114 Thank You Dyon 4 (1/2)

As Dyon was silently thinking to himself he suddenly realized that Ri was being a little too quiet.

When he looked up, he felt as though his heart was being pulled out of his chest.

Sitting across from him, silently looking at the menu, Ri seemed to be frozen in time… the only sign that she was in fact still here was the trembling of her fingers. She stared at the menu with her lips quivering. Her eyes reddened as she grit her teeth trying to hold something back.

Suddenly a soft voice came from her side, ”big sister?”

Little Lyla was standing on the cushioned couches that surrounded the round table, looking at Ri sadly.

”ah,” Ri seemed to snap out of it, looking over at the worried Lyla.

Ri trembled as Little Lyla wrapped her arms adorably around her head, ”it's okay big sister.”

Dyon watched this scene with a sadness still in his heart. He slowly stood, walking over to Ri and plopping down beside her.

He smiled at Ri who was holding Lyla in her arms silently, still unwilling to cry.

Dyon looked at the menu to see what had sent Ri into such a state.

There, the image of a beautiful flower shaped fruit appeared. It was a cold, ice blue, and its petals were not unlike the aloe fruit from the human world although their shape was much more delicate and fragile.

The flower spread out from its center beautiful, layering petal after petal in an elegant design. Dyon didn't know why, but he didn't ask Ri whether or not she wanted it. He simply tapped the screen, causing the fruit to slowly manifest onto the round oak table.

After waiting in silence for a few moments, Ri pulled Little Lyla into her lap. Patting the little girl's head, Ri took a deep breath, feeling a little bit better. She wiped the tears from Little Lyla's eyes, unwilling to see the cheerful little girl cry.

”This is a fruit my – my mom used to cut for me when I was younger. It's called Ice Petal's Dance. My mother loved the fruit so much, that she created a sword technique named after it… I haven't had it for a long time. Partially because I miss her, but also because it's almost impossible to eat properly,” she said softly.

Dyon looked at the fruit, a pondering look in his eye, ”why is it impossible to eat?”

Ri sighed, ”each petal contains the actual fruit within it, which makes peeling the fruits a near impossible task. There are hundreds of petals. Few people are even willing to go through the hassle. That's not even to mention that the coating of the petals is bitter to taste, but the fruit inside is really thin compared to the coating. So, if you peel it incorrectly, you could either end up with bitter tasting fruit, or no fruit at all…”

Dyon pondered on this, and suddenly smiled, ”how did your mother peel it?”

Ri smiled gently in reminiscence, ”her sword cultivation was so profound… she would use her sword qi to peel the petals back, leaving only the fruit behind. It was delicious.”

Dyon smiled, reaching his hand to the center of the fruit.