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Sunshine

Chapter Three: Worlds Collide


Dahliana: 9

Peter: 9

Damian: 10


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Oakridge Private Elementary

Beginning of School Year

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Fourth grade doesn't consist of fun group math games, Gymnast and the Prince on the playground, or enjoying their favorite snack anymore. His backpack is littered with science facts, written by his parents, void of his favorite toy and the book about chemical reactions he reads to her during lunch. He broke and ripped them apart, tossing them in a muddy puddle on the ground outside the funeral home. Now, with a heavy heart, Dahliana realizes fourth grade will never consist of science facts or animal crackers because her best friend will never be the same again.

He now prefers to sit in silence with her hand in his tight hold and sitting far away from their classmates thundering laughter during recess. The Prince doesn't exist anymore. The Prince has lost his path - he lost his sunshine. He lost a part of his heart that he will never get back. The beginning of school dragged him back down to a pit of despair that she never wanted to see her friends fall into.

Not having his parents to take first day of school pictures, making his lunch for him, or even help pick out his first day of school outfit gave him a cold reminder of what is missing in his life. They weren't there to leave love notes or leave random science facts to find. His broken heart started to infect hers.

With a loud sigh, Dahliana slumps forward on her desk, gazing out the open door and into the classroom across the hall where she can see her favorite prince drawing what looks to be a giant spider on construction paper. His shoulders are hunched over, glasses are sliding off his nose, and hands are clenched too tightly around the scarlet colored crayon.

Despite the obvious effort that he's putting into holding back tears she is not worried. She believes time will heal and bring her friend back to being her science loving best friend again. She knows he just needs a few more good cries and his aunt's mystery meatloaf. That always does the trick, and maybe a few naps along the way wouldn't hurt.

"Dahliana Stark!"

Startled, Dahliana jumps in her seat causing the metal legs of the chair to squeak harshly against the tile floor. She could feel her classmates stare at her with curious yet annoyed eyes for once again daydreaming in class. Sheepishly she shrugs and lets out a half smile. "Yes, Mrs. Isabelle?"

Her short, blonde teacher kneeled down and placed a gentle hand on her hand. "Go ahead."

The petite brunette stared into her teacher's honey brown eyes in confused silence. Not understanding what her teacher meant until her unfinished math sheet was slowly taken off her desk as she watched 's eyes glance towards the other classroom.

Her eyes widened and she gave her teacher a wolfish grin as she jumped to her feet. "Thank you, ! Thank you so much!" Dahliana clumsily grabs her Lilo & Stitch backpack and starts shoving all her pens and papers inside as fast as she can.

"You're welcome. But don't expect this to become an everyday thing." motioned her hand in the air for her student to hurry across the hall.

"Peter!" She shouts as she races towards his desk with her arms reached out to attack him in a hug. The air being knocked out of him didn't stop Peter from immediately wrapping his arms around his tiny, brown eyed brunette friend.

He stutters over his words. Happy she's dragging a chair to his desk yet worried she'll get in trouble for disturbing the class. She waves off all his concerns and starts dumping out her pencil bag onto his desk, not noticing the red and blue crayons rolling off the desk. Dahliana talks a mile a minute with excitement clearly showing through her words.

Peter watches her with amazement. His brown eyes wide and a small smile on his face for the first time in days. Dahlia's voice fills his ears and surrounds him. She is all he sees, all he hears, and all he cares to be with. The love and warmth she's giving off takes control of the dark cloud hanging over his head and chases away the storm. He watches her honey brown eyes flicker all around the room before landing on him.

"Hi!" She smiles wide.

Feeling overwhelmed, he grabs his best friend by the shoulders and pulls her towards him in a hug.

"Thank you."

Despite what the petite blonde said, from that point on, Dahliana and Peter became inseparable. That one decision changed their world, changed their fate, and created something new.

"I'm never letting go, Peter." She whispered. Their favorite song immediately started to hum in the back of her mind.

You are my sunshine when skies are gray...


Despite the months of endless and relentless begging Dahliana did, her father never budged on his stance of her having a phone at such a young age. She cleaned, got straight A's in class, and went above and beyond on all her chores, Tony Stark would still not budge. Even with her being on her literal knees when asking, especially when he found out it was for a boy of all things. An older boy but Dahliana doesn't think he's really that much older to be considered too old.

