Nya's a genius, she knows that. Not to be an ego-maniac like her brother, but she has the evidence for it. Multiple people have merited her smarts and ingenuity in the past. However, multiple distressing things have happened to her in the past.

The first one happened when she was three. It was understandable that she managed to remember it at the raw age of three years old.

It was ultimately just miserable, and Nya had been helpless throughout. Still, though, she was still three, so what was she supposed to do? She'd already been crying and pleading, what else was expected of her?

Nothing, realistically. Additionally, her and her brother's parents leaving her and Kai for the rest of their lives is realistically unfair. It's realistically disgusting and unforgettable.

Hence the fact she still remembers the day to the dot.

She'd been woken up by the clamour of breakfast preparation from the forge's kitchen. She left her warm bed and gotten dressed into the clothes that had been left on her dresser the day previous. Still grouchy from being woken up, she'd stomped her way into the room and put on the most negative pout her cute, chubby face could muster. Her dad had told her that it was all his fault, so she'd forgiven him and practically inhaled the syrup-laced porridge in front of her.

Her bitter pout returned as she watched her mom pack literal godsends into her brother's book bag, knowing she would be receiving a bold zero-percent of that portion. Despite this, she'd been cheery as she'd blabbered on to her brother and family, watching the poorly animated cartoon along with Kai as he slowly ate his own porridge.

It'd all been sunshine and rainbows until she was forced onto the outside patio to partake in the almost-daily ritual of watching her male elder proudly stride his way down the street. However it'd been more annoying than it usually was, the grip her mother had on her torso a little too…loose. Like she was trying to let her go, to leave her. What a coincidence.

That was the first red flag, she thinks.

When she was finally released from the jail cell of a hold, she practically sprinted to carry on watching the terrible cartoon on the old, suffering television. Hours later, once the colourful advertisements and repetitive episodes had bored her, she recognised that her parents were nowhere to be seen, or heard for that matter. They could've been trying to leave her in peace for nap-time again, but she was sure her mom had told her she was nap-time-free after going to bed early the night prior.

Once the TV was turned off to reserve energy, (like mentioned previously, she's a genius) she jumped down from the couch and wandered around the house, her mission being 'find parents'. Her small and bright eyes had raked over the entire kitchen, lounge, her brother's room, the bathroom and even her own room. The only room left was that of her parents, which was the most obvious option to look for them, yet… it was an unspoken rule.

You don't ever enter the parents' bedroom unless invited unless you're playing a prank! (And the prank should be permitted by specifically one parent to strike vengeance against the other, but… Nya has her own methods).

She'd awkwardly opened the door and stepped inside, feeling confused and angry upon the sight of Ray and Maya packing their bags in hushed whispers. She remembers the conversation that ensued.

"Mama?" Nya asks, tugging at her mother's kimono. Both parents froze rigidly before Maya lifted her onto the bed, Ray's movements becoming more hasty.

"Dear, now's not the time. Why don't you go watch TV?" She proposes with a fake excitement, hands manoeuvring past her child to pack another piece of clothing into a bag.

"No! TV's boring! What you doing?" She insists, unknowingly grabbing a perfectly folded shirt out of the suitcase next to her and coincidently disrupting the other clothing pieces.

"Leaving." The statement was blunt, so blunt in fact, it seemed unreal. Nya giggled as her mother pried the shirt out of her chubby hands and reorganised it into the bag.

"I come too? And Kai?" She squealed excitedly, kicking her legs as she laughed. Her parents didn't seem impressed.

"No, waterlily. You and Kai are staying here." Her father replied, a suitcase in one hand, ruffling her hair with the other. He started to help his wife pack her own bag, completely disregarding his daughter.

"Oh." She said to deaf ears, a little disappointed. "When you back?"

Her mother sighed, faltering where her hands hovered over a bag of toiletries. She exchanged a knowing glance with Ray, who simply shrugged. "Nya, dearie, you won't see us again." Maya answers sadly, dropping the last of her needed belongings into the bag before trying to zip it up.

