AND MY PATH LED ME TO YOU
Chapter 4: "A Greater Plan"
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
Usa and Hotaru stared in shock at Palla-Palla. Even Jun and Cere, sitting across the aisle from them on the intercontinental flight, were shocked and astounded. They'd heard tales of Palla-Palla's early days at the orphanage, but they hadn't heard this one.
"Oh no!" Hotaru gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Was she all right?"
"Attention passengers," the pilot spoke over the ship-wide intercom, "we are effecting re-entry. Please fasten your seat harness. This ship will be docking at Buenos Aires Port in ten minutes."
Dutifully Palla-Palla buckled her harness just like Cere had shown her. She looked up and saw everyone still staring at her.
"Everyone needs to do what Mr. Pilot-Sir says," she cautioned them.
Shaken from their reverie, the other girls complied and strapped in. Once they did that, their gaze returned to Palla-Palla. She just stared back blankly.
"So?" Jun demanded. "What happened with Belinda?"
Sister Arcia exited the orphanage chapel lost in thought. She had just finished praying for Belinda. Now she prayed that it would help. As she wandered down the hall, the nun couldn't help wondering if she could have seen the girl's suicide attempt coming. Belinda had always been troubled and angry. Arcia had always figured instilling discipline in the girl would suppress that and mold her into a sociable human being. But the rage the girl harbored ran deeper than Arcia had guessed.
What could the girl's mother have done to inspire such darkness within Belinda? The possibilities repelled Arcia.
"Sister Arcia-Ma'am," came a shy squeak behind her.
Arcia turned around and as expected found Palla-Palla standing there. How the girl had approached her without being heard said a lot about how deeply Arcia had been lost in what had happened. The nun had an idea what Palla-Palla was about to ask, as she asked it every day since she had come to Tanto Quatro Pai. Arcia really didn't have the patience for it, but the burden of her calling forced her to suppress her frustration in favor of guiding this disadvantaged lamb.
"Yes, Palla-Palla?" Arcia asked.
"Is Linda-Linda all right?"
This surprised Sister Arcia and she looked upon the small, blue-haired girl more kindly.
"We were able to get to her in time," Arcia told her. "Belinda is still alive." The swell of joy that rose from Palla-Palla was gratifying to the nun. "It was very Christian of you to be concerned for her, given your history with her."
"Can Palla-Palla have some paper and color sticks? She wants to make Linda-Linda a get well card."
Arcia squashed a smile. "I think I can arrange that."
"Thank you very much! Palla-Palla will give it to her when she comes back!" The girl grew puzzled. "When is Linda-Linda coming back?"
Sister Arcia grew serious. "Belinda isn't coming back."
"But Sister Arcia-Ma'am said she was all right."
Arcia led the girl over to a bench in the hall. They both sat down.
"Belinda is going to be staying at the State Hospital," the nun explained.
"Why?"
"Because she has," Arcia continued, "problems. Very deep emotional problems. Problems that we're not equipped to deal with here. The State Hospital has doctors there who can try to treat her emotional problems and make her into a productive member of society."
"Linda-Linda gave into the darkness," Palla-Palla whimpered.
"What?"
"Father Melendez-Sir; he told Palla-Palla that some people can't see Mr. God-Sir's light and they fall into darkness. And then they have to be locked away so they don't hurt people and don't hurt themselves." She looked up at Arcia. "Palla-Palla was going to try to show Linda-Linda the light so she could be nice again and . . ." and she swallowed, "and now it's too late."
"Maybe not," Arcia told her. "God didn't take Belinda, so he must still have a plan for her. Maybe the doctors at the State Hospital will be able to get her to see the light of His love. And maybe your card will help with that, too."
"Then Palla-Palla will start working on it right away," the girl said, jumping to her feet. Arcia rose with her.
"Let me get you some supplies," Arcia said gently. "And Palla-Palla - - even if it is too late for Belinda, it may not be too late for someone else. So please keep the light God planted in you shining brightly, so that others may see it and be inspired by it."
"Yes, Sister Arcia-Ma'am! Palla-Palla will do that!" And she scampered off.
"Just Sister Arcia," the nun sighed. But she couldn't extinguish the smile from her face.
"And Linda-Linda never came back," Palla-Palla said. "Palla-Palla doesn't know what happened to her. But she hopes Linda-Linda got better."
"I hope so, too," Usa mused. "Sounds like she had a lot of anger in her."
"So what did her mom do to her, anyway?" Cere asked.
The girl just stared for a moment. "Palla-Palla isn't going to say because Palla-Palla doesn't like thinking about it."
"Just as well, I suppose," Usa nodded.
In the office of the Leticia, Brasilia, children's services ministry, a ten year old girl sat at the desk of a tired case worker. The case worker's name was Armando Ruiz and he dealt with juvenile offenders. The work was beginning to burn him out, but at the moment he had no career alternatives. Also in the room was Officer Ramon Velasquez, in whose custody the girl currently was, and Sister Frieda Newsome of the Leticia Catholic Social Services department.
