Flauraan, 5 months before the Wedding

I can hear Abigail muttering to herself before I even enter the room. I can’t remember the last time she woke up before me. I rub my eyes, wondering what she possibly could be doing so early.

I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t an explosion of paper. The whole room is covered with scraps of paper with Abigail’s handwriting on them, including bits of the kitchen. She is at the table moving some of the scraps paper around; she hasn’t noticed me enter the room somehow. This is so bizarre.

“What’s all this for?” I ask, completely baffled.

She jumps, and then turns to face me. The skin under her eyes is more purple than normal and she blinks at me blearily. “Sophie- I’ve just been doing some thinking- about the wedding. Jayken asked me a few questions about things and I’m just trying to sort out- what I think.”

I feel like I’ve never seen Abigail look this much of a mess, even during the Weraynian war.

“This is a lot of paper, Abi.”

She looks around as if only now noticing all the work she did. She rubs her arm, and looks away from me. “I just- I got a bit fixated on the concept of a wedding, why people do it, what it means to different cultures, different traditions people have, and I got carried away, possibly.”

“Oh, right. Wedding stuff.” I am intending to say something insightful, comforting even, but then I pick up a scrap of paper off the table that stops me in my tracks. It has the words ‘Family involvement’ written on it, and a variety of examples of how different cultures incorporate parents and grandparents and so on scrawled on it in Abigail’s tiny writing. I hold onto it and just stare.

Abi looks over at me from within her haze, and her face changes.

“Oh Sophie…” she walks over and takes the paper in one hand, my hand in her other. “I’m sorry, most of this is just nonsense brainstorming. I was just thinking of my brother’s wedding, and how he had special roles for my family. It’s just a part of my spiraling. We don’t have to do anything family related in our wedding.”

She squeezes my hand. I should probably try to reassure her but I have been completely blindsided by the words swirling in my head.