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Luka hates deception, being kept in the dark. He can’t stand it when someone blatantly withholds the truth from him. Is it a reflection of whether someone trusts him? How many times can he push before someone just pulls away, leaving him alone?
He had begged his mother, Anarka, again and again for her to tell him who his father is. He had tried asking relatives about who his mother was with before he and his sister, Juleka, were born. Not even his birth certificate would reveal who his elusive father was. Nothing was working, and his attempts to reveal the truth only left him more desperate and frustrated than before.
He had considered going through Anarka’s things, to sift through any piece of possible evidence that could even just nudge him in the right direction. He had discussed it with Juleka previously while their mother was away, but he had never had serious intention to go through with it.
That’s why, to his shock and surprise, he almost didn’t believe Juleka when she presented him with a photo of their mother and Jagged Stone, a musician, hugging each other with wide smiles on their faces. Juleka pointed out how their mother was wearing a ring that they had never seen before on her right ring finger. Was this an engagement photo?
“Check the date on the back,” he said breathlessly, his head spinning.
Juleka, with trembling hands, flipped the photo over, revealing a date that was a little over nine months before she and Luka had been born. Luka has to grip the counter beside him, and Juleka drops the photo, covering her mouth.
“I can’t believe this,” she mumbles, “I-I-I’ve been to his concerts, I went to a-a-an album signing. We’ve been near him so many times!”
“He was my idol...I memorized all his songs. I wanted to be just like him and become a musician...All this time?”
“He came to our house once, wanting Mom to rejoin his band...he was right there, in front of us.”
“And Mom said nothing…” Luka said slowly, his anger rising.
“He didn’t even really notice us...like we were just complete strangers, random kids.”
Juleka sinks to her knees, her eyes locking on the photo again. Luka instinctively gets down on the floor and embraces his sister tightly, as he always did when he wanted to protect her from the world.
“Are you okay?” he asks solemnly.
“No! How can I be okay? How could Mom hide this from us?”
“I don’t know...Do you think he knows? Jagged, I mean.”
“I-...maybe?”
Luka had so many questions, questions with answers that he knew neither he nor Juleka would have. Gently, he pulls his sister up to her feet, and he hands her the photo.
“Find Mom, and bring her home. If she tries to shut off from you, show her the picture. Jagged’s in town right now for Prince Ali’s birthday. Marinette will be able to tell me where he is in the city.”
“You’re going to find him?”
“Hopefully. I want answers, the answers we deserve.”
Luka grips Juleka’s shoulders, smiling at her until she returns the expression, and the twins part ways off the boat. Luka sends Marinette a text, telling her that he’s sorry that he’ll have to miss their rescheduled date. When she responds, asking if everything’s alright, he physically stops on the sidewalk. Was he alright? No, of course not. He replies simply that he needs to know where Jagged Stone is. Marinette directs him to the Grand Paris hotel, where Jagged was staying while in Paris. Luka quickly thanked her before shoving his phone in his pocket.
Racing off towards the hotel, his heart hammered in his chest. How long had Anarka and Jagged been together? When did they split up? Why did they split up? Luka tried to piece together a timeline from what little he knew, but his thoughts were all jumbled. He navigates his way through the streets and up to the hotel, entering the lobby. Marinette also told him what room number Jagged would be in, and he took the elevator up to the right floor. Just as he arrives at the door, his momentum dies out, his adrenaline crashing just as his hand hovers in the air, mid-knock.
What if Jagged wanted nothing to do with him? What if Anarka kept him hidden from Juleka and Luka for a reason? Would Jagged be aggressive towards Luka? Resentful for seeking him out? What if Jagged already hated him? Or...what if he didn’t? What if he loved Luka? Would he be able to handle having Jagged in his life? Was that even what he wanted?
The questions echoed in Luka’s head as his breathing became heavy. His eyes grew wide as his hand trembled in front of the door.
“What am I doing here?” he sighed, lowering his hand.
Luka turns around, lifting one foot in the air to move him forward and leave Jagged behind. However, he stopped himself when he remembered how happy Jagged and Anarka looked together in the photo. Spinning back around, he knocks on the door before his brain can process his movements. He hears footsteps approach the door, and he steels himself. To his surprise, Penny opens the door. She didn’t seem surprised to see him, though.
