It was about half an hour before dinner. Sadie was reading through a textbook when Aunt Ryn returned from checking the base's P.O. box, her arms full of pieces of mail.

  Sadie relieved her of some of the biggest pieces. There was one package for Caden and 2 for Uncle Gabriel.

  She grabbed Caden's box and headed down the hallway.

  “Hey, package for you,” she announced.

  She was about to just leave it outside his door when…

  “Ma’am, you are very welcome to our house!”

  Sadie rolled her eyes but opened the door anyway. Caden was waiting there with a smile on his face. She pushed it into his waiting hands. He shook it as he maneuvered to his desk. Caden was still fiddling with the box when she turned around to leave.

  “Hey, do you have any scissors I can borrow for this infernal packaging? I mean, you don't have to!” he added. “I just- I would greatly appreciate it if I had a pair? Or maybe a butter knife. I didn't think to pack any.”

  She walked down the hallway to her own room and returned with a pair of scissors. He seemed too preoccupied to notice, so she set it on the desk beside him.

  “Dear healer, my life itself, and the best heart of it, thanks you for this great care."

  Sadie rolled her eyes at the dramatics and turned to go. “You’re welcome.”

  “Sadie, wait. I… can we talk? I promise I won’t take too much of your time.”

  Sadie thought about her waiting schoolwork. But it would only take a few minutes, right?

  “Sure,” she nodded.

  “Let me just get this thing open so I can show you and… there!” Caden took a deep breath.

  "Healer, the Bard once said that our very eyes are sometimes, like our judgments, blind. Mine just happen to be in the legal sense."

  Caden smiled weakly as he presented the contents of the box to her.

  A stick.

  No.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  A white cane with a red stripe.

  Sadie blinked. A million thoughts ran through her brain at once. Why had he taken this long to say anything? What if he had expected her to notice and he only bothered to verbalize it because she was too dense? She’s a healer and a nursing student. But knowing medicine doesn't mean you recognize everything.

  Caden’s hands fidgeted with his sleeves as he waited for her reply. Crap, what should she say? She didn’t want him to think she was disappointed about his vision, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to act like everything was okay either. She picked something neutral.

  "Is that why you were stressed about the staff?"

  Caden nodded and tapped his earpiece. "It tells me where things are. And it has 3 sections. If I push a button, one comes out the bottom and I can use it as a normal white cane. Press a different button, and a different one comes out to make it a full bo staff instead of just a baton. Neat, right?"

  "Yeah. Neat," she echoed softly.

  Caden’s smile finally wavered. “Are you upset?"

  She paused, trying to word this carefully. "I'm not upset that you're blind. It's just- I wish you would've felt safe enough to tell me. I would've - I don't know exactly but maybe I wouldn't have made things harder on you."

  Caden cringed. "I didn't know if I could trust you not to look at me differently.”

  "I get it. I know we met less than a month ago. It's just-" she paused for a second before trying again. "Forget it. I know I overshare. I guess that's what happens when I finally get to spend time with someone my own age again," her voice faltered. "I thought we were being honest with each other. Not that I expected full disclosure, I just…” she trailed off.

  "Do you know how people act when they know you can't see that well? They either act like you’re a child, or they act like it’s impressive that I can live my life at all. I'm not stupid or weak or inspirational and... I wanted you to know that first.”

  "I've known you're not stupid since the day we met!” She tried to keep her voice neutral even as her anger rose. “You literally quoted Shakespeare like you were paid per line. Did you really think I'd infantilize you?"

  "You don't get it. I never know whether someone is safe to reveal to. I have Stargardt's, and it's only going to get worse from here. At least you can heal yourself when-" Caden cut himself off, horrified.

  Sadie flinched, her fingers curling into fists. She didn’t know why. He was only telling the truth. She asked herself how someone like her could understand what it’s like to deal with something like that.

  The familiar thought intruded on her mind: when you can heal yourself, every injury you keep is self-harm, isn't it? Her mind drifted to the last time she healed herself. She pushed the thought away. One issue at a time.

  Sadie turned and crossed the distance from the desk to the door in only a few long strides.

  "Wait!” Caden’s voice stretched between them. “I... I didn't mean it like that, Sadie."

  She paused in the doorway. "Then how did you mean it?"

  "I'm sorry."

  Sadie turned away. "I need some time to process, I think. Alone."

  She shut the door before Caden could say anything else.

  She stood in the hallway for a long time, her chest tight. Her mind replayed all the times she thought they were bonding.

  Her opening up about Josie. Him showing her his pottery. She'd given him her real name, the one only family uses. Heck, even when he was just sitting there listening to something while she studied. Had it all really meant more to her than to him?

  Sadie had schoolwork to do, but instead she headed for the greenhouse. The plants, at least, didn't intentionally hide things.