Sweet As Candy

Chapter III

   As much as he wanted to, he couldn't go out with her, he had too much to do. It hurt to see her frown but he knew that she would soon get over it. L had sent Candy to the park today with Watari today partly because she needed to get out and partly because he needed a break.
   It wasn't that he was annoyed with his little girl, he could never be. She kept in her room and she kept quiet. No, he wasnt annoyed, he was tired and overwhelmed. He needed to be alone for awhile and he couldn't tell Candy that or else she would think he was mad. He just needed to be alone and think; be left to his own devices.
   They had been gone for a few hours, Watari knew how long L needed when he got like this and he also knew Candy would gladly stay out that long by her own curiosity. She definitely was a curious child, always getting into everything and asking questions about all the things around her. Not to mention she asbored information like a sponge. She looked to the world with pure wonder, something nether L nor Watari had seen in a very long time.
   L looked up from his coffee when the front door opened and in came Candy running over to him. She was filthy: her socks torn, her shoes muddy and her jacket was ripped.

  "My goodness child, what-" he cut off by the eight year old holding up a white cat with dirty, madded fur and missing an ear.

  "Daddy look! I found her all alone in a trash can! Can we keep her please?" She was pulling the puppy dog eyes trick again.

  "Candy, we don't where this cat came from or what diseases it has and it's missing an ear, do you know the vet bills-" he was cut off once more.

  "But she's all alone! She doesn't have anybody and she never asked to be this way, she never asked to be left alone on the streets." Her eyes began to water as she held the cat close to her and turned away from him.

  L sighed softly, he could see that the cat ment a lot to Candy not only because she had a big heart but because she related to the cat; their situations of being abandoned and left to die on the streets where similar. He knelt down to her level and turned her toward him again.

  "Alright, you may keep her," she grinned widely, "but she is your responsibility. You must bath her, feed her, brush her and change her litter box, understand?"

  The little girl nodded and started toward the bathroom to wash the cat but she was stopped when L grabbed her shoulder gently and pulled her back.

  "I'm not finished. If you can not take care of this cat, we give her to a shelter where someone who can will and there will be no negotiating this. This is a living creature, not a toy. Do you understand me, Candy?"

  She nodded, "Yes, daddy."

  He nodded and stood, "Good, now go clean up, we'll take her to the vet tomorrow."

  Candy ran off to the bathroom and turned the on the faucet, checking the water to make sure it wasn't too hot or too cold. She did listen to her father, she knew that this was a big responsibility and she was fully ready to take on the task of rasing the cat. She set her down in the tub before grabbing the shampoo from the ledge of the tub. The cat sat still in the tub, too scared of the water to do anything as the little girl went to wash the cat in her shampoo but was stopped by Watari handing her a bottle of Dawn.

  "Never use human shampoo, it is too harsh for the cats skin." He spoke softly and she nodded, putting the shampoo down and taking the Dawn as he left.

   She then began to wash the cat in dish soap and did her best to dry the poor thing in a fluffy towel. She came out damp, which Candy supposed wasn't a bad thing and she couldn't get her much dryer without using a blow dryer. Setting the cat down on the ground she began to clean the water on the floor and drain the tub. She was definitely cleaner, her fur was like freshly fallen snow or pure sugar.

  "You're name will be Sugar." She said proudly as Sugar simply absorbed her surroundings. She giggled and looked down at herself, frowning. She had drained the tub too soon.