“Ah, you must be the boyfriend Marinette was talking about. Come in!”
Penny stepped aside, granting Luka entrance to the room. As he stepped inside, he was able to see Jagged on the couch, tuning his guitar while sitting next to Fang the alligator.
“Hey, kid! Marinette’s told me before how much of a fan of me you are. Even had me sign one of your picks for you! Wait, was I supposed to tell you that?” Jagged muses, his demeanor far more relaxed than Luka’s.
Luka just stared at Jagged, his heart pounding in his chest as his mouth went dry.
“Oh, the boy seems a bit nervous. Penny, can you get him some water, please? Thank you, Love.”
Penny left the room, leaving Luka and Jagged alone.
“I think...you’re my dad?” Luka manages to say, his voice trembling.
“Haha, you’re quite the jokester. Did Marinette put you up to this in retaliation to when I pranked her with Fang in the bathtub?”
“My mother is Anarka Couffaine.”
Jagged stops tuning his guitar, finally giving Luka a serious look. The seriousness grounds Luka, giving him strength.
“...That ain’t funny, kid. I don’t know how you know about her, but that’s not funny,” Jagged said, his voice deeper than before.
“My twin sister and I were born on May 20th, 2003. Nine months before that, you were engaged to my mother. Eight months before we were born-“
“-I went on my first world tour…oh my god…”
Jagged felt as if he were going to be sick. If he hadn’t already been sitting, he was sure he would have collapsed to the ground from dizziness. Though his legs felt like flimsy rubber, he stood up, trying his best to steadily walk over to Luka.
“You...me...I-“
“Yeah,” Luka breathes, guessing that Jagged felt the same tightness in his chest as he did.
Jagged looked at Luka helplessly, as if he had never been more scared in his life. He lifted his arms up into the air, possibly wanting a hug, but they soon dropped back down to his sides. Luka was in no better shape, feeling as if he was floating in an infinite abyss that didn’t actually exist, making him not actually exist.
“I didn’t-...I didn’t know!”
“Neither did I until this morning, when my sister found the photo of you and Mom’s engagement,” Luka said quickly.
“Anarka...how could she-? How could she do this to me? To you? Oh my god, I’m so sorry, kid.”
“Luka.”
“Luka…” Jagged repeated, the name sounding like the most beautiful sound he ever heard.
“And my twin sister’s name is Juleka.”
“Juleka...did she not want to see me? I mean, I get it-“
“She’s probably back at the houseboat with our mom.”
Jagged’s breath hitched, and he had to bend down to plant his hands on his knees in order to stay on his feet. What was he supposed to do? Should he tell the kid to leave? Did he want...Luka...to leave? Did he want Luka to stay, to stay with him? Did he want to meet Juleka? Was he ready for any of this? How was he supposed to do anything when all he felt like he could do was fall forever or crash?
“Do you...want to come with me, to the house?” Luka asked slowly, not entirely sure Jagged would hear him even if he used a megaphone.
“Yes? P-Penny, I’m heading out for a bit! Watch Fang for me, would you?”
Jagged stumbled behind Luka, following the boy through Paris and to the boat he had known to be Anarka’s house but not the house of his children. His children...the word made Jagged feel more nauseous and nervous than when he was about to go on stage. Before they even stepped on the deck, they could both hear yelling coming from inside the cabin. Jagged and Luka followed the sound and approached the room that Juleka and Anarka were having a screaming match in.
“I can’t believe you! All our lives, you let us adore and idolize Jagged Stone without ever once thinking to mention that he’s our father!” Juleka roars, scaring even Luka by how angry and passionate and loud she was being.
“Well excuse me from trying to protect my kids from getting hurt! Would you rather me have crushed out the joy that you two found in his music? Rather me tell you that you couldn’t look up to him? You think it didn’t kill me every single time I heard his voice on one of your CDs? Or saw his face at every concert I took you to?”
“You all were at my concerts?” Jagged asked, his voice quieter but sharper by contrast to the others’ volume.
Juleka and Anarka’s heads whipped over, finally noticing Luka and Jagged standing there. Anarka’s eyes grew wide, her face turning even redder with rage.
