BEING IN THR MOMENT.

     "Yes Mom..", Navi responds with his gaze still on the horizon nit daring to check the kind of face she's making.

     "I'm not scared.. or atleast not as scared as I used to be.", Eleanora begins with her gaze on the forest horizons.

     Navi doesn't respond to her with his Mind entering a strange sense of eerie calm despite his heart clenching in pain. He does his best to steady his breath as he calmly breaths in and out.

     Eleanora gives the swing she's sitting on a very small push with her legs just enough to rock her body back and forth. Despite sitting on the vine swing, Navi stands just a little taller than her but it's expected considering he only had his twelfth birthday three days ago.

     "You know, I had a Mom too,..  your grandma. She isn't the best suited for parenting and I don't blame her for that but there's one thing she said on her death bed that I subconsciously always wanted to have. Not that I think of it, it's always been my life goal. Your grandma said..

     "'We are elves, embodiments of life. Even if we cannot do much in life atleast, we should do something to make death proud to take us..'.

     Eleanora pauses her speech for a while as if to lets a silent Navi digest her words and then she says boldly.

     "I am proud..".

     "I truly didn't think I'll say this so early but I'm proud because I raised you,.. Îgorus Navïælét -Vęr- Firųs. Twelve years ago I used to wonder if Death would ever be proud to take me when my time comes. I had no goals, no drive, no aspiration but I had a lot of anger cause I lived in fantasy instead of reality. I wasn't too scared die but now sitting to think of it I was much more scared of living...

     "I knew that i wasn't living the worse life nor the best life but my life just didn't have a lot of colours at that time. Maturing is realising everyone goes through that phrase and drive comes from knowing that very few walk out of that phrase.

     "You were my exit. I still remember the emotions in me when I first found out about you,.. they weren't all positive but atleast they were emotions and then moving on to delivery, you gave me the courage to run. Tge courage to keep on living", Eleanora says while looking at the horizon calmly alongside a very quiet Navi.

     "Twelve years.. through out my life I think I only truly lived for these twelve years I spent being a mother,.. Thank you. I'm happy and at peace with life but I absolutely do not want you to live like me.

     "I want you to live way more fiercely. Don't die early but don't live in fear of death. Be bold in everything you do and remember your names, Navïælét -Vęr- Firųs.. last member of the Îgorus family's tree,.. not a bastard son to no-one but a son to the unknown! and last but not least, my child."

     Navi silently clenches his left fist till they take on an unhealthy shade of pale but he didn't respond or changes his facial expression as he just keeps staring at the horizon together with a very peaceful Eleanora.

The aura was heavy for a while but then

..

     "I want pap..", Navi suddenly breaks the very heavy silence with an unusual statement.

     "Um..", Eleanora says in surprise and confusion as she looks towards his face.

     "I am craving pap..", Navi says once more as he finally turns to look at Eleanora's face with a bitter-sweet smile that looks a lot more genuine this time hanging stupidly on his small face.

     Eleanora looks at her sons face for a few seconds and then with a wide smile that completely dissolves the tension, she says.. "OK, let's have Mangrove pap today".

...

...

     Together the mother and son went back indoors while reversing the roles for the first time in the last three years. Normally Navi does all the cooking due to his mother's health but today, his mother Eleanora is the hand behind the stove.

     Eleanora has never been a good cook, infact Navi can boast of being several times better than her but oddly, today he's badly craving her mediocre cooking.

     There's an obvious shortage of meat in the Outskirts but this shortage is several more times to crops. The land is corrupted so the best of seeds yield the worse of results.

     The only things easily grown in these cursed lands are poisonous or desolate crops.

     Of course the powerful Cultivators have developed a way around this restrictions but even then real crops were still more expensive than raw meat and so something like the energy rich Mangrove Pap is quite the feast.

     Sitting on a couch with his head supported by a palm, Navi calmly washes his mom fumble around  in the kitchen. Despite her extremely frail form, she seems to genuinely enjoys the very prospect of cooking or rather cooking for her son.

     It took about six long hours but finally, Mangrove Pap is done. Navi helps his mother serve it up on their small table for two as they pulled the chairs.

     Light brown Mangrove pap placed in a small Porcelain bowl. A small green leaf is left floating at the centre of the liquid dish with other meaty and creamy side dishes on the side.

     It looked appetising.

     More appetising than anything Eleanora ever made before and Navi felt starved just by looking at the dish.

     Knowing the usual routine where his mother waits for him to taste the food before she eats, Navi picks up his spoon and takes a scoop of the warm reddish-brown pap.

     *Puff* *Puff*

     He gives two light blow over his filled spoon and then brings it into his mouth. He pauses his hand movement with the spoon in his mouth as his eyes darts around a bit in slight surprise.

     He slowly pulls the spoon out of his mouth as his tongue rolls in the sensations put in his mouth before he swallows it all down with a gulp.

     Navi leans his back against the chair before giving a chuckle that contains both surprise and excitement.

     "Perfect..", He comments with a genuine wide smile.

     Eleanora smiles grows wider hearing his comments and seeing his face. Navi is not someone who put a lot of emotions on his face and anything that forces this much reaction out of him is nothing short in extraordinary. Eleanora adores the fact he's making such an open reaction from her dish.

     Her happy smile soon turns into a very familiar smug one, "Of course it is..  I only make perfect meals" she brags while lifting her chin up.

     Navi laughs out at his mother's act with his eyes moistening sadly for some reasons. Shaking off every negative emotions, he dives into his meal just being.. in the moment.