A Collection of Short Stories

Part Six: Collision

There was a sweet scent in the air that you could almost taste. I closed my eyes for a second, taking it in. This was our favorite market, and every time the smell intoxicates me for a moment. It had become a bit of a routine of ours to come to the market for treats for Dez, and other materials. There was a tug on my pinkie finger and I looked down, to see a wide pair of green eyes staring up at me.

"Mama! Can we get some of those red things again like last time?" Dez gripped my finger, gently hopping up and down.

"Strawberries?" I laughed, ruffling his hair. "Of course. They're at the booth over there." I pointed ahead to the left. I tossed him a small silk bag with a few coins in it, and he dashed in the direction of the fruit stand.

"Dez, slow down." Ember shouted as he weaved between the people on the bustling path.

"He's gotten so quick, I can hardly keep up with him anymore." I smiled, grabbing her hand.

"That's your all your fault." Ember laughed, nudging my shoulder with her fist. "You've been training him relentlessly for the past four years."

"He's incredible, Em." I sighed, my smile growing wider. "But you already know that."

As we rounded the corner, I looked towards the fruit stand expecting to see Dez standing there impatiently waiting to get his strawberries, but he was nowhere to seen. I froze in place, immediately scanning the area.

"Dez? Where are you?" I shouted, my eyes darting back from place to place. I could feel Ember tense up.

"There, Kai!" Ember pointed to the ground about twenty feet to the left of us. She was already sprinting when I saw him.  Shoved to the ground, and expression of anger with a hint of fear etched into his young features. I caught up to Ember before another moment had passed. Ember was with him, kneeling in the dirt. I looked up to face the person who had pushed him, and I didn't intend to let them leave unscathed. But when my eyes met the person in front of me, the oxygen was forced out of my lungs. A disgruntled gasp left my lips.

"You son of a bitch." I choked out, eyes wide and unblinking.

It was him. For fucks sake, it was really him. The person I had been after for more than four years. He looked like himself, only older, and more exhausted than before. His hair had grown out, the loose curls falling in his face. A couple of new scars, though that hadn't surprised me nearly as much as the facial hair. Something inside me that has been screaming for years was finally silent, but a new fire began to burn. I felt the anger all over again, and stronger this time.

"Tell the kid to watch where the hell he's walking, or I won't be so forgiving next time." Lucan looked up, and I could see something change in him immediately as he recognized me.

"Where the fuck have you been? Are you kidding me?" I shouted, shoving both of my hands into his chest. He barely budged but that didn't matter to me. I kept pushing.

"Kai?" His voice sounded rough, and broken, like he hadn't used it in a long time. He grabbed my wrists, gripping them just hard enough to stop me from pounding my fists into his chest. He just stared for a moment as I rambled questions about where he'd been, and why he hadn't ever tried to contact us.

"Luc, are you even listening to me?" My voice cracked, and I tried to maintain my angry facade but tears welled up in my eyes and I stopped struggling.

Faster than a blink of an eye he let go of my wrists and dashed through the crowd of people without breathing a word. I looked down at Ember, frantically.

"Stay with Dez, I'll be back." I sprinted after him as Ember spoke in my head, she whispered something about staying safe, but my mind was too clouded to hear her.

Within a few moments he was in sight again, though he hadn't slowed down. He vaulted over a parked cart, and disappeared around the next corner. I slid under the very same cart, and dashed around the corner. My feet slid to a stop, my breathing heavy as I surveyed the dead end, looking for anywhere he could have escaped. I was about to take a step forward when small sound creaked above me, but before I could react my face was in the dirt.

"I thought you were smarter than that. You don't follow someone into an alley without back up, idiot." He spit the words out like venom as he dug his knee into my spine.

"I couldn't lose you. Not this time." I huffed out, coughing up dust.

"Why couldn't you have just let me go and get on with my fucking life? You've gone this long without me." He pushed down harder, to keep me from struggling free.

I could almost feel his anger like a dagger in my back. But he wasn't the only one who had the right to be angry.

"You know the answer to that, asshole." I kicked my heel into the base of his spine with as much force as I could muster. That gave me a small window of time, only a couple of seconds to gain control. I reached back, grabbing his elbow and pulled him on his side towards the ground while he was vulnerable. As soon as I was free I landed a blow to his diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him. I grabbed both of his wrists and twisted them behind his back.

For a second after the struggle there was only silence adorned with the sound of our labored breaths.

"I taught you that move. You're welcome." Lucan said, glancing back at me.

"I did it better." I almost laughed, but the aching in my chest seemed to deter me from doing so.

"Shut the fuck up, we both both know that isn't true." He rolled his eyes.

"Can we have an actual conversation now?" I felt his shoulders relax, and I hesitantly loosened my grip and stood up.

"What is there to talk about?" He stood smoothly, leaning against the brick wall behind him.

"Lucan, I haven't seen you in almost four and a half years." There was no anger in my words, only hurt.

"Really?" He looked at me, authentic curiosity on his face. "I lost count."

"You disappeared without a word, without explanation," My voice lowered, for fear that I'd lose control of it, "without a goodbye."

"I had the right to disappear." Though his eyes were shadowed by his shaggy curls, I could practically feel the pain behind them.

"And I had the right to miss you." The strength that I was determined to hold shattered, and I slumped against the wall next to him.

"Kai." He seemed to be struggling to find the right words, I know he hated things like this. Emotions, and talking things out. That's why I was so surprised by what he said next. "You have to know that I didn't want to abandon you. I know that you've always hated being left alone, but you weren't anymore. You had Ember. And when.." He furrowed his brows staring hard at the ground, his voice trembling. He didn't have to say it, I knew that he was referring to the night Tarred died. "I wasn't whole anymore. I don't think I ever was, but he had more of me than anyone ever will. I couldn't bare his absence. I felt it, I still feel it, every fucking minute. I had to outrun that feeling."

The silence that followed wasn't silent at all. All of the unsaid and unheard feelings that we had both kept at bay for nearly half a decade seemed to make the air around us heavy.

"You're my brother, Luc." My voice tip toed through the quiet, "I would have never stopped looking for you."

He didn't say another word, but he didn't run either. Even with the heavy air weighing us down, I felt something I hadn't felt for a long time. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, hoping that whatever happened after this moment had nothing to do with losing him again. I couldn't bare it.