The girl, a wiry young thing with tanned brown skin, green hair woven into a Quechuan headdress made of dries vines and the darting, suspicious eyes of a wild animal, sat and observed everything. All she had on was a worn light blue blouse tied at the midriff and cut off jeans. She had been arrested for shoplifting a bag of fruit from a local market, but had been brought to Children's Services rather than Juvenile Detention when it was learned of her special circumstances.
"All right," sighed Ruiz. "Name?"
Aysiri turned to him, not seeming to understand that he was talking to her.
"Your name?"
"Aysiri Yaku," she replied suspiciously.
"Sounds Quechuan," Ruiz remarked. "That would explain the headdress. Do you have family here?"
"No," Aysiri replied.
"Where are they?"
"Mi Padre," Aysiri began, grimacing as if her chest hurt, "has gone to God."
"And your mother?"
"I have no mother."
"If you're not from Leticia," Ruiz asked, "then where did you come from?"
"Up river," Aysiri told him, "from where the sun sets."
"The mountains?" Ruiz questioned. "You lived in the Andes?"
"No. The jungle," Aysiri corrected him.
"You lived in the jungle? You and this . . .?"
"Mi Padre," Aysiri said.
"How did you end up here?"
"When Mi Padre went to God," Aysiri explained reluctantly, "I got lonely. I took our canoe and came down river, to here - - to see what other people were like."
"How long did you live in the jungle?" Ruiz asked, growing more astonished by what he heard with every moment.
"Always."
Ruiz shook his head and returned to the virtual report displayed to his right.
"It says here you were arrested for shoplifting," Ruiz read. "Why did you do it?"
"I was hungry," Aysiri shrugged.
"And I assume you didn't have any credits to pay for it," Ruiz commented.
"What is 'credits'?" the girl asked. Ruiz looked at her to see if she was joking.
"We're of the opinion that incarceration would be of no benefit to her," Sister Newcombe, a Catholic missionary from North America, said. "This girl has been raised outside of civilization for most if not all of her life. Juvenile Detention would do nothing to rehabilitate her and might just make her worse."
"I agree," Ruiz responded. "Still, we can't just turn her loose, particularly with no family structure to return her to. She'll have to go into some sort of foster care."
"What is that?" Aysiri asked.
"It can't possibly be normal foster care," Newcombe argued, "given her critical need for basic socialization. Would the State Hospital facility on Donovo accept her?"
"Hospital?" Aysiri asked.
"If a court ordered it," Ruiz shook his head, "but otherwise not. Can't your people place her in one of the orphanages you run?"
"What is 'orphanage'?" Aysiri asked. "I want to leave."
"Yes," Newcombe sighed, "but with her severe socialization and educational needs, it's going to put a strain on the facility."
"I want to leave!" Aysiri demanded.
"Quiet," Officer Velasquez told her.
"I want to leave!"
"Now calm down," Sister Newcombe said to her. "No one is going to hurt you. We're going to take you to a place where you can stay and learn about the world outside of the jungle. It's a place you can call home."
Aysiri stared at her for a moment. Then she bolted from the chair, leaped over the seated officer and sprang to the door. But growing up in the jungle, Aysiri knew nothing about release buttons and thirtieth century doors had no knobs or handles. So she just pressed her fingers against the edge of the door and tried to pull it open.
"Come back and sit down!" snapped Officer Velasquez. He lunged at her from his chair.
Aysiri ducked under the officer's lunge and bolted toward Ruiz. The case worker dived out of the way as Aysiri vaulted his desk and landed in the far corner of the room. Sister Newcombe approached, her hand out.
"Please, Aysiri, calm down," she pleaded. "No one wants to hurt you."
Grabbing a potted plant in the corner, Aysiri flung it at the nun. By now Velasquez was coming at her from the other side. He grabbed for her, but Aysiri dived under the desk. Velasquez bent down and reached under the desk, trying to grab her. When he got too close, Aysiri bit his hand.
"YEOW!" roared the officer. "That does it!" He pulled his sidearm from his belt.
"She's just a child!" shrieked Sister Newcombe.
Undaunted, Velasquez aimed his weapon under the desk and fired. Two metal prongs shot out and buried themselves in Aysiri's thigh. Aysiri yelped in pain. Then she gave off a prolonged grunt when the electric current passed from the weapon through the prongs and into her body. When the current shut off, Aysiri lay on her side, twitching. Velasquez reached in and dragged the girl out.
"Perhaps," Sister Newcombe began, "it might be a good idea to assign her to a facility in another city. She seems to mistrust authority and if she's close to her former home, she might be tempted to run away and return there. We have to make sure we can save this girl."
"Do you have a suggestion?" Ruiz asked, eyeing the twitching girl warily.
Newcombe pulled out a PDA and began typing.
"There's a spot open in our facility in Sao Paulo," Newcombe said. "Hopefully that's far enough away from Leticia to dissuade her from running away."
