"Dan."
Whipping his gaze towards me, those golden orbs softened as he took one step towards us.
"...I never thought I would ever be released. But here I am."
Aaron gave his best try at a smile, with one eye still turned towards Ralph's apartment, as he tried to play off the tragedy of his imprisonment. Holding the bouquet in front of him, he gave a small and tired sigh as he turned and placed it in front of the railing directly in front of Ralph's apartment door.
"...It would be a little too much to place these flowers in front of the door, right?"
He muttered as he placed them facing away from Ralph's door. Squatting down in front of them, Aaron closed his eyes and clasped his hands in prayer. Muttering several words too soft for the rest of us to hear, he then clapped his hands twice before opening his eyes and standing up.
The flowers in the bouquet were common mourning flowers. They were small, pink, and white, and their petals were like waves of light spilling out from an open door.
He straightened his back, turned to the three of us, and walked in front of me.
Those eyes were almost the same as I had remembered them so many years ago. Back when Leo was still alive and well, we used to barge into Uril and Aaron's apartment to play.
During those simpler times, we would make ourselves at home on their sofa as Uril sighed helplessly at us. However, even though he would warn us not to anyhow enter people's homes, he would still grab several homemade sweets for us to munch on as we accompanied him throughout the day.
Aaron used to be a market seller, and so he would go to work early in the morning and come back late at night, leaving Uril, who was the one in charge of crafting the goods they were selling, alone in their apartment. And so, because we had plenty of time after school, Leo and I would intrude into their apartment and help Uril with his handicrafts. And Mom would come over now and then to help out as well.
The days we had spent with Uril were peaceful and fulfilling. But all that changed when Leo was diagnosed.
Staring at Aaron as he came closer, the old memory of him, a young man deep in love and still mostly naive towards the world, faded and twisted into the tired and beaten-down man in front of me.
He stopped just a small distance in front of me, bending his knees to reach my eye level as he raised a hand to pat my head. Feeling those large and calloused hands comb through my hair, I reached out my own hand and laid it on his as a sign of comfort.
"Long time no see."
Shifting his gaze to Ralph, who had stuck himself to my side and was glaring fiercely at him, Aaron gave Ralph a kind smile as he removed his hand from my head.
"Sorry for scaring you just now."
Looking past Ralph, he spotted Oliver and gave him an equally kind smile.
"Hello."
He then returned his gaze to me, his face serious.
"Are Elaine and Van home? I have something important to tell them."
I nodded my head as Aaron stood up, and the four of us made our way to Oliver and my apartment. Stopping in front of the door, he lifted his knuckles and rapped softly on the metal.
"Yes! Coming!"
Hearing my mother's shouts from behind the door, the loud sound of footsteps echoed out into the corridor as the door swung open with enthusiasm.
"Dan! Oliver! Welcome home!"
Shouting with a large smile, my mother opened her eyes to realize that the person in front of her wasn't the two children she was expecting. Instead, it was a man who she thought she would never see again.
"Aaron?"
Stunned, my mother blinked her eyes several times, even rubbing them with the back of her hand, before her brain finally processed the reality that was in front of her.
"Long time no see, Elaine."
"...Aaron."
Her face broke out into a wide smile as she opened her arms and pulled Aaron into a strong hug.
"I thought they would never release you."
"Me too."
Reciprocating her hug, Aaron then pulled away and switched his tired smile for a serious look.
"But I'm afraid that my release doesn't bring any good news."
The joyful mood instantly sank and was instead replaced with heavy air. With furrowed brows, my mother first led Aaron into the house, with us following in after, and sat him on the living room chair.
When my father saw the tense atmosphere combined with Aaron's unexpected presence, he quietly followed us and helped my mother pass a cup of hot water to Aaron. Then, when all of us were seated, she gestured for him to continue.
"They're clearing up the High street jails."
Aaron started with that sentence, and the rest of us perked up to listen as our faces twisted more and more.
