"Your turn, Coby!"
"Just a sec! I haven't finished my turn, yet."
"Aww, I'm sorry, Beau."
Beau's cheerful smile quickly returned. "No problem, Eris." He said, gleefully finishing his turn.
"Now it's your turn." Cobalt nodded and rolled the dice. The rest of his turn consisted of moving his Monopoly piece around the board. "Nothing happens." Eris nodded and began her turn.
"Whee, landed on Union Pacific Railroad! I'm buyin' it!" Beau giggled.
"No fair – you nearly got all the other railroads, too!" Eris playfully pushed Beau, who pushed her back, and the two were lost in a fun shoving match. Cobalt blinked at them and sighed softly. His sister was happy here. Cobalt didn't understand why he didn't feel happier for her. Perhaps part of him longed to take Eris back with him… Although in his mind, Cobalt knew that was just not possible. Eris would never be safe in the kind of life Cobalt now knew. She'd never even survive living that kind of way. Besides, Stitch would never allow it. And Cobalt would do anything to keep her safe.
"Coby?" Cobalt was jerked out of his thoughts. He gave Eris a soft smile. Eris peered back at him curiously. "I said it's your turn…"
Cobalt cleared his throat and got to his knees. "I'm sorry, Eris… I should be going." Eris' bright blue eyes widened.
"Huh? Go where?" She stammered. "Where are you going, Coby?..." Cobalt looked at her sadly.
"I'm sorry. I have to go back to…" He hesitated. "Back to where I came from." Tears sprang to Eris' eyes.
"But…but when will you be back, Coby?..." Cobalt swallowed. He hated to make his baby sister cry. It made him feel like some sort of horrible monster.
"Yes. I promise, Eris. I will be back. I will see you again." Eris sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"And…and you promise…the other thing?" Cobalt took Eris' hands in his, staring at her lovingly.
"Of course I'll never forget. I promise that, too." He smiled. Eris managed a weak smile back, then collapsed, crying, into her brother's arms. Cobalt just held her for several minutes, feeling absolutely terrible.
Beau watched the two silently, for the second time that day. He strangely found himself loathing Eris' older brother. Who did he think he was, showing up when Eris was happiest, and then leaving her to wallow in her own tears? The engine was lucky he, Beau, was here to watch over Eris the rest of the time. Beau's eyes narrowed as Cobalt hugged his sister tightly once more, then stood up to leave.
"I'm sorry, Eris." Cobalt said softly. "I promise…" Then he was gone. Eris stood to accompany her brother to the door, but Beau stopped her.
"It hurts him to say good bye." He soothed the crying passenger girl, surprised at his own seriousness. For once he wasn't goofing around. "You can stay here." Eris hugged her best friend tightly and cried into his shoulder. Beau swelled with pride. Here he was, comforting an upset girl, all by himself. He gently led Eris over to her bed in the corner of her room and let her sit down. Quickly sitting down beside her, he handed her a tissue from the box on her night stand. Eris accepted it and blew her nose.
"Thank you." She whispered, setting the tissue back on the stand. Beau nodded and let Eris snuggle against him.
"There, there… I won't leave you. I promise…"
Back into the night. For the second time. Cobalt wandered at the irony. He stared at May's orphanage for what seemed like hours, until he felt a tap on his arm.
"Hey, Kid." It was Vincent. "What'cha doin' way out here?" His eyes followed Cobalt's gaze toward the orphanage. Cobalt quickly turned away from the low brick building.
"Nothin' I was just going back." He started off. Vincent tugged on his shoulder.
"No, man. What is it?" A smirk crossed his face. "What got a girlfriend there, or somethin'?" He winked. Cobalt found himself turning red.
"No, no girlfriend. Just my sister." The last phrase left him mouth before he could stop it. Vincent's eyes widened.
"Shit…" He whispered. "You got a sister? And she's there? Dude, if Stitch finds out, and knows you've been sneaking away to see her, he'll be furious!" Cobalt's metallic eyes shone brightly in the darkness.
"That's why you can't tell him! Promise me that!" Vincent looked down, then nodded.
"Yeah, yeah….No sweat, Runt. I won't tell him…"
"Thanks, man."
Cobalt returned once more to his dimly-lit room. The fire flickered and gave a sharp crackling, causing Cobalt to jump. He quickly scolded himself. He should be used to the occasional crackles and pops from the fire; after all, he'd been here 8, long years. Sighing, Cobalt laid down on his mattress and torn sheets, staring up at the ceiling, watching the looming shadows sway around and around, almost as if they were all dancing to some strangely silent melody. Cobalt felt his eyelids growing heavy. And within minutes of lying down, Cobalt was lost in a very deep sleep.