A New Name, A New Life(Part 2)

Time passed.

I don’t know how long—it’s hard to count days when you can’t read a calendar, and every time you open your eyes, someone’s giggling at your burp.

But I started to understand them.

Not just from tone or expression. Actual words. The way they bent their lips. The way sounds flowed.

At first, it was all noise. Like the background murmur of a crowd.

Then one word stood out.

Maeli.

The name of the woman—the one who cradled me every night, sang to me in that soft, chiming language, and looked at me like I was a gift from heaven.

Then came another name: Kaien.

That was the man. Stern but warm. His voice always carried weight, like his words held spells even when they weren’t magic.

Maeli and Kaien. My parents.

I had parents again.

I tried to repeat their names in my head. The sounds felt natural. Like I’d heard them all my life. But every time I tried to mimic them aloud, I got no further than a grunt and a trail of drool.

Still, I listened.

Every day, every night. I soaked in their words like a sponge. My mind worked double shifts trying to match gesture to meaning, emotion to sound.

And then one day—when I was maybe five or six months old—it happened.

I was lying in the crib, pretending to sleep (a skill I’d mastered), while my parents sat by the fire. Kaien was sharpening a short sword. Maeli was mending something—maybe his coat.

They were talking softly. I caught pieces of it.

“He’s strong for his age.”

“He’ll walk soon, I think.”

“I hope he takes after your discipline.”

“Or your kindness.”

And then Maeli laughed.

“Lucen will be just fine.”

I froze.

My body didn’t move. Not an inch. But my thoughts—

Lucen.

That was me.

They’d said that name before, but I hadn’t made the connection. Now I saw it. Felt it. The way they said it when they looked at me, smiled at me, scolded me gently.

That was my name.

My new name.

Not whatever boring one I had in my past life. Not what my boss yelled across the cubicle wall. Not what I saw on nametags or tax forms.

Lucen.

It wasn’t Japanese. It wasn’t from Earth. But it was mine.

And for the first time in what felt like lifetimes…

I smiled.

Author’s Note:

Thanks again for reading! Here’s Part 2 of A New Name, A New Life. Things are slowly starting to take shape—Lucen’s journey is just beginning.

More chapters coming soon!