Defending the Mask

I Said Two

Descendants Fam!

Everyone still with us?

That last chapter, am I right?

Well, buckle up. The laughs and sour anger don't stop here.

Hopefully.

If we did our jobs right.

Lots of Love,

-Dark-

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He stares at the hologram for several long moments.

That had been-

Different.

He'd thought for sure Hiro wasn't going to take it seriously.

But damn.

Talk about a lost bet.

Not that he was complaining.

But, Kai*.

He'd pulled all the stops.

In all the years he'd known the lolo iki brah, he could count the number of times Hiro talked about losing his brother on one hand.

He blinks when Nani shuts off her phone and settles back on the couch, one foot under her so she could twist to look at him and Jay.

"Hiro lost his brother to a villain?" Jay asks, so quietly he almost didn't catch it.

"Yeah," Nani sighs as she runs a hand through her hair.

He lets out a heavy sigh as he mirrors her position.

Jay shifts on the couch, tightly crossing his arms over his chest as he makes himself smaller.

Kai, the way this kid could make his chest hurt.

He looks Jay over with a frown as he meets Nani's gaze before they both turn back to Jay.

Waiting for him to continue.

"Why is it you guys can tolerate us, but others who haven't-" Jay sighs, "I mean- I don't know what I'd do if someone else hurt Carlos, and if someone killed-" He squeezes his eyes shut.

His heart jumps to his throat.

Jay.

He'd never met a kid with such raw emotion.

He lets out a breath. "I think if Hiro's friends weren't with him, we wouldn't know Hiro."

Jay nods, "Yeah..." He sighs before he stands from the couch, "I could see how that would change a good person's mind. Keep them from doing the wrong thing even if it felt like it could be the right thing." He frowns before he looks away.

He sighs, "When someone does something awful to someone you care about-"

"Love man," Jay sighs, "I can admit that. I love them. I think I've always loved a lot of them and just didn't know what it was."

A small, sad smile pulls at his lips.

Kai, this kid was going to be the death of him.

"Jay, I can't imagine how much it hurts, but I know it does." Nani holds one hand out towards him, "And, you're a good kid. We know that, even if you start to forget it."

He sighs.

It hurt.

Just watching him.

Hurt.