It was almost 3 in the afternoon. All the guests and the Falcon family were chatting in their home's back yard after Naomi's barbeque birthday party. White clouds slowly rolled onto one another in a clear blue sky in which phoenixes flew free at last.

Halle went inside, to the kitchen, to fetch a few beers.

"Mom?" Sky asked when she closed the fridge, startling her. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Hmmm... sure." Her smile was hesitant, shaking a bit.

Sky furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sure. Why?" She asked as she moved past him and went outside, back to the back garden with the beers.

"Dad says you're acting weird," Sky whispered so that nobody else could hear him but her while she left the beers on a long table. "I agree. Is anything on your mind?"

"No, nothing," she lied. "I'm fine, really."

"You've been avoiding my gaze. Like you're doing now. You don't talk about me or–"

She turned to him. "Sky, it's alright, really."

"No, it's clearly not."

"Yes, it is, Sky." She almost escaped from him.

Sky put a hand on his mother's arm to stop her. "Then, help me understand it because I haven't got a clue."

Halle sighed deeply.

"TALK TO ME," he whispered vehemently as he stared deeply into her eyes.

She signalled to the same spot where Sky had been talking with his father a few minutes before, a cosy spot in their back garden with a lovely wooden bench. Both sat down there.

"I-I feel embarrassed," Halle admitted in a defeated whisper. Her hands trembled. The skin on her face got paler. Her stammering didn't help either. "It-It's like I don't deserve to be around you, to t-talk to you or about you, to even l-look at you, to live like... like this."

She leaned forward, sinking her face in her palms. She massaged it and grunted.

"Like what exactly?" he asked, whispering too.

She put her hands away and fidgeted with her fingers. "Like we're back to being a normal family."

"But we are," he replied, sure of himself.

She let her gaze get lost at some distant point on the horizon as birds distantly sang in the nearest tree tops. "We're not a normal family."

"Well, no family is normal," Sky said as the breeze combed his long, green fringe over his lovely green eyes. "What is normal anyway?"

She chuckled and never looked at him that entire time, while he did stare at her.

"Mom, not a single family I've ever known is remotely normal," he insisted, "in the sense that they're cut-out paper dolls which never get torn, ripped, or burnt in their entire lives. That doesn't exist. We've had our problems, but it's gonna be okay."

"I know, but..." She nodded, closing her eyes. Small wrinkles appeared on her nose as she pressed her lips into a thin line.

"But what?"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she took a ragged breath. She was on the verge of tears.

"Mom," Sky whispered, "you didn't hear me when the fight was over, did you?"

An awkward silence ensued as they stared at each other for the first time.

Sky whispered, slowly and lovingly, as he put a hand on hers, "I forgive you."

Her eyes welled up, tears brimming as she fought to keep them from falling, her lower lip trembling uncontrollably. Her eyebrows knitted together, betraying the inner turmoil she could no longer hide. Each breath came in ragged, shallow gasps, her chest rising and falling with the weight of the truth she had long avoided. Her arms wrapped tightly around her son, her fingers digging into his back. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs, the tears finally spilling over, tracing paths down her flushed cheeks. As she buried her face in his small shoulder, the walls around her heart crumbled, releasing the grief she had kept locked away for so long.

"I love you," Sky whispered as he hugged her back. "Nothing can change that."

"I..."

"We all love you, Mom. Everything's gonna be okay."

Her sobs came and went.

"Why can't I just let all this pressure go?" she said after a while as she let go of her son. "I'm a pathetic overachiever, proud, stubborn, I set ridiculous ideals and aims, I... I'm... I'm like a pressure cooker, Jesus Christ." She chuckled as she took out a paper tissue to clean her face. "I have fooled myself. I have shamed myself. I've disappointed myself... and I can't let it go. I just can't."

"If you don't let it go, you might end up being miserable all your life," Sky whispered as he put a hand softly on her arm, "or doing something stupid."

They stared into each other's eyes.

"It's not that easy," Halle replied in a rusty voice.

"Then, we'll help you to let go, Mom," Sky insisted. "It might take some time, but we will all help you, I promise. I'm glad to have you finally back."

That time, it was he who hugged her, taking her by surprise. Her eyes went open wide in amazement. In the fertile soil of opportunity, he sowed the seeds of love and forgiveness, trusting in the cycle of personal growth and renewal to bring them to fruition.

"It'll be alright, Mom," he whispered with reassurance as his fingers sank into her clothes and skin on her back.

Like I said when I decided against using my time-skipping wristwatch, I don't need to row back in the tide of time to fix things. That would be convenient to make my life perfect—only it would never be possible. Perfection does not exist, does it? It's in the cracks of the broken vase of our lives where the beauty lies.

"Thank you, Sky." Her frail whisper encapsulated a dawn full of hope and atonement.

Then, a familiar male voice cleared its throat. "May I borrow your son for a moment, Halle?"

She lifted her gaze and saw Kovak. "Yeah, sure." She smiled, wiping the rest of her tears away as she let go of the hug and stood up to leave.

Halle slowly made her way back to the guests.

A moment later, Kovak sat where she had been and sighed. He stared into the horizon as Sky was doing, enjoying packs of phoenixes flying past. The scent of green leaves rustling in the cool breeze was refreshing.

"It's not every day you see Halle going emotional. What did you do to her?" Kovak handed a fizzy drink to Sky, while he opened a beer for himself.

Sky replied as he took the drink, "Something I never thought you were capable of: love."

Kovak chuckled lightly. "Don't underestimate me, kid." He took a sip of his beer.

"I won't." Sky's eyebrows went up. "The last time I did, you betrayed me."

