Today was Thanksgiving. Since they weren't working today, my parents invited my siblings over to their house for lunch. We decided to do lunch since we had dinner plans. My parents were going out since they hadn't done that in a while and my friends and I were invited to Hannah's to eat with them.

It was bittersweet. My siblings were getting an experience they so deserved. That made me happy. Still, my heart ached. This was their first Thanksgiving, but their parents couldn't be part of it, because Kayleigh had called them back to her long ago.

That said, I would be lying if I said we didn't enjoy ourselves. We were just like any other family. The road it took for us to get there didn't matter. It embodied the spirit of the holiday. We were grateful for everything we'd been given even if it wasn't always pleasant.

We wouldn't be eating for another couple hours or so, but we arrived at Hannah's around three. Eni deserved to have time to hang out with Noah. It was a way to make up for lost time. He deserved to have the friends he was deprived of growing up.

Had he been given a normal childhood, I was sure Eni would have been surrounded by the greatest friends and building his own life right now. Regardless of how his speech and literacy developed.

I immediately went outside when we got to Hannah's. The burden of knowing my siblings wasn't weighing on me anymore. It might have left its scars on me, though. Lots of social interaction was still exhausting, and it was a major part of holidays like Thanksgiving.

I didn't want to have an empty tank by the time dinner rolled around. That wouldn't be fair to Hannah and her KKs or my friends. If I was on empty, I'd want to leave as soon as I could. That would make the others feel like they had to leave, too, even if that wasn't what they wanted.

I was in for a surprise when I got outside, though...

Alastair was laying in a hammock covered with a blanket. His dog was nearby, standing at attention. She was probably guarding her "master".

"Hey." Alastair didn't bother to look at me. He seemed to be cloud-watching.

My flames pooled in my cheeks. "Hey... Why are you outside?"

"For the same reason you are, I bet. I'm not good with lots of loud, busy people, and honestly, this is my favorite place in the entire house." He finally turned to look at me. "Would you like a blanket? Honey should have one in her bag."

She walked over to me and showed me a bag.

I got out a bag and wrapped myself up in the blanket. "Is there any particular reason she's wearing her vest?"

"She likes it. Oh, and sometimes, she wears it to keep the monkeys from terrorizing her."

"Terrorizing her?"

Alastair laughed. "My twin brothers like rough housing. Honey gets overwhelmed sometimes."

Oh... That made sense. Everyone got to the end of their rope, eventually.

"I don't know why, but I'm just suddenly tired..."

"Haven't you guys had a rough few weeks?"

I sighed. "Yeah, we have... My sister was spent after our last battle, then our brother got sick. Once we recovered from that, I learned some pretty major things about my family and the girl who used to take care of me. After that was said and done, my poor sleep caught up to me." I gazed at the sun. "That was a few days ago, so I thought it was behind me, but I guess it's not..."

"We want to tell everyone that we're better, but that doesn't mean we are." I felt a change I couldn't place in his heartbeat. "I've struggled with that, too, so I sort of get what that's like."

"You have?" I asked.

"I was a few months off turning eighteen when I went to work." His eyes sort of looked distant... "Won't go into the specifics of how, but the people of my other world recognized that I was a KK. Most of them didn't take kindly to me being there. The Protector I was assigned to also didn't really know how to meet my needs, so that made things more difficult."

Kayleigh... I could see that Alastair hadn't had an easy life, but I'd never known his story...

"I found great friends, but there was only so much they could do for me. I didn't make it easy, either... I could be a brat to them..."

He wasn't the only one... Marshall called me a selfish brat when I tried to take off after T got hurt the first time...

"While I was working, I came up against a Lock I couldn't fight. I had to give myself up to protect my friend and Honey."

She hung her tail between her legs. Her shame was plain to see.

"Two of the people went out of their way to take care of me while I was with them, but that left its own scars. I really was in a bad way once my brother got me home."

The dog nudged my leg with her vest. Did she want me to take it off?

Once I did that, she curled up next to her owner.

Alastair went on. "I still had one battle left. My final battle. That day was one, I wish I could have prevented. Anyway, my friend and brother brought me home soon after. I was sick when that happened, so I had more time I needed to spend recovering. It took me a long time to rebound from that."

It all made sense now... I could sense Arthur and his brother didn't really want to bring him scouting and now I knew why...

Alastair smiled. "That was really intense, wasn't it? Sorry."

"You're fine." I felt my flames pool in my cheeks again. "Right now, I'm really wishing I brought my book with me..."

"A book?"

"My girlfriend just got me a new book a couple weeks ago. It's long and complicated, so it'll take me a while to get through it. I just started, too."

He laughed. "Sounds a lot like my sister, Ivy. Drives Len up the wall, sometimes, too!"

Huh... Who was Len? Another one of his sisters?

***

Anyway, I spent most of the time in my head. Alastair and his dog didn't seem bothered by the silence. Wait... This was his favorite place. They probably spent a lot of time like that.

Eventually, it was time to go inside to eat. Alastair's friend, Raymond, came and got us.

Hannah sat at the head of the table. Her KKs sat around her. Eni sat beside Noah and I sat between him and T. Marshall sat between Lie and Recah and Duke took Lie's other side.

"I know you guys have been on Earth for a few months," Hannah said. "Has anyone explained what the point of Thanksgiving is?"

"Not really," Marshall replied. "I just know that people seem to have a thing for turkeys."

One of the sisters laughed.

The one beside her said, "It wasn't always like that." She set her fork down. "Anyway, people from England came to America, so that they could freely practice their beliefs. The people who came to America struggled in their new environment. The local people decided to help them, and they had a big feast. That eventually came to be called Thanksgiving."

"It's also a time to get together with family and be thankful," Hannah added.

If I knew the Engrads as well as I thought I did, they likely wondered what the point of the holiday was. I had a feeling that was how those who traveled in groups lived when people like Masquerade didn't interfere.

Anyway, we all had a great time. Lie and Phoenix went straight to bed after we got home. They must have been exhausted. Lie also seemed grateful that Duke didn't mind giving her a piggyback ride.

That wasn't what I was most grateful for. I was most grateful for the talk I had with Alastair. I needed to hear that story it couldn't have been easy for him to tell. Someone got me. I wasn't the only one who'd had a rough time as a KK. That was hard to remember.

***

Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!