Sherlock: 29 years

Mycroft: 36 years

Sarafina: 33 years

Liza: 9 years

**I do not own Sherlock! I only own Sarafina and Liza Holmes!**

Tragedy - Part 1

Liza sat at the kitchen table, staring tiredly at her breakfast as Sarafina ran around frantically, trying to get her things gathered for work.

"Liza, sweetheart, eat your breakfast. You'll be late for school." Liza sighed.

"I don't want to go to school, mum. It's so boring."

"I know honey. Just try to make the best of it." Sarafina ran into the other room and Liza slowly lifted herself off her chair and walked to her room to get ready. Soon, Sarafina was on her way to drop Liza off at school and go to work. On her way to work, she rang Sherlock.

"What?"

"Oh, nice. Is that how you're answering your phone now?" She asked sarcastically.

"What do you want, Sarafina, I'm in the middle of a case?"

"I need you to pick up Liza from school today and bring her to her piano lesson."

"Wha… why me? Why not Mycroft?"

"He has an important meeting, Sherlock.

"But the case…"

"It's just picking up your niece and bringing her to her piano lesson and back home. It won't be that bad. Can you help me out, Sherlock? Please?" There was a long, frustrated sigh on the other line.
"Fine."

"Oh, thank you, Sherlock. This is helping me out so much!"

"Yes, yes, whatever."

"Alright, well I'll see you tonight. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Later that day, Sherlock pulls up to the entrance of the all-girl school Liza went to. He gets out of the car and just as he's about to walk up, the doors open and a flood of little girls come out. He backs up slightly and watches for Liza. Finally, he catches a glimpse of her and she runs up to him and immediately attacks him.

"Uncle Sherlock guess what? I made a new friend today!"

"Mm, congratulations."

"Her name is Emmy and she's really nice and she's got brown hair and she's tall and…"

"Whoa, whoa slow down there. I don't need every detail."

"Sorry. I'm just so excited!"

"Yes, well keep that feeling. I'm to take you to your piano lesson." She frowns.

"Aww… I was hoping I could come home with you."

"Sorry not today." He kneels down. "But I'm sure if you're good we could sneak in an ice cream run afterwards." He winks and she immediately brightens up.

"Okay!"

"Alright, get in." He opens the passenger door and she hops in. He shuts the door and walks back, gets in the driver's side, and drives away.

After Liza's lesson and the ice cream stop, they arrived at Sherlock's flat.

"…and her favorite color is orange. I don't particularly like orange though. I like blue. Blue is a pretty color. And pink. The kind of pink that's really bright, not the kind that's on flamingoes. Like the ones we see at the zoo. We should go to the zoo. I haven't been to the zoo in a loooooong time…"

"Liza!" She stops and looks at him. "Take a breath once in a while." She giggles and flops herself on the couch.

"Sorry, Uncle Sherlock. I'll tell mum the rest when she gets home."

"Sounds like a plan." Sherlock says as he massages his temples. He looks around the flat. "Speaking of which, where is your mum? I thought she'd be home by now."

"Uncle Sherlock look! It's raining! I love the rain!"

"Yes, I'm sure you do." Just then, the phone starts to ring. Sherlock answers it. "Yes?"

"Sherlock? It's Sarafina."

"Ah, yes. Where are you?"

"I just got out of a meeting and I'm on my way now. The weather is pretty awful so I might be a little late." He sighs.

"It's alright. Take your time."

"Thank you again, Sherlock."

"No problem. Drive safe."

"Thanks I will. Bye."

"Bye." He hangs up the phone.

"Was that mum?"

"Yes, she's going to be a little late. So it looks like I'm stuck here for a while."

"Yay!" Liza jumps up and runs to her room, more than likely to get her possessions to show him and describe them in great detail. He sighs and sits down on the couch.

