Luna. Chapter 60

(Kael's POV)

The Bright Stars Preschool was painted in cheerful yellows and blues, with a playground that featured slides shaped like rainbows and climbing structures that looked like castle towers. It was the kind of place that made childhood seem magical.

I shouldn't have been there.

But I needed to see my son. Just once, without the careful supervision of pack meetings or formal visits. I needed to know who he was when he thought no one was watching.

The teacher, Mrs. Chen, had taken the children outside for free play. I positioned myself behind a large oak tree at the edge of the property, close enough to observe but far enough away to avoid detection.

Asher was sitting alone on the grass, apparently counting clouds.

"Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen," I heard him say clearly, pointing at different formations in the sky.

"Asher, what are you doing?" A little girl with pigtails approached him curiously.

"Counting the cloud families," he explained seriously. "This group has five members, but that one over there only has two. I think the two are sad about being separated from the others."

"Clouds don't have feelings," the girl said dismissively.

"Everything has feelings," Asher corrected gently. "You just have to pay attention to find them."

The girl sat down beside him. "Can you teach me how to see cloud feelings?"

"Sure. First, you have to look with your heart instead of your eyes. Like this." Asher pointed to a small, wispy cloud. "See how that one is moving toward the bigger group? It's lonely and trying to find friends."

"I think I see it!"

"And those dark ones over there? They're not angry like people think. They're just carrying heavy water to places that need rain. They're helpers."

I watched my son teach another child how to see the world with empathy and wonder, and felt my heart break a little more. This was the boy I'd barely been allowed to know. This was the child who saw feelings in clouds and kindness in storms.

"Daddy?"

I froze. Asher was looking directly at me through the trees, his dark eyes bright with recognition.

Mrs. Chen was distracted helping another child on the monkey bars. The other children were scattered across the playground. No one was paying attention except my son.

"Hi, Asher," I said quietly, stepping out from behind the tree but staying at the fence line.

"Hi." He walked over to where I was standing, completely unafraid. "Are you here to play cloud counting?"

"I don't know how to play that game."

"It's easy. You just look for patterns and stories. Want me to teach you?"

I glanced around, making sure we weren't being observed. "I can't stay long."

"That's okay. We can have a short lesson." Asher settled cross-legged on the grass near the fence. "See that cloud that looks like a dog?"

I looked up, trying to see what he was seeing. "The one that's kind of stretched out?"

"That's the one. What do you think its story is?"

I studied the cloud formation, feeling slightly ridiculous but wanting to give him a real answer. "It looks like it's running."

"Where do you think it's running to?"

"Maybe... home?"

"Good! And how do you think it feels about going home?"

I looked at the shape more carefully, noting the way the edges seemed to stream backward like ears flattened by wind. "Excited. Like it's been away for a long time and can't wait to get back."

"Exactly!" Asher beamed at me. "You're really good at this game, Daddy."

The word "Daddy" hit me like a physical blow. This little boy who barely knew me, who had every reason to be wary of me, was calling me Daddy like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Asher..."

"I know you can't visit very much," he said matter-of-factly. "Mama says it's complicated grown-up stuff. But I'm glad you came today."

"Me too."

"Will you come back sometime?"

"If I can."

"Okay." He stood up and brushed grass off his clothes. "I should go back to class now. Mrs. Chen gets worried when people wander off."

"Asher?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. You know that, right?"

His smile was brilliant. "I love you too, Daddy. And the clouds say you're going to be okay."

"The clouds told you that?"

"They don't lie like people sometimes do. They just show you what's true."

As he ran back toward the playground, I stood there feeling something shift inside my chest. Hope, maybe. Or just the simple joy of being called Daddy by a child who saw magic in everything.

Whatever it was, it felt like light in a very dark place.

And for the first time in years, I thought maybe Zara was right.

Maybe there was still something in me worth saving.