When darkness turns to light *EDITED*

Chapter 10

Shadow paced up and down his office while Espee sat nervously on the sofa by the large window overlooking their group's camp. He sighed heavily and pulled at his silver and blue hair roughly, "Why hasn't anything been heard yet? What is she doing?" He muttered, panicking slightly. He had no idea what his brother was doing to his friend at this very moment. Espee rose to her feet and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure Cosmi is trying her hardest to get through to Flaro's mind."
"She should have by now!" Shadow yelped.
Espee cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her right in the eyes, "It's the Dark Region. What would you expect? Slash is the King of Darkness, not an idiot, he will have obviously built some sort of barrier to stop us from reading their thoughts if they plan to attack us or anyone else."
Shadow let his ridged shoulders slump in defeat when he realised his wife was right. Espee noticed his blue eyes fogging over with sadness and hugged him tightly, "I'm sure she's alright. She can take care of herself. You know her, she'd burn all his hair off before letting him touch her."
This statement caused Shadow to chuckle softly, "Yes I suppose. But I still worry."
"I know Darling. We just have to trust her. I know she is alright." She whispered softly before the door of Shadow's office swung open, revealing an extremely out of breath Cosmi. The pair stared at her hopefully but sunk onto the sofa in defeat when she sadly shook her head, "I tried everything. I can't get to her no matter how much energy I put into it. She's out of my reach. I'm so sorry." Her voice shrinking as she spoke, her own despair sinking through from losing her friend. The room fell into a mornful silence, not knowing whether Flaro was alive or dead. Shadow lifted his head to look out of the window to see a distraught Polka sitting in the grass, hugging his knees to his chest, curling up into a small ball. He had been abnormally quiet since his sister was taken from him. He hadn't said a word to anyone at all for the passed few weeks, and had stopped eating for long periods of time. Shadow closed his eyes tightly, cursing his brother in his head for taking away the young boy's sister, protector, and best friend. Cosmi must have heard his thoughts because she looked shocked at first to hear him curse but nodded in agreement none the less.
Shadow stood and walked slowly out into the dull atmosphere outside and sat quietly beside Polka, who had his chin rested on his knees and was staring in front of him at nothing. Shadow sighed, "Polka, everyone is worried about you. Just come and eat something. Please?" He asked softly.
Polka remained still and mute, as he had for the passed few weeks. His face held no emotion but his eyes betrayed his blank expression with big tears welling in them. Shadow scooped the small boy into his arms, noticing his was getting alarmingly light, and walked back inside. He sat him on one of the kitchen table seats and looked around before finding Polka's favourite candy and placed it in front of him. But he still showed no sign of movement. Shadow took the seat in front of him and met his teary eyes, "I know you miss her. We all do, but I'm certain that she would hate to see her brother like this. What would she say if she knew you weren't eating, or talking, or even playing with the other children anymore. You've been locking yourself away and pushing everyone away from you. It's not healthy for you Polka. We're here if you need to talk to anyone. All of us are here for you. We're family now. Aren't we?"
Polka stared at Shadow for a few seconds before everyone else entered the kitchen and stood around him, all with the same sympathetic and comforting expression. Then to everyone's relief, he sprang forward and hugged Shadow tightly, yelling at the top of his little lungs, "I MISS MY SISTER! I WANT MY SISTER BACK!" He weeped desperatly. Shadow hugged him in return while Espee did the same, whispering sweet and calming words to the heartbroken boy as he continued to cry for his sister, everyone's hearts ached at the sight of him.

By the time the sun had disappeared below the horizon, Polka had cried himself to sleep, still cradled in Shadow's arms. He stood slowly as to not wake him and smiled at his own son who was sleeping on the couch, tired out from showing the rare soft side of him and trying to comfort his best friend. Shadow then turned back to carrying Polka to the spare room he was staying in as Thorn was away on business. He'd be staying with Shadow until they had found a way to bring Flaro back without risking innocent lives. Shadow stiffend when Polka twitched slightly, but thankfully didn't wake up. Shadow finally came to the spare room's door and opened it smoothly, pulling the blankets back on the bed and settling the boy's small and fragile frame down before pulling the blankets up to keep him warm. He then sighed when he thought back to when he and Flaro had to stay in Shadow's house until they had a hut of their own. She would sing to Polka the very same lullaby every night while he would hold her hand tightly and fall asleep with a small content smile of his face. The chorus always was his favourite part. It made him feel safe to be with his sister, like nothing would hurt him when she was with him. Now it was gone. Shadow patted the boy's hair softly in sympathy before walking glumly out of the room to retrieve his own sleeping child from the living room, closing the door softly behind him as he left the room.

A/N: hope you liked this chapter and sorry if it was a little too down.