Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Life is like a tornado, spiraling out of control. The winds willing to tear you apart if you aren’t too careful. Winds willing to slice you in half, mercilessly and coldly. What can you even do to change it? In the end, you have two choices. Either allow yourself to be pulled apart by the wind or you can push through it, let the winds shape and change you but not let them overtake you. You could let the pain define you or you could move past it. Or you can make your own option and break free.
Yuri Lowell had seen the tornado of life. Truthfully he had lived through it. Lived through the twisted system that made him the man he was today. From one family to another, nothing ever his own. Like his life was spiraling out of control, like he was being pulled apart. It wasn’t until he was 17 that something happened, someone who put his life on the right track. The storm turned to a powerful wind pushing him forwards. For that, he was thankful, happy to have met the person who kept him from turning down the wrong path. But that had been so long ago.
His grey eyes gazed out the window, watching the people move about the street. Children holding cones of ice creams, smiling happily as the held one of their parent’s hands. Even with the air conditioning on and the fan blowing in his face, he could feel the heat of the sun through the clear glass. Today was warm, hot even, and he wasn’t a big fan of it.
A soft whine echoed across the living room of the small two bedroom apartment, drawing the only human in the house to turn towards the hallway. Down that hallway were the two bedrooms and the small bathroom. Their apartment wasn’t large, it was on the rather small side. But with Flynn in college and Yuri being the only one with a true job, they didn’t have much choice.
The dark haired male looked over to see Repede, his faithful canine companion, watching him as he padded into the room. Yuri assumed he had just woken up from his nap in his roommate's bedroom. A chuckle left his lips. Oh how his blond roommate was going to have a cow when he returned in the afternoon to find blue and gray dog hair spread across his bed like leaves in the late fall. A single green eye watched him before a yawn left the dog’s mouth and he jumped onto the couch.
Eyes flicked to the door as it opened and the blond student stepped inside, dropping off his book bag to the side and sitting on the couch near Repede. Blue eyes met gray as Yuri pulled away from his perch to head to the kitchen. The kitchen, dining room and living room were all in one open space, something Yuri certainly enjoyed. He could talk to Flynn as he cooked and see the TV while he did so.
Preparing his roommate as a small dish of ice cream, he simply smiled as he thought of what they should do today. It was a bit on the hot side. Maybe a nice walk in the nearby park would do them both good, and it killed two birds with one stone. He could walk Repede, get Flynn to take a break from studying and doing school work.
With ice cream in hand, he set the dish down on the coffee table. Their eyes met before he spoke. “Wanna go for a walk in the park?” Flynn looked away briefly as he lifted up the bowl of ice cream. Yuri took this opportunity to sit down on the couch and pet the dog to his side, a smile gracing his face as he ran his hand over the canine’s soft pelt.
Repede’s ears perked at this as he rose his head and looked to face his owner, green eye watching with interest and anticipation. His tail swished slightly as he listened, turning his gaze over to Flynn who was holding his chin in thought before eating a spoonful of ice cream.
The blonde male would rather have simply just spent the day studying and nothing else, but he also could see the pleading look in the canine’s eyes. Reluctantly, he gave in. It was not as if they would be spending the entire day walking around the park. It’d be only an hour or two and then he could get to work on his assignments.
Leaning back, the man took another bite of his ice cream. “As long as you leave me alone afterward then I’ll go.” It wasn’t as if anything was going to happen in the end anyway.
.
The park was surprisingly crowded despite the heat. Yuri assumed that the presence of the lake, though small and more of an oversized pond, is what drew people there. A few stands were on the side, taking advantage of the crowd to make money. Nothing looked all too appetizing, the heat killing most of his appetite.
There were trees and paths for walking, a few playgrounds for children to play at and of course the lake. Most people were bunching around the lake with a few joggers running down the paths. The two simply went down a more secluded path that went into the woods a bit before pouring out back into the park. It offered shade from the many nearby trees. But it was still too hot.
Repede, however, seemed to be enjoying himself as he wagged his tail happily. At least one them was enjoying the walk. Flynn was using his book to fan himself off as he looked about the area. His hand froze and his eyes narrowed into slits as he marched over to a tree. That's when Yuri noticed it too. A small child playing in the tree. Something against the park rules. Go figure Flynn would start chastising a child for playing in a tree.
There up amongst the bright green was a small blonde girl. She looked no older than five, her dress hung from her bony and pale shoulders as she looked down at them. Her face was round, full of youth and innocence. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a round face, almost like Flynn when he was a child. Though the baby fat was now gone and replaced with muscles.
Yuri couldn’t help it. He leaned over to Flynn. “So when were you going to tell me you secretly had a daughter?” he teased. Flynn’s face turned red as he punched his roommate in the arm. Not that he had thrown his punch hard enough to cause pain or bruising, none the less, Yuri rubbed his arm anyways and chuckled.
Turning away from Yuri, the man looked back up at the tree and the child sitting on the thick branch of the tree. Her blue eyes were hidden by the leaves slightly as she swung her legs idly, ragged sneakers on her feet. They were big on her, obvious by how the shoes slid as she moved.
She was either from a poor family or a runaway. It wasn’t too hard to buy a pair of children's shoes, even a cheap pair of sandals would work. There was also the possibility she wore ragged shoes because her parents figured she tear up a nicer pair while playing.
Repede padded up behind them and sat down, barking at the girl only once before him. His tail was raised high as he wagged it, watching the child. Normally when a dog the size of Repede barked at a child that didn’t know him, the would tense up or freeze. The child in the tree simple giggled in response.
“You should get out of the tree before you fall and hurt yourself! It is also against park policies to climb trees.” the student chastised, hand crossed over his chest as he gave the girl a repriming look. And yet again she giggled in response, swinging her legs a bit faster as she sat straddled on the branch. Her braid falling in a slight rhythmic motion as she did so.
Moving her leg over to the other side, she simply dropped down. There was a hint of grace in her movements as she landed and stood straight back up and smiled. Smiled like she just hadn’t been called out for breaking rules. There was a glint, bright and it seemed to belong in those sea blue eyes. Mischief.
“Awww, you’re no fun, Mister ~ You should loosen up and live a little, nano ja~ Or you’ll get wrinkles,” she teased, her smile more of a cat like grin now. Yuri tilted his head away to hide the smirk on his face, she wasn’t wrong.
But just who was this girl?