Sightseeing: Chapter Three - Sleepless Night

"Thank you, Vahn."

Those words echoed through my mind all night. I laid back in my sleeping bag, and watched the softly flickering fire diminish into embers and then suddenly flare up again, much like my mind was that night. I couldn't stop thinking, and when I finally seemed to have drifted out of thought, another would just pop into my head, and I'd be wide awake again. Once I saw the first pale stretches of dawn cross the sky, I realized it was useless; I wasn't going to get any sleep.

I quietly slipped out from between the blankets, and instead sat on top of them, looking around our makeshift camp. Gala and Noa were both sound asleep in their respective sleeping bags. I peered over at Gala, and something caught my eye.

Were Noa still awake, I'm sure she would have laughed, for Gala was sleeping with his arms tightly folded! I leaned over a bit, to get a good look at him so I could tell Noa in the morning, and I felt a smile creep its way across my face. He was scowling, his brow deeply furrowed, looking comically serious, even more so than I'd seen him awake. A laugh escaped my mouth, and I covered it in shock, in case more was to follow.

I watched Gala closely for a minute, hoping that I hadn't woken him up. 'The rules of Biron forbid laughter', he had told me, and although he had laughed aloud many times during our journey together, I knew if he woke up because I was laughing again (this was definitely not the first time, thanks to Noa), he would force me into one of his headsplittingly boring lectures. As much as I admired and respected Gala, who seemed to always know the right decision to make when it counted, his lectures were awful. Being subjected to one of them this early in the morning would be torture, so I kept quiet. A few moments passed and I relaxed, falling back softly onto my blankets.

I rolled onto my other side and looked at Noa, who was curled up in her blankets about six feet away, near the other side of the slowly dying fire. Her face was illuminated by firelight, her hair glowing a brilliant orange at its edges. I noticed I was staring at her, and felt my cheeks flush.

Why did I keep thinking about her? Our whole sightseeing journey I had been like this, though this night was the worst. Before today I had thought my thinking of her was out of worry and concern - after all, she had barely spoken at all for nearly five months - but now I had no excuse.

Meta... I really wish I could speak to you now, I thought to myself, I don't know what to do...

I pulled my covers back over me and turned away from Noa, looking up at the night sky. I knew I needed to talk to someone about this, and as much as I missed Meta, talking with him wasn't an option. Why was I thinking so much about her? I couldn't do this to Mei, I couldn't betray her... could I? No, how could I do that to someone that I had cared so much about? No, that's not me... that's almost as low as that Songi bastard...

I closed my eyes, putting a hand to my forehead, and then resting it again, under the blankets. I would talk to Gala in the morning, and try to sort this out. It was my best bet, who else could I talk to?

It was suddenly brighter, and I opened my eyes, only to immediately squint. A sliver of the sun peeked over the mountains and into the sky, sending its soft morning rays high into the heavens. I groaned. And just as I was getting tired... looks like I'm not going to get much sleep after all...