Through the Years

Chapter Four

"Cyborg, that's her," I cut him off. "That's Azura."

I couldn't stop staring at the large screen in front of me. My daughter was in the middle of a large crowd walking down a sidewalk, clad in a dark blue sweatshirt and black skinny jeans. Her hair was down from its usual bun or ponytail, which was strange. What worried me more was the expressionless look on her pale face. Her violet eyes looked empty and her lips formed a small straight line. I couldn't tell if she was in trouble or not. Did she really leave the house on her own account? Did someone lure her into the city? I glanced around the screen for any clues as to where she was going or who she was with, but she didn't seem to be with anyone. The only clue that this picture had given us was that Azura was somewhere downtown. At least it was something.

"You want me to call the others?" Cyborg had asked, but I wasn't paying attention. All I could think about was the last real one on one conversation I had with my daughter. It had been raining the day my daughter came to speak to me a little over a week ago. I had been reading while Gar was out with Esmeralda. I could hear the faint sound of Asher's guitar as I scanned the dusty pages of my book. I sensed that Azura was distraught as I looked up at her when she entered my room. I knew this talk must have been about something important to her, usually Asher acts as Azura's personal therapist; she only comes to me whenever Asher and herself were completely out of ideas. Yes, dear old mom has always been the last resort.

"Mom?" Azura murmured as she sat down on the edge of my bed, refusing to look me in the eye.

"What's troubling you, Azura?" Honestly, what could have caused my daughter so much stress?

"Well, you know Kelsey's brother Shane?"

"Of course." I answered. Oh yes, I knew Shane. Kelsey and Shane Richardson lived right down the road from us. Kelsey was fifteen like the twins while her older brother Shane was sixteen. The Richardson family was full of good people; Gar and I had known them since we had first moved into the neighborhood. Kelsey and Azura seemed to have an unbreakable bond since they were three. Asher was jealous of Kelsey at first, he was Azura's best friend first of course. He warmed up to her eventually and only found her slightly annoying by the time they were all twelve. The four of them hung out almost every day growing up. As they got older I noticed that Shane was going through somewhat of a rebellious phase and never really came around anymore. Kelsey brought her daily visits down to at least weekly visits, which worked for Azura. They were all hanging out with different people now, but their friendship was still remarkably strong whenever I did see all four of the kids together again.

"Well I've liked him for some time now." Azura admitted. I already knew. I thought of the boy with shaggy blonde hair and green eyes, usually clad in all black. He was her type after all. I didn't know if she told me this just to tell someone or because she honestly thought I was clueless.

"Really?" I said sarcastically, slightly offended.

"I know you know." She said quickly. "It's just that, when I was at Kelsey's today he called me a freak."

I'll admit, I was ready to go handle that boy myself, knowing that Gar would gladly help if it meant protecting Azura. I had always liked that the Richardson family never judged us, and always treated like we were just a normal family. Shane had always been such a nice boy. What had changed?

"Why would he say such a thing?" I asked, trying my hardest to stay calm and not blow up anything.

"Well," Azura started. "I've been having problems meditating lately." I took a deep breath and continued listening, not realizing at the time that maybe this would have something to do with my daughter's disappearance only days later. "I've just been feeling really strong emotions towards Shane lately, Mom. Every time he's around something goes wrong. Today I accidentally blew up his skateboard when he brushed past me. He was really mad, I've never seen him that angry with anyone. I just hate my powers, I hate that I can't be normal." Tears were threatening to fall from Azura's eyes as she looked up at me. "I couldn't tell Asher all this, he'd never be able to help." I had always noticed that for whatever reason, Azura had always had more problems with her powers than her twin.