"How come you didn't work as a witch earlier? Do you have any more mages in the family?"

I sighed heavily.

"My mother was a witch, but she died when I was in middle school. She had cancer, and even with the help of magic, no one could cure her."

Nowadays, it's not a problem for me to talk about my deceased mother, but that wasn't always the case.

"My father can't use magic, and I have a half-brother who is supposed to be a mage, but I never had any real contact with him. He started working when my mother was still alive, but even then, he decided to live with his father."

She smiled at me. She didn't want to tell me she was sorry. Losing someone, even a loved one, is something natural that you can't change. Even if you spend the rest of your life being sad about it, you won't be able to get them back. I’m sure Miko felt the same way.

"Your brother, does he have the same color hair as you?"

“Yes, do you know him?”

“Not yet.” She winked.

“How is your family situation?” I was curious since I was pretty open about my circumstances.

“I don’t know my biological parents. They gave me away the moment they knew that my body produces mana.” She shrugged, smiling, despite telling me that horrible fact.

"Well, I was taken into an orphanage, went through a few foster homes, and started working after my magic exam at the age of eleven. But beware, on paper, I am officially the adopted daughter of Lilith. But don't talk to her about it. She says she's too young to have a daughter that old. We're only ten years apart."

I started laughing. It was strange to picture Lilith as her mom.

“But is she like a mom to you?” I asked.

She sighed. “I don’t think it is good to label the people around you. It does not matter if she is a friend, a sister, or a mother to me. What is important is the fact that we deeply care for each other.”

That's true, but it was normal to put a label on everything. So it was also normal to put a label on relationships. You can't get close to someone without wondering if there's more to it.

"Sad that you don't like to label people… I would love to know what I am to you?" I am unsure if I really wanted an answer to that. It could hurt to hear it from her mouth.

“I can make an exception for you,” she said, batting her eyes.

“Yes, please.”

It seemed like she had to think about her words quite a bit.

“Okay, first of all, I see you as my apprentice, then a colleague, and maybe we could become something like friends. But what is certain is that I already care about you to some degree, so is it really that important to know why that is?"

I had to let her words sink in first. Somehow, I had expected exactly that, but that we are on such different levels still shocks me a little.

“No, no… I think I am happy that you care for me.”

“You think? Did I hurt your feelings?” she tilted her head to the side and looked me in the eyes.

I averted my gaze.

“Just a little bit.”

“I’m sorry.”

Slowly, she placed her hand on my head and began to stroke it gently, and again, I felt like being her pet, but I guess I am fine with that for now.

We remained in that position for some time until my stomach growled loudly.

“What do you want to eat? I get some takeout for us.”

Right now, I do not care what I would get to eat. I was just hungry and would probably eat everything.

“You decide… I am just your apprentice. Show me the ways of ordering food.” I stuck out my tongue, and we both started laughing.

“Do you know the kebab place near the gas station?” she asked, staring into the air.

“I take a spicy durum.”

“Which drink?”

“A Coke, please.”

“Got it. Something sweet for dessert, my dear princess?”

“That would be delightful.”

Again, we started laughing. Yes, she said I wasn't her friend, but in those moments, I got the feeling that we would get to that point pretty soon.

“So, I’m off then. Give me thirty minutes.” She stood up and walked to the door, just to return a second later.

“Apparently, you got a guest.” She said, raising her eyebrows.

Krystoff, the mage I saved, entered the room with a bouquet in his hand, staring at the floor even more awkwardly than even I could.

Miko walked over to my bed and sat beside me, blocking me from his vision. “Do you like to cover yourself a little?”

I looked down at myself and realized that I was wearing a widely unbuttoned shirt that didn't show everything but definitely too much skin. My face turned red, and it became warmer than it was when I had that fever. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything shady. I simply wanted to check on you, I wanted to thank you for saving my life, for giving me a chance to become a better mage, someone who can save people as you do." He talked way too fast, but I managed to listen to him while buttoning my shirt.

“Didn’t you send me some flowers before?” I asked cautiously.

"Yes, I did, but I wanted to give you something in person!"

“I appreciate it a lot. How are your other guild members? Are they doing good?”

"Everyone is in good health, and we are trying to analyze the mistakes we made, that will help us accept what we had to suffer."

“I am very sorry for your losses.” At the dungeon site, I quickly forgot that several mages and witches died that day. Miko told me one of them was a young girl who could use healing magic just like me.

Thinking about all that did not make me afraid of dying. The thought that terrified me was to lose someone close to me. To not be able to save the persons I love and care for.

Sometimes I even blamed myself that I wasn’t able to save my mother. I am pretty sure that I used magic for the first time in my life when I sat next to her some days before she died. Her condition became worse and worse, and every time I visited her, I imagined how I would heal her, how I would cure her cancer.

◇◇◇

I remember the day my father stormed into my classroom during the lesson. Without saying a word, he dragged me through the whole school building and straight into the car. 

The whole ride, he didn't say a word, even though I was crying and begging him to tell me what was going on.

Of course, I could have guessed it was about Mom, but I prayed it was unrelated to her.

When we arrived at the hospital, he lifted me and carried me in his arms through the corridors to the room where my mother had been lying for the last few weeks.

He set me down in front of the door, gave me a gentle push, and finally began to talk to me.

"Please say goodbye to your mother."

At that moment, I finally managed to stop crying. I entered the room and walked over to her bed. I knew my mother was weak, but even at that moment, she gave me a beautiful smile.

“Kayla… I’m so happy to see you… I was afraid that I could not talk to you.” Her voice was so gentle that it instantly calmed me.

"There are some things I wanted to tell you before I go. So please listen carefully."

I did not want to listen.

"First of all, thank you for always visiting me. Seeing your cute face was the best medicine I could ever get."

"Thank you for never being upset with me because I couldn't play with you anymore."

Stop talking

"Thank you for always loving me, despite knowing I will leave you soon."

Please stop

"I really, really wanted to see you grow up."

I felt like suffocating while waiting for her next words, but she would never speak to me again.

My father entered the room, walked slowly toward my mother, took her hand, and dropped to his knees.

It was the first time I saw him cry. This sight was nearly more unbearable than my mother's death.

From that day on, I tried to do everything so my father could be happy again. I never wanted to see him cry again. I never wanted to be reminded of that sight.

◇◇◇

"Kayla, are you okay? Why are you crying?" asked Miko, bringing me back to reality.

I quickly wiped away my tears. "I don't know."

"You should go now. Thank you for visiting." Miko said, looking over to Krystoff.

"Of course." He placed the flowers on the table and left my apartment as quickly as he had appeared a few minutes ago.

Miko sighed, "I'm really bad at this stuff."

“What do you mean?” I asked with a snotty nose.

"You're so down all of a sudden... I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to do anything. You just have to bear with me a little longer."

I carefully laid my head on her back since she was still sitting on the bed before me. I could hear her heartbeat. It was calm and steady.

"Is that comfortable in any way?" she asked.

“Not really. But I like it.”