It had been nearly three months after Indoles, or should I say, Oakley, had his lighting magic taken away. For the first week, he was unconscious, unable to move or do anything. He was soon able to regain consciousness after that, although he was not the same.
He was in many therapy classes, physical, mental, and speech. Ritchie or Flurry were always with him, no matter the time, day, or weather. He had no freedom and couldn't do anything without someone babying him.
Sure, he was in a lot of pain and had a hard time doing things, but what he hated more than that was being babied.
He had constructed a plan. Once everyone was asleep, he would sneak out the window and spend some time outside, alone, where no one could baby him.
It was now almost one in the morning as Oakly sat up, looking over at his sleeping father on the chair next to him. He slowly got up, doing his best not to make a sound.
Once he got out of bed, he made his way over to the window. He peered outside and once he saw no one coming by, he gently opened the window. A gust of cold wind blew into the empty room once the window was open.
Oakley prayed that Ritchie didn't awaken before hopping out the now open window. As he hopped onto the roof he closed the window behind him. A small noise was made, but Oakley paid no mind to it, thinking that it wouldn't awaken anyone.
Once he was steady on the roof, he concentrated his magic for the first time in months and shot out a vine. A wide grin grew onto his face as he looked at the vine.
He quickly jumped, swinging down to the ground. He walked for a few minutes toward the beach, the sounds of animals and the waves crashing his only comfort.
He shivered at the cold night winds, blowing against his skin. He wore a simple white nightgown with flowy sleeves and long, flowy pants. It may have been coving, but it was thin, letting the winds sweep through the fabric.
As he walked, he noticed a small clearing near the path to the water. He looked around before taking a calming, deep breath.
'In and out,' Oakley thought to himself, 'in and out,'
Once he calmed his nerves, he began to dance.
First position.
Arms up.
Bring the leg around and twirl.
Light and flowy, like a feather.
He danced to the waves, his eyes closed. A wave of relief washed over him, like the waves washing over the sand. He had never felt this calm. Not recently at least.
All of his fears, worries, and negative thoughts washed right out of him as he moved his body.
His confidence that he had been missing sprouted back up. He finally felt free.
He twirled around, leaping from place to place, doing spins all about the place.
An arabesque here.
Fourth position there.
He couldn't help the smile that had grown on his face like vines on an old, decaying building. Or the laughs of joy every time he flew through the sky.
He was so focused, he didn't notice the sun slowly rising over the water.
Or the shouts of his name.
"OAKLEY!"
Oakley snapped his head around, staring at the other blued haired man.
He was in the middle of the air.
He wasn't thinking about his dancing.
He had lost focus.
Instead of landing gracefully on his toes, he landed on his ankle.
Well almost. Ritchie was able to catch him at the last second before the poor boy twisted his ankle.
"My boy, what were you doing out here?" Ritchie looked at his son, who he held in his arms, "Why weren't you in your room? I was worried sick! I thought something had happened. You can't just run off like that,"
Oakley merely looked at Ritchie, unable to process what was going on. He tried to fight back the tears that began to conjure in his eyes. All he wanted to do was to be alone and to dance for a little while. To be free.
"Why would you leave like that?" Ritchie asked, staring deep into his son's eyes, trying to figure things out.
Oakley's mind was blank. He wanted to say a million words, but his mind couldn't come up with a way to say any of it.
He tried to say something, but it came out more of stammers than anything else.
"We need to tell Flurry, maybe you would talk to her," Ritchie stood up, holding his son bridal style, who's body gently shook. He didn't know why. Fear? Probably.
Ritchie took notice of this as he walked and sighed, "What's wrong my dear boy? You seem so scared. Did something happen when you left? I need to know so that I can help you. You seem very frightened. You almost broke your ankle when I found you,"
Oakley opened his mouth to speak, but instead of words coming out, he began to cry. His body shook as he tried to curl into a small ball. It was hard in Ritchie's arms.
