Reunion

"Ajax... wait..." Adam said in a barely audible voice.

All members of the family, turned towards me. Adam's mother finally let go of him and after catching his breath, he pushed the chair towards me and said with a mischievous smile.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I awkwardly sat back down as the family continued to exchange greetings with Adams father giving him a pat on the back and telling him how proud he was with tears welling in his eyes, I began feeling even more out of place.

Emma simply rushed towards him and embraced him and spoke.

"You look awful."

Adam smiled and replied, "I missed you too, my foul mothed sister."

After, the family exchanged a group hug, Adams mother asked him with a shaky voice.

"What happened? They told us you were dead." Tears still visible in her eyes.

Adam smiled as he began to tell the story of the past few days once again, this time cutting out the details of how the corrupted swordsman tortured him, to ease the blow to his family but they were all still quite shaken as his father's eyes glinted with fury. However, when he told them of me 'rescuing' him they all looked at me with grateful eyes causing me to shrink back into my chair from the unfamiliar gaze.

**** Adam POV ****

I could hardly contain my laughter; this is probably the most emotion I had seen the kid express in the time I had known him. Even in the interrogation room when he was under questioning, he didn't look this panicked. He had shrunken back into his chair as if he was trying to disappear and his multicolored eyes began darting towards me and Corin as if asking for help. Causing both of us to begin laughing as he simply began staring at the ground.

"You saved my son?" My father was the first to speak up as he began walking towards him.

"Um, I- I didn't do much." Ajax said still seemingly trying to disappear.

At this point I was doubling over from laughter; the kid was so awkward in this situation that it was hilarious to watch, and I could even hear Corin as she attempted to suppress her laughter. Eventually my dad was a feet away from him and smiled attempting to pat him on the head.

However, as soon as he raised his hand Ajax flinched, pushing the chair backwards to get away from him as he raised a hand slightly above his head. The laughter in the room died down and Ajax seemed to realize what he had done as his face went back to the same impassive expression it always was, as he spoke in a low voice.

"Sorry."

My father was a bit taken aback by this but soon lowered his hand and had a sad smile on his face.

"It's alright."

I felt awful, I had taken it too far and I should have known better. The kid flinched at any physical contact and doesn't even know his own last name. It was obvious if I had just paid attention, I should take the time to apologize to him later but right now I needed to change the subject.

"Uh, so Ajax where will you be staying once you get to Copperfront?"

"Right, if you want, we can set you up in the refugee camp we created for the citizens of Ironguard but if you can arrange for someplace else then you can stay there as well." Corin said sensing my desperation to change the topic.

"Yeah, we would be more than willing to take you in for some time, right Ma?" I said looking towards my mother.

"Of course, it's the least we can do for the one who saved my boy." She said with a smile.

However, Ajax refused saying "Thank you, but I don't want to burden you any further, I'll stay in the refugee camps."

I was going to protest but my father sighed and said, "You can tell us if you change your mind and if you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask this knucklehead." he said pointing at me.

Apparently, my father had dealt with people like Ajax before, I wasn't surprised he'd been a hero for well over 20 years, so I decided to let him handle this. Seeing that we had come to an agreement, Corin spoke again.

"We should have a room ready for you by tomorrow and you will be provided with official documentation in a few days, including an awakened ID."

Right, the kid would need to register as an awakened, even if he couldn't attend the academy. He could still work as a hunter or mercenary but most likely not a hero. As all heroes are usually produced by one of two major academies in the world.

"Thank you." However, the kid really didn't seem to care he couldn't be a hero, or maybe he did, again I really couldn't tell with his indifferent expression. Most children wanted to be a hero so both me and Corin really expected him to be heartbroken when we told him he couldn't attend the academy, but the kid was just thankful that he could get into the city.

"You can sleep in the room assigned to you tonight, we will call you for transport to Copperfront tomorrow morning."

Ajax nodded and left the tent, leaving me, Corin and my family to discuss the plans the awakened association had to respond to the threat of the corrupted and the possibility of a second attack on Copperfront but after some time of talking I realized that my sister was not in the tent.

***** Ajax POV *****

I was thankful to finally leave the tent, I really felt like I was intruding on the moment Adam and his family were having and I was very frustrated by the way I had acted.

I really thought I was over him, after his death I never felt that fear again and didn't think I ever would but, in that moment ... I swear I saw him. I felt hate towards myself for letting it control me and shame that I still thought of him. He was not my father, he never was.

I could not change what had happened, I just wished that the Kane family were not angry at me because of it. They were nice people, I turned down their offer because I felt like a burden already or at least that's what I told myself, but I knew there was another reason, one I didn't want to confront.

"Excuse me."

I turned around to find one of the main cast Emma Kane

"Can we talk for a moment?"