Chapter Text
Purple eyes skimmed over the variety of colourful cereal boxes displayed along the supermarket aisle. Zyanya hums softly to herself as she skims a finger along one of the generic brand cheerio options. Lucia had recently started complaining that the cereal she had been eating for nearly 13 years, no longer fit her taste preferences. What caused the young girl to change her mind now was beyond her older sister.
‘Blame it on puberty.’ Zyanya thinks silently to herself as she places the box into her cart. That phrase had become more and more common after Lucia had become a pre- teen a couple years ago. All along, Zyanya had thought raising a kid was hard; but she would now take an energetic and loud 6 year old over the hormonal and sassy thirteen year old she had now, any day.
“I don’t want those.” Lucia says as she puts the box that had just been placed in the cart, back on the shelf.
Zyanya sighs, her temple beginning to throb in slight irritation. This conversation had happened multiple times in the grocery store already. “Pick one out that you want.” Zyanya sighs as she puts the box back into the cart. “Mateo and I like this one though, so we’re getting it. Make sure you pick out one you’ll eat though. I don’t want it to go to waste.”
Lucia gives a grin of satisfaction as she takes off further down the aisle towards the name brand cereals.
Taking advantage of the moment, Zyanya reaches into her pocket to check her phone. Lit up on the lock screen is a message from her boss.
Vincent: ‘ Come in tomorrow at 6am. We need more help unloading the shipment truck.’
Zyanya grunts under her breath. That sounded like Vincent. No please, or can you? Just come in.
A groan rises in the woman's throat. 6am? That was almost two hours earlier than she usually started; and knowing Vincent, that wouldn’t mean she could leave two hours earlier either. Yes, the money would be nice. She could always use a higher number on her paycheck and waitressing didn't make much. Taking care of two teenagers wasn’t cheap; but the earlier start time would mean Mateo would have to drop Lucia off at school before heading to school himself.
Mateo wasn’t her biological nephew but she was grateful for him everyday. She had been a good friend of the boy's mother. Mateo had been born she was only in her twenties. When she had been named his godmother; never in a hundred years did she think she’d actually have to take on the role, but when the boy’s mother passed unexpectedly, Zyanya took the young boy under her wing. She’d already been raising Lucia since she was a baby- what more would one more kid be?
“Li Zhao!” Lucia’s voice rings out from further down the aisle.
Without replying to the message, Reyna pockets her cellphone before hurrying down the aisle towards her sister who is staring up at a teenage boy who looks to be about Mateo’s age.
“Lucia.” The boy smiles warmly as he reaches up to pull one of his wireless earbuds out of his ear. He looks down to the pre-teen with amused eyes as Reyna approaches to stand behind her sister.
Sensing Zyanya’s presence; Lucia turns around to look up at her sister with a nervous smile. “Zy- this is Li Zhao. He’s one of my skating coaches.”
It clicks. That was where Zyanya recognized the name from. Every night Lucia came home from practice she always had to hear about the ‘cute’ boy that helped with her group's skating lessons. Mateo would always laugh and tell her to leave Li Zhao alone. Apparently, he was in a few of the same classes as Mateo; meaning he would probably be 16 or 17.
A smirk pulls at the corner of Zyanya’s lips as she nods politely to the young man. “Ah, yes, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Zyanya teases as she feels Lucia’s gaze burning into her side.
Li Zhao chuckles as he reaches for a box of Lucky Charms off the shelf. “Thank you. You must be- Zyanya?” He questions, his eyes flickering between the two girls. She and Lucia looked a fair amount alike. Lucia was just clearly younger and lacked the purple hue that Zyanya dawn in her hair tips.
The older woman nods politely as Lucia shakes off her embarrassment. “Are– you here getting groceries?” The younger girl asks, her tone awkward and her cheeks flooding back with embarrassment once more.
Zyanya has to force down a snort of amusement as Li Zhao chuckles and nods. “I am.” He hums, holding up the box of Lucky Charms in his hand. “My mom is just in the next aisle.” He explains with a nod to their left.