Ritchie went into panic mode. He didn't do well with comforting people, and not knowing why his son was like this just made it worse.
"Um?" Ritchie looked down at his son, a confused-panicked look was spread across his face. He didn't know what to do in this situation, "I-It's okay my boy? You're safe here?"
Oakley looked up at him, his cries stopping for a spit moment. Richie thought he had calmed his son down and smiled a reassuring smile.
Unfortunately, it just made Oakley sadder, he began to sob. His body shook violently as he cried, trying to face away from his dad.
Ritchie went right back to panic mode. He didn't know what to do. He stood there, confused as hell, holding his sobbing son not knowing what to do.
"Ritchie!"
Ritchie turned his head to the sound of that noise.
"Flurry! Thank that Gods you're here! I don't know what to do!" He called out at the teal haired women, a small wave of relief hitting him. He knew that if anyone could help Oakley it was her.
"Oh dear Gods! What happened?!" Flurry called out, rushing over to her son's side.
"I don't know!" Ritchie exclaimed to her, handing Oakley over to her. She sat down, holding her sobbing son in her arms. Ritchie sat down in front of her, "He was gone last night and-"
"Wait he was gone!" Flurry looked up in shock.
"Well, yeah. When I woke up, he was not in his bed and the window was slightly open. I teleported all about before finding his presence and calling out to him. It took a few calls but when he finally noticed, he was in mid-air and almost landed on his ankle. I was able to catch him just in time. I asked what happened and he started crying and I don't know what to do!" Ritchie said what had happened while Flurry listened intently, trying to comfort her son in the meantime.
Flurry nodded and held the sobbing boy in her arms, "Is that what happened sweetie? Why did you leave?"
"I-Just... wanted- some-some alo-ne t-time," Oakley barely managed to make out through his sobs.
"Sweetie I can't understand you like that," Flurry calmly explained, brushing his blue hair out of his face, "Deeps breaths sweetie, deep breaths,"
Oakley tried but to no avail. His parents kept giving him reassuring words and ways to calm down, but he couldn't. Nothing was working. He could barely see, all he could hear was his sobs, a loud ringing noise, and his muffled parent's voices.
He could tell the voices were soft and caring and were trying to help him.
'They wouldn't be mad if you told them,' Oakley thought to himself, 'why can't I calm down? They would understand would they not? Probably. You're just acting up, you shouldn't be crying this hard about this!'
His mind swirled up thoughts, making it even harder to calm down. After almost an hour of trying to calm Oakley down, he passed out. He had cried himself to sleep.
Ritchie and Flurry looked back up at each other, worry whirled around in their eyes, both showing lots of concern for their son.
They two ended up bringing him back to his room to rest up. Richard sat on the chair next to the bed while Flurry sat on the bed, gently petting her son's soft, blue hair.
No one spoke. The room was silent except for the occasional choked sob from Oakley or the gentle breeze that came from the slightly opened window.
"What do you think happened that would have caused him to cry like this?" Flurry asked, looking down sadly at her son.
"I don't know, I wonder that too. People don't just cry like that for no reason,"
The two tried to ponder, but couldn't think of anything, so they just sat there instead.
Nearly two hours after Oakley fell asleep, he slowly opened his eyes to the blinding lights of his room.
"W-what happened?" Oakley rasped out tiredly, looking around the room.
Flurry and Ritchie looked over at him. Oakley felt a wave of guilt crashing over him as he saw the worry in his eyes.
"U-umm...? Hi?" He spoke up once more, looking at both his parents. He sat up to meet their gases.
"Sweetheart," Flurry spoke softly, "why did you leave last night?" Her voice was calm and welcoming.
Oakley looked down and began to fumble with his fingers, something he picked up from one of the Devils Tounge members.
"I-I..." He tried to speak but the words wouldn't come out.
"My boy, you can speak to us. Were here for you," Ritchie spoke up, standing and sitting on the other side of his bed.
