"What are we thankful for?"
"Family!"
Torii gave Katya the dirtiest look she could. "Family?"
"Yes, family. We're family! And, I dare say, our neighbors are as well, aren't they?"
"I suppose..."
Torii didn't really consider everyone family. There were a few friends who she did, though, or as good as family. There was Marcus, her "Brother", who she would literally kill for; he was that special to her. Gio was right beside him, being the reason she began to develop her regen device prototype with Mr. Von Eldritch. Myra was the coolest friend she had, always there to chill out and have a smoke with, and to just bitch about life with. She was a great listener.
She remembered, first, her lost friends. People that had played such a huge role for her. She remembered the Luxans, especially the time she ended up possessed. That was odd...they were a mysterious bunch, but loyal friends. She regretted not spending more time with them.
Then Tsu; Tsu was her first friend; she was Torii's BEST friend, no matter what. Torii had such a rocky relationship with her, and yet...she never hated Tsu. She remembered that very first day at the building, when Tsu jumped on her, and when they first started hanging out, and when Tsu and her first kissed. She remembered their most intimate moments, their sleepovers, Tsu's wonderful sisters...she remembered Tsu's little dinosaurs, and how innocent and loveable she was. It made her chest hurt...she missed Tsu...
she remembered The Templars, Mr. Thriller especially. She didn't like Americans much, but he was alright with her, always classy. They introduced her to Thanksgiving, and let everyone visit their homeworld. She would be grateful for that forever.
She fondly remembered the Froxians. Klanov, the boy that Katya first had a crush on, then Mon, who was so quirky and friendly...Sinyaya and her mother, who were a nice bunch, and Flint. Torii looked up to Flint. She wanted to get to know her so bad, but then she left. Froxians always left, like...Lidev. Torii's heart always seized up when she thought of Lidev, the girl who broke her heart before anyone else. Lidev was her first girlfriend. Torii blushed, remembering her first time having sex - Lidev's work. Her first kiss? Lidev. She was so scared to come out as gay, and Lidev helped her. She was awkward and couldn't cope with society, and Lidev helped her fit in. Besides that, Lidev cared for her. She remembered her and Lidev falling head over heels for each other, and getting engaged, and then what? Lidev just...left.
Torii would never get over that. Lidev left, the first one. She left Torii, and she never came back, and Torii would never, ever get over her, no matter how much time passed. Torii realized that, that she would never be able to remember Lidev without feeling that sharp pain in her heart. Tsu was harsh, but Lidev destroyed her.
Yoshi...First, it was Tsu, then she remembered Lidev, and then Yoshi? Yoshi was the worst; not that he was as bad as Lidev, but Torii had a special kind of contempt for him. She was livid with Tsu for what she did, and Lidev...if she ever saw Lidev again, she'd punch her in the face, but Yoshi? He was Torii's brother before Marcus. He was her big brother. He was her protector, and with him and Katya, she felt normal, and then...
She said it a lot, but Torii knew that she was not exaggerating when she said that if she EVER saw that man again, she would kill him.
She needed to snap out of it. She was thinking negatively. She was thankful for all of those old friends, but she also had people that were still there for her.
The Von Eldritch family were like her Aunt and Uncle, ready to accept her in for a day of research and science!, and to give her motivation to keep on with her work. She felt special, being one of the few Humans they liked, and Scarface was an old favorite person of hers. They had been an enemy at first, but their whacky little antics and willingness to cooperate redeemed them in her eyes.
The Conservators were family. Tasia and Chrys were more strangers to her, but Chrys had helped her a good deal, and Tasia, she felt, she could relate with. She liked them both. Luce was interesting, and never really gave her any trouble, and Dora...she loved Dora. She didn't at first, and her run-ins with the Conservators had her snapping at them a good bit, but Dora treated her well, and she looked after her Katya. Torii admired her for that.
Kei was a rare sight, but she had been a friend of Torii's since she knew Tsu and Lidev. Kei was easygoing and respectful. They had some bad blood, especially when Kei taunted her and she tried to attack Kei, but they had made up, and Torii stuck by her old friends.
The Chaos lads had a rocky history with her, but she considered them as good as family. They watched out for her, and were always generally friendly. Klaus was really friendly, and Hans, while a bit strict, had her respect. Minerva put up with her feelings and tirades, and Swith...Swith was like her mother. She admired the God.
