#53: In Another World part 3
This is easily the shortest part and it's still longer than my average chapter ;~~~;

It took them a week to get to the Tree, and they spent all of it with Suho. They only left the car to bathe and get food, and even then they would eat with Suho. They tried to teach him how to eat with utensils, but Suho would always get frustrated and throw them aside. The only thing they really managed to teach Suho was how to use the toilet—that was really important.

Suho spent almost the whole week snuggled in Kris’ wings, and when he wasn’t with Kris he divided his time between Minseok and Kai. He had grown very fond of petting Kai’s hair, and Kai wasn’t about to tell him to stop. Suho had seemed to realize that Kai was younger than him, and was trying to take care of him. He was shy around the other kids, but not afraid of them. it seemed to Kai that Suho just didn’t know what to do with them.

“He really is a lot like a puppy,” Kai remarked, watching Suho sleep. He was curled up in a little ball, his head resting on Minseok’s leg. Suho hated vegetables, and he often gnawed on chicken bones. Sometimes he’d growl when he was frustrated, and more than that he was very submissive, much like a dog at the bottom of a pack.

“I did overhear the matrons say he was raised by wolves,” Minseok said. “I thought they were exaggerating, but they might not have been.”

“Wouldn’t the wolves have eaten him?” Chen asked nervously.

Kai resisted the urge to shove Chen over on the bed. He could never understand why Chen was always so nervous, he needed to loosen up a little, he needed to run and play, and all Minseok ever did was baby him. Chen would be so much more fun if he would just—

“Not necessarily,” Minseok said, interrupting Kai’s train of thought. “I have heard stories of wolves taking in young creatures and raising them. And…I mean we are Guardians. We’re not exactly normal human beings. Maybe…maybe the Tree had something to do with it.”

There was silence at the mention of the Tree. None of them really understood how it worked, how the Tree managed to be the center of their world, how it gave them their gifts, how it could have possibly protected Suho.

“When we get there,” Chanyeol said, “Will we…be able to see the Tree?”

Minseok and Kris both shrugged. “Maybe,” Kris said. “We might as well, we’re already there after all.”

“How long stay?” Sehun asked, wincing at the way the words came out.

Minseok quickly reached out to him, patting his cheek. “It’s okay honey. I don’t know how long we’ll stay, I guess however long it takes for Suho to get better.”

“That could take weeks!” Kai exploded.

“The Tree can cheat,” Baekhyun said. “It has ways.”

Baekhyun had barely spoken during the trip, and he eyed Suho with a kind of apprehension that Kai didn't understand. He finally cornered Baekhyun to ask him about it when they went to get food.

“Does Suho scare you?” Kai asked, not to be mean—he wanted to help, if that was the case.

Baekhyun paused for a moment. “Not really,” he finally said. “It’s just…I’ve been thinking about what happened to me and…I was alone.” His voice broke and he paused to take a breath. “I never thought of it like that but I was alone for a long time. I fooled myself into thinking I wasn’t scared but I guess I was. Especially at night. I still hate the dark, and sometimes I wonder if the Tree knew I was going to be locked up by myself, and that’s why it gave me Light. It helped me a lot at night when I was all by myself, and sometimes it was the only thing that kept me from being scared. I wonder if the Guardians hadn’t gotten me when they did…would I have ended up like Suho?”

It was the most Kai had ever heard Baekhyun speak at once, and he was at a loss for what to say, so he just hugged Baekhyun and reminded him that he wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. By the time the two of them got back with the food, Baekhyun’s face was perfectly blank once more and there was no sign of the uncertainty he’d just had. Kai realized then that Baekhyun was putting on an act every single day, so nobody would see his weaknesses. He’d been with them for months, but he still didn’t trust them, and after hearing what he’d just said…Kai didn’t blame him. He knew that what Baekhyun had been through was bad, but it was like he was just realizing exactly how bad it was. He had been alone for a long time, and used as a bargaining chip besides, and he didn’t show it but how could he not have been affected by that? It made Kai realize just how broken they all were. They had nobody but each other to lean on, and they didn’t understand each other at all.

If Kai had to watch Suho cry one more time, he was going to lose his mind.

Suho clung to Kris’ waist, sobbing into his shirt. Kris looked close to tears himself, struggling to keep his voice even as he attempted to calm Suho down. The Guardian who had come to meet them—another Kai, who told them to call her Seven—stood by the entrance to the train, patiently waiting. Kai wanted to yell at her and tell her to go away, but something about her made him stop. She wasn’t like the Matrons—she looked young, maybe fourteen, and she had a very understanding look on her face.

“Seven won’t hurt you,” Kris murmured, petting Suho’s hair gently. Usually it calmed him down, but it wasn’t working this time. Suho burrowed further into Kris’ side, whimpering quietly.

