Soleil eventually got two trays of food for himself and for Shaun, and thus he headed back to his room to bring Shaun his surprise breakfast. The scrambled eggs, sizzling bacon, buttery toast, and warm grits all formed a perfect melody of textures and smells, and he was hoping this might help to wake Shaun up a little. Once he got to the room, he quietly put Shaun's tray on the nightstand next to his bed. He then backed away and went to sit down with his food, when he thought of something else.
Ruta's gloomy expression and cold words came back to him, as he stood with his own tray of food, and immediately he seemed immune to the sunlight. He felt cold and depressed, as he wondered how Ruta felt this morning. Was he still upset with him? Was there any way he could make up for it? After a moment of thinking, he decided he would bring his own tray to Ruta, to surprise him as well.
Leaving the room as quietly as he entered, he walked down the hall and went looking for Ruta's room. He knocked on a few doors as he looked around. "...Professor?" he called quietly, as he waited for Ruta's voice to respond to him. Every now and then he would peek into a room, to check, but seeing nothing, he would leave. Many of his classmates and teachers were already awake and outside of their rooms, yet he could not seem to find Ruta anywhere.
Eventually, however, he found his Professor's room. Knocking on a door near the end of the hall, he called, "...P-Professor Ruta?" once again. When he got no answer, he peeked in, and sure enough, Ruta was there. He was sleeping, tired after another long night. Not wanting to disturb him, he set his tray on his nightstand, and smiled down at his sleeping professor. For once he seemed at peace with himself, and he did not appear as though the word was crushing him inside. Yet as Soleil went to leave the room, he remembered something. The dream he had about the letters came back to him, and he looked around the room. Just as he suspected, in Ruta's suitcase he saw one of the letters. Kneeling down very carefully, he took a look at it, though he did not touch it. He wondered why he had dreamed about it yet again.
Why does it seem that my life is a bunch of puzzle pieces, right now? None of them add up...and I don't know what the final picture will be... he thought.
He then stood, and he looked back at his professor. He had seen the other letters, as he had run errands for Ruta and gone into his office, and he had perused them, distracted by the pretty handwriting and the fact that Ruta, at one time, had indeed loved someone. They gave him a spark of hope, that maybe Ruta still had a soul inside that he could protect and bring back into the light. Yet for now, he had to go before Ruta caught him. Quickly, he left the room as silently as a mouse...though he accidentally closed the door a little loudly behind him.
