CHAPTER#146

"It's possible." Yuki took a deep breath and let it out. "Think on this, then. That wardrobe in the hallway upstairs, it's made from a special tree that used to grow in the backyard, that's where the portal was originally. We would go into the backyard and just walk into the woods and emerge by the tower. Emily also had a small grove of younger trees out back that allowed her to walk to places all over the world, but I'm guessing you haven't seen any."

"No, I haven't."

"Do you know how you grow trees that quickly?" She hugged herself. "With a dryad. Her name was Amymone, or Amy for short. Her tree was centuries old, and she was very powerful. Amy could grow a tree to full size in a matter of weeks instead of years. One day, on a lark, she let Emily open a portal in her own tree. You see, Emily still needed to seed her destinations, and Amy got this idea that she could combine her magic with Emily's to grow a portal somewhere else. That's how we found the world with the tower, completely by accident. However, you need to know that dryads need their trees to live, Mike, and sometime after she abandoned me, Emily cut all of the trees down, including Amy's. Its remains sit upstairs, in your hallway, with a lock on the door."

The realization of what she said made Mike's eyes widen. "She... Emily killed someone who lived here?"

Yuki nodded. "She must have. And guess what? Nobody will ever remember Amy because you'll never meet her. Those memories are locked away, forever."

"How do you remember then?"

Yuki shrugged. "The world where I've been trapped is technically inside and outside the house at the same time. The tower used to be a place like this one, that much I've gathered. While there, I felt the house reawaken and sensed your presence in it, but could do nothing except lure you to the opening. I truly felt that the home was mine by right. It was something Emily and I spoke of often."

"You also weren't yourself. Not your full self anyway." He stood up and stretched. "I want you to think about something really hard for just a bit. It isn't something I know for certain, but it's a theory I have that I want to share."

"Okay."

"When Emily attacked you, she had some greater purpose in mind. I have no doubts that she knew what that emerald was capable of. A piece of your soul, trapped inside for all eternity, capable of granting the user a wish. The wish isn't something you can just say, but something you have to feel, deep inside. When she walked away, leaving you behind forever, she said that she wished she could forget about you. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't wishing that for her sake, but yours. She had already gone so far as to pull out a piece of your soul, so what was next? As long as she knew who you were and where to find you, she could come back anytime to finish the job."

The weight of his words struck her in the chest like a hammer.

"I... I read some of your journals. Or Ratu did, and told me about it. You two loved each other, of this I have no doubt. And whatever was about to happen? She had one shot to save the person who mattered most to her, and she took it, even though it cost her that love and all its memories. I don't know this for certain, but..." he shrugged, then rubbed his arms. "Just... I think she got caught up in something she couldn't beat."

Yuki blinked away the tears that were forming in her eyes, her eyes on the messy yard. Was it true? Could what happened have actually been an attempt to save her?

"I'll be inside when you're ready. If I know my demons, then I am willing to bet that Oliver is planning something of his own. We have until sometime tonight or tomorrow before the Society can check in with him to answer their questions, based on what he told Beth, anyway." He stood up and stretched. "However... take your time. We'll be waiting."

Without warning, he patted her gently between the ears on his way by. Such a casual touch from someone she barely knew, but she recognized the gesture immediately as something that Naia had done in the past. Even though the memories of Yuki had been erased from history, her time in the house had been very real indeed.

Once the door closed and Mike was gone, the floodgates finally opened and Yuki let her grief flow freely.

--

Mike sat at the kitchen table, his eyes tracing the patterns in the wood grain. He looked up at the sound of the front door opening and waited for Yuki to join the rest of them. Ratu and Tink sat on one side of the table, and they had opened the window for Zel and Abella to participate. The fairies sat on the window ledge, kicking their legs over the gap between the ledge and the floor. Scattered around the room were Reggie's higher-ups, and seated at the table was the Rat King himself.

When Yuki sat down, Tink gave her the stink eye, a small growl emanating from the back of her throat.

Yuki bowed her head, her lip curling in anger.

"Look, I know you're mad about what happened, but I'm here to help, okay?". Mike could see the irritation under her eyes where her tears had fallen. "If Mike was able to forgive me, even if it's just for today, then you can just get over yourself."

"She's mad because you ate the last of my Eggos" he explained, trying to hold in a smile. "Sofia keeps tossing them out, so she hides them in the back as kind of a secret stash for when I want a snack."