Violet was
the last to enter the dining hall. She sat in her seat and looked around the
table. All the kids were as bubbly as usual, discussing their days with each
other. All except Patty and Buddy, who were sitting together silently. Dinner was uneventful, except for Pink's
scheduled milk spilling. (For some
reason, she seemed to do that at every meal.)
Canary noticed the awkwardness at the table, but didn't question
it. She feared that Patty and Rainbow
had fought again.
After the
plates were cleared away, Rainbow stood up at the head of the table and quieted
the room. She asked that only the Color
Kids remain in the dining hall, and all the sprites cleared out. Rainbow looked around the table.
"Kids, we've
made some startling discoveries in the past few days and I want to have
everyone involved. The question of
where each of you came from has been asked more than once, but none of you knew
the answer. You all seemed satisfied
thinking you were created simply to maintain your respective colors." Rainbow paused and looked at the Kids. They didn't seem to understand where she was
going with this. Rainbow looked at
Violet, but Violet looked away. She
clearly wanted no part in this. Rainbow
continued.
"Well, that
may not be the case. Buddy has
mentioned regaining memories of his life before Rainbowland. Patty, as well." This caused a stir in the Kids and they looked over at Buddy and
Patty. Canary leaned over to Buddy.
"Is it true,
Buddy?" He nodded at her and she
gasped. Violet cringed. She knew this was wrong, but now it couldn't
be avoided. Violet stood up and cleared
her throat. Rainbow sat down.
"It's
true." She told the Kids. Violet repeated what she had told Buddy,
Patty, and Rainbow in the library.
There were mixed reactions. Lala
was horrified, but Indigo and Canary seemed excited. Red looked extremely worried.
Pink didn't seem to understand what was going on.
"So what
you're saying," Canary asked, "is we weren't created just for our colors? Could there be more like us?" Violet shook her head.
"I don't
know, but it's possible." She told the
yellow Kid. Red spoke up next.
"How can we
remember our pasts?" He asked. Buddy
answered him.
"I
remembered when I got hit on the head, but Patty remembered when I was talking
about it. Violet says that she's known
for a while now. It depends, I
guess." Red scratched his head and went
deep into thought. Violet sat down and
folded her hands on her lap. The room
grew deathly quiet. Rainbow let
everyone retire to their rooms for the night, and they left in silence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lala stood
on her balcony and held her favorite teddy bear. She had changed into her pajamas and was getting ready to climb into
bed. She let a tear escape, and it slid
down her cheek. She had a family! Where were they, what were they like? She had no idea how to remember that far
back, but thinking about it helped a bit.
Indigo had told her, many years ago, that she believed she had a
mother. Lala had listened to her, but
never believed her. Indigo had been
very insistent about it, but she eventually stopped talking about it.
"Why can't I
remember?" She asked her teddy bear.
She was answered by a knock to her door.
"Come in."
She called to the visitor. Red came
in. He was in his pajamas as well,
black pj bottoms and a white shirt.
Lala smiled and dropped her bear on the bed. He scooped her up in a hug.
"How're you
doing, Lala?" Red asked as he smoothed her hair. She sobbed into his chest.
Red kissed the top of her head.
"Don't
worry, baby, everything will be alright.
We're in this together."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Indigo was
in Canary's room, and the two were giggling like school girls.
"I can't
believe it's true, Canary!" Indigo
jumped onto the bed and lifted her arms into the air.
"I knew it!"
She exclaimed. Canary tackled her to
the carpeted floor, and the two exploded into another fit of giggles.
"You've been
saying that for the past hour, I think all of Rainbow Land's heard you by
now!" Canary smashed a pillow over
Indigo's head as she stood up. Indigo
lay on the floor, and stared up at the ceiling. She had known deep down inside for so long, and now she knew the
truth. She felt like she should be mad
at Violet for not telling them all earlier, but she wasn't. How could she be? She was about to find her family! Indigo decided to spend the night over Canary's room that
night. Canary was her best friend, and
had been for hundreds of years now.
They had a bond, closer then sisters.
Canary
wasn't as excited as Indigo, she was afraid that some of the Kids would want to
leave Rainbow Land when they found their families. Indigo just might be one of them, and Canary didn't want to lose
her.
"Indigo?"
Canary asked, "are you going to leave Rainbow Land if you find your
family?" Indigo smiled and stood
up. She walked over to her best friend
and hugged her. But she never said
anything.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buddy couldn't
stop thinking about everything. He was
laying on top of his bed, arms folded under his head. He wasn't tired as all.
He tried working out, but couldn't concentrate on anything. This was tearing him apart. Buddy felt like he was out of control of his
own life. Tears formed in his eyes, and
he tried to blink them away. Buddy
hated crying, it served no purpose in his mind. But, his sadness overtook his willpower. He turned and buried his face into his
pillow, to muffle the sound and dry his tears.
Buddy thought
about his mom and dad, and his little sister.
He wanted to find them, and find where he had come from. But, what if he did find them. He couldn't leave Rainbow Land! This was his home. His thoughts drifted to Patty.
He couldn't leave her. Thinking
about Patty calmed him down a little.
He took a deep breath and willed the tears to stop. He decided to try to get some sleep then,
and snuggled under his sheets. Hugging
his pillow, he fell asleep thinking about Patty.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rainbow and
Patty sat on the roof of the Color Castle, looking up at the stars. Rainbow tried clearing her head using a
meditation technique Violet had taught her, it wasn't working. She was tired of thinking, and just wanted
to relax. Patty looked at her and
smiled.
"Wisp,"
Patty was the only one who called her that, "you shouldn't worry so much. You're going to get wrinkles." Rainbow smirked at her.
"I can't
help it, worrying comes with my job."
Patty laughed. Rainbow looked at
her best friend.
"How are you
doing, Patty? We haven't talked for a
while." Patty shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm
alright, why?"
"What about
Buddy, is he doing alright?" Patty
blushed and looked away. Rainbow smiled,
she knew something was going on between them.
"Actually,
he's not taking this family thing very well.
He hasn't said much of anything, but I think it's really getting to
him." Patty looked back at Rainbow and
saw her smiling.
"What?"
Patty asked her. Rainbow shook her
head, but couldn't wipe the grin off of her face.
"You really
like him, don't you." Rainbow finally said.
"WISP! I…" Patty stammered, she didn't know how to
respond.
"It's ok, I
won't tell anyone. You know that." Rainbow thought about making the "scout's
honor" symbol with her hand, but didn't think Patty knew the Earth symbol. Patty smiled.
"Well, Buddy
and I have been friends for a long time now.
I never thought of him as anything else until about a month ago. He took me on a surprise picnic near the
falls. He had everything fixed so nice,
and made all the food himself. He told
me that I meant a lot to him, and he's never been happier in his entire life." Patty paused and looked at her feet.
"Wisp, what
if he decides he's happier with his family?
What if any of the Kids wants to leave?" Rainbow looked around at Rainbow Land. She knew this was where she belonged, but she knew about her past
and kept in contact with her family.
The Color Kids didn't have that luxury.
Rainbow gently touched Patty's shoulder.
"If Buddy
decides to go, we can't stop him. But
something tells me that he won't."
Rainbow told her friend. There
was a long pause while the two became lost in their thoughts.
"I knew you
liked him!" Rainbow told her, breaking the silence. Patty grinned and blushed again.
"Yeah,
yeah. Just keep quiet about it."