"It's quite pleasant seeing what we've come to be," I heard Dad say into the stillness inside the car.

The sky was getting cloudy with the passing time, the night growing darker. The highway lights passed one after the other as the car went past them.

I unintentionally started to play with the window. It opened and closed and opened again. I remember being scolded for doing so, but old habits die hard.

"These nine years haven't been easy, not for you, not for anyone." I felt a weird clenching kind of feeling in my chest which I couldn't define, choosing to ignore it altogether.

I looked over at him, my dad. I realized how similar we still were. Same eyes, same face, and the same scar which none of us wanted to remember. I used to think he moved on, and forgot all that had happened; turned out I was very very wrong.

"Trust me, Kai, if I had the chance to change it all, I would. No parent wants their child to suffer anything, that you did. And well...-" He chuckled softly, but hardly was there any humour. "No point in stretching the past, yeah?"

I couldn't hide the smile that curled my lips, my hands no longer playing with the window's button. "You remembered?"

Dad tsked and rolled his eyes. "Of course? How can I forget the best day of my life?" He turned the steering. "What more can a man ask? Knowing that my family had finally learned to smile again was enough for me."

I turned to stare at the highway which wasn't so crowded like any other day, the lights flashing red and white throughout. The feeling of nostalgia was inevitable.

"Can I ask you something, Dad?"

"Anything, my dear."

I embraced myself, holding my arms, avoiding his eyes. "Are you proud of me? Of who I am now?"

There was silence for a moment, and I did feel nervous, I won't lie.

"I am."

Then he looked at me.

"I am very proud of—"

And I couldn't remember the rest.

~~~