I don't own the picture and song I used in this chapter, they belong to the rightful owners. ⚠️Warning⚠️ there will be triggering words in this chapter, beware of sadness, you have been warned!

~•~8 year old (Y/N) - In the (L/N)'s Residence~•~
3rd Person
"Mommy! Daddy! Please don't leave... Please stay strong, I know you can make it." (Y/N) said while tears were pouring constantly on her fair cheeks.

It has been six great, and happy years. (Y/N), (M/N), and (F/N) (L/N) were always together, (Y/N) was always playing, helping, talking with them. Well, was doing those things. Ever since she turned 7, her parents sickness was getting worse day by day. In this morning, (Y/N)'s parents called her because that day they felt their weakest than they ever did since they fell greatly ill.

"(Y/N). We will never leave, we will be safe in another place. But when we're gone, we will still be by your side. We will always be by your side." (M/N) said as she was trying her hardest to not cry in front of her only child, pretending that she wasn't as sick as she seemed to be.

She was looking at her daughter in bed, reaching out her hand to wipe her daughter's tears. Instead of letting her Mother wipe her tears away, (Y/N) took her hand and just held it in her small ones, her quiet crying turning louder because of her Mother's actions.

"Sweetheart, you know that me and mommy are always strong, and you know that one day the time will come for us to go." (F/N)'s hoarse voice was a bit quiet because of his strength slowly leaving his body.

"But I don't want it to be now! Why can't it be next time, I want you to see me grow up, to have a family, to be happy because you were there and you were both the reason why I'm like that!" Crying while talking, (Y/N) said it as if it was a demand that they needed to do.

"(Y/N)." (F/N) said softly as the tears that he so desperately wanted to keep began to pour out from his sickly pale face.

"Can we have one last request for you?"

"Anything, you know that I will do anything for Mommy and Daddy."

"Me and Mommy want you to sing us the song."

"We want to hear your beautiful voice, my little Hakuchō." (M/N) continued as tears were now streaming down her eyes, it took a few seconds for (M/N)'s words to sink into her daughter. She took in a deep breath and nodded with her eyes closed as she started the song that she memorized by heart. (Play the song above so you can hear the beautiful song!)

Let's go in the garden
You'll find something waiting
Right there where you left it
Lying upside down

When you finally find it
You'll see how it's faded
The underside is lighter
When you turn it around

Everything stays
Right where you left it-

When she was almost near the end of the song, she opened her eyes as she stopped singing and met with a horrible sight. She started shaking her head as tears were constantly flowing down her cheeks. Seeing her once cheery, happy, and energetic parents was something she was very familiar with in all of her eight years of life. She saw that they were just laying in bed; their bodies now paler than ever, eyes shut closed, and they were so lifeless. She placed her right hand over her mouth while her other was on her stomach. She felt so sick, she felt like she wanted to throw up everything she digested last night.

She was wishing to see her parents just falling into harmless sleep, or wake up from a realistic nightmare. She wanted it to be a nightmare, a nightmare that will soon be ended by the calls of her beloved parents. But she knew that it was just wishful thinking, that her parents were already sick for months, everyone already said that they might not even make it in another month.

So she did what any child will do to make themselves feel better, to place all of the sadness they felt by crying; crying the tears she held back since they got sick. She held her parents hands, placing her face on the blanket that was on their dead bodies and started mourning for the loss of her family. The tears that left her eyes were never running out. Every negative emotion, every worry, fear, dread, everything felt like it was crashing on her all at once; not being able to handle it when the loss of her parents were heavily added to her problems. As a few minutes passed by, she started to cry herself to sleep while she still held her parent's hands in her own...

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An old man with blue eyes was walking towards the path of the (L/N)'s home, bringing a gift for the family. He has a long scar etched over his right eye that made his eyelid shut permanently. His grey hair tied in a ponytail and is wrapped with an umber brown bandanna on his forehead. On the side locks of his fringes, there are breaded ornaments decorated on each ends. He also has a grey mustache and beard. He was wearing a blue robe held by a brown sash under a brown overcoat with patterned dark brown hemlines, and also wearing a pair of dark brown loafers. In his right hand was a small bouquet of dandelions, his other hand was carrying a basket with a loaf of bread and some cheese.

It has been a long time since he visited the family, he knew about the parents sickness and have checked up on them twice a week to make sure they were still alive and well while he also looked after their daughter when he came. But since work was piling up more in the Wind Tribe, he wasn't able to visit them for two whole weeks. Mun-deok, the old man, wanted to pay them a surprise visit before he had to leave for another week to handle the problems back at his home. Mun-deok was currently in front of their house. The afternoon sun shining down upon the small yet cozy household. He knocked on the door before calling out the only child's name.

"(Y/N)! Your Gramps is here!" He called out as he gave another knock on the door, making him surprised to see the door slowly open by his knocking.

"(Y/N), you should lock the door or intruders could get in." Mun-deok said as he walked inside, thinking that he would see the small child running down the stairs to greet him liked she always did, but her small cute figure was nowhere in his sight.