And speaking of her "mother", Torii could never forget her dad; not her real dad, but Mr. Nikanor. He was her most special friend, the one she had so much in common with, who she felt really "got" her, even when things had gotten awkward or uneasy with them. If Tsu was her very first friend, then Mr. Nikanor was her second, and he was her hero. His family was great - Rylli, always looking out for her, and their daughter, who was lucky enough to have the two coolest parents in the world...
God, she was astonished. The last time she had seen him was at the carnival over the summer. She'd seen Swith return, or Charu, and once she had gotten over the entire boob poking, she was glad that her old friend was back. Chaos and the Conservators were still there, even if they weren't as out and about, and Gio and Marcus were right next door. The raptors...they were somewhere, she didn't know where, but she knew she hadn't seen the last of them. The Nikanors, though? Rylli had been busy with little Tolya, and Bran was up to something. Torii knew that, but how busy? He had dipped out some time after that carnival, and they never saw each other after that. Torii giggled, thinking about how they had used to be as thick as thieves, always getting into hijinks, and they had hurt each other a lot! They always made up in the end, though. They were her family, more than her real family. Torii remembered sleepovers, hangouts, sleeping with Bran and Rylli after Katya ran her off, her always getting hugs and snuggles, Bran and her sharing their pasts...she remembered asking him to adopt her, too.
Maybe she would give them a visit. She was thankful for the Nikanors. Torii wanted to show them that.
"Tooooorrrraaaa!!!", Katya whined, bopping her sister on the head. "You keep zoning out! What's going on in that little head of yours?", She asked. Torii jumped and blinked a couple of times. "Oh, me? Oh! I was just thinking about what you said, being thankful for family on Thanksgiving."
Katya hummed, smiling a smug little smile and tilting her head. "Oh? And what about being thankful of family?"
Torii shrugged. "I guess I was thinking about everyone living here, and how I was thankful for them. I, uh...I wanted to go wish the Nikanors happy thanksgiving."
Katya nodded and clapped. "That's wonderful! I haven't seen you and Bran together in a long while! I do remember you two being so close, too. How about you go do that, and I'll get to cooking, okay?"
"Mmm. Sure.", Torii nodded. She stood up from the bed, popping her back, and ran a hand through her hair. She pulled down her dress a bit - it had been a while since she had worn her old sundress! She wasn't used to skirts - and dipped out. Katya gave a triumphed "hmmph!", and twirled around. Cooking time!
Torii danced past the other apartments on the second floor. She flew down the stairs, always happy to descend them, bouncing across the soft red carpet and running her fingers across the cream coloured walls, and running through the lobby. The light from outside the front door glimmered and danced off of the glass from the indoor pool; she grinned, eyeing the humble door to the Teen Club, and hit the older, concrete stairs leading down to the basement, always feeling excited when she saw that old bomb shelter door. She loved the Nikanor house.
Torii was as animated as she had been in a very long time, actually happy and at peace for once! "Oh, Mr. Nikanor~!", She said in that old loud, melodic way she used to, rapping her knuckles on the cold metal door. The sound reverberated down the stairwell, and she wondered if even the old Tech Priests downstairs could hear her. She amused herself, thinking of them rolling their eyes, hearing that silly girl upstairs dropping by.
No answer...Torii huffed and knocked again. "Mr. Nikanor! It's not too early. Are you asleep still?", She asked, grinning ear to ear. She couldn't wait for him to answer, so she could pounce on him.
No Answer. Now she was a little annoyed. It was Thanksgiving! She knew he was a sad Baltic, and those people weren't too jolly, but who didn't like spending time with everyone and having a lot of food? "Come on now!", She whined, as the knocked one more time, before moving to open the door herself...unless they kept it locked. Wait, no, it wasn't locked.
It was dark inside, though. Damn. They really were still asleep, weren't they? Torii felt a little bad, and then a little devilish. Maybe she could sneak in and surprise the family with a little wakeup scare! Although first she needed to figure out where she was. She didn't know if they had moved anything around, and it was pitch black. The last thing Torii needed was to run into a TV or trip over the couch, and it was cold, too! Didn't they have heating? She at least knew that the light switch never moved, so it was easy to find. She'd just flick it on to see, and-
Torii blinked to adjust to the light...where...where did everything go? White walls, white floor, and no furniture! There had always been a TV and a loveseat, and it wrapped around to the rest of the apartment! Unless they were doing something new, and moved their stuff somewhere else, then something very odd was going on. Torii shuddered and walked further in. She turned towards their bedroom. Was she being a weirdo? No, people came by her place all the time. She was just being friendly...right?