That hurt. Hurt more than it should for a three-year-old. Her eyes grew wet the second she heard it, panic seeping in. "No! Need Mama and Dada!" She screams, going rogue when she pushed past her parents' legs and made herself into a barrier at the doorway.

No one answered her or even bothered to acknowledge her efforts as both adults simply pushed her out of the way, hauling a suitcase each behind them. Nya frantically scrambled after them down the halls, wailing and screaming as she begged in indistinguishable blabbering.

They stopped where they'd reached the front door, and for the love of her, Nya thought she'd won and they were going to stay. She couldn't of been more wrong.

Her dad scoops her up in a hold, high enough so he can whisper into her ear. "We won't see you ever again. We can't talk to you either. I want you to know that we're proud of this decision, and we're not sorry."

Before Nya could protest, her mom slipped a brooch into her tiny pocket, her dad put her down, and they were already out the door. Nya couldn't follow them, but she could cry.

And boy, cry she did. Looking back, she still remembers just about dehydrated she'd been the next day, how scratchy her throat was. But she'd had her brother by her side, and she trusted him. Even though Kai couldn't do much, that was.

That was clear, so she'd refrained from following her own needy nature in order to let her brother figure things out. That was until about nearly a week later, when the food was gone as they barely had anything to drink and he was still figuring it out.

She was almost thankful when he took her hand, packed their own bags and moved to abandon the forge, just like their parents. But when he spent some time fumbling with the key trying to get it to lock, she couldn't help but think back to when her parents had done the same only a week ago. The memory struck her head again, she was left reliving it, so she'd held her tongue and stomped aggressively down the road, eyes fixed on the tarmac ahead.

When she'd met Lauren for the first time, it was like a mother she'd never had the chance to have. So she'd listened and obeyed every word despite her brother's suspicions, and he eventually followed in her footsteps. Years later, life seemed to get better.

Sure, there was that embarrassing funk she got stuck in after one of her health classes that just so happened to introduce her to the light of her life: sport. She still says it was character development. Prove her wrong, she dares you.

However, even though she was a genius, there was no way she could've predicted who was trying to foster them next.

In the name of the First Master Nya's going to need a distraction, something else. She's going to need life support if her heart rate increases any more, because she's panicking. Panicking that when Lauren opens the door her parents are going to walk out on her again, bags packed and everything. Panicking that they'll hate her for coming back, even though she didn't have a choice. Panicking that she'll be ignored all over again.

The last time she'd been ignored was when they left that fateful day. Even on the soccer team where she was the only girl and the other guys had said she wasn't that good, she'd pushed herself up-front and centre in practice to prove them wrong, rightfully earning her position as striker. If that team had taught her anything, it was that if you want to stand out, you have to make yourself known. Don't let things happen if you don't want them to. Don't let people walk all over you.

Her mind blanches out, failing to listen to Lauren's words as she drags her out of the shadows by the arm. She grasps Kai's hand harder, forcing him along with her. He doesn't seem to mind, gripping her hand tighter in anger as opposed to her despair. She's angry, too.

Everything's a haze between her mom popping her head through the front door and them being ushered inside. The one thing she can recall Kai refusing to sit down and her squeezing his hand again. She can't pry her eyes off of Ray and Maya, the only memory she has of them being cruelty. She wants things to have been different.

"Alright, so would you two like to introduce yourselves?" Lauren says pointedly with raised eyebrows, already disappointed in their manners. Nonetheless, it snaps Nya out of her daze and lets her think of regaining herself for a minute.

Her brother doesn't reply, and if she doesn't, nobody will. Don't let people walk all over you, or something like that. It's all thick tension and pure awkwardness as she stutters out a reply. "I'm Nya Smith, my brother, Kai Smith. We like sports, especially soccer… and… yeah."

The shock on her parents' faces is enough to make her freeze and pray that they aren't angry at her for returning with her brother. Or returning at all, really.

