"What time is it now?" Dash opened his eyes in the middle of a flight to China and looked at Devon, who was next to him, having a heated conversation with a guy who was a flat-earther.
Devon didn't take her eyes off the screen and said, "It's three in the morning. Didn't you want to sleep the whole trip?"
"Well, I had a bad dream..."
"What did you dream about?" Devon stopped typing and turned to look at Dash, who was staring at her differently than usual.
"It's complicated to explain with words. In that dream, my parents were suffering because of me, which I never thought would happen." Dash didn't think his parents could have suffered that way during and after his death.
Devon extended her hand and caressed Dash's cheek, who was crying without realizing it. "Take a deep breath, look at me, and see that it's just a bad dream."
"I'm fine." Dash's tone seemed calmer.
That dream was so real, and in it, he could see his parents' lives while he was sick, something he never thought he would see. To be honest, dreams were a product of his imagination, but right now, that dream was so real that he didn't think it was a product of fantasy.
"Come, let's listen to some music." Devon closed her computer and handed Dash some headphones.
Devon knew the complications her boyfriend had with his family. She knew everything he went through to pay for his mother's operations, and even though, in the end, Dash's father never charged him that money, the pain of the betrayal was something that destroyed him.
That pain was something Devon couldn't imagine, and even though Dash seemed to have overcome it, it was a pain that would always be present in him.
Who knows when it started, but Devon and Dash had become one, knowing what the other was thinking. Their relationship was smooth, calm, and slowly became much more open, to the point where neither needed anything else to be happy.
The subtle love they expressed to each other at every moment without mentioning it was what always kept them united and without any really significant fights.
"What will you do after this tournament?" Devon asked a question, and thanks to lowering the music, Dash could hear her.
"Hmm, I'd like to win a gold medal and, if possible, fight professionally." Dash knew there were many titles waiting for him, but he wouldn't be someone who trained to death to achieve them.
Devon knew that lately, Dash didn't need to train for eight hours a day to stay in peak condition. He only needed a few hours of training per day and rest to maintain his level.
Many might consider this false, but Dash had trained practically his entire stay here, so he only needed to keep his technique polished to be able to defeat most of his rivals.
"Some mixed martial arts? Boxing, or UFC... Would you give me permission?" Dash asked, caressing Devon's hand, waiting to know her response.
Devon looked at him and asked with some anger, "Didn't you mention creating a martial arts school where we'd teach people how to reconnect with themselves?"
"Then we'll see that later. It's not good to get ahead of ourselves." Dash had forgotten that proposal he made to Devon a few years ago. To be honest, he didn't expect her to still remember.
When Dash calmed down, he talked with Devon about trivial things before they both fell asleep, and when they opened their eyes, the plane was landing.
In a few more hours, they had arrived in China, where the mixed martial arts tournament, better known as the Senkai Tekai, would be held, and the best fighters were gathering to participate. The selected dojos came from all over the world, and only the best would qualify.
Passing through the control line, Dash could see a huge banner with the Sakura Bushido logo, and behind it, he could see Cheng waving his hand.
"They're already here. I told you we shouldn't have come so early." Cheng was annoyed with Dre, who had arrived two hours earlier.
Dre didn't pay attention to Cheng and said, "I wanted to come earlier, but I fell asleep. If we hadn't trained like crazy, maybe we wouldn't be so tired right now."
When Dash approached, he greeted Dre with a hug and said, "You didn't have to go through the trouble of coming."
"It's no trouble."
"I told him."
Devon smiled at seeing how these two childhood rivals had ended up becoming great friends, so she asked, "How have you been?"
"Everything's normal. Mr. Han is training everyone who will participate in the tournament. Believe it or not, he has completely changed since he became a great martial arts master." Dre explained all this with great excitement as they left the airport.
Dash felt at home. He had many friends, but very few were as close to him as these two friends, with whom he had participated in numerous tournaments.