"Yo! Mr. Nikanor! What's going on?", She asked, wondering who would hear her. When she still didn't receive a reply, she got nervous. She approached the bedroom and opened the door. Nothing.
Her heart stopped. Nothing? No, this was the right place. There was only one bomb shelter. Something was up. She left and went to the other bedroom. Nothing. The bathroom? Nothing. The kitchen? Nothing! What the hell was going on?
They weren't gone.
Torii doubled back to the living room. "Where is everyone?", She yelled, hoping to get some response. This was too creepy.
They weren't gone.
Torii spent the next several minutes wandering around, confused and worried, and looking up and down for some clue, but the entire place was cleaned out. What the hell was up hear? As Torii searched, she became more worried, and more frantic. A family didn't just disapear like this, and she knew that they didn't get a new room, even if a few people did move. She knew because the shelter was reserved just for them. Where the hell did the Nikanors go?! It didn't make sense. Maybe Bran was off, busy, but his family wouldn't just move, and...and...
"Mr. Nikanor? Rylli? Anyone? Come on, Mr. Nikanor? Bran? Bran!", Torii repeated, increasingly angry, worried, scared, nervous. Why wouldn't anyone answer? It wasn't funny, so why didn't anyone just let up? The joke was over, so why didn't they come out?
And then, Torii stopped pacing, stopped searching, and simply collapsed. Her heart, it was starting to race. She wasn't happy anymore. They weren't gone, were they? She felt her anxiety coming on. They didn't leave, so where in the hell were they? Her heart was beating too fast. Torii was gritting her teeth, shaking. Why was she so frightened all of a sudden? It was just the Nikanors...it was the Nikanors! Where were they? They weren't gone, and...and...
Torii clutched her chest. It hurt. Her chest was throbbing. Everything was getting hard to see...
It took a few minutes for Torii to calm down. Her head was throbbing. Her senses were slowly coming back; had she had a panic attack? She was nervous. She was sweating, too, and her stomach felt weak. She felt sick. The cold air in the room gave her goosebumps. She was alone. There wasn't a single thing in the entire apartment. There was nothing.
They were gone.
Torii sat on the floor, curled up, head between her knees, for a few more minutes, before the stretched her legs out and rested her head on the wall. Her heart began to race again, and she knew it was because of the shelter. It felt wrong. She felt isolated and alone. She left quickly, stumbling through the lobby, pale as a ghost. She barely got up the stairs. Her eyes began to sting. Torii dashed through the remainder of the hallway and crashed through her apartment door. Katya jumped, nearly spilling a cup of hot butter from the counter. She turned around, but hardly got out a word before Torii started whimpering. What had happened?
"Tora? Something wrong?", She asked, clearly worried. Torii stormed past her, into the second bedroom, and slammed the door. Katya heard it click. Locked. Tora was upset. Katya asked again, through the door. "What wrong? Tora? Did something happen between you and Bran? Was he being a grump?"
She was met with a hard slam against the door, then the sound of...something...being broken. Torii was smashing the entire room apart on the other side of that door. She heard her sister breaking down, screaming and crying, and letting a whole lot pour out. He had hurt her.
And so Katya calmly walked over, set the stove lower, clapped flower off of her hands, tossed her apron aside, and left the apartment in little more than a ruffled T-shirt and short shorts.
In the second room, Torii let hell loose. She didn't think, she just swung, knocking over shelves and throwing items, breaking this and that, and slamming items against the wall. It came to a stop when she slipped, and hit something, she didn't know what. An old glass jar that Katya had kept on one of the shelves busted, and Torii felt a part of it cut her hand. It jammed deep, and left a gash on her wrist. Torii, in her anger, grabbed the glass and slashed harder, cutting deeper. She didn't care.
Meanwhile, Katya was unusually silent...
