Windmill scene from Beauty and the Beast request - BeckyMerari1808 Katie is her's and not mine. Some time after Beauty and the Bad Boy. Falcon is Musical_Theater_Nerd, Pups belong to 23gatkins, and Elley and Flavi are mine. I think I got everybody's OC who are in this book currently. Slight sadness warning.
Homes are not something to be forgotten. Katie knows that better than anyone. She walks hand in hand with her boyfriend, Oscar Delancey down a street in Manhattan. The two pass an old building and Katie stops. She stares at it for a moment. Long enough that Oscar becomes a little concerned for his girlfriend.
"Katie, you okay?" He asks and Katie points to the building.
"I used to live here with my family," She says and Oscar nods, taking it all in.
"What happened to them? Where are they?" He asks.
"Well, you know my brother and sister. My parents, however, are another story," Katie replies, looking at the old building and thinking of all of the memories that had happened there. She walks up to the door and gently presses on it to see if it is open. To her surprise, the door opens and Katie steps inside. Memories flood back all at once and tears gather in the corner of her eyes. She sits down on the ground and begins to cry. The inside of the building contains smoke damage and when Katie closes her eyes, she can still see flames ravaging up the side of the lobby to the apartment building. Oscar, just by his powers of observation, also recognizes that a fire has happened.
"Katie, I'm so sorry," Oscar whispers as he sits down next to her and hugs his girlfriend. Katie slowly gets up off the floor and begins to wander up the broken stairs toward where her family used to live.
"Oscar, this is just the beginning of the story," Katie says quietly and the two venture up the stairs.
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Flavia slept in this morning. She is only awaken by the sound of knocking on the door of the small spare room that she shares with Pups, Elley, Katie, and Falcon. Flavi sits up and walks over to the door. She pulls it open to see Racetrack standing on the other side.
"You okay, Flavs?" Race asks and Flavi nods.
"I'se gotta sell papes," She says and shuts the door. Race stares at the door and knocks on it again.
"Flavi?" He asks and Patches, Crutchy's kitten, wanders down the stairs toward him. A couple moments later, Flavi wanders out fully dressed and Race smiles at her. Patches rubs on Race's leg and lets out a small meow. Flavi stares in shock at Patches, rubbing on Race's leg and then shrugs nonchalantly before heading up the stairs to the bathroom. Race and Patches follow her into the bathroom. Flavi puts her hair up and hides it in her cap, continuing to ignore Race as she goes about her morning or at this point afternoon business. Race picks up Patches and continues to follow Flavi around, Patches meowing in protest.
"Race, why are you following me?" Flavi asks as she applies some dirt makeup to her face to help disguise the fact that she is a girl.
"You'se ignoring me and I want you to pay attention to me," Race says and Patches meows again, "So does Patches." Flavi leans down and pats Patches on the head before walking away. Race sighs and lets the cat go. Flavi approaches the door to the Lodging House and prepares to go outside.
"Don't follow me, Race. I know what I'm doing and I'll be fine," She says as she steps down into the street and walks away. Race stands there watching her retreating form. He waits about five seconds before deciding to follow her.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Falcon plops down on the side of the street next to Albert.
"I'm exhausted," She says and Albert nods his head.
"Tell me something new," He says as he takes off his Newsie cap and runs a hand through his hair before putting his hat back on again. Something across the street catches Falcon's eye.
"Al, look at that!!! That shop across the street!!" Falcon shouts and points at a tiny shop underneath some apartments. Albert gazes up from his newspaper that he is reading and looks at what Falcon is pointing to.
"Yeah, what of it?" Albert asks moodily, terribly irritated from the heat of the summer day.
"My parents used to own that shop before..." Falcon stops in her tracks as the memory of her parents' death floods into her mind.
"Before what?" Albert asks and Falcon says sadly,
"Before they died."
"Oh."
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"Elley!" A voice shouts throughout the crowds of New York. Elley Kelly looks around, trying to find the source of the voice. Jack Kelly, her brother, surprises her by grabbing onto her arm. Elley wrenches her arm free from her brother.
"Jaaccckkk, what do you want? I'se tryin ta sell my papes here!" Elley whines dramatically. Jack grabs onto her arm again and holds on tighter so Elley cannot pull away.
"I'se got something to show you," Jack says and Elley glare at him.
"Can't it wait? I'm trying to make a living on selling newspapers here and you of all people should know that that is not a small feat," Elley responds in a salty manner and Jack groans.
