Our Mother's Messages [Niji/Zoelin]

[Renee]

Hello!! This is a collaboration fic Paula and I are writing about what happened to Zo's and Niji's mother's since they both are MIA. It's a bit on the angsty side, but hopefully it'll have a happy ending, because happy endings are awesome. ^^

Our Mother's Messages

Summary: It's Mother's Day, and when Niji and Zoelin find an article about their missing mother's, they go on an adventure to find out more about them.

The sun had just started to rise above the horizon, and usually, the royal member of Sector SUN would be at the window, wide awake, and eagerly anticipating the burst of energy the morning rays gave her, but today was not one of those days. Instead of lying in her bed waiting for her alarm clock to ring, the princess was seated in her cushiony armchair anticipating the loud sound that would come from the timer any minute now. Tired different colored eyes drifted to the calendar on the wall. On her planet, today would be an ordinary day, but on the Base, today signified as something special, something worth celebrating…Today was Mother’s day. It was a day that filled the girl with loneliness, and sadness, a day that left her wanting to be left alone. She couldn’t help it, but every year when this holiday came around, she was overcome with an indescribable sense of emptiness. Niji’s thoughts were interrupted when the high-pitched twinkle pierced the silence in the atmosphere. With a silent sigh, Princess Niji levitated off the chair, hovered over to the end table, and quickly shut off the noise her alarm clock made. She stood there in silence for a moment and already she could hear the thumping of footsteps from operatives running about searching for art supplies to make cards and gifts for their mothers. Niji glanced over to her dresser where the flower pendant she always wore around her neck sat innocently glistening in the light, her demeanor saddened as she floated over to it and traced a finger over the jeweled center. She gave the pendant one last solemn look before exiting her room for some breakfast.
--


RING…RING…RING!!

It was amazing how fast five minutes can pass when you don’t want to get out of bed. The shiny-loving girl lifted her blond head from her pillow and glared at the clock through her shaggy golden bangs. If she did not love her shiny clock so much, she would have hurled it at a wall ages ago. She reached over to pound the snooze button on the center for a few more minutes peace put unfortunately for her, the clock seemed to grow tired of constantly being ignored. A small growl escaped from Zoelin’s as her hidden lavender eyes glowered at the loud timer. “Huu-uuuu-uuuuuush!!!” She picked the clock up and shook it violently hoping that it could make some kind of difference. It didn’t. Suddenly a knock was heard at the door. Great just what she needed to start the morning.

“Um, Zo-zo?” A apprehensive voice called from the other side of the door. A voice the girl in bed recognized immediately. “Are you alright in there? I heard yelling.”

Zoelin pressed her face into her pillow and mumbled something into it, her tails wagging simultaneously. Zoelin’s ears twitched as she heard her door opening and closing, apparently her visitor took whatever she was mumbling to herself as a sign to enter her bedroom.

Niji tilted her head as she hovered over to Zoelin’s bed. “Um…Good morning, Zo.” She greeted with a small wave, though her features took on an expression of concern at her friend’s appearance.

Zoelin frowned and turned to her side, her face still pressed against the pillow. One glance at her calendar told her that it sure to be a bad day. She nibbled her lip trying to block out the wave of unhappiness she felt, but failing. She mumbled something almost incoherent into her cushion.

Niji sighed and nodded, understanding every mumbled word. “You’re right…There’s nothing good about this morning.” She conceded, taking a seat on the floor near her bed. “Is that why you were yelling?” She asked looking up at the lump in the bed.

More mumbling and one red tail pointed in the direction of the now quiet alarm clock, it looked a little abused, some of the shiny ornaments had been shaken off and there were small dents on its side. Niji took the alarm clock in her hands and traced her fingers across it.

“That’s what alarm clocks are for, Zo,” She explained with a shrug. “they wake you up… even if you just want to sleep the day through.” She added quietly pulling her knees up to her chin and hugging them.

There was a moment of silence between the two girls.

“…You wanna go get something to eat?” The colorful one suggested a few seconds later.

Zoelin lifted her head from the soft pillow. Even if she all she wanted was sit in her room all day, she couldn’t ignore the fact that her stomach was growling for food. “…Yeah, sure, why not?” She shrugged carelessly. “…So what were you planning on doing after that?” She asked next.

Niji took a moment to think about it, “I don’t know...Go to the library, I guess.”

Zoelin blinked and raised an eyebrow slightly, “…We have a library?” She asked incredulously. “With real books and everything?”

Niji couldn’t help but utter a soft chuckle. “Yes, Zo, with real books and everything. They might even have something you’d like.”

“Huh." She uttered, mildly interested. "So then why are we still sitting here for? To the boring library!” Zoelin pointed outwards.