Back downstairs, the door to the bomb shelter hadn't even been opened again, as Katya's voice echoed down the staircase with volume that made Torii's seem like a whisper, a far cry from the serene, calm woman who crossed the lobby moments earlier. "Bran Nikanor, you stupid little cunt! What the fuck did you do to my little sister that made her come home crying like that, I swear I'll rip off your fucking balls, and!-"
She swung open the door, ready to have a word with the man, and what did she find? Nothing. She trailed off and stopped in the doorway, peering in the still-lit apartment. It was empty...she knew why her sister was so upset now.
She turned off the lights, closed the door, and left...
Torii sobbed and clutched her arm. There was blood all over her arm. The cut was bad enough to begin with, so why did she go and make it worse? She was an idiot. She thought she had gotten over hurting herself...
She heard a soft rapping on the door. It was Katya, speaking softer than before. "Tora? Torii? Mind if I come in?"
Torii sniffled. Her face was red and sticky. The room was an absolute mess.
She sat up and leaned forward to unlock the door. Katya opened it slowly, and peeked in, expecting...well, much worse. The room looked like a bomb had gone off inside, but Torii could have done more. "Hey. I went downstairs to yell at Bran, but I, uh, saw what had you so upset."
It wasn't fair. Torii had such a good heart. All of her friends just treated her like shit. She knew what it was like to lose people, but Torii was delicate. She didn't deserve that kind of treatment, where she didn't even get a goodbye, or even a last good memory. Bran was a bastard.
Torii sucked in a breath and blinked away more tears. Katya noticed her arm and pursed her lips. She stepped back, then left the room for a moment. Torii looked down at the floor. Now that her anger was all let out, she just felt tired and numb. She wanted to show how thankful she was for her friends...
She felt a soft touch on her bad arm. She looked back up, and found Katya's face inches from her. Her sister had a calm, soft smile on her face again, as she held up Torii's arm. She set a small first-aid kit beside her and rolled out bandages and alcohol. "Tora, I'm sorry things didn't go like you'd hoped.", She said, grabbing a pad and soaking it. "I told you to go give them a visit. I didn't know that they were, um...gone."
She dabbed the pad on Torii's cut. She winced and tensed her arm. Katya finished quickly, then began to wrap the bandage around her wrist, and down her forearm. "I know that they meant a lot to you. I was happy because you were happy. I wanted you to spend some time with them."
Torii whimpered again.
"I could see just in your eyes that you were excited. You're thankful for every person here that you know. You're a wonderful girl, Tora.", Katya said. She chuckled, blinking, and raising a finger to wipe away her own tears. "You don't know how important you are. This life treats you so unfairly. I just want you to know that you're not stupid for thinking that today would be happy, and that someone is thankful for you. I'm thankful for you."
She finished her bandaging, and taped the end of the wrap. "See? Good as new.", She said, giving her little sister a wink. "I could sew it up, but I don't think you'd like that.", She said, patting her arm gently. "Come on, why don't you try out my cooking? We can worry about this room later. You're the only thing I'm worried about getting broken anyways.", She said.
Torii sniffled, then nodded and got up, with some help from Katya. They left that room, pushing the door to, and going back to sitting about and checking the stove.
One cup of milk, two eggs, some flour...
Katya heard Torii call her name. "Yes?", She asked. Torii's lips quivered. She looked tired...
"I wanted to say that I was thankful...for you.", She said. "Thank you."
Katya went wide-eyed. Her heart exploded. "I'm thankful for you, too.", She said back.
Torii was thankful for Katya. Marcus was her "Brother", and Swith was her "Mother", and Bran had been her "Dad", but Katya? She was her sister. She was her REAL sister, and she was happy that they lived together. She didn't thank Katya enough for her being there. She was always there for her little sister, and always wanted what was best for her.
And she thought about Bran, and the Nikanors. They were gone. Her memories weren't. She could always go back to meeting that young man in the palm trees at the Island, and she could always remember him offering her his hand at the Ball on Gliese. She could go back to him and his wife accepting her into their room and letting her sleep with them when she was sad, like their own kid, and she could always think back to them sharing their pasts, and their fears and dreams, and remember the funny conscript who was orphaned like her, and she could remember them playing around in the summer, and wishing each other Merry Christmas each year, and them flying together, and building their inventions together.
She mouthed her thanks aloud, just loud enough for her to hear, a soft "Thank you, Mr. Nikanor."
Hopefully, he would know how thankful she was.
"Family!"
Torii gave Katya the dirtiest look she could. "Family?"
