Chapter Text
“Daddy?”
Kirby O’Neil glanced back at his eleven-year-old daughter. “Yes, April?” He had just finished tucking her into bed, and was preparing to flop onto his own. It had been a long day.
The little redhead sat up, her electric blue eyes staring at her father from her pale, lightly freckled face. “Can you tell me a story? About Fallyn?”
Kirby’s eyes widened slightly, the request surprising, yet not entirely unexpected. He looked over his daughter for a little while, before sighing and resituating himself on the edge of her bed. Once she was back under her covers, he spoke up.
“What story would you like this time, honey?”
“I wanna know about what she was like when she was a kid!”
“Alright, sweetheart.” Kirby chuckled. He relaxed, placing a finger on his chin as he pretended to remember. Despite himself, a small smile started to appear on his lips. “Let’s see. Well… she was smart, carefree, strong-willed,” here he leaned in like oh so many prior instances, “If not rebellious for her eight years of age.”
April giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hands. “What did she look like?” Her eyes were wide with wonder. She always loved hearing her father talk about her older sister.
“Well, this is where she was unique. She actually didn’t look like any of us. Her hair was a beautiful chocolate brown, something she inherited from your grandmother, and her eyes were a sparkling emerald green. Only your mother had green eyes, and they were nowhere as green as Fallyn’s.”
April’s hands dropped to reveal a sad smile. The amusement was still there, but it was tempered by heavier feelings. “Sometimes, I have dreams. I think they’re actually memories.”
Kirby tilted his head, but didn’t say anything. ‘This is new.’
“I see Fallyn running ahead of me, laughing. We would go swimming in the pond, or play in the trees. Sometimes, if I got hurt, Fallyn would pick me up and carry me back to the farmhouse. There you and she would bandage me up while Mom was blaming Fallyn for what happened.” April huffed. “I never understood why Mom hated Fallyn. I always loved her. So why didn’t Mom?” The eleven-year-old sniffed, wiping her nose on the back of her hand.
“It's not that your mother hated your sister." April looked up at her father. "She was just angry at her for not taking better care of you.” The two didn’t say anything for a while.
Fallyn O'Neil, the eldest daughter to Kirby and May O'Neil. Born three years prior to her redheaded, blue-eyed sister April, the brunette, green-eyed girl had gone missing with the girls' mother several years prior, back when the family was still living in their farmhouse. Kirby and April had moved to Manhattan, and tried to leave the pain of losing two of their small family behind. Unfortunately, the girls' bond made that difficult.
Kirby knew his daughter had to remember more than she let on, but he decided to focus on the positive. How the girls would play for hours, with Fallyn teaching, or at least trying to, April how to climb trees and hide under boulders. While Fallyn was around, Kirby never had to worry about his girls. He knew that Fallyn would never let anything happen to April, so with her gone, there was a protective shield missing as well.
“Hey Daddy?”
“Hm?”
“Do you think…” April glanced at her father, a tear slipping out of her eye. “Do you think that Fallyn’s still alive somewhere?”
Kirby blinked several times. April had never asked anything like this, and Kirby didn’t want to lie to his only remaining daughter, but he didn’t want to give her false hope either. So he settled for the easy way out.
“I… don’t know, April.”
April’s lips quivered. “So she’s…”
Kirby’s arms shot out, pulling his daughter to his chest. It was instinctive, wanting to protect her. It’s all he could do. “I don’t know April. A lot can happen in five years. She could be...," Kirby trailed off, not wanting to say the dreaded word, "or she could be on her way here right now.”
April looked up at him, hope shining behind the tears. “Really? She really could?”
“Possibly. I-.” The doorbell cut him off. Kirby cursed under his breath, and for a while didn't move. It was only once the bell was rung again, this time for longer, did he stand up. “I’ll be right back.”
April shook her head, jumping out of bed. “I want to come with you.” She smiled, showing all of her teeth, as well as the gaping hole where her front canine had recently fallen out. “I have a feeling. A good feeling.”
Kirby acquiesced after a moment, realizing it couldn't hurt. If it was someone selling something, he'd just keep the door closed. “Alright then. If you’re sure.” Taking her hand, father and daughter walked down the stairs. Once they reached the door, Kirby positioned April behind him. “Don’t say anything alright?” She nodded. Taking a deep breath, Kirby opened the door.
A young girl stood there, no older than thirteen. Her clothes were tattered, and her arms and legs were cut all over. Blood still ran from a few of the cuts, albeit sluggishly. She was panting, like she had just run a marathon; her breathing was so ragged, it sounded like she was choking on air. Her head was hung, her brunette hair hiding her face.
April, having peeked through her father's legs, gasped at the sight. She ran out from behind her father to grasp the other girl’s shoulders before Kirby could stop her. “Hey! Are you okay?” To her surprise, the brunette chuckled softly.
“You… haven’t changed… at all…” She raised her head, staring into April’s eyes. “Little sister.”
April’s eyes widened to the size of basketballs. Before she could say anything, Kirby stepped between the girls, placing a protective hand on April's head.
“Who are you?”
“Not surprised you don’t recognize me, Dad. I was only eight last time you saw me.”
Kirby froze, his mind and body shutting down. Stuttering, trying to form words yet unable to do anymore, he dropped to his knees, brushing the hair out of the girl’s face.
As they continued to stare at each other, Kirby knew beyond a shadow of a doubt who the mysterious girl was. Her face was cut up and bruised, and her hair was dull and stringy; obviously, wherever she had been, she had not been safe. And even though her once emerald green eyes were now a hard gold, they still shone with the same warmth he remembered. The same warmth he and April had been dreaming about for five years.
“Fallyn.” Kirby breathed, unwillingly to believe it yet praying to the heavens it was true. April gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. When Kirby wrapped his arms around his proclaimed daughter, April wedging herself in between them, crying into her older sister's chest. “You’ve come home."