Kris was drunk; he was better at hiding it than the other guardians, but he was definitely drunk. There was a haze around his thoughts that proved it.

Damn that Manfred.

But then there were the thoughts of her that Kris wasn’t aware he was thinking.

Dahlia’s face when she had released him from his card, saying that his was her favorite. He hadn’t even known what she meant until Chanyeol had explained when she was passed out, but even then it had sparked something warm within him. It was the guilt on her face when she confessed that she wasn’t the chosen one and how all he wanted to do was wrap her in a hug, but being stopped by the fact that he had to be the stoic leader to balance out Suho’s motherly leadership style. It was his thoughts of the softness of her lips, and wondering if she was enjoying the kiss.

She was – but it was somewhat diminished by the thoughts running through the back of his mind.

She’d seen the images before; when she’d first touched the necklace her dad gave her. And those sounds – she heard them during the time when she’d passed out after releasing Luhan.

It was the barren wasteland – burnt trees, ruined towns and cities, clear lakes that had been turned crimson. The tree, dead and circled by trails of thick, red smoke, its bark cracked and warped showing a reddish-purple glow almost like cooling lava coming from its insides. She could hear the wood burning. She could see the red tinged wind coming closer to Kris.

And she could see Luhan standing beside him, his dirtied cheeks tracked with tearstains.

“What the hell was that?” Dahlia sputtered, breaking away from the kiss.

“I’m sorry,” Kris backed away suddenly, as if having been burned. “I should have asked.”

“It’s not that; the kiss was fine. I mean…I just…UGH,” Dahlia waved her hands in front of her face as if to clear her thoughts. “We’ll talk about that later. What we need to talk about now is what I just saw in your head.”

“Oh ,” Kris hissed.

“Oh is right,” she scoffed. “I saw what I can only assume was the final moments of your planet. Your tree…it looked like it was dying. No one has said anything about the tree being in that bad of condition, like they don’t even know. Have you and Luhan – no, have you told the others about it?”

Kris shook his head. “No, I swore Luhan to secrecy about it.”

“Did you at least tell Suho?” She pressed.

“Was I supposed to?” Kris asked, half sheepish and half argumentative.

“You’re kidding, right?” Dahlia scoffed, incredulous. “Suho’s supposed to be your equal; you two are leaders together. Why would you keep this from him?”

“I’m not even sure of the tree survived the destruction of the planet.” Kris snapped, frustrated. “You saw what it looked like; it was being torn apart from the inside. If Luhan and I told Suho, he’d want to tell the others and then we’d be wandering around consumed by uncertainty. Imagine they already knew that and then found out that even the chosen one is lost – I just picked the lesser of two evils. I make the hard decisions; it’s why I’m a leader.”

“And you think sending everyone on a wild goose chase is going to help anything?” She wondered. “Your planet is gone and they all think they can go back.”

“I know our planet is dead – Luhan and I were the last to see the planet before we escaped,” Kris remarked bitterly. “But if the tree survived, we could build a new one, maybe even a better one. But that’s only if the tree made it out too.”

“Listen, your tree survived,” Dahlia assured him. “I just know it.”

“I appreciate you trying to be supportive,” Kris reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, careful to only make contact with the fabric of her dress. “But I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up unnecessarily.”

“I’m not trying to make you feel better,” Dahlia remarked. “I mean, I am, but that’s not why I’m telling you this. The memories attached to the necklace that belonged to the chosen one – that’s how I know your tree