Kris finally lost it and started to cry. “I don’t know what to do,” he whispered, sinking to his knees and gathering Suho into his arms. “I’m sorry Suho, I’m so sorry…I don’t want to make you leave…”

Minseok had already lost control of himself, he had been weeping silently for almost twenty minutes. Suho was so terrified to leave the train, to go anywhere by himself, and Kai couldn’t blame him.

“Can we go with him?” Kris asked Seven.

She shook her head, looking regretful. “I’m sorry, but really…I can’t keep an eye on him and all of you by myself.” She inched into the train and sat on the floor cross-legged, ignoring the fact that her white dress was getting all dusty. “If he ran off, I would be at a loss of what to do.”

“We can take care of ourselves,” Minseok insisted, his voice hoarse with tears.

“I have no doubt that you could,” Seven said gently, “But unfortunately, it’s not my decision to make. Those are the rules.”

“Well, they’re stupid,” Kai cried. “Suho is scared! He needs us!”

Seven shook her head. “You can only help so much. Suho needs to see the Tree, and the Tree needs to see him alone. It won’t be easy to help him.”

She eyed Suho, and after a moment called out to him. “Suho-yah, when you’re ready, can you please look at me?”

Suho flinched and Kris gently wiped tears from his face. “It’s okay,” he crooned, “I’ll protect you, I promise. Seven is like us, she can help you.”

Suho sniffled for a few minutes, but finally he shifted so that he could peek at Seven with one eye.

Seven grinned at him. “Aren’t you just the sweetest baby,” she sighed. “You poor thing, you’ve been horribly treated. I don’t blame you for being terrified of me, of anyone. You didn’t deserve what happened to you. None of us did…” she trailed off sadly, pausing for a few seconds. “I am so sorry that this happened to you, sweet child. If I could, I would give you some time, but time is the one thing we don’t have.” She turned suddenly to Sehun. “Would you like a sweet?”

Sehun jumped in surprise, but when Seven reached into the bag she wore at her waist and pulled out a candy, Sehun went to her immediately. While Sehun on the mint she’d given him, Seven pulled him down into her lap and hugged him, playing with his hair.

“You are so cute,” she said while Sehun giggled. “I can already tell that you’ll be so handsome when you get older…” She went on, praising Sehun when he showed her his air trick, and when Kai saw how attentively Suho watched the two of them, he realized what Seven was doing.

Eventually Seven let Sehun up and then held her arms out to Suho. “Would you—”

Suho turned back into Kris’ chest, and right away Seven turned to Chen. “What about you, darling? Would you like something sweet?”

She did the same thing with Chen, cuddling him for a few moments, and then turning to Tao, and Kai, and Kyungsoo before Suho finally let go of Kris and inched over to her.

“That’s better,” Seven said as she handed Suho a candy. “You know I won’t hurt you, right Suho?”

By the time Suho finished the candy he was sitting in Seven’s lap. She wiped the tears from his face and tilted his head up so he was looking at her.

“Can you take a walk with me, Suho? We won’t go far, I promise, I want you to meet somebody.”

Suho looked over at Kris and Minseok, and the both gestured for him to go. Suho wrapped his arms around Seven’s neck, and she made Suho tuck his head against her shoulder. Seven stood up, and then the two of them disappeared in a silent puff of black smoke.

He was too scared to lift his head, because he knew that he wasn’t with his new pack anymore. He had no idea where he was, just that the adult who gave him candy was still holding him and it felt kind of weird, different from when Kris wrapped him up in those wings—he wasn’t sure how a human could have wings, but he thought it was for the same reason that he could move water. The adult rubbed his back and he winced a little, not entirely sure he liked being held by her.

“Suho, we’re here. You can look now.”

He peeked out and gasped, lifting his head up and looking around in wonder. He had never been anywhere so green before! He hadn’t seen green in a while, but he remembered it from his childhood. And there are plants, more than he’d ever seen at once. He squirmed in the adult’s arms, and she put him down. He ran to a bright orange flower, touching it gently before he smelled it curiously. It smelled really good, but when he inhaled deeper it made him sneeze.

“Suho, come look at this,” the adult called, and he followed her over to a tree. It wasn’t particularly big, but the adult was smiling at it like it was special.

“This is my favorite tree,” she said, patting the trunk. “Will you sit under it with me?”

He hesitated, but she hadn’t hurt him yet, and his pack must trust her if they left him alone with her (something that hurt a little), so he decided to sit with her.

The adult pulled him close, tucking him under her arm. “Let’s relax, okay?”

