I Vanish
Rain never liked mornings, especially the ones where he tried to sleep in, but ended up being woken up by some soft noise. He was a light sleeper, and once he was awake, he was awake for good. That 'soft noise' today was his sister getting up in her neighboring bedroom.
No matter how quiet and soft her footsteps were, he always heard them. The young man groaned and rolled over, wanting to go back to sleep, if at all possible. It was too late though. He was awake, and , of course, he had to drag himself out of bed and to the bathroom.
Once that was done, he walked back to his room, and heard his sister at work in the kitchen, probably making breakfast for the two of them, before she headed out to school. He himself had finished with high school at seventeen, for he had been a bright kid, and not only put in early, but skipped a grade as well. Now he was tempted to follow in his mother's footsteps, and join the Guardian Corps in hopes to get stronger so he could protect people. However, his father wasn't too fond of the idea.
"I just don't want you to get hurt..." he'd told his sontime and time again.
And yet Hope was the one that ended up in the hospital. Nothing severe, but Rain knew he would've gotten away completely unscathed if Lightning was still around to protect him. Hope knew how to protect himself, but he still wasn't much of a fighter. A trip to Pulse for research out in the field with other members of The Academy had gotten him quite a few bad bruises and deep scratches.
Rain and Faith, of course, were both more than capable and mature for taking care of themselves while he was recovering for a few days, so they were left alone.
Grabbing a clean pair of black cargo pants, Rain slipped them on, followed by a navy blue muscle shirt. He ran a hand through his short, fluffy pink hair to check if it needed to be brushed, It felt fine. Shrugging, he walked out of his room and into the kitchen.
Faith was quietly at work with bacon and eggs for them both. She had put her long, silver, wavy hair into a high pony tail so it wouldn't get in the way, and was already dressed for school in her old hand-me-down plaid skirt from their late aunt, and a loose white long sleeved shirt with butterfly sleeves, and a short, olive green jacket over it.
"Morning, Kupo!" Mog greeted when he saw him, catching Faith's attention.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked.
"Nah, I was just ready to get up," he lied, not wanting to hurt her feelings. "Want help with anything?" he asked.
"I'm already done," she said, moving the breakfast she had made for them from the frying pan to the plates. "Although if you don't have plans, do you think you could clean up a bit? Dad should be home soon."
"Yeah I'll take care of it."
Housework wasn't really his thing, but he just needed to do some sweeping, vacuuming, and dishes- nothing he couldn't handle.
"Thanks, Rainy," his sister said cheerfully, getting a glare in return.
"Don't call me that, it's annoying."
She and Ashling had both called him "Rainy" ever since they could talk, and he disliked it from the beginning. When they got older, he had finally convinced them to call him Rain, just like everyone else did, but Faith still brought his old nickname up from time to time, just to annoy him.
"Oh fine, you're no fun," she said as she handed him his breakfast.
He sighed and shook his head at her as he sat down. He noticed an awkward silence had followed as they began to eat.
"Something wrong?" he asked a bit worriedly.
"It's just...It's been eight years now..." she said softly, sadness shone clear in her voice.
He frowned, then glanced over at the calendar on the wall. It was indeed eight years ago today that their mother had disappeared.
"I just wish she'd come home soon..."
"Don't start this again, Faith," Rain said sternly. "You should know by now that she's long gone, and not coming back to us."
"But-"
"She's gone Faith!" he snapped, making her flinch. "She ditched us! I don't know why, but she did!"
He regretted yelling at her the moment he saw the tears in her eyes. He was about to apologize when she suddenly stood up from her place at the table.
"I really hate you sometimes you know that!" she shouted before grabbing her book bag from the floor. She then ran out the door, and slammed it behind her.
He sighed as he slumped back down in his chair, and watched Mog silently fly away to follow his sister. As siblings, they had their fair share of arguments like this, and Rain was used to having her run out on him to get away for a while. Of course, then she would come back and they would both apologize and move on like it had never even happened.
Knowing they would make up after she got back from school, he quietly finished his breakfast, then got on the chores that she had kindly asked him to do. It was about two hours later when the house phone rang, so he stopped to answer it.
"Estheim residence, Rain speaking."
"Yes, Rain, this is Marie from New Academia High, is your sister not feeling well today? Her teachers have all marked her absent."
