Sakura's Journey Chapter 24 Daddy's Little Girl
I sighed in pure joy. It felt so good to be inside a warm home, sitting on a real chair, eating with a clean bowl and not having to wear my jacket on. The fresh scent of the little farmer's house contrasted a lot with our two-weeks-without-washing smell. I wondered for a split second if this kind man was bothered by it, but he showed no signs and nothing in his aura indicated annoyance. I ate the chicken noodle soup at a rapid rate, not caring if I splashed a bit of it on my greyish-pink shirt. I was already dirty anyway. Squible got a piece of bread with peanut butter. The farmer was pretty surprised to see us with a squirrel as a pet. It wasn't a very common pet, to say the least. After we were done, we thanked the kind farmer for his hospitality. "No problem. Hey, wait a second..." He grabbed my wrist for a second and looked at me intently with dark blue eyes. "You're Sakura Oakson! You guys are them kids who went missin' weeks ago!"
My eyes widened and I looked up to him, somewhat shocked. "Y-Yes. We are. You've...heard of us?" The farmer smiled brightly. "You bet! Y'all were all over the news! I'm happy I found you guys, loads of people think y'all are dead." I continued to look on in shock, but then I realized this was stupid. Of course they'd inform people that we were missing! It was the middle of the school year after all. Thinking back to the time, I asked the farmer one more question. "Sir, what day is it?" He looked to me then turned to a calender that was on the wall across the room. "October 29th." I smiled even wider. I'd be back in time for Halloween! He lead us to a nearby road and we resumed our walk, waving goodbye to the kind man who was standing at the edge of the road with his goat by his side.
Juan was skipping around leaping in the leaves. He sometimes stopped to kick the gravel or play with a piece of trash on the road. Everything facinated him. I smirked when I imagined what he'd do when we got to the city. The city. The city! We'll be home! Daemon started laughing at my side. I looked to him confused. "What's so funny?" He laughed a bit more before answering. "I can tell you're happy, the whole air is buzzing with static." I smiled and looked away. I still needed to work on my powers more. Johnny stopped walking suddently and we all paused. Up ahead, there was a small dirt road that lead to a picnic area by a stream. "We're here...WE'RE HERE! Let's call Tom!" He pulled the radio out of his bag and we managed to turn it on and get a signal on our first try this time. It crackled with static for a bit, and I started thinking maybe it was because of me. I calmed down and saw that the device indeed cleared up. Johnny spoke into it with a shacky voice, full of emotion. "Hey, anybody there?" I heard rushed footsteps again. "Johnny? Johnny how is it going!" My heart started beating faster at the sound of my father's voice. Johnny smiled brightly, his greenish hazel eyes sparkling. "We're here. We made it." There was a slight gasp on the other side, and then a loud cheering shout. "Sarah! Angie! They made it!" There were more footsteps. More than enough for only two people. Me and Daemon each got a turn to say hi to our parents. I was so happy to hear my mom and dad again. Then, my dad finally said those words that made me cry in joy. "I'll be there!" There was a slight fuzz of static on the radio.
In a fine cloud of shadowy smoke, he appeared, right in front of me. We looked at each other for a good two minutes before I rushed at him and hugged him. "Daddy!" He lifted me up and burried his face in my hair, coiling all 8 of his tendrills around my waist. "Kura! Kura, you look so thin." I was crying now. "Well, I am a slender." He chuckled lowly, sniffling. I then knew that, had he been human, he'd have been crying too. He set me down, his fingers still lingering on the fabric of my scarf, and he looked at the others. He tilted his blank head to the side when he noticed Juan. Crouching down until he was at the eight year old's level, he spoke calmly. "Hello there, who are you?" The little boy looked impressed at the sight of the tall slender. My dad was much taller than me. He spoke up with a shacky voice. "I'm..uh...I'm Ju-Juan." Dad continued to look at him, his aura giving off the feeling he wanted the child to go on. "I...I got taken too. I was there two years." My dad then tensed up, his tendrills twitching. He contuned to speak in his gentle voice. "Do you know where we can find your family?" The boy now looked sad. Awfully sad... He looked down to his feet. "...no." My dad then gently stroked his hair. "Don't worry about it. You'll be safe anyway."
It was finally time to go home. After a firm handshake with Johnny, smiling brightly in a way that showed his fangs, my dad wound his tendrills around us. After some obvious effort and concentration, I felt that tingly cool feeling that came with slenderwalking. For the first time in weeks, I was in my backyard. Squible jumped off my dad's neck where he clung and ran around the grass and dead leaves, jumping in joy. I was only standing there in awe for a few seconds before I collapsed to my knees. Tears of joy started to flow down my cheeks. My joy then intensified when I saw my mom run outside and hug me, holding me close to her. I burried my face in her neck. She was crying too. "Kura, your hair is so filthy! You're going to the hair salon ASAP!" I laughed when she said that. I was home. Daemon was also in his mother's arms, but I sensed it that both of them were somewhat tense. Daemon backed away a bit, still holding on to his mom's shoulders. "Mom..?" Her green eyes were watery. "You're going to be a big brother, Daemon. You're going to have a little sister." His emerald eyes widened. "You're pregnant? Dang you guys had a party while we were gone." We all laughed at this.
I only now noticed that there were more people around. Family friends Dill and Fred were there. My uncle and aunt Leo and Sandra too. I then saw two people I didn't recognise right away though. I half bald man with dark grey hair and a greying haired woman. Both had shining brown eyes. They look frightened and nervous. I looked at them for a few minutes before I realized who they were. I walked over to them slowly. "Grandma? Grandpa?" The woman looked about to cry. She fell to her knees and hugged me. I didn't know what to say. The last time I saw either of them, I was five years old. I thought they hated me and my whole dad's side of the family. She started sobbing in my arms while my grandfather watched, also radiating a sense of sorrow and joy from his aura. "I'm so sorry Sakura. We should have been with you more. You had to go missing for two weeks for us to realize you're family..." I was still stunned and silent. I did the first thing that came to mind, extending two of my tendrills and wrapping them around her. She flinched at the contact but calmed down. Looking back into my eyes, she spoke again, though obviously nervous. "You look a lot like your dad." I smiled to her, then turned to my grandfather. He simply shook my hand, smiling to me bravely.
It felt so good being home. It felt so good having a full meal. It felt so good to go for a wash, seeing the water that flowed off me brown with all the filth. It felt so good to go back into my own room with my own bed and just lay there. My parents came to tuck me in, my dad staying a bit longer. He laid down by my side, stroking my hair and humming gently. I fell asleep close to him. I was home.