Niji floated to her feet. “First breakfast, then to the library.” She reminded gently.

“Yeah, yeah…Same difference.” Zoelin waved her off as she got out of bed.

[Jas]

Awh YAY! X3 You guys started it! I was wondering when this was going to pop up :3

I'm real curious to see where this'll be going. I like how it started off, with the both of them being a little glum. Though it also makes me a little sad >: Poor girls.

Can't wait for mooaarr X3

[Paula]

All right! Here's chapter 2. ;D

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After breakfast, the two girls had made their way into the library. Still in surprise, Zoelin couldn't help but have her mouth agape at the huge room. Books were stacked and filled up almost every nook and cranny. Save for the three windows at the far end and the next floors up.

"You weren't kidding." A low mutter escaped her lips.

"Of course I wasn't." Niji nodded, slightly giggling at her friend's reaction. Then a woman, probably in her late teens or so, came towards them. Aside from the name tag that was on her vest, it was clear to the two of them that this was the librarian. Especially when she started to ramble on and on about what books they had in store and how glad she was that the two decided to visit.

Not wanting to be rude, Niji and Zoelin followed her.

"And over here, you have the Villains Section, always updated and kept tract of each enemy the GTND faces..." It wasn't long before both girls had gotten a bit restless of the woman's ramblings. Niji tried to keep an interested face. Zoelin however, found it harder and harder to keep up. Finally, Niji spoke up.

"Uh, thank you, Miss. But, we were just wanting to look around, so if you don't mind we can look around ourselves."

"Oh? Are you certain? I was just about to go over the lovely Thraloma system we have here!"

"We're fine, we're fine." Zoelin quickly raised up both of her paws, waving them frantically. The woman shrugged, ruffled a bit of her feathers and went back to her desk, most likely to finish paper work or something.

". . . .I thought she'd never leave." The red furred girl muttered as the two watched her leave.

"Zo, that's not nice." Niji replied.

"What? You were thinking the same thing."

"Can't argue there." Niji looked away, her mismatched eyes catching sight of the History Section of Medicine. Despite the tedious ramblings of the Librarian, the royal had found the section to be somewhat interesting. From what she had said, there were a lot of famous kids in there that dealt with medical mysteries and such. "Hey, Zo-zo?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm gonna go over there. To that section," she pointed. "You wanna come along?" When she turned back to her friend, she found that Zoelin had her attention focused on a different section as well.

"Nah, I think I might go over there. The only thing that lady said that was interesting was the Shiny Collection." Zoelin turned her head back to flash a gray smile. Niji giggled and nodded.

"All right, suit yourself." Then, the two parted ways.


It wasn't long before Zoelin had rejoined Niji, arms filled with different sized books that were no doubt filled with pictures of every shiny thing in existence. When the multicolored haired girl looked up, she was positively sure she was staring at a large stack of books with two red arms.

"Zo?" Zoelin's blond head appeared off to the side, shaking a few times to keep her bangs in place.

"You know, I think I might like this place." The girl grinned as she set the books down with a loud thump.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"[/i]

Both girls jumped at the loud hiss, which had probably no doubt came from the feathery librarian. Even with the hair covering her eyes, Niji could tell that her friend was giving the woman a glare as she sat down next to her.

"She's just doing her job, Zo." Niji told her.

"I know, I know...I just wish that she didn't have to be so uptight. Sheesh....Anyways, what'cha reading?" Zoelin leaned in, peeking over Niji's shoulder. The colorful teen shrugged lightly as she turned a page.

"Just looking though some random files. There were a lot of kids involved with finding cures. It's kinda weird." Another page was turned and the two found something very interesting. "Hey look, Zo. It's your homeplanet!" Zoelin peered closely, recognizing the background and some of the local inhabitants as one of her own.

"Hey, it is!....It's kinda outdated, though. That tree's long gone." She pointed towards a corner. Then, as she removed her hand, Zoelin noticed a girl that looked oddly familiar. "Hey Niji! It's you!....Wait. You were on my planet?"

"No," Niji giggled, looking at the picture as well. "She must be a girl from Origami--my planet, visiting yours with her parents!"

"Are you sure?..." Zoelin began as she looked from Niji and to the girl in the picture. "Or, it could be that you somehow went back in time and traveled for a bit, hit your head and gained amnesia, then went around trying to cure people until you had hit your head again and then came back to your normal time and forgot all about the ordeal." Silence came after her theory, before Niji slowly shook her head.

"No, I'd be pretty sure if I went through something like that. But why do you think that girl's me?"