This morning, probably during the trap of a public meeting, the police guards were ordered to gather up the past faction offenders into a small white room somewhere in the prison facility. There, the inmates were made to wait, isolated from the outside, with three guards constantly stationed by the room doors.
Then, sometime in the afternoon, someone important looking opened the door violently. They had strutted in with an air of arrogance, their movements practically screaming that they were from the government. Looking down on the faction members, that person snorted as he cleared his throat and announced in a high and mighty tone.
'Be grateful, you inmates. Because today is the day that you will be cleared of your past transgressions against the law and be granted the privilege to walk and sweat under the sun. Due to the benevolence of those chosen by the hand of god to oversee our glorious kingdom, your lowly selves will be provided a generous loot of supplies with which you will depart from this rehabilitation center with.'
Clearing his throat as he finished his overly long-winded speech, the man then exited the room with his head held high, an upstuck look on his face as his poor subordinates started handing out the 'generous supplies' that were mentioned.
Each inmate received a thick second-hand coat, warm second-hand boots, as well as a simple shirt and pants to leave the jail with. Then, having the inmates line up via their serial numbers, everyone was slowly released.
"Since my serial number was in the later half, I was only released around half an hour ago. My own personal belongings were confiscated so many years ago, and I doubt they keep the belongings of inmates, so I just left with what they gave me. I went to find Ivan in Middle Market, and he said he'd find a place for me to live. He also gave me some money to buy a bouquet of flowers to give Uril."
Reaching the end of his story, my mother gave Aaron a sad smile as she stood up to give him another hug.
"Where are you sleeping tonight?"
Sitting beside my mother, my father watched the two of them embrace and asked when they parted.
"...I hadn't really thought of that."
I looked around our living room. We had a television, a long table, and several chairs, but no sofa. He couldn't stay here for the night.
"If I'm not wrong, Dara should have a sofa in her house."
Standing up from his seat, my father escorted Aaron towards the door as he spoke.
"Not only does she have a sofa, Dara has Uril's things. She keeps them in case anyone comes to collect them. And if there's no one left, she'll help burry them in the cemetery."
Reaching the door, my father opened it, and all the warmth in the house seemed to rush out. Behind him, I saw Aaron nod his head as he followed my father out of the apartment. Seeing the door close behind them, my mother retreated back to the kitchen, leaving us three children alone.
"What's going on?"
Ralph's confused voice whispered to me from my left. Turning to him, I saw his eyes, the color of melted ice, stare at me with innocence. Giving him a smile, I flickered my gaze to the kitchen and ensured that I could not see my mother before lowering my voice to whisper to him.
"I'm just guessing, but since Aaron mentioned that those people in High street are releasing some of the prisoners, they might be making space to capture more 'important' people from the faction."
Like Raven, Mark, or James.
Shifting my gaze over to Oliver, I saw him nod his head at my guess.
"The reforms happening at all the research centers, based on Raven's report, have only caught a handful of protesters. Definitely not enough for them to clear out the jails. They're probably planning something worse than the reforms. That, or their public assembly trap has caught more people than they've expected."
Oliver frowned and shook his head.
"Either way, it's not good news."
With a worried face, Ralph sighed as he sneaked a glance towards my apartment door, where my father and Aaron had just left through.
"Aaron?"
"Oh, Aaron is Uril's boyfriend. Uril was the guy who used to live in your apartment. He left the doors open just a couple months ago."
"..."
Falling into silence, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe that apartment was cursed. Even though open doors weren't particularly rare, especially on the lower streets, it was still traumatizing to experience them. Lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice anything until a cold hand was laid on my own. Lifting my head, I could see those eyes of melted ice shine with a slightly sad light.
"Could you tell me about Uril and Aaron?"
Behind Ralph, Oliver was also looking my way. Although he didn't say anything, his full attention seemed to be focused on me.
"Well...where should I begin?"
Combing through my memories, I carefully touched them in my mind one by one as I went further and further into the past.
"I guess I should start when we first met the two of them."