Elements of Madness

Aftermath

By the time Luka got home and everything was put away dawn was only a few hours off. He couldn't sleep. He sat up on deck in the pre-dawn gloom. Hazy thoughts scrambled across his mind. The thrills of the evening, the fears of what had almost transpired, the regret that it hadn't.

Hundreds of tiny choices, which ones made different would have been better? His head dipped to his chest and in a brief snatch of slumber he invented one answer. He had let go, the simplest of things to do. The smallest betrayal.

Rejuvenated by this final commitment the evening ended very differently in his dream. For all his lack of knowledge it was shockingly vivid. He gasped into wakefulness with the dawn. He swore he could still smell her in the air.

An arctic cold shower was both penance and an attempt to clear his head. When he made it to the breakfast table Juleka confirmed what he suspected,"You look terrible, what happened?"

Luka just shook his head with a disarming smile,"Jul, I wouldn't know where to begin."

"So you are going out then?" She asked with an apprehensive curiosity.

Luka blew out a long sigh, only partially fueled by his exhaustion,"I highly doubt it at this point."

That seemed to cheer her up, maybe a little more than Luka would have liked,"Probably better."

"Maybe."

----------------------------------------------------

Luka hung around the school entrance even after arriving early. He was hoping the coffee he'd managed to force down this morning would work its magic soon too. The usual suspects made their entrance just like any other day. He spotted Marinette, she had a shy smile for him but for once he couldn't return it with a supportive one of his own. He turned to adjust his backpack as a cover instead.

It wasn't Chloe who eventually came up to him, but Zoe. She glanced around before coming up to him, arms huddled and slight slump to her shoulders. "What happened last night?" She didn't sound angry, but there was a nervous edge coupled with insistence.

The first bell rang and Luka turned to walk with her into the building. He paused to look over his shoulder one more time.

"She's not coming today." Zoe guessed his motive.

They passed into the schoolyard and Luka tried to figure out where to begin,"It's complicated." he said in the understatement of the decade. "She wanted my help with something she had planned."

Zoe flinched,"Lots of stuff is gone. All the drafts for mom's fall lineup. A bunch of Chloe's stuff. She broke into Dad's office, took a bunch of his papers," Zoe hesitated,"And something else important to him."

Luka felt a need to justify himself,"I didn't know what she had planned."

The look Zoe shot at him was hurt, that confused him. "Is she okay?"

Luka wanted to laugh. That was Zoe, he should have known. "I Kinda don't know. The evening ended pretty bad."

She gave him another look with several questions in it, but didn't voice any of them. Luka unslung his pack as they ascended to the second level and pulled out the rescued sneaker, only now thinking to look down and see she had on a new pair. "I managed to save this at the end. She didn't take it well."

They stopped on the landing, Zoe took the shoe in confusion,"Save it?"

Luka bowed his head,"She was burning everything she brought. I didn't stop her until I saw this."

Zoe turned it over in her hands, when she spoke there was actually a hint of anger in her voice,"It's a shoe."

Luka raised his head,"I tried to tell her that. I stopped her." Then he met Zoe's gaze and realized the anger was directed at him.