Chapter 1-2: Prologue

As time went by, I had more or less acclimatized to this island and was able to survive.

This island was a place where survival wasn't as simple as I'd thought, and without a certain amount of strength, the hostile nature of the place would devour you.

The natives of this island had to be strong to be able to live there.

One day, the semblance of peace I'd built up over the years was shattered... She'd found me.

She was standing at the entrance to my cave, carrying a child of about five years old.

I didn't need to understand her words to grasp their meaning.

The black hair and light purple irises on this little girl indicated that I was her father.

The past, he refused to let me go, no matter how hard I tried to get rid of it.

Once again, I was about to make a decision I'd come to regret, believing that making the wrong choices was what defined me.

I had refused to acknowledge this child, I had refused to give her the love she was entitled to receive from her father.

I blamed myself for my selfishness and stupidity, but I didn't want to accept it, I was just trying not to get attached to this island I hated.

I hoped that through this rejection, she and her child would forget me and go off to live their lives far from the piece of garbage that I was...

The very next day, my hopes were dashed...

They returned, this time with food, I hadn't seen a meal of this quality in a long time, but I refused to speak to them or accept anything from them.

So the days went by, and so did the years, and through it all, they never stopped coming to visit me despite my stubborn disregard for them.

The girl had grown into a beautiful young woman, just like her mother.

As for me, I was aging much faster than normal. The wounds hidden in my body had a lot to do with it, weakening me enormously over time.

Eventually, I got used to their presence, especially that of the little one, whom I unconsciously enjoyed watching grow up.

She came every day, even without her mother, as soon as she was old enough.

She was curious, cheerful, and very energetic, constantly trying to ransack my haven of peace.

She spent an enormous amount of time talking about various things that I didn't understand at first, but which, with monologue after monologue on her part, I came to understand, even though I continued to pretend otherwise.

Although I continued to pretend she didn't exist, she didn't seem to mind, nor did it dampen her spirits.

She always had a smile on her face as bright as the sun, and that smile was the thing that most characterized her.

his joy of living was almost contagious...

Then one day, she stopped coming, and I knew the reason, she was pregnant...

Before I knew it, she had become a woman capable of carrying a child...

She spoke of her condition with joy and seemed genuinely happy to be able to become a mother.

I noted bitterly that although I had stopped moving forward, time was still running its course.

Was I going to end up so sad? I was about to become a grandfather, did I want to continue being so distant with them?

I didn't want that anymore, I wanted to at least address them before I was finished, tell them I knew their names, tell 'my daughter' that all her monologues had been for nothing, I wanted to beg their forgiveness.

But just as I was making up my mind, footsteps stopped in front of my cave.

It was Maha, the woman whose beauty even time had failed to steal.

But why had she come to me in the pouring rain?

Were they tears or were they raindrops on her face? I didn't know, but a deep sense of unease came over me at the panicked sight of her. And before she could speak to me, I'd set off at full speed towards the village.

There was no one outside in the stormy rain, and I headed straight for the place where I'd been nursed during my stay, hoping she was there.

The room was dimly lit, and in one corner, there she was!

Sitting on a straw bed that was still stained with her blood, she was alone, cradling the sleeping child in her arms, wearing a smile of joy and affection towards the baby.

When she noticed me, her tears began to flow, and like her, I began to cry to accompany her.

At that very moment, the only thing tidying me up was regret; I regretted ignoring her, and I regretted not making conversation with her when she came to me full of enthusiasm.

Now I had no time for that, for the beautiful flower she was was wilting right before my eyes.

I couldn't let things end like this, I had to apologize to her, I had to tell her that I could understand her stories, that she wasn't talking in a vacuum, that I could discuss with her...

''I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Forgive me, Mirha''.

These were my first words addressed to a person in over twenty years, I couldn't do anything but beg my daughter's forgiveness, I didn't expect her to, they were just the words that seemed the most natural to address to her.

<<T-this is the happiest day of my life... I've given birth to a beautiful son and Aka* has finally spoken me.< p>

She began to cry even harder while hugging me with the baby between us, and another person joined our embrace, it was Maha.

