Jamie already told the principal that Surya was sick when she had dropped off Nina at school, so that was one problem solved. But Surya still felt anxious and restless. He couldn’t go to school, and he couldn’t go outside. The Browns’ house, that started to feel like home, suddenly felt like a prison.

Jamie and Layla tried to distract him with board games. They sat down in the middle of the living room, with Mattie on the beanbag as usual. The game helped a little. Within minutes, he already focused his attention fully to win the game. When he won, Layla looked at him and gasped in surprise.

“Surya! You're pink again!” she said, handing over a small mirror to him. Surya took it and blinked at his own reflection there.

“But, but…” Surya didn’t understand. Why did he suddenly turn pink? He was pink, then he was purple, and now he was pink again?

“Cool!” Mattie commented. “Can you turn green next?”

“I— What?” Surya blinked in confusion. Jamie ruffled Mattie’s hair, making him laugh.

“Maybe it responds to your state of emotions”, Layla said. “When you’re upset, you turn purple.”

“That’s silly”, Surya pointed out. It never happened before when he was upset… or else, his bullies would’ve noticed before.

Layla shrugged. “I can’t think of the alternative.”

“Maybe it had something to do with Aenzel?” Jamie asked. When Layla and Surya turned to her, she shrugged. “What? It’s possible that they gave you something.”

“Surya, can you remember if they ever gave you anything? Food, maybe? Or drink?” Layla asked.

Surya scrunched his face, trying to remember. And then—

“The thingy!” he remembered now, the thingy that Aenzel used to heal his scratches. That had to be what caused his transformation to be more Vaidesse-looking!

“The what now?” Jamie asked confusedly.

“When— I saw Aenzel’s ship crashed at the ravine, so I followed it. But then I fell and got scratches and then Aenzel healed me with—with this glowy thingy”, Surya explained.

“Like magic?” Mattie asked.

“Nu-uh!” Surya shook his head. “It’s Vaidesse tech. Aenzel called it… aether? It’s like fossil fuels, but it can be used to heal people.”

“I… see”, Layla said, even though Surya still could see her confused. “Surya, that’s so dangerous. What if your body is reacting badly to the healing thingy? Aenzel couldn’t have known.”

“I’d say his body is already reacting to it badly”, Jamie huffed. “Surya, did it hurt when your teeth became sharper and your skin turned purple?”

Surya shook his head again.

“Was that the first time this happened?” Layla asked.

“Yes—” Surya paused and tried to remember. Was this the first time he felt upset after Aenzel healed him? No, he cried when Aenzel told him that war was never fair. Surely Aenzel would’ve told him if his skin suddenly turned purple and his eyes yellow… right? “I… I think so?”

“Oh well… Either way, if they show up again, I have a thing or two to say to them”, Jamie growled menacingly, cracking her knuckles.

“And thank them”, Layla added, making Jamie pout. “They did save our lives, Boo.”

Surya smiled at the two women in front of him. Surrounded by Jamie and Layla, everything suddenly became less scary.

—

That night, when Mattie and Nina were already asleep, Surya slid out of his bed and quietly padded down the stairs. The hallway was dark, but he never had problem with seeing in the dark before—another Vaidessian trait that his mom had passed to him.

Vaguely, he could hear the soft noise of the sewing machine from the living room; Jamie had to be there. Nobody told him, but Surya noticed that whenever Jamie was sad or couldn’t sleep, she would sew. Not to mention that with the Halloween being less than two weeks away, she was more busy than before.

“Hey, lil’ man”, Jamie finally realized that Surya was there. There was a tired smile on her face. Surya approached her and gave her hand three squeezes.

“Can’t sleep?” Surya asked.

“Kind of”, Jamie answered. “You?”

Surya shook his head.

“Something on your mind?” she asked again.

Surya dragged the beanbag next to the sewing machine. Jamie waited patiently until Surya plopped himself next to her.

“Y’know that one time I had to write a letter to my mom and I refused to do it because I didn’t know about my mom, and Mrs. Wellington got mad because I could’ve written to either one of you?” Surya asked once he was done. He rested his head close to her thigh.

“I remember that”, Jamie smiled at him. “She was being an insensitive jerk.”

“Well… I thought about it and now that I knew about my mom, I think I’d be writing to you or Layla anyway”, Surya gave her a small shrug.

Jamie took a deep breath and Surya swore he could see tears in her eyes. “Surya…”

“My mom… She left Earth to protect me. Maybe she’s a good person, I dunno, and she’s probably a good soldier. But she wasn’t a good mom”, Surya explained. He’d been thinking about this all day. “Right? If she was a good mom, and maybe a good wife to Dad, she could’ve taken me and Dad and hide somewhere… I dunno.”

“It’s…” Jamie sighed. “I don’t know enough about your mom to understand why she did what she did and I won’t justify her actions just to make you feel better. But maybe… maybe she did what she thought was best for Earth.”

“But not for me or Dad”, Surya said with a murmur. “Aenzel… They were on Earth for a couple of days, but they saved you guys and me because they were actually here. Unlike my mom…”

“Well, yeah…” Jamie muttered.

“And if it were you and Layla, you would take me and the others away if bad aliens invaded Earth”, Surya looked up to Jamie. “You wouldn’t leave any of us behind.”

“Well, yeah”, Jamie agreed. “But different people make different decision. That doesn't make her a bad person.”

Surya hummed.

“You're such a smart kid, y’know that?” Jamie laughed and ruffled his hair. The gesture calmed him down and Surya couldn’t help but remember what Aenzel told him about crest-scritching. “Y’know, I just noticed something.”

“Yeah?” Surya looked up again.

“You seem… happier since you started hanging out with Aenzel”, Jamie said. “Like, yeah, I don’t trust them yet. But we’ve had you for seven months, and you’re still grieving. You used to visit your dad’s grave every single day, and me and Bee didn’t know what to do.”

Jamie let out a dry chuckle. “But then, what? They showed up and suddenly you stopped visiting your dad’s grave—you said it yourself. You start moving on, and… I dunno. I'm kind of jealous of them. They did what we couldn’t do. They helped you heal.”

Surya didn’t know what to say. His chest felt so full he couldn’t breathe. So he gave her knee three squeezes.

“I…” Surya paused, clearing his throat. “Is it too late to pick my Halloween costume?”

The smile that Jamie gave him was blinding.