Glass memory

The air is heavy that night. It wraps around the tower like a warning, thick and breathless.

No one talks during dinner. Even the fire crackles quieter than usual.

Maika's back is to me. Ajay won't meet my eyes. Venu keeps fidgeting with a rusted bolt he found. Sira tries to act like nothing's changed, but her silence is careful.

And Aerith... he watches. Not just the room. Me.

Every time I look up, he's looking away. But I feel it.

I take my plate and leave, sitting by the edge of the ridge. Below us, trees stretch wide into the horizon like they're trying to escape the sky.

I don't know how long I sit there. But eventually, Sira finds me.

She sits close. Quiet.

"You okay?" she asks.

I shake my head. "Does it look like I'm okay?"

"No."

I laugh, but it dies before it's real.

She waits. Like she always does.

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore," I say. "I thought… I thought if I kept us moving, if I kept believing hard enough, we'd all just... stay together."

"We're not gone yet," she says.

I dig my fingers into the dirt. "But we're splitting. Cracking. And maybe it's my fault."

Sira doesn't answer. That hurts more than words.

"What if I'm turning into them?" I whisper. "The ones who broke us apart in the first place."

"You're not," she says.

"You don't know that."

She sighs. "No. But I know you care enough to worry. That matters."

We sit in silence again.

Later, I walk into the tower. The others are already asleep or pretending to be. I step around them and find Aerith outside, leaning against the wall.

He doesn't speak.

"I need to know something," I say.

He glances at me. "Ask."

"Are we following your plan, or am I still leading?"

He looks away.

"That's not a yes or no question," he says.

"Try anyway."

He folds his arms. "You're leading. But you're afraid. So you lean on me. That's not weakness. That's desperation."

I swallow. "And you? Are you using that?"

He doesn't answer right away.

Then: "No. But I'm not stopping you either."

I nod, because it's the most honest thing he's said.

"I don't want to become someone they fear."

"Then stop pretending you're invincible."

I stare at him.

He shrugs. "Leaders who act like gods get worshipped until they get burned."

I don't know whether to hate him or thank him. Maybe both.

I leave before I can say something I regret.

Back inside, I lie down beside Sira. The others are quiet. Still.

I watch the ceiling. It's cracked. Faint stars show through.

I remember my brother's voice, the night before he died:

> "Don't talk so loud the world stops listening."

I shut my eyes.

For the first time since we ran, I don't dream of bringing people together.

I dream of everything I've pushed away to do it.

And I wake up shaking.