(Un)wanted Reunions: A Shoujo Parallels Headcanon Short

Gamma Belt
Mortal Realm
Sector ACR 4-A, Nuevo Filipina
Del Riano Headquarters
2022

Zachary wanted to shake some sense into her.

“Are you kidding me? Are you honestly kidding me, Adrienne?” he tried to stop himself from yelling, really. But he couldn’t believe that she had just said. “You’re not going there. I’m not allowing you to go there,” he started, feeling the rage start to pool up in his system, “You’re not going to visit Emmanuelle Astra. You’re not.”

Adri, on the other hand, felt like yelling herself.

“Who are you to stop me, Zachary?” she demanded.

“As your Watcher, Adrienne, I’m making you stay in your room.”

“You can’t do that. I’m not letting you do that, Zachary.” The girl’s cold silver eyes met his ruby ones, “You may be my Watcher – in more ways than one – but you’re not controlling my actions. I’m not going to let you control my actions like some kind of puppeteer and the marionette.”

“You don’t know what you’re doing,” the Lava Original spat. “After what I’ve done to protect you, and now you’re just throwing it all away.”

Adri stared at him and took a step backwards, clenching her fists tightly.

“I owe you nothing, Zachary.” She said coldly. “Absolutely nothing. Fine by me if you decide not to be my Watcher anymore. I don’t care.”

The sky lit up for a moment outside – and with that came a large clap of thunder.

With that, she turned on a heel and left him alone in the middle of the hallway.

Zachary shut his eyes and let the rage flow away from him, breathing deeply and pinching his temples. When he opened his eyes, he was glad to see that his vision, thankfully, wasn’t tinted in red as he thought it would.

Zachary couldn’t understand it.

Why did Adrienne want to visit the girl who had (permanently) shattered her trust?

Why did Adrienne want to visit the girl who had supposedly died during the Cleansing?

Why did she…?

“You’re fucking ruining the whole thing, Astra,” the Watcher hissed.

* * * * *

Del Riano Headquarters
Emmanuelle Astra’s Jail Cell

Adrienne clutched the toy to her chest, watching as the guards made way for her. Some of them gave her wary looks, a few looked sympathetic. Majority held disgust – all because of the half-blood kept in the del Riano cell at that moment.

“Miss Adrienne,” one of the guards said, cautiously glancing towards the inwards of the room, “Perhaps you should consult others about this.”

“I know what I’m doing,” she said dully. “If Emmanuelle sees me, she might let something slip about Operation Verdandi. And the more she slips, the more I report back to my parents.” The guard managed a small smile and nodded, facing the others and ordering them to guard outside the holding area.

She was thankful for the amount of trust the guards had in her. Considering they had been there since she was a child, they practically witnessed the lone del Riano daughter grow up.

And since they had been there since her childhood, they came to know Emmanuelle as well.

So the news about Emmanuelle’s alleged “betrayal” turned their opinion regarding the young Astra an entire one-eighty. The Astra name was often said with disgusted faces, even more so if Emmanuelle was in the conversation.

Adrienne tried to keep up with the façade that she, too, hated Emmanuelle.

But in truth, the girl only felt ten percent hatred.

…not even hatred, actually. Just a lot of anger and confusion.

In truth, she wanted the Lightning Original back. But with that, she knew that almost everyone – even Emmanuelle herself – would scoff at that idea. Zachary would abhor her for it.

Adri sat on a chair and watched Emmanuelle. The girl was asleep, and she knew that if she woke the other up, the results wouldn’t be pretty. So she let Emmanuelle sleep, spotting the yellowing bruises on her flesh and feeling a spike of anger towards Zachary.

She squeezed Lux and held the bear closer to her, smelling the fading scent of cinnamon. She felt her eyes prick and closed them instead, keeping the toy closer. The bear felt strangely soft in her arms – just as soft as it was seven years ago upon first receiving it.

“Why the fuck do you still have that thing?”

Adri’s eyes snapped open, nearly dropping Lux out of shock. Emmanuelle – Emman – was looking right at her…or rather, at the orange teddy bear she had in her arms. Unable to come up with a reply, Emman took the chance to continue.

“Or…you know, what the fuck are you doing here?” the girl studied Adri’s figure for a moment, realizing that she wasn’t going to look anywhere near her any second. “You can just say that you were visiting me. No need to play hard-to-get with me, del Riano.”

The last sentence sounded familiar. But it lacked the warmth it had the night on her sixteenth birthday.

“I am visiting you, Emman.” Adri replied softly. This made Emman blink for a moment before reverting back to her usual state. “Zachary told me you were here.”

The Lightning Original snorted.

“He has strong fists,” Emman deadpanned. Adri immediately felt guilty but didn’t let it show on her face, instead scratching her thumbs oddly. “Stop doing that.”

“The – what?”

“Your goddamn fingers and your thumbs,” she snapped. “Don’t be guilty for what the piece of shit did to me. I’m a half-blood. I’m strong as fuck.” Emman momentarily forgot that at that moment, she and Adri were supposed to be enemies. Gone were the years of friendship and laughter they shared before the Cleansing happened.

“Have you forgotten everything you and Adri had before?” Zachary asked, disgusted.

Emman’s eyes fell on the teddy bear resting in Adri’s arms, tearing her gaze off it (and Adri) after doing so. Her mouth fell into a scowl.

“I don’t need you here, Ad – del Riano. Just leave me alone.”

Adri had already accepted that, but hesitated. Emman sensed that.

“Adri.”

The temperature in the room dropped a couple of degrees. Without looking back at Adri, Emman faced the wall, turning away from the other completely.

“Just fucking leave before your goddamn Watcher comes back and beats me to death.”

It was at that moment when Adri stood up, face void of emotion.

Emman heard the clicking of heels against the floor, the door opening, and then it closing. Sighing to herself, she turned back around, facing the door.

The girl’s copper eyes widened slightly.

On the chair where Adri had sat was Lux, its’ black eyes looking right into her as Adri’s had did before.