Loners [Loolaalee, Squidsy]

Yami sat in silence as she tended to the meat. Cutting off a chunk, she looked at it in thought. "Family can be...complicated. Sometimes they hate you. Or sometimes they love you. But the one constant is that once you don't have them anymore, you change." Yami took a deep breath, passing a tin of meat to Ruhk and picking at her own. She didn't have much appetite, but she knew she had to eat.

A brief memory of her mother coaxing her into eating her vegetables flashed across her mind.

"Yami, sweetie, you need to eat your broccoli!"

"No, I don't wanna! They look like tiny trees, and I don't wanna hurt the trees."

Her father ruffled her hair. "That's my girl, respecting nature. But those aren't really trees, kiddo."

Her mother nodded. "These are a lot softer than trees. Watch this." She cut through a piece of broccoli with her fork, and Yami watched intently. "See? Real trees are big and strong. These little guys are soft so they won't hurt your teeth."

Finally, little Yami took a tentative bite. It didn't taste particularly bad, but it wasn't particularly good, either. A little plain.

"They're better if you put salt on them." Her dad leaned over and sprinkled a few grains of salt on the broccoli. It tasted much better this time.

"I like it!" she proclaimed triumphantly, a big grin on her face.

Yami snapped out of her trance. Her vision was blurry. She reached up and recoiled a bit as she felt tears under her eyes. Her cheeks were damp.

She turned away from Ruhk, shoveling some meat into her mouth and frantically wiping at her eyes. She hadn't expected to break down in tears today. She hadn't cried in ages. Why as she suddenly so emotional?