The Sun Burns Brightly With My Love For You

Chapter 17: Isabella Douner

Trigger Warning/Author's Note: Mentioned death, slight argument between the girls, Hurt/Comfort, and then hurt again, obsession, Isabella's in denial at the end, the Baranovs are emotionally constipated, the kids have some of Charles's possessive/obsessive personality, however not to the degree he does and they express it differently, tbf like, half of the extended Douner family are... not necessarily crazy, but not all there either, Charles and Nikolai are being passive aggressive to each other off screen.

Isabella knew that Anastasia wouldn't mind, it wasn't like Isabella's room was filthy, or even unorganized, but she still felt like she should clean anyways. This was the first hangover at her house, before it was either the public library, (with her father as a chaperon, as per his overprotectiveness) or at Anastasia's house, so her room had to look spotless.

Isabella was checking to see if there was any remaining dust on her bedframe when she heard her father call her name from downstairs.

"Yes!" She shouted back before running down the stairs and to the door where Anastasia stood with her dad; Anastasia gave a small yet polite wave as a greeting.

"May we come in?" Mr. Baranov asked Isabella's father.

"It would be a pleasure." Was all he said back.

Both the girls could sense something going on between the two fathers, it was something complex, multilayered. There was the base layer, a weird layer of tension, as if they both knew, or had an inkling of something that the teens didn't know, however, what that thing was, or whether or not it was bad or not, was yet to be revealed to them.

The second layer was also one of tension, however, it was different then the other, it was mixed with this strange competitiveness and, something else...

Anastasia took off her shoes and set them neatly on the shoe rack by the door. She then thanked Isabella's father for the hospitality before taking Isabella's hand and immediately ran off to Isabella's room.

Once there she did a thorough sweep of Isabella's room before declaring, " It's nice that we get to hang out like this, don't get me wrong, I love the boys, but sometimes a girl just needs some one on one time with her girlfriend, ya know what I mean? Oh, and your room looks nice... I didn't take you for the type of girl to like Hello Kitty." Her voice teased at the end when she saw the small Hello Kitty plush on the bed.

Isabella let out a small, but genuine chuckle, "Yeah, apparently I had a pretty big Hello Kitty phase up until I was 5. After that was Avatar and Teen Titans, the '03 version, and then other shows. My Mom got me that plush for my second birthday and I've sort of kept it around ever since. I never really got to know my Mom, because she died when I was so young, but that plush was one of the few things that she got specifically for me that I still have and... I don't have the heart to throw it away..." Isabella became saddened at the end and let her voice trail off.

"I could tell it's old due to how worn and well loved it is. And I..." Her face scrunched in concentration at what her next words would be, "...my Father will make sure to bring justice to your mother and anyone else who either suffered at the hands of the Harbinger or has suffered because of him, so you shouldn't be sad for much longer."

Isabella smiled softly at Anastasia's attempt to comfort her. She knew Anastasia preferred logic, reason, and rationality over thinking with one's emotions. She claimed that using mainly your emotions caused unnecessary drama and made mistakes, lapses in judgement, and crimes of passion/in the heat of the moment much more common.

Anastasia was like her father, Detective Nikolai Baranov, in this regard. However, also like her father, she was calculated and rational, not a heartless monster. She didn't enjoy seeing those she cared about in pain, whether it be physically or emotionally, and she could emphasize with other people she didn't know.

"Thanks, Anastasia."

"..."

"Speaking of Avatar and Teen Titans, my favorite characters were Ty Lee, Sokka, Katara, Aang, Star Fire, and Beast Boy, what about you?"

"Raven, Robin, Toph, Zuko, and Mai." Anastasia said, looking less uncomfortable and unsure now that the topic was changed to something else.

"Oh, I forgot, can I do your hair?" Anastasia asked.

"Sure?" Isabella replied, puzzled, as the two girls went into the bathroom that was attached to her room.

"What hairstyle do you want?"

"Maybe a simple braid." Isabella responded, finally realizing what Anastasia actually wanted.

Halfway through the braid Anastasia spoke.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

"I want you to watch your father closely, and look through his things or where he's been for anything suspicious. I want you to be thorough too; as thorough as possible. I would prefer if you did this for the next year, however, we can settle for 6 months if you truly have an aversion to this. However, I might also add that this is a very important and urgent matter." Anastasia said, unknowingly and effortlessly switching into the same formal tone her father had when dealing with most people.

Isabella froze in shock and indignation. "Are you really accusing my father of being the despicable creature that calls themselves the Harbinger? The same miserable wrench who killed over 70 people, including my own mother. And you really want me to trespass on my own father's privacy, for an whole entire year and spy on him, effectively betraying his trust?!"

"I don't want to hear about how much you care about your father's privacy when you've openly admitted to breaking the privacy of those closest to you. All I'm saying is that Father has reasons for putting your father on his lists of suspects. And just because he's on the list doesn't mean he's automatically guilty. If you truly thought your father was without a shadow of a doubt you wouldn't have a problem seeing as it would be an easy way to prove his innocence."

Isabella frowned. She never broke any of her family members' or friends' privacy. She was merely observant. Very observant. It was one of the few things that she shared in common with Anastasia and one of the many things that helped them become such good friends, another being Anastasia's rather introverted nature and rational thinking that complimented Isabella's extroverted nature and tendency to base her actions on her emotions.

She didn't stalk people, or purposely rummage through their things, it's just when she liked someone, she wanted to know everything she could about them, and then some. She wasn't some creeper, or, at least she wouldn't think of it that way, it's just that whenever someone told her they liked or didn't like something, she'd burn that piece of information into her brain, and she'd watch them to learn all their little quarks, like when they usually went to sleep/woke up, or which hand they used to write with or how Lyde had a tendency to rip his nails off when he was bored, or how Ezekiel tended to eat whenever he was bored, regardless of whether or not he was actually hungry or not.

The point was, Isabella wasn't some stalker, she didn't rummage through other's things, and she certainly didn't invade people's privacy. She was observant. Very, extremely, overly, observant, yes, but observant nonetheless.

But, if she could prove to Anastasia her father's innocence, and that there really isn't anything to worry about then they could leave this whole unnecessary drama can be left behind and they can go back to figuring out who the Harbinger was without needlessly blaming each other's parents.

"I'll do it. For 3 months, and if I find nothing, then you'll drop it. But, how did you find out that your father suspected mine?"

"Fine. I'll accept that. And I've learned from the best. Now, your hair's done." She replied showing the hair to Isabella.

1288 words.