The Things We Lost, Part 6

A sharp wind blew through the area, and Tia and Caleb faced each other down in the burnt valley. Caleb felt a bit nervous as Tia glared at him, but he was insistent on getting the truth out of her no matter what.

Tia sighed, then reluctantly began to speak. “I'm indebted to Kyle and Ella. They did a lot for me. I'm sure Aislinn already told you as much.”

“Sure. I assume you must have met them again some time in the past few years.”

“I did. And while they remembered me, they seemed to look at me with unfamiliarity, as if they were trying to recall the name of an old acquaintance.”

Caleb could easily imagine the pain of having to go through a moment like that. It was the reason he avoided meeting with them again in the first place.

“I admit that when it happened, I felt a bit of resentment towards you. But I grew out of it quickly. It was just a silly judgment made in anger.”

“Is that so? Doesn't seem to have tempered your anger all that much.”

“How could I help it?” Tia snapped back. “After all, you–”

“Shush!” Caleb held a hand up to Tia's mouth and crouched down. “Listen! Can you hear that?”

Tia grumbled for a bit, but when she saw that Caleb was seriously listening for something, she quieted down. There was nothing but the sound of the wind for a bit, but eventually she heard the sound that had caught Caleb's attention. It was a soft tweet, one that could only have come from a bird.

After that, no more words needed to be shared between the two. Caleb and Tia immediately moved towards the sound, though they tried not to make too much of a commotion so as to avoid alarming whatever animal might be calling out. Thankfully, the bird in question seemed to not be interested in moving away, and as the got closer they began to slowly hone in on its location.

Eventually, they found the source of the sound: a grey-colored cuckoo sitting in a nest hidden in the branches of a collapsed tree. The nest already had several eggs placed inside of it, and the bird was still in the middle of reinforcing it with burnt twigs and branches left in the dirt.

“Why would a bird be trying to make a nest all the way out here?” Caleb asked, confused by the bird's actions. “It's too soon for any animals to be coming back to this place.”

“I wouldn't say that,” Tia rebutted. “I saw some little grubs here and there the day before, so there's plenty of food around to eat. It's been some time, too, so it's not out of the question that a bird might try to return to its nest.”

“Even so, how can it have already laid eggs? None of us heard a bird yesterday, so it can't have been here long.”

“I don't think it laid eggs after getting here. Rather, I think the eggs were here to begin with.” Tia knelt down and gently moved the bird away from the nest. The bird squawked to protect the eggs, but once it was clear that she wasn't moving, it fled itself. With the bird gone, Tia gingerly inspected the eggs left in the nest.

“As I thought,” she said quietly as she stepped back from the nest. “These eggs were probably left behind when the wildfire happened.”

“But if they were left behind, then...”

“That's right,” Tia said before Caleb could finish his thought. “I'm afraid these eggs have already died.”

A sad frown spread across Caleb's face. “But the cuckoo still tried to come back for the eggs.”

“It happens, albeit rarely. Most birds usually abandon their eggs if they see a fire coming, of course, but every now and then, one might come back for the eggs they left behind. There's no way eggs could survive a wildfire of course, but...”

“...but sometimes they still try, huh?” Caleb almost chuckled. “It's almost like a joke.”

“What do you mean?”

“It reminds me of Kyle and Ella, I suppose. I know they're gone, but I can't help but feel like seeing them, even though I know they're not the people who raised me.”

Tia fell silent for a moment. But eventually she spoke up.

“That's why I can't stand you.”

“Huh?”

“It's true that the Kyle and Ella we have now aren't the same people you used to know. But what's with you mourning them like they're dead? How do you think they'd feel if you actually met them with that face of yours that looks like you seen the end of the world?”

“What are you even trying to get at?” Caleb asked apprehensively.

“I bet you think that I'm mad that Kyle and Ella don't remember me. That I blame you for putting them in danger in the first place.” Tia scoffed. “Don't get ahead of yourself. You may physically be older than me, but in terms of years lived, I've got centuries on you, kid!”

“Why are you mad at me, then?!” Caleb shouted back. “Are you going to tell me already, or are you just going to dodge the subject like always?!”

“You're the one dodging!” Tia roared back. “After all, you still haven't gone back to see Kyle and Ella after all this time!”

Caleb was caught slightly off-guard by her rebuttal, but he stood firm. “What would be the point? They don't even remember me.”

Tia grumbled. “'What would be the point?' Hey, moron. Do you really think that if you left them alone, they'd never find out that you existed?”

“Huh?”

“You may not have realized it, but a lot of people who knew Kyle and Ella also knew that they had been taking care of you for years! Once they were repaired and they started working again, did you really think you wouldn't ever come up?”

Caleb didn't know how to respond. To be honest, it hadn't even occurred to him that other people might have known about his relationship to Kyle and Ella. He just wanted to put it out of his mind, and the sooner that happened, the better.

“That's why I can't stand you,” Tia concluded. “You ran away from them just so you could avoid the pain of losing them, of having to start over with them. Sure, you're young, and the loss hurt you badly. But they're still here! You don't get to write them off as dead just because they don't remember you.”

“Wait, that's why?” Caleb reacted with surprise. “That's why you've been annoyed with me for so long?”

“You might think you're a wizened adventurer, but the fact is, you've still got a lot to learn. Sure, they might remember things differently, but at their core, they're still the same Kyle and Ella you used to know! You know that, yet you ran away from them. Who wouldn't be infuriated with you?”

“What does that have to do with you? Isn't it my business whether I meet with them or not?”

“It may not be my business, but the fact is, I care about those two, and I've been meeting them occasionally ever since they started being active again. Every time we do, they always ask me about you. Where you are and what you're doing. And every time they do, I don't know what to say to them!”

“They were asking about me?”

“Of course they were! No matter where they went, everyone kept asking about you, or wondering if they've met with you. How could they not get curious about you?”

Caleb didn't know what to say. He was at least somewhat cognizant that the remainers were aware of his relationship with Kyle and Ella, but he was surprised that they even cared so much to talk to them about it. He mostly considered most remainers to be unconcerned with him, so this revelation was quite striking to him.

Tia, watching his expressions flicker between shock and confusion, sighed and put a hand on her hip. “It seems you really don't understand just how preciously everyone regards you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. All of us are immortal, undying cyborgs. We will live an eternity, even if the humans never return. Meanwhile, you are a natural human. You can get hurt, grow old, and you will certainly, eventually die. Your existence on this planet is, frankly, a miracle to us.”

“You don't have to exaggerate like that.”

“I'm not exaggerating. That's just how special your existence is. And to Kyle and Ella, you were even more important. You were family to them. To us remainers, who abandoned our relations and blood ties centuries ago, that was important.”

Caleb gritted his teeth. “It's not like I wanted to. But they wouldn't remember me, even after being backed up!”

“So what? So you just abandon them? Is that what family does?” Tia's expression became fiercer and fiercer with each statement. “Admit it! You were scared! And you ran away!”