Everything Is Connected

[Alia Discordia]

Alia let the tears come, and it felt wonderful. She didn't expect that.

She's cried so many times before now, but until this moment, it has always come from places of pain. Places of emptiness, places of unrelenting loneliness, Places she keeps hidden, even from herself.

Places where wounds scar, yet never heal.

She's now in a place of true catharsis, and she's learning that scars are necessary, and she's ready to accept them.

This must be what growing up feels like. Riley has always told her that knowledge is what you learn from books, but wisdom is what you learn from living.

She feels very alive now, and this is the place she belongs. A place of peace, surrounded by chaos.

"Alia? Are you ok?"

She lifts her eyes and looks at him differently now. The adolescent crush is gone; replaced by something deeper. "I hope so. Ask me again, sometime."

"Do you want me to go?"

That's the last thing she wants, and she tells him that.

She composes herself, dries her eyes, takes his hand, and leads him to the center of the room.

"That painting of you? I can explain. Just stay still, let me do it in my own way, and don't freak out."

He nods, and smiles at her.

That smile makes her eyes brighten. literally.

With those glowing eyes, she slowly walks around him in a circle, looking over every inch of his body, scanning him into her system.

After her second lap around him, her eyes return to normal.

"You can get dressed now if you like, but you don't have to." She said with a wink.

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