Heart and War// Feathers and Stripes Book 2

Chapter 10

                              Eliza woke up the next day still feeling sad. It would be a lie if she said that she didn't feel like nothing would ever be ok again. She had the urge to drown her feelings out while eating a tub of chocolate ice cream, but that was normal because she loved ice cream, especially when she was feeling upset.

Eliza dragged herself out of bed, and went into the kitchen. She felt Duusu go beside her, a silent comfort as Eliza made breakfast, even though she didn't really feel like eating right now. She called the kids, and Duusu disappeared behind her. Eliza served the cinnamon buns to her daughters, and took a half of one for herself.  Heather frowned at this.

"Mom, you should have the whole one at least. You haven't been eating much, if anything ever since-" Heather stopped, and looked down, suddenly seeming very interested in her shoes.

"I'm fine, however you girls need to go to school, and I need to talk to the teachers about the bullying that's going on because of...your father's indiscretion." Eliza said firmly, wincing as she had to mention John. It still felt like a bitter pill to swallow whenever she thought or talked about him.

"We'll be fine, mom. We will go talk to the teacher ourselves, and besides- we're old enough to go to school on our own. It'll be ok" Regina said, her voice soothing.

"Says every girl before she goes out and gets taken from the street" Eliza couldn't help saying. 

"Mom, you really need to stop watching those murder mystery shows" Heather said, frowning. Eliza sighed.

"I'm just...uneasy about you two going out to school alone...what would I do if something happened to you?" Eliza said. Regina and Heather hugged her, trying to comfort her.

"It's only five minutes walk, mom. We'll be ok." Regina reassured Eliza. Eliza relented, and gave them hugs before they ran out the door. As soon as the door closed, Eliza sighed, and leaned up against the wall. She needed some air.

"Hey... Duusu, would it be ok if I transformed to have a lazy patrol by myself?" Eliza whispered, not knowing why she whispered, but knowing it felt safer to whisper to her kwami then talk normally.

"Yeah, of course. I know your going through a lot right now. If you need to get out and do something, your free to transform Eliza!" Duusu said warmly. Eliza smiled at her kwami. So many memories she and her kwami shared. Eliza couldn't remember a time she was without Duusu to be honest.

"Duusu, Feathers Out!" Eliza exclaimed quietly. She transformed into La Peon.  Since her miraculous had been fixed a while ago, her skin was no longer blue when she transformed, and neither was her hair, although it did have blue streaks. Her eyes stayed the blue and purple they had always been when transformed, like Chat's turned all green when he transformed.

La Peon opened the window, and jumped out of it, closing it behind her as she used her fan to propel herself up to the roof of the building. It felt so good to be transformed again. When she got onto the roof, La Peon sat there at the edge, planning to just sit there and try to forget everything that had happened these last few days.

Something stirred La Peon after a few minutes of sitting there, trying to enjoy herself. La Peon looked over to see Tigre standing a few inches away from her, looking unsure of how to approach her.

"Why are you here, Tigre." La Peon made her voice as icy as possible. Tigre looked at her in the eyes now, finding his confidence in himself.

"You know I love you, Peon. I know I broke your heart, but it's been what feels like a lifetime, and I haven't been able to talk to you. I know you've been avoiding me, but I'm tired of it. I want to see you, to talk to you, and to have you be mine again." He said. La Peon couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You expect me to forgive you? Seriously? After all that, I'm not sure I even want you to stay here right now. If I am to forgive you at all, you need to give me time, not rush me around like some pet of yours! Oh, but wait-I've always been a little pet of yours to you." La Peon snapped. She had not been ready to see him, and seeing him like this made her irritated.

"Peon, you know for a fact your spewing nonsense, so just stop it right there." Tigre said. Something in La Peon snapped at this.

"How dare you come up here, invade my privacy when I was trying to relax and forget about everything, and tell me how I'm the one who is in the wrong. I should have known you'd stopped loving me when I saw your eyes stop lighting up at the mere sight of me. When you stopped acting like the man I loved. When you stopped coming home before I was asleep. Yeah, maybe I should have known- but never ever dare tell me how I'm the one who is at fault, and needs to get over this. I mean, come on. Did our wedding vows mean anything to you? Huh?!" La Peon shouted at him.

Anger flashed in his eyes, and before Tigre or La Peon knew what had happened, Tigre had slapped La Peon, and La Peon was holding her cheek, shock on her face as clear as day.

The anger was gone, and  horror replaced it. Tigre covered his mouth in shock.

"Peon, I'm so sorry-" Tigre's voice broke. He reached out to La Peon, and she flinched away.

"Peon, you know I didn't mean it." Tigre said softly.

"I don't know anything anymore" La Peon hissed, tears streaming down her face. With that last remark, she turned away, and used her fan to disappear into the streets below.