He started to get cautious and worried, it wasn't normal to not see (Y/N) running around the house and doing chores for her parents, they are sick after all. He first placed the basket of food and flowers on a nearby table beside the staircase. Mun-deok stealthily walked up the wooden stairs, not making any sound to not alarm a thief if someone had broken into the house. He stopped in front of (M/N)'s and (F/N)'s bedroom, hearing muffled crying noises in the slightly opened room.

Mun-deok quickly opened the door and prepared himself to attack when necessary, but he wasn't prepared to see the scene before him. (Y/N) was crying in her sleep by the side of her parents lifeless and still pale bodies. Mun-deok went wide eyed at the sight, a frown formed upon his face as he didn't expected that something like this were to happen when he just didn't visited for two weeks.

He walked towards the small asleep (H/C) haired girl, gently waking her up so he could start the funeral for her parents as soon as he could. He would also call the doctors in the quaint village so that they could check up on (Y/N), especially since Mun-deok could see that it would be nearly impossible for the girl to not witness them die without her knowing. He knew this because she would always check up on them for almost every hour she can, she even tells him herself when he comes to visit them. As the little (Y/N) started to wake up, Mun-deok told her to stay outside the room while he would call some people to help him with her parents. She only responded with quiet sobs.

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Mun-deok's POV
"The bodies are ready to be buried Lord Mun-deok." The Doctor said to me as I nodded in reply and asked a question that kept lingering in my mind ever since I saw (M/N) and (F/N) passed away.

"Is (Y/N), going to be alright?" I asked out of concern and pity. Her parents just passed away, she was able to see their dead bodies. I needed to know if she was alright.

"Well, for a kid her age, she would have been screaming and screaming for her parents, asking us if they're alright, well, and alive. But she is very calm and reserved, when my assistants examined her to see if she was traumatized, she was just quiet and kept a blank expression. (The picture above is what her expression looks like, except more dull.) They couldn't tell because she wouldn't answer any question they gave her." My face turned into an expression of worry, making me concerned for my granddaughter. The Doctor saw my expression and explained immediately.

"My assistants asked her if she was well and what she taught about the situation to confirm if she was traumatized or not. Surprisingly, it was the only question she was able to answer. My assistants told me that she said she was fine, she said that she couldn't do anything because she closed her eyes for a second and they were gone, that crying and screaming was a waste of time, and asking about her parents was useless. (Y/N) also said that she couldn't bring back the dead, no matter how hard she wishes to, and that she needs to learn to accept the truth that they're dead and never coming back. Then she said that it's of no use for them to keep bugging her with questions that she didn't want to answer." From what the Doctor said, this changed what I see in (Y/N) so much.

I thought she was still going to be the bubbly and energetic child that she was known for. But from what he told me, she wouldn't be the same after what she experienced. As I was done thinking, the Doctor told me where (Y/N) was and left me to go look for her. I went to the location the Doctor told me she will be in, which was her house. I went through the familiar path and stopped at the door that was engraved with the name '(L/N)' on it. I knocked and opened the door to see a dull (Y/N) sitting on the chair, waiting to be called. When I came inside, she didn't even try to take a glance at me. I walked to her direction and kneeled in front of her to reach her level of height.

"(Y/N), I want you to know that your parents told me that their illness was becoming worse every month, they just didn't wanted to tell you that they knew they didn't have much more time- that their sickness was spreading faster. They made me promise them that when they leave, I will be the one to take care of you. So from now on, you are going to sleep at my home in the Wind Tribe, I'll tell you everything when we're there." I waited for her response, but she only looked at me with her expressionless gaze as she just nodded and said 'thank you'. But what shocked me was what she said next.

"Can I go with you now? I don't want to see them get burried, they told me to always smile whenever I'm with Mommy and Daddy. But I really can't today and I don't want to cry in front of them again." She said on the verge of tears and gave a sad expression that I thought she couldn't give anymore.

"If you don't want to it's okay, I can't force you to do something you don't want to do yourself. But in the mean time, get all of the things you need and wait for me here, I'll get you and we'll head off." I wiped her tears on the corner of her eyes.

She then wore an expressionless face again, but I could see the small happiness that shone in her (E/C) eyes. I nod my head and stood up and went to the door I came in. Before I could close the door behind me, I heard a faint 'thank you Gramps'. It was faint but I could hear it, I smiled and closed the door, heading to the funeral with the flowers I brought wih me. I never would have guessed that I'd be using this gift for something like this...

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3rd Person
(Y/N) finished packing everything she wanted to bring with her and was just waiting for Mun-deok to pick her up. A thought crossed her mind as she walked to the window that was near the living room. She held the curtain that was covering what was outside her view and moved it slowly to the side as she let her curiosity get the best of her. Her eyes went wide and filled with so much remorse, she didn't expected to see that her parents were being buried near their house that was just a few feet away.

