For a long time, Marro didn't speak.
He stood silently in the clearing, his small chest rising and falling with shallow breaths as he stared at the wristband in Jasmine's hands. It was stained and frayed, the leather softened by time, but it pulsed with memory. With grief. With the last flicker of hope.
Jasmine said nothing. She let the boy have his silence, her hand resting gently over the curve of her belly. Kire sat beside them, his tail twitching, his golden eyes sharp and scanning the trees. The forest around them was hushed, as if even the birds dared not interrupt.
Finally, Marro looked up. His voice, when it came, was quiet and yet steady.
"I'll take you." He said
Jasmine's breath caught. "Are you sure?"
He nodded. "If he dies… and I could've helped… then it's like they all died for nothing. My entire family and I won't be able to live with that guilt."
Jasmine could hardly believe it.
Such a little boy had faced such a terrible thing and yet he was so strong
