Hazel, I thought again as if it would make this situation less surreal. I was feeling a variety of emotions at this exact moment in my lifetime. Which was strange to think that later I'd feel the exact emotions I was feeling now, but in a way that made it feel like I was looked straight into a shattered mirror. A shattered reflection of who I was, who I am, and who I will be.

All of these pressing emotions I couldn't feel right now or I suspect I would have shut down. So all I could do was stand there on all-fours and gawk at Hazel. I didn't blink until she spoke.

"Ace," she smiled. "I've been told your new name is Sophia, but I love the way Ace comes off my tongue." 

The only thing I replied was; "Hazel." Which was more like a shaky breath coming from the depths of my lungs. Barley a word.

"I'll do the talking for now then, I suppose. So I'll explain all of the answers to the questions you're thinking or at least going to think. I died. Well, not technically. I fell from that tree and all I could see was an endless wildfire"-that word gave me chills down my spine-"then I landed on the ground. Well more like a pond. I survived, and Saeva pulled me out. It turns out this was his Kingdom before it was Thunderblood's. He was the King, and eventually, he died. Of a terrible illness. Thunderblood was a Knight, therefore next in command. Thunderblood let me stick around and I begged for help to find you, that was apart of our deal. If she found you, I would help her with a project she is working on. And you're probably wondering what said project is, but I'm afraid that's 'classified information' as Queen Thunderblood put it."

I continued to gawk like an idiot, my mouth wide open.

"Ha, you're gawking. I didn't think I'd ever see you do that," Hazel said with a smile. But for some strange reason (it was probably just me and my overthinking), it didn't feel real. I was so out of it.

"I... Oh... oh my constellations..." I breathed. "You are... you... Hazel... you're actually here... right in front of me..." 

"I am, aren't I?" 

"You shouldn't be... it is simply... impossible..." 

"I've told you how I escaped, thanks to Saeva. You've always said nothing is impossible," she replied quickly. Quick can mean you are a quick runner, or speaker. But it can also mean you are quick-witted, and I am certain Hazel was both the first and the latter.

"This... Hazel, this is... impossible... simply impossible." 

"Yeah, famous last words," she quipped. "I'm here, and I'm real. Look." She put her paw out in front of me. It was bigger than I remembered, she had grown into an adult, and I wasn't there. Her sharp amber claws shimmered in the dim light, while her hazel eyes sparkled.

I gingerly lifted my paw, (it might've been trembling, or maybe that was just my imagination, who's to say) putting my paw against hers' looking her in the eyes. This was Hazel. This was the Hazel that died a fiery death. This was the Hazel that I cared about as a sister. This was my friend. 

I looked into her eyes and she looked into mine for a couple minutes of silence. The eyes are the mirrors of the soul, after all. I don't know what she saw in my eyes, and I doubt I'll ever know, but what I do know is what I saw in her eyes.

I saw fire and ice. I saw darkness and light. The shadows of the night, and the glimmering beams of the day. Pain and sorrow. Wickedness with joy. Weakness and strength. A smile and a grin. Hate with love. Magic and impossibility. Cleverness and fear. But what I saw the most of in those eyes was treachery.

As I'm sure you know, treachery is treacherous.

I define treachery as something you want to believe in so badly, it makes you weak and you give in. It's deceitful. Wicked.

Or perhaps it is all just an act. A trick of the light.

Smoke and mirrors.

"Hazel," I spoke once more. "You're here." 

"I am, Ace. I really am." Both our paws fell back to the Earth, but our gaze did not falter.

"Every day," I said. "I waited for you to come back. I almost lost hope because of this long and burdensome life, but now you're here and I don't have to feel like that anymore." 

"I'm here for you as you are for me now." 

"I won't lose you again," I promised. I hadn't made a promise in a long time, but I really meant this promise this time. Or at least I hoped I did.

"Nor will I lose you Ace," she promised.

I had a sad smile on my face, as did Hazel. We were happy, but too sad to express it. Emotions are weird.

There was a silence that felt like it went on forever, but for once I didn't mind the silence. Even Wildfire was quiet, only reciting some poem she made up called "Survivor". I was so focused on Hazel, I didn't even hear her rhymes and cleverly laid out words.

I don't know how long we would've been there in unbroken silence if CruelStorm hadn't showed up again.

He was at the entrance of the part of the den were were in. "Queen Thunderblood would like to see you two now." 

"Of course," Hazel replied back. "Just a moment."

CruelStorm sighed. "Yeah, just not forever because the Queen is ever so impatient." 

She rolled her eyes best a cat could roll their eyes. "You sound even more impatient than Queen Thunderblood. Why don't you learn some patience and hightail out of here, eh CruelStormy?" 

He grumbled to himself. All I heard from the grumbles was "secret" and "whatever" and "stormy? Really?" He obviously wasn't quite fond of Hazel, and she wasn't exactly fond of him.

Once he stepped out, me and Hazel finally decided to follow suit.

It took my aqua-teal eyes a second or five to adjust to the morning daylight, the ribbons of lights weaving through the trees like lace.

CruelStorm sat next to a tree, his tail gently waving back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth... Back and forth... Back and forth. 

His ears perked up when he saw us come out of the den. I came out first, then Hazel next.

"Ahem," CruelStorm started. "If you would please follow me, Hazel and Sophia." 

He began to walk with slow, more laidback strides.

As I sit here, writing, typing, writing, typing, collecting information, typing away, publishing, spreading the news about my life, I have a strange feeling in my gut. Kind of like when you haven't eaten in awhile. I'm currently eating a honey/peanut/banana sandwich. Which you should totally try.

The point is this wretched feeling in my gut isn't coming from hunger. In fact, I can feel it in my beating heart, my breathing lungs, and even the feeling dancing about in my mind.

This feeling, is like an exploding star, burning for forever.

It's more of an emotion, because emotions are so much stronger than a mere feeling. They can tear apart more than we realize.

This emotion is wistfulness.

There was a really good definition of this emotion on Google I saw.

"The definition of wistful refers to being full of melancholy or yearning, or having a mournful or regretful longing. An example of wistful is when you look back on your past and wish you had done something differently." 

This perfectly describes how I feel. I couldn't have put it better myself.

I wish and wish I had done so many things differently in my past. But one of the biggest things I did I have a yearning to change is who I trusted. An aching to change my past. 

But the thing with the past is no matter what you do, (even if you are a time traveler) you can't change the past.

But that fact doesn't change how much you wish you could go back and change it. So much regret.

I sit here with hopes I won't be so stupid again, and I hope I can teach you, my dear Reader a thing or two about trust so we don't make my mistakes over again, because as I walked by Hazel's side, I still hadn't solved the whole mystery. The mystery I didn't even realize was in my midsts. 

I will never distort my story. 

So this is the second account of my wistfulness and misfortune. 

I advise you to stop reading this now, but if you don't, don't say I didn't warn you.