A Month Of Kaider

Twenty One: So Much For Pasta

A/N: *coughs* pilots *coughs*  |-/

Cinder yells in frustration.

She slides down so she's sitting in the middle of the room, cross-legged.

"Cinder, it's okay..." Winter whispers, kneeling beside her.

"No. No, it's not. It's not okay."

"He'll be okay," Winter soothes.

Cinder looks up, shaking her head. "You didn't see him. We have to get him back."

"This is insane, we're students!" Scarlet exclaims. "We shouldn't have to do this."

"So you're not going to help?" Cinder asks incredulously.

Scarlet scoffs, "What do you take me for? Of course I'm helping! But we're not doing this without a plan."

"Hey, Cinder, you said he had a droid, right?" Cress asks.

Cinder's eyes widen. "Oh my stars, Cress, you're a genius."

Cidner jumps up, rooting around for Winter's notebook.

Scarlet, Cress and Winter just stare at her until she finds it and flicks through the worn pages.

"Got it. Kai and I made Nainsi an accessible email account... Cress, can you send a message to this?"

"Oh, come on, is the sky blue?"

Winter looks out of the window. "No?"

Cress elbows her. "You know what I mean."

"How can we be sure that Nainsi is with Kai though?" Scarlet asks.

Cinder curses under her breath but then shakes her head. "She will be, she's usually kept hidden in the basement anyway..."

"We should wait until the boys get back anyway," Winter says.

"We are back," Jacin announces, laughing.

Wolf kisses Scarlet before turning to face everyone else. "We can't get into the basement from the outside."

"Tell me there's more to this?" Cinder asks hopefully.

Thorne nods. "Of course, my fellow detention buddy. We can get in through the storage room at the back, it's totally empty."

"Then we just have to find the basement. It seems like it's near that." Jacin puts one arm around Winter as he speaks. "It shouldn't be hard to avoid those two."

Cinder nods. "We're also going to try and email him."

"Are you sure? What if Rikan sees?" Jacin frowns.

"No way would Kai keep Nainsi out in the open anyway," Cinder replies.

The seven of them start to make a quick plan, deciding who's on lookout and who's going to go inside to find Kai.

In the end, it's decided that Cinder has to go in, as well as Thorne and Wolf. Cress will stay at Winter's house so she and Winter can communicate with all of them. Jacin and Scarlet are in charge of making sure Rikan and Simone are preoccupied elsewhere, or they'll create a diversion if needed.

"Hold on, we should probably take a break to eat," Winter suggests. "It's pasta night too!"

Cinder smiles, her stomach already rumbling at the thought. Nobody is against the idea of food so the seven of them head downstairs.

"Hey guys, want to grab your plates?" Evret asks, already familiar with the whole group.

"Sure, Dad. Where's Mum?" Winter asks as she pulls the plates out of the cupboard.

"She should be on her way, I guess there's just traffic," Evret replies, smiling.

Winter nods and grabs some glasses, handing a few to Cinder and Scarlet as well. Once the table's ready, Evret sighs, "I better call your Mum and ask her if she's going to make it in time to eat."

Cinder and Winter both smile as the doorbell rings, Evret shaking his head. "Maybe she's here already."

He gets up to open the door, leaving the seven of them at the table.

They hear him talking to someone who clearly isn't Solstice and, when Evret doesn't return after five minutes, get up to see what the problem is.

"Oh no," Cinder breathes as she sees the flashing red and blue lights outside.

"Mum got arrested?" Winter asks, frowning.

Scarlet's face softens. "Oh, honey... I don't think that's the case."

"Then what-?" Winter trails off as she pales, running forwards.

Evret turns to them, startled, and holds up a hand.

"I'm awfully sorry," The woman says again, her face full of pity.

"No..." Cinder shakes her head, hoping that they've all got the wrong idea and this is just a misunderstanding.

"Would you like me to accompany you now or would you like to make your own way to the hospital?"

Evret makes a choked sound before nodding. "How many can you permit?"

"Three," The woman replies.

He nods again. "Could you give us five minutes, please?"

The woman nods and Evret thanks her before shutting the door.

He turns to them with a solemn expression. "I'm sorry, you're going to have to head home."

"We understand," Wolf says kindly, turning.

Scarlet heads with him but Jacin kisses Winter and envelops her in a tight hug before leaving, murmuring a soft 'I love you' that makes her smile. Thorne ebows Cinder silently and she nods to him but Cress doesn't accept that, hugging her before Thorne pulls her away too.

The pasta lies, forgotten, on the table, never to be eaten.

"Dad?" Winter asks, her voice small.

"Oh, Winter, I'm sorry," Evret mumbles. "Cinder, come here."

He pulls them both into a hug, sniffling. "Are you girls ready to go?"

Winter wipes her eyes. "Will Mum be okay?"

"I don't know," Evret answers truthfully.

"What happened?" Cinder inquires.

"A car accident," Evret tells them. "The other driver was killed instantly and Solstice is in critical condition."

Winter clutches Cinder's hand. "Cinder..."

"I know, I know..." she murmurs back, guiding Winter to the policewoman's car.

The car journey is uneventful, Winter's quiet sobs filling the vehicle's silence. Cinder notes that Evret is silently crying too and her heart lurches.

She wishes she had Kai with her to help.

She can't bring herself to cry but there's a part of her that hopes it was all a mistake and Solstice is perfectly healthy, waiting for them with her warm smiles. There's a part of her that suspects otherwise but she shuts those thoughts out.

She has to physically pull Winter out of the car, letting her cousin cling onto her as they follow the policewoman. Evret glances at them every few seconds, as if to make sure they're not going to get injured as well.

"I hate to do this but I need to ask you a few questions first..." the receptionist says sadly.

Cinder blanks out the for rest of it, only registering white floors, Solstice's pale face, loud beeping, Winter's tearful face, a policewoman talking about paperwork and an unfamiliar car before she's back in her bed at Winter's place.

She shuts her eyes, hoping for any kind of escape from the day.

Look, an attempt at some feels... Hope you enjoyed and see you tomorrow!