He was not sure what she meant, but she didn’t say anything else. After a while he started to get tired, and he realized that the adult was humming. He listened to her, and it was nice, and he closed his eyes for just a minute…

He’s surrounded by a pink haze. He tries to touch it, but nothing is there. He looks around, but he can’t see the adult. He can’t feel his legs or arms, and he wonders if he’s died again.

‘You’re not dead.’

He screams, whirling around to look for the voice.

‘Don’t be afraid, my darling.’

“Don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me…”

‘I won’t hurt you.’

“You can hear me? You can understand?”

‘Yes, I can.’

He feels something warm wrap around him, and he leans into it until it starts to creep towards his head, and then he backs away, whimpering.

‘I’m sorry, dear, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m trying to take a peek into your memories, to see how I can help you.’

“Who are you?”

‘I’m the Tree of Life.’

“What’s that?”

‘I’m a powerful being, I gave you your life. I’m the reason you can move water.’

“How did you do that?”

‘I learned to manipulate the energy of this world. I learned to create people. I decided to make certain people special. But I don’t choose them, only those who are worthy of and powerful enough can be gifted with this ability. And you are one of them.’

“I don’t understand…”

‘I know, but I’m here to help you. And I can start by looking at your perspective, how you see things, and helping you understand. Will you let me?’

“I…will it hurt?”

‘No, my dear child. You have been hurt far too much already, and I will not hurt you.’

He feels like crying, but he tells himself not to.

‘It’s alright my love. My poor, sweet, innocent little Guardian. My special little boy. I understand that you are confused, and you are allowed to cry if you want to. Never feel like you are not allowed to cry.’

He sniffles, but finds that he feels better. “You can look.”

He loses control of his thoughts. Memories play before his very eyes, of his mother playing with him and feeding him, but something was wrong.

‘She was sick. It wasn’t your fault, she had been sick before you were born. She did love you, and she loved you because she knew she wouldn’t have a very long life.’

“She wouldn’t wake up…”

‘She died.’

“They threw me away…”

‘They thought you killed her.’

“But I didn’t!!”

‘I know that, and you know that, and your new friends know that.’

“I was so scared, and cold…I died too.”

‘Shh, you’re safe now. And you didn’t die, you became comatose.’

“What’s that?”

‘Your body shut down to prevent you from dying. Part of it was because of that energy I told you about earlier.’

Another memory, being dragged away in a net while he screamed.

‘That’s horrible! Oh my dear…’

More memories, of being held too tightly, forced down, jabbed with sharp things, stripped , prodded and poked and…

‘Violated.’

“What’s that mean?”

‘That’s how you felt. And you were. My poor darling…’

A different memory, the night that Kai and Minseok came to see him.

‘You loved them even then, didn’t you?’

“Love? I guess I did…I love them all.”

He sees them freeing him from that awful jacket, coming into his room, playing with him the way the wolf pups would, teaching him new things. He lingers on the memory of Kris’ wings, how soft they were and how safe he felt in them.

‘Kris is a sweet boy. He’ll be good to you.’

“What’s that mean?”

‘He’ll be your leader, and you’ll be his best friend.’

“And that’s good?”

‘That’s very good.’

“They…they call me something weird.”

‘Suho.’

“Yes.”

‘It’s your name.’

“No! My name is Joonmyun! Kim Joonmyun! I know it is!”

‘But they didn’t, and they gave you a new name. they couldn’t have known your real name.’

“I want to tell them. Can you help me tell them?”

‘Yes, and so much more.’

“What do you mean by that?”

‘You’ll see.’

Suho didn’t open his eyes right away, even though he knew he could. His mind was buzzing with words he’d never known before.

Overwhelmed.

Hungry.

Tired.

Scared.

Excited.

He felt all of it, and he didn’t know how it was possible, just that it was happening to him.

“Suho?”

That’s his name. He’d come to accept it, he knew it was a good name. Besides, he’s not really Joonmyun anymore. He was not sure how that was possible either, but it had to do with how he died. But he didn’t die…he’s alive.

“Suho, are you awake?”

He opened his eyes. The adult—Seven—was hovering over him. She smiled gently when he opened his eyes.

“Good morning,” she said.

He opened his mouth. “Good morning.”

His own voice surprised him, coming out in something that wasn’t a scream or a plea. He’d forgotten what it sounded like.

Seven grinned at him. “Your brothers are waiting for you. Shall I take you to them?”

Suho sat up. “I have to leave?” He asked timidly.

Seven nodded. “Yes, you have to go home.”

“But I don’t want to!” Suho cried, feeling tears come. “I don’t want to go back, I want to stay! They were mean to me, they hurt me, I want to stay here! I want everyone to just stay here!” And he broke off sobbing.

Seven cupped his face in her hands, wiping his tears away. “There, there, darling. I know it’s scary, but those people won’t hurt you anymore. They have been removed, and replaced with people who know better, and will treat you better. Your brothers can’t stay here, they want to go home, and they want you to go with them.”

