Work Text:
Names:
Jopax- joe-pax
Erra- er-ah
1,048, 20th July
A small girl crouches underneath a window, peering over the edge of the windowsill. Her pink irises stare down the group of people next to it from the safety behind the glass. Behind the front door, where the new people could not take her to what they claimed to be her new home.
An older couple, very nice people. Their sons were nice, too.
This wasn't her first meeting with them.
She had already been to their house, too. A big two-story house, with a massive entrance and enormous staircase. They had a room already prepared for her to move into, one with a huge walk-in closet and a super big bed with fancy cloth hanging around it- like those in old movies and books, and like what people in Naca lived like. There was a big yard behind the house. A really big one. A pool with a waterfall and diving board. Even a shed with all sorts of pool and yard toys and even sleds for the winters in Istra that gave snow.
Her house was maybe the size of the entrance. Maybe plus the living room? Her closet was tiny, just big enough to fit her little dresser and the clothing rod that kept all her shirts and jeans hung up. The room she lived in was small, smaller than the other one by a whole lot. Her bed was a ‘twin’ size (according to dad, what that was she didn’t know) and fit snug into one corner of her room, next to her little desk.
It was her house. Her tiny bedroom, her little bed-perfect size for her.
Hers.
Her father placed a hand on one of his wheelchair’s wheels, pushing it back to rotate around on the sidewalk gracefully and wheel himself back into the house. Though the man standing next to him kept talking to the nice couple. He introduced himself as a ‘friend’ of her dad when they first met. But she knew from the way that he talked to dad and what he wore he was a worker. An AS worker, from the tag she saw him tuck into his shirt pocket one time, whatever that meant.
Chet said it was someone trying to take her away from dad.
But why. He was fine even after he lost his legs. He said he was.
He had to be.
The front door pushed open and her dad rolled into the living room of their house. Her head snapped over to him and she drew her hands off the window ledge and stepped back a little, fully facing her father.
“Please don’t make me go.” Jopax murmured, bowing her head. She didn't want to tell her dad no. Stamping her feet, yelling and screaming never even crossed her mind.
Her voice was so soft. So gentle, yet so impactful. He wanted to cry already. This was just fuel to the painful fire.
"I don't want you to go either, Starlight."
"Why do I have to then?!" She sounded just like her mother, voicing spiking up for just a few seconds as her emotions flared and she crossed her arms frustratedly. But then she quieted down again as if the sound of her voice that loud was unfamiliar.
Her father turned a bit and wheeled over to her, placing his hands in his lap with a hard sigh.
"I haven't been honest with you. And that's not okay.
Ever since I got hurt I've been having…issues. Scary nightmares, my head hurts a lot, I've been having trouble at work.
Right now, I can't take care of myself. And that means I can't take care of you." She frowned. Even though he lied to her, she was staying on topic. He did admit he was wrong.
"I don't wanna go. I won't get to see you, dad!" She quietly cried. Her friends, grandma, and grandpa, school, everything.
"We'll still be able to see each other all the time! Where you're moving, the big house, isn't too far from here. You won't change schools. Your friends will get to come over and play, meet your new family members-I'll come over. I'll visit you whenever I can. I'll call you every day before bed, send all sorts of letters. You're just going to be living with someone else-like a really long sleepover.
This isn't really a temporary kinda thing, but it isn't a 'goodbye' either. Just a 'see you later', alright? " She nodded, albeit reluctantly still. That made sense.
After five more minutes of talking, they both strode out the front door and down the ramp, hand in hand.
She got in the car slowly, clutching the little pillow she had since before forever. They drove off.
Only then, when the car and the A.S worker were long gone, did he finally let his emotions kick in.
He saw the picture again. Her face was so beautiful, really just her in general. Radiant. Stunning soft pink eyes and fair skin dusted faintly with light, warm brown freckles all about her cheeks and nose.
They looked so alike. It made his heart melt and ache all at once.
His hands flew to his face once the door shut behind him and tears poured down his scrunched up face.
"I'm so sorry, Erra. I couldn't do it. But I'm going to fix this. I'm not leaving her behind." He said softly.