After an even thicker silence, (she thought it couldn't get worse) her mom finally speaks up, a sheen of tears coating her dark eyes. "Hold on, Smith? Are you sure-"

"Yes!" Her brother explodes, striding to the centre of the room in a blind rage. She was one more sentence from doing the same, honestly. That doesn't make it any less uncomfortable, though. "We are sure! We're sure that you abandoned us ten years ago!" That made her feel young. A reminder that she was only thirteen. "But maybe you don't know that, because you were too busy being snakes!"

"Snakes? Abandoned you?" Ray demands, rising to his feet. Nya can almost smell the conflict coming on. What makes her hesitant to stop it is that he was the one to look her in the eyes and tell her he isn't sorry for ruining her and Kai's lives. What world is he living in to claim Kai's statements false? Maybe she'll join this argument, too.

"Yes!" He swipes at his eyes, but Nya looks up to him all the same. "Do you not remember?" She ignores the waver in his voice.

"Son, I don't know what you've been told, but we didn't abandon you and your sister-" No. Oh no. No, no, no! He isn't going to just manipulate and gaslight his way out of this, not if Nya has a say. She knows what she heard. She knows what she saw, what she felt-

"Stop lying!" She screams, subconsciously joining her brother's side. "You and mom packed your bags, left me at home and Kai at school. You told me that you were never coming back, that you weren't going to talk to us ever again and that you weren't sorry. And then you gave me this." She bites, presenting the poorly cared for brooch that's always in her leather jacket pocket.

For when she's angry, of course. Or grieving, take your pick.

"Nya-"

Kai slaps him. A full-on, strong, backhand slap across the cheek that sends him down to the ground, hand hovering over his stinging cheek. Nya's never been so proud. She's thankful for it, too. Tirelessly challenging her fath- Ray's claims is something she doesn't want to do.

The loud smacking noise is almost deafening, filling the silence for a good minute or two. "Don't you dare lie to us. If you're going to abandon us, then at least have the decency to admit it." He growls, the obvious low-sounding anger in his tone causing Nya to flinch.

She yells after him with Lauren as he storms away, partially because she's scared he'll leave, but then remembers it's Kai and just needs time to cool off. He wouldn't leave her.

Realising going after him would probably make matters worse, she lets her shoulders slump in defeat. She doesn't want to be in the room with… them. Especially when they're playing victim. They need setting straight.

Before Nya can stop herself, her strong, muscly arm is hauling her father off of the floor by the collar of his shirt. She does admit, it must make her look pretty badass.

Staring into his bright eyes that are exactly the same as hers, she finds nothing but cowardice and relents, stepping back to her spot by the armchair. Lauren stands, a hard expression set across her usually warm face, clipboard held too tightly.

"Right, I don't think this is a very good idea, so we'll be going now-" They're going. Why is that familiar? Oh, yeah, that's what their parents did, isn't it. As much as she wants to hate them, and punch them, and probably just never lay eyes on them again, but she would like to know their motives for abandonment.

Plus, two wrongs don't make a right (apparently). Which means them abandoning their parents won't make them feel better about their parents abandoning them. Kai probably won't see her logic. Lauren will probably just tell her it isn't worth it.

Ah, oh well.

"No." Lauren whirls around to face her, face shocked. "We aren't leaving. Not yet." She hates the tears that are starting to flow. "Maybe later, but not yet."

A shockwave of emotion hits her, leaving her sniffling and crying in place. She hates her parents for what they've done. She hates Lauren for bringing them here. She hates Kai for leaving her alone in this blasted room. She loves her parents, who they used to be. She loves her brother like the sun. She loves Lauren for caring for them all these years. She's jealous of her brother's boldness. She's upset about her parents' return. It's all coming out at once and it's scaring her. All these emotions are drowning her logic here, like a dam of water being let loose to flood a town.

Stupid water. Stupid water rolling down her cheeks. Stupid metaphorical water.

Oh my days. This was SO hard to write i swear. Having to re-write and sometimes copy from Kai's chapter was a MASSIVE pain.
Sorry if it's a cliffhanger i know.
sorry if it seems like she doesn't care that much (i really tried)