Celebrating (open)

It was early morning, and the sky was overcast with thick, dark grey clouds, which threatened rain later, seemingly draining downtown of all colour. The police district headquarters were busy, even at this early hour, people coming and going through the doors, both officers and suspects.

Etain Adair was one such person. Her long red hair was disheveled and her green eyes had huge bags under them, and she looked drawn, pale. The pale pink jacket, dark blue long sleeved sweatshirt and light blue jeans she wore were the same she'd had on since yesterday. She had been kept and questioned for just shy of twenty hours.

It wasn't her fault the job she had taken had turned out so badly. It had started off as a simple infidelity case, a husband wanting to know if his wife was cheating on him Etain had found out she was. With the husbands secretary. Not only that, but she'd found out that the wife and her mistress were embezzling funds from the husbands company. Etain had taken the evidence to the client, who then confronted his wife and secretary. A fight soon broke out and Etain was forced to defend herself. All three of them had ended up with multiple lacerations and bruises, while Etain only had a slightly swollen cheek from the first punch that had been thrown at her. The swelling had gone down.

She stepped down from the last step and sighed. What a way to celebrate our anniversary, she thought as she walked across the police station carpark. Tired, exhausted, in the same clothes I wore yesterday, and just leaving the police station. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she thought about Noemi, the woman she loved, who had died on their third anniversary. This day would have been their fifth.

She closed her eyes as she tried to fight down the waves of depression threatening to overwhelm her. She shook her head, her long red hair waving about slightly. Today was their anniversary, she wasn't going to dwell on the sad things today, she was going to focus on the happy things. 'I need a drink,' she muttered, heading to a bar, any bar.

Takashi let out a deep sigh as he nearly missed his alarm going off. Lucky for him, his second alarm went off, the second one being his nagging grandma beating him over the head with her walking cane. Part robot or not, getting hit on the head still hurts. But he was able to get dressed and get out the door. He was still a little early so he could just take his time walking to school. But in order for him to be one time, he had to skip breakfast. But at least his grandma was nice enough to make him his lunch for the day and as always, it was twice the size of a normal one.

As he walked to the school, he would soon pass by the police headquarters. Funny as every time he walks by it, all he could remember his how proud his dad was being a officer of the law. Takashi only wished that he could be just as a good man as he was. But as he walked over, he saw a woman passing by him. At that moment, he saw a tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Stopping in his tracks, he turned his head to look at the woman for a bit. Reaching into his pocket he took out his handkerchief. He then walked up to the woman. Getting in front of her, he stopped as he offered it to her. "Use this. You don't want watery eyes when walking around. You might run into something."

About to walk to away from the police station, Etain suddenly found a handkerchief before her eyes. She looked at the hand holding the hankie, the at the person to whom the hand belonged. It was a cute boy, a bit younger than she was. A slight blush coloured her cheeks despite how she felt. 'Ummm... thanks,' she said, taking the hankie, before letting out a tired chuckle at what the boy had said.

She dried her eyes and looked at the hankie, noticing the smudges of yesterdays make up on it. She sighed and looked at the dark haired boy. 'Sorry,' she said, holding the hankie out to him. 'I guess my make up ran.' She wasn't wearing much make up, just a bit of eyeliner and mascara, but she'd been wearing it for over twenty four hours. And now she was crying, making her make up run, ruining this nice boys hankie! The depression welled up again. Gritting her teeth, she tried to fight it down, but it was a losing battle. The tears came to the corners of her eyes again, running down her cheeks as a choked sob escaped her throat.

Taking it back, he looked at his now messy handkerchief and sigh as he put it away for now. "Now worries. It can be cleaned up in a wash." There was no point in getting up set over a messy hankie as he knew well enough it could be washed out easily. But before he could say anything or just leave her by for that matter, he looked at her again. She was clearly up set about something. What could it be? He could only take a few guessing seeing as they were in a police station. Maybe someone she knew got locked up, someone she knew died? Who knew, not like he could know or anything. But one thing was clear and that she was upset and that's all that mattered to him.

Without really thinking about it or how it might look, Takashi out of nowhere gave the stranger a hug. "It's ok. You should let it all out. It'll only be worse if you hold it in." From that hug, Takashi's body gave off a strange warmth. Not human warmth like any other but at the same time welcoming. The boy might know this was a odd thing to do but this was the only thing he could think of at the time and hoped it would calm her down.

Fighting back the tears, Etain was taken by surprise when this strange boy gave her a hug. Her eyes opened wide, and she began to push away, but the tears wouldn't stop. They kept flowing. Soon, she found herself crying into this strangers shirt. Sobs racked her body as her tears soaked the boys shirt.

After several moments, Etain managed to get herself under control again. She stopped crying, though the tears still flowed, and she still held onto the boy. 'I... I'm sorry,' she said into his shoulder. 'I... I've also ruined your shirt.'

As he held the woman in the hug, he could feel he tears soaking his shirt. It wasn't surprising as it seemed like she needed a good tear from whatever was on her mind. So a soaked shirted and messy handky was a small price to pay for it. He would pat her on the back a few times. He would then slowly let her go from a hug and looked at his shirt. Now it matched his handky. Well, nothing a wash could clean up after all.

He just kept a smile on his face as he looked at the woman. "Nah. Not like it can't be washed right?" Takashi just simply just laughed it off but he knew that once he got him, his grandma would kill him for dirtying his shirt again. Looking around a bit, he saw a bench and took a sit. "So you want to talk about it? I have time."

Standing up straight, Etain looked at what her tears and smeared makeup had done to the boys shirt. It wasn't too bad, but it was bad enough. 'If you need to replace it, or it needs dry cleaning, I'll pay for it,' she said, looking at the boy. 'It's the least I could do.'

