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An uneasy feeling was right in her gut when Maria reached Luna's front door, her hand had reached out mid air to knock.

It was open.

Maria's eyebrows knitted together as she felt her heart drop and her breath hitched as she frowned in confusion; why did she leave the door open? The door was slightly ajar but nonetheless, Maria didn't take much notice of it, assuming Luna had accidentally forgotten to close it.

Maria didn't really know what to expect upon seeing Luna other than the worst. She wasn't in the mood to scold her for all the wrongs she had done while Maria hadn't been supervising as much, but Maria also wasn't in the mood to hear her sister's complaints and curses about how she wasn't her mother to be handling her. They never really had an amicable, long conversation.

When Maria pushed the door open, an uncertain and uncomfortable feeling began to emerge inside her and it grew worse, coursing through her veins. The place was pitch black, Maria could hardly see a thing in such darkness, "Luna?" She cautiously called out.

Luna's place was her own after she very clearly stated that she didn't want to share a room with anyone, so Maria got Luna her own space. At least that way, some trouble would be prevented and Luna could be more independent, as she wanted.

"I'm guessing she went out," Maria, in slight confusion, murmured, knowing her sister on an evening, squinting as she tried to find the light switch on the wall.

However the moment the light switched on and her eyes expanded.

Maria had never screamed louder in her entire life.

It all became so rushed from there.

It was a traumatic image to look at; the abundant foam around her mouth, the empty bottles of pills around her, her still body on the ground. Her lips dry and chapped. Her eyes were shut, with her messy hair slightly covering her, and all the colour had been drained from her youthful face.

Maria became paralysed with fear, her grey, teary eyes widened as she froze and gasped.

Maria's stomach churned as her heart clenched with dread, breathily heavily, she began to hyperventilate, tears raced down her cheeks as great fear trembled her. The world had stopped and in that moment, nothing mattered anymore, not her career, relationships, performances, the stalker, her worries, her life - nothing.

Maria had died inside that night.

"Luna!" Maria cried out loud in pain with a gasp for her sister, her throat tight and constricted as she struggled to breathe. Maria was heaving as her feet made her run as fast as she could to her little sister.

She fell to her knees roughly not too far away from the body that she was afraid to approach, with no idea how loud she was screaming repeatedly. The blood curling noise had been brought to the attention of Leonardo, who was still on the stairs, perturbed at the sudden sound.

He sprinted up and reached the open apartment, worried that Maria was in trouble - he had never heard her sound so terrified. Leonardo slowed himself down as he entered, recognising the intensity and seriousness of the silence. Leonardo shut the door behind him as the first thing he noticed was that Maria was safe, intact, alive, not attacked. Then his eyes caught into the chair by the wall and the remainders of the evidence on the ground. He didn't even have to ask to understand what had happened once he saw the unconscious body, the bottles of pills and even a rope. He knew what that meant.

Leonardo had seen many situations in his lifetime, that particular one had been a familiar scene; he was used to seeing such positions of human bodies which was why he had such an emotionless, detached mindset when approaching them as a mafia don. But in that moment, something had clicked inside of him. Whether it was a past memory or the familiarity of the situation, something felt different.

It felt as though he had seen his own sister on the floor, helpless and unresponsive.

He looked away for a second and felt the growing anxiety and pain eat him, twist his heart. The tears were stinging him, forming in his eyes but he wouldn't let them fall. He held in his agony for her, she didn't need to see his terror.

"Luna! Mia sorella, Luna! {my sister}," she bewailed with a pained cry, helplessly crawling over to the body. Maria was frightened, her body was uncontrollable trembling as her panicked eyes darted across the body, petrified to touch her. Her hand shakily reached out to touch Luna but she couldn't bring herself to do it, curling her fingers into a fist as she sobbed loudly, her emotions pouring out into tears, blurring her vision of the body.

"Maria. ." Leonardo began in a strong voice although inside, he felt himself falling apart. He took a hesitant step forward, swallowing roughly as he felt the gravity of the situation. His mind was scrambled but he needed to think fast to handle the situation properly.

Maria couldn't hear him, she couldn't hear a single thing. All she knew was Luna, all she felt was pain, all she wanted was to see her move. "Luna!" She was still screaming, the painstaking sound of her heavy crying echoing throughout the apartment, her suffering felt by Leonardo.

"Luna? Luna? Luna? Luna, please!" She blubbered, unable to stop the bleeding tears she was choking on. She delicately touched the body's arm which felt colder than normal and sharply gasped, short breaths coming in and out as Maria struggled to breathe a normal rhythm.

"Luna! Luna, wake up," Maria croaked out, the grief seeping through her, frantically beginning to shake the body to see even a hint of life. "No! No, Luna! Luna, no, please! Please Luna wake up for me! Luna I'm sorry! Luna, I'm s-so so sorry!"

