the end.

She started walking, and Rowan followed, still not saying anything, but she knew from the look on his face that he wasn't happy at all. Etta fell in beside them a moment later, though she stayed as far away from Rowan as possible.

Jasta felt strange entering the village again. It was the same village, and she was the same Jasta, but everything was different. Her home had changed just as much as she had, though she couldn't quite place why she felt like that.

She walked up to her own little home, so familiar yet so distant. It had been so long.

She opened the gate. Four pigs came trotting up to check her out, but the light had almost all gone now, so she couldn't see which pigs they were, or even if any were familiar.

With a shaky hand and a quick glance behind her at Rowan and Etta, she opened the door and stepped inside.

She almost choked when she saw how unchanged it was. Her mother was sitting where she always sat. The fire was going, and the thick aroma of soup filled the house. Mother looked up to see who was entering, and her face went pale, her eyes stretched wide as saucers.

"Jasta?" she uttered the single word in a whisper. "Jasta is it really you?"

Rose stood up from the couch where she had not been visible at first and stared, her chest hardly moving as if she might be holding her breath.

"Mom, Rose... I'm home." A single tear streaked down her face as she said the words, and then she was hugging them both, squeezing tight as if she would never let go, and she didn't want to either.

She heard words in her ears but they didn't translate. All she heard was love and that was all she felt, too. She was home. She was home and she could hardly believe it. It was all a pleasant dream.

She was vaguely aware that her mother was sobbing, but she just continued to hold both of them tightly, unwilling and unwanting to let go. She had waited for this for so long, and now she was home.