Sorry about the delay, guys! Was sick all week. Tried to fight it but since this chapter is about..well, I'm not gonna spoil it, it was a little more difficult to write it than the others since none of it is actually from the episode. Anyways, won't take too much of your time. ON WITH THE STORY
The sound of children's playful screaming filled the background tuning out the music that played.
A little girl wearing a knee length, frilly, white dress with a large purple bow tied around her waist and a matching bow headband on their head sat on the front porch clutching a Yoshi plush toy to their chest. Their gaze was focused ahead as they kept their eyes in front of them despite the constant noise.
The creak of the front door opening didn't cause her to lose her focus til a tall woman with long, black hair that was pulled back with a purple bandana wearing a plain white T-shirt, jean shorts, and sandals sat down next to her. She placed a comforting hand on the back of Kara's head, speaking, "What are you doing out here by yourself, Kara?" The woman asked staring down at her with bright blue eyes. "Don't you want to go play with your friends?"
"They're not really my friends.." Kara muttered somewhat with a pout, looking away from her. "I'm waiting for Master Yoshi. He said he would show up for my birthday."
The woman's brows lifted up in worry. It's been almost an hour since the party had started and despite what few kids actually showed up she was more concerned with her kickboxing teacher. She idly stroked Kara's head in thought and looked down at her with a smile. "Here's a thought. How about you go play with your friends and have a good time and I'll watch out for your teacher. When he shows up I will scream so loud for you even the cows will hear it."
Kara looked up at her and giggled. "Ok, Auntie." She jumped to her feet and held out the toy. "Protect him with your life."
Her Aunt took the toy and gave her a salute with a serious face while holding it close to her chest. "Aye aye Kara."
Kara smiled brightly at ran through the house to the backyard to join the other kids in the birthday activities.
Later that night Kara's aunt was leaning against the wall outside Kara's room hearing the quiet sniffles and muffled cries. Her teacher didn't show. Her Aunt glared down at the ground haven't seen Kara cry so much since her last day at school. She pushed herself off the wall and walked off to the kitchen spending the whole night trying to contact him.
The following morning Kara stood next to the kitchen table, staring up at her sleeping Aunt.
"Auntie."
A soft snore was her response.
"Auntie." Kara poked her Aunt's thigh with her tiny finger, raising her voice just a pitch.
Her Aunt's leg twitched from the touch.
Despite the two tries to wake her aunt up failed little Kara decided it was time for the last resort. Placing her feet firmly on the ground she cupped her hands around her mouth and took in a deep breath before screaming, "MOLLY 'SCAPED THE PEN AGAIN!"
Her Aunt jerked awake with a snort, searching frantically with panicked eyes and dry drool on the side of her mouth. "SNEAKY LITTLE HEF-" She froze when she noticed she was in the kitchen and she immediately lowered her head down to Kara, squeezing her eyes tiredly. "Kara, what are you doing?" She mumbled with a hoarse voice rubbing her now sore neck. "What time is it?"
"It's almost seven. We're late feeding the animals." Kara stared up at her innocently while pointing at the clock above the stove as if she didn't just almost give her aunt a heart attack. "Why were you sleeping in the kitchen?"
Her Aunt glanced over at her cellphone and laptop before shutting it down. "Oh, boring stuff. Nothing you would be interested in." She said with a smile giving her head a pat. "Come on, let's get started on our day." She stood up from the table and popped her back before putting on some rain boots deciding to take a shower after their morning chores.
For the next couple of days Kara's Aunt noticed there was a change in behavior in her little niece. She would often find her sulking in her room staring at the Yoshi toy and she wasn't eating as much as she usual did. It was clear to Kara's aunt what the problem was so, like any member of this family would do; she faced the problem head on.
While Kara was taking a nap her aunt began packing some of her clothes, enough for three days. "Please don't be sad anymore, Kara, you don't deserve to be." She whispered, watching her little girl sleep and gently stroked her bangs out of her face. "I know the world can be a cruel place..but why did you have to discover that at such a young age." Her voiced ached at a certain memory, gently placing her hand over her right eye and leaned down to give it a kiss.
Little Kara stared out the airplane window excitedly watching the clouds go by and the ground beneath them look so far away. "Look, Auntie, the clouds look like cotton candy! They look so soft and fluffy!" Kara turned to her aunt while pointing out the window and blinked to see her frozen in her seat even after take off. 'Auntie, you ok?" She poked her curiously only to feel her body was stiff.