"I know that no number of apologies will ever suffice," Kovak answered in a dry whisper. "What I did is already done."

Sky took a sip of his drink. "If I ever find a way to go back in time to fix you and your mistakes, I'll let you know," he added in a joyful mood.

Both giggled.

"Your time-skipping wristwatch was truly exceptional," Kovak said, greatly impressed. "Why did you crush it?"

Sky smirked. "So that no power-hungry idiots like you could even get hold of it." He took another sip.

Kovak smirked, too. "Well done."

"Well done?" Sky asked, bewildered as he shot his palms and arms open on either side of him. "Is that it? Where is your usual formal, know-it-all, proud-git, verbal diarrhoea?"

"You're a bright kid, Sky," Kovak replied in an amused tone. "You don't need praise from me or from anyone."

"Okay." Sky took a long intake of air. "One, stop calling me 'kid'. And two, is there something you need to tell me, or did you pull me from my mother's arms just to nag?"

Kovak sighed. "That Jasmine kid." He shot an analytical gaze at the guests, where Jasmine was, seated beside Naomi as they amiably chatted. "Is she trustworthy?"

Sky looked her way, too. He smiled and replied, "According to your standards, nobody is. Well, except for Naomi." Then, he looked at Kovak with a raised eyebrow, faking disbelief, and added in a mocking tone, "What about yourself? Do you trust yourself?"

"Very funny, Sky," Kovak answered. "Very funny, but I do trust some people."

"Care to give me an example?" Sky asked as Kovak took a sip of his beer.

"Well, I trust anyone who can learn fast and prove themselves in the darkest of nights, regardless of the personal demons they have to face..." he said with pride and admiration, "including his own mother."

Sky chuckled. "About that..."

"You've struggled with the idea of failure that she had about you for years," Kovak added in an analytical mood. "You idealised her. You reached your lowest low, courtesy of her insane ideals. You eventually ditched her when the glass tower of old Anti-Ageing Inc. burnt down." He scoffed. "Bravo, but I must say that that must've hurt. You didn't breathe a word about it and went straight into battle."

Sky sank his fingertips into the can in his hands as he pressed his lips into a thin line. Yeah, about that...

"More shit must've piled up on an already huge emotional chaos inside you," Kovak added, whispering with mild sadness, "when Evergreen spilt the beans about her manipulation."

"You're one hell of a therapist, Kovak," Sky replied with sarcasm.

"Well, I see the emotional turmoil you're in." He made a crucial pause and said with determination, "I don't want a genius like you to go to waste due to... a family meltdown."

Sky raised an eyebrow. "You... care... about me?"

"You think I'm a robot, or a machine without feelings who is disengaged from society. But I'm not."

Sky chuckled breathlessly and smirked. "You could fool me."

Kovak rolled his eyes. "I have my flaws, just like you, young man. But... I mean, I saw what you've been through. And you... you forgive her? Just like that?" He stared at the young man beside him with a puzzled look on his face.

"Have you ever had a mother?" Sky asked, still using a mocking tone. "Or were you born from a robot?"

"Hmmm... Let's not go into that." Kovak's voice went an octave lower than usual. He took a long sip of beer.

"See? A big pile of shit too, huh?" Sky said with conviction. "But... do you love her?"

He stared into the beer bottle and whispered in a cold voice, "She's not around anymore."

"Did you ever love her..." Sky asked in a serious whisper, "at least for a moment, despite all that shit you don't have to tell me about?"

Silence ensued, but Kovak smirked. "Checkmate."

"See?" Sky added. "I want another chance to feel like that moment again... at some point in the future, even if I have to handle a huge pile of shit to get there. Love is complicated. No relationship is perfect."

Kovak groaned. "Oh, please. Stop lecturing me."

"Kovak, do you think you deserve the second chance my aunt is giving you?" Sky spoke fast then, but with a smirk on his face. "Will you marry her someday, if that's what she wants? Will you ever have kids with her?"

"Sky..." Kovak replied half-heartedly and in a warning tone.

"You will fuck it up again, say something stupid, or make her mad somehow, but..." Sky went on, "you'll do something nice for her eventually. And she'll forgive you and stay by your side. Through the good and the bad. This... is real love."

Kovak didn't reply. He bit his lower lip and nodded.

When Sky was about to open his mouth to go on, Kovak interrupted him saying, "As kids your age say these days, 'Bye, Felicia'." He slapped a hand on his thigh and, with a lazy grunt, he stood up to leave.

Sky smirked. "This is what I want, Kovak. Love and imperfect relationships."

Kovak turned to the teen once more to listen to him.

"Being a genius? I don't know whether that's my dream. But I know that the Elite was never meant for me." Sky chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "I'd love to become an engineer perhaps, but if I make it or not... That's secondary, I guess."

Whispers of doubt could never overshadow or freeze my life anymore. I had nurtured my self-esteem, sheltering my future and my hopes from the deadly chill of uncertainty and lack of confidence. It was time to spread my wings and fly.

Haywire and his cybernetic friends then swooshed past over the back yard with their merry whistles and chirping echoing in the air.

Kovak smiled. "I guess, you say? Are you still doubting yourself? Don't waste your talent, Sky. Become an engineer. Not perhaps. Do it. Remember: failure doesn't kill dreams. Only–"

"Only self-doubt does—and I don't doubt myself anymore," Sky said, his smile broadening. "I know what I want."

Hello, my sugar cubes!

The end of the road, my dear readers. Sorry for the long chapter! ❤️
Did you enjoy the ride? 😉
I hope you liked this book and share it with your friends. It would mean a lot!
Thanks a lot for reading! 🫶

Stay tuned!

XOXO

Mar