The Sylvan Fay
As expected, Lee had someplace in mind for where they could go to speak in private. He called it the 'Quiet Room.' Where he had learned of this in Hosenka, she did not know, but she followed him anyway without question. For now, she let him believe that it was because she wanted no one to hear of their conversations, but in reality it was so much more than that... Which he would have known if he was in Talaz Lagaar with her, but he wasn't. She had to suffer through that one alone. Despite the promise they made to one another.
Atani trailed behind Lee as he showed her to the Quiet Room. She did her best to keep her focus off of him. She needed to if she were to maintain the integrity of her physical appearance, but it was hard. It took nearly every ounce of her willpower to keep Yuan at bay. There would be moments where she would get a searing headache clustered right behind her eye. She'd bring a hand to it, partly to subside the pain, but mostly to hide any potential shift in color from Atani-green to Yuan-gold.
Eventually, they had made it to the room. Lee sat himself in a chair, but Atani remained firmly standing. She crossed her arms and angled herself away from his body such that he wouldn't be able to see her face, save for its faint reflection in the window. She stared out of it as he told his story, all the while just trying to focus on her breathing to keep a level head.
She already knew about Solomon and his views. Likewise, she already knew about what he had done, turning her family into puppets and putting the remaining Nakamuras in jeopardy. This was all information LeeAnn had shared with her in Stella. None of this was new.
With a sudden shift in energy around the room, Lee's story began to change, as did his voice. She furrowed her brows. She knew that voice; it was Ragtime's. She glanced over to Lee who more or less appeared the same, but there was a certain look in his eyes now, one that undoubtedly reminded her of the spirit. But that meant... If Ragtime was here, this was LeeAnn Nakamura. There was no doubt about it. But somehow that only made Atani that much more heated.
"So you see... why I had to fake my own death and keep everyone safe?"
Atani tore her eyes away from Lee. She clenched her fists behind crossed arms.
"No, I don't," she bitterly said. Her chest became tight as she realized she might have been coming off harsh, but she couldn't just bury her feelings and lie to his face. "Everyone else, sure, I get that, but you didn't have to keep it all from me." She let out a shuddered breath as she closed her eyes. When they opened, they were no longer green, but instead took on a distinctive golden hue.
"Didn't we tell each other, all the way back when we made the guild, that we would be there for one another?" Even after hearing about what Solomon had done to her family-- no, especially after hearing about that-- Atani told LeeAnn that she didn't have to go through it alone. If anything were to happen, all she had to do was call, and she would be there, no questions asked.
"You had an entire family you could have relied on. But even if you were too afraid to get them involved, you still at least had me."
She, of course, was not referring to the Nakamuras, but rather the guild. Even if it was disbanded, they were still loyal to their guildmaster. At the very least Atani was; there were no doubts in any of that. It was Lee's own words that a guild was essentially a family, and even Atani who had no concept of what one was had finally been able to feel like Lee was becoming part of hers. But then, almost a year ago, that had all been ripped away when she got word of his 'death.'