"Just come with me, will you? It won't take that long," Jack pleads and Elley nods. The two siblings begin to walk to a different part of Manhattan.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Katie gently pushes open the door to the apartment and looks around inside. Everything is just the way that she remembers her family leaving it. Smoke damage crawling up the walls and plaster hanging from the ceiling, threatening to drop on anyone who dared to venture into the dilapidated building. Oscar holds back a gasp at the terrible state of the building.
"What started this?" Oscar asks quietly.
"Gas lamp explosion and the fire spread to other apartments, including ours," Katie says and the tears leak out of her eyes.
"Was it an accident?" Oscar asks and Katie shrugs.
"No," She chokes out, "The people who did this hated the landlords and made them pay."
"They are not going to get away with this," Oscar says and Katie nods her head.
"You're right. They're not. They died in the explosion which for some reason they thought was not going to hurt them," Katie says and Oscar hugs her tightly. "This was my whole world, Oscar. Now, it's gone," Katie whispers sadly and Oscar holds onto her even tighter.
"Oh, Katie. I'm so sorry," He whispers as Katie sobs into his shoulder. Katie pulls away from his shoulder and notices something lying on the ground.
"My mother's diary!" She gasps and grabs onto it. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening from below echoes through the building. Katie looks around for any last minute things to grab.
"Katie, we've got to go. We aren't alone anymore," Oscar says and he pulls Katie out of the broken window and onto the fire escape. The two hurry away and run down to the awaiting streets of Manhattan.
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Flavi wanders into Brooklyn, her former home borough and the home of the races. She forgets about one person until she feels an arm across her shoulders. Wanting to be alone, Flavi shoves whoever is touching her's arm off of her own. Spot Conlon, the King of Brooklyn himself, slips right back on.
"Not interested," Flavi says and repeats her earlier action. Spot rolls his eyes and walks away. Flavi turns around and weaves her way toward where she used to live. She stands in the street and she can hear the loud voices of the DiAngelo family from the street. Flavi grabs onto the fire escape adn starts to climb up to the window just to hear what her family is talking about. Their voices speak rapid fire Italian and Flavi leans close to the window just under the sill so she can understand. Deep down, she misses her family and regrets running away. Most of the Newsies have no more family living and yet, Flavi ran away from her own. They were not kind to her in the least and were very cold to her, but that was still no excuse for running away. Maybe it was time to come home for a little bit, maybe she should.....
"What are you doing here, you filthy child?" Her mother's voice interrupts her thoughts. Flavi scrambles to her feet and starts to run, but her mother is faster.
"Please, just leave me be. I'll leave. I promise. I knew I never should have come back," Flavi cries out loudly.
"Whoever you are, you look so much like my ridiculous runaway of a daughter and you sound just like her. Impostor or not, I never want to see your dirty face around here again!" Her mother shouts and Flavi runs as fast as she can down the stairs. A police officer wanders around the corner to check out the commotion. Flavi's feet hit the street and she is grabbed the police officer.
"Ma'am, keep your children under control! We don't need any more ragamuffins running around this city! Have a hard enough time keeping them off the street as it is!" The police officer shouts loudly and Mrs. DiAngelo raises a fist in her anger
"You call that filthy creature my child???" She shouts questioningly, "Take her back to your precious little juvenile prison. I'm sure she will enjoy it there." Flavi gasps, knowing about the Refuge and the Newsies' experience there. She struggles harder and harder. Until, she is laying flat on her back because someone has kicked her and the police officer to the ground. Racetrack Higgins swing above her on a clothes line wearing a nice pair of pants and shirt.
"Race?" Flavi gasps as Race lands on the DiAngelo's fire escape. He swings back down and Flavi jumps and catches the end. Race helps pull her up even higher and Flavi grins her appreciation up to him. The two land on another fire escape across the street and Race helps her down. Their faces are very close when they land and Flavi can feel Race's breath on her face.
"Now, don't start on how I followed you when it turns out you needed to be followed. Why did you come back here anyways?" Race asks and Flavi shrugs.
"To relive the past," She says and Race chuckles as he throws an arm over his best friend's shoulders.
"That was your first mistake," He says as the two of them walk back to Manhattan.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"We used to sell flowers," Falcon says and Albert raises an eyebrow at her.
"Can't see you, Race, and Katie selling flowers," He remarks and Falcon wanders across the street. Albert follows closely behind.