It was then when worry hit him.
"She left for school on time," he told them, "Are you sure she's not there?"
"I'm afraid not. Has something happened?"
Don't panic. He told himself.
"No, I'll go look for her now, thank you," he said before hanging up.
It only took him a minute to slide on his shoes and short sleeved black jacket, followed by his trade mark long red scarf he liked to wear. He wasn't sure why, but he also grabbed his mom's old sheathed gunblade before he headed out the door, and locked it behind himself.
"Where could she have gone?" He muttered as he walked around the streets anxiously, slowly getting more worried.
Sighing, he decided it was time to ask for a bit of help, and headed towards Noel's house, which was only a few blocks away. He rang the doorbell once, then patiently waited for him or his cousin to answer.
"Daddy, someone is at the door." he heard Kristof say from inside.
Naturally, a moment later, Noel opened the door and smiled at him.
"Hi Rain, what brings you here?"
"You wouldn't have happened to see Faith around here would you? She ran off on me..." He glanced down at his feet as he spoke, feeling a bit guilty for what he had said to her before she did so. "We had a bit of a fight..."
"No I haven't seen her today...What happened?"
He looked up at the man whom he considered his uncle, then stuck his hands in his pockets as he looked away once more.
"She still thinks mom's gonna come back, I told her to stop being childish and to face the truth that she left us."
He felt a little ashamed for admitting to Noel that he had said those things, after all, what kind of big brother said that to his little sister? Her last words to him still echoed in his head: "I really hate you sometimes you know that?!"
"I think you were a bit harsh with her. You shouldn't have said that, but it is normal for siblings to fight sometimes."
"I know it's just-"
His words were interrupted when Kristof peeked out the door and saw him. Then, the little boy instantly ran to him and hugged him.
"Rain!" he said happily.
He smiled down on his young cousin and ruffled his hair a bit, then turned back to Noel.
"Would you mind helping me look for her? If we split up then we could cover more ground, and I'll be sure to keep an eye on him," he said, pointing down at Kristof.
He had babysat his cousin plenty of times, and was more than responsible. They could've been brothers more than cousins.
"Ok, I will help you to find your sister."
"I wanna go!" Kristof pleaded.
"Hmmm... I don't know son, can you be fit enough for this mission?" Noel said as he smiled and looked down at him.
"I am! I am! I can find Faith, I'm like my daddy!"
Rain smiled and chuckled a bit at his cousin, remembering that he had been pretty similar when he was his age.
"I'm gonna be strong like you, Mommy!" he had told Lightning when he was a kid.
At the time, she had smiled softly at him, and kissed him on the forehead.
"You just be a good big brother and keep your sisters safe, ok?"
Now, here he was, years later, and unable to find her. And Ashling... No he couldn't think about that now. He sighed, then pushed the old memories aside.
"She's never gone this long..." he muttered.
She was fifteen, and capable of taking care of herself, that much he knew, but he couldn't help worrying. He had a bad feeling in his gut that something bad had happened to her...
"Faith and auntie Light are fine, don't worry," Kristof said with a smile, trying to cheer him up. "You'll return to being a family, I know that."
Rain forced another smile down at his cousin, knowing that he was just a kid, but still appreciated his words- even though he knew they wouldn't become true. Lightning was gone, had been for eight years now. Noel also smiled softly at him.
"That's my boy. Well, where to start searching? Where was the last place you saw her?" Noel asked.
"Like I said she ran out of the house on me, no idea where she headed after that..."
"What about places that mean something to you? To her or both of you."
Rain sighed, and began pacing about as he thought. This is why he came to him, he knew how to stop and think things out. The problem was that he didn't know any of Faith's personal favorite places- she always kept them a secret. However there was one place that they both shared happy childhood memories of.
"Down by the water at the lake," he answered. Their parents had always brought them there when they were kids.
"Ok, let's start searching there."
"I wanna go to the beach!" Kristof exclaimed happily.
"If you wanna come to play, you cant go with us," Noel told him.
"I'm not going to play, I'm going to search for Faith!"
"It would be nice to have an extra pair of eyes," Rain pointed out.
Of course, it also meant they would have to be sure he didn't run off somewhere as well, but Rain knew he could handle that.
"Yay! With my help we'll find Faith soon!"