"Yes, family. We're family! And, I dare say, our neighbors are as well, aren't they?"
"I suppose..."
Torii didn't really consider everyone family. There were a few friends who she did, though, or as good as family. There was Marcus, her "Brother", who she would literally kill for; he was that special to her. Gio was right beside him, being the reason she began to develop her regen device prototype with Mr. Von Eldritch. Myra was the coolest friend she had, always there to chill out and have a smoke with, and to just bitch about life with. She was a great listener.
She remembered, first, her lost friends. People that had played such a huge role for her. She remembered the Luxans, especially the time she ended up possessed. That was odd...they were a mysterious bunch, but loyal friends. She regretted not spending more time with them.
Then Tsu; Tsu was her first friend; she was Torii's BEST friend, no matter what. Torii had such a rocky relationship with her, and yet...she never hated Tsu. She remembered that very first day at the building, when Tsu jumped on her, and when they first started hanging out, and when Tsu and her first kissed. She remembered their most intimate moments, their sleepovers, Tsu's wonderful sisters...she remembered Tsu's little dinosaurs, and how innocent and loveable she was. It made her chest hurt...she missed Tsu...
she remembered The Templars, Mr. Thriller especially. She didn't like Americans much, but he was alright with her, always classy. They introduced her to Thanksgiving, and let everyone visit their homeworld. She would be grateful for that forever.
She fondly remembered the Froxians. Klanov, the boy that Katya first had a crush on, then Mon, who was so quirky and friendly...Sinyaya and her mother, who were a nice bunch, and Flint. Torii looked up to Flint. She wanted to get to know her so bad, but then she left. Froxians always left, like...Lidev. Torii's heart always seized up when she thought of Lidev, the girl who broke her heart before anyone else. Lidev was her first girlfriend. Torii blushed, remembering her first time having sex - Lidev's work. Her first kiss? Lidev. She was so scared to come out as gay, and Lidev helped her. She was awkward and couldn't cope with society, and Lidev helped her fit in. Besides that, Lidev cared for her. She remembered her and Lidev falling head over heels for each other, and getting engaged, and then what? Lidev just...left.
Torii would never get over that. Lidev left, the first one. She left Torii, and she never came back, and Torii would never, ever get over her, no matter how much time passed. Torii realized that, that she would never be able to remember Lidev without feeling that sharp pain in her heart. Tsu was harsh, but Lidev destroyed her.
Yoshi...First, it was Tsu, then she remembered Lidev, and then Yoshi? Yoshi was the worst; not that he was as bad as Lidev, but Torii had a special kind of contempt for him. She was livid with Tsu for what she did, and Lidev...if she ever saw Lidev again, she'd punch her in the face, but Yoshi? He was Torii's brother before Marcus. He was her big brother. He was her protector, and with him and Katya, she felt normal, and then...
She said it a lot, but Torii knew that she was not exaggerating when she said that if she EVER saw that man again, she would kill him.
She needed to snap out of it. She was thinking negatively. She was thankful for all of those old friends, but she also had people that were still there for her.
The Von Eldritch family were like her Aunt and Uncle, ready to accept her in for a day of research and science!, and to give her motivation to keep on with her work. She felt special, being one of the few Humans they liked, and Scarface was an old favorite person of hers. They had been an enemy at first, but their whacky little antics and willingness to cooperate redeemed them in her eyes.
The Conservators were family. Tasia and Chrys were more strangers to her, but Chrys had helped her a good deal, and Tasia, she felt, she could relate with. She liked them both. Luce was interesting, and never really gave her any trouble, and Dora...she loved Dora. She didn't at first, and her run-ins with the Conservators had her snapping at them a good bit, but Dora treated her well, and she looked after her Katya. Torii admired her for that.
Kei was a rare sight, but she had been a friend of Torii's since she knew Tsu and Lidev. Kei was easygoing and respectful. They had some bad blood, especially when Kei taunted her and she tried to attack Kei, but they had made up, and Torii stuck by her old friends.
The Chaos lads had a rocky history with her, but she considered them as good as family. They watched out for her, and were always generally friendly. Klaus was really friendly, and Hans, while a bit strict, had her respect. Minerva put up with her feelings and tirades, and Swith...Swith was like her mother. She admired the God.
