Re Vera

Nathan and I were standing safely on the beach, looking at each other with devious eyes.
The timer I had set on my stopwatch went off only seconds ago, and from where we were standing, yelling and panicked shouting coming from inside of Crux Crusis palace could be heard.
We tried, but failed, to hold back our raucous laughter, and after a few minutes Nathan and I were rolling around in the sand with tears streaming down our faces.
We were laughing that hard.
Only minutes ago, Nathan and I had set up a trap for a certain five inch long, talking garter snake.
It was going to take them hours to get him out without the key.
Nathan and I decided to take a walk around the island to avoid the chaos we had just caused inside the castle.
We walked around the shoreline, picking up shells every now and then.
We were silent for the most part, just enjoying the warm breezes and the feel of sand squishing between our toes.
Nathan looked deep in thought for a moment, then he asked me something I really wasn't expecting.

"Adelle, do you ever miss your parents.?"
There was a hint of sadness in his voice when he asked me this, but I was so shocked my his question that I almost didn't catch it.
I hesitated, before answering his question with a sigh.

"I don't really remember much about them. I doubt I'd even recognize my own family if I saw them."
The thought was a bit discomforting, but true none the less.
We had stopped walking without realizing it, and made no move to start on our path again.
I folded my legs and fell with a plop onto the sandy dune we had climbed, and Nathan did the same.

"Do you ever wonder about them though, if they're thinking about you, I mean. Do you ever wonder about what they're like?" I hesitated before answering again, only because I knew my answer might sound a little silly.

"A little. I like to believe that when I think about them just out of the blue, that It means they were thinking about me as well."
I thought a little on his second question.
"I rarely wonder what they're like. Sometimes I don't think I'd want to know. But I do remember that I have my mothers eyes, and that she always smelled like lavender and she would sometimes sing me to sleep. I also remember my father had a commanding voice, but he would always speak softly to my mother and me. That's about all I can recall about them."

"Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like, if you had stayed with your parents?" I didn't hesitate to answer him this time.

"Sometimes I do, but I try not to think about what ifs," At this I gave a half chuckle, half sigh. "What ifs never get you anywhere or anything but mopey and miserable."

He didn't have anything to say to that, so he just ran his hand though his hair and leaned back into the sand and watched the sky. We laid there for a while, just watching the sparse clouds travel across the skyline or disappear.
The sun had started to lower, and our shadows slowly became longer.
It got darker and the noise from the palace had quieted. Somewhere in that time frame Nathan grabbed my hand, and we watched the stars.
I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up the next morning in our bed.