That earned a round of laughter. Even Jabir joined in, the sound bubbling out of him before he could stop it.
It felt… good.
Easy.
“Did Empress Nali help you find your friends?” Gabby asked after a moment.
Jabir nodded. “Yeah. They’re at the palace now. Safe. Probably causing trouble.”
Williston’s hand came to rest gently on Jabir’s shoulder. “You’re lucky, you know. To have friends who come looking when you’re lost.”
Gabby glanced sideways and nudged Williston’s elbow. “Like someone else I know.”
Mikey perked up. “Oh! Williston got lost on the way back from the lake last week.”
Williston groaned. “Mikey…”
“He was real scared until Gabby found him,” Mikey continued.
Jabir blinked and looked more closely. “Wait… are you wearing glasses now?”
Williston sighed but grinned. “Yeah. Turns out everything was blurry. I just thought everyone looked fuzzy. I was bumping into stuff all the time, and they thought I was just clumsy.”
“If he hadn’t gotten lost,” Gabby said, “he might never have told us. We’d still think he was part earthquake.”
Mikey leaned in earnestly. “I think you look smart. And handsome!”
Williston’s grin stretched wide. “Careful,” he said. “You’ll give me a big head.”
Gabby snorted. “Too late.”
They all laughed again, the sound echoing gently in the clearing.
Jabir watched them tease, bicker, and smile like they’d known each other forever.
Something tugged in his chest.
A warm ache.
The kind he felt when he was watching a moment that mattered—something small, yet strangely sacred. Similar to when one of the rescue animals had a new litter. He lifted a hand and rubbed absently at his sternum. That hollow ache pressed a little deeper.
They’re just like us, he thought. Me and Bálint. Roam. Zohar. Phoenix. The girls. All of them.
They bickered. Teased. Ate too much. Cared too hard.
But they were his family.
And he missed them.
Deeply.
Jabir stayed a little longer, trading stories and listening to Mikey’s surprisingly detailed rundown of ‘all the kinds of pebbles that make good skipping stones.’ But eventually, the moment came.
He stood.
The trolls rose too.
“I never said it before,” Jabir said, his voice thick with emotion. “But thank you. For taking me in. For helping me when I had no idea where I was.”