And speaking of her "mother", Torii could never forget her dad; not her real dad, but Mr. Nikanor. He was her most special friend, the one she had so much in common with, who she felt really "got" her, even when things had gotten awkward or uneasy with them. If Tsu was her very first friend, then Mr. Nikanor was her second, and he was her hero. His family was great - Rylli, always looking out for her, and their daughter, who was lucky enough to have the two coolest parents in the world...
God, she was astonished. The last time she had seen him was at the carnival over the summer. She'd seen Swith return, or Charu, and once she had gotten over the entire boob poking, she was glad that her old friend was back. Chaos and the Conservators were still there, even if they weren't as out and about, and Gio and Marcus were right next door. The raptors...they were somewhere, she didn't know where, but she knew she hadn't seen the last of them. The Nikanors, though? Rylli had been busy with little Tolya, and Bran was up to something. Torii knew that, but how busy? He had dipped out some time after that carnival, and they never saw each other after that. Torii giggled, thinking about how they had used to be as thick as thieves, always getting into hijinks, and they had hurt each other a lot! They always made up in the end, though. They were her family, more than her real family. Torii remembered sleepovers, hangouts, sleeping with Bran and Rylli after Katya ran her off, her always getting hugs and snuggles, Bran and her sharing their pasts...she remembered asking him to adopt her, too.
Maybe she would give them a visit. She was thankful for the Nikanors. Torii wanted to show them that.
"Tooooorrrraaaa!!!", Katya whined, bopping her sister on the head. "You keep zoning out! What's going on in that little head of yours?", She asked. Torii jumped and blinked a couple of times. "Oh, me? Oh! I was just thinking about what you said, being thankful for family on Thanksgiving."
Katya hummed, smiling a smug little smile and tilting her head. "Oh? And what about being thankful of family?"
Torii shrugged. "I guess I was thinking about everyone living here, and how I was thankful for them. I, uh...I wanted to go wish the Nikanors happy thanksgiving."
Katya nodded and clapped. "That's wonderful! I haven't seen you and Bran together in a long while! I do remember you two being so close, too. How about you go do that, and I'll get to cooking, okay?"
"Mmm. Sure.", Torii nodded. She stood up from the bed, popping her back, and ran a hand through her hair. She pulled down her dress a bit - it had been a while since she had worn her old sundress! She wasn't used to skirts - and dipped out. Katya gave a triumphed "hmmph!", and twirled around. Cooking time!
Torii danced past the other apartments on the second floor. She flew down the stairs, always happy to descend them, bouncing across the soft red carpet and running her fingers across the cream coloured walls, and running through the lobby. The light from outside the front door glimmered and danced off of the glass from the indoor pool; she grinned, eyeing the humble door to the Teen Club, and hit the older, concrete stairs leading down to the basement, always feeling excited when she saw that old bomb shelter door. She loved the Nikanor house.
Torii was as animated as she had been in a very long time, actually happy and at peace for once! "Oh, Mr. Nikanor~!", She said in that old loud, melodic way she used to, rapping her knuckles on the cold metal door. The sound reverberated down the stairwell, and she wondered if even the old Tech Priests downstairs could hear her. She amused herself, thinking of them rolling their eyes, hearing that silly girl upstairs dropping by.
No answer...Torii huffed and knocked again. "Mr. Nikanor! It's not too early. Are you asleep still?", She asked, grinning ear to ear. She couldn't wait for him to answer, so she could pounce on him.
No Answer. Now she was a little annoyed. It was Thanksgiving! She knew he was a sad Baltic, and those people weren't too jolly, but who didn't like spending time with everyone and having a lot of food? "Come on now!", She whined, as the knocked one more time, before moving to open the door herself...unless they kept it locked. Wait, no, it wasn't locked.
It was dark inside, though. Damn. They really were still asleep, weren't they? Torii felt a little bad, and then a little devilish. Maybe she could sneak in and surprise the family with a little wakeup scare! Although first she needed to figure out where she was. She didn't know if they had moved anything around, and it was pitch black. The last thing Torii needed was to run into a TV or trip over the couch, and it was cold, too! Didn't they have heating? She at least knew that the light switch never moved, so it was easy to find. She'd just flick it on to see, and-
Torii blinked to adjust to the light...where...where did everything go? White walls, white floor, and no furniture! There had always been a TV and a loveseat, and it wrapped around to the rest of the apartment! Unless they were doing something new, and moved their stuff somewhere else, then something very odd was going on. Torii shuddered and walked further in. She turned towards their bedroom. Was she being a weirdo? No, people came by her place all the time. She was just being friendly...right?
