So, an Ari-centered one-shot. Hope it turned out ok. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Broken.
He was broken. Completely and utterly broken, like that china cup he dropped once. Thousands of tiny pieces scattered on the floor, surrounding his feet. It didn't matter that time, the cup was old and useless, and therefore it was expendable. Just like him.
It took him years to really understand that, though; and once again, he was only a little child at the moment. Was he even supposed to get it? Maybe not. Maybe his father (funny word) never meant for him to understand, but he did and the world (at the age of three) was never the same.
When he first met them, he used to think of them as his older siblings. All of them excluding, of course, little baby Angel. She was even smaller than he, so fragile and pure… like and angel. Not that he had ever met one. The rest of them was a rich mix of personalities and characters, well-blended with each other. For an instant, an amazing instant that lasted about two months, he thought he had found a family, a complete family. He was wrong.
During those months, he used to play with Gazzy, that blonde kid of almost his same age, and Nudge, a curly haired motor-mouth girl. They used to laugh and play when his father and he visited them in the basement. Sometimes, if he was lucky, his father would take the key and would open the door of each cage, letting them momentarily free ("Why are they locked in cages, father?", he would ask over and over again, in that little voice he used to had). And they would run. Only if they were alone, those were the rules. His father used to speak with the older kids while taking care of the smallest one, the Angel. He never listened the conversations, until that word ("scape") appeared on them.
He wished he would never listened. At age of three, playing with dirty kids in some even dirtier place, his world was almost perfect… but, he started to notice the devotion in his father's eyes when he was with the oldest girl, Max. Love, pride. Ari, little, tiny Ari, only wanted the same for him. Couldn't his father see his desire of feel some of that love? Only a hug or a goodnight kiss. That last month, he could count the kisses his father gave him with one hand. Even when he already knew how to count up to ten. Only five, and each time, after expending the afternoon with them, the ones with wings.
Ari's heart was broken. Like Gazzy's stomach or Iggy's eyes. Beyond repair. Not like their wings, beautiful enormous wings. Fang's ones were his favorites, black with almost imperceptible dark blue spots. "I want wings!" he remembered asking for them every once in a while, hoping his wish would become true. If he knew then, he would never ask.
But Ari was a little kid and little kids are always hungry: attention, love, friendship. He never had anything like that. The flock (mostly Gazzy and Nudge) were kind with him because he was Jeb's son. That little kid that followed him everywhere, like a shadow (was he only a shadow?). But, to be honest, they got tired of him after playing for a while: they didn't understand his games often and/or were too tired to be playing around. Sometimes they didn't even offer him a smile. Gazzy would leave him as soon as his father stopped talking with the older ones, reaching Iggy with a sparkle in his eyes. Ari was never invited to play whatever game they played together.
So, he started to walk away. His smiles started to diminish and his heart start to crack. Pretty quickly he found himself unhappy. Laugh? He didn't remember how to do it anymore. But, the saddest part was that he felt so empty. Was it normal for a toddler to look at the mirror and find nothing? Because that was how he felt, like nothing. Little Ari only dreamt of having his own dad back.
"Ari?"
Listening to a non-existent voice that sound a lot like Jeb's was damaging his sanity, putting it in a thin line, so thin that Ari could caress it with his fingertips, playing, listening to the twang ripped from it. Curious, really.
He felt sleep that night, wishing he wouldn't dream. His dreams were never pleasant. Were they dreams? Or were they nightmares? He wouldn't know. It wouldn't matter, however, because the next thing he remembered was waking up in his father's arms. He did not open his eyes, listen to the conversation between his father and the others. The winged ones.
"We're going to leave the School".
"Why?" the little blond kid's voice was a whisper, drown by some foot tapping constantly against the floor. One, two, three.
"We need to go".
Ari, silently agreed. Even if that meant to live with the other kinds, and having to share his father with them. Maybe in another place the things would be different and he could see the sky in a daily basis. Feel the grass with his toes. And fly.
"When?"
"Tonight".
Time later, when he was sure there was nobody else in the room, he opened his eyes. Excited, with his little heart beating so fast that it hurt and the biggest smile in his lips. In that moment, Jeb looked deeply at him and, holding his breath, hugged him with all his being. Enormous, large arms around his back, comforting him. And the voice, broken just like Ari himself.
"Ari, I love you. Do you know it? That I love you?"
The kid nodded, his eyes widened in surprise and… fear. His smile quietly disappearing. He did not understand it, but he felt like something bad was about to happen. Have you ever feel it? Like your life is taken away from you?
"Because I do, never forget it".
Ari wanted to cry. He did not understand anything but his heart seemed to have stopped in the middle of a beat. "Don't cry", he thought, "don't cry".
Jeb sighed and put him down, kneeling beside him. "I'm leaving Itex, Ari".
"I know", the kid said, looking at his fingers. "I heard you. We're going to scape. Right?" He asked, his voice trembling, waiting to hear the confirmation.
He heard nothing. Silence filled the room as Jeb hugged him for the second time in one night. "I'm so sorry, Ari".
"We are leaving but… I can't take you with me. This time you can't come".
The entire world stopped spinning and, for a moment, Ari felt like he was sinking in the dark. No more noises, no more light, nothing. Like he was dying, no, like he was already dead. Even in that state, he founded the courage to make one more question.
"…Why?"
He would never know.
Tears falling from his eyes impeded him to see his father saying goodbye.
"I love you, Ari".
He never believed that again.
Because he died that night. Like the broken china that his father throw away.