Dedicated to Prisim for fixing the cover <3 

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Chapter 3 - Return

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They didn't find the girl at the playground. 

She wasn't at the arcade, and when they checked the community hall no one had ever seen someone matching her description. The missing persons boards weren't any more informative either. After searching countless other places--the courts, the outskirts of the business sector and the other rundown, urban playgrounds that were actually the shells of older buildings some kids liked to inhabit--Zoe finally convinced Raph to look past the boundaries his mum had set and they ventured into previously undiscovered neighbourhoods together. 

Raph and Zoe roamed the streets until the sun dipped dangerously close to the horizon. Neither of them were keen for a repeat of last night, daring the dark and the monsters that lurked within it for a few extra minutes of freedom. They were home long before the street lights flickered on.

Raph stumbled through the door, pushing Zoe out of the way to ensure he was the first one to make it inside.

He spun around, triumphant. "Ha! Told you I'd win. You're not faster than me!" 

"You pushed me out of the way!" said Zoe, glaring at him. "Like, six times, too!"

"All's fair in love and war," said Raph, trying to sound like he was certain of the saying his mum gave them when Zoe or him came crying about the other one.

"Well this isn't war," said Zoe, ditching her jacket. "So do you love me then?" 

Raph wrinkled his nose. "I have to. You're my sister."

Zoe pranced over to where Raph was examining the fridge and wrapped her arms around him. 

"Yup," she said. "And don't you forget it!" 

Raph attempted to get her off before the next bit came, but as usual, Zoe managed to plant a kiss in the middle of his cheek before she released him. With a laugh, she skipped off to the other side of the table and out of range of retaliation. 

Raph snatched the teatowel and made a show of wiping his cheek. "You're disgusting." 

That only made her laugh harder. 

His cheek purged of Zoe's taint, Raph inspected the notepad on the bench. 

It wasn't anything fancy like some of the other kids at school had, but it worked well enough. Just a small, rectangular screen that attached to whatever surface you needed it to and was nearly unbreakable. His mum could send messages from her phone to the pad with instructions for dinner or whatever else she needed to tell them. 

Usually she included a quick video of herself with the actual note, always ending it by blowing a kiss to the camera. This time, the note was alone. 

She must be busy at work, thought Raph, flicking the message open. 

Working late, it said. Reheat the mince and cook the pasta. Not the whole bag like last time or you're eating it for the rest of the week. Careful of hot metal. Love you. 

"Love you too, mum," mumbled Raph, closing the message and setting the pad back down. 

"She working again?" asked Zoe, kicking the table legs from her seat. 

"Mmhmm." Raph moved over to the cupboard, locating the appropriate pasta-cooking equipment. "Mince again for dinner." 

Zoe sighed, flopping on the table. "Really? We've had that the last two nights!" 

"We kinda did lose the other food, Zo." Raph chewed the inside of his cheek, water filling the pan. "And the card with the colour on it. It's probably why she's working late now." 

Zoe remained silent after that, eventually moving over to help him maintain the pasta. It didn't take long, and soon enough they had two plates of leftover mince and pasta steaming on the table with enough left for mum when she got home. 

Eventually. 

Zoe slid into her seat and stabbed the food with a fork as Raph rummaged through the spice rack, trying to remember which ones went with pasta. He managed to narrow it down to a selection of three. 

He frowned, rolling the small glass containers around in his fingers. Was it the maroon and the grey, or the navy one and maroon? 

Inspiration struck. Raph turned and looked to Zoe. "Hey, Zo, want some seasoning with that?" 

She didn't look up, continuing to mix her food together and sprinkle cheese through it. "I'd rather not have you poison me, Raph." 

Damn.

Deciding she probably had the right idea, Raph returned the containers and reached for the cheese. 

They were halfway through their plates, stopping only to throw stray pieces of pasta at each other on fork catapaults when there was a knock on the door. 

Zoe brightened immediately, shoving her chair back and racing towards the sound. 

"She's home!" 

Raph paused, something not quite right. Why would she be knocking? "Zo, wai--"

Zoe's hand was already on the pad, the light flashing green as it unlocked. The panel slid into the wall, and as dreaded, his mum was nowhere to be seen over Zoe's head. 