She could clearly see that Mun-deok was there with almost the whole village by his side. She knew that her parents helped a lot in the village to which made many people be saddened to know about the news of their passing. What made her so sad and scared was to see her parents both covered in their own blankets and being buried next to each other, she soon saw them being buried in the ground and be covered in soil.

(Y/N) couldn't take it anymore and she quickly shut the curtain that made her show the horrible sight. She leaned her back against the now covered window as she slid her body down and sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest and sobbing on her knees.

'Mommy... Daddy... Why did you have to leave me alone? I thought we'll be together long enough so you can see me grow up...'

The scene that happened before her kept repeating in her head, the thought of her parents being all lonely in a tight and dark place as they can only be comforted with the clean blanket securely wrapped on them. She couldn't help but be scared of the thought of being in a dark and lonely tight place while being with no one by her side.

She started to calm herself down as she thought that she shouldn't just cry there on the floor until Mun-deok came back, it'll make her seem weak to him, something she didn't want others to see from her just because her parents died. She already told herself before that she didn't want any of the people's pity on her, she just wants them to just be there for her and not just restrain her or treat her differently because of what happened.

An idea soon came to mind, she thought of cleaning the house while waiting for her nonbiological Grandparent so she could distract herself from her scary thoughts. She stood up from the floor as she wiped her tear stained face with her hands and started cleaning the house, the expressionless face she wore before was now back on her fair face. She sweeped the floors, dusted the shelves, made the beds, cleaned all the rooms, did the dishes, and stored all their belongings in boxes and drawers. All in all, it took about ten to fifteen minutes; since she cleans the house everday and some of her parents belongings were already stored in the past.

She also finished eating the bread and cheese Mun-deok brought with him, she didn't know that she could ever pour her sadness into eating with just a loaf of bread and cheese, she also didn't expected she could eat it all in her five minute break. At least she was able to accomplish something noteworthy in her life of eating food that have been sitting on a table for an hour or so. But it did feel nice for the young girl to just eat her sadness away, maybe she'd even want to again, since to her it felt comforting to do it.

As she just finished storing the belongings of her parents in their bedroom, she saw a box under their bed while she was cleaning. The words Phoenix's Weaponry carved on it, she didn't open the boxes because her parents told her she can't without permission, but she did knew that it had sharp weapons in them. Her parents thought that by scaring her, she wouldn't try to even touch the box. She then she saw another box that was smaller and next to the big one, she took the small box that has a picture of the same phoenix and dragon on it.

(Y/N) opened the small box carefully, but to her dismay, it was all rusted accessories for adults. Hair pins, earrings, rings, bracelets, and necklaces. But there was an empty spot in the middle, she examined it clearly with her emotionless face and saw that it has the same shape of her necklace. (Y/N) was interested at what she found, making her take off her necklace and place it in the middle. While placing the bird pendant on the empty spot, the rusted accessories started to glow a faint orange color. Suddenly, all of the rust disappeared on the accessories, and replaced with fine, expensive looking, and eye catching jewellery.

She looked at it and was a bit surprised, which her face was able express the feeling she felt. (Y/N) then took out her necklace, wore it around her neck again before tucking it inside her clothes. She closed the box of the sparkly jewellery, and tucked the box in her bag nicely and neatly. She pushed the heavy box beside the stairs, not being able to carry it downstairs because of its weight. Before she could think of if she wanted to open the big box or not, she heard a knock on the door. She hurriedly went downstairs to open it with a blank gaze to reveal Mun-deok. He came inside and told (Y/N) that they were leaving, but before he could say anything more, (Y/N) spoke up for the first time.

"Can we bring that? It belonged to my family and I don't want to leave any important belongings. Can we please?" She pointed her finger to the big box that was up the short staircase while telling Mun-deok with her expressionless face.

Mun-deok went up the stairs to the box that the small (H/C)ette pointed out and read the words on top, he opened it to see many different varieties of weapons that had the colors of fire on them. He closed the box and looked downstairs at the blank expression of the girl before replying at her question.

"We can if you promise me to learn how to fight, defend yourself, and use these weapons." Mun-deok said seriously and intimidatingly from above her, showing her that he would be willing to leave the box if she said no. (Y/N) only needed to breath before she nodded and promised with an expressionless look.

The young girl knew what she was getting herself into, but because of what her parents said about her role; she knew that she had to train herself if she was going to do what her parents asked her to do. And that meant immediately agreeing with Mun-deok to training her with weapons that could potentially harm her if she wouldn't be careful.

Mun-deok only smiled and nodded to her, seeeing that there was no hint of her lying to him. Mun-deok carried the box down the staircase with little effort. Mun-deok went outside the house with (Y/N) by his side as she carried her heavy bag with her and walked to the long path to the Wind Tribe. But what (Y/N) didn't know was that she was about to meet the important people that will have a special role in her life.

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Published:
4/30/20

I just want to remind y'all that the next chapters will be posted once a week, so the next chapter will be next Thursday.

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Remember to stay safe (especially in these times), sleep well, and keep shining my lovely starlights!