The Little Crow

Chapter Twenty Four - [Reason For Fighting]

Though Thea insisted on making her way back to the inn on her own, Niall, unsurprisingly, insisted on walking her back. He won.

The two of them barely got any sleep, seeing as they went to bed late and had to wake up incredibly early. However, when they were all at the car that morning, the men still in their regular, civilian clothes, Niall still managed to look like his regular, put together self though just a little tired. Whereas Thea, on the other hand, had red eyes that burned and could barely go five minutes without yawning. Her hair was not done today too, instead, she simply brushed it with her fingers and let it hang loose for once, pushing it behind her ears when it got in the way. It was certainly unusual for her, seeing as she always made sure her hair was done, but she was too exhausted to care today. Besides, when she woke up that morning and looked at herself in the mirror, she felt rather comfortable with the idea with both Julian and Niall seeing her like this. The two men had already seen her at nearly her worst last night, crying and snotty... not doing her hair for once would therefore not be a big deal.

Julian, of course, looked the most well rested, and to no one's surprise, he did spend most of the trip driving and despite Thea feeling guilty about it, she spent most of it asleep in the back seat.

Though the drive was long, it went by uninterrupted and as Niall had hoped, there were no hiccups... no angry Crows lying in wait for them. Once they arrived at the Southern Kiryu station, Thea knew they were safe. It was still a long way to the Capital but trains were always safer than open roads.

However, as she stood on the platform, holding her suitcase in front of her with both her hands, she realized something.

They were at the Southern Kiryu Station.

Niall's mother would have been from one of the slums near here. It was probably at this very station where she was selling nuts before her suffering truly began.

She looked to her right in the direction that the train would come and saw, off in the distance, the slums. They were too far for her to see any faces or hear any voices, probably because the employees of the State run station would never allow them to get too close since they weren't exactly a pretty sight.

But she could still see them... so many people. People stuck in the old ways, speaking a language that was near to forgotten by its own people, struggling to make ends meet. And somewhere off in those slums was a family that Niall belonged to. A family who probably knew nothing of Niall or his mother. A grandfather who gave up his daughter for a reason that would never, ever be justifiable.

She felt her heart ache.

She turned her head and glanced over at Niall, knowing quite well that there was no way he could be standing here not feeling anything. It must have hurt him to be here.

When she spotted him though, to her surprise, she saw that Julian was standing between them, blocking most of her view of him with his giant stature.

Almost instantly Thea knew that, whether Niall knew it or not, Julian was probably trying to block his view. He was trying to shield him from the sight of the people off in the distance. She didn't know how much that actually helped Niall, seeing as when she stepped closer to them, he was smoking, obviously to calm his nerves. But whether it helped or not, the thought was there and Thea couldn't help but remember Nialls words from the night before.

The people we trust will be there when we need them to be.

It was a small gesture, and Julian was clearly a good friend.

When she reached the two men, she found herself unconsciously touching Niall's arm. The touch clearly surprised him, but when he looked at her, she smiled.