Amid the familiar drowsiness, someone seemed to be calling his name.
Still groggy, Jonas opened his eyes and found nothing before him but an empty void.
After a while, that impenetrable void disappeared, replaced by a brilliant expanse of stars. Jonas gently reached out to touch it. At his touch, the stars shattered into specks of light that scattered everywhere. Though their drifting seemed aimless, they quietly gathered toward the center, surrounding the white-haired little girl who walked toward Jonas.
Annis Erdoka. Little An.
Come to think of it, hadn't it been quite a while since Little An had last sought him out?
"You came."
Little An glanced at Jonas and naturally held out both hands. She kept them suspended in the air, her compound eyes fixed on him. When Jonas seemed not to understand what she meant, she tilted her head in confusion and walked over.
She lifted her head, rose gently onto her toes, and spread her arms, opening her slender little hands as well.
The gesture made Jonas pause in surprise. Only after a moment did he realize what she meant.
It was almost exactly the same as last time. When he had last seen Little An, she seemed to have asked for a hug like this, too.
Unlike his hesitation last time, Jonas held out his hands, and the white-haired little girl willingly moved closer. He slid his hands beneath her arms and gently lifted her up. Annis Erdoka wrapped her arms around his neck, and the cool touch of her little hands against it felt somewhat familiar.
It was almost exactly the same as last time.
"Fatigue. Revelation. Drowsiness."
"What?"
Little An spoke in fragments. She didn't look injured. If he had to describe it, she seemed rather like she had after telling him the