"Yo! Mr. Nikanor! What's going on?", She asked, wondering who would hear her. When she still didn't receive a reply, she got nervous. She approached the bedroom and opened the door. Nothing.
Her heart stopped. Nothing? No, this was the right place. There was only one bomb shelter. Something was up. She left and went to the other bedroom. Nothing. The bathroom? Nothing. The kitchen? Nothing! What the hell was going on?
They weren't gone.
Torii doubled back to the living room. "Where is everyone?", She yelled, hoping to get some response. This was too creepy.
They weren't gone.
Torii spent the next several minutes wandering around, confused and worried, and looking up and down for some clue, but the entire place was cleaned out. What the hell was up hear? As Torii searched, she became more worried, and more frantic. A family didn't just disapear like this, and she knew that they didn't get a new room, even if a few people did move. She knew because the shelter was reserved just for them. Where the hell did the Nikanors go?! It didn't make sense. Maybe Bran was off, busy, but his family wouldn't just move, and...and...
"Mr. Nikanor? Rylli? Anyone? Come on, Mr. Nikanor? Bran? Bran!", Torii repeated, increasingly angry, worried, scared, nervous. Why wouldn't anyone answer? It wasn't funny, so why didn't anyone just let up? The joke was over, so why didn't they come out?
And then, Torii stopped pacing, stopped searching, and simply collapsed. Her heart, it was starting to race. She wasn't happy anymore. They weren't gone, were they? She felt her anxiety coming on. They didn't leave, so where in the hell were they? Her heart was beating too fast. Torii was gritting her teeth, shaking. Why was she so frightened all of a sudden? It was just the Nikanors...it was the Nikanors! Where were they? They weren't gone, and...and...
Torii clutched her chest. It hurt. Her chest was throbbing. Everything was getting hard to see...
It took a few minutes for Torii to calm down. Her head was throbbing. Her senses were slowly coming back; had she had a panic attack? She was nervous. She was sweating, too, and her stomach felt weak. She felt sick. The cold air in the room gave her goosebumps. She was alone. There wasn't a single thing in the entire apartment. There was nothing.
They were gone.
Torii sat on the floor, curled up, head between her knees, for a few more minutes, before the stretched her legs out and rested her head on the wall. Her heart began to race again, and she knew it was because of the shelter. It felt wrong. She felt isolated and alone. She left quickly, stumbling through the lobby, pale as a ghost. She barely got up the stairs. Her eyes began to sting. Torii dashed through the remainder of the hallway and crashed through her apartment door. Katya jumped, nearly spilling a cup of hot butter from the counter. She turned around, but hardly got out a word before Torii started whimpering. What had happened?
"Tora? Something wrong?", She asked, clearly worried. Torii stormed past her, into the second bedroom, and slammed the door. Katya heard it click. Locked. Tora was upset. Katya asked again, through the door. "What wrong? Tora? Did something happen between you and Bran? Was he being a grump?"
She was met with a hard slam against the door, then the sound of...something...being broken. Torii was smashing the entire room apart on the other side of that door. She heard her sister breaking down, screaming and crying, and letting a whole lot pour out. He had hurt her.
And so Katya calmly walked over, set the stove lower, clapped flower off of her hands, tossed her apron aside, and left the apartment in little more than a ruffled T-shirt and short shorts.
In the second room, Torii let hell loose. She didn't think, she just swung, knocking over shelves and throwing items, breaking this and that, and slamming items against the wall. It came to a stop when she slipped, and hit something, she didn't know what. An old glass jar that Katya had kept on one of the shelves busted, and Torii felt a part of it cut her hand. It jammed deep, and left a gash on her wrist. Torii, in her anger, grabbed the glass and slashed harder, cutting deeper. She didn't care.
Meanwhile, Katya was unusually silent...
Back downstairs, the door to the bomb shelter hadn't even been opened again, as Katya's voice echoed down the staircase with volume that made Torii's seem like a whisper, a far cry from the serene, calm woman who crossed the lobby moments earlier. "Bran Nikanor, you stupid little cunt! What the fuck did you do to my little sister that made her come home crying like that, I swear I'll rip off your fucking balls, and!-"
She swung open the door, ready to have a word with the man, and what did she find? Nothing. She trailed off and stopped in the doorway, peering in the still-lit apartment. It was empty...she knew why her sister was so upset now.
