It had been ten days since Sting had left the note for his family to find. He hadn't shown up though, everyday, Yukino sat in a chair right next to the door, waiting. She waited for that man to walk in through the door and hold her, yet, he never came. The seconds seemed like minutes, the minutes seemed like hours, the hours felt like days, and the days felt like years. It was horrid to see that young girl sit there, barely touching her food, only saying hi and nodding or shaking her head only when someone spoke to her. Went to bed every night at 9:30, waking up as soon as it hit eight. Lucy bit the inside of her cheek, it just turned 7:23, the quiet ticking of the clock the was over at the entrance of the kitchen. It was like it was counting down the time that Yukino would wake up and go back to her daily day dream stage.
Laxus sat right across from his little sister, sipping on his morning coffee as he flipped the page of the morning paper. The man had a lot on his mind as well. It made him want to fidget, pick up the phone and call Mira, seeking out comfort from the girl he fell for. Yet, Mira needed more time to herself, especially after the news he gave her after their date. Mira had come every other day to check on the grief stricken girl, hiding Lucian's ashes in her own house, saying if the former mother received them, she would be more broken. She needed her boyfriend to start a healing process, and didn't want her to be forced to see a therapist.
A knock on the door made the two jump out of their skin. It had been too quiet those past few days. "You...expecting company?" Lucy asked, leaning on the arm rest as Laxus got up to answer. "Because Mira came yesterday to see Yukino."
"Uh, yeah." the man grumbled, a click sounding as he unlocked the front door. As he swung it open, there stood two police officers, making the blonde girl flinch.
"W-what are they doing here?" she looked away, the officer's stares burning her side.
"We're here to file a report," one of them said, pulling out a pen and a notepad. "On Sting's disappearance. So I hope you don't mind if we can ask you some questions yourself, Miss." nodding slowly, Lucy settled back and Laxus got another chair out, sitting down as the police got in their own arm chairs. "My name is officer Caleb, and that partner, Randy. Our first question is, how long as Sting been missing?"
"Ten days," Laxus spoke first, holding up the note that was on Sting's desk the night he left. Officer Randy took it, opening it to scan through the words.
"And you said that he had lost his month old?"
"Uhm...yeah..." Lucy nodded, rubbing her hand over her mouth, making the words muffled.
"We know that you and your brother were closer then both of you were to your eldest. Do you have any ideas where he might be?" the girls eyes flickered to her said brother, wondering how he would react. Instead of flinching or sending a glare towards the guests, he waited patiently for the answer. Studying her knees uncomfortably, Lucy thought hard about where Sting could have been. Nothing popped up though, her mind drew a blank. As close as they were now, they never were when smaller, the boy always shut out his little sister until their parents passed, which only a year and a half later, left for the army training.
"I'm sorry..." she breathed out, hunching her shoulders over so she could stare at the police a bit better. Sighing in disappointment, Randy pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"You must not be thinking hard enough!" he snapped, leaning closer to the girl. "You must know something!"
"Randy," Caleb warned, waving his finger. "Thank you miss, do you think we have a chance to talk to this man's girlfriend?" the blondes tensed up at the mention, exchanging looks.
"I'm sorry, but Yukino isn't mentally stable for questions yet." Laxus slowly said, his eyes flickering to the stair case. Glancing over her shoulder, Lucy noticed that time had been ticking past. In less then twenty minutes, Yukino would be wobbling down those stairs, ready to sit at the door and stare off into space. Trying not to stumble to her feet, Lucy bowed her head in apology.
"Please forgive me, but I should go check on, Yukino." nodding in agreement, her eldest brother smiled at the confused officers as Lucy hurried up to the second floor. Hurrying into Sting's room, she closed the door gently behind her as she was met with her petit friend. Yukino laid in the bed, one of Sting's baggy t-shirts covering up her upper thighs and the rest of her body, Lector curled up against her stomach while her knees pressed him closer, Lucian's old blankets was clutched in her hands. Breathing out shakily, the blonde walked over to the silver head, her brown iris' flickering to meet her friends. "Yukino," the girl hissed, her eyes narrowing. "I know you're not in a good space right now, but, I really need you to tell me something."
