~Longing~

The members of team CoreTech were taking a well deserved vacation in Westward City, after a series of run ins with the Punk Monks and STORM. The hunt for the Monsuno frequencies was a difficult and draining task, but Jeredy had been inclined to let them have a few days off. Especially now that Jon Ace had been cured of his toxic state and was helping Chase' father with his research. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves during this particularly peaceful day.

All except Beyal.

It wasn't as if he wasn't trying his hardest to, he really was. But strangely he found himself unable to empty his mind and relax. Beyal had spent an hour meditate (or attempting to) in order to find the source of his restlessness. However, that did very little to ease his worries. He was sitting on the hot sand in his thick clothing when Jinja came to stand sit beside him, wearing a blue two-piece swimsuit. She placed a hand on his shoulder, concern written on her face.

"Beyal, you seem troubled. Is everything okay?"

The monk opened his eyes and sighed, drawing lazy patterns on the sand with his finger. "I am lost, Jinja. I genuinely wish to spend time with my tribe, but something is occupying my mind and I cannot figure out what to do."

Jinja blinked, a little uncertain about the particulars of what occupied Beyal's mind. A vision? A new threat? A sense of foreboding? Jinja's thoughts lead her to some rather unpleasant conclusions until she saw the patterns that Beyal was drawing on the sand.

A camera?

Jinja frowned, not understanding what the object signified until her eyes widened with an odd sort of realization. Did Beyal really. . .

"Oh God, she got to you, didn't she?"

Beyal stared back at her with equally big eyes. "Excuse me?"

Jinja started to grin despite herself, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief. She drew a big heart around Beyal's sketch. "You know what I'm talking about, mister. Don't act stupid; you miss Abby, don't you? Even though she has clearly shown you how she absolutely cannot keep her mouth shut?"

Beyal flushed, glancing downwards and fidgeting with his fingers. "I...do not know."

Jinja stood up in rush and took his hand, dragging him away from the sand while their friends were staring at them from a distance. "Come on! I know what you need."

They were a decent distance away from the beach, up at the grassy hills were one could gaze at the beautiful view of the ocean. The sun hung low on the sky, painting the sky in an assortment of red and orange colors. Jinja fished her phone up from her small beach bag and handed it to Beyal

"You remember what I taught you about using phones, right?" she continued as he nodded in affirmation. "Good. Now call Abby. Don't worry, if she goes overboard, just end the call," Jinja shook her head. "Though, I doubt Abby would propose to you over the phone." Just yet.

Jinja waved before going back to the beach, leaving Beyal with a rather awkward decision. He swallowed hard as he went through Jinja's contacts and found Abby's name among many, his thumb hovering over the call button a couple of seconds before finally pressing it.

He heard the phone ring a few times and glanced down at the grass at his feet with a sudden interest, before the phone was finally picked up.

"Hey Jin, I really can't talk for long 'cause Drew and Emma are fighting and as far as I can tell, it's gonna end in tears. What's up?"

"Greetings, Abby. It is me, Beyal."

The sound of something falling onto the ground with a 'thud!' could be heard followed by low muttering. Beyal waited a couple of seconds before Abby's somewhat exasperated voice returned.

"Bey?! You called me?"

"I apologize for the disturbance," Beyal replied awkwardly, scratching his head. It didn't seem like the best time to talk over the phone. "I shall call you back when you are less occupied."

"No, no, no, no, no, don't go! I just meant that your call was surprising and unexpected, that's all! I got lots of time available."

The sound of children bickering in the background could be heard and the monk frowned slightly. "It does not sound like that."

"Please, we're a naturally loud family, hon. Trust me, baby; I got plenty of time to talk."

Suddenly, Beyal felt a little bashful and too shy to carry on the conversation. He felt somewhat more at ease from hearing Abby's confident voice from over the line, but how he was he to tell either Jinja or Abby that he literally had called for no particular reason? "Oh…right. So...how is the weather?"

Silence. Beyal could hear the pounding of his heart from how silent the line was. "You know, I've been wanting to hear your voice for a while now, but to be honest, I never imagined this would've been our first conversation over the phone. And you know I might be the last person to ever be bothered by your company, but can I ask why you called in the first place?"

"I…" the monk swallowed hard again, rubbing his neck nervously. "It has been a while since you visited us and I believe I missed your company? My thoughts seem to

Once again, silence. Though, he could hear the faint yet unmistakable squeals of joy in the background and suddenly the phone was picked up again.

"Hello?" said a boy voice.

"To whom am I speaking?" Beyal asked.

"My name is Andrew, but everyone calls me Drew. Who're you?"

"My name is Beyal. It is a pleasure to meet you, Andrew."

"Oooh, you're Beyal? My big sis Abby talks about you all the time. Like aaaaalll the time. She says you're the second prettiest guy she knows."