The hot tears of regret, suffering and loss coursed down her cheeks as she cried out her heart for her sister, "Luna!" She found herself weak and unable to cope with the facts in front of her, laying on her sister and tightly holding her as she sobbed in exhaustion and pain. Her mind was tangled and she could only cry for Luna as she prayed, hoped, wished that she as alive.

"Luna. .Luna, wake up, stop pretending," she whispered in a desperate and hoarse voice, lost from all the screaming. The delusion began to fill her mind as her head tried to comfort her in any way possible. "Luna, wake up, it's not a joke - stop it!" She demanded, her broken voice once again getting louder and more powerful.

"Luna wake up! Luna! Stop! Please just get up! Luna!"

She started shrieking at the unconscious body, shaking the loose limbs, constantly crying and hyperventilating, her shattered heart pounding and pounding inside of her as she tried to wake the body, shouting and screaming. "Luna! Luna! Luna, you're not dead! You're not dead! Luna get up! Luna stop! Luna-"

Leonardo could no longer bear it. He scooped her up from behind by her waist as she kept screaming, beginning to twist on his arms, kicking and shouting for release. "No! No! No, Leo! No! Leo!" He was too strong for her to battle with and she sunk in his arms in defeat, crying out.

"Leo. .Leo, she's-"

"Go in the car and wait for me there," Leonardo authoritatively commanded in a calm voice in her ear, slowly releasing his grip on her.

"Leo. ." Maria sobbed and sobbed, heaving her heart out, "Leo. .I can't. .I can't b-breathe. . ."

He couldn't waste any more time and turned her so that her swelled, tear stained face was visible to him. He cupped her face into his massive hands a little too tightly and forced her to look up at him. Her puffed cheeks scrunched in his hands, she looked so broken but he could not be nice in such an intense situation.

"Listen to me." She was whimpering, her legs almost giving out as she cried in his hands, he could sense the loss of life in her. His powerful eyes drilled into hers earnestly as he once again told her, "go to the car, tesoro. I'm coming."

"Leo. . ." She sobbed in agony, barely seeing anything. "Leo. .my baby sister. . .my baby sister. . ." He almost cried just looking at her but forced himself to hold a hard and stern look as he shoved the car keys into her hand.

"Now."

Maria gazed at him desperately one last time but in defeat, she eventually turned and left. Maria felt frail as she dragged herself out of the apartment. The cool air hit her as she trudged out, her sweaty hands gripping onto the hard bannister as she slowly moved.

Empty inside, she still threw up the remaining contents of her stomach onto the grass outside, crying deeply as she tragically realised, registered the fact that in her mind, Luna. . .was gone.

Leonardo ran his hand through his hair as he exhaled, shocked at what had happened. Her only sister. The body hadn't moved, the face was turned away from him which would be better because if he did look, his emotions would be unable to stay contained. He pulled out his phone as he knelt before the body as soon as he knew that Maria had left.

He knew what had to be done.

"Marco, I need-" he stopped midway, noticing something.

Realising that he hadn't even checked, he quickly hung up the phone and lowered his head closer to Luna's face.

A breath?

Slowly, he touched the side of Luna's face. She was still warm which surprised him. With a spark of desperation, Leonardo turned her by her shoulder so she lay flat on her back and quickly placed his head against her chest that was covered by a black hoodie.

His eyes expanded in shock as he lifted his head and looked at her in relief.

She was still breathing.

It was faint, but he could feel it - the life fighting inside of her. It wasn't over, Luna was alive. He called the doctor, ordering him to be at his residence as soon as possible.

There was no time to waste. Leonardo quickly shoved his phone into his pocket and lifted the girl from underneath, carrying out of what could've been her place of death.

As soon as he had gotten downstairs, his eyes found the pile of vomit by the corner which he chose to temporarily ignore as he focused.

Maria gasped and quickly opened the car door. Once Leonardo had placed Luna in the back seat with Maria, he started the engine and began driving as fast as he could.

She cried silently as she held onto her limp sister, wrapping her arms around Luna tightly and pressed her head against hers. "The hospital, Leo," she managed to say in a croaked voice. Maria sniffled, finding it difficult to come to terms with what had happened.

Leonardo did not reply; he was too focused on the roads ahead as he drove above the speed limit to save Luna. Meanwhile, Maria had believed in the worst. She held onto Luna's hand and thought Luna was gone. "Lulu, I'm so sorry," she repeatedly whispered with a sob, in a deeply remorseful tone, the regret paining her heart. Maria could've passed out from the deep suffering she was subject to.

"Lulu, I love you, mia sorellina {my baby sister}." She squeezed her sore eyes closed, cradling Luna as the tears of grief released from her.

Maria couldn't say anymore; she painfully sobbed her broken heart out the entire journey home.

Doctor Robson and his nurses was present before they had reached home. He was a trusted doctor that had treated Leonardo many times when he needed to avoid the hospital - there were too many questions there. With Luna taken from Maria, she was treated upstairs in their bedroom whilst Maria was slumped against the wall on the hard, cold floor, completely void inside.

