A couple of days after the fire, Charo heard that Rosa and Margherita were back in town.
They were going back and forth between New York and Miami preparing for their new restaurant.
Charo went down to their place.
And Margherita came dashing outside the moment she caught sight of him.
"Charo! I was so worried about you. Are you okay? Sirius told me about the fire. Dread save Catherine, right? How is he? Is he badly hurt?"
"He says he's okay."
"Good. Wait. You must be hungry. I'll bring you something to eat."
Margherita went in and came back pulling a toy cart full of delicious-looking food.
"Margherita! Thank you very much!"
"For you and Dread. It should last for a while. Make sure you keep it safe, somewhere nice and cool, okay?"
"Yes."
"But really, Dread saving Cathering. Things work in a very strange way."
"What do you mean?"
Margherita fixed her glance on Charo. Then she smiled.
"Dread has really changed since he met you, you know. Or maybe it's more like he's 'returning' to what he used to be. He used to be such a bright, outgoing, friendly guy."
"Dread?"
"Sure. Hard to believe, right?"
Then slightly hesitating, she began her story.
"A couple of years ago, a little girl ran out from our place into the street and almost got hit by a car. And if it hadn't been for Dread, the poor thing could have been killed."
"Dread?"
"Uh-huh. The instant he saw the girl, he jumped into the street. Just like that. He pushed her over to the sidewalk. She sprained her ankle, but other than that, she was a-okay."
"Wow! That's great!"
"Well, the tragedy starts from here. Catherine who had just come in to eat. Saw the two on the sidewalk and thought that Dread was attacking the girl. It was a complete misunderstanding."
"Oh, no."
"She ran over to the two and started to hit Dread with her nightstick."
"No!"
"Of course, she was trying to protect the girl. But she hit him so hard. That was when Dread lost the sight in his right eye."
"That can't be!"
The two looked back and found Sirius, standing behind them.
"Oh, Sirius."
"Margherita, tell me that it's not true."
"I'm sorry, Sirius, but it is. Since then, Dread never trusted the humans any more, and just cut himself off all relationships. He became cynical, scornful, difficult."
"But still he saved Catherine."
"Yes. See? That's what I'm talking about. He's changed again. He's returning to the real Dread, ever since he met you.
"I ... didn't know that."
Sirius was truly shocked.
"There's always a reason for everything. Dread wasn't born that way, you know. Oh! And how was Catherine?"
"Uh, yes, she hit her head so they did checkup. But she's okay. She's already...."
Charo was no longer listening.
He was thinking of the day he met Dread.
Dread had gone through something terrible and still, he saved Charo.
Charo said goodbye to the two and pulled the cart carefully back to the nest.
"Dread, I brought some food."
"Where have you been?"
"To Margherita's place. She gave me this. Let's eat!"
They were careful not to eat too much, but the food was very delicious.
"Dread."
"Huh?"
"Why did you save Catherine?"
It was an unexpected question.
He looked at Charo for a while, looked away, and then ...
"Because of you."
"えっ？"
Charo couldn't hear him but didn't ask twice.
Dread ate up his share, lay down, and started to snore, as usual.