"I'm sorry, hun, your Aunt isn't use to flying is all. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground..like a sane person." She muttered the last part, keeping her eyes staring straight ahead.
"Come on, Auntie, it's not so bad. Watch." Kara climbed down the seat and began walking back and forth in the aisle holding her hands out without a care in the world.
Her Aunt's eyelid twitched but she took in a deep breath to try and calm her nerves and slouched into the seat. She stared down at her feet a moment, a thought coming to her mind. "Kara, come here." She said in a soft tone at which Kara immediately complied. She bent down and lifted her up into her lap, staring right at her. "Listen, I know not seeing your teacher on your birthday has been making you sad so we're going to go see him ourselves but...try not to get your hopes up too high..in case we don't find him, ok?" She averted her eyes, worry etched in her expression while biting her lip. She closed her eyes wondering how to tell a child that there was a possibility that she may never see her favorite person again.
"I know."
Kara received a bewildered blink at her response. "Huh?"
"I know." Was all Kara said with a surprisingly bright smile on her face.
She stared down at this little girl for a moment before giving her a small smile and gently pulled her into a hug. "Oh, you're too precious for this world." All Kara could do was smile but the end of her mouth was twitching.
When they landed they grabbed their luggage and made their way to the hotel they would be staying at.
"Stay close, Kara. This place is much bigger than our town back at home and I don't want to lose you." Her Aunt gently squeezed Kara's as they blended into the large crowd of people going on about their day. This being her first time in New York, her eyes were on everything, wide with awe and amazement at the things around them from the people to the buildings and colorful signs.
Once they had checked into their hotel and put away their luggage it was time for their search to start.
First, they made their way to the apartment Yoshi was residing in. Thanks to Kara's dad they were able to find it relatively quickly though the Aunt couldn't help but be nervous from the look of the neighborhood they were in. Her aunt had to do a double check on the address to make sure they were in the right place. Seeing it was right, she looked up from the paper and at the door they stood in front of.
"Well, here goes nothing." Her Aunt gave Kara's hand another squeeze before using her other hand to knock on the door.
Waiting in silence for any sign of life.
Nothing.
Her Aunt knocked again with a little more force thinking, hoping, they were just asleep and didn't hear them. When nothing happened again the Aunt took in a deep breath to calm herself. "He may be out. We'll come back again later." She smiled down at Kara who only nodded and looked down as they walked away.
To keep Kara in high spirits they began to sight see and visit many different places. It was working til they had to return to their hotel for the night.
While Kara was taking a bath she could hear her Aunt was talking to someone on the phone. Due to the thin walls, she was able to hear what she was saying.
"No, I'm not in over my head, Rachael..."
"You don't understand. You weren't there to see her face. How heartbroken she was."
" You know as much as I do that she's dealt with so much at such a young age, she deserves to atleast know what happened and why he didn't show up!"
"Don't give me that "Emma" tone..."
"I know..I know. Look, we're already here so we might as well continue looking around til we have to go back home."
"What? No, you don't need to come over here. I've taken care of Kara this far and I don't need you parenting over my shoulders."
"No, no, don't you da-"
"Auntie, I'm done!" Kara called from the bathroom.
"Look, Kara's finishing her bath so I gotta go. Don't you even think about coming here! Ok, love you too. Say Hello to Sara and Kevin for me." Emma hung up her phone and set it down on the bed to go take care of Kara.
The following day after checking his apartment again, with no such luck, they decided to search around the neighborhood. Due to not knowing anything else about his hobbies or his hangouts this was the best they could do.
At the end of their second day Emma was clearly becoming annoyed at the lack of results but in the back of her mind grew worried. No one just ups and leaves without leaving a note or saying goodbye. Emma noticed Kara had been quiet the whole time and glanced down at her to her with head hung low. She sighed and stared ahead keeping her hand wrapped around hers. "Don't look so down, Kara. Sometimes you won't always get the results you want right away but you can't give up just yet. We still got some time and when we find him, he's going to get his ear chewed off."
"...Why does it matter.."
Emma slowed to a stop and looked down at her. "What?"
"We're not gonna find him. He left me. He don't care about me."