Zoe's hand was frozen against the wall, slowly sliding down. Raph couldn't see her face or the person who'd knocked, but his stomach was sinking into his feet as he tentatively walked over. 

"Hi," said Zoe. "We were looking for you today, y'no."

It can't be.

"I thought so," said a young female voice. 

Raph edged around, managing to get a glimpse of the figure at their door. Sure enough, the girl from they alley was there, cloak and all. 

Her cowl was down around her shoulders, revealing short, dark hair that hovered just above her shoulders. The grey fabric hid most of what she wore, but from Raph gathered it was dark and covered most of her skin, that of which was somehow paler than Zoe's. Even in the light of the hallway, the girl made him just as nervous as she had the first time. 

Raph found his voice. "How did you find us?" 

Clear grey eyes settled on him. "I followed you. I hope--"

"You followed us?" said Raph, moving closer to the door. "What, stalking us, or--"

"I saw you when you were out today, genius," she said, looking less than impressed. "And I figured you might want these back."

Raph's eyes followed her pointing finger to the two bags resting on the floor beside her, still as full as they had been when they'd been left behind.

"Oh."

Zoe smirked and folded her arms. "Anything to say to her, Raphael Dukehart?" 

"Thank you." The words came out through pressed teeth. "How about you, Zoe Cirelei?" 

Zoe bounced around. "Thank you for returning our things...what's your name?" 

The girl blinked. "Athira. Everything's in there except, well, the bars, but I figured that'd be okay--"

Zoe clasped her hands together. "Thank you, Athira! You saved us--well, Raph--a lot of trouble later."

"Hey! You lost them too!" 

"But you were in charge, as you kept telling me."

"You still lost them because you wanted to look for birds!" 

Athira stood at the door, eyes flicking back between them as Raph defended his honour. It wasn't his fault, dammit! He'd wanted to leave earlier, but Zoe hadn't wanted to because she had one more game of gooby smacker to play to get that high score...

"You two aren't brother and sister?" asked Athira. "I just sorta assumed you were, but..."

"She's adopted," mumbled Raph, suddenly glad for the fact. "So no, she's not really my sister." 

Zoe giggled. She leaned closer to Athira and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, "he's just saying that 'cos he's mad. He loves me, really." 

"Really don't," said Raph, turning away and walking back to his dinner. 

He blocked out anything else Zoe said, focusing his gaze on his pasta and the way it curled around, taking some of the mince with it. He stabbed it with his fork and chewed it thoroughly, making sure he had enough left to keep him excusably distracted until the girl left. 

So it was a surprise to him when he heard the door close and found Athira following Zoe inside with the bags, looking slightly uncertain of herself. 

"Wait, why's she inside?" said Raph. "She returned the bags and she can go away now." 

"Don't be a jerk," said Zoe, leading Athira to a seat beside hers and skipping to the stove where the remaining pasta sat. "How much do you want, Athira?" 

"Are you serious, Zoe?" 

"Uh, just a little, please--"

"A whole plate it is then!" 

“Zoe, you have no idea who she is!” said Raph. “She could be anyone for all you know!” 

Zoe ignored him, placing the full plate in front of Athira. “I know that she got us out of a bad situation and returned our stuff, including the Saver and the colour card, and you’re acting like she was the one trying to take them away, Raph.” 

Raph couldn’t stop her as she returned to her seat and picked up her fork, going back to her meal like nothing was out of the ordinary. Zoe engaged Athira in casual conversation, asking how her day had been, what she’d got up to--all normal kinds of questions. Not once did she ask how she fought off three men without an effort, what that tendril was or any of the other questions burning Raph’s tongue, and if he tried to interject, Zoe kicked him under the table and kept on like he hadn’t spoken. 

Girls, thought Raph, ignoring the throbbing in his shin. 

He finished his food quickly and left them at the table, hoping the girl would slap Zoe or something so he could say he’d told her so. It’d serve her right, ignoring him. Pretending like that girl was normal. 

