The bright rays of the sun shined down on the top of Sabrina's raven-haired head as she sat on the lake shore, running her fingers through the sand underneath her. She didn't bother trying to hide from the bright sun that sat in the cloudless sky, as the only shade available was inside the house of her daughter, Selena, and Sabrina wanted a front row seat to the current water volleyball game featuring Selena and Lucas, her son, versus Toph and Kayla, two of her nieces. As she watched the intense (and rather funny) game, she fingered the hat on her head. Her hat was green, and in the front it had a white circle with a green 'L' in the middle. It was her most prized possession, since is her husband's favorite hat.
Or…was his favorite hat. 'Luigi…' Sabrina sighed as her mind started to wander. 'He's dead…has been for so long…' Luigi had died seven years ago, due to an incurable virus. Sabrina had managed to get his hat before they buried it with him. She wanted to keep a reminder of all the good times they had, before the illness, when the kids were younger. Most of all, Sabrina wanted a token of her beloved spouse: his cheerful nature, his naivety, the bravery he possessed behind his childish fears. As strange as is sounded, wearing the hat made it feel like he was still there. Like she would turn around and see him, offering a plate of his wonderful pasta for him to try. But Sabrina knew that wouldn't happen. She knew right from the days after his death, when his signature hat was one of the only things keeping her sane, along with her children. Since then, her grip on reality returned, and she had been able to live a life as close to normal as possible. However, Sabrina knew her life would never be the same again, even if she did find a new love (which she didn't want to). There isn't a day in which she thinks about Luigi at least once. She thinks about their relationship before they were married, when they were dating, and even before that, back when they first became friends during that stressful time that she would rather not think about. She always remembers how his arms felt around her, and the texture of his face, and the sensation of his lips on hers. She thinks of these things, and wishes she could relive the years when it felt like they were on top of the world, and that nothing could stop them. How wrong she was.
"Hey."
Sabrina jolted back to the present and jerked her head to the side to see her fair-skinned older sister, Fiona. Sabrina gave a sheepish smile. "H-hey. How long have you been sitting there?"
"For a while." A pause. "How's it going?"
"Just fine."
As Fiona watched the smile on her tanned sister's face slowly melt away, compassion began to lace Fiona's features. "You thinking about…" She trailed off softly.
Sabrina sighed. "Yeah…"
Fiona hummed, and then put an arm around Sabrina, pulling her closer. Together they watched as the water volleyball game continued on, and as Lucas managed to return one of Kayla's spikes, Sabrina spoke up. "You know what?"
Fiona turned. "What?"
"Sometimes…sometimes I feel like…" Sabrina's voice dropped to a whisper. "…Like he's still here."
"Explain?"
Sabrina caught the curious look on Fiona's face. "W-well…I-I know that he's…not here, but…it's like…he's…watching or something…I…"
Fiona smirked. "Like he's watching and protecting you while in heaven."
Sabrina looked down, embarrassed. "Yeah…"
Fiona placed her hand on Sabrina's head. "Then I'm sure that's what he's doing, right now."
Sabrina thought for a moment. "Yeah, you're right!" she said, smiling.
Satisfied that her sister didn't seem depressed, Fiona stood up, brushing the sand off her jeans.
"Where are you going?" Sabrina asked.
"Where we're all going to be going: inside."
"Why?"
"…Oh, so I made all that food so I could eat it myself, huh."
Sabrina facepalmed. "No. No you didn't."
Fiona rolled her eyes, and then directed her attention to the athletes still immersed in their game. "Lunch time!" she bellowed, managing to startle Lucas and remove his attention from the game. An unfortunate move, as at that instant the volleyball was careening for his forehead.
"Lucas!" Sabrina exclaimed in horror, as she ran through the water to get to her son. Fiona wasn't too far behind. Sabrina reached Lucas and helped him into a sitting position. "Are you alright?"
Lucas shook his head and waved away his mother's fussing. "I-I'm fine, I'm fine. I-I'll be fine Mum, don't worry."
Sabrina smiled inwardly. 'That's basically what Luigi would say…' "Okay, if you say so…" Sabrina responded. As Sabrina and Fiona helped Lucas up, Kayla nervously walked up to them. Selena followed, worry being the most present emotion in her eyes.
Kayla twiddled her thumbs, and her gaze was locked on the water surrounding her knees. "Um…I'm sorry…" she said, slightly ashamed since she was the one who (unintentionally) propelled the ball towards Lucas in the first place.
Lucas slowly nodded, as to not aggravate his head even further. "It's alright."
"Besides, it wasn't really your fault. If anything, it was more of mine," Fiona added, as she and Sabrina began walking Lucas to the lakeshore.
Lucas sighed. "I also am at fault for not paying attention…"
As the three of them thought about their revelations, everyone was strolling out of the water. Kayla began to get tired, especially after that tiring game, so Selena allowed her to climb onto her back. Sabrina watched with interest, and she observed that she could find even more similarities between her children and her husband. She smiled, realizing just how much of an impact he had on everyone while he was still alive. As they approached the door to Selena's house, Selena spoke up. "Hey, if it's all of you guys's fault, then it's gotta mean it's no one's fault! 'Cause if it's everyone's fault, it's no one's fault! Or maybe it's the other way around…I dunno!"
The other five of them stared at her, confused. Then, Toph's laughter broke the silence, which made everyone else start to laugh, including Selena. Fiona and Selena then opened the door. "Come on," Fiona announced. "Lunch is starting to get cold!" She left Lucas and helped Kayla down from Selena's back.
"Yay, pasta!" Selena cheered, as she ran down the hall to the dining room. Fiona walked to the kitchen, still chuckling, to get the Italian dishes she prepared some time earlier. Toph sighed, and then turned to Sabrina.
"I will never understand that child," she confessed.
Sabrina's gaze met Toph's grey, cloudy eyes. "Me neither. And I raised her!"
Toph smiled, then reached up to ruffle Lucas's black hair before turning and ambling down the hall to where the food was going to be. After Toph turned the corner, Lucas separated from his mother and started to take shaky steps toward the dining room.
"Hey…" Sabrina started, catching Lucas's attention. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Lucas answered, continuing his trek.
Sabrina watched him, and then turned to close the door, as she did, she froze. She suddenly felt like she was being watched. But it wasn't in a bad way; it was more of a comforting gaze…from the…sky? Sabrina stared up into the bright blue sky in wonder. A soft smile soon slowly graced her lips.
"Hey 'Brina!"
Sabrina closed the door and turned around. Kayla's head poked out into the hall from the dining room. In her hand has a fork with spaghetti. "Are you hungry, or what?"
"Coming!" Sabrina practically sang as she skipped to where everyone else was to treat herself to her own serving of Italian food.
A/N: Oh yeah...Kayla is my rip-off of Knuckles, and Toph is the rip-off of Toph from 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'.
I don't own Luigi, he belongs to Nintendo, but I kinda wish I did though...
