Is this destiny?

Sarah gathered Nala, Zula, and Imani at one spot in the back of the garden and informed them: "Anna will perform few surgical procedures and she asked me if one of you wants to assist her."

Nala, Zula, and Imani immediately raised hands enthusiastically, indicating that all three of them are interested.

"It will be tomorrow, so if you are in, you will stay overnight.", Sarah added.

Nala lowered her hand and Zula\'s was halfway up.

Sarah smiled. "That means Imani."

"Sarah I want to stay, but overnight…", Nala whined while looking in Haru\'s direction. "I mean… if there is no one else, I would do it, but since there is someone…"

"Don\'t worry about it, I understand.", Sarah assured Nala. "This is optional and up to you. If you are not interested, someone else will do it."

"But I am interested.", Zula responded. "It\'s just that…"

"As I said, it\'s optional. There are no negative points for not doing it." Sarah spoke to Nala and Zula. "The two of you can go and enjoy the rest of the party. It will be over soon. I have a few more things to say to Imani so that she can understand what the procedures are."

Zula made a step away and paused. "Sarah, are we taking in more girls?"

Sarah was not surprised to hear this question. "Do you have any concerns?"

Zula waved her hands defensively. "No, no. We met some and all of them seem nice. We are just curious because we heard them talk about how they want to stay so..."

"We wanted to know what the status is.", Nala ended Zula\'s thought.

Sarah can understand that they are curious. "When we got here last night, we found thirty-nine girls. Six are already on their way home to reunite with their families. Out of the thirty-three girls who are currently left, we hope that all of them can reunite with their families, however, some of them are not so lucky to have a safe environment to return to. As you know, a number of girls expressed their desire to stay with us. Also, some of the girls were hurt, and they will stay at the Beach house to heal. We didn\'t decide on anything permanently, but we know that we will not force anyone one way or another. At this point, we plan to send all the girls who stay behind to the Beach house and we will decide on the next steps as we go. I am sorry that I don\'t have a clean yes-no answer to your questions."

"Not a problem. We understand.", Nala responded. "If they don\'t leave to reunite with their families, how should we treat them?"

"Treat them as guests. And if you like them, and you get along, that would make them your friends."

The girls understood how that means that topics related to the army of Chaos will be off-limit.

"Not as a family?", Imani wanted to clarify.

"Distant cousins. For now. In time, if they show interest, that might change. Keep in mind that some of them decide to leave in a few months, and at that time, the less they know about us, the better." Sarah responded.

She saw that the girls wanted to ask more, so she ushered Nala and Zula away. "OK. Enough questions. Go and enjoy the party so that I can finish talking with Imani."

Sarah started her talk with Imani from sleeping arrangements: "If you stay, you can sleep in a bedroom with one group of girls where there is space. But there are no beds, so you would sleep in the sleeping bag. Another option is to sleep with army members. There is a room with five females, you would be the sixth one and there are available beds there."

Imani said that she is fine with either. It\'s only one night, no more than two. Right? But considering that she should not talk about the army of Chaos, maybe it\'s better if she stays with the army members.

Sarah told Imani about the procedures (how much she knows). She is concerned that something like an abortion might be mentally challenging for Imani. However, Imani assured her that she is fine with that.

"As a doctor, you can\'t be picky about what you want and what you don\'t want to do. You will do whatever is necessary to help your patient."

Imani mentioned how this will be her first time to assist with full anesthesia, so she was excited.

"You want to be a doctor?", Sarah noticed Imani\'s choice of words.

"Yes.", Imani admitted shyly. "I know that I\'m only thirteen, but helping people get better is what I want to do."

"Oh, that is wonderful.", Sarah gave her a hug. "You are only thirteen, and having a goal is amazing. Work toward it, I support you fully. If you tell Anna about this, I\'m sure that she can provide you with guidance. However, if later you decide that you want to be something other than a doctor, I will support that as well."

Imani smiled gratefully. "I still want to be your bodyguard."

"And I will be delighted to have a capable bodyguard who can heal me. Now go and enjoy the rest of the party. It will be over soon..."

Imani grinned and walked away. She likes that Sarah is supportive of her being a doctor.

…

Further away, Daniel and Xiaohui are sitting side by side. There are a number of empty plates next to them and two nearly-empty bottles of juice.

The two of them spent the evening together, chatting about everything. At first, Daniel spoke about the food and his interests and how he is living at the Cliffside villa with thirty other kids and Xiaohui listened to all that with fascination obvious on her face. Over time, she also loosened up a bit and told him about a few bits of her life in China.

"The dinner seems to be over…", Daniel said when he noticed that there is no fresh food put on the grills.

"Will I see you again?", Xiaohui asked. In the next moment, she shrunk while wondering, what made her be so bold? She should be grateful that he accompanied her during this evening, why is she greedy and asking for more?

Daniel smiled. He is happy that it seems Xiaohui will be missing him. "If you stay with Sarah and Aiden, then yes." He saw that she is looking at him expectantly, so he explained: "I told you that I\'m living with more than thirty kids, but the piece that is missing are Sarah and Aiden… I am an orphan and some bad guys stormed the orphanage and imprisoned me and my brothers in a diamond mine. About one year ago, Sarah and Aiden came, took care of the bad guys, freed all the miners, and offered them to stay there as a job with a salary and everything. However, when they found about our ages, they said that we are too young to work in a mine and that we should go home. When Sarah and Aiden heard that we have no place to go, they offered to me and my brothers to join them. Technically, the two of them are our parents so if you stay… you will be my sister."

Xiaohui was not sure what to think of this. The story is touching and the possibility of seeing him again is thrilling, but a sister? She does not have good memories of her family members. "A sister?"

"Not a blood-related sister.", Daniel said seriously. "None of us is blood-related, but we are a family. If you stay, I will be close to you and protect you from dangers, like an older brother."

Xiaohui wondered how that would be: an older brother who wants to protect her. Or anyone who wants to protect her. It sounds nice. "You, my older brother? What if I\'m older than you are?"

"That does not matter. I came to the family first, that makes me older." 

Xiaohui laughed. "Your logic does not make sense."

Daniel was happy to see Xiaohui laugh. So far she was mostly timid, and this is different. "You are very pretty when you laugh." Daniel ignored her fierce blushing. "So… will you stay with Sarah and Aiden?"

"I am considering it because I don\'t have a place to return to.", Xiaohui admitted.

"Then… you will see me again.", Daniel said happily and directed his gaze toward the bonfire which was slowly dying out.

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