Chapter 14 - Strained Solace

                                    

                                          
Three hours later, Shift staggered back into Indigo base clutching the bag of Athira-sized clothes that'd cost him some pigment, fifty-three autographs, and half his sanity to obtain.  
He headed up the stairs to the fifth floor. The door to the study was open, and Shift marched over, fully intending to give Raph a complete recap of the 'little shopping expedition' he'd been sent on in excruciating detail when he caught Zoe's voice.  
"And I dedicated this shelf to rebuilding our book collection!" she was saying. "I managed to find most of our favourites over the years, as well as a few others I think you'd like." 
Shift stopped just short of the doorway to peer inside.  
Raph sat at the note-covered table opposite Athira. Both were watching Zoe, who was rummaging through the shelf, pulling out the occasional book to inspect the cover as she spoke. 
It felt strangely like any other night, and at first glance, Shift could have convinced himself it was. Then he saw the constant, worried glances Zoe kept giving Athira to reassure herself she was still there, the alert way Raph sat in his chair, and the reality of it all came back into focus.  
"Obviously, I'm not super sure because I can't read them myself," continued Zoe, clutching the book currently in her hand close to her chest with an almost nervous smile. "But I always hoped you'd come back one day and you could read them to me. Y'know, like we used to — under the covers, hiding when mum came in." 
"In hindsight," Athira said after a moment of fiddling with her amulet. "I think she always knew what we were doing." 
"Oh, she definitely knew," said Zoe with a giggle. "Remember that time she tried to tape oven mitts to my hands to stop us using my Yellow as light?" 
A smirk crept into Athira's voice. "I phased them off with Black as soon as she closed the door." A heavy silence followed her words, like Raph and Zoe knew what question was coming and were giving her time to phrase it. "Is she...?" 
Zoe's glow dimmed, and though her smile held, it was softened by a familiar grief.  
"Mum hit her breaking point that night to save me," said Raph quietly. 
Athira's shoulders stiffened as she wrapped her arms around her waist. "I'm sorry. I just — I never meant for —" 
Zoe ditched the book on the table to hug Athira as Raph walked around to join them, wrapping his arms around them both.  
"It wasn't your fault, Thira," said Raph, squeezing the girls a little tighter. "We've never blamed you for any of it. We're just glad you came back so we had the chance to tell you." 
It'd been a rare moment in recent years when either of them had spoken about Athira out loud, but quiet pieces of her had still worked their way into their lives. The name of their team, Zoe's book collecting despite her dyslexia, her insistence on the addition of a black cushion in their common room, Raph's warm-up routine for training, along with a hundred other things Shift couldn't begin to list.  
Athira's return should have been something to celebrate. Instead, the occasion felt heavy, weighed down by what lay beyond this small, peaceful moment — and yet, looking at them now, Shift knew that Raph and Zoe would have accepted that weight ten times over in a heartbeat for the chance to have their sister back. 
Shift retreated a few steps back into the stairwell and counted to ten before he approached the study door again, this time with loud, obvious footsteps. He knocked and stuck his head inside the room, where Zoe now sat on Athira's lap and Raph stood behind, leaning his hands on the back of the chair.  
"How's it going in here?" asked Shift. 
Raph straightened and rolled his shoulders. "We're about done, I think. Did you manage to find something?"  
Shift held up the bag on two fingers. "Mission success." 
Zoe bounced over, skirting the table to take the bag from Shift. She looked inside, her glow flaring. "Oooh. This should work." 
"I risked my life for it," said Shift as Zoe waved him off and skipped back over to Athira. "It better work." 
"I've got a whole stack of paperwork to sort out before tomorrow, so I'll leave you to it," said Raph with one last glance at Zoe and Athira as he reached the door. "And I better not hear complaining about someone being tired in the morning."  
"Look at him," Zoe said to Athira with a conspiratorial smile. "Just because he's the oldest, he thinks he gets to dictate bedtime."  
Raph just rolled his eyes and left the room. 
"So that seemed to go well," Shift said lightly once the door was closed behind them. "Know what didn't go as smoothly?" 
A smile lifted the corner of Raph's mouth. "How many?" 
"Fifty-three, along with two different journalists fully prepped with interview questions, and at least one marriage proposal." 
"Honestly not too bad," said Raph. "I was expecting at least seventy autographs and another hour, maybe even two." He tapped his wristlet. "Speaking of wasted time, Athira and I won't be the only ones enjoying Discord's company tomorrow. Elites want you and Zoe at HQ for some evaluation thing."  
Shift felt a grin spreading across his face. "Does that mean we take the monorail?" 
Raph's answering smile was composed of equal parts dread and amusement. "That means we take the monorail."  
"Oh, Athira's gonna love that."  
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A/N - A new scene from the rewrite <3 Shift survived his shopping expedition (barely), and it seems like he's gonna get some revenge on Athira tomorrow >:D