"Well, look: She's wearing that same necklace you always wear." And to prove her point, Zoelin pointed towards the Orgamian girl's chest, revealing the same flower pendant. The very one that Niji wore around her neck.

Instinctively, Niji placed a hand on her own necklace, but shook her head slowly again. "I...I don't think so, Zo. and besides, maybe this..." she glanced at the caption under the picture. "Kunami, must've gotten hers from a store...or something." Deciding not to press more on the subject, Niji turned the page, where it went into full detail about what happened on Zoelin's planet.

"It says here that there was some sort of breakout of Measles or something. Do you remember that?" She turned to the dual-tailed girl.

"Uh..well, I remember my dad saying something about it. It hit Whiskorse pretty hard when he was a kid. There were a lot of them sick, some of them even died....I think that's also when they found out about the carrots thing." She added the latter with a mutter. Niji couldn't help but giggle at that, and she turned her attention back to the page.

"I can't read most of this, but it says that one of the kids...Mynoa, made friends with Kunami. Right after she was treated." When Niji looked up at Zoelin again, the girl had a blank expression. " Zo?"

"What was that name?" Came her response.

"Mynoa. Hmm, I can't read the last name, but I think that's what it says. See, here's her picture." Niji scooted the book closer to Zoelin. The picture showed of a young girl, somewhere around 8 earth years or so, looking very ill and in bed. Her hair was very curled and vibrant, but the expression on the young one's face looked anything but as vibrant.

"Is she someone you know?"

"..."

Niji kept her gaze at Zoelin, who kept hers at the page, more specifically at the picture. "Zo?"

"Hmm?" Finally, the blond looked away before remembering her friend's question." . . .She's my mom."

That came as a shock to Niji. Never once did she mention her, but now that the colorful girl looked at the picture and then at Zoelin, she could see some resemblances. Neither one of them spoke for awhile, but the silence soon passed as the blond of the two went to read the words under the caption.

" 'In some severe cases, such as in the case of Mynoa Rakne, they were pretty severe. Luckily, with the medical knowledge of Kunami and her parents, they were able to save most of the kids from the disease.'....and it stops after that." Zoelin finished, leaning back in her seat.

Niji looked to the next page, but there was nothing else on this Kunami person, or about Mynoa. As much as she wanted to, the royal didn't bother looking further into the book, especially with the tension rising within the air. As she closed the book, she looked over to Zoelin, who had found the cover of one of the books she found to be very interesting. Still, she said nothing. So, Niji spoke up.


"Hey Zo."

"Hmm?"

"....Have you ever been to a palace before?" Slowly, a smile came to the red and yellow girl's face. "I guess not," Niji laughed.

"Does this mean...?" Zoelin trailed off, and with a nod from Niji, she screamed, "ROAD TRIP!"

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"[/i] Came the inevitable sound from the Librarian. Niji rolled her eyes and picked up the book.

As Zoelin did the same, Niji went on. "It'll be fun. We can see if we can find out more about this "Kunami", we have a huuuuuge library there, and maybe we'll learn some other things. Plus, you get to see my castle."

"Sweet." Zoelin smiled, rushing with her books towards the Shiny Section to put them back where they came from. However, her absence seemed a bit rushed, which is what Niji had noticed when the girl came back. "Okay, all ready."

"Zo...That seemed awfully quick, are you sure you put those books back?" Niji asked as she looked around her, towards the direction the girl had left in.

"Of course, what makes you say that?" Then a loud crash followed by a couple of thumps interrupted the tranquil quietness of the library. From the Shiny section, the shelves had leaned and swayed before collapsing towards the next row, and then the next, resulting in a falling domino-like pattern where each book shelves fell. Within minutes, the whole first floor of the library was in a complete mess; shelves knocked down and leaning on the other. Niji's eyes widened at the sight, though Zoelin still didn't turn around to look.

"...Again. What makes you say that?" Was her only question.

Then, just as Zoelin turned around, there was the Librarian. All feathers were ruffled as well as her antennae all erect with anger. If it weren't for those two signs, then the absolute annoyance and frustration shown in her eyes would've definitely shown the woman's anger.

"What. Have. You. Done?" Both girls looked to each other and then to the woman, still in fear.

"Uh..."

"We're sorry?" Niji apologized.

"...."

"You know, I think it looks better this way." Zoelin piped up. " Now, everything's been dusted and there's more room and--"

"GET. OUT."

" But don't you want us to help clean up?" Niji asked. However, before the woman could respond, Zoelin quickly got into the air and pulled on Niji's hand.

"You heard Miss Cranky, let's go-go-go!" And with that, the two flew out of the library, leaving the clutter and the wrath of the very ticked Librarian.