Autumn Skies // A miraxus fanfiction

// Chapter 11 //

Chapter 11- Crumbling Walls
It turned out Dad had been right to keep me from school; the hospital rang us up to suggest I stayed home from school for a week or two. Dad took me to all kinds of places, from the cinema to our local garden center, and since I was on a strictly liquid diet whilst my jaw healed he experimented with making soups and drinks which he practically poured down my throat, muttering that I needed to nourish myself even if I wasn't feeling one hundred percent. I would really have rather stayed in bed, but I think Dad was scared to leave me to my thoughts, though I only loosely outlined my short friendship with Laxus and what had happened at that second support meeting. I was surprised by how calmly he took it all, simply telling me that I didn't have to go to the meetings anymore.
Mum's reaction to my injury had been far less composed; in fact, I had barely seen her since it had happened. She never seemed to be home when I was- which was most of the time- and when I did catch a glimpse of her skeletal frame her eyes widened in fear at the sight of me and she darted into the nearest room, closing the door behind her as though she hoped it might seal in her sobs and gasping breaths.

It didn't work.

Not even slightly.

The weeks passed slowly- I hated not being busy- and by the end of the second week I was sick to death of the sight of my own home, so whilst Dad and Elfman were out buying bigger underwear (too much information, I know, the men of my family are shameless) and Mum was shut in her room, I slipped on my comfiest pair of boots and left the house without looking back. My feet carried me whilst my mind drifted, taking me through the estate to a path I knew well.

The memories surged.

I welcomed them with open arms.

Six year old Lisa was a few paces in front of me- confident, beautiful Lisanna- walking purposefully, her little denim skirt hitching up over her stripey leggings. She gave it a tug with her tiny hands, turned, smiled at her big sister as she followed closely behind. Then she turned away and they carried on walking, Mira listening to the squelch of wellies and the wind rustling the bushes.

"Here," Lisa finally whispered, as they reached a small patch of grass with paths leading off in several directions. Her finger was pointed at a tree- a tree with a rope tied to one of it's branches, knotted at the bottom, to create a long forgotten make shift swing.

"Wow, want me to swing you?" Mira had asked, taking on her role of eldest, and Lisa's excited nod and giggle had them both running towards the rope, Lisa throwing herself at it and wrapping her legs tightly around the straggly threads. 

After playing for a half hour or so, taking it in turns to swing the other, it had begun to rain- huge drops cascading down on our shoulders, soaking our clothes, trickling down our skin. We laughed, chasing each other around in circles, skidding in the mud until we were caked in filth. Then, as the rain turned into a full blown storm, we turned on our heels and ran as fast as we could, back down the path, back towards home.

I blinked.

I was alone again.

I stood, gazing at the tree, at the rope that hung from the branches. It had been years since we'd played here, since we'd swung like monkeys and tried to climb to the highest branches in order to touch the sky.

My gaze stopped halfway down the rope.

It was snapped.

"Hey," the voice came from the shadows, but I was too heart broken to turn, two heart broken to care. It hurt to breath. Why did it hurt to breathe? lungs tight, so tight, squeezing and pressing. Heart collapsing, always collapsing, always being eroded. What did I do? What did I do that was so bad that I deserved this? I wanted Lisanna to be alive, I wanted Mum to be happy again, I wanted Elfman to be his old self, I wanted Gray to be okay, I wanted my head to stop pounding, I wanted Laxus...