Chapter 1: Let's play Cops and Robbers

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"Na, na! You can't catch me!" A five year old boy with brown spiky hair taunted as he raced ahead of the girl chasing him. He turned around and stuck his tongue out. "You're too slow, piggy!"

"Shut up, you porcupine!" The little girl yelled at him from behind. Though they were the same age and he was a boy, she always wanted to be the cop. No matter how much faster he was, she was the good guy. Her red-wine hair flew in the wind and her shoes sank into the sand with every step she took. Huffing, she stopped and kicked them off, landing them underneath the Paopu tree that they had just passed. Grinning, she sprinted quicker to catch the boy in front of her. As she caught up, she reached out to grab his shirt. "Almost got you now!"

Just as she was about to close her hand around his sleeve, the boy turned around and stopped, making her bump into his chest. He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before wiping his lips and racing off again. "Little piggy, hurry up!"

The girl, stunned, blushed immediately and fell to the ground. She touched her cheek and frowned. "That's not fair! You gave me cooties!"

He paused in his tracks and looked back. With a smirk on his face he asked, "are you giving up already?"

"Never!" Determination ignited in her eyes she threw him a fierce glare and pointed her index finger at him. "Get back here you-"

"-son of a bitch!"

A teenager wearing a black balaclava turned his head back at the now twenty-three year old red-wine haired cop chasing him and pushed himself to run even faster. A small laced with silk was slung around him and bounced against his chest with every step he took. "What the hell are you?!" He threw the nearest standing garbage bin to the ground, spilling it's contents all over the pavement.

"You think that would stop me, huh?" She jumped over the rubbish without reducing her speed. "You thought wrong! I'm Kairi Goddamn Hart, you piece of crap!"

"Go away, you whore!" The boy yelled back at her.

"What did you call me?!"

"Stop following me!" The man skidded a corner right into an alleyway.

"Wrong move, asshole!" She followed in pursuit and saw him come face to face with a wall. It was a dead end. She smirked as she pushed her fringe out of her face and tightened her ponytail. "Well, well, well. Would you look at that? There's nowhere to run now."

"I don't think so." In a desperate attempt he unsheathed a knife from his pocket and held it in front of him.

"Woah, hey. Easy now." The woman stopped in her tracks and held her hands up. "Don't be an idiot."

"One step closer and I swear I will use this!"

"Do you even know how to use it?"

"Don't patronize me!"

"Hey, just calm down, okay?" The woman took a small step closer. "Your name is Hope, right?"

"H-How'd you know that?" The young boy stuttered as he started to shake nervously. Light green-blue eyes started to dart in all directions. He saw her move closer and held his knife back up. "I said, don't move, bitch!"

She ignored him and took another step. "I know all about you. Hope Estheim. 14 years old. A straight 'A' student in Destiny High School. Furthermore, you're the captain of the soccer team. Pretty impressive, don't you think?"

"So what?" He frowned. Sweat started to pour down his neck.

"What's a smart kid like you doing on the streets?"

"That's none of your business."

The woman took a cautious step closer. "Your parents miss you, you know."

"That's the biggest bull shit I've ever heard!" He whipped off his mask, revealing his short spiky silver locks. Fire fumed in his eyes as he shot her a furious glare. "They don't care about me! My whole life has been nothing but a blur to them no matter what I do. My grades, my skills, my friends, not once did they even acknowledge any of that. So, why would they care now?"

"You're wrong." A scurry of footsteps was heard behind her but she quickly held a palm up as if to say 'stay back, I got this.' She kept her lilac eyes focused on the younger boy's own teal ones. "They've always cared."

"Ha! You think you know so much about me and my family but you don't. Just stay out of my life, okay?" The boy snorted. "I came to my own conclusion; what's the point in being good when I can be bad?"

Unexpectedly, she burst out laughing. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Huh?"

"Did you even think this through? Running away from home with no money and shoplifting from every store in the precinct. Furthermore, you just stole a handbag from one of the richest sugar daddies, who I believe will hunt you down no matter what the cost is. And besides that, do you know what a record can do to your future?" She was standing face to face with him now. Her height was towering over him and the the knife was pointed at her chest. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I... I..." The boy looked away. "I just wanted them to look at me."

"Hope, they are looking at you. They have always been." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Everything they do is for you. For your future, your happiness. The sacrifices they make by working all the time just to give you a better future than their own. Did you know your mother keeps a photo of you in her wallet? She showed me it today at the station."

Hope looked up, a slight look of belief shimmered in his eyes. He lowered the knife and clenched it in his hand. "She did? She's not at work?"

