Not So Invisible (Obi x OC)

Connections

The lullaby. It sounded so familiar, but I had forgotten. It was almost like it was from a different life...a different life.

The mercenary. He had hummed a song with a similar melody.

He had also spoken of a constellation. A constellation called Vela...

His temperament, his actions, his words. They all reminded me of Vela.

I got my brown eyes from my father.

He had had brown eyes too. Brown eyes like Vela.

-

"Thank you. I can't tell you how grateful I am for your help."

A door shuts.

I open my eyes and watch Vela walk back into the room. Her tight curls were dripping as if she'd taken a shower.

She smiles when she sees me.

Seeing her smile allows me to finally breathe again. I had been so scared of what could've happened to her, but now she was here with me. She wasn't safe yet but she was here and that was all I needed.

She sits next to me and intertwines her fingers with mine. An intimate gesture she would have been too shy to do before.

"How do you feel?"

I close my eyes for a moment. There was throbbing in my abdomen and ribs and my jaw ached, but other than that, I felt fine.

I open my eyes and look at Vela, "I've had worse."

She sighs and runs a hand through my hair, "Always playing the tough guy."

I drop the smile that had spread on my face, "Miss, I have something-"

She holds a hand up, "Don't call me Miss. Not here at least."

I pause a moment, "Vela, I know where I've heard that lullaby before."

Vela gives me a confused expression, "You've heard it before."

I nod, "A long time ago." I stare at the ceiling, "When my parents were killed I became a street rat. No one bothered to take me in and I ran from every orphanage I was put in."

The young boy, from before, comes in, balancing three bowls and glasses on a tray. Vela immediately stands and relieves him of two bowls and glasses.

"Thank you, Lowen."

Lowen merely nods and walks over to a table in the corner of the room to eat.

Vela returns and hands me a bowl while setting both glasses and her own bowl on the floor. She waits patiently for me to continue my story.

I hold the warm bowl between my hands and start again, "One day I thought it'd be a good idea to steal from a butcher." I laugh darkly, "I nearly lost my hands that day. Lucky me a kind stranger came to my rescue and paid for the quarter pound of meat I had stolen. He even cooked it for me."

"From that day on I followed him everywhere. He didn't mind. As long as I was good, he said I could stay with him. It was from him that I had heard that lullaby from. He would hum it whenever concentrating." I pause for a moment, "It was also from him when I first heard your name. Vela, a western constellation."

Vela's breath catches, "My father had chosen the name for me. He had named me after the constellation because I was his light in the land of shadows."

I nod.

"Did your father have a special saying he'd tell you to feel better?"

Vela gives me wary look, "Like what?"

"'When you can't look on the brightside, I will sit with you in the dark.'"

Vela says the last half with me.

"What are you trying to say," Vela's lower lip begins to tremble.

"I think you know, Vela," I look into her eyes, "I think that man was your father." My throat protests against the next line I want to say, "And those words were the last ones he had asked me to tell you. His daughter, who he had never stopped searching for."