Chapter Text
“I found the kid wandering on the side of the road,” I hear Kenji mutter. His voice is muffled. It’s squished and fuzzy, like the wall is eating up every other syllable from his speech. “She nearly scared the ever-loving shit outta of me.”
“She didn’t nearly scare you,” Warner cuts in too, his voice all layers of calm and serious. Smooth and even. “She did scare you,” then, with a sigh, he adds, “I would guess that anyone from halfway across the globe could probably hear your incessant scream.”
I can’t help but grin into my sleeve at this.
Without needing to see it, I can just practically hear Kenji roll his eyes, his face all squinched up like he’s sucking on a lemon.
There’s a laugh on the other side of the wall. It’s tiny, quick—It’s Juliette’s, I think. She giggles like she’s trying not to make it obvious. To give Kenji a little bit of peace and save him from the tiny bit of embarrassment.
I press my own hand over my mouth, keeping myself as quiet as humanly possible so the others won’t hear me. Even though they’re on the side of the wall, I really don’t want to miss out on whatever they’re talking about.
A kid.
They found a kid. Just like me.
Kenji, Juliette, and Warner had gone scouting earlier today. I don’t know where, but it was probably for some super-secret mission to save the world. I think. Well, whatever it was, I wanted to go.
When I had asked the others if I could join in, Warner just looked me up and down and said it was “too dangerous.” But I think that was just a fancy excuse for saying, "you’re too small and we don’t want to have to carry you around if you get tired." And then, before I could argue, Adam caught me by the sleeve and ushered me away, telling me not to ask ridiculous questions.
I frown at the memory, my anger from before bubbling. It sits in my chest like hot lava, burning into me and stinging every part of me, until I’m nothing but a pile of ash and bones.
I hate it. I hate it so much.
I hate being left behind.
I can run fast—I bet if I really tried, I could run faster than all of them combined. And, if they gave me a chance, I could fight like the rest of them, too. I can help. I’m not useless, and I hate when they treat me like I am.
It’s not fair.
“She’s out like a light,” Juliette says, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Poor girl must have been walking forever.”
“And barefoot of all things,” Kenji adds, his voice a little sad.
I picture it for a second—the idea of this other kid walking barefoot. All dirty and scratched from the rocks and broken roads. My nose wrinkles at the thought, but not because it’s weird. Back at the orphanage, little kids walked barefoot all the time. Not everyone had spare clothing. If other kids had stuff like that, they usually tried to keep it as clean and nice as possible, because it wasn’t something you could easily come by. If you broke yours, you had to wait until somebody decided you deserved a pair. Or, if you were lucky enough, you might have a living relative willing to buy you a pair with their funds for the month.
And that’s when I realized, not all kids were as lucky as I was. Not all of them had a brother who could send you a pair in a few weeks if you accidentally lost or tore yours up.
The memories of everything crawl back into me. Of the lack of everything given. Luck was all that someone could have back there. If you ran out of it, then little things like having no shoes, or food, or even a home with a roof to sleep under, became next to impossible. It wasn’t something you could fix, and there wasn’t anything you could do about it.
I shut my eyes against the wave of thoughts, against the remembering. I don’t like thinking about sad things like that. I don’t like remembering the sad stuff. It doesn’t do me any good—it only makes my nightmares worse, and I don’t want to have those anymore. I don’t want to feel this stupid pit in my stomach every time I think back to—
Warner says something too quiet for me to hear, and the thoughts scatter like mice, kicked out of my head and deep into outer space. I lean in, pressing my ear harder against the wall. That’s when I hear it: footsteps. And they’re getting closer. Faster. Louder.
Before I can move, the door swings open.
I freeze.
I look up, and a nervous smile touches the corners of my cheeks as Warner takes me in. He stands there by the door, tall and sharp like a shadow that suddenly learned how to talk. His green eyes narrow, and I can tell he isn't happy with me. But he isn't happy super often unless Juliette is around anyway, but right now, I can tell he's really not happy.
“Spying,” he says smoothly, “is not a good quality for someone your age to have. Though I expect nothing less of Kent than to not teach you this basic fact.”
