He never announced those things, never expected thanks. He simply did them because he understood that Seiya and Taza needed steadiness more than they needed words. Inside the cabin, Seiya wiped down the table with a damp cloth and cleared away the dust that had settled overnight. Every few minutes, her eyes moved toward the window. Her instincts were still awake, but tension no longer controlled every motion she made.
She was learning the way the land breathed, its hours, its silence, its quiet sense of order. Taza sat on the floor, arranging a handful of wooden buttons Wade had given him. He touched them one by one with slow concentration. His legs still shook when he tried to stand without help. But his recovery continued steadily.
Seiya stayed close, ready to catch him if he fell. Though the boy's confidence was returning faster than his mother's peace of mind. Wade came through the doorway carrying an armload of split wood. I'm fixing that window frame today, he said, nodding toward the loose boards along the eastern wall. Cold air gets through there at night.
Seiya stopped cleaning and examined the gap. I noticed, she said, the draft reaches his feet. I'll close it up tight. Their conversations remained brief, clear. They spoke about what mattered without allowing silence to become a wall between them.
Wade knew how to live with quiet. So did Seiya. Neither of them felt any need to fill every pause with unnecessary words. Wade stacked the firewood beside the stove, then went after his tools. As he worked, the steady sound of his hammer mixed with Seiya's soft encouragement while she helped Taza move.
The boy took his mother's fingers and pulled himself upright. Then he managed several steps on his own. Seiya's breath caught. Relief rose inside her, tangled with a fragile kind of hope she had almost forgotten how to feel. Wade paused his work for a moment and glanced towards the boy.
He's steady," he said. " Still weak, but he can hold himself up now. Seiya lifted Taza and settled him against her hip, studying his posture with the same sharp attention she once used to read danger. He learns fast," she said. " He always has.
Wade gave a small nod and returned to the window frame. Won't be long before he's running circles around both of us. A faint smile touched Seiya's face. Small, careful, gone almost as soon as it appeared. But Wade saw it.
He said nothing. He simply kept a moment for himself. By midday, the window frame had been reinforced, and the drafts that once slipped through the loose boards were gone. Seiya checked the repair with her own hands, running her fingers along the edge to make sure no gap remained. You work carefully, she said.