Reflection

Her Painting

The anger management class session the following day took a different turn. Instead of inside her house, Matilda decided to have it outside on the beach. Strangely enough, Luna didn't mind being at class today. The reason why was because the task for today was about painting. And of course, she loved painting.

"Alright class," Matilda addressed. "Thought for the day: water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth."

"Here's my thought for the day," Red huffed. "When are we done?"

"Red, what the caterpillar calls the end, the world calls a butterfly," Matilda said with a sigh.

"Can I just say that I never understand a single thing that you're talking about?" Red snapped. Luna giggled at his comeback, and he turned to wink at her.

Deciding to not get into an argument, Matilda left Red alone to check on everyone else's progress. She looked at Chuck's painting, which depicted him as a muscular hero, while Bomb covered himself in warm colors and darted towards his canvas, creating a splatter as if it were a cartoonish explosion.

When she approached Terence, she was taken aback by his painting, which was the two of them holding wings in a romantic way, causing her to blush and smile. "I did not know you felt that way." Lastly, she went over to Luna.

Usually, Luna would paint something simple such as her favorite food or a flower, but this time, she wanted to do something different. This painting was of her in a long white dress that reflected all the colors of the light, a cloak that extended from her wings to her talons with a starry night theme, and her head feathers were styled nicely and glowed radiantly. The galaxy was the background, and all around her were birds and even her bullies admiring her.

"Oh my, Luna..." Matilda was at a loss for words. "That...is very beautiful."

Luna smiled at the compliment, but it disappeared when she saw Leonard in the distance. Why is he here? She mentally groaned. She looked to see that he was accompanied by a few pigs, a pink bird named Stella, and of course, Peckinpah. Even though she had been scolded in front of a huge crowd the night before, she was still determined to help everyone open their eyes. She could tell Red didn't give up either when she saw the fire in his eyes. She decided to keep an eye on him.

"Is that what I think it is?" Leonard asked as he approached an egg with its mother beside it.

Ok, seems suspicious, Luna noted.

"That's an egg," Stella pointed out. "That's how our children are born? You guys don't lay eggs?"

"Of course they don't," Luna muttered to herself. "But only I knew that, until now."

"I...wish we did," Leonard replied. He picked it up and pressed his cheek on it. Luna could've sworn she saw him give a creepy smile. Okay, now that's definitely a red flag.

Red noticed, too. He left his easel and ran over to Leonard. "Hey, hello! Excuse me buddy? Those are fragile. Maybe you shouldn't pick them up, alright? Not yours!" Although he hated other birds save for Luna, Chuck and Bomb, he didn't believe they deserved to die. He especially didn't want the young ones to get hurt.

"Oh," Leonard grinned as he gave the egg back to its mother and approached the painting session. "Well, well, well, well, well, what do we have here? This looks fun. Mind if I take a look at what you're all painting?" He looked at Red's paintings, which were a series of Leonard getting killed and tortured in various methods, causing him to glare.

"Oh yeah, the assignment was 'Paint your Pain,' so I painted your pain. It's actually the first in a series," Red explained. Luna giggled at his remark but drew attention from Leonard.

"And what have you painted?" he inquired as he went up to her. When he saw her canvas, he could not believe his eyes. "Wow...this...is something I've never seen like before," he commented. "So, you wish to be some sort of queen or goddess?"

"It would be nice to feel that way," Luna admitted. It was true. If she could just have a time in her life where no one hated her and everything was perfect...

"Well you know what?" Leonard said, causing Luna to look at him directly in the eye. "I promise you that dream will come true one day." He then got close to her and gave a very creepy grin. "And by that, I mean very soon."

Luna flinched, but regained her composure. "As if I should believe another one of your lies," she said dully.

Leonard chuckled. "Oh Luna, you have no idea."

"Yeah, right. Whatever you say."

Leonard turned his attention to the rest of the class, who had not heard a single word from his conversation with Luna, although Red was interested.

"Alright, what's going on here?" Red shouted. "Are you explorers or are you staying? Because if you are explorers, then why are more of you coming?" He was referring to a ship that had just docked. To his horror, his house got destroyed even more! "Not my house again! That's my home!" he fumed. "And you know what? If you are staying, why didn't you just say so? And why did you leave your home? How do we know you're not fugitives of the law?"

As usual, Peckinpah was not having it. "You are making our guests feel unwelcome!"

"Good!" Luna cut in sharply. "At least some of us have some damn sense."

"Miss Luna, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" the judge snarled.

"Do you?!" Luna snapped.

The judge ignored her and turned his gaze on Red as well. "Maybe I wasn't with clear enough with you two. Your opinion is not needed!"

"Why do we have to agree?" Red scowled. "Why does it matter that we're not the same?"

"ANGER IS NOT ALWAYS THE ANSWER!" Peckinpah roared.

"Look who's talking," Luna exposed, earning a glare from the judge.

"Continue the tour," he said to Stella. They all went on their way except for Leonard.

"That went well...if you're me." Although he was talking to Red as well, he kept his gaze on Luna. He ran off to catch up with the tour.

"Class dismissed!" Matilda announced.

Although class was over, Red and Luna just stood there in silence, not knowing what to say or do.

"Hey, Red," Luna spoke up, breaking the silence. "If you want, you can stay with me until your place gets fixed."

Red smiled at her. "Thanks, Luna. But seriously, what is up with him? And why does he keep being so weird around you?"

"I don't know, but I can see this going from bad to worse."

Red directed his attention towards a statue of an eagle named Mighty Eagle. "We could really use you right about now. Wait, actually..."

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