“Coach Ling?” Lucia asks with a smile.
Before the boy can respond; a beautiful woman rounds the corner of the aisle, a shopping cart in front of her that is filled with a variety of items. Zyanya feels her mouth grow dry as her eyes quickly skim over the other individual quickly. She’s shorter than Zyanya herself from the looks of it. Her hair is extremely long, cascading over her shoulders and down her back. It’s straight as a pin and midnight black in colour- just like Li Zhao’s. Like the boy, she looks Chinese in heritage and she has the warmest, brown gaze Zyanya has ever seen.
The woman- who Zyanya now knows is named Ling- smiles at the small group as she pulls her cart to a halt beside her son. Zyanya had known of a ‘Ling’. It was the name she signed the checks to for Lucia’s lessons, but putting a face to a name now- especially such a beautiful one- had Zyanya's words catching in her throat.
“Lucia,” the woman hums softly, her facial expression warm and welcoming as she gazes down at the youngest individual gathered. “What a surprise to see you here.” She adds, her gaze then flickering up to look at Zyanya. The two older women hold one another's gaze for a heartbeat before Ling's son clears his throat. “Mom, this is Zyanya, Lucia’s mom.” He explains with a gesture towards her.
Smiling softly, Zyanya shakes her head as she offers her hand out for Ling to shake. “Sister.” She corrects gently. “I’m Lucia and Mateo’s older sister.”
Ling smiles pleasantly in return as she reaches out to accept the hand extended towards her. The warmth that spreads from the other woman’s hand to her own is enough to cause a flush to begin creeping up the sides of Zyanya’s neck.
Zyanya’s usual confidence allowed her to carry conversations with ease. Never in her life had she struggled with finding her words as much as she did now. “I-It’s nice to finally put a face to a name.” Zyanya begins, her voice cracking towards the start of her sentence. The elder sister tries to play it off but she can feel Lucia’s eyes flash to look up at her. They had been together all of Lucia’s life. It was clear to Zyanya that her younger sibling had heard the crack in her voice and with a glance to her left; she was able to see the reasons behind her sister’s nervousness snapping into place as a wicked smirk pulled at the corners of her lips.
As Zyanya returns her hand to herself, Lucia speaks up quickly. “Is your dad here too Li Zhao?” She asks, her eyes flickering to look further down the aisle past where they stood.
Li Zhao chuckles softly as he shakes his head. “I don’t have a dad.” He explains lightly, his tone flickering to look at Ling who offers a small nod as she looks down to examine the contents of their shopping cart. “Ling isn’t actually my birth mom- but she’s raised me as a son my entire life.” He explains, casting a warm smile towards the black haired woman who’s gentle eyes flicker up to him to smile back. “Ling is actually my cousin. My parents passed away when I was young. She’s been taking care of me since. I call her my mom because, well, to me- she is.” His eyes flicker back down to look at Lucia; who’s soft purple eyes have widened in understanding.
“So, so like how Zyanya has raised me!” Lucia exclaims with a grin as she looks at Ling once more. “She doesn’t have a boyfriend- or a girlfriend though! So she raises Mateo and I alon-,”
Zyanya can feel her ears begin to burn as she reaches out to pull Lucia into her side. “Thank you, for the introduction Lucia- but I don’t think Ling or Li Zhao need to know about my dating life.” She huffs as her sister flails her arms, hitting her sides as she tries to pull away out of Zyanya’s grasp.
Ling is looking between the two with amusement but also with glittering curiosity as her eyes flicker over Zyanya.
A silence falls over the group as no one seems to be able to find the words after Lucia’s awkward outburst. Eventually though, it’s Ling who breaks the silence. “Well, it’s been lovely to see you outside of the rink, Lucia.” She hums softly, her words soft as her gaze then flickers to look at Zyanya. “And to meet your sister.” She says, her smile growing slightly as the two adults gaze at one another for a prolonged second. “Hopefully I’ll get to see you again. It would be nice for Lucia to show off her progress. She’s been doing well this year and with the carnival on the horizon, we’re going to begin preparing for that.” She explains to which Lucia gives an excited hop.