Emma turned in front of her and bent down so they were at eye level. "Now, you know that's not true. I could tell he cared deeply about y-"
"Then why is he gone?! It's all the same! Mommy, daddy, Sara always leave me behind. They don't care. I'm always alone." Kara clenched her hands tightly at her side, tears streaming down her face. "I don't need Yoshi..I hate him!" Kara turned on feet and ran off as fast as her little feet could carry her. She squeezed her eyes shut hearing her aunt scream her name, running after her. "Leave me alone!" She yelled and ran through a dark alley running in different directions til she felt she lost her aunt.
She slowed to a walk then stood in the middle of the sidewalk. She turned her head realizing she had no clue where she was and immediately grew scared. Her head snapped in every direction at the loud, unfamiliar noises and people. Pressing her hands hard against her ears she ran under a train rail and hid next to some garbage, crying into her lap.
A covered figure was pushing a cart filled with different items and objects. The squeaking of the tires indicated they were in a hurry when their ears perked up to the sound of crying. They slowed to a stop when they came across a little girl huddled against a pile of trash crying. Their eyes widened immediately recognizing that huddled figure.
Kara gasped when she felt she wasn't alone and pushed herself against the trash to widen the space between them. "L-Leave me alone. Don't make me hurt you!" Despite the obvious fear, she narrowed her eyes trying to look intimidating.
The figure chuckled and bent down in front of her. "Do not worry, child, I won't hurt you. What are you doing out here alone? This place is very dangerous."
Kara sniffed softly and looked away, pouting her lips. "My teacher left me. He hates me and don't care about me so I ran away. Everyone leaves me so I left them." She crossed her arms in anger but she only hugged herself as new tears came.
His ears lowered in sadness as his little student cried. He stared down at himself knowing if she were to find out the truth that he was her Master Yoshi, he would frighten her. He clenched his hand tight before reaching out and gently stroked the top of her head. "I don't believe that's true. He probably left due to some unfortunate circumstance and figured you would be better off without him. I believe that even though he's gone he still cares about you and misses you."
His voice was as gentle as his touch which brought a sense of calm over her. With another sniff, she slowly lifted her head to look at him when she noticed he didn't look like other people. Before she could say anything though, a noise caught both their attention and they both turned to the cart where a green head popped making a giggling noise.
Kara wiped her nose on her arm and stood up, walking over to the cart and curiously climbed on to it seeing four turtle looking babies. She smiled at how cute they were. "Hi there little babies." She reached her hand inside the box they were in but she was too short and small to reach in. She blinked when the man lifted the box out of the cart and set it down to where she could see them.
Growing excited, she sat down next to the box to play with the babies. She giggled at how cute and playful they were. "Are these your babies?" She picked up one that was sucking on something and smiled while hugging it close since she wasn't very strong and didn't want to hurt it.
Before the man could answer, his ears perked up at a sound and snapped his head in the direction it came from. He immediately took the baby from her, set the box in the car, and closed it before picking Kara up and placed her back where he found her. "Listen, Kara, you must stay hidden and quiet til I tell you to come out, ok?"
She stared up at him wondering how he knew her name but before she could ask him he turned around to see a group of four men wearing formal suits appear with weapons in their hands.
They were talking in a robot like voice; dull of emotion and tone. Not long after they spoke they began to attack the man and when she saw the man fighting, words couldn't describe the way he moved, atleast none that she knew.
The hood the man wore slipped off and she gasped softly to see he had the face of a rat with brown and black fur. She noticed one of the men were walking towards the cart where the babies were. When their hand reached for the box her body jumped into action and she burst from where she was hiding and ran at the man, small fist raised and punched him in the leg. She immediately waved her hand, feeling tears in her eyes as her hand throbbed in pain, the man's leg feeling like a wall.
The man stared down at her and picked her up by her arm and she began to kick her legs frantically trying to get him to let her go. She squeezed her eyes shut as the grip on her arm tightened, hurting her.
"No!" She heard and not a second later she felt herself falling. She blinked when nothing happened and looked down to see she was being held up by a tail, the rat man's tail. It lowered her safely to the ground as if it had a mind of it's own as he stood in front of her and the cart getting into a fighting stance.
She ran behind the cart, cowering as the man went back into the fight. Despite how many bad men were attacking him, he was able to defeat them on his own. She was too distracted by the fighting that she didn't noticed another bad man had snuck behind her and grabbed on to her shoulder.