A slight flicker of fear flashed, her brows slightly flicking down. Taking that as a silent yes, Lucy leaned her upper body on the bed. "Is there a place that Sting might go to? A place he preferred, maybe where you had your first date?" seeming to take out all her energy on the one action, Yukino pointed to the bulletin board, which in the middle, had a picture of Sting and the girl laughing, standing next to a sign that read "Saber's Park" with a large Christmas tree in the background. Gasping quietly, Lucy thought over the town in her mind, a route slowly coming to be. "Thank you!" she squealed quietly, exiting the room slowly but excitedly.
Going to the home phone that was on a small table in the middle of the hallway, the young teenager picked it up and dialed a number, pressing the device against her ear. "Natsu? Yes, I need some help..."
Her head pressed against the hot, burning plastic like glass, the blonde stared contently at the blurry, flashing landscape that flew by. Natsu kept his focus on the road, even though the temptation to look at her was overwhelming. "Does Laxus know you're out here?" he asked, making a smooth turn. Lucy shook her head, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Nor does he need to know," she grumbled, chewing on the tip of her finger.
"Are you sure that you don't want a full ride to this place?"
"Positive," she sighed, tilting her head to kiss his cheek. "I need to do this alone, he might get scared or defensive if he sees you." she explained, perking up when she saw the bus stop come up. Coming to a stop, Natsu finally turned to face his girl. They had a small staring contest for a few seconds, neither one uttering a single word. Finally giving into the tiny voice in his head, Natsu captured the blondes lips. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Lucy brought the boy closer, resisting to have a small giggle escape her occupied lips.
Pulling away, Lucy got out of the car, winking. "See you later, lover boy."
After a whole hour of sitting on a steaming bench, then climbing on a humid bus which she was in for another hour and a half because of the speed, Lucy cursed herself for not taking up on Natsu's offer. She should've left earlier instead of waiting till one in the afternoon for Laxus to go get Mira for Yukino's daily check up to get out of the house. It was now a little past three thirty, and the bus was not going any faster. Lucy had been getting the feeling that she would kill someone if they continued at this rate. Five minutes later, they reached another stop, the girl quickly escaping the bus into the warm air. The bus closed it's doors as soon as her right foot his the pavement, speeding away.
Groaning, Lucy took in her surroundings, checking the streets. She was about ten blocks away from her destination, with another two when turning left. Getting started with her walk, Lucy tried to preoccupy herself as she made her way town the town. Forty eight minutes was there, but then gone as she got to Saber's Park. Never had it looked so beautiful. Collapsing on the closest park bench, Lucy threw back her head and let out a long sigh. She let her aching relax slowly, the feeling welcoming. Though it didn't seem like much, she felt like all she did today, worrying about Sting before going out on this small journey to look for him, seemed like a month ago now. Closing her eyes, the blonde let the darkness welcome her.
Jolting awake, Lucy snapped up into a sitting position. It seemed, darker then it was. Finding the park clock, she sucked in a sharp breath when she saw it was eight twenty six, the sun almost gone over the horizon. The streets around the park appeared to be busier, the car zooming past, getting into restraints and bars around the area. Trying not to fall over when she got up, the girl wandered around the park, checking the other benches, the trees, the a small cavern behind the fountain for her brother, but no Sting was close to sight. Her gaze flickered to the pavement, a wave of disappointment washing over her like a tsunami. She had the strongest feeling that he would be there, yet, how could she be more wrong? Hearing yells, she glanced up, seeing through the strands of her hair. A small bar sat on the corner, happy cheers and some screaming singing out of the open doors.
Interested, the blonde moved forward, stopping at the street's edge to stare at the building. A few minutes later, out stumbled a drunk man, his fist in the air as he shouted out curse words. Squinting her eyes, Lucy studied the elder man. He had blonde spiky hair, with a gray t-shirt and black jeans. Now that she thought about it, he looked a lot like..."Sting!" she cried out, taking a step back as a car drove by, coming into a blur in the end. Not hearing her, Sting came out onto the street, swaying from side to side as he made his way to the other side. Sucking in a breath of relief, she waited as patiently as she could as he slowly staggered forward.
All of the sudden, there was honking. Lights flashed out, blinding the girl. Using her hand as something to block out the light, she stared in horror as a car approached her drunken brother.
"STING!"
Luvviez: Okay, so, I thought it was going to be longer! But, let's not complain, because the next chapter is going into 4,000 words. I mean, let's admit, I might be going overboard with this xD sorry for not posting on Monday or Tuesday, I had a lot of homework to catch up on. I will see when I can update the 2 Anniversary chapter! Hopefully on Sunday!
I have to go now, can't stay up as late tonight as usual :/
Till then my dears x3
-Your little author