The carnival- as Zyanya had learned over the few weeks of Lucia gushing over it- was a performance their skating club would put on every year at the end of the season. It offered a chance for skaters to perform and show off to their family and friends the progress that they had made over the season. It also acted as a fundraiser for the skating club. Lucia always got excited for the carnival, but for the past two years- only Mateo had been able to attend as Zyanya had never been able to get the day off work. In fact, in the two, now almost three years Lucia had been figure skating- Zyanya had never really gotten to watch her sister. She’s seen slightly blurry videos that Mateo would film on his phone, but the plexi glass between the stands and the rink always made the image fuzzy. Lucia would often get a ride home with her brother or another friend from skating. Zyanya felt bad missing out on such a big part of her sister's life- but there were bills to pay, and skating lessons were expensive. If she wanted to keep Lucia in the hobby like her sister wanted- then she’d have to miss the important moments. It was the only way she could balance it.
Zyanya smiles. Words bubble in her throat and escape her before she can realize what she’s saying. “I’ll be there this year.” She says, which causes Lucia to stop thrashing at her side and gaze up to her sister with excited, hopeful eyes. “So- uh, if you need any help with anything- let me know.”
At this, Ling’s eyes light up. “Well- the man who did the announcements each year can’t- so we have been looking for someone to fill the role-,”
“And, you have a really nice voice.” Li Zhao cuts in, his smile cheeky as he glances towards Ling.
Zyanya bites back a chuckle as she watches the other woman nudge the boy gently in the ribs with her elbow before turning her attention back to Zyanya. “So, if you’re free and up for it- feel free to let me know. It would take another thing off my list of things I still need to figure out.”
Zyanya nods. “I’ll- uh- let you know as soon as I check things over with work.” She replies as the other pair navigate their cart around them. “Sounds good.” Ling hums softly, her eyes flickering between the two sisters. “Nice seeing you both. I hope shopping continues well.” She chuckles as Zyanya watches Li Zhao put the Lucky Charms box in their cart before the two finish their way down the aisle and around the corner.
Zyanya watches them go quietly as she finally relinquishes her hold on Lucia who pushes away with a dramatic gasp. “I told you Coach Ling was pretty!” She says, her tone dripping with amusement as Zyanya snaps her head back to look at her sister with narrowed eyes. “Keep your voice down Lucia, they’re probably just in the next aisle.”
Lucia smiles wickedly at her older sister. “I knew she was your type! I’ve been trying to tell you this for like- two years now. Your voice cracked the first time you spoke to her.” She continues, her voice growing slightly louder as she looks to her sister with a challenge. So Lucia wanted to do things this way? Well, two could play that game.
“It must run in the family then because the moment you saw Li Zhao, you sounded like you did back in elementary school.” She purred, her eyes glittering with amusement as her sister’s eyes widened. “How about I go catch up with them and I can tell Li Zhao how you make Mateo stick around after your lessons so you can watch him skate with the other older skaters- or how-” Lucia jumps forward, hitting her sister in the arm to shut her up. “Stop!” She whines as she pounds her fists against Zyanya’s side. It doesn’t hurt. She knows Lucia is just trying to shut her up. “Truce! Truce!” She huffs and Zyanya simply dissolves into laughter as Lucia begins to pout. “Let’s just finish shopping and go home.” She huffs.
Zyanya nods, a cheeky smile still on her face as she watches Lucia grab the same kind of cereal off the shelf that Li Zhao had grabbed and put it into the cart.
Rolling her eyes, the two sisters continue down the aisles, finishing their shop as Zyanya’s mind drifts off to the woman she had just met, but who would continue to occupy her thoughts from then on out.