Growing Concessions (2)

"I'm not upset!" Sakura yells as she starts her exercise.

"You're clearly mad at me. I can't resolve the problem if you don't tell me what I did wrong."

"You're not going to listen anyway. You'll just make us look stupid for questioning you and do what you want." Sakura rapidly busts out one rep after another. I've been lifting with her for weeks, but I've never seen her lift this much. With one large plate on either side, the total weight comes to about ninety-one pounds. I assume this is about as much as she weighs, yet she's cranking out reps at an insane pace.

"I'm sorry if you feel that way; that wasn't my intention. I value both your opinions, and I don't mean to dismiss either of you or make you feel stupid. If there is something that you want to discuss, then I'm all ears."

"Just shut up!" I look at Josh, who seems just as confused as I am. I've done everything I can at this point, so I disengage and return to my workout. Woohee is flying around frantically, not knowing what to do.

"Woohee, calm down. Everything will be okay. She'll come talk to me when she's ready."

"But Sakura's really angry."

"People are quick to get upset when they feel like they're being disrespected or looked down upon. She probably has some grievances that she's struggling to articulate because she's so upset. All we need to do is give her some space. Actually, she only seems mad at me, so I think you should be able to talk to her."

"Woohee will ask her."

"Okay, just don't push it. She may project her frustration onto you if you push her too hard."

"Okay." Woohee flies back over to the kids, and I get back to my own set.

Dealing with people is hard. I try to ensure everyone's needs are met, and I still manage to piss people off. I must have missed something; I should think through everything that has happened today.

I go over everything I said to her but still don't know what I did wrong. The only thing I can think of is that I'm over-explaining things too much, but I need to pace things out for Josh. He's so detail-oriented that he needs every step explained, or he'll get confused. I try to stay quiet so as to not draw any attention to myself. I do a rotation of bench presses, squats, and deadlifts until I feel satisfied and then head back outside. The soft light of the suns presses down through the leaves above, leaving a floral pattern painted across the ground. I lie down and take in the majesty of the sights around me. I try to forget everything else that's happening and focus on being present while I'm stressed. Beads of sweat roll down the sides of my face while I enjoy the still air. I fall asleep after a few minutes, but before I completely lose consciousness, the kids appear from within the den. I don't want to make any waves by ignoring them, so I try to start a conversation.

"How was the workout?"

"It was fine." Josh humors me with a response.

"Hmmh." Sakura, on the other hand, makes a show of ignoring me.

"Do you two still want to go hunting? I think Woohee would appreciate it."

"That's what pisses me off. You're always trying to control us by telling us what to do, and if we disagree, you just make us feel stupid."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

"Then why don't we take a break so you can figure out what you want to do, and then we'll do that."

"You're just saying that to stop me from complaining!"

"Sakura, I don't know what you want me to do. I don't understand why you're upset. If you want more say in the decision-making process, that's fine, but you need to tell me what you want."

"Are you going to abandon us?" Sakura asks me while staring directly into my eyes.

"What? No, of course not." I can see Josh looking just as scared and confused as I. This is coming out of nowhere, and I don't know how to handle this situation. If this were the old me, I would probably just leave so as not to escalate the situation, but I've grown since then. I want to resolve this problem. I may not know what I did, but I want to see this through either way.

"What if you had to choose between us or the fairies?" Sakura demands with an accusing tone.

"Why would I have to do that?" Woohee hides behind my head at the sudden mention of her species.

"See! You can't even answer."

"What has gotten into you?"

"What has gotten into me!? What has gotten into you!?" Sakura's whole face is red at this point. I've completely lost control of the situation, and I still don't understand why she's upset. Even Josh is backing away from the normally air-headed girl. Thoughts are racing through my mind at a mile a minute. I don't normally think of Sakura and Josh as children, but maybe that's how I need to approach this situation; maybe she's just having a tantrum.

"I'm trying to care for the people I'm close to. That includes my family, yourself, Josh, and, yes, the fairies. If you've got a problem with that, then just say it." I'm trying to keep my cool, but her boiling rage is also beginning to infect me.

"So, who do you care about more?"

"Don't." I hiss.

"Are you going to throw us away if it means saving your fairies? Are we just getting in the way?"

"I don't know where this is coming from, but I'm training to make sure that possibility will never come to pass. I care about my friends equally, and I won't be choosing favorites. If you have a problem with that, then you can leave." The thought of abandoning one of my friends appears to have struck a nerve, and I make an ultimatum.

"Fine!" Sakura stomps off back to town. I turn to Josh as she disappears into the foliage.

"Can you go with her? I want to make sure she gets back to town safely."

"O-okay." Josh jogs off after Sakura.

"Sakura's mad." Woohee says nervously after Josh has left. "Why is she so mad?"

"I'm not sure. Her thoughts were pretty jumbled, so it's probably a number of things that have built up over time."

"What are we going to do now?"

"Well, there's not much we can do to resolve her problems if we don't know what they are. In all likelihood, she's just going to get more upset if I keep pressing the issue, so it might be best if we take a break from each other. We have spent almost every day together for the last few weeks. I know I tend to get on people's nerves, so this might be for the best. In the meantime, we should go hunting; we can still make some money for the party."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Shouldn't we go check on Sakura?"

"She's mad at me. Running over to bother her isn't going to help."

"...Okay."