Months of searching, and still no sign of Omega, but the Fetts and the Jinns were making significant progress. Every chance they got, they brought a portion of the money they owed to the Sith, and the numbers were quickly going down, according to Tech's calculations. But there was less than a month left before the deadline, and they still had to raise almost five thousand credits, which was a lot for such a short amount of time.
But now that Crosshair had passed the tests and gotten to be a cop again, he had access to various tools that could help them find Omega, including security footage and a database of everyone in the area who had a vehicle in the model Anakin had seen just before Omega disappeared.
Meanwhile, with Omega living with the Madrigals, her life went uphill. She got to go to a private school with lots of great extracurriculars, her new family loved and took care of her very well, and with the holidays coming up, Omega didn't know it yet, but her family planned to spoil her with more gifts than she'd ever seen in her life.
Growing up in the orphanage, Omega never had much. She never even had any toys of her own. Every toy was brought by donations, and a lot of them broke down quickly and were thrown out. They never even had a proper Life Day Tree, menorah, kinara, or any other kind of special decorum for any winter holidays.
Omega looked out her window and saw the beautiful snowflakes falling for the season's first frost.
"Wow..." gasped Omega.
"Ready to have some fun?" said Mirabel, holding up a hand-knitted beanie she made for Omega.
Omega was having the time of her life as she caught snowflakes on her tongue.
Most of the Madrigal family was outside to have fun in the snow. Dolores and Pepa were helping Antonio and Pedro build a snowman, Rosella and Luisa were making snow angels, and Mirabel stood by Omega.
Then all of a sudden...
BAM! Omega was hit in the back of her head with a snowball!
Omega looked behind her and saw Camilo laughing. In response, Omega looked at Mirabel, who nodded in approval, then she grabbed a handful of snow and threw it in Camilo's direction, only for the boy to duck, allowing the snowball to hit Bruno instead.
"Aye! Muy frio!" Bruno shivered with surprise.
"Oh!" Omega gasped. "Sorry, Uncle Bruno!"
Bruno chuckled and dusted the snow off of him.
"It's all good fun." Bruno said, only to get hit by another snowball that hit Bruno hard enough to knock him down. "Until Pepa gets involved."
Bruno glared at his sister as she was laughing. Then he threw a snowball at her, and the kids all started a big snowball fight.
Omega was having so much fun with the other kids.
"You're going down, Camilo!" Mirabel declared, building a wall of defense with Omega's help.
Later that same day, Crosshair and the others came along, looking for Omega.
Just about everyone in the family headed out to work by that time.
"You're sure Omega is here?" Anakin asked.
"No," said Crosshair. "but security footage and vehicle registration codes trace the same vehicle that was last near where Omega was."
The family arrived at the Madrigals' mansion and they rang the doorbell. But no one answered. Luckily, Crosshair had thought ahead to get a search warrant, and Tech knew how to pick locks. So, they entered through the front door. and began to look around.
"Whoa." Boba gasped. "Look at this place."
Everyone was so amazed by the beauty of the mansion.
"Wow, these guys are loaded!" Wrecker said, looking at a horse statue.
"Wrecker, don't touch anything!" Hunter said. "We can't afford to pay for any of this stuff if you break anything."
"Just one of these artifacts would pay off the Sith in a snap." Carmine said.
"We're not resorting to crime." Caroline said. "Let's just see if Omega's here."
Meanwhile, Isabela was in her room, brushing her hair and ranting to herself. She was the only other person home at the moment besides Omega. Everyone else was at work or a class, but Omega stayed home and was currently taking a nap in her warm blankets after all the fun she'd had in the cold snow earlier.
"Oh, Isabela." Isabela said, mocking her mother's voice. "You'll get along with your new little sister fine. Go play with Omega."
She groaned and angrily squeezed the end of a tube that spritzed perfume from a bottle.
"I'd like to do something alright with that little blonde."
And when Isabela looked in the mirror, she saw the reflection of a handsome young man she'd never seen before, but she freaked out. Isabela climbed up onto her vanity and threatened to use her hair dryer as a weapon.
"Who are you?! What do you want?!"
Isabela freaked to the point where her whole vanity fell over and broke. But someone caught her.
"Hey there." Wrecker said, flashing a smile as though trying to flirt with the pretty girl.
"Ugh!" Isabela grunted in disgust, making Wrecker put her down. "Look, I don't date random strangers off the streets. And if you're here because your sisters are competing, the jokes on you."
"Hey," said Anakin. "You're barking up the wrong tree. We don't wanna date you. For one thing, my brother and I already have girlfriends."
"I might like to do somethin' with ya." Wrecker flirted.
Isabela rolled her eyes.
"Do you know who I am?" Isabela asked, motioning to her many awards. "Thirty-seven blue ribbons, forty-nine first place awards, sixteen pageant queen tiaras, five-time national and international champion!"
"Very impressive, I'll give you that." Hunter said.
Caroline looked at a photo in a heart-shaped frame.
"Excuse me, Miss. Who is Renaldo?" Caroline asked.
Isabela put the frame down on its face and angrily said, "None of your business! Now you'd best get out of here before I call the cops!"
Crosshair showed his badge and said, "I am a cop. And I have a search warrant. We're here looking for a girl. Blonde hair, hazel eyes. Name: Omega."
"Well, that still-" Isabela paused and smiled. "Omega? A blonde? Oh, you must be the friends she never stops talking about. Follow me."
That was when Isabela brought the family to Omega's room, where Omega was laying fast asleep.
"Oh, look at her." said Caroline.
Omega's friends saw her sleeping so peacefully and saw the conditions of the room she was living in. It looked so perfect. Luxurious, comfy; everything a young girl like Omega could dream of, and everything her family believed she deserved.
"She's got it so great here." Anakin said.
"We at least know she's safe." Hunter said. "We'll leave her here now."
But Isabela saw a chance to get rid of Omega.
"Oh, no! You shouldn't. The poor girl's miserable here." Isabela said. And she took some credits out from her purse and gave them to the family. "However much that is, use it to get Omega out of here. It's not safe. I can't explain why though."
However, that was when Isabela heard something from downstairs.
"Isabela, your Tio Bruno and I are home early." Alicia called.
Isabela quickly urged the others to take the fire escape out of there, while Wrecker carried Omega out, but he also kept flirting with Isabela.
"Hey. If ya, ever wanna grab a bite or somethin', call me." Wrecker said.
Isabela just closed the window on him.
"I think she likes me." Wrecker smiled.
"That girl's out of your league, Wrecker." Crosshair said.
And the Fetts and Jinns rushed off before they would get caught.
