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"So you are going to have some kind of a Karate demonstration?" Dad asked, sipping his coffee. He had moved his office to the backyard, the laptop lay open on the table in front of him, with a pile of books. The cup in his hand easily held more coffee than anyone should drink in one day, and Sky knew it was already his third refill.

It was early afternoon, and Hawk had just arrived to pick up Sky - he had finally gotten his license - to go to the Valley Fest together. Sky was more excited than she cared to admit - it felt like going on a date.

"Yeah, you know, to promote the dojo." she answered Dad's question.

"You do remember that you still aren't allowed to do Karate?"

"I know, I know. I'm not gonna, I'll just watch." Sky rolled her eyes. "I'm not an idiot."

"That is under debate," Dad replied calmly. "But fine, go ahead, have fun - not too much fun, though. Am I making myself clear?"

He gave them a stern glance over his glasses, making Sky let out a frustrated sigh.

"Dad, chill," Sky said. "It's just a fair - rides, games, fried food. You know."

"Oh, but I remember the time when you went to the minimart to buy a carton of milk and got home at 3 am utterly drunk, had a long and meaningful conversation with your cat - who you thought was the reincarnation of Dante - and then puked in my best shoes."

"What—?" Hawk barked a laugh but suppressed it when noticed the look on Sky's face.

"That was Kat's fault," Sky noted venomously. "And maybe a little bit Paulo's too. Hawk is so much more responsible, like in a different league."

"Right," Dad said, arching a skeptical brow. "Don't think I don't know you, daughter mine. Have fun at the Valley Fest, but don't do Karate, don't get drunk, and be home by midnight. Just like Cinderella."

"Sure thing, beloved evil stepmother," Sky wrapped an arm around his shoulders and placed a small kiss on the top of his head. No matter their verbal swordplay, she knew Dad loved her more than anything, and in rare moments like this, Sky let him see that she felt the same way.

They turned to leave and Hawk took her hand. He looked so good that Sky felt all fluttery like there were butterflies in her stomach. She really liked the way he had begun to style his hair - the mohawk wasn't one sharp blade anymore, it had small spikes and it looked really good. He had talked about maybe dying it with a different color too - what color though, he hadn't told her yet.

"And Eli," Dad's voice interrupted Sky's thoughts, and they both turned to look at him.

"Yeah?" Hawk asked.

"Drive safe," Dad said. "I trust you to bring her home in one piece."

Hawk's lips turned into a smile and he gave a nod. "I will, you don't have to worry."

"I always worry," Dad muttered, returning to his laptop.

"Reincarnation of Dante?" Hawk asked with a crooked grin as they were walking to his car that was parked on the driveway in front of Sky's home.

"What can I say?" Sky shrugged. "Kat was a wild child. It was never boring with her."

Hawk looked like he wanted to ask more, but then didn't, and sudden sadness pierced Sky's heart. Sometimes it felt too hard, that Hawk would never meet Kat, that the two people Sky loved most in the world existed in different times, different places, in alternate universes that would never intersect. More than anything, she would have wanted for them to know each other. It felt like a gut punch, that Kat would never meet Hawk - that she would never get to make fun of Hawk's hair, that she would never tease him relentlessly for falling in love with Sky, she would never embarrass Sky in front of Hawk by telling stupid things about her past, like the time they had competed in which one of them could stuff more cherries in their mouth, and had almost died laughing.

She pushed the lingering sadness off and turned to look at Hawk by her side as she sat down on the passenger seat.

"You okay?" Hawk asked with a gentle tone.

He knew. He always knew when she was thinking about Kat and getting sad about it. And Sky loved it, that he never forced her to share more than she wanted to.

She shrugged, turned to look at her hands in her lap. "I just... I just wish you'd known her."

A short silence followed. Hawk started the car and pulled out from the driveway.

"I wish I'd known her too," he said. And then, "If you wanna talk about her, you know, I'm here."

Six months ago that would have felt like climbing Mount Everest - something so impossible that just the thought of it would have made Sky feel like the air was squeezed out of her lungs. But now–?

She glanced at Hawk, whose eyes were on the road and the traffic, whose strong, long-fingered hands rested on the steering wheel, and her heart was so full it took her breath away. The silence between them was good. That was one thing she loved about him, that he wasn't scared of silence, he hardly ever felt like it needed to be filled.

Sky took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"About that night when I went to buy a carton of milk–" she started, and just like that, one word followed another. The first ones were sticky and heavy and difficult to get out, but after a while, they got lighter and easier and soon they were falling from her lips as effortlessly as leaves from a tree in the autumn wind.

By the time she had told him the whole story, they had arrived at the Valley Fest