“Get out. Get the hell out of my house!”
Being yelled at, being treated as an insulting intruder, tipped Jagged’s emotions from shocked and upset to full-on enraged. He stalks towards Anarka, his hands balled into fists.
“How could you keep this from me? How could you keep them from me?” Jagged yells.
Anarka’s face briefly flashes shock and confusion before her temper returns, matching Jagged’s fury.
“You left me! You. Left. Me. Music was more important to you than the years we had together; what was to say you wouldn’t make the same choice if it came to the kids?”
Luka felt shell-shocked at seeing his mother so angry, and he steps around the wall of the room in order to get to Juleka’s side. They both became frozen in their places, unable to move and leave the room or do anything besides just stand there and watch.
“You had no right to make that decision for me! I left because you told me to go, to pursue my dreams!”
“Because you were miserable here, and you would have resented me, resented us, for holding you back!” Anarka yells back.
“I loved you! You were my world! And you practically pushing me out the door while insisting you not come with me? It broke my heart!”
“What does it matter? You were never here! You never came back until my kids would only be hurt by your presence!”
“Oh, so now you’re assuming how they feel, as well!” Jagged screams, gesturing wildly, throwing his hands around in the air.
“That’s the kind of thing you have to do when you’re a parent! You make decisions to prevent your kids from getting hurt! Not that you would know anything about that, even if you had been around.”
“You never gave me the chance! I lost out on my kids’ lives because of you! I never got even a chance to prove I could be a good dad! You just automatically assumed I wouldn’t be!”
“And I still stand by that assumption! Look at you! You haven’t grown up a bit in the decade and a half since you left! You think a pet alligator, fans you can’t say no to, and that ridiculous, stubborn attitude of yours would have made a good environment for impressionable children? No! You would make a terrible father!”
“...I can’t believe you…”
Jagged slides down against the wall, putting his head in his hands. Anarka has to turn away from him, bracing her locked elbows against the kitchen counter. The air was thick with tension, and Luka was scared to move and have the unresolved anger shift towards him. Everyone froze when Juleka’s phone started ringing, Rose’s face popping up on her phone. She quickly silences the ring before practically running outside to take the call. Luka soon followed her, not wanting to be in the room in case Anarka and Jagged exploded on each other again.
As he approaches Juleka standing on the far side of the deck, he hears her whispering into the phone.
“Now’s not a good time. May I call you back tomorrow? Thank you...bye.”
Juleka pockets her phone and turns around just as Luka reaches her. However, her gaze doesn’t meet his. Instead, she’s looking at something behind him. Luka turns around and sees Jagged standing a couple feet behind them, his hand outstretched towards them even though his face indicated not even he was sure what he was reaching for. He opened and closed his mouth several times, lost for words.
“What?” Juleka finally says, her tone harsher than she meant.
“Kids, I-I swear, if I had known-! Look, I completely get it if you hate me or-or want nothing to do with me. But, if you’ll let me, I’d really like to be part of your lives,” Jagged says, trying his best to appear more stable than he felt.
Luka and Juleka silently look at each other, having a nonverbal conversation. She steps backwards, wrapping herself in her arms while also nodding Luka forward. Jagged’s gaze fall to the deck, but he looks back up when Luka steps towards him. To his further surprise, Luka launches himself into Jagged’s arms. It takes the older man a moment to process what happened, but he then quickly reciprocates, embracing Luka tightly.
Juleka watches the exchange, wanting to both step forward but also move further back. She wanted to blame Jagged. She wanted to hate him with every fiber of her being for not being there for her and Luka. And maybe part of her did. But part of her also really, really wanted his love and attention. Giving in to that side of her, she steps forward and into Jagged’s embrace, as well.
“I’ve missed so much of your lives..I love you two so much already, and I can’t wait to get to know who you wonderful people are,” Jagged said softly, holding them as gently as he could while hoping that he’d never have to let go.
Things were definitely still...messy, and unanswered. But, when he’d normally want to run away from anything that wasn’t chill and mellow, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world besides fighting to be there for...his...kids, his son and daughter. Jagged looked up at the stars, listening to their new, familial melody.