'Are you okay...?' Dorothy asked as the two of them walked back home.

[Not really...] Kurt admitted.

For the first time, the owl lady was following the kid from behind by flying a few steps away. She would usually simply let him carry her on top of his head, but she assumed he already had a lot of things in his mind to deal with.

'You don't need to feel so bad about it. Sometimes you just can't fix things. Sometimes you just need to let time heal the wounds. You did the right thing by staying away' Dorothy explained.

However, her words did not make him feel any better, [Then why do I feel like garbage...?]

'Kurt...'

[Sorry... Please... I... I just need some silence for now...]

Upon reaching his mansion, the boy finally took a small sigh before opening the front doors and was instantly greeted by his mother just as she was passing by while carrying a small book in hands.

"Oh! Welcome home, Kurt! How was your first day at the academy?" she asked with a dazzling expression.

"Exhausting..." he bluntly replied, "I just wanna go to my room and stay there for the rest of the day..."

"I... I see... But, what about your friend?"

"My friend?" he asked before following Sabiri's line of sight and turning around to see Trevor standing right behind him with a big wide grin on his face, [Holy mother of sweet God!!!]

The boy was so shocked that he nearly fell down after almost having a heart attack.

"Hello! Your house is lovely!!" Trevor commented while waving his hand.

"Trevor!!?? What the hell, man? Have you been right behind me this whole time??"

"I asked you if I could visit but you never responded so I just assumed there was no problem..." the large lad explained, "Although, I did start to shiver a bit once I saw you walking in the direction of one of the emperor's houses... I almost turned around..."

"Ah..." Kurt then realized that he was so lost in thought that he probably didn't even hear a word his friend said, "Sorry about that."

"Well, any friend of Kurt is very much welcome here! Please! Come in!" the empress offered.

"Don't mind if I do!"

Kurt wasn't expecting Trevor to come to his house so suddenly and was unsure of how to react. He assumed the best way to proceed was by properly introducing himself in case this wasn't clear yet.

"Well... You probably already guessed but... I'm the son of the emperor, Kurt Garen. And this is my mother, Sabiri Garen."

Sabiri made a gentle bow and greeted the boy as well, "Pleasure to meet you!"

"Ah! No, the pleasure is all mine! I'm Trevor Bauron of the house Bauron" Trevor then took a moment to come closer to Kurt's ear and whisper inside his ear, "So you were emperor Lian's son this whole time? Why didn't you tell me??"

"The topic never came up!"

"You can't just wait for 'the topic to come up' with these kinds of things!! You're the son of the most important dragon in the whole empire!!" Trevor stated while piercing daggers at Kurt with his eyes.

The boy himself didn't seem to really want to discuss that right now though, "Sure, whatever... Not like it really changes anything..."

"Doesn't change anything?? Kurt, you're a prince and a guest! I think it changes quite a lot!"

Kurt then raised an eyebrow while Dorothy began to choke out of nowhere, "Guest...? Dude! It's my house! You are the guest here..."

Trevor then stared at Kurt with an empty expression while processing his words, "Wait... You don't kn-"

"Kurt, dear. Could you please go grab for us some tea and snacks? We need to show our guest our hospitality!" the lady suggested while showing a warm and kind smile while interrupting the two.

"Me...? Oh... Okay..." Kurt was confused for a moment as to why his mother didn't just ask on of the servants to grab it instead of him, but he didn't mind it too much since he wanted some time alone.

The lady and Trevor proceeded to another room while Kurt and Dorothy moved to fetch the drinks and food.

______

______

Kurt began to pour the tea into the cups while he and Dorothy were inside the kitchen. She was looking a little distracted while sitting completely still on a table and looking at nothing.

[I know what you're thinking...] Kurt commented.

'You do...?'

[You want me to stay away from Gaby because you think I might make things worse if I try to talk to her tomorrow...]

'Oh, right... That...' Dorothy whispered.

[But you need to understand! I have to speak to her one more time! I have to make things right!] Kurt claimed while putting the bottle of tea down.

'And why is that, exactly?'

[Because... Well...]

'What exactly is your connection with her? Are you her brother? Her father? Her lover? Are you even her friend? Do you have any right to interfere in her life even more than you already have?'

[W- Well... No... But...] he mumbled while turning his face away.

'We both know the truth, Kurt! You just want to get rid of the sense of guilty eating you up inside. The answer is still no!'

