Shattered Relations | Aru Shah AU |

XXXI

ARU
"I still haven't forgiven you," she said, stubbornly. 

"I didn't ask you to," Kara's voice was frail and weak. Aru felt her stomach churn. 

I still haven't forgiven her... she told herself, trying to be firm. Or have I?

I HAVEN'T, she repeated, and took a deep breath, and clenched her fists. 

"I'm not calling for you. I'm calling for Rudy." 

"The DJ kid? Mini's boyfriend?" 

"Yeah. What do you know about Takshaka Sarpa?" 

There was a sharp sound on the other end of the line, as Kara said, "He's a super important in Supermundus—you could even call him the Dormitator's lieutenant." 

"...We figured. Do you have any proof that he works for the Dormitator?" 

"Not exactly. At least, I don't think so." 

"Don't beat about the bush, Kara," she grumbled, feeling her stomach clench once more. 

"I've met him a few times, and others I've handled transactions for the shady stuff he did. It's probably hidden in my room." 

Of course it is, she thought, before tuning back into what Kara was saying. "...had a codename. It was Saap."

"Saap," she repeated, tonelessly, trying out the word on her tongue. 

"Mm-hm." 

An awkward silence filled in, before Kara asked, "How are you doing?" 

Aru's fingers curled in on herself, and she was tempted to answer, until Kara's last words echoed back to her: You would've gotten what you deserved.

"Fine," she said, shortly. 

"I miss you," she heard Kara mumble. "You and Dad," 

Aru felt her walls come back up, brick-by-brick. 

"Maybe... maybe you should've thought about us before you ran off and began working with an illegal organization." She mumbled, the words escaping her. 

She braced herself for Kara's next words, but there was just a tiny sigh. 

"That's the problem, Aru—I wasn't thinking," Kara's tone was regretful, as she heard a bitter laugh. 

"Oh, how I wish I thought through my decisions back then." 

"Me too," Aru whispered, regret like an anchor weighing down her heart. 

"I love you, Aru," 

Those words felt like a knife to the heart, because Aru wasn't sure whether they were true or not. Aru felt conflicted between replying or not. 

"You don't have to say it back, I just... I just wanted you to know," 

Click. 

Aru turned the words around in her head. 

I just wanted you to know. 

But she still heard Mini's scream, the disbelief in Leslie's voice in the moments before her death, and Nate's crying, all warped by her imagination, the echoes refusing to fade. 

She opened her eyes again, trying to muster up some courage and determination. She jumped out of her chair, before whispering to herself, "I've got work to do." 

————

Kara's room felt like a preserved relic. Nothing was out of place, all the furniture was covered in a thick layer of dust, and, as Aru dragged her finger along the side of Kara's doorframe, she saw that her finger was covered in dust too.