- francesca's point of view -

[EL PASO, TEXAS]

Francesca tucks her head between her knees, trying to block out all the noise.

Tío Eddie's fighting with Abuela and Abuelo, not that it's an uncommon occurrence. It never has been, especially not these days. Francesca loves them, but her grandparents have the tendency to nitpick every little thing that Eddie does wrong, or wrong in their eyes. She gets it can grate on the nerves.

She just wishes they didn't have to do it so loudly.

Francesca covers her ears to block out the raised voices but they still manage to slip through her fingers, worming around her brain. She can only make out some of the words - something about her future, Eddie's ability to take care of her, and her heart aches, because she knows Eddie's doing his best. She just wonders if she's a burden for him.

Her throat stings with the threat of oncoming tears, memories of hospital beds and warm hands and her mother's bruised face flooding back in full force. It's only been a month since her mom and dad died and she's starting to think the wound in her chest is one that will never heal. She misses them so much.

Also, there's definitely a reason why they were never at Abuela and Abuelo's house for more than a few hours at a time.

The voices in the distance reach a crescendo, making Francesca glad that Chris decided to sit outside instead of join her in her room. He's such a sweet kid, so empathetic, the sound of everyone arguing would eat him up inside. And he's far too young to be feeling that.

Abuela's voice cuts through the house like a foghorn, "You can barely look after Christopher, what makes you think that you can take care of Francesca too? Her entire life is here, Eddie!"

Everything goes eerily still before Tío Eddie speaks, his voice venomous. "No way. No, I made a promise. I promised Adri that i'd look after her, alright? And i'll be damned if you two take that away from me."

There's an outburst from Abuelo, then footsteps, a door slamming, then... Nothing.

Francesca doesn't know how long she sits there - head between her knees, hands braced over her ears just in case the yelling starts up again. She feels bad, this deep ache right behind her breastbone that refuses to abate, because it's basically her fault that Tío's arguing with his parents. She just wishes her life was normal.

This house, these people... They all keep asking her if she's okay, telling her to keep her head up, coddling her. All she sees is pity in their eyes and their gestures as they remind her over and over again that her parents are fucking dead and there's nothing she can do about it. Everything is reminding her of them and she just wants out.

She feels like a thousand tiny shards of glass all pressed into the shape of a person, like she could fracture and shatter at any moment. One push from breaking at all times.

A warm hand on her shoulder brings her out of her thoughts, followed by Tío Eddie's soft voice saying, "Oh, Mija."

The bed dips and suddenly Francesca is pressed against Eddie's chest, his arms around her warm and strong and safe. The dam breaks and she's crying into the fabric of his shirt, body aching from how tense she'd been holding herself for god-only-knows how long.

Tío Eddie's arms have only ever been a safe place for Francesca - when she was little and scraped her knees running across the cobblestone, when she was thirteen and got broken up with, when she'd been laying curled around her mother's body, sobbing her heart out. He was always there holding her, comforting her, loving her.

Even though everything's terrible and sad right now, she's really glad that Eddie's the one her mom entrusted her to.

"I'm sorry," Tío Eddie whispers, kissing her hair and brushing it out of her eyes. Conflict has always bothered Francesca, and Eddie was usually there to shield her from the worst of it. "I've got you, Mijita."

When the tears have slowed, Francesca gently pulls away from Eddie and looks up at him through her dark, wet lashes. It's clear he's trying to be strong for her, but the tightness at the corners of his eyes and mouth betrays his sadness. Of course he's sad - Adriana Diaz wasn't only Francesca's mom, but she was Eddie's sister, Abuela and Abuelo's daughter. She was loved.

"Ánimo, Mija," Eddie says, his thumb brushing the tears from under her eyes. "You'll be okay."

Francesca sniffled, then asks - because she's nothing if not inherently curious, "What were you fighting about?"

Eddie sighs, his hand still absently soothing over her shoulder. "You know how I trained to be a firefighter?" Francesca nods, he'd been away a lot for a few weeks. Abuela and Abuelo had been insufferable. "I got accepted to a couple of firehouses. The thing is they're in other states - Chicago and LA. My parents... They don't think I can take care of you two. Plus your whole life is here."

"You can." Francesca says immediately, and in her heart she knows it's absolutely true. Her Tío Eddie is one of the best fathers she's ever met, he does everything to make sure Chris - and by extension, her - have a better childhood than he did. "You're a good father, Tío."

"Thank you, Mija." His smile is watery, but the comfort of it wraps around Francesca like a blanket, keeping all of her broken pieces together. "But I don't know, maybe I should wait and see if I get offered a place here. Chris has friends at school and so do you. Both of your lives are here."

Francesca tilts her head. "You'll need to talk to Chris about what he wants, but... El Paso, this place, it all just reminds me of mom and dad," Another sob rattles through her, "I want to stop being reminded of them everywhere I go. I love them, and I'll miss them forever, but it's like rubbing salt in a wound."

"So... You'd want to move?"

"Yeah..." Francesca trails, swallowing around the lump in her throat. "I really would. But not to Chicago, too cold."

Eddie just laughs.

SPANISH TRANSLATIONS

Tío - Uncle

Abuela - Grandma

Abuelo - Grandpa

Mija/Mijita - A contraction of 'Mi' and 'Hija' used by older relatives to refer affectionately to young girls

Ànimo - take heart/stay strong

MOONS' MESSAGE

hii omg welcome to lost and found

this one's been in the works for A While and i'm so excited to finally share my dear francesca with you all

she's a sweetheart, got a lot coming, but she's a sweetheart

stay tuned for more!