[b]Li-Li ~Meadow of Emergence~[/b]

These eyes of mine. The eyes of the girl born out of time, daughter to cosmic eldritch beings of unspeakable and unknowable ability. These eternal eyes of mine that hold infinite power, pick now to play tricks on me. I blink once, twice, a third time slowly. Nope. He's still here, which means he's real. I examine his aura. It's definitely not an imposter. So it is definitely my Uncle Alistair. How am I going to explain any of this to my mother?

I set those thoughts aside for now, there's more pressing matters to deal with. "Uncle Alistair, glad you're not dead." I walk up to him and go straight for his jacket pocket, where I know he hides the chocolates. I grab a handful. After popping one in my mouth, I make myself comfortable on the meadow floor.

"Look I have several questions, as I'm sure you know. So let's cut to the chase. Why doesn't he already know you're here to begin with? Shouldn't he sense you're not part of his whole?"


[b] The First Lotus ~The Oasis~[/b]

His question surprises me, as much as mine must have surprised him.

"Technically speaking, dreams are memories. You have to know to dream. To know it, you must have the knowledge. To have the knowledge to beget the dream, you must recall it. You recall it from memory."

Slowly, I start to uncurl, coming out of myself.

"Then again I am a pragmatist, that sounds like the sort of question to ask the Current." After all, she's the dreamer. There it is. The twinge that accompanies me nearly each time I think of her. I feel it again. Resentment. 

This isn't what I wanted. It's time to get to it. My voice comes out softer and quieter than I mean it to. That's also not what I wanted but for some reason I'm feeling shy, nervous even. It's ridiculous. 

"I didn't want to get into anything while Lilianna was here. She summoned me for a job to do and I plan to do it. However while she's gone, I think this might be a good chance to..." I trail off a moment to glance at him. The feelings swell again inside me and I rush on, annoyance helping to push the words out," I think we need to clear the air." Perhaps we don't. "A moment of honesty." This will probably get ugly. "I'm going to sit right here and tell you all that comes to me and if you have something to say....please say it."

Now that the words have been released there's no going back. It's time to dig up the past and possibly nail a final nail in the coffin.