"Why do you sounds so sure?" Noel asked with a smile.
"Because I just know," he said cheerfully.
"Come on then," Rain said calmly, offering his hand to his cousin so he wouldn't slip away from him as he led them both towards the beach.
"Towards!" Kristof shouted.
"Well, so come on, but don't be distracted much, son."
"I won't."
It took a few minutes for them to walk down to the lake, which was located only a couple miles away. When they arrived, Rain sighed, and remembered how wide of an area it covered.
"We're gonna have to split up..." he muttered, while he kept a firm, but gentle, grip on Kristof's hand. "You stay with me ok? Don't wandering off on your own," he told him.
"Ok!" Kristof assured him cheerfully.
"I'll watch over him and take this side," Rain told Noel as he slowly walked towards the east side of the beach.He kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Faith. It was pretty cool and cloudy out, so not many people were out and about wandering along the beach. This would make it easier for them to spot Faith if she was around. However, there wasn't any sign of her for quite a few yards, until something shiny in the sand caught his eye. Not letting go of Kristof's hand, he dashed towards the object, and gently picked it up off the ground. It was a small teardrop pendant on a silver chain. He would recognize it anywhere.
"This is Faith's..." he had gotten one for each of his sisters for their birthdays a couple years ago. The pendants were identical, but he had Ashling's old one on him, so he knew it had to be Faith's.
"You find something?" Noel asked as he walked back over to them.
"What is it? Isn't that hers?" Kristof asked as he stood up on his tiptoes to try and get a better look.
Rain nodded.
"Yeah it's hers, but why would it be here?"
His eyes scanned the area, trying to see if she were indeed near by, but there was no signof her.
"Faith!" he called, hoping she would answer, but there was only silence.
"This is where, or maybe..."
"Or maybe what daddy?"
"Maybe a portal in time is open, and Faith is in the time stream. But maybe... because I don't think she was kidnapped, she's agile."
"Or a shark ate her!" Kristof suggested as he raised his arms to add effect.
"We don't have any enemies that I know of..." Noel continued, "...And maybe that's the reason why Light disappeared. Maybe they are in Valhalla, or are lost in time..."
Rain sighed and rolled his eyes.
"I don't buy that crap," he said.
Of course he had heard countless stories about how his parents, along with Noel and his late aunt Serah, had traveled through time in one way or another, but that's all they were to him: Stories told to children. It just didn't seem logical.
"No matter what you all say, the truth is that mom ditched us."
"Well, I see that I can't convince you if you don't see any evidence," Noel said as he folded his arms.
"Look, I don't want to believe she was kidnapped or something like that any more than you do, but it makes sense. We're Director Estheim's children, and that right there can fetch some pretty good ransom for one of us. Have you forgotten it already happened once?"
Noel frowned apparently remembering that Rain was indeed right about that. Rain clenched his fist in anger just thinking about it, for he would never forget how that had ended. Those memories brought back anger, guilt, and grief, so he pushed them aside the best he could and focused on the present.
"I'll believe all your time travel and what not when I see some proof of it myself."
He waved his arm around as he spoke, as if he were daring Noel to prove his theories right then and there- but Noel wouldn't have to. As he waved his arm around in midair, it brushed against an invisible dimensional rift. Not sure what he had felt, he pulled back at once, and looked back behind him. It was almost completely normal looking, but the space behind him seemed to move and blur.
"What the hell?"
"I think now you will believe..."
He was speechless. He couldn't believe what was before his eyes. He slowly reached forward, wanting to touch the moving space in front of him, but pulled back at the last moment. Something told him it wasn't a good idea...
"Faith..." he whispered. "Is she in there, then?!"
"There is only one way to find out..."
"Travel through time?" Kristof asked.
"I think so."
"This is insane..." Rain muttered. His hand, once again, slowly reached out towards the distortion.
For the moment, he had forgotten that his other hand held Kristof's as well. He took one hesitant step forward, then the space in front of him seemed to reach forward and grab both he and Kristof, engulfing them in darkness. As they both let out a startled cry, Rain held onto Kristof so he wouldn't slip away. However, after the dimensional rift pulled them in, it closed, which left Noel on the beach alone.
Author's Notes
DUN DUN DUNNNNNN! XD Comment please? ^_^