"Yeah, we didn't do the selling. It was mostly our parents, but we were there," Falcon replies as she pulls on the door only to discover that it was locked.
"Need some help?" Albert asks, reaching into his pocket for some bobby pins.
"You just carry those around?" Falcon asks him and Albert shrugs..
"Picked them up when I was kissing a pretty lady and I played with her hair," He says like it is a completely normal thing to do.
"Sometimes, I think you are just as bad as Race," Falcon replies as Albert starts to work on the locked door. A satisfying click rings out that both of them can hear. After checking to make sure that no cops are around, Albert pushes open the door and Falcon follows him inside.
"Youse wasn't kidding," Albert says as he can still smell the faint scent of flowers in the store.
"No, I wasn't," Falcon says as she looks around the store. She finds an old box with her father's initials engraved on it. In it, she finds a deck of cards, a cigar, an old flower, and a letter from her mother to her father inside. Falcon carefully folds up the letter and puts it into her pocket, hoping to read it later.
"So, this is where you used to play?" Albert asks and Falcon nods.
"Yeah, I used to make skirts out of broken flower petals for my dolls," Falcon says quietly as being behind the counter brings memory after memory to her mind. She gently closes her father's box and looks around some more. The shelves have been cleared and she sees some paperwork on top of the counter for the next store coming in. No one had been able to afford this space for awhile and apparently, someone now had the money.
"We'se should probably get back to sellin papes. Otherwise, we'se won't get ta eat," Albert suggests and Falcon nods in agreement.
"Yeah, we probably should. I'm glad I came," Falcon says as the two exit the small store front and head back to the streets to finish selling their papes.
"It was a nice to get a peek into your past. Thanks for taking me there," Albert says and Falcon smiles at him.
"Think nothin of it."
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The Kelly siblings arrive at a street corner in a very poor part of Manhattan. Elley looks around, extremely confused.
"Jack, why are we at a street corner in a not so great part of town?" She asks quietly.
"I want to show you something," Jack replies and Elley rolls her eyes.
"That's what ya said earlier and ya still haven't shown me anything. Besides, this is a street corner, not anything special," Elley remarks as she looks around at it.
"Ya sure?" Jack asks and he turns her around to face the side of the building. A mural of two kids running down a busy Manhattan street stares back at the two teens.
"Whoa!" Elley exclaims, "who painted that?"
"Mom and Dad worked on it together one night. Paper was too expensive and they ran out of what they had so, they painted it on the side of the building," Jack says and Elley shakes her head.
"Guess rebellion runs in the family," She chuckles and Jack pulls his sister into a side hug.
"You could say that again," He says.
"Were both Mom and Dad good at art?" Elley asks.
"Mom was the real artist. She taught Dad some of her tricks and he just applied what he was taught. It didn't turn out too bad," Jack answers as he looks at the mural.
"That's neat! Are the kids us?" Elley asks and Jack nods.
"Yeah, I think they are supposed to be. Mom and Dad showed me this the minute the paint had dried on this," Jack says with a chuckle. "They were so happy with their work."
"I just wish they were here to enjoy it with us," Elley says sadly and Jack nods his head.
"Me too, kiddo. Me too."
AN:/ Heyo!!! This book is back!!!! So sorry that there have been few updates lately. I have been busy and when I come home, I don't typically have enough energy to write!! I also apologize as this one is kind of a shorty especially compared to that last one. 6000 words is kind of hard to beat. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this!! More Newsies is coming at ya this summer as well as other stuff. Hopefully I'll even work more on some original stuff too. I don't know, I'm hoping to write War Wonders (Wonder Woman x Newsies book), start the Big Book of Newsies, and finish one of my current books. Don't know which one, but something needs to get finished so I can start something new. Feel free to comment, vote, or do whatever it is you like to do!! Thanks for doing that. It lets me know that you enjoy or don't enjoy my writing and it helps me know the kind of things that appeal to you guys in my writing. I am going to try to update There's A Life That's Worth the Living in the next couple of days(that murder mystery Newsies book that unexpectedly went on hiatus aka I ran out of inspiration for a second), if you haven't read it, I would encourage you to check it out. It was and maybe still is, I wouldn't know because it has been months since I've updated, a fan favorite. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this oneshot. I think the next one is going to be a 1920s theme just for the heck of it and because I love that time period. See you around, friends!!!
-Aisling