"This one known as little girl would be perfect for mutation experiments." The bad man staring down at her.
She let out a whimper and reached something, anything, she could use to defend herself. "Anything can be a weapon.", She repeated those teachings in her mind and grabbed a stick that was poking out the cart and with what little strength her body could muster, smacked it across their face.
Sadly though, it did nothing but seem to irritate the bad man and he pulled his arm backwards, backhanding her across the face.
Unable or unwilling to hold back their strength the bad man hit her hard enough to send her flying into a wall, her head making contact with it's hard surface and she dropped to the ground, losing consciousness. Through dazed, blurry eyes, she looked up and she could of sworn she saw her Master Yoshi running towards her, calling her name. "Yoshi.." She whispered before passing out completely.
When she woke up the first thing she saw was white tiled ceiling. The smell of hand sanitizer reached her nose and she covered it due to it's strong scent and began to sit up. Looking at her surroundings she was in a room with zoo animals painted on the walls, a small TV in the corner, and a large window with a recliner by it. She stared down at the large, white bed she was sitting in confusion when she heard a door open.
Looking over she saw her Aunt standing in the doorway with a water bottle in hand, her face in shock.
"Kara!" She dropped the bottle and ran over to her, pulling her into a tight hug. She stared at her on confusion wondering why it she was reacting the way she was when she felt a sharp pain in her head that caused her to whimper and touch where it hurt.
Hearing her, Emma let her go and began to check her over. When she made sure she didn't hurt her or anything she immediately went into mom mode, staring down at her in anger. "What were you thinking running off like that?! Do you have any idea how worried I was! Especially when I saw you passed out on the sidewalk?! You could of been killed!" Tears streamed down Emma's face as the image of Kara's body laying motionless on the sidewalk continued to show in her mind.
"I'm sorry.." Kara stared up at her feeling guilty that she made her aunt cry and reached over, hugging her stomach. "I'm sorry.."
Emma stared down at her and held her close and tight.
After things had calmed down between them a question suddenly hit her.
"Auntie, where are we?"
"Hmm? You're in the hospital, of course." Her Aunt said setting her book she was reading down in her lap.
Kara climbed down the bed and went over to the window, tall buildings and busy streets could be seen. She blinked none of it being familiar to her. "Where are we?" She asked again.
Emma raised a brow at her seeing the clear confusion. "We're in New York.." She said slowly.
"What are we doing here?" Kara turned to her tilting her head curiously.
"You...you don't remember?" She asked softly beginning to stand up from her chair.
Kara shook her head, scratching the bandage around her head.
"She must have amnesia..should I tell her?" Emma stared down at her pondering if she should tell her the truth. "We came here..to see your parents. For a surprise visit!"
Kara's eyes lit up excitedly. "They're here!?"
"Mhmm. Once you feel better we can go see them. But keep it a secret." She placed her finger to her lips, winking playfully at her.
Kara covered her mouth, giggling, and ran over to the bed and climbed back in it. "I'll get better right away." She said as she pulled the blankets over her little body.
Emma laughed at her and walked over to the bed, gently stroking her head. "You get some rest. I'm going to talk to the doctor for a moment."
Kara nodded and closed her eyes to sleep. When she heard the door close she looked over at the recliner and blinked seeing the Yoshi plush. Now that she was relaxing her eyes were having trouble staying open. With a yawn she closed her eyes and began to enter her world of dreams.
"I wonder if Master Yoshi is here."
Honestly, this isn't my best work but I'm already late with it so I'll just go ahead and post it. I may come back and change some things so tell me what you all think in the reviews. Anyways, now that this is out of the way I know you guys are reaaallllly excited for what's next. *takes a deep breath* MUTANT APOCALYPSE! Got some bad news and some worse news.
Bad news, Dragan's creator is on vacation and isn't able to respond get on the internet as fast as she usually does so the mini saga will be delayed until she comes back from said vacation. But don't worry, when she does it will be back to regular scheduling. I am well prepared for it!
Worse news...You Were So Real is coming to a close. We still have a handful of episodes left so I won't get all sad and stuff just yet.
Anyways, you all know the routine! Rate/Comment! All feedback is much appreciated. Seriously, I love when you talk to me! See you when I see you~~