Finding a Reason (Private, Lani Obliv, Mature)

In the aftermath of the trip to Burnsely, both the Farron sister coped in different ways. Sarah did as she always did. She talked. To Ace, to Tony, to her hamster, Snow. She did what she could to let her feelings out, make sure they didn't bottle up. The same couldn't be said for Claire.

The day after they got back, Claire didn't go to school. She'd contacted the Administrative offices and asked for a temporary leave of absence from school. A leave of absence, she'd said. Hunting is what she met. She shut herself into her apartment. She rarely replied to texts, and she didn't answer calls. She disregarded knocks on her door.

Sarah let this go on for a few days, waving it off as her sister simply trying to cope. But it got to the point where even she was worried for Claire. She knew she couldn't talk sense into Claire, if only because she felt she'd failed her sister in not being a better temp. meister. So a few days after the Burnsely trip, Sarah texted Jazz to meet at her apartment early one morning.

Jasmine hadn't hesitated to answer. Her, saying that she'd be over as soon as she could. Antonio had already left for work and wouldn't be available for most of the day. He said if she was there late that he would pick her up, but that was the most help he could offer, as he couldn't leave his phone on. Jazz didn't mind; she packed up her bag with sketchbooks and drawing pencils, a notepad and a water bottle. She tallied everything off again and again before finally merely nodding and beginning the long walk.

She was humming P!nk songs and looking around almost nervously. It had been days since she'd seen either of the girls, and Claire hardly answered even her. Knowing her past record, she wasn't very trusting of the current circumstances. Jasmine had to see her, had to know that Claire, her Angel was alright.

It took her about forty five minutes to make it all the way to Sarah's apartment. By then, she was already begining to sweat from the morning heat and was drinking down some of her water while knocking. Her key, which hung on a lanyard, was starting to stick to her skin where her open, deep v-neck shirt exposed her chest. The flesh was already beginning to redden, anywhere it was bare, both from going to the lake and from walking since then. There were several layering "tan" lines on her legs from where she wore various sized shorts. The current ones were the shortest, invisible beneath the long shirt.

Sarah took a few minutes to answer, putting snow in his ball and setting him to roll around on the floor before moving to the door. She peeked through the small peephole, opening her door when she saw Jazz. She ushered her in, putting a finger up to her mouth. She closed the door quietly behind Jazz, then turned to her. Her voice was a soft whisper."Thanks for coming so quick... I-I can't help her... I feel so guilty. If I'd been a better meister, maybe we could've beaten him. Then she wouldn't be like this..." She shuffled her feet, biting her bottom lip. "She barely sleeps. I hear her pacing around her apartment in the early morning hours. The last time she spoke to me was when she asked me to go and buy more printer paper... I'm pretty sure she's asleep right now. I haven't heard anything for the last hour or so..."

Jasmine nodded, taking a seat on the couch, trying to cool down before she did anything. "Was that the... first time you found out anything about what actually happened?" She still seemed distant, but not nearly as much as she had after the battle. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she seemed a bit jittery, her leg bouncing up and down without her control. She kept drinking water, and the more one looked, the more they realized how little she actually was. Sweating.

Sarah plopped down in a chair beside the couch, giving a token smile as she watched Snow repeatedly roll his ball into a bookcase. She turned her attention back to Jazz, nodding. "3 years ago... Our parents had gone to an opera late one night. Claire and I were home alone, goofing off like sisters do. Claire got worried when mom and dad didn't come home when they said they would. I told her it would be fine... She went outside, and saw smoke. She ran towards it, found people gathered around a twisted heap of metal strung around a tree. Couldn't even be called a car anymore... But it was our parent's car. They pulled their bodies from the wreck... Right as Claire got there." She shivered at the memory, covering her mouth like she might be sick. "I'll never forget the way she cried that night. It was awful... Absolute pain."

Jasmine nodded slowly, looking absently down at her leg tattoos. "Have you ever been told that there were signs of foul play?" She opened her pack, taking out a sketch pad and opening to a blank page. She wasn't herself, even now, and the e intense desire to have a meister had returned once more, with a powerful, furious vengeance.

Sarah leaned back in the chair, focusing on the ceiling. [color=#6666ff]"No... The police said it looked like maybe they'd swerved to avoid a drunk driver... Or maybe dad had nodded off at the wheel. It looked like a normal accident... But it wasn't. And... A-And I'm worried that Claire i-is going to try a-and find this... Monster..." She bit her lower lip again, if only to stop it from trembling. "I'm worried she will... A-And that she won't walk away from it."

"She won't need to." Jasmine said firmly, looking up from where she'd been sketching. "I'll find a way to make. It alright, for both of you." She looked up, listening for any movement. "She needs to see her counselor again.... did she say anything at all to you after the lake, besides shopping?"

Sarah shook her head, twiddling her thumbs. "She was quiet the whole ride back, as you know... And when we got back, I walked her upstairs... She didn't say anything. She just looked... Broken. And I tried her counselor, but her secretary said that he's out of the office for the next week or so... I'm looking at trying to get her another counselor in the meantime, but she needs help now... A-And I can't give it to her." She pursed her lips, looking defeated and worthless.

