At last, finally managed to get another chapter up. It's significantly sort due to the fact that I wanted to start focusing more one actually moments between the two rather than flashback after flashback. Hope you guys enjoy it none the less. By the way, thanks for all those who have reviewed and followed!

~x~~~~~~x~~~~~~~

The Don sat slumped deep down into his armchair, mourning silently. The chair, masked with rare leathers from the world above, might have been top of the range in vintage design, but with all assets could not offer any comfort to its owner. After all, no parent should have to bury their own children.

It had been a whole two days since Frankie's funeral and they were not getting any easier. Lino missed the way he was always reminding him to stop leaving his boxing gloves around the ship, or how he ate when he was famished, which was every time he did eat. He even missed it when Connie reminded him not to slap his brother.

Lenny. Just the mention of the word brother brought a sickly feeling to his stomach. It was no secret that he and his son had not finished on good terms, a price he was now paying. Not knowing whether his son was dead or alive was tearing him apart.

Of course Lino loved him; but Lenny was just so different from their culture and behaviour of a normal shark. Lino tried when his son was younger, tried to get Lenny to come more out of his habit, but it seemed to push him further away. He never had such a problem with Frankie.

A soft creak drew the great Don out of his thoughts to face the intruder. He readied his face, ready to send them away; showing he was boss and still capable of being in charge. However, his expression soften on seeing the visitor.

Connie closed the door in a silent and graceful way, before swimming over to a spare couch. She looked up to her husband sitting across the room from her. Her eyes seemed to stair deep into his, as pleading him for some sort of comfort.

Upon seeing her bottom lip begin to quiver, Lino left his seat to swim to her side, wrapping his large fins around her. He knew and felt her pain.

"Ssh, it's okay honey." He soothed, trying to comfort her. Despite his best efforts, his wife seemed to worsen; violent shaking starting to travel through her body.

"Oh Lino," Connie started through sobs and sniffles. "He was only twenty-four! He had his whole life ahead of him."

Lino led her to the couch, worried that see might collapse from her extreme grief.

"For all these years, since the day he was born I knew the world he would grow up. These years, I've prepared myself on the endless possibilities that could possible happened to him, you...Lenny." She chocked on the name of her youngest son.

"What's confused me so much is -who- he was killed by!" She raised her voice in anger, only to begin to breakdown sobbing. Lino struggled to stay strong for his wife; after all, he had lost a son too. Ushering murmurs of comfort and reassurance was the only thing he could do to coax her through the moment.

"And Lenny..." She gasped after regaining control to speak again. "We don't even know he's dead or alive right now! I just can't understand why he'd run away, why he'd just leave Frankie. Both my babies lost... what the hell where they even doing out there anyway?"

Her husband's head shot up from resting upon hers, as if in realisation of something. Connie looked up in concern as she felt the warmth leave her head.

"What?" She sniffed, drying her eyes on the tissue she kept with her. Lino looked down to the ground; a look of shame coating his face. Connie rose slowly.

"What!? What did you do, Lino?"

"You remember that night, the one just before Frankie died? I came in a pretty bad mood?"

"Yes... You wouldn't tell be anything about it, and to be frank it's worrying me more now than it did then."

There was a pause between them before Lino looked up from the ground to stare his wife square in the face.

"...I was angry, because Lenny didn't eat the shrimp's in front o'him. He made a scene in front of everybody! So... I told Frankie to take him out to the Wasteland to show him how ta be a real shark-"

Lino stopped abruptly when Connie rose rapidly from her seat.

"A REAL SHARK!?" She hollered furiously at him. "So what was he to you before, a piece of kelp? My God, do you have any idea what you might have done? Sending them alone to an out-of-bounds area?

Despite finding a lot of truths within his wife's words, Lino glared with stubbornness. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ever since that child starting developing a taste of something other than fish, you have belittled for not being more like you! Always trying to make him act and behave like Frankie. Frankie had his own way, and I'll cherish that always, but if I wanted that in Lenny I'd have asked for a clone!"

Lino sat speechless, a mixture of guilt, anger and grief stirred within him. He'd never seen Connie so furious with him, with anyone for that matter. After wiping away some fresh tears, she began again.

"Oh Lino. If you had just let him be, accept him, I can guarantee things would be so, so much different. We'd have our two babies here, instead of one dead and gone and the other missing."

Taking a shaky breath, Connie quickly swam to the door and let herself out. She needed to be alone with her thoughts, alone to grieve and mourn the loss of her first born. That, and the fact she couldn't bring herself to look at her husband, not after what he could have caused.

~x~~~~~~x~~~~~~~

Connie sat alone on the bed. In her fins she held a golden book of some sort, weathered and worn from its years of handling. She flicked through the pages almost silent, save for the flicker of turning paper; as if looking for something in particular.

Her fin rested softly on a page, smoothing it over repeatedly. This was the photo she'd be looking for. Before she could go into more thought, the door was opened. Their eyes met for a moment, before Connie returned her gaze back to its target.

Her husband might have been present in the room, but the grieving Connie mind had wondered so far, leaving her with the illusion she was still the only one there. It wasn't until she felt a fin rest upon her shoulder that she came back to reality.

"That's my favourite too," he said softly, looking into what revealed to be a photo album. The page was the bed to a lone photograph, which had its very own page. The picture portrayed a five year old Frankie, assisting his younger brother in blowing out his candles on his birthday cake.

There was a peaceful silence between them, reminiscing in the memories that surrounded the picture.

"I just... I just want them back. Just everything back to the way it was." Connie sighed sadly closing the book. She closed her eyes in order to keep the tears threatening to fall at bay.

"Me too Connie. Me too."

~x~~~~~~x~~~~~~~

If you're wondering, I deliberately made sure that Lino didn't say or apologise for the way he treated Lenny. After all, he didn't say sorry till the very end anyway. It just popped into my mind that actually, if Lino hadn't set his sons off into the Wastelands, none of the events of the film would have happened. Though it wouldn't be Shark Tale without 'em, right?