Dahliana pouts, hair almost falling out her braid due to Ava nibbling it as they lay on her bedroom floor. "It's just really not fair Ava."

She slowly climbed the stairs to her bedroom earlier while the whole time giving puppy eyes to Pepper in hopes she could break her down but nothing came out of it much to Dahliana's dismay.

It's been four whole weeks since Dahliana has seen her new friend, Damian Wayne. A challenge and a change of pace that the small Stark thrives on. Damian Wayne brings on a competitive side that Dahliana didn't know she had.

Despite the distance and lack of in-person visits, twice a week Dahliana is allowed to video chat with Wayne on her dad's holographic tablet - depending on her grades of course. Those little meetings let neither of them hold back. Words with bite, snarky remarks over which surname is better and with few updates on Ava's growth sprinkled in here and there.

Damian would smirk and barely restrict his eye rolls. Often commenting on how awfully sad it is she didn't inherit her Stark trait of a huge brain full of information. She would reply with a sad fact that he is nowhere near as humble and handsome as his brother Dick. Those nips and barks start to become the highlight of her weeks. Keeps her wanting more.

A start to something new that she can't wait to delve deeper in and even more excited to pull Peter with her in this new adventure. The two can be so similar in the smallest of detail in their personality yet be so extremely different that it often throws her for a loop.

Rolling over, Dahliana curls her body around Ava's, lightly tugging on her tail every time the puppy uses her ear as a teething device. "I'm going to try and convince dad to take all of us to Gotham for Thanksgiving break! How does that sound, Ava?"

Ava, as usual, ignored the tiny Stark, continued to try and nip and nibble her on the skin and hair. Such a chunky, always hungry little lab.

"Who exactly is all of us, young lady?"

Dahlia jumps, knocking the poor lab off her shoulder. She twists her head, hair sticking to her lips and cheeks, to see Pepper's staple nude heels. "Gotham is the most dangerous city at the moment. You're definitely not going to be vacationing there any time soon."

Scrambling up, Dahliana scoops up Ava and ignores her bites and yelps, to stand on her feet to face Pepper. "But Damian's there! We should visit him!"

Outstretching her french manicured hand, Pepper hands her a tablet. "If the Wayne's wish to visit they are certainly allowed to but you will not be going to Gotham anytime soon. Tony is irresponsible with a lot of things but with his daughter he is not." Pepper smiles, fixing the strewn hair on Dahliana's face. Ignoring the prominent pout on the nine year olds girl's face.

"But?"

With a laugh, Pepper reaches over the brunette and brings the tablet to life by entering the parent lock code. "But that doesn't mean you can't call him. From now on your dad and I agreed to give you a parent locked tablet. Happy, Rhodes, Tony, and I will be able to look at it."

Launching herself, barely holding onto Ava even with Pepper's help, Dahliana screamed. "Thank you so much! Thank you for convincing dad! I can't wait to call Damian! I can call him right? Like right now?"

Pepper let an out of character snort. "Just know JARVIS records and relay everything you two talk about to us. There's no secrets in this family."

Pepper's statement went unnoticed. Dahliana skipped off, fingers flying across the tablet with hair flying behind her and Ava stumbling off behind her heels. Occasionally knocking into the occasional wall or two with a soft thump.

"Damian, you will not believe what I just got."

"Ttut. This better be worth my time, Stark."

Dahliana rolls her eyes. " If you didn't think it was worth your time you wouldn't have answered, Wayne."

"Just hurry and get on with it. I don't have all day to play these childish games of yours."

Pepper could hear Dahliana huff with annoyance. "Well, if you must know."

Pepper smoothed her hands over her face as the voices and footsteps slowly faded away down the hallway and down the stairs. Dahlia possibly and most likely taking her new tablet outside with the dog. "Hopefully she won't fall and break it."

"The teenage years will be quite the adventure with that one, Ms. Potts." JARVIS spoke overhead.

Slight anxiety spiked in the red head. "That's only if Tony manages to win this custody battle. We only have her for two more months before he has to take her back to her mother."


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