"That's right. Your parents have been sitting in the station worried sick these last two days."

"They would never leave work... especially not for me..."

"Fine, if you don't believe me you can come and see for yourself." She shrugged. "Don't you miss them?"

It was the moment she had been waiting for. She saw the boy drop his head and furrowed his eye brows before looking back at her. "I-I do." His voice broke as he wiped a stray tear that was threatening to fall.

She gave him a small smile. "Well, let's go and see them then. But first I need you to drop the knife, okay?"

"Okay." He let go of the weapon and it landed point down.

She ruffled his hair and lead him out. "You're a good kid, you know that?"

As they both exited the alleyway they were met with several police officers who were waiting for them. A few of them gave a grin and a nod to the woman. Two patrol cars were parked at the curb and a small crowd had formed around them. The woman walked in front of the boy, shielding him from the crowd's curious eyes and glared at them. "Nothing to see here! Get moving, people!"

A blonde spiky haired officer came towards them and patted the boy on the back. "Just stick with me, kid."

"Hope!"

The trio turned their heads towards a middle aged woman who stepped out of one of the patrol cars. She had silver shoulder-length hair and her green eyes were filled with relief as she came running towards them. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed for days, her mascara was smudged and her business attire was crinkled. But that didn't stop her from reaching out to her son. She fell to her knees in front of the boy and hugged him. "My boy! My sweet little boy. Are you okay?"

Hope froze on the spot. "Mom..." he uttered softly.

"I was so worried about you!" She held his shoulders and studied his face. "Why would you do something like this?"

"Mom, I'm-" he voice cracked once again, "-I'm sorry, Mom! I'm so sorry!"

"That's okay, hun. I'm here, Hope. I'm here." She hugged him as she continued to whisper soothing words of reassurance in his ear.

The two detectives looked at each other as they took a step back to leave the family to have their moment. The blonde folded his arms across his chest and grinned while shaking his head. "Detective Kairi Hart, you've done it again."

"Done what?" She grinned back at him as she smoothed down her suit. "And where was my partner? All of this chasing could've been avoided if he was at my side rather than buying a hot dog."

"Hey! I was hungry!" He stuck out his tongue. "And Kairi, please. If I wasn't here you would be doing so much better. I mean, you brought justice back to the Islands, saved the helpless from the unknown, and now, reunited families back together."

"Ah, that sounds about right. But you're wrong about the latter." Kairi sighed as she pushed her fringe back from her face. She looked at the family with a sad look. "Roxas, where's the Dad?"

A grim line appeared on his face. "He couldn't make it."

"Couldn't or didn't want to make it?"

"Either way, the reason was because of work."

"Damn it." She clenched her teeth. "What kind of father doesn't care about his own son?"

"Hey, Kai. Don't take it personally. Remember, you caught the boy and brought him back to his mother. That's the most important thing right now."

She sighed. "You're right. I hate it when you're right." They started walking back towards the duo and she placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt, guys, but we have to take Hope back to the station."

"Can I come with him?" The mother asked as she wiped away her tears.

"Of course." Kairi smiled and turned towards the boy. "Hope, listen to me very carefully. I need you to follow my partner, Roxas, back to the station. He will be asking you a lot of questions and try to answer them honestly, okay? You have the right to have an attorney present as well as your parents there with you for support. Do you understand?"

"Yeah..." Hope frowned.

She slapped his back and helped him up. "'Atta boy! Don't worry, Roxas won't bite." She winked at him.

"Hard." Roxas played along.

"But first I need that handbag back." Kairi held her hand out.

"Oh yeah, here." He took it off and placed it in her hands.

"Thanks. Now, be a good boy and get out of here." She lead them towards a patrol car, with Roxas taking the driver's seat.

"You're not coming with us?" Roxas asked as he fasten his seat belt.

"Nope. I need to get rid of the knife back in the alley way and plus," she groaned, "I've got to return this back to Yuna. She better thank me after all this crap I've been put through. I'll meet you back at the station later."

He saluted her off. "See ya later, Kai."

Kairi hit the back of the car two times before watching it disappear into the next street. The crowd before had now dispersed and the other police officers had left when they saw that the situation was not in any risk of danger. She sighed as she turned back to the alleyway, mentally preparing herself for the mess she would have to clean up.

Author's Note:

Doneeee! The amount of times I had to look up 'hope' in the thesaurus is astounding because I couldn't write sentences like 'Hope had hope'. LOL.

Please excuse any grammatical mistakes. I hope this chapter wasn't too short and confusing. There will be a longer chapter next time! I promise. :P

See you guys next time! :)