She turned off the lights, closed the door, and left...
Torii sobbed and clutched her arm. There was blood all over her arm. The cut was bad enough to begin with, so why did she go and make it worse? She was an idiot. She thought she had gotten over hurting herself...
She heard a soft rapping on the door. It was Katya, speaking softer than before. "Tora? Torii? Mind if I come in?"
Torii sniffled. Her face was red and sticky. The room was an absolute mess.
She sat up and leaned forward to unlock the door. Katya opened it slowly, and peeked in, expecting...well, much worse. The room looked like a bomb had gone off inside, but Torii could have done more. "Hey. I went downstairs to yell at Bran, but I, uh, saw what had you so upset."
It wasn't fair. Torii had such a good heart. All of her friends just treated her like shit. She knew what it was like to lose people, but Torii was delicate. She didn't deserve that kind of treatment, where she didn't even get a goodbye, or even a last good memory. Bran was a bastard.
Torii sucked in a breath and blinked away more tears. Katya noticed her arm and pursed her lips. She stepped back, then left the room for a moment. Torii looked down at the floor. Now that her anger was all let out, she just felt tired and numb. She wanted to show how thankful she was for her friends...
She felt a soft touch on her bad arm. She looked back up, and found Katya's face inches from her. Her sister had a calm, soft smile on her face again, as she held up Torii's arm. She set a small first-aid kit beside her and rolled out bandages and alcohol. "Tora, I'm sorry things didn't go like you'd hoped.", She said, grabbing a pad and soaking it. "I told you to go give them a visit. I didn't know that they were, um...gone."
She dabbed the pad on Torii's cut. She winced and tensed her arm. Katya finished quickly, then began to wrap the bandage around her wrist, and down her forearm. "I know that they meant a lot to you. I was happy because you were happy. I wanted you to spend some time with them."
Torii whimpered again.
"I could see just in your eyes that you were excited. You're thankful for every person here that you know. You're a wonderful girl, Tora.", Katya said. She chuckled, blinking, and raising a finger to wipe away her own tears. "You don't know how important you are. This life treats you so unfairly. I just want you to know that you're not stupid for thinking that today would be happy, and that someone is thankful for you. I'm thankful for you."
She finished her bandaging, and taped the end of the wrap. "See? Good as new.", She said, giving her little sister a wink. "I could sew it up, but I don't think you'd like that.", She said, patting her arm gently. "Come on, why don't you try out my cooking? We can worry about this room later. You're the only thing I'm worried about getting broken anyways.", She said.
Torii sniffled, then nodded and got up, with some help from Katya. They left that room, pushing the door to, and going back to sitting about and checking the stove.
One cup of milk, two eggs, some flour...
Katya heard Torii call her name. "Yes?", She asked. Torii's lips quivered. She looked tired...
"I wanted to say that I was thankful...for you.", She said. "Thank you."
Katya went wide-eyed. Her heart exploded. "I'm thankful for you, too.", She said back.
Torii was thankful for Katya. Marcus was her "Brother", and Swith was her "Mother", and Bran had been her "Dad", but Katya? She was her sister. She was her REAL sister, and she was happy that they lived together. She didn't thank Katya enough for her being there. She was always there for her little sister, and always wanted what was best for her.
And she thought about Bran, and the Nikanors. They were gone. Her memories weren't. She could always go back to meeting that young man in the palm trees at the Island, and she could always remember him offering her his hand at the Ball on Gliese. She could go back to him and his wife accepting her into their room and letting her sleep with them when she was sad, like their own kid, and she could always think back to them sharing their pasts, and their fears and dreams, and remember the funny conscript who was orphaned like her, and she could remember them playing around in the summer, and wishing each other Merry Christmas each year, and them flying together, and building their inventions together.
She mouthed her thanks aloud, just loud enough for her to hear, a soft "Thank you, Mr. Nikanor."
Hopefully, he would know how thankful she was.
Finally decided to crank out a quick one-shot for Thanksgiving. Had to type on my laptop, then transfer the RTF to my phone, transfer that to google docs, then copy-paste and fix up on here.
It's not very good, buuut....It'll do.
