Heroes

Chapter 31: Midnight Arrival at Lintu and the Baby Ihana

   It was 3:00 in the morning. We all groaned as we woke up to the train conductor saying, "Attention, all passengers, we have arrived at our last stop of Lintu. Please gather you're luggage and make your way to the front of the vehicle. Welcome to Palauttaa Mieleen. We hope you enjoy your stay."

   We stepped out of the train. The streets were quiet and the air was cold, much colder than we were used to during the end of September. Streetlights illuminated our way as we followed Arianna who pulled up a map on her phone. We were in the Kasvu neighborhood, a peaceful residential area that was the furthest district away from the city center where Ritari Castle was. Therefore, we had quite a ways to go. We tiredly strolled down an empty street. Rue was following in the back with a thermos full of coffee, but suddenly, she stopped and turned to an alleyway across from her. I noticed and started to walk over to her. "Hey, what is it?" I asked.

   "I thought I saw something move," she told me. "I could've sworn I did."

   Right as she said that a small shadow was spotted by us. It looked like a little hand. Rue and I looked at each other, nodded, and then proceeded to walk into the alleyway. There was a small cardboard box that looked like it was shaking. Everyone else gathered around. Rue lifted the long, rectangular flaps of the box, and under three squares of fleece was a sleeping baby girl, at least no more than a few weeks old. Rue's eyes shifted from serious to soft and concerned. The baby was shivering from the cold despite being wrapped head to toe in fleece. Her sand-colored skin was splotched in red which was also due to the frigid midnight temperature. Her butter-colored hair peaked from the wrap of fleece and appeared to have frost growing. She was uncomfortable and she started crying. We all looked at each other and didn't know what to do. Rue glanced around, sighed reluctantly, and picked the baby up. She rocked her in her arms and it seemed to calm her down. "Wow, Rue, I didn't know you knew how to be so motherly," I commented.

    Rue glared at me and told me, "One, don't call me that again if don't want me to slit your mouth from ear to ear. Two, I don't know how to be a mother. I never had one. You know that."

     I nodded quickly. "God, this girl is really cold. I should take her to a hospital, I suppose," Rue said. "Right?"

     "You probably should. She could have hyperthermia if she's been out here this long," Dahlia informed.

      Rue looked at the baby, and then back at us and questioned, "But, you guys need all the help you can get. I can't leave. I have a debt to repay for all the damage I caused 2 years ago."

       I grabbed her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "Listen, Rue. I already forgave you. You're not indebted to me in anyway," I made clear. "We are on a mission, yes. A dangerous one too, but I can't ignore this, so get a move on to a hospital, now."

       Rue nodded and ran out of the alley with a baby in her arms. I looked at the clock on my phone. It was only 3:15 and the sky was still an inky bluish-black. Kuragari could be lurking around or other criminals could be too. "Alright, everyone listen up. We're in a much different situation than our last 3 stops. Those stops we arrived in during daylight which means Kuragari had a slim chance of showing up. Now, however, it's midnight meaning he or any other random criminals might give us a hard time. As such, we'll split up. Mom, Dad, Beth, Lou, Arianna, Shiro, Suzume, and Zay, we'll keep in touch and be on look out for anything or anyone suspicious while Sagira, Dahlia, Briar, Espinho, Blythe, Uncle Finn, and Hinata head to Ritari Castle and look for the Bravery Gem," I stated.

      Everyone nodded, but Pascal asked, "What about me and Maddie?"

       "You two....," I began, pausing to think of an explanation or job that they could do before a lighbulb went off in my brain. "Maddie remember when you disguised yourself as a mall security guard last year in order to sneak in after hours and get Grandpa his birthday gift because you paid for it but then forgot it and no one assumed a thing?"

       "Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" Maddie inquired.

        "You're literally the master of disguise from every heist movie ever. Use that mastery and see if you can access the city's security cameras to help us with the lookout. That way, you and Pascal won't be out in the cold and will be safe."

          "Got it. Will do."

          I smiled slightly and ordered, "Alright, let's get moving."

         We ran off in different directions. In the meantime, Rue was at a children's hospital with the baby she found. A doctor by the name of Kiva Uskollinen had helped treat the baby's hypothermia. "Excuse me," Rue began to ask, "I was wondering where I could get paperwork to adopt her since she looked like she had been abandoned."

         "Oh, well, for people here, we have to submit an application and have proof of residency before while going through adoption counseling, but since you said you're a foreigner, I'm sure they'll only give you an interview and some paperwork to fill out and hand into the court," Dr. Uskollinen explained.

          Rue smiled and replied, "Great. Do you have a birth certificate or anything I could find her name with?"

          "We could do a DNA test," Dr. Uskollinen answered. "If we can figure out who her parents are, I'm sure will find some sort of identification."

            Rue nodded and they went through with the DNA test. Rue held the baby as she let out small little sobs from the needle she was pricked with. When Dr. Uskollinen came back, her face was solemn. "This baby was born to Jana Pawlowski who was born in the country of Wiesenkuss 16 years ago making her 16 and Anton Peltoniemi who was 40 and born here. The unfortunate thing is both of them were found dead in a murder-suicide 5 days ago. They found out Peltoniemi had a history of being friends with men who ran a trafficking ring. It's likely Pawlowski was a victim of trafficking and was assaulted, resulting in the baby girl you're holding. The baby's name is Ihana. She was born 6 days ago. It's safe to assume she was abandoned just minutes or hours after birth," she explained. 

          Rue's eyes widened. She assumed that something tragic happened to Ihana's parents or that they simply weren't fit to be parents, but she never considered what Dr. Uskollinen had said. She also didn't think that Ihana had been out in the cold for almost a week. Rue gulped down her worry and sorryness and responded with a quiet, "Well, she's mine, at least she will be. I'll keep her safe. I swear it."

         Rue got directions to an adoption agency and the courthouse and bundled Ihana in her hoodie to keep her warm. Rue may be cold and reserved on the surface, and she is, but in that moment, I think her heart was feeling warmer than the typical, cynical, dark-mannered hole it was. 

((RUE IS GONNA BE A MOM?))