Jazz had taken to biting into her lip as Sarah talked, her eyes focusing more. Now, drifting from the sketch that held their attention to the girl beside her. She reached a hand out, squeezing Sarah's and smiling gently, not nearly as forced as before. "We'll get through to her. It's different this time."

Sarah looked up, looking a little confused and still wholly down in the dumps. "How? The only way this is different is that it's worse..." Still, she gave Jazz's hand a squeeze back, if only out of courtesy and the need to feel someone else.

She shook her head, "How is it worse? You now know the cause. You know that it wasn't recklessness or foolishness." She set. Her sketch pad down, coming over and kneeling in front of the girl. "She now has a target for that rage and one more question answered. She has a reason to fight back, to train, to get better. She has someone to prove wrong. she's a fighter with a cause now."

Sarah looked at her somewhat incredulously. "She's a fighter, with a cause and a crippling social condition. She's only wieldable when angry, and she's not her when she's angry. How are any of the good things?"

Jasmine shook her head. "She can channel the anger. She can be wielded when angry. That's more than we know before. Its not anything but her condition, her fear that's holding her back. She can move passed it." Her smile was returning, determined and genuine as she watched the girl.

Sarah continued to s13:28:24tare at her, confused and maybe a touch angry. "Jazz... She hasn't overcome her fear in 6 years... I doubt now is the time... A-And I don't know if I can help her while she's like this."

"She can." Jasmine said firmly, "If you keep saying that she can't, it won't help anything. Even if you never say it to her, she can feel it, see it. Don't give up. I'm not going to, and I'm not going to let either of you either." She grabbed the sketch pad, showing her a two part tattoo, one image on the bottom, the other on top.

"I'll keep you wild." was written in brilliantly elegant, italicized script, a pitchfork devil tail stemming out from the curve of the d, tiny horns sitting crookedly on the first i. The other image was "I'll keep you safe." There was a halo resting loosely on the edge of the f, hanging over the e, and a pair of angel wings springing from "I'll."

"I draw." She explained, turning the pages back to reveal a somewhat cartoonish version of the Farron sister, similiarto an anime style. "I want to be a tattoo artist. I want to help people share a permanant momento of their past, of the struggles they overcame, of their dreams and desires, of what matters to them. This is my dream. This is what I fight for, and this is why I push forward. I keep going on for me . For the things that I could do. To be able to share what I've made it through and how it made me strong. I have a future, I just have to build it. And I've gotten this far by surrounding myself with people that are willing to help and that will never stop believing in me, never stop encouraging me and helping me fight. I can and want to do it for and myself, but it always helps to have the encouragement." She squeezed both of Sarah's hands. "Let's give her something to fight for, now that she has something to fight against. Let's make it so that she's coming out of her shell for herself. Prove to her that there's nothing to fear. Make her stronger and braver. Make her wild."

Sarah studied her for a few moments, reevaluating everything she thought she knew about Jazz and every opinion she'd ever formed about her. Finally, she broke out in a big grin. "You're something else. You know that, right?" She squeezed her hands back. "You're right... But... What do you think she'd fight for?"

Jasmine grinned back at her. "I get that a lot. But what is she passionate about? I know she's damn good at painting." She bit her lip as she thought, unsure. "What did she love to do when you both were growing up?" Her eyes were back on the girl, the grin still there, albeit muted.

Sarah leaned back in her chair, still smiling a bit. "She never really told me what she wanted to do with her life... She's good at painting, but she can also play the piano, and she's good with computers. At least, those are the hobbies she adopted when she shut herself away..." Sarah pursed her lips, deep in thought. From above, the sound of floorboards creaking came, and Sarah's eyes suddenly darted upwards. She lowered her voice to almost a whisper. "I think she's up... Do you want to go talk to her?"

Jasmine nodded, thinking to herself. She grabbed her things, including the sketch pad, and made her way up the stairs. "Angel?" Her voice was gentle, but upbeat and welcoming.

Claire was in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. There were pieces of paper littering the ground, some with random notes written on them, other with reports of strange deaths and people matching Superbia's description. When she heard Jazz's voice, however, she froze. Slowly, carefully, she called out. "J-Jazzy?"

A smile shot across her face at the sudden nickname and she nodded, trying to find her way through the apartment. "Hey ya, babe. Gunna lead me around or wait until I fall down the stairs?" She laughed to herself, walking and looking around.

Claire continued to stay hidden in the kitchen, pursing her lips, trying to figure out how to proceed. "Um... W-What're you doing here?"

"Came to see you." She said, walking around until she made it to the kitchen, a smile on her face. By looking at her, one would think that she didn't even notice the mess, didn't realize any of what had been going on. "Been a while since I've seen your beautiful face. What, were you expecting me to sit pretty until you came to me?" She shook her head, "Nah, I figured I would save you the trip. It's already pretty damn hot outside, and with how much you favor your hoody, you'd be fried in no time." Jasmine stepped over, propping an elbow on the counter and leaning against it, crossing her ankles where she stood. "So, how's my girl been?"

Claire looked more than a little disheveled, and it was obvious by how she smelled that she hadn't showered in a few days. Her hair was pulled back behind her head in a ponytail, and she was dressed in a simple grey t-shirt and gym shorts. She pursed her lips a bit, looking down at her coffee mug. "I've been... I don't know. I've been looking... Searching. Hunting."