"You need to clean yourself up, Ria," Leonardo calmly said as he lowered himself to be in level with her. Her eyes were distant, staring out blankly into the space. She looked completely absent from the world.

"I made my sister like that."

He realised she was in the blaming stage. Leonardo took a look at the poor woman. Her puffed face, blotchy cheeks. He frowned at the sight.

Tears began to brim in her eyes once more as her face crumpled and she placed her hand against her forehead in guilt. "She's dead because of me!" Maria suddenly exclaimed, her body beginning to shake again. Her eyes then seriously met Leonardo's as she more deadly said, "I killed Luna."

"You don't know what happened," Leonardo instantly refuted, taking her hand and pulling her a little as he wanted her to think rationally.

Maria let her head slam backwards into the wall as she groaned. Tears spilled down cheeks as she exasperated, "she clearly tried to use the rope then settled on the pills." Her hands shook as she temporarily covered her face. "Luna must have been so scared - so sick of her life that. . ." She shook her head, dropped by her tears.

"You shouldn't be blaming yourself - she's not dead."

"She is dead!" Maria insisted, her eyes wide as her breathing began to accelerate again, tears rolling down her cheeks. She felt how cold Luna was earlier. "I. .I. ." She paused, trying to maintain her heart rate as she struggled to speak coherently. Her eyebrows knotted together as she thought over the past few weeks. "I didn't check on her, I didn't care for her enough. I always spoke bad of her - all I ever did was argue with her and push her away and now look? The person who was supposed to care for her, was me!" She pointed to herself, her finger poking to her chest.

Maria let out a sob, "I kept avoiding her. .I should've watched her better. I. . .Luna's gone, Leo! Luna must've been so hurt and alone!" Her speech was frantic and ever changing, unable to focus on one subject as her mind was tangled.

She unexpectedly gripped onto Leonardo's arms, her eyes full of raging emotions. "Leo, I-I ruined Luna! I'm a bad person-"

"Stop!" Leonardo interjected, finding it hard to continue to hear her. He ran his hand through his hair and exhaled slowly, "I understand your pain, Maria, I know." He lowered himself to the ground and pulled her to his chest, rubbing her back as he consoled her whilst she deeply cried. "But she's not dead. Luna isn't dead and this is not your fault."

He hesitated, finding himself somehow being reminded of his own past, his heart was beating faster and faster as he unravelled something he had kept buried in his heart for years and years. Placing his head on top of hers, Leonardo slowly revealed, "when. . .when Sisi. . ." He stopped, exhaling shakily when he said her name. "When. .when Sisi died. .I couldn't stop blaming myself."

"S-Sisi? Sienna?" Maria whispered, the tears reducing as she clutched onto his shirt, feeling comfort in his arms. "Your sister?" She remembered the particular, cute nickname they all used to call her. She could still hear it, 'Sisi!', little Dante's adorable voice teasing his baby sister, the laughter they all shared together running around the gardens and squirting water from their water guns at each other on a hot summer's afternoon.

Leonardo nodded slightly and braced himself to continue. "Sisi. . .Sisi died in that. . .fire as you know. ." Maria inhaled sharply, feeling her chest tighten at the thought and sound of the child's name.

"I heard her. . ." Leonardo whispered in a broken voice, trying to contain his emotions; he could hear the traumatising screams and wails ringing in his ears, the intense emotions and panic of that night. But crying was the last thing Maria needed. "I heard her. . .in that fire but I couldn't save her. I was the last one to escape. . ."

He didn't want to make it about himself and quickly shut down his words, concluding with, "it took me a while to realise it wasn't my fault. I was a child. It was a fire. I still struggle now to come to terms with it and fully accept that I am not to blame."

"Don't be like me who spent years of my life wishing things could've been different, regretting my actions over and over again. What happened with Luna is not your fault. Every single person is different; whether you watched her more or not, it doesn't matter. This is out of your control. The last thing you should do to yourself is blame yourself." He lifted her head gently and gazed into Maria's red eyes. "Wait for Luna to recover. That's the only way we will understand tonight."

"Luna. ." Maria murmured wistfully, placing her head against his hard chest again before passing out into a deep darkness.

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~ Author's Note ~

That was an emotionally intense chapter that I found hard to write. Capturing both Leonardo and Maria's emotions and trying to stay sane was a lot.

This chapter always has a soft spot in my heart; what happened to Luna is a new mystery that Maria will have to learn about, Leonardo's comfort and rationale in the situation kept Maria going, and the two of them sharing that short but touching moment at the end is another thing that brings them closer.

What happened to Luna shows that not everyone having the thought she did, show on the outside. For Luna, she never once gave anyone an inkling that that was going to happen and it can happen like that in real life. Please do get support whether from family, friends, professionals, and also ensure you check on the people around you.

Anyhoo! It looks like Maria and Luna have some talking to do.

Keep reading to find out!

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Thanks for reading!

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