A/N: Woo, finally updated! This chapter is a little sad, yet at the end, I hope you guys feel better. That's all I can say for now.

Disclaimer: Don't own KH.

Chapter 10: Loss

A week had passed since the visit in which the kiss almost occurred, and Lariaum found that he could not stop thinking about it all these days. However, one event practically shook him to the core. It started out as a regular Saturday morning as he groggily woke up at ten o'clock. Just as he prepared himself to go downstairs, he suddenly overheard the telephone ringing; his plans changed, so that he could listen to this conversation. Flora had answered the call, he could hear, and he pressed his ear firmly on the floor.

"Hello? Oh, Irene, how are you?" she greeted enthusiastically as always. Irene was Lariaum's aunt who dropped by every once in a while. Usually, she would never call, especially in the morning. Something urgent must have come up, something that wasn't OK... Determinedly, he kept on listening.

His mother responded currently, "That's good. How are the kids? Great! And have you heard about—oh. Is he going to be all right? Oh, Irene..."

The conversation had taken a drastic turn for the worse, he could tell by the abrupt empathy in Flora's tone. His assumptions proved correct as she continued, sounding on the verge of tears, "Oh, that's awful! I never thought—surely, he knew this was a risk. Oh, my Lariaum is going to be so devastated by the news. Has anyone found the body? No? Hm, that's strange... We will definitely come for the services. Mmm-hmm, though I admit I never wanted to hear a call like this. I'm sorry for your loss, Irene and those poor children... All right, we'll see you next week. OK, bye."

The constant "oh" on his mother's side of the conversation definitely did not bode well. Lariaum realized what had happened just as she called toward upstairs, "Lariaum, wake up, honey!"

Of course, he had been awake for the past five minutes, so he dutifully descended the stairs to his grief-stricken mother. Foolish as he was to ask this, he went ahead with it anyway. "Mother...is everything all right?"

Suppressing a sob with her hand, Flora shuddered as she stated grimly, "It's about your Uncle Braig. He...he...was involved in a terrible lab accident with his colleagues. All of them are... They... Honey, I'm sorry, but as far as your aunt knows, he's gone."

Part of his world shattered at that moment, though a quiet numbness swept over him. This traumatized him worse than that silly break-up with Monique, worse than when his peers first teased him. What happened to him now made both of those seem trifle.

Usually, the first step in dealing with loss or any such circumstance is denial. Of course, Lariaum wanted to deny this with a passion. How could the man who was like a real father toward him be gone so soon? His youngest child Oni hadn't even graduated high school yet, whereas his oldest had just been recently engaged. All these family events he would miss. How was that even possible?

"Mother, let's think rationally," Lariaum advised, though he did the opposite of that. "Perhaps it was a rumor that spread around Radiant Garden and managed to make its way here. Maybe someone else was in the accident."

"No...no, it's true, son," his mother reassured him, her voice quavering. "It's all over the newspapers, your aunt says. All who were involved in this pointless heart study got in this accident. I've lost a brother because of this. And...whoever thought up of such a thing—heart study—is...is an absolute idiot!"

Her emotions were getting the better of her, as were Lariaum's. Anger, the next step in grieving (a rather fast process, though slow toward the end), overwhelmed him. He tired of his mother's mourning over her brother, his uncle. He looked up to his Uncle Braig. Surely, the middle-aged man would never let himself die this way. It was impossible!

The fists that he pinned to his sides shook with suppressed emotion. "He's not dead, Mother! He can't be! He was like the father I never had. Father...I don't even like Father! Braig was my father. Erik...my biological father is dead to me."

"Don't say that, Lariaum! I know this is hard to handle right now, and emotions are definitely running high. But, don't ever say that your uncle was your real father. It...it can't be possible. Your father did all he could to—"

Lariaum felt hollow inside as he listened to his mother's words. However, he held up a hand to silence her when she got to the topic of Erik. "He tried to, Mother. But, he didn't try nearly hard enough. No, as far as I know, the one who was remotely like a father to me is gone. He, as much as I hate to say this, can never return to this world again. And now, it seems like I have no one!"

With this impassioned last sentence, Lariaum made for the door to the greenhouse, opened it, and slammed it shut. Alone in his pain, he retreated to his beloved roses, seeking comfort from them. He disbelieved that Braig had really died, though realized that it did happen. His body might not have been found at the scene, but what else could have happened? His insistence to go forth with this stupid research was his downfall in the end. Lariaum tried not to weep as he thought of all of this. Braig had a wife, children, and someone who served as a son to him. For, he never had sons in his life, only daughters; he saw past what Erik deemed Lariaum's flaws and accepted the boy as his own. Memories surfaced within Lariaum's mind of a time when hearts didn't matter, only the love of a family. He remembered a particular time four years ago, when at age fourteen, his father had yelled at him for tending the flowers instead of fixing the then broken television. Lariaum had raced to Uncle Braig's house five blocks away to tell that story...