Suho stopped crying, sniffling a little. “I get to stay with them?”

“Of course!” Seven assured, “You can stay with them forever and ever!”

Forever. That was a word he didn’t know, he heard a lot of words he didn’t know, and it was painful.

“My head hurts,” he whimpered. “I don’t feel well…”

Seven his hair. “You need to have a good meal and a nap, but mostly you just need to go see Kris, Minseok, Kai, and everyone else. You want to see them, right?”

Suho nodded.

Seven scooped him up, and Suho’s stomach swooped at the feeling. He yelped and squirmed.

“Too high! It’s scary!!”

Seven put him back down and Suho started to cry again, hiding his face in her skirt. “I don’t like this, I want to stay, I don’t want to get hurt…”

Seven hugged him until he stopped crying, and by then his head really hurt and he felt sick.

“It’ll help if I take you to your friends,” Seven told him. “I just need to carry you to the door, and then we can be back with them, I promise. Can you trust me?”

‘No,’ Suho thought. He couldn’t trust anyone, but he couldn’t say that. So he nodded, and closed his eyes when Seven picked him up once more.

Suho thought he must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew there was a small hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice whispering in his ear.

“Suho, we’re here now. Are you awake?”

“Kai…”

A gasp. “You remember me?”

Suho opened his eyes. Kai’s face was right in front of him, his eyes were wide and hopeful. Suho grinned. “I remember you. You’re my friend.”

Kai looked like he wanted to cry.

“Why are you crying?” Suho mumbled. Seven was still holding him, his cheek was pressed into her shoulder and it muffled his words.

“I’m crying because I’m happy,” Kai told him. “We were worried about you. Are you okay?”

Suho couldn’t answer that, he was too tired. He closed his eyes again, and Seven answered for him.

“He’s tired,” she said gently, “And probably hungry.”

“We’ll take care of him,” Minseok said. “He’s our brother.”

“Can you carry him to the car for us?” Kris asked.

“Of course.”

Suho opened his eyes when he felt Seven start to walk. The height wasn’t too scary anymore, and he watched the eleven boys trailing behind Seven. Kris and Minseok lead them, and when they caught Suho’s eyes they smiled at him. Weakly, Suho held out his hand, and they both reached for it together, managing to hold it at the same time.

It took some time for Seven to get Suho arranged on his bed—the car was littered with mattresses that the other boys had dragged in, and she had to walk around them carefully. Once Suho was settled, she took his hand and Suho just knew what she was about to say.

“Are you leaving?” He asked.

Seven nodded. “I don’t want to, but I have to. But you’ll be okay, your brothers are here to take care of you.”

Suho grinned and nodded. Kris climbed up on the bed next to him, and Suho moved so that he could lean against Kris’ chest and pull his wings around himself.

Seven smiled at them. “You’ll be just fine, Suho. You all will.” And then she kissed Suho’s forehead and disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Minseok quickly took her place, holding a bowl of soup. “Do you want to try to eat?”

Suho nodded, and even though he could probably feed himself, Minseok feed him anyway. He finished the whole bowl, and when was done he was totally exhausted.

“Can I sleep now?” Suho asked.

“Of course,” Kris told him, and he wrapped his wings together around him. “You don’t have to ask.”

“But I wanted to…to…”

“What did you want to do?” Kris prodded.

“Talk,” Suho mumbled sleepily. “I wanted to talk to my…my friends…”

Kris hummed. “But you can do that when you wake up. We’ll still be here.”

Suho could feel himself falling asleep, his eyes falling shut against his will, but he still fought it. “Will you still be here? All of you?”

“Of course,” he heard Kai say. “We’re not going away, we never will. We’ll always be with you, Suho.”

Suho relaxed, and he felt Kris take his hand. “We’ll keep you safe while you sleep, Suho, we promise.”

It was a promise that they never broke.

HALLELUJAH IT’S DONE!!!!! OH GOD, FINALLY! JEEZ! I THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER END! THIS THING IS A MONSTER!!! AND I WAS ABOUT TO POST WHEN I REALIZED I’D WRITTEN TWO THIRDS OF IT IN THE WRONG TENSE AND JUST NO THAT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN I WAS SO MAD AT MYSELF!!!

Alright, now in the next drabble we will be BACK TO THE REGULAR STORY. Got it? These last three chapters NEVER HAPPENED!!! Well they did happen, but not in canon. At World’s End canon, I mean. I may come back to this for an OT3 drabble, but only after I do one in the actual canon verse.

Oh yeah and PS—EXO IS RELEASING A NEW ALBUM HOLY KRISUS I AM BEYOND EXCITED!!!!