"Second?" Beyal repeated with a frown, strangely troubled by the fact that his red-haired friend had placed him second on her list of good-looking people. Never one to be vain about appearances, it puzzled Beyal that he was feeling this way. Perhaps he had been beaten by this Brad Pitt character whom the girls had been speaking about a few months ago?

"Yeah, 'cause she says that I'm the prettiest boy in the world and Emma, my twin sister, is the prettiest girl in the world. But I think she's lying, 'cause Emma isn't pretty; she's the biggest meanie ever."

A relieved sigh. Beyal is going to ignore the way his shoulders lose tension. "Well, I would not think your sister would ever lie to you, Andrew. You should treasure both of your sisters," Beyal advised.

"I guess. Mommy said so too, but she's not here anymore. Abby says she and Daddy are gone. But she won't tell me where they went. She just keeps saying that they're gone."

The monk's smile instantly faded away into a sorrowful mask of sympathy. What a terrible thing. "I am so sorry to hear that, my friend. Please accept my condolences for this great loss of yours."

Silence yet again before the voice replied with much excitement. "I think I know why Abby likes you so much. You talk funny."

The wonders with kids. They could be really sad at one moment and then the next, they could bounce back with the joy and happiness only children could store. Beyal blushed faintly, completely forgetting that this was an eight-year old child he was talking to, and heard protests and shouts at the other end of the line.

"Andrew K. Parker," Abby said firmly at each name. "You go to your room and apologize to Em, or no cookies for either of you!"

"Don't wanna," the younger brother stuck out his tongue childishly. "I was talking to your boyfriend and he talks super funny. That's why you like him, right?"

The older sister snatched the phone back and grabbed the twin by his wrist, dragging him to his room. "I like him for lots of reasons, young man. Though, you're way too young to understand most of them."

A little girl with short hair opened the door and stuck her tongue out. "Blah, Drew is ugly and stupid!"

"At least I'm not a fat like you!" the twin boy countered, trying to wrestle out of his older sister's grip to fight. Emma gasped and glanced at Abby with her big brown eyes. "Abby, he called me fat!"

"Abby, she called me ugly!"

Abby let out a long sigh and flicked both of them on their foreheads. The twins stared at Abby with big watery eyes as she began to scold both of them. "Both of you need to talk nice to each other! I don't think either of you can understand the importance of this exact call," Abby waved her phone for emphasis. "Can any of you imagine for how long I've waited to see this guy, let alone hear his voice again?"

"Well, yeah," Emma raised her tiny hand. "'Cause you keep telling us and Auntie and-"

Abby narrowed her eyes slowly. "Then, why did you choose this time of all times to argue? Emma, you're the prettiest doll I've ever seen and Drew, you are nowhere near ugly! When you grow up, you're gonna be the coolest twins known to mankind! But before that can happen, both of you need to respect one another as a family. Now hug it out."

The two twins glanced at their sister before turning to look at one another. Then they hugged, albeit reluctantly. "Sorry," they both muttered dejectedly. Abby shrugged but was overall satisfied with her work.

"Neat. Now, I hid the cookie jar behind the plates inside the porcelain closet. Auntie will be home soon so please don't-" the redhead could no longer see her siblings standing before her, as childish protests continued to sound inside the living room. Followed by a crash.

"Oh, sweet mother of-"

"I didn't do it!" said two voices in union. Abby sighed deeply once more and pinched the bridge of her nose with closed eyes.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," she muttered and gazed at the screen of her phone to see that the call from earlier was still in progress. Abby's eyes widened slightly as she slowly placed the phone to her ear.

"He…hello? Beyal? Baby, are you still there..?"

"…I was wondering if you had forgotten me, Abby."

"Oh, shoot, Beyal, I'm sorry this dragged on for so long," the redhead said but stopped in mid sentence as realization hit her with the force of a train.

He'd heard every damned word that had come out of her big mouth.

"You heard what I told Drew and Emma about you just now, didn't' you?"

"Every single word, I'm afraid."

Fuck.

"I believe that I still stand corrected; you cannot keep your siblings in line and keep a conversation with me at the same time. Seeing as it was I who rudely interrupted your work, I will say my goodbyes for now and call you later."

"That is so not fair; I'm good at multitasking– wha'?" Abby said with a blank expression, blinking a few times before repeating. "What?"

"I said that I will call you back when you are less occupied. Or do you not wish for me to call you at all?"

"Hold your horses, I never said anything of the likes!" the redhead quickly exclaimed, taking a moment to tug a strand of red hair behind her pierced ear. A small smile slowly broke out. "Really? You mean that?"

"Excuse me?"

"That you'll call me back? You will, right?"

"Absolutely. By then, I may have some more interesting topics to discuss with you than the weather."

Abby giggled. "I mean, we could always discuss you."

"…what?"

"Nothing! I look forward to your call, Bey! Bye!" Abby hastily replied and ended the call with yet another giggle. She spun on her heel and danced on her way to her room, leaving two eight-year olds with cookie crumbs everywhere on themselves, to stare at the closed door.

"Oh, wow, she's not even mad about the mess."