[But why!!?? Just tell me why! Why are you so against me trying to fix things? Why won't you trust me!!??]

Dorothy became quiet for a moment and proceeded to fly closer to him to place herself in front of his line of sight.

[Dory...?] he asked, sensing that something was not right with her.

'I know you have good intentions... I really do...' she commented with her face down, 'But you need to understand that there is danger in being impulsive...'

[What do you mean...?]

She lifted her head up and stared right into his eyes, 'I used to be human once...'

[Wha... What...?]

'I used to be human...' she repeated, 'I wasn't always this thing you see in front of you... This creature able to just change the shape of my body and hold the power to move people from one world to another...

I was just a girl once... About your age... A girl with a best friend that was very special to me...

She would play with me when we were kids, talk to me when I was alone, visit places when I wanted to go on adventures, and stay by my side when I would feel down...'

Kurt stared at her in silence, feeling like he was seeing a side of Dory he never saw before.

'But one day... Everything we had was taken from us... All those beautiful days, all those memories, just gone in a second...

We were on the beach enjoying our time together... Talking about dumb things like boys and romance... And then we started to talk about this one random guy that apparently had a thing for one of us... It could have been me, it could have been her... It's been a long time, I don't remember anymore... All we knew was that he wanted an answer...'

Dorothy began to turn around, acting as if recalling the memories was causing a turmoil inside of her.

'We talked about it and decided that it would be best to just tell him to wait a bit more since we didn't know him that well.

But when the guy heard that, he just snapped... Acing like he was entitled to a proper answer, acting like because he sacrificed himself and dedicated himself he was entitled to some sort of affection in return...'

She then turned around again and looked directly at him.

'Because he couldn't take 'no' for an answer... So he confronted us... Things got out of hand... And we ended up being pushed into the ocean...'

Kurt's expression began to turn pale.

'Both of us loved the sea... But just to enjoy the view... We didn't know how to swin... ... ... We... We both died that day... All because of one guy... One guy that would not accept things and wanted to do things his way...'

Both Kurt and Dorothy began to cry the more she talked.

'It takes a lot of effort to build up a moment of happiness, Kurt... But all it takes is one stupid move to ruin everything for everyone... I don't want to see what happened to us to happen to anyone else again... And I really don't want to see you of all people, who holds such a special place in my heart, to be the cause of it!'

Kurt then finally began to understand the meaning of Dorothy's rule to how to judge someone. People shouldn't claim to deserve things just because it's their right. people shouldn't ignore the feelings of others just because it doesn't match with their own. And people shouldn't take the value of a life so easily.

She wasn't just trying to be a cranky old lady pushing her ideals on others, she was trying to prevent someone like him to walk the wrong path.

[I... I didn't know...]

'I didn't want you to know...' she explained, 'I didn't want to have to spell it out for you... I wanted you to reach this conclusion on your own... There are lessons in life you only truly learn when you are the one that experiences them...'

Dorothy then flapped her wings and took a seat on his arm.

'There is nothing more dangerous than someone that doesn't think they are in the wrong... So please, Kurt... Please just listen to me!'

Kurt stared at her. Even though she was just an owl right now, Kurt could feel he was looking into a person, someone desperately begging him to think hard about his choice and the consequences it might bring.

[I'm sorry... But I still can't just let things end like this...]

'Why not!?' she shouted.

[Because... The same way you ended up with a scar inside of you... I also have a scar inside of me...] he explained, [I know its selfish... And I know I don't have the right... But I do have a connection with her!

I've been where she is!

Alone... Lost... Scared... Thinking that the whole world is against you... Dreading the idea of trusting anyone just to be abandoned and betrayed later... This was who I was in my old life!]

This time it was Dorothy who couldn't say a word to his statement.

[I need to help her... Not because I want to ease my mistake... But because I'm the only one who might know how she feels! And when I was in her place, there was only one thing I wanted more than anything in that or any other world...

I wanted someone to appear in front of me and say 'I'm here for you!'] he explained while hitting his chest.

'Kurt...'

[I just wanna give her what I could never have... Someone by my side to make the loneliness go away! So, please... Please put your faith in me just this one time!]

Dorothy looked at him, trying to find any hesitation in his eyes, but finding nothing but resolution. For the first time ever since they met, she felt she wasn't looking at a boy, but at a man.

'I'll never forgive you if you hurt her again!'

Kurt smiled in response, [You have my word!]