~"The Bird That Could Heal."~ Kaitou Joker AU

●Chapter 15●

"Phew! Now then, after all that cleaning up got done I think that's all." Jack said. He cleaned up everything around the place, after it was done he wanted to go outside for awhile. Before he went out, he picked up this doll on his bed, it was a tiny bear doll that was from home it was the only piece of home he had left, it was made by his mother and his comfort he calls it Jack Jr. "Why not I take this little guy out for a bit with me, show him this world that isn't our home, well... maybe it is now after all." Jack said to himself. Jack was out and about, he was heading to where he overheard berry trees grew he was kind of craving some at the moment.

He was far into a grassy and lush spot of the kingdom, he could see all the fruits growing and the bright wonder that kept him intrigued. Jack put his doll in his scarf to keep close by, he didn't want to lose his last piece of home that he had. He saw Midori picking some up, far away and wanted to join in.

"Hey there Midori! Picking up some good fruits?" Jack asked. "Hm? Oh hello there Jack! I'm picking fruits up for things I want to bake." Midori replied. She put her basket over her shoulder, it was quite full of different varieties. "Here! You have a basket too, in case you want to pick some for yourself." Midori said happily. She handed him a fresh empty basket, he held onto it ready to get some goods.

The two of them walked together, picking up some of the new grown berries and fruits. "So miss Midori, I have had this question for quite awhile, but can you tell me more about your parents? It's okay if you aren't comfortable answering that." Jack asked. Midori slowly stopped picking things, she instead wanted to continue walking along. "Let's go somewhere else here, I'll tell you along the way." Midori said. He followed her along the way.

"Well firstly, they were very awful towards me and Usagi... they'd always hit us very hard over the smallest things, even if they were an accident. Sometimes they told me I was too heavy too, so they'd barely feed me. I was very sick and weak, and as a small child.. you could imagine how hungry I was and how much pain I was in.. it was very bad" Midori said wobbly. She looked down sadly, Midori was always full of sadness from them, she never had any support from them or help. Jack felt her pain, he couldn't handle seeing her so sad like this. "I still have some scars from them, such as the one over my eye... I don't really want to explain that one to you though, it's hard to talk about." Midori added.

"Hey don't worry, you don't have to talk about it. I'm sorry that you had to deal with that miss Midori, at least your doing much better now. Arsene takes very good care of you, he's a good man to you." Jack reassured. He patted her back to reassure her she was going to be okay, he wanted nothing more but for her to be happy and comfortable. "That's true... I'm glad I have you around my side, you're so understanding and kind thank you for listening to me." Midori said softly. "O-oh your welcome, I'll always b-be happy to listen to you whenever you need to talk to me." Jack replied. She smiled warmly, she was glad she could have someone great like Jack, his care helped her feel much better about things going on.

Apon heading further down into the area, they overheard something rustling in the bushes. Out came a small child, they were a smaller bird. With light brown feathers with white, dark black hair and big gold eyes. "Oh? Hello there small one! What're you doing out here by yourself?" Jack asked. The little bird looked up at him, with curiosity and wonder. "I'm just trying to gather some special fruits for my home, who are you two?" He asked. "I'm Jack, nice to meet you! I'm a bird kind of like you, but with healing magic." Jack greeted. "My name is Midori, I'm the princess of the Hanako Kingdom, very nice to meet you." Midori said.

The little bird was suprsied to meet them, he didn't know he'd meet two very special people. "Woah! Y-your a princess? My apologies I should've done a proper greeting miss! I'm Hachi, nice to know you both." He added.
Midori smiled, she was happy to hear the small ones respect for her. "Oh no need to do that, but I appreciate your kindness little one. I bless you with many good things for your future!" Midori said happily. "Are you looking for berries like us too?" Jack asked. "Yes! You see, my town has run out of these berries used for medicine. It's juice is mainly needed and we're running low on it." He added.

