ALWAYS [FIVE: THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY]

0.3 Year 2002

            'Hope, Mr. White and I will be out of town for two weeks. See you when we get back. -Mrs. White' 

        Hope read the note she found on the counter top when she walked into the pale blue house she had been living in for the past six years. She finished reading it then set it back on the counter and headed to her room. She laid on her bed, picked up a book and began to read. When the Whites had first taken Hope in she was so excited to live with a family, and although she was grateful for the roof over her head and the food that the couple provided, they were never home. At first, it was great to live with a legal guardian again but then they never treated her like family, they never treated her like she was wanted anymore. She still referred to them as Mr. and Mrs. White. The couple would just disappear for weeks at a time, and when they where at home they simply ignored the girl. In the pale blue house, Hope didn't need her powers to be invisible. 

          It just wasn't what she expected, and here she began to feel more like a burden to the couple.

          One good thing about being ignored is that nobody cared what she did. So, with nobody stopping her, she had extra time to visit Five. Of course, they both still had to do their studies and he had to train and occasionally go on missions. It was easy enough to find time for each other. Over the course of the six and a half years, since the two first met, and they continued to meet up. They would talk for hours on end, on more than one occasion they had fallen asleep side by side only to be woken by the sun hours later. Hope always felt bad for Five because she knew that he worked hard during the day and spent his nights with her. Even though he appeared not to be bothered by the loss of sleep, Hope could still tell when he was tired.

             More and more often the meetings would take place at her house, instead of the alley they met in. It was more comfortable and private that way. 

            A blue flash brought Hope out of her thoughts and she looked up and found Five walking toward her with his hands behind his back. Hope closed her book and sat up, making room for Five to sit down on the edge of her bed. Then he tossed her the content of his hands. It was a large book.

           "Baby Names?" Hope read the cover. "Five, is there something you need to tell me?" 

             "Everyone is picking out names. I need help picking mine." He explained to her as she cracked open the book. "Okay," Hope began, "what are you looking for? Is there any specific letter you want it to start with? What about meaning? Oh my, you could have your middle name be 'awesome'  or something. So when someone asks you can literally say that awesome is your middle name." 

              Five looked at her skeptically. "Yeah, I'm not doing that," he chuckled "what would you change your name to?" 

              Hope thought for a moment before looking in the book for ideas. "Maybe Delores? Actually, never mind, it says here that Delores means 'sorrow'. That's a bit to depressing for me. I think I like my name how it is."

             "Eh, your last name could use some change." Five said smugly.

            "What's wrong with Ellington?" asked Hope, her head tilted slightly.

            "Oh, never mind." Five rolled his eyes, "what do you think I look like? Maybe an Aidan?" Hope looked at him for a moment. "To be completely honest, I can't see you as anything other than Five. It strangely suits you. What about the others, what did they choose?"

          "One is Luther, Two is Diego, Three is Allison, Four is Klaus, Six is Ben, and Seven is Vanya."

           Hope took a minute to try and remember all of the new names, repeating them to herself over and over.