The sister knew that she must go east. She knew that she must go east and she knew in which direction east was. East was towards the horizon where the sun lifted itself out of the ground and into the sky each day. She followed that horizon, and she knew that with each beat of her wings, she was getting closer and closer to her home. So she went east, and she went with knowledge, with wisdom, and with purpose. A sense of purpose that was so strong that it shone hot and burning through everything that she thought, felt, and experienced. 

This was not to say that she was not sorrowful. She was an orphan, she had experienced war her whole life, and she had been ripped away from what was left of her family. Of course she was sorrowful. Of course she was sorrowful and anguished. Of course the pain hurt too much and there were parts of herself still screaming at her to give up on life. Of course everything hurt, going on hurt. Her past haunted her, her present haunted her, and her future haunted her. But amidst all the sadness, there was still strength, there was still power, there was still glory. There was love and there was joy and there was soothing darkness and energetic brightness. She had to see her brother, and everyone else, again. 

She flew east until the night faded and the morning rose. The sunrise was beautiful, and it coated the whole sky with pinks and purples. The clouds were supersaturated with colour. It felt like Hope. It felt like Hope being shot straight through every part of her. And it felt like love. The world loved her, the sky loved her, the sunrise loved her. They could not do much to help her, but they still loved her all the same. 

She saw, once the sky was blue again, that she was flying over a forest. There was so much dark green below her. And so she landed, because she was sure she would not be found, between two evergreen trees on the soft forest floor. She took her shoulder bag off and ate some of her food, sitting in the tranquility and the crowdedness of the forest. 

The forest was beautiful. It was beyond beautiful. The forest floor was soft with moss and leaves and pine needles. There were trees of all types all around, thickly crowding the landscape with their strength and their tallness and their verdant leaves. There was a stream nearby which she could drink from. Birds sang in the trees and a squirrel scurried through some branches. She looked around and she saw a great brown bear staring at her with knowledge in her eyes. 

The forest was alive. All parts of it flowed and burned and shone and flowed with life energy, with love energy, with spiritual energy. The forest gave her strength, gave her love, and gave her courage. It rooted for her on her journey homeward. And it told her that it was cheering for her, it was cheering for her, it was cheering for her to succeed. The forest was holding her like a parent, and the forest was giving her all of its kindness, was sharing its life force and its energy with her. Every tree, every shrub, every plant. Every animal big and small. The earth and the sky and the water. It was all rooting for her and giving her encouragement. 

After finishing her food, she bid goodbye to the forest. She thanked the forest for its cover, its secrecy, its connection, and all its help. And she took off to the sky once again, continuing on her journey. 

This time she fell asleep in her flight, her wings still beating as her body slumped over, not holding itself up anymore. When she awoke, she felt sore but well-rested. It had become night time. She knew she needed to eat again, but she saw no wilderness below her for her to land in. And so she decided to take a risk and she landed on the top of a large skyscraper. There she ate her meal, as quickly as she could. Thankfully, the night had provided cover for her. Those who did see her figure descend upon the building could not figure out what she was. And when she once again rose to the sky, no-one could figure out what she was. 

When it was morning, she found another forest to hide in. And during the night she found more tall buildings. When the daylight came again, instead of a forest she found rolling fields to have her dinner in. 

These fields were wide, they were filled with all sorts of grasses and wildflowers and shrubs. Everything around her was burning green, burning gold, and burning all colours in between green and gold. The wildflowers shone in potent and powerful colours, dotting all throughout the landscape. And the shrubs shone in the sun. The wind blew through the landscape, making everything wave backwards and forwards as if they were waves in the ocean. There was a river snaking through the landscape. And the sky stretched out a brilliant blue on all sides. There were prairie chickens and ferrets and prairie dogs, and a heard of buffalo in the distance, all grazing together. 

This landscape too filled her with life. If filled her with life and encouragement and love. Everywhere she turned was life. And everywhere she turned, life flowed into her heart and soul. The prairie loved her. It loved her beyond measure. And it burned for her to be successful in her journey. And she in turn burned back. She was connected to all of the life, and to the earth and the sky and the sun and the water. She was connected to all of it, and she was one with all of it. She might have been the only human there, but she was not alone. She was not alone at all. 

The next morning, after another night of flying and stopping, she came upon a desert. At seeing the desert, her heart soared with joy. It was still weighed down with lead tones of sorrow, but it soared with joy anyways. Because coming upon a desert meant that she was getting nearer to her home. 

She landed, and took in the magnificence of the desert all around her. There were cacti dotting the lands, tall and green and strong. The sun burned just as she remembered it burning in her home. And everything around her was burning bright with spirit and energy and glory. The dry earth was burning, the rolling hills were burning, the great and strong rocks were burning. There were badgers and foxes and a heard of wild camels. Out in the distance she could see the green of an oasis. 

The desert felt like home. It felt like home. And it called her to keep going homewards, to keep going home until she was all the way home and back with the people who she belonged with. She drank her water thirsting and she listened to the voice of the desert. She listened to its voice, a voice like a parent calling to a child, and she wrapped her heart in the desert's spiritual embrace. She had not ever seen the desert before, despite living so close to it. She had not ever seen it before because it had been on the other side of the soldiers' military encampments. And trying to cross a military encampment was suicide. But now she was in the wilderness that was meant to be her's all along. And it felt rebellious. And it felt good. 

She thanked the desert and she once again took off to the sky. She realized now that the military bases were close by, the war was close by. And that meant that all the many airplanes of the different sides of the war were close by as well. So she flew higher and higher into the sky, until the air was frigid and cold, and the airplanes could not see her due to how high up she was. The air was thinner here, but if she breathed rapidly she could still get all the oxygen she needed. She wondered why she was not feeling dizzy due to the lack of oxygen, and she chalked it up to the work of Alemi. She fell asleep and woke up again in the night. 

She followed the knowledge that the God had given her and she turned and flew towards the direction of the little apartment she shared with her brother, and the small building that housed it. When she had gotten to exactly the right place, she hovered high up in the air. She could still hear the faint rumbling of airplanes far below her. She hoped that they were not bombing her house. Fear sparked in her chest, making her heart jump to her throat. 

But as the night grew darker, all the sounds of the airplanes faded away. She stopped beating her wings, dropping down like a falcon. And once she was near the ground, she unfurled her wings all at once and they caught the air and stopped her fall. She softly landed herself on the ground, in front of the building she called her own. Her wings vanished, and she knew this from the lightness on her back. She knew then, that her journey was over. 

She quickly went in through the door to the building, and stopped in front of the door to her apartment. She knocked frantically, heart beating lightning-fast with excitement. This was the moment. 

"Who is it?" her brother called sleepily. 

"Open up," she replied. 

The door quickly opened and Kumiko's eyes went wide with ecstaticness. He couldn't believe what he saw. He couldn't believe it, but he oh so deeply wanted to. Alena's eyes sparked with joy, her heart burned with joy upon seeing her brother, despite the inky black sludge that was still all over her heart. She felt so much exuberance. She was home. She was finally home! And her brother felt the same exhuberance right back. 

"I missed you so much!" Alena declared, tears of joy and heartbreak falling from her eyes. 

"I missed you too," Kumiko replied, crying as well. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay. We're together now." Kumiko could not believe that his sister had forgiven him, but all Alena could think about was the fact that they were together now.

The two siblings melted together in a desperate and desperately tender hug. 

"The others will be so happy to see you again tomorrow," Kumiko exclaimed softly. 

"I know," Alena replied.

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