When they were thirteen, Pietro did leave.

"But where would he have gone!?" Wanda demanded. She and Zrinka and Maria had been the first to realize he'd gone, and the three met in an empty classroom to shout at each other.

"Let's think through it methodically," Maria suggested, attempting to cool the air. Naturally, as the second oldest, she had become their leader when Milla moved out.

"He didn't mention anything to you!?" Wanda shouted, turning on Zrinka as she paced the lanes between desks.

"No! I told you already!" Zrinka defended. "He just... Well, he was acting weird last night. I should've... I should've seen it."

"Weird how?" Maria questioned.

"Just... It's nothing. Really."

As Wanda scoffed and continued fidgeting, Zrinka got lost in her memory. That night, she had walked with Pietro around the block after dinner at his request. He had been particularly antsy, Zrinka identified looking back.

"Slow down!" she had giggled, trying to keep up.

"Speed up," Pietro had retorted effortlessly.

"I can't talk if I'm running." Zrinka slowed, forcing Pietro to do the same. "Why did you want to walk anyway? Sorry, I mean run."

Pietro laughed again and shrugged, a mischievous grin in his eye. In the moment, Zrinka's heart had fluttered, but evidently not for the reason it should have.

They reached the orphanage door and entered. They creaked up the stairs. At the top of the landing, Pietro had gotten that grin again before growing suddenly serious.

"What?" Zrinka questioned, a mix of adventurousness and apprehension.

Pietro shook his head as if he didn't know himself.

"I'll see you," he said.

"Okay," Zrinka said breathily.

"Soon."

"Okay." This time amused.

"Bye."

"Goodnight."

In the room with Maria and Wanda, Zrinka cleared her throat and shared, "He told me he would see me soon and then said bye. After we... just, we walked." She was embarrassed as usual to admit to fraternizing with the enemy that he'd become in recent years as he diverged from Wanda and began to earn his reputation.

"So-" Wanda began, then frowned and rethought. "He said bye to you and not me?"

"Sorry," Zrinka said quietly.

"In her defense, Wanda, you haven't been the warmest towards him lately," Maria reminded.

"Because he's gone crazy! Flirting with all the girls, zoning out in class but then running around like a fool every other second, going out into the city alone, staying out late, and now he-!"

"I know," Maria comforted. "He's always come back."

"What if he doesn't this time?" Wanda cried "What if... what if I pushed him away?"

"No," the other girls chorused.

Again, Zrinka lost herself in her thoughts, this time wondering why he did leave, and of course where he went. Where would he go? "What if Milla saw him?" she hypothesizes.

"Milla? Would he go there?" Maria wondered, rising in the excitement of a potential lead.

"We can check. We haven't visited her yet anyway. We should." Wanda nodded, also lighting up at their brilliant idea- otherwise known as their first idea.

The three packed all of their clothes, only enough for a few days before washing anyway, and some of their other things in their orphanage-issued bookbags, preparing to question the older girl about their missing friend and potentially stay with her for some time. In the end, they didn't go back to Novi Grad Orphan. When Pietro showed up days later, Mr. O'Reilly informed him that they had disappeared as he had, and he deduced their location, soon showing up at the address Milla had made them all memorize.

He showed up prepared for a beating, but instead earned an embrace from all of them. Until Wanda gave him that beating.