About an hour and a half later, there was still no sign of Sarafina. He tries her phone once more, but still no answer. He was starting to get worried. He lays his head back on the couch and patiently listens to Liza as she goes on to describe every detail of her day. Just as he thought he was going to lose it, the phone rang. He jumps up and answers it. Liza watches and listens and a couple of minutes into the conversation, Sherlock drops the phone.

"Uncle Sherlock what is it?" He doesn't move. "Uncle Sherlock are you in your mind palace on the phone again?" She giggles to herself. Sherlock turns around and looks at her, tears in his eyes. "Uncle Sherlock! What's wrong?" He wipes his eyes and kneels down.

"Liza, sweetheart, I need to be somewhere, so I'm going to need you to stay with an old friend of mine for a while. She's a very nice lady named Mrs. Hudson. You need to be a good girl for her, okay?" She looks at him concerned. She'd never seen him like this before and it scared her.

"O…okay, Uncle Sherlock." He nods his head and gets up and leads her out the door and into the car. Soon, they pull up to a building and Sherlock and Liza get out and go to the door. The door immediately opens and an older lady comes out.

"Sherlock. Oh, how are you? Come in, come in." She gestures them in. "And who's this little cutie?" She shuts the door behind them.

"This is Liza, Liza this is Mrs. Hudson. Can I see you privately for a moment?" He asks Mrs. Hudson.

"Of course."

"Liza, stay here, okay?"

"Okay…" Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson go into the other room.

"Everything alright Sherlock? You look a bit peaky."

"Sarafina… was in an accident." She puts a hand on her heart.

"Oh my goodness, is she alright?"

"She, um… she died." Mrs. Hudson gasped. "On impact." His eyes fill with tears again.

"Oh, oh Sherlock…" Mrs. Hudson brings him in for a hug. He backs up and wipes his eyes.

"I need someone to watch Liza."

"Don't give it another thought. You go. She'll be fine."

"Thank you." She puts a hand on his face in sympathy and he walks out.

"Uncle Sherlock?" Liza walks over to the door. Mrs. Hudson looks at her with sympathy.

"Poor dear…" She says to herself. Liza slowly turns around and looks at Mrs. Hudson. "Do you like biscuits?" Liza gives a little smile and Mrs. Hudson leads her into the kitchen.

The time was about 10:30pm when Sherlock finally came back. Mrs. Hudson opens the door and puts a finger to her lips.

"She went to sleep about an hour ago." She whispered.

"Thank you." Sherlock whispered back. He walks further into the flat to see a bundled up Liza on the couch, asleep. He walks over to her and picks her up. With a final thank you to Mrs. Hudson, they left for Sherlock's flat.

The next morning, Sherlock woke up on the couch. For a moment, he wondered how he had ended up there. Then he remembered. He rubbed his face and stretched. He sat up and saw Liza walk out of his room.

"Uncle Sherlock?" She asked rubbing her eyes. "What am I doing at your flat? Where's mum?" He decided it was time to tell her. He patted the spot next to him. She came over and curled up by his side. She looked up at him and he looked at her. "What's the matter, Uncle Sherlock?"

"Liza…" He sighs. "Your mum… she, uh." He paused, trying to find the right words. "You know how last night, it was raining. It was very slippery outside… on the roads. It was very hard to see, and…" He clears his throat. "…her car, flipped into a ditch." Liza straightens up. "Well, she got very hurt and… um…" He paused trying to collect himself.

"She's dead, isn't she?" He looks at her, startled. He could see the tears forming in her eyes. He could feel some forming in his own as well. He sighs, struggling to hold back tears.

"Liza. I'm… I'm so sorry." She shakes her head.

"No…"

"Liza…"

"No!" She shouts suddenly. "She's not! No! You're lying! She's not dead! No!" She runs crying into Sherlock's room and slams the door. He puts his head in his hands and lets the tears come freely.

Well, here's the chapter I was not eager to write. Part 2 will be coming up here soon. Sorry about the feels. :/