"I'll execute the custody transfer," Ruiz sighed with relief. "Can you take her today?"
Palla-Palla was sitting on her bunk in the dormitory, struggling to read the new book she'd gotten last month for her tenth birthday. Even though she struggled with it every day, she was only up to page eleven. It was hard for her to remember what the characters sounded like, and the words they formed. And it was difficult for her to remember what she'd read the previous days. She knew vaguely how the story ended because she'd leafed ahead and looked at all of the illustrations. The illustrations were vivid and colorful and she intended to try to copy some of them with her color sticks. But Palla-Palla was determined to read the story first.
Movement caught her eye and Palla-Palla spotted her old friend Teresa headed for the door.
"Hi, Risa-Risa!" Palla-Palla smiled and waved. Teresa came over. The mocha-skinned waif was beginning to grow and fill out now that she had regular meals and looked more like an eight year old rather than a broomstick.
"Hi, Palla-Palla," Teresa smiled. "Still trying to read that?"
"Father Melendez-Sir says we don't succeed if we don't try and he's very smart," she replied. "Does Risa-Risa want to play dolly with Palla-Palla?" Palla-Palla had a meager collection of dolls and playing with Teresa and Luisa, both younger than her, had been a fun pastime.
"Um," Teresa hesitated, "that's OK, Palla-Palla. I'm meeting Luisa in the courtyard. I'll see you later."
Teresa headed out, not seeing Palla-Palla's sinking expression. For Palla-Palla had caught a stray thought from Teresa, of how playing with Palla-Palla, fun at five, seemed childish to her at eight. And how, while she still liked Palla-Palla, hanging around with the childlike girl didn't seem fun anymore.
"Palla-Palla wishes she wasn't stupid," the girl murmured, staring at the book without seeing it.
Suddenly she looked up. Sister Arcia was entering the room.
"Hi, Sister Arcia-Ma'am!" Palla-Palla beamed.
"Just Sister Arcia," the nun corrected her with a smirk, because she knew it was a futile gesture.
"Did Palla-Palla's mommy come for her today?"
"No, child. Not yet," Arcia replied. "Please put the book down and come help me."
She led Palla-Palla over to a bunk bed and dresser in the far corner of the room. The top bunk was empty. It had belonged to Carlotta Velarde, one of the girls who had hung around with Belinda. She had entered a vocational program the government ran and had been released.
"Is Carlotta-Ma'am coming back?" Palla-Palla asked.
"No, child. We're getting a new resident today. I want you to help me change these sheets and make sure that the dresser is clean." Arcia looked down at Palla-Palla. "You can do that, can't you?"
"Yes, Sister Arcia-Ma'am!" Palla-Palla nodded. Then she frowned. "But Palla-Palla is very short. And she's not very good on the ladder. Maybe she should do the dresser."
"Maybe you should," Arcia smiled back. And fifteen minutes later, everything was ready for the new orphan coming to Tanto Quatro Pai.
"Can Palla-Palla meet the new girl?" Palla-Palla asked when they finished.
"Certainly," Sister Arcia nodded. "You can even give her a warm welcome. I'm certain she's been through a lot and would welcome a smiling face."
Palla-Palla and Sister Arcia walked out into the hall just as Father Melendez was walking up with a girl Palla-Palla had never seen before. She had green hair and wore an exotic headdress made of dried vines. The girl had large green eyes that darted back and forth, taking in everything, and a wiry athletic frame that was tanned and taut. She wore jeans that barely fit her and a donated t-short that Arcia recognized from their clothing stores.
Immediately Palla-Palla approached. That made the new girl stop and lock her gaze onto the approaching child. She seemed ready to bolt, but Father Melendez knelt down next to her and tried to reassure her.
"Ah, hello Palla-Palla," Melendez said. "I'd like you to meet our newest guest. Her name is Aysiri Yaku and she's ten years old just like you."
"Palla-Palla is very glad to meet you!" Palla-Palla smiled, aggressively happy. Aysiri tried to back up, but Father Melendez was in the way. "If . . ."
Then she stared at Aysiri for a moment. Everyone wondered what was happening.
"Jun-Jun," Palla-Palla murmured vacantly. Then she seemed to return. "Palla-Palla will call you Jun-Jun."
"But," the girl stared in confusion, "my name is Aysiri."
"Palla-Palla will call you Jun-Jun," Palla-Palla nodded with a smile.
"And she did," chuckled Jun. The five travelers were departing the shuttle and entering the Rio de Janeiro port. Usa spotted the representatives from the Japanese embassy at the gate waiting for them.
"She probably sensed your original name," Hotaru concluded. "You didn't realize she was telepathic?"
"None of us did," Cere replied. "Would have explained a few things."
"Come on, girls," Usa said to them. "Pop's booked us a private shuttle to Sao Paulo."
"Traveling in style!" Cere grinned. "I LIKE IT!"
Continued in Chapter 5