Colorful Sadness: A Zane~Chan Soulmate AU

Chapter Sixteen

Nana's POV:

A couple days later, Zane and Zianna escorted me out of the hospital, my wrists still wrapped in bandages. They were supposed to stay on for another day, then I'd just have to apply some ointment to it for a week. After that, it should be back to normal, just pale scars left after.

My days in the hospital were filled with visits from the Ro'Meaves and my new friend, Aphmau. We had become friends on my first day at school, even though we hadn't talked much since then. She even brought in her own friends for me to meet.

I met her boyfriend, Aaron, and her two other friends, Katelyn and Lucinda. The boys were called Travis, Dante, and Laurence. They were all really good friends, even though Zane didn't seem too fond of any of them. They were all super surprised to find out that the two of us were soulmates, even asking us to prove it.

I walked out to the car, my fingers intertwining with Zane's. We were going to the courthouse to talk about getting me a different home, preferably with the Ro'Meaves. That wouldn't be too hard, because of The Soulmate Act of 1860. It stated that, should it be necessary, a person's soulmate would be the first option, if the person needed a new home at a young age.

"Are you two okay back there?" Zianna asked us. Zane and I were sitting in the back of the car, our hands folded together. I couldn't speak for Zane, but I was almost too scared to let it go.

"Mhm," I hummed, staring out the front window. I heard a soft voice begin a small song behind me. I turned around and saw Zane staring out of his window, humming a small tune that I recognized: Kiss From a Rose.

I leaned onto his shoulder, quietly singing the lyrics. "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey~" I sang out, closing my eyes.

"Ooh, the more I get to know you, the stranger it feels, yeah~" I heard rumbling from the body I was lying on. I looked up and saw Zane smiling down at me, his eye crinkling in happiness. He pulled down his mask and we began to sing together.

"And now that your rose is in bloom~ A light hits the gloom~ On the grey~" we sang out, snuggling closer to each other with every word. He smelled like cinnamon cupcakes for some reason, and he had the voice of an angel.

"I love that song," I whispered, closing my eyes again.

"Me, too," he whispered back, setting his head on top of mine.

"We're here," Zianna said from the front. I cracked my eyes open slightly, a soft smile on my face. I felt the car park as I sat up, readying my crutches.

"We'll be stopping here for a couple of hours before we go to the courthouse," Zianna said, turning around and unbuckling herself. I nodded and slid out of the car, swinging up to the house on my crutches. I could not wait for that thing to come off.

I swung up to Zane's room, telling Zianna that I was gonna take a small nap before we headed out. Swinging into the room, my jaw dropped at what I saw. The walls had pink stripes painted on them and they now had some posters of things I liked on them. Zane's bed had new covers, pink stripes going down the black ones. It looked like they had prepared the room specifically for me and Zane.

"Do you like it?" I heard Zane say from the doorway. I turned around, happy tears falling down my face. He hugged me, enveloping me in warmth. I never wanted to leave his embrace.

Zane's POV:

Two hours later, we all hopped back into the car, driving towards the local courthouse. I could tell that Nana was really nervous. She kept wiping her hands on her jeans and looking out the window. I guess I would be nervous, too, if I was trying to get away from someone who had abused me my whole life.

I quickly took out a blue marker, drawing designs onto my arms. She had helped me open up so much, I wasn't even wearing my hoodie. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at the swirls appearing onto her own arms. She touched one of them, her eyes sweeping over the intricate, blue designs.

"You're a really good artist," she mumbled, tracing the swirls.

I shrugged, continuing my designs. "Not really, it took me a while to perfect this,"

"It's still beautiful," she breathed, pulling out her own pink marker. She began to draw hearts between the lines I had drawn, making it look like a work of art.

After a few minutes of this, I felt the car park and looked up. We were finally at the courthouse. I climbed out, walking up the stairs with Nana and Mom. We walked in and met up with the receptionist. He was a man that I could only describe as crisp. His shirt and tie were ironed and his hair was slicked back. He had a pair of glasses that were crystal clear, something that was hard to do all day. Like I said, crisp.

"How may I help you?" he asked, his voice firm. Dear Irene, he even sounded crisp!

"We're under Ro'Meave with my lawyer, Ms. Omet," Mom said, pointing at a clipboard on the desk he was sitting at. He glanced at it, then nodded, pointing up the stairs.

"Go left, first door," he stated, pointing up the stairs. We thanked him and walked up the stairs, taking a little longer than what was normal, because of Nana's hurt foot.

"Hello, Mrs. Ro'Meave," Mom's lawyer said as we stepped inside. She wasn't nearly as crisp as the receptionist downstairs, but she was put together. Her brown hair was put up into a bun and her green eyes sparkled with delight at the sight of us. She wore a white dress shirt and had a blue tie that had galaxy designs on it, but they weren't perfectly ironed. She looked approachable.

"What can I do for you?" she asked, placing her head in her hand and gesturing for us to sit.

"We wish to implement The Soulmate Act of 1860, Ms. Omet," Mom stated, sitting down in one of the three chairs.

Ms. Omet's face fell slightly as she looked at me and Nana, then at our arms. "On what grounds?" she asked, turning to take out some papers from her desk.

"On the grounds that she was being abused by her mother," Mom stated, taking in a deep breath at the mention of Mrs. Ishida. I glanced over at Nana and saw that she was trying not to cry. She was shaking from the effort.

"Have parental rights been terminated?" Ms. Omet asked, her pen hovering over her paper.

"No," was all Mom said, sighing when she realized that this would take a lot longer than we all thought.

"Well, that will have to be taken care of first," Ms. Omet said, her face contorting into a look of pity.

Mom sighed deeply, burying her head into her hands. "This is gonna take a lot longer than we thought," she muttered, rising up from her position. "How can we gat Mrs. Ishida's parental rights terminated?"

"Well," Ms. Omet started, "you'll have to state that you'd like to, then file a termination paper. A court date will be set up and you will have to win," She began rifling through her draw, trying to find the correct papers.

She brought them out, then pushed them and a pen towards Mom. "Sign the bottom and we'll contact Mrs. Ishida about the court date. We'll meet up and discuss what we can do to terminate her parental rights," she said sadly, pointing to the bottom of the page.

Mom sighed and took the pen, signing the bottom. Looks like this was gonna be harder than we thought it would be.

A/N: Fun fact: my little sister actually came from an abusive home before we adopted her and it took two years for her parents' parental rights to be terminated. She's now a very happy four year old in the family that calls me Sibby! Anyway, until next chapter! Bye~