Kestrel noticed the scene a young Kaworu, shining and full of energy at the army base. He and his team bravely fought side by side on the fighting ground.

During that period, the world didn’t know about the Tower or the Holy Bricks yet. Folks at home were busy making stronger weapons, while the soldiers at the frontline battled hard against the foes.

There was no chance for big meals and dances; the faces of the betas were covered in blood, just like the alphas.

Back in those days, there were more people, and you could see strongholds, bases, and underground places of different sizes all over.

As Kestrel ran, quick flashes of old events passed by. She at last realized what the world was like four hundred years before. But, she still hadn’t found any sign of Kaworu.

Kestrel raced through army bases, over fighting grounds, and walked through the dirty Rosarium. Pieces of Kaworu’s memories were scattered everywhere, but his psychic incarnation wasn’t there.

Kestrel spotted a wet narrow road and Vanessa, who was almost picked on by a person living nearby. Kaworu showed up in the narrow road, making the bad person go away. This memory wasn’t the same as the real thing—instead of going away, he reached out a happy hand to Vanessa.

Vanessa looked up, her face lighting up with a smile as they held hands.

Kestrel felt a wave of happiness in her heart as she ran towards them. But, when she got closer, the two figures disappeared just like bubbles popping. The shadowy alley was empty, nobody was there.

"Not in this place too," Kestrel gasped, stopping to catch her breath.

Right then, her tendrils started to talk:

"Maybe we should head back."

"If we keep going, even we won’t remember how to return."

"We might end up totally lost here."

"It means we won’t come back."

"But I don’t want to go."

"It’s Kaworu..."

"Locky is going to cry..."

"I’m going to cry too, I haven’t cried yet."

"I will cry as well, I don’t want to go."

"It’s time to return, we did our best, but we can’t find him."

"We might get trapped, I really don’t want to die."

Kestrel used her hand to wipe her forehead that felt sweaty—Though she was in a psychic state and shouldn’t sweat. It felt like she had been running for ages, looking all wet and very tired.

Pushing aside the random thoughts in her head, she cleaned off the sweat that wasn’t really there and stepped through another door, going even deeper.

"We’ll die, we need to return."

"I can’t let go, we should continue."

...

Kaworu lived only a few quick decades as a human, but many, many centuries as a mutant.

Kestrel kept thinking, trying to guess where he could be, where his psychic incarnation might be hiding - in the scariest memories or during the calmest and happiest times.

As Kestrel started running again, she came across many doors. Her eyes quickly looked over the worlds inside these doors, seeing big areas of thick darkness, with a few bright areas here and there.

Suddenly, Kestrel halted, thinking about a door that led to a world she never went into because she thought Kaworu wouldn’t pick that place. After all, he only had a few years of memories there, which looked tiny compared to his long life.

Kestrel stopped moving in the middle of the spinning, tangled psychic landscape, her eyes focused on that spot, as she tried to walk to that door.

She walked through that little door and found herself in a place she knew very well.

It was the yard, their home.

The sharp top of the attic showed through the thick treetops, birds sang among the flowers, and the windowsill in the yard was full of blossoming roses, with the bubbling sound of water boiling in the kitchen.

At the back of the house, the fruit trees were full of fruits, the roses growing on the wall were blossoming fully. A small groundhog peeked out from a hole in a tree, and butterflies moved their wings softly among the leaves. Every detail here was just like the real world outside.

This was the place where Kestrel lived, a tiny yard filled with colorful flowers.

Right now, the only thing different from the world outside was that it was nighttime here. Sometimes, the moon peeked out from between the moving clouds, and a cool wind gently touched her face.

Kestrel strolled calmly on the long path made of stones. She noticed the Erdtree growing in the yard, which was as it always was, shimmering in the moon’s glow. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

A young boy was crouched under the tree, happily playing with a small groundhog.

The boy was facing away from Kestrel, really into his playtime. He had a focused look on his face, smiling, and he had special silver hair on his head.

He looked very young, maybe two or three years old, but Kestrel knew that face anywhere. It was Kaworu, the boy was the psychic incarnation of Kaworu.

So this was the place Kaworu had been the whole time. This yard bathed in moonlight was his favorite place in more than four hundred years of memories, the safe place he picked for himself.

His psychic incarnation had turned very young. If Kestrel hadn’t come here so fast, this little kid might have gotten even younger, turned into a baby, and then disappear completely.

Underneath the Erdtree, the little boy who was playing with the groundhog saw a water drop. The drop landed on his hand and it looked clear and shiny, just like a human tear.

He looked up and saw a Kraken with lots of tendrils standing in front of him. The strong kraken looked at him with golden eyes, and it felt familiar.

"Why are you crying? Did something make you sad?" the little Kaworu asked.

.

Kestrel moved one of its tendrils towards him and said, "I came to bring you back."

"I can’t go back," young Kaworu said, shaking his head. "I’m too weak, and there are a lot of scary monsters outside, strong storms that could rip me to pieces. I’m happy staying here, I like it here, with the wind and the singing trees to keep me company."

His mind was a bit foggy, but he remembered that he really liked this place.

The little boy, who had shiny silver eyes, looked at Kestrel and told her, "I kind of remember that this place is like my home. So, I’m happy staying here."

"I will bring you back to where you really belong," Kestrel stretched out her many tendrils towards him. "I will shield you, ensuring you don’t get hurt even a little bit on our journey home."

The little boy paused, unsure. Those squiggling tendrils seemed kind of frightening, but somehow, he felt a very soothing vibe from her, like she was someone who could calm his heart.

"If you stay here, Locky will be really sad and cry a lot. You know that, her tears will totally fill up your balcony."

The boy couldn’t recall who Locky was, yet an uneasy feeling suddenly grew in his heart for no apparent reason.

"Plus, your groundhog pals back at home, they don’t know how to feed themselves without you. When I went back, I noticed a squirrel taking away all the food they had gathered," Kestrel remarked.

The little boy made a noise of understanding, suddenly feeling a rush of worry in his heart.

"The flowers in your yard have died since you’ve been gone, and the trees are all drooping. Nobody in our home knows how to look after them like you do. And then there’s me. Without you guiding me, I wouldn’t even know how to start dating."

"We really need you at home, Kaworu."

"Come on, let’s go back together."

One by one, Kestrel’s tendrils gently lifted up, all ready to hear what he would say. They seemed very cute and known, like the loving hands of family.

Little Kaworu couldn’t hold back anymore, and he took tiny steps forward, moving a bit closer. Right away, the tendrils encircled him carefully, holding him snugly and lifting him up like he was a cherished object in the home.

"Right, there’s really a special treasure back at that home," Kaworu thought as he was lifted. "I put my life on the line to hide that thing before, to make sure no one else took it. But Kestrel didn’t ask me about where the treasure box was right then. It seemed she didn’t think the box was the most valuable thing at home, but rather me, a decaying tree root. Perhaps she truly is my family, ready to bring me home."