The bags Athira had returned caught his eye. True to her word, everything except the bars was in there. Raph resisted the urge to kiss the colour card as he placed it on the bench beside the pad, took the Saver and disappeared into his room. 

Zoe and her new friend can put the other stuff away.

Raph sat down on his bed, examining the polished grey exterior of the Saver that was four times the size of his fist. 

He’d had the idea a few weeks back. With him and Zoe coming into colour maturity, why couldn’t they start storing some colour now? They had two years before their tests, two long years where they could be saving colour that would eventually move them to a better part of the city. Hell, Zoe’s colour was already showing. In theory, they could start saving tonight. 

Shouldn’t take too long to store up some. We can give it to mum for her birthday or something.

There didn’t seem to be anything difficult about the Saver. Raph knew it was more or less a battery that could hibernate raw colour energy for later use. This brand was supposed to be the same the Elites used, just more compact. 

Raph pressed the notch on the side and the Saver split open, revealing the panel you were supposed to press your fingers to and a small screen the width of his finger above it. 

He decided to see if his colour had matured enough for the Saver to recognise and touched the panel. The grey-black surface turned a pale shade of red under his fingertips. The screen flashed white once, twice, three times, before finally reverting back to the previous black with the words ‘Insufficient Colour Registered’ scrolling across. 

Damn. 

The sound of the door opening attracted Raph’s attention. He placed the Saver on his bedside table and ran out of the room, swinging himself on the door frame so he didn’t crash into the wall as he headed towards the kitchen. 

A woman with long, brown hair pulled into a ponytail leant over the table, blocking Athira from view. She had a hand draped over Zoe’s back as mumbled conversation passed between them.

Raph’s heart soared. “Mum!” 

She turned around, a smile growing on her face as Raph ran up and hugged her around the waist. 

“Hey, honey,” his mum said, taking her arm off Zoe’s back to pull Raph closer to her. “Sorry I was late, work offered me a few extra hours. I’ve just been talking to your new friend, Athira, isn’t it?” 

Raph peered around his mum’s side, narrowing his eyes at Athira as she nodded her head. Her plate was empty in front of her. 

“Yea, well, she was just leaving anyway,” said Raph. 

“What is your prob--” began Zoe.

His mum raised an eyebrow. “I don’t mind if she stays, Raph. Assuming it’s okay with her parents, of course.”

She looked to Athira, who was suddenly uncomfortable. 

“Um,” Athira said, fidgeting with the edge of her cloak. “They’re...well. Um, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

Raph’s mum frowned but didn’t push the issue. “Okay then.” She leant down and gave Raph and Zoe each a kiss on the forehead. “I’m just going to get out of my work things and into my PJs, and then how about we finish that game of Rainbows we started last night, hmm?” 

Zoe clapped her hands together. “Yes! And Athira can play, too!” 

“Um, actually...” Athira stood from her seat, stepping towards the door. “I should probably go. I only came to give the bags back, and I don’t really want to hang around where I’m not...”

She trailed off, glancing at Raph before dropping her eyes to the ground. 

“Are you sure?” said Zoe, looking disappointed. 

Athira just nodded and stood by the door, waiting for someone to let her out. 

Raph was more than happy to comply, racing over and pressing is palm to the pad, never happier to hear the whisper of the door panel as it disappeared into the wall. 

“Thanks for bringing back our stuff,” he said quickly. “Appreciated and all.” 

Athira swept through the door with a backwards glance. Her lips tightened at the corner for the briefest moment as her eyes locked on his, a flash of accepted rejection lighting their surface for the briefest of moments before she turned away.

Raph watched her as she moved down the corridor in silence until she rounded the corner. 

There was something heavy weighing down his steps as the door shut behind him and he returned to his room. He laid down across his covers, staring at the Saver that wouldn’t yet accept his colour, trying to work out why there was suddenly a pit of guilt yelling at him for being a jerk. 

*+*+*+*

A/N - GOD DAMMIT I LOVE WRITING ZOE AND RAPH TOGETHER. Kinda interested to see how Athira's going to change the mix =o This felt longer than 2.4k words when I was writing it, dammit. 

The cover is also like, 10 times better. I love you, Bunny <3