Strength to Protect (A BBB AU Fanfiction)

Chapter 15

-Flower-

Duri remembered the pretty flowers his big brother would give him. He would giggle whenever his big brother would put it on his ear. Then they would try and make flower crowns whenever they have the time, mostly because of the shiny and sparkling things his big brother could make on his hand.

He took care of it, but it suddenly turns brown, and the sight of it made him cry. Duri thought it was his fault that the flower crown he made turned like that. He tends to see plants turning brown, and Duri didn't love any of it.

However, his big brother comforted him, told him that they'll take care of the plants better. Words echoed at how much his big brother told him that there was still a limit to how much they could last. Duri didn't get those words, but he soon realized the meaning even if he was merely six years old.

His brother told of their mom, whom they will never get any chance to meet. Duri's green eyes sparkled at the picture of their mom, she was very pretty. But the word death made the second youngest septuplet shiver, even if he never knew what that words meant. Yet his big brother described it like plants turning brown and withering away. It was like that; their mother reached their limit. Duri wondered if it's because no one took care of their mom, or that something made their mom disappear. Their big brother didn't tell more of what happened, but the thought of it scares him.

The thought of his Tok Aba, Ochobot, and his brothers, especially his big brother, all reaching their limit and turning into brown withering dust.

Then their father appeared, and he spoke of the events. A bad man killed their mom, and that their big brother is dangerous, or mean. How could Duri even see it when all he remembers are the flowers and its scent, the leaves dancing around him? How his green eyes sparkled when his big brother would show him his own creations of beautiful plants? How could his Abang ever be mean and hurtful? Yet his big brother Gempa told that their Abang is hiding something.

They are six-year-old children, but Duri knows that something is going wrong the moment their supposed father shows up.

When the backyard was filled with burn marks, the sight of it made Duri very uncomfortable. Yet the child wasn't even afraid of the things he saw his brothers could do. It made his eyes sparkle at the thought of having powers, but he couldn't help but feel bad for the grass itself.

'Is Abang tired of us? Is he going to turn brown like the grass?'

Duri wishes to be with his brothers, never to separate with them no matter what. Yet how could it be when he sees their sad faces, and the aftermath of what their father said. He remembers the cartoons that he watches where they feel sad because of the bad things. Duri couldn't help but feel as if they were now in that situation.

He tries to smile, to understand why, but he couldn't get why this all happened. They were already a happy family. Why did their father lie? Or did their Abang lie too? It was all too confusing for them.

Duri wonders it right now as he sits at the same backyard where he saw his two brothers vent. The grass was already okay since his Abang helped with planting. The green clad child didn't want to look at it and he cried, this was what made his big brother help in gardening, trying to remove the burn marks.

Now, the grass and the plants are pretty, but Duri looks at it with a sad look. He felt guilty that he didn't help Abang with their newly fixed garden.

"Duri?"

He looks behind to see Ice walking towards him, "Hello, Ice!"

A smile, he tried so. Yet Ice wasn't convinced, but didn't say anything about it, "The backyard looks pretty now."