Chapter Text
It’s time. Kaya opened her eyes slowly, hearing the strange voice in her head.
She was no longer in the small hut that she lived in, but rather in a room filled with white. “Where am I?” She asked, sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge.
“Heaven.”
A simple answer, one that she was expecting. “Z-Zeno? Where is he?” She looked around, her eyes meeting the person who stood across from her.
The man crossed the room, moving to stand in front of her. “Do you want to see him?” He asked, holding his hand out.
“Please.”
The man smiled as she took his hand. He had a kind smile, his hair a vibrant red, his eyes a pale purple. She had never seen him before, yet she felt at ease as he led her to their destination.
“Thank you for staying with Zeno,” the man said quietly as a familiar forest came into view. “He was quite the lonely one.”
She ran forward as she saw the small hut in the distance, pushing the door open before halting. Zeno knelt next to her body, tears glistening in the light. Kaya felt grief rush over her as she touched his shoulder, knowing that he wouldn’t know she was there.
But Zeno still turned, as if he had felt her touch. She blinked in surprise, seeing his head turn frantically before he relaxed, the somber mood filling the room once again.
“Can he see me?” She murmured aloud, pressing her hand over her mouth.
“No, unfortunately.”
She sighed again, lowering her hand to clasp it with the other. “I should’ve guessed. Is there somewhere you need to be, sir? I think I’ll stay here for a little longer…”
“I’m in no big rush,” the man flattened his robes. “But I will take my leave now. Please, guide him when he gets lost.”
Kaya opened her mouth to speak but the man disappeared. “Zeno,” she whispered, turning back to Zeno. “Kaya misses you. Even though you’re right there…”
-
She stopped counting the days. Kaya watched as Zeno stayed still for months on end, knowing he wouldn’t die. Each day that passed became more and more painful, and one day Kaya decided that it would be the best for him to leave.
“There are other places for you to go,” Kaya sighed as she sat cross-legged next to Zeno’s unmoving body. “There are other people to meet.”
Kaya touched the necklace that hung around Zeno’s neck and he jolted backward, his shoulders tense. “You’re right,” Zeno murmured to himself, and Kaya wondered once more if he could hear her.
Zeno stood up, brushing off the dust on his robes. He clutched the necklace in his palm as he stood up, making his way out of the small hut. There was a small smile on her face as she watched him move forward. “Acceptance is a part of grief, too,” she hummed as she walked alongside him, walking into the forest as the sun started to rise.
-
Kaya found out that she could channel her thoughts as his, sometimes. It only worked every once in a while, and she had to touch the dragon necklace for it to work. Her mind whispered that it was the strange man that she had met on the first day’s doing.
She wasn’t always by Zeno’s side, sometimes wandering around in heaven, but she would visit every so often. Sometimes, Zeno’s heartbeat would be erratic, his eyes wide as he slowly sank to his knees. He would desperately clutch the necklace as he fell to the ground, his head throbbing as he worried about his present, his future, his past. His breathing would be rapid, uneven, and Kaya could only watch, stricken with fear. She rushed to his side, channeling her energy into the small amulet.
“It will be okay, Zeno,” she squeezed her eyes shut as she hoped for her thoughts to reach his ears. “Things will work out. Things around you are not what they appear to be right now. I’m here with you, Zeno… Kaya is with you…”
When she would open her eyes, Zeno’s breathing would slow down as he gathered himself. Every time, she would pray that this would be the last time. But Kaya knew that Zeno’s path was extremely unforgiving, and she knew that she would stay by his side.
“If one day you could be happy,” she whispered before taking her leave. “Then, that would make Kaya the happiest.”
-
There was a day when Kaya watched Zeno move forward with a purpose, trekking through the forest. She followed along curiously, watching Zeno return a ball to a boy whose face was covered with a mask, and overheard the boy calling Zeno a “yellow dragon”. “A dragon?” She repeated, blinking in confusion. Perhaps it was related to his necklace, to the man she met on the first day.
That day, Kaya found out the legend of King Hiryuu and the four dragons was real, that the man she had met on the first day was the king himself, and he bestowed the necklace to Zeno, knowing that the yellow dragon would not die in thousands of years.
When the sun started to rise the next day, she descended to visit Zeno again. As she walked along the forest path, she could hear Zeno thinking aloud to himself. “If King Hiryuu is reborn again… should I confront him…? Kaya, what do you think I should do?”
Zeno was sitting on a rock, looking at the sky. Kaya moved to sit next to him, her smile softening as she reached out for the necklace. Kaya knew she didn’t have a lot of knowledge about the dragons, but she decided to try anyway.
“I think… you should accept him. Maybe he will lead you toward a new direction in life, and I’m sure he will welcome you with open arms.”
She opened her eyes as Zeno laughed a little, pulling the amulet closer to his heart. “You’re right,” he whispered. “A new direction in life…”
Kaya could only hope that she was correct.
-
The next time she visited, she was greeted with loud chatter and laughter. Zeno was no longer alone; there were six people gathered around him. “Zeno, you have to take better care of yourself!” A boy with peach-colored hair was pointing at the blonde. “We thought you were dead!”
She leaned against the trunk of a tree a little ways from them, staring up at the stars that dotted the night sky. “Finally,” she breathed out. “Zeno’s moved forward again…”
She closed her eyes, a smile on her face. “There was a time that Zeno was married.”
Kaya’s eyes snapped open, and she whirled around, her eyes wide. Zeno was smiling, laughing about how he was bound to, one day. Her gaze softened as she touched the amulet, a sign that she had visited before leaving. It was a soft touch, but Zeno’s hand instinctively reached up to grasp the necklace, his gaze directed at the sky.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” Kaya thought aloud as she started to ascend. “For however long you’ll need me. Kaya will wait for you…”
Zeno’s smile turned slightly sad, before his attention was called for again. Kaya clasped her hands behind her back, just a bit proud that her prediction was correct.