Oakley took a deep breath before mumbling something under his breath.
"What was that sweetheart? I couldn't understand you, you need to speak up," Flurry rested her hand on one of her son's shoulders.
"I-It's just that-! I-I... you..." Oakley tried so hard. He knew what he wanted to say, but something was keeping him from saying it. He wanted to cry and tell them everything, but he had already caused so much trouble by leaving.
"Would you like to write it down instead?" Flurry looked at her son's eyes, who nodded slowly. She smiled and got up, grabbing a small notepad and a pencil.
She handed the items back to Oakley. He grabbed the items and began to write thongs down. The two parents looked at each other and then their son, waiting for him to finish.
After around ten minutes, Oakley put his pencils down and handed the notepad back to his parents. Once in their hands, he looked down and fumbled with his fingers once more.
Ritchie held the note in his hand, " Do you wanna read to note? Or do you want me to do it?"
"Uh- you can read it,"
Ritchie nodded and looked down and the notepad and began to read, "Dear mom and dad,
I'm sorry I ran out last night. I was tired of constantly being babied, being watched over and not being able to do anything without someone else watching. It was frustrating. For the first little bit I understood but it has been three months. I fine trust me. I left so I could be alone for a little bit.I was planning on going back soon but it ended up slipping my mind. when dad found me I was not expecting that.I was in the middle of dancing and he made me lose focus. I don't know why I started crying like that i just did.I sorry i did cry tho I didn't know how to stop.
-Oakley"
Ritchie finished speaking. It was somewhat hard to understand. Many things were misspelled or merged. But they understood what their son wanted to get across.
They look back at their son, who had curled himself into a small ball, crying ever so slightly.
"Sweetie," Flurry leaned over and brought her son into a hug, "why didn't you tell us how you feel? We would have understood.
Oakley clung to his mom, not knowing what to sat. Ritchie and Flurry looked at each other. Flurry motioned for Ritchie to be part of the hug. Ritchie scooted over and wrapped his arms around his son and his ex.
The three stayed like that for a while. Oakley cried while his parents hugged him, giving him words of comfort.
After a while, Oakley slowly stopped crying, staying in the comforting embrace of his parents.
"Hey Oakley," Ritchie spoke softly, "what were you doing when I found you? I know you were dancing but I wasn't able to get a good look,"
"O-oh, yeah I was dancing..."
"Okay but what type? There are lots of types of dancing,"
Oakley mumbled something under his breath.
"I'm sorry what?" Ritchie asked, looking at his son, "I couldn't hear you,"
"...Ballet," Oakley responded softly. He was nervous that they would make fun of him. He didn't want people to know. Sure Biblico was happy with him doing ballet, he didn't trust Biblico anymore. His brain is trying to find right from wrong, and if Biblico said something was good, was it?
"Aw, that's adorable!" Furry cooed, letting go of the hug and looking at her son, joy spread across his face, "I wish I could do ballet,"
Oakley looked at his mom, his lips turning up into a large grin, "I could teach you," He stated excitedly. He was glad his family liked and accepted his hobbies instead of making fun of him like he thought they would.
"Oh, yes, yes! That sounds like a great idea! Ritchie, would you like to join us for ballet practice?"
Ritchie thought for a second, "Yeah sure, sounds fun,"
Oakley nodded happily, clapping his hands, "Could we do it now?"
"Of course," Flurry responded.
For the next few hours, Oakley taught the two mages, teaching them the basics. It was a slow process but they had fun. They bonded as a family and when it was time for bed, Flurry and Ritchie tucked him in and let him sleep by himself for the first time in months. That night was good.
~~~~~~~
Words- 2418
I hit the 2000 mark and I'm happy. Uhhhh what else- There are a few other one-shots that should become coming out soon. I wrote most of this at night, I don't know why but the night is the best time for creativity, so I made this. Yee yee.
Happy turkey day.
Beh