“H-how did you know I was—”
“I could sense you,” Warner interrupts, his voice like glass. “You’re very loud, even when you’re not speaking.”
I’m still gaping at him when Juliette pops her head into view, her messy brown hair outlining every corner of her face, her eyes warm with amusement.
“James,” she smiles, “were you eavesdropping?”
Then, almost out of nowhere, Kenji leans over Juliette in a quick motion, grinning when he finally gets a clear look at me. “Man, if your ears get any bigger, we’re gonna have to start paying rent for them.”
I glare at Kenji, annoyed. “They are not big!” My voice shoots higher than I mean it to, and I feel my ears heat up, which probably doesn’t help my case. But I don’t care. “And I wasn’t spying. I was—” I stop, scrambling for something that sounds good. “I just… accidentally overheard you guys being loud…”
Kenji raises a dark brow, his mouth twitching like he’s trying not to laugh. “Uh-huh. Couldn’t sleep… so that’s why you were pressing your face against the wall like you were trying to merge with it, right?”
“Hey!” I start, frowning, “That's not what I—” Warner cuts in before I can finish, his voice final. Cold.
“Enough,” He says, shutting his eyes and pressing his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose. Juliette steps fully out the door, coming to his side and resting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Kenji, on the other hand, is still smirking, and Juliette glances at him, biting back a smile, like she isn’t sure if she should join Warner in scolding me or laugh with Kenji about the whole situation.
I don’t like either option.
Warner sighs, then opens his eyes as he glances down at me with his permanent frown. “How much did you hear of our conversation?”
I keep my head down, looking anywhere but at him. “Not much,” I mumble, pushing my hands into the pockets of my shorts. “I just… heard about a kid—”
“That's everything you heard?”
I nod.
“Does Kent know you’re awake?”
I shake my head. “No,” I mumble, still looking away. “He’s asleep.”
Warner exhales, and then, almost reluctantly, he says: “Since you’re already awake, you might as well come in.”
My head shoots up, and my heart stumbles in pure surprise. “Wait—really?!”
Kenji snorts and absently nudges at Wanrer. “Wow, look at you. The Grinch finally grew a heart.”
Warner stares at Kenji blankly for a second. “Don't mistake pragmatism for compassion, Kishimoto.:
Kenji crosses his arms. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, bro.”
This time, Juliette rolls his eyes and waves a hand at both of them. “Let's not start, okay?”
I barely hear whatever Juliette and the rest of them are saying because I’m already practically bouncing in place. The thought of finally being included in something—even if it’s not huge—makes my chest feel like it’s about to explode. It’s something.
I barely blink again, and we’re already back in the room—me included this time. My heart is still pounding as I take in every corner and edge of this fancy base. Then I blink again, and that’s when I see her.
She’s tucked against one side of the room—the kid they were all whispering about.
She’s small, almost tiny, curled into herself. If I weren’t looking straight at her, I might’ve thought she was a doll. And with the way the blanket was wrapping around her, swallowing her whole, I might not have even noticed her. I take a step closer toward the unfamiliar little girl, and I can faintly hear Juliette, Kenji, and Warner talking behind me, but I block them out. Make them soundless as I watch her. Up close, I can see how tired she looks, like she’s been walking forever on her own. Like a little bird that got lost and has only now found somewhere safe to rest.
It’s weird how my fingers want to reach out to her. But I don’t. I know better. The last thing I want is to scare her, especially when she looks like she has just found some rest. But it's hard not to want to push away the white blonde strands of hair sticking to her face. And then, I realize, she really is out like a light. Completely lost to sleep. The weird feelings running circles around me is becoming blur. It's becoming too much, because I have so much I want to say.
I have a million questions in my head. And no room to ask them. Like, where did she come from?
Why was she walking all alone?
How long was she out there?
Does she have a family? A mom? A dad?
Is she like me?
My ears perk up at Kenji and Juelitte whispering back and forth, and I turn away from the sleeping girl to look to face everyone. I clear my throat, but my voice comes out a little too loud.
“Do you guys know who she is? Where did she come from?”
Juliette softly shakes her head. “We really don't know, James.”
I furrow my brows together. “Well… do you know if she has a family?”
Juliette, again, softly shakes her head. “We aren't sure.”