"No worries! We can help you gather as many as you need." Jack replied happily. "Come along I know where you can find some with us." Midori said. The three of them gathered together and went to find berries, the ones in specific were ones that would only grow in specific areas that were mainly full of sunlight and lots of greenery. While they were walking along they noticed the small doll sitting inside his scarf, wondering where it came from. "Oh? Jack what's that little doll doing here? Is it yours?" Midori asked. "W-well yes it is, it's from home! It's special to me because it's how I can remember my home easily. It's name is Jack Jr, it was made by my mother" Jack replied. He adjusted it up a bit inside, he kept it close so he could always be reminded of home when he was far away.

"Aww that's so nice! My family makes a lot of amazing things for us, not just us all planting fruits and vegetables together but, also making clothes and blankets." Hachi said. "How fun, you must have lots of fun with your mother and father huh?" Midori asked. Apon a closer look at the trees they found what they were looking for, the Manap berries. "Here we are! The Manap berries, they're full of juice that has lots of vitamins! Which is why it's used in our medicines." Hachi added. "Let's gather as many as you need then! So you'll be full of them for months so you never run out." Jack added. The three worked together to pick them, filling the baskets up to the brims with Manap berries. Some falling out from getting full of them.

"Thank you so much! These will work perfectly for us." Hachi said happily. "Your welcome little one, glad we could help you." Midori said. The three picked up their baskets and kept going along, they enjoyed they rest of their walk. "Say mister Jack, what's your family like? I'm curious what your home was like." Hachi asked. Jack paused for a moment, he sat down on the ground for a moment in silence thinking, he had a lot going through his mind after asked that question. "Oh... well my mother and father were very wonderful, they taught me all the things I know now. They're the best I could've ever asked for, but to be honest... I'm n-not really s-s-sure if t-t-they're even alive anymore after all this. They.. co-could be d-dead for all I know.." Jack said wobbly. He began to cry, the poor bird hadn't seen or heard from them ever since he left on his own to find a way to get rid of his curse, he thinks they could be dead from possibly being taken away. "Oh, I'm sorry if that was an offensive question I didn't mean to. But I'm sure they're okay! Maybe... you can be apart of my family." Hachi added. "T-that's nice to say but, really you don't have to do such a thing child." Jack replied. Wiping his tears away, deep down a lot of pain lied from his fears and worries that have been built up for so long, he just couldn't handle it anymore. "Aw, you want Jack to be an older brother to you huh? That's really nice of you, I think that'd be very good for him to have someone he can call family around." Midori said. "I'm being serious, I would gladly welcome you as apart of my family too, I want to consider you as such your very kind and seem like fun to be around mister Jack!"

Jack picked up the little bird giving him a hug, he didn't know how to react other then show him his caring nature. "Thank you, I guess I can call you my little brother now then... I like that a lot, it feels very comfortable." Jack cried. "Yeah! And I can call you my big brother, isn't that fun?" Hachi asked. Jack was so happy to have someone to consider family to him, he would promise to keep his little brother safe from any danger. "I'll make sure to keep you safe too, after all you're still very young and need to be safe from what's going on. Do you need help getting back home?" Jack asked. "Nope! I can fly back don't worry, I'll just stuff all these berries inside this pouch, but thank you for asking me. Thanks for your help you two it was nice meeting you both! Maybe I can visit you both again sometime." Hachi said.

His little wings lifted him off the ground, he was off back home carrying his supply. Jack and Midori waved him goodbye and went on about their day back to the castle. "What a fun little guy, how do you feel now Jack about having this little one as your little brother?" Midori asked. "You know, I feel very comforted by it I've always wanted to have a sibling. I think it's very nice to have family by your side." Jack replied happily. "Indeed. Having family that care about you is a wonderful thing, I'm sure that your mother and father are very proud of how far you've come with yourself and where your at." Midori exclaimed. He smiled, his mother and father raised him very well and were so very kind to him. "Thanks... I hope wherever they are or whatever their doing, I hope that they're okay, and I hope that one day they can see how big I've grown after all these years.." Jack said.

To be continued...