"And then, I knew that Erik hates me. What did I do wrong, Uncle Braig? I only wanted to help Mother with the roses, and my own father can't accept me for that. He can't accept my dreams or passions," Lariaum told his uncle, who perched on the living room recliner and listened to his distraught nephew's woes. He sipped a cup of coffee, ignoring the television buzzing dully in the background, something Erik refused to do. All Lariaum's father was concerned about was the latest results of the paternity test on a trash TV show. At least Uncle Braig showed that he cared in this way, forgetting such garbage. He had never made television his life, only his family.

Finally, he responded concernedly with, "Well, your father shouldn't have even been like that in the first place. He should accept you for who you really are, not just what he wants you to be. You get good grades in school, right? You're a good son, and you have friends who like you. If that's not success, I don't know what is."

Lariaum grinned from hearing these words of wisdom, words that Braig scarcely spoke unless absolutely solemn. "You're right, uncle. I guess Erik just doesn't think I'm manly enough to be a son. What difference does that make?"

"Yeah, well, never understood why your father wanted kids—I think if a girl would have been born instead of you, he'd still be on his ass watching TV all day and finding faults with her. It's not like that with me and my girls, I can tell you that right now."

As though he possessed psychic abilities, Braig finished saying this just as his daughter Oni stepped into the room. Her large blue eyes stared at Lariaum for a few seconds before she smiled hugely. "Hi, Lariaum!"

"Hi, Oni. How's my favorite cousin today?" Lariaum inquired, feeling more content than he had been in the past hour.

"Great! Hey, Daddy, is Cousin Lariaum staying for dinner?"

Uncle Braig chuckled heartily while switching the television off. His nephew hadn't come over in a while, so his daughter did bring up a favorable suggestion. "Sure, why not? Lariaum, you wanna stay for dinner? Irene's making her famous homemade vegetable soup tonight."

"I'd love to, uncle," the flower lover murmured graciously. The acceptance he gained in this house was almost like a favorite food of which he couldn't eat enough. At his house, only his mother loved him. Here, everybody loved him.

"All right! Well, that's set. So, how about the three of us play darts. What do you say?" Braig suggested, wearing his warmest grin.

Oni and Lariaum eagerly agreed.

The rage seethed through Lariaum now while he stared morosely at his precious crimson roses. He pounded his fist into the dirt that encased their roots and shouted, "Dammit, why did this have to happen to him?!? Why did he leave for science when he had Aunt Irene, Oni, Rami, Akita...and me?"

With this, he burst into sobbing, grieving for his lost uncle, who may never be found again. Tears watered his roses that day instead of the watering can he dutifully used every day. His suffering hurt him worse than any teasing word at school. Eventually, three hours later, he did wander up toward his room in which he locked himself the rest of this awful Saturday. His mother called for him to eat dinner, but he refused to come down. What would ruin his appetite worse was eating while thinking about Braig and his father seated across from him, slurping his portion of miso soup as though nothing happened. Lariaum could not bear that right now.

So, he resolved to call Lenera, who probably stayed at and around her home today, as usual. Maybe he could count on her for some solace. Once he heard her rather snappy "hello" over the phone, he smiled instantly. Only she could answer a call like that.

"Lenera, it's me. Today hasn't been the best."

"Oh, I know. I heard the news reports and actually read the paper this morning. Lariaum, I'm so, so sorry for what happened to your uncle."

At this stage in their friendship that bordered on the edge of love, he had told her everything about himself, including his favorite uncle. He recalled the way she laughed when he told a funny story about Braig once. It involved him eating so much chili at a family reunion that the toilet at Lariaum's grandmother's house was backed up for weeks. Those were the days...

"I am too, Lenera. I never thought he would...I'm sorry," he apologized as he stifled a weak sob. "He was like a father to me unlike my real one. And it upsets me that he's gone."

"That must really hurt you. Family means a lot to me too, you know? Anyway, Lariaum?"

"Yes?" he inquired, avidly waiting for her to continue.

"Whenever you need me, I'm there. Just so you know that—that's what I want you to know. I'll always be here for you, OK?" Lenera told him, tender in her phrasing.

"Thank you, Lenera. I appreciate that. I'll see you soon."

"See you too, Flower Boy. I hope you'll get better somehow, some way."

He heard the click of a phone hanging up, so he cautiously hung up his, too. It was then that Lariaum realized how important Lenera really was to him.

A/N: So at least Lariaum found comfort in Lenera for this sad time in his life. Yes, I "killed" off Uncle Braig, who actually means a lot to Lariaum. This chapter really didn't stem from my own personal experience, but I thought a deeply personal chapter would make Lenera and Lariaum even closer. By the way, this chapter made me a little sad writing it. So, sorry for putting you guys through a sad chapter.

REVIEW PLEASE! I hope that this chapter was OK.