<< The three people I love most in the world are with me, I couldn't be happier.

''H-how can you love me? I've never done anything for you... I've been a horrible father.''

I didn't understand how this was possible... Why did she have affection for me?

I was full of disbelief and tears as she looked at me with her usual smile.

<<The moments we spent together were enough to make you a wonderful aka*.< p>

... How?

<< No child on this island can say they've spent more time with their aka than I have... For some time now, I'd noticed that you could understand me and despite that, you always listened to my stories and paid attention to my complaints, you were the only one I could confide in freely when I felt the need.

I didn't deserve to be seen like that by her, I'd ignored her and didn't even want to see her in the first place...

My heart was bleeding and my tears wouldn't stop flowing, in the face of her words filled with kindness towards me, my guilt towards her only grew stronger.

I could feel Mirha's grip weakening and with her mother's help, we rested her on the mat with the baby still in her arms, about to wake up.

<< Koma*... It's not your fault what's happening to me, it's me who wasn't strong enough... Please stop crying... I only have two regrets in this... Life, not being able to get to know you more Aka, and also not being able to... Be there for Habel, but I'm happy to leave him to you.

Mihra's breath of life had become so weak, that Maha was trembling and crying hard as she watched her daughter fade away.

My heart was heavy, my breathing more and more chaotic, I couldn't make a sound - was this what it felt like to lose a loved one?

Today, if I had the choice between saving Mihra and leaving this island, I'd choose to save her.

... Who would have thought that one day, I would think like this, The love I felt for my daughter had taken precedence over my dreams.

<< Aka... Can... I know... Your name...?

As I drank in a deep scent of sadness, her faint voice reached me asking for my name, it was her last request of me, a name I'd never told anyone on this island.

I was quick to reply: << V-Vald, my name is Vald.

...She had stopped breathing.

Had she heard my name? I preferred to think so, hoping so from the bottom of my heart.

There she lay, with that smile hanging on her lips, which remained resplendent to the end.

That night, the sky had rumbled, and the rain had never been so heavy, like a requiem, the sky accompanying the baby's cries and wails.

The sky's lamentations were welcome for this moment... Apart from us, no one could hear us succumb to grief.

...

Time flew by since that day, and here I was, having so wanted to die before, hoping that time would pass slowly, wishing that my death would come as late as possible.

Unfortunately, the wounds I'd carried since my shipwreck on this island were killing me a little more each day, and I hadn't managed to heal my wounds despite the help I'd received from Maha.

These many years of perfectly executed non-treatment were going to get the better of me... I still found the abnormal rate at which I was aging strange, but I had no logical reason other than my injuries to justify it.

I didn't have long to live, and I wanted to devote all the time I had left to Maha and Habel.

What I had done to Maha was unforgivable, and asking her to apologize would do no good, so I took her as my wife according to the customs of this island and did my best to offer her all the love I could with the little time I had left, even though I imagine the scar would never go away.

As for Habel, I taught him everything I knew without telling him too much about where I'd come from, not answering his inquisitive questions about the outside world.

I didn't want this island to crush his dreams like me.

It was a pity that such a child had been born here; he was too exceptional, even for me, who had often been described as a genius as a child.

I didn't have what it took with me to fully exploit his potential.

..... Unfortunately, I wasn't able to teach him everything I wanted to because I didn't have enough time.

''Only 10 years old and I'm already coming to join you, Mirha".

It's sad to live under 60 years, but that's to be expected with this handicap.

.... Ha, here's the finish line, will my parents be on the other side?

... No, they must both still be in great shape, I hope it lasts a long time for them.

I've been a bad son, I'm sad not to be able to say goodbye to them, they loved me so much now that I think about it.

All those restrictions were just to help me grow up properly, too bad...

... At least there's one thing I'm no different from my childhood heroes, like them, I too was going to die happy.

At my side were my wife, Maha, and my grandson, Habel. They were with me as I watched the magnificent sunset for the last time.

...It was a beautiful journey.

Somewhere in the world, a sapphire moon broke and deep lamentations followed day and night for a long time...

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Aka: this word means father.

Koma: this word means mother.