I tilt my head. Confused. “Well, how did she get here all alone then?”
This time, Kenji speaks, shrugging as he says, “beats me.”
I bite my lip, looking down at the floor as more questions flood my mind. As another list of things crowds my head, and the urge to ask questions I know no one has answers to becomes almost deafening. At this, I glance up at Warner, staring at him like maybe he’d know. He always looks like he knows more than what he lets on. Like he's a walking, talking, human textbook with all the knowledge and answers in the entire world. But he just stares back at me, like I’ve asked him about the moon when we're talking about the sun.
Then, suddenly—out of nowhere—the urge to turn back around and look at the unfamiliar girl hits me. I twist my head, scanning over her until one last question pops into my mind. It explodes, pushing past what makes sense and before I can stop myself, I let it slip out.
“Is she hurt?” I whip back toward everyone, closing my hands into fists as I feel the light strings of my power brushing against my fingertips. It’s a little fuzzy. “Because if she is, I can try to heal her.”
“Her cuts were superficial,” Warner says, his gaze fixed on the girl.
I tilt my head. “Superficial…?”
Warner flicks his gaze back to me. “As in, there won’t be any need for that. We had her already fixed up.”
Then, Juliette adds, “We made sure she's alright, James. So there's no need to worry. I think what she needs right now is a little rest, okay?”
“Oh,” I say, my voice a little quiet. “Okay. Yeah. That, um, makes sense.”
“Alright,” Kenji says, catching my attention. He stands up, straightening out his legs, and yawning on impact. “I think it's time to go to bed now, little man.”
I pout, my face straining a little. “Don't call me little man.”
“Okay,” he reframes, touching a finger to his chin and looking up thoughtfully. Then, he catches my eye again, a glimmer shining in the black of his eye. “Then, how about—it's time to go to bed, big little man.”
I wanna kick him a little.
But I am a little tired.
But I also just got here. And there’s still so much I want to catch up on—be a part of. There’s too much I need to understand, and if morning comes, who’s to say they’ll let me in on it again? Addie is still mad at Juliette and Kenji—and super mad at Warner—so he probably won’t let me talk to them for very long. Addie probably wouldn’t even like me being part of this whole situation to begin with.
My eyes dart back to the sleeping girl, to the slow rise and fall of her chest as she dreams.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen another kid. I haven’t talked to anyone my age since—
I startle. Wince. My skin feels itchy and wrong, and a sense of terror runs through me. Sadness crashes over me so fast my knees feel a little shaky. I haven’t talked to another kid since everyone was back at Omega Point.
And now everyone is…
“James?” Juliette’s voice cuts in, sounding concerned.
“Y-yeah?” I answer, my voice trembling a little.
“Are you alright?” She steps toward me, almost reaching out a hand, then pulls it back, like she’s burned herself. Warner notices but doesn’t say anything about the sting written all over her face. She straightens, smoothing herself back into calm, and meets my eyes with kindness. “You look a little far off.”
Kenji steps up beside me. “It’s nothing a little sleep can’t fix.”
“Yeah. Sleep,” I echo, glancing around before taking one last look at the sleeping figure. “But can I—”
Juliette and Kenji both watch me, waiting for me to finish. I tuck my chin, then ask, “Can I speak with her tomorrow morning?”
“Of course you can,” Juliette says with a smile. “You’ll be the first one I tell when she’s awake.”
I smile back, and Kenji pats my shoulder. “Alright, let’s head out. Goodnight, J.” Then he turns to Warner with a mischievous grin. “Goodnight, Mr. Grinch. Try not to steal Christmas while we’re all asleep, m’kay?”
Warner looks like he might actually kill him, but one glance from Juliette keeps him in check. We leave the room and head into the main quarters.
I walk a little behind Kenji, my head still spinning with thoughts of the girl. She looked so calm in her sleep. I’ve barely known she exists for an hour, but I can’t stop wondering about her. Are her eyes blue? Brown? Green? Would she like the same games I do—or any games at all? Would she even want to be friends with me?
Kenji’s talking about something, but I’m not really listening. I just want it to be morning already.
I hope—more than anything—that she wakes up early.