One Day I'll Be Free

Studying the women in front of him he tried to find what felt off about her but even after a couple minutes of looking he still couldn't find any differences, almost. From her silver hair that fell all the way to her stomach to her similar eyes she still looked just as beautiful as he remembered last time but something felt a little off about her smile. Usually it was always a bubbly smile that looked like she didn't have a care in the world but now it looked likely forced with her nose slightly scrunched up while her eyes looked a little sad. "Did something happen?" She was a really kind woman from his experience so he couldn't imagine any reason for anyone to ever get mad at her nor could he see her finding trouble herself.

"Hi Althea....is something wrong?"

With some surprise on her face she stared at Xilo as his chains rattled while he walked closer to her like always and sighed. "If even he could see it I guess it's just that obvious." Watching his red hair wave back and forth with his every movement she wondered what to say to him as she sat there or if she should even say anything at all before finally deciding to speak up. "He might be young but..." Every action and movement he did never seemed too childlike to her instead he seemed a little too mature for his age and she always found comfort in him whenever she came to visit. "Then again I guess with the things he's been through it makes sense..." However she tried to ignore those horrible memories as she spoke up.

"I guess you could say there's something wrong..."

"What is it?"

Staring deep into his red gaze she sighed as she tried to find the words to say before breaking contact.

"Living in a cage...How are you able to do it?"

Knowing it was partially her fault she refused to look at him after asking that but Xilo's eyes never left her face as a rare smile surfaced on his face.

"How am I able to do it you ask?"

*Clink*

"Well I think the biggest reason is being able to talk to you every week."

Rolling her eyes at his answer she turned back to face him to see how serious he was only to be a bit shocked not finding any traces of him joking. "Is it really that worth it to talk to me?" But she knew he was telling the truth. Ever since he had come here the two of them have always been like brother and sister and she had always enjoyed this time. It made her feel free of worry and burden but she never really knew what Xilo thought of it or why he chose this path.

"Enough joking around what's your real answer."

Trying to hide her slight embarrassment at his words her voice turned a little stern.

"hmmmm I don't think I'm joking myself completely but if you want the other part of my answer then it's quite simple. I chose to be here. Nothing more, nothing less."

"But why did you choose to be here?"

"Now that's a bit of a difficult question.....I guess you can think of it as me punishing myself. I deserve it after all."

"You know that isn't true...."

"Maybe but this conversation isn't about me. So why did you ask me that?"

"I'm just feeling a lot of stress lately that's all..."

"Is it your father again?"

Hearing his words her whole body froze up as it became slightly hard to breathe. Sitting still she tried to control herself as she remembered what her father did to her mother but she couldn't stop herself.

"Settle down, It's okay."

Feeling a slight touch on her leg she felt herself unstiffen as she watched Xilo gently rub her leg trying to help calm her down. "Get ahold of yourself...One day I'll...." Shaking her head she didn't finish that thought as she smiled again a little less forced this time around.

"Sorry about that..but you are right, how did you know?"

"You almost always come here to complain about him at some point during our conversations so it wasn't hard to guess.'

"Haha..."

Laughing awkwardly her voice trailed off as she didn't know what to say to that, It was the truth after all. She usually came down here to spend time with Xilo but a part of her also came here to complain and have someone listen to her. Unfortunately she had no one else to come to so this was her only option even though she felt a little bad about it. "He already has so much on his mind to deal with and yet." But he never complained about it when she talked to him so she always figured it was okay.

"I can stop..."

"Don't worry. No matter what we're talking about I'll enjoy it. Like I said you're a part of the reason I chose this after all."

Staring at Xilo's smile as he spoke those words it was the last thing Althea heard before she felt her body get lighter before she opened her eyes and stared at the roof of her room.

"Xilo..."

With a bit of a struggle she lifted herself off her bed as she felt a slight headache before she finally opened her eyes fully to see daylight slightly shining down on her.

"Another dream I can barely remember…"

Yet that had always been a pretty normal occurrence for her. Sometimes she would remember parts later and other times she would never remember it again. She didn't quite understand why they happened or how but there was nothing she could do about except let it run it's course. However one thing always stayed clear in her heart after every dream.

"The emotions."

Ironically though she hated the most out of the whole thing.