Junky bonus chapter for everyone!
A week of being confined to a bed with Netto and Rockman trying to cheer me up did nothing, but worsen my mood. Blues was out there somewhere where anyone could take him. Who knew what condition he was in. As far as we knew he was injured to the point his life was fading and needed help as soon as possible. Each time they had gone out to search they had come back empty handed and it seemed that Blues was nowhere to be found. But that couldn't be. He had to be there somewhere. There was a lot of rubble that he could be trapped under. We just had to look. So the moment that I was cleared to be up for short periods of time I made my way down to the site despite the efforts my… friends put in to keep me from overexerting myself with my injuries. There Netto picked out some thing's that were different since the last time they had come to dig. With anxiety filling me I stretched my financial wings without my father's consent to get the place thoroughly searched and cleared only to find that Blues wasn't anywhere within the area. My efforts had only gotten me a scolding from my father and sympathetic looks that I didn't need nor want.
Days turned to weeks. Then to months with no signs as to where Blues had gone. I had thought that not finding him at all would be better than finding him broken, but now I just want to know what happened to him. My broken leg was healed and my fractures had vanished as bruises faded. I found I didn't care so much about healing. Being well didn't help me find any clues no matter how hard I searched. I was beginning to lose hope.
Finally on a dull Wednesday afternoon my door was thrown open with a slam. Security quickly following Netto and company through my office door. There was plenty of arguing and the noise was irritating. A sharp order for everyone to either shut up or take it out of my office got the quiet I needed to focus.
"What is going on? What do you want?"
"Gutsman saw Blues." Came the quick response.
"Where?"
"In the Net. Said he was taken to Oakfield. Right?" Netto was grinning ear to ear as he looked to his friend for confirmation.
Blues was alive and in a place called Oakfield. That was all that mattered at the moment. That was where I needed to be then.
"Cancel my appointments and get me a car."
My investigation led me to exploring the town. Asking around for far too long before I found myself in an antique shop that was run by an old man.
"Yeah I was sold a navi. It was pretty damaged, but I sold it to a kid."
"Who?" I demanded.
Blues was damaged and in the hands of some child. Who knew how they were treating him. Blues needed to be found before he was deleted due to some child's carelessness.
"Claus Keiki."
"Do you know where he lives?"
"No. I'm not That close to the family."
With that I started out at a fast pace before stopping briefly as the man called out to me.
"Hey. He's a good kid. Try to keep the damage to a minimum."
I stood there for a minute before continuing. Having that name helped me narrow down my search considerably. People here knew each other better than those in the city. He went to a school called Roosenburg. His father was an officer. His mother was an unemployed housewife. He lived on Linden street in the west side of town. I was more than willing to knock on every single door on that street to find him. Thankfully it only took me a couple of houses before I was directed to the correct one. I strode down the street with purpose. I knocked more forcefully than I had on the other doors and I didn't have to wait long. A brown haired child answered the door, a familiar red PET in his hand. He was surprisingly in good condition, but that didn't distract me for long.
"Are you Claus?"
"Why? What do you want?"
His grip tightened on the device that I was sure held Blues. My suspicions were confirmed when he called out to me and the child stiffened.
"I want my navi."
"No. He's mine."
That little brat. I was about to snap right back when Blues spoke up. I wanted to just rip him from that child's palm, but I held my temper for Blues. He was trying to reason with him and I would let him try. So I waited. I was surprised when he held out Blues for me to take. It felt right to have the PETs familiar weight in my hand. With it I turned before pausing. I sighed. I suppose he wasn't so bad.
"Thank you for taking care of Blues for me."
I was off toward the car where I fell back into the seats, relief weighing me down. Telling the driving to take me home I looked down at my missing navi and smiled. After all this time I finally had him back. The smile he returned eased my mind.
"How on earth did you get all the way out here? Do you have any idea what we went through to find you? You've caused a lot of trouble."
"You will have to endure some more trouble I'm afraid. You have no idea how out of practice I am now." He answered though I could honestly not care any less about that at the moment.
"Great. Now we have to waste more time practicing while Netto gets all the glory."
"I missed you too."
My smile returned. There wasn't anything more to say. We were both ok and going home. Whatever lay waiting for us when we returned we would handle it when got there together. Pulling him to my chest I breathed the three words I felt I needed to say.
"I missed you."
