The gang had just arrived at the train station, the clamour of departing travellers blending with the metallic groan of engines and the constant murmur of voices. The four of them moved as a group through the crowd until suddenly, Keiran stopped.
Roy, Tanaka, and Brock paused, glancing back at him with confused expressions.
"What's up?" Tanaka asked, adjusting his bag.
Keiran's gaze was fixed on the front of the station. His lips pressed into a thin line. "… I'm going to meet someone. I told you lot earlier, remember?"
It took them a second to remember. Roy was the first to nod. "Your sister."
"Right," Brock added, his brows lifting. "Aarti, wasn't it?"
Keiran gave a single nod, his shoulders stiff. "Yeah. Aarti."
There was a silence before Tanaka broke it with an awkward grin. "Well… good luck with that. Family reunions can be scarier than fights sometimes."
Roy clapped a hand against Keiran's shoulder once. It was quick, almost dismissive, but enough to say he understood. 'We'll leave you to it.'
With that, the three of them peeled off toward their platform, fading into the crowd until Keiran stood alone.
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, a restless storm churning inside of him. His heart pounded. Not with fear, not exactly, but with something sharper. A mess of anticipation, guilt, and hope all tangled together.
Minutes ticked by.
Maybe he was at the wrong location. The thing was, they didn't decide on a location yet, so he was just hoping that they'd meet here by coincidence.
But maybe he was wrong.
And then he saw her.
Aarti.
She moved through the crowd with a sharp, confident stride that was unmistakable, even without her scholar's robe. But as she drew closer and her eyes found his, the stride faltered. The sharpness softened. By the time she stopped in front of him, all that was left was silence.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
"…Keiran." Her voice cracked slightly, though her face remained composed.
"…Aarti." He swallowed, the word heavy on his tongue.
Another pause. Travellers brushed past them on all sides, but the noise felt far away, as if the world itself had dimmed for this single encounter.
She studied him from head to toe, focusing on his features and, especially, his height; at six feet, he towered over her five-foot-six frame.
Aarti finally broke the silence, her tone careful. "You look… different."
Keiran gave a weak huff of laughter. "So do you." His eyes flicked down and back up. "Guess the scholar's robe wasn't lying. You really made it."
Her lips curved faintly. Not quite a smile, but close. "And you really… disappeared."
The words stung, but not unfairly. Keiran nodded once. "Yeah. I did."
The air between them tightened again. Aarti's eyes softened for a fraction of a second before she looked away, as though afraid of letting too much show.
Keiran took a slow breath, then forced the words out. "…Should we go somewhere else? A restaurant, maybe. It's been… a while. We should talk."
Aarti hesitated, searching his face. Then she nodded, the movement small but certain. "Alright."
They chose a quiet corner table in a small restaurant just outside the station. The air smelt faintly of spices and roasted meat, the low hum of other patrons filling the silence between them.
Keiran tapped his fingers against the wooden table, restless. Aarti sat across from him, posture straight, hands folded in her lap.
For a long while, neither spoke.
Finally, Keiran broke the silence. "…I thought about this moment. Like a lot. What I'd say to you if I ever saw you again." He let out a dry laugh. "Turns out, I've got nothing."
Aarti's gaze softened, but her tone remained even. "Maybe nothing is better than lies."
His jaw tightened. "You think I lied to you?"
"I think you left without a word," she said, her eyes flashing briefly. "Do you know what that did to us? To me?"
Keiran flinched. He hadn't expected her to go straight for the wound. "…I couldn't stay," he said quietly. "Not in that house. Not under his rules. I was suffocating, Aarti."
"And I wasn't?" She shot back. "You think I didn't feel the same? The only difference was… I stayed. I carried it. While you ran away."
Her words landed heavy, sharp enough to make him look down at the table. For a moment, the only sound was the clatter of dishes from the kitchen.
Keiran exhaled slowly. "…You're right. I did run. And I've hated myself for it every day since then." His voice cracked. "But staying would've broken me. I wouldn't be alive if I stayed."
Aarti's expression flickered, anger giving way to something else. Pain. She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes briefly. "…I wanted to hate you, Keiran. I tried to. But you were still my only little brother. Even when I told myself I'd forgotten you, I… couldn't."
Keiran's throat tightened. He wanted to say something, anything, but the words were stuck in his throat.
The silence stretched between them, heavy but different now. Not suffocating. More like the silence after a storm, when the air is still raw but clearer.
Finally, Aarti opened her eyes. "And still you are my little brother… We don't have to fix everything tonight. But we can start."
Keiran met her gaze. For the first time in years, there was no distance or mask, just his sister.
"…Yeah," he whispered. "Let's start."