Looking at the bench, Etain debated whether she wanted to sit and talk about it. Especially when sober. But she couldn't just drag this strange boy to a bar, just to drown her sorrows. Could she? She mentally shook her head and sat next to the boy. She placed her bag on the ground, wound her foot around the handle, then leant forwards on her knees. 'It's... it's a special day today, for me,' she began. 'Today is the the fifth anniversary of me and my... love.' She swallowed, wiped her eyes. 'It's also the second anniversary of her death.' The tears flowed again, but she cried silently as she remembered that day, two years ago.

He watched as she came over and sat next to him. Takashi didn't mind hearing people's problems and what they were feeling. He always had a ear to hear people out when they needed it and she looked like a person that needed. So he sat there and heard what she had to say to him. It was hard to think what could have made her so upset and then he heard that word, 'death'. It was indeed a tough one when you lose someone close, he should know that feeling well as he had already last three in his life that he could never replace.

"I see. Sorry to hear that. It's hard getting pass that moment of thought. That the person you loved have gone away somewhere you can't follow." He could still remember waking up all those years ago when he not only found out that his body was no longer human but his parents were gone as well. Looking at his hand that went in front of him, he clinched it into a fist. "But you know something? It's ok to be sad that they are no longer here. But what should matter is not that they are gone, but what they left behind. The smiles they brought you, the laughter, and the time spent. The pain of losing them won't go away. But you should always look at the happier thoughts. At least, that's what I do."

There was a smile on his face as he spoke that out. For a long time, this was how he got by after losing those close to them. They maybe gone, but they were still with him in spirit and he could remember the good times he had with them while they were here. He then put his clinched fist down and leaned back on the bench. "So you should be thankful what the person you loved brought you."

Sitting sobbing quietly, Etain listened to the boy as he spoke about losing someone, and she could tell he was talking from experience. She couldn't help but smile as he continued, explaining how he dealt with his loss, whatever loss that was. 'You're right, I know you are,' she said, looking down at her bag. 'That's normally what I try to do on our anniversary. I stay in, have some wine, cook her favourite meal and watch our favourite movies. At least I did last year. But this year. This year I spend the night in a cell for defending myself, and now I've in what I was wearing yesterday, I haven't had a shower since yesterday morning, and I haven't had a proper meal since lunch yesterday.' She sighed and shook her head. 'I... I would let go and focus on the happier things all the time. Her hair, her eyes, her smile.' She smiled as she remembered everything that made up Noemi. Her smile faded as memories of that day flashed before her eyes. 'But I can't. Not entirely. Not yet.' She sat back and looked at the sky. 'She didn't die in an accident, nor by some illness. She was killed.

'On our anniversary I found her in the middle of the road. Dead. I was then questioned by the police for a couple of days. I don't think they understood our relationship. And since I was the partner, I was the first suspect.' She gave a short, sharp laugh. 'I then found out that Noemi wasn't the first. There had been similar deaths around the city, and around the country.' Etain sighed and looked at her bag again. 'So I can't rest, let it go, move on entirely until I find her killer and stop them.'

As Takashi sat there, he heard everything she said. Doing the things they did on their anniversary. It reminded him what he did after his parents died. But even if his grandparents tried to make things the same, it wasn't anymore. But then she told him how it all ended. Someone going around killing people. Even if it wasn't something new to hear, to Takashi it meant a lot. Having been a child of a police officer, he had a strong sense of justice. But he wish he could do something to make it better for her. Not like he could just hunt that person down for her.

So for now, he could only offer her some words and one other thing. Reaching into his bag, he took out his lunch box, and handed it to her. While he didn't really want to share his meal, he felt he had to with her and hoped that would make her feel a little better. "Eat up. My grandma maybe crazy, but she knows how to cook." Putting his bag down, he let out a sigh as he looked up at the sky. "But you know. I don't think she would want you to do what you are doing. I don't think she would want you to keep doing this. I mean I understand you feel like you need to find this killer, but I don't think she would want someone she loved to get hurt like that." Takashi only said what he felt was right. Sure it was easy to stay where you were and keep doing things like nothing had happened. But he knew that in order to get better, one must be able to move on.

Sitting, staring at her bag, her mind a jumble of thoughts, Etain was surprised when a lunchbox appeared in front of her. She blinked, looked from the lunch box, to the boy, then back to the box. 'I... I can't accept that,' she said. 'It's your lunch. I've got enough to get me something to eat, and a drink or three.' She smiled at him and pushed the lunch box back with a shake of her head. Just as her stomach made itself known. Her cheeks coloured, though she smiled. 'Honestly, I'll be okay.

'I know she wouldn't want me doing it for revenge or just for her. And I'm not,' Etain said, also looking up at the sky. 'I'm doing it because I don't want anyone else to go through what I have. There have been far too many people, too many families hurt by this killer. I'm doing it for them. And to stop anyone else from being hurt.' She closed her eyes and sighed. 'I'd be lying if I said part of me didn't want revenge. And, I guess I'm afraid,' she admitted. 'Afraid that if I let go of it, there'll be nothing of me left, that everything will come crashing down, that I'll drown in the despair and darkness.'

She opened her eyes and looked around, watching the people walking around. 'Though I could never give it up, not now. Even though I really don't like finding missing pets, I get far too many of them, I do them mainly so I can see the smiling faces of the clients after I've returned their pets.' She smiled, a smile that started to reach her eyes. 'That smile makes the frustration of doing yet another missing pet case worth it.' She turned to the boy, a slight blush on her cheeks. 'I've just realised, I haven't introduced myself yet, and I've been dumping my rubbish on you. I'm Etain Adair.' She held her hand out for him to shake. 'Pleased to meet you, and thank you.'