Participants:
| Scene Title | Blue |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The sisters are finally reunited. |
| Date | March 26, 2009 |
From the outside, the Lighthouse looks as if it has had better days. The massive tower rising out of the house has fallen from its former glory. It is no longer a shining beacon, guiding wayward ships in from the lost harbor — though some may argue its purpose now is even more admirable. In its current state, the lighthouse seems to be in disrepair. Though upon closer inspection it all seems to be in the details. The paint has chipped away, leaving a discolored patterns of grays, whites, off-whites, and more grays. The occasional graffiti tag is here or there along the large building. One would notice that the doors, the windows, and the integrity of the building are all quite sound and newly repaired. The lighthouse has just been left with the look of abandonment.
Inside is a completely different story. Upon entering the main door, one will find a completely furnished and cozy arrangement. A spacious living room lined with two large blue sofa's, facing each other, a coffee table between them and several large bean bag chairs have been planted in the room. Shelves have been hung on the wall to display various different pictures of the occupants. A large bookcase is against the wall, holding a large variety of books from Dr. Seuss to the Bible, and even a copy of the Qur'an. The living room is focused on the fireplace a small black fence encloses it, the wood stocked on the bricks in front of it.
Connected to the living room is a kitchen, complete with a large rectangular table capable of seating around four on each long side and two on each end. A sink, a stove, an oven, a microwave and two refrigerators complete the look. Several low and overhead cabinets line the kitchen. At the edge of the kitchen are a pair of doors, one leading to a bedroom and the other, which has a padlock on it, leads to the basement.
At the back of the living room a glass sliding door leads out into the backyard of the Lighthouse, but just before it a staircase leads to the upper levels of the structure.
5:36am
That's just two minutes later than the last time Colette checked the time on her cellphone. Curled up on the sofa, downstairs in the central floor of the lighthouse, the young girl has not moved since receiving the phone call from her sister, from Nicole. With legs curled up to her chest, arms hugging her legs, she stares down at that glowing screen in her palms, the thin cord of the wall charger plugged into it spiraling off down one side of her thigh.
How long has she waited for this? Two long and painful years of hunting for her sister. Two long and painful years of thinking Nicole was dead. Two long and painful years of not knowing. So why, now, is she more afraid than ever? Closing the phone, and closing her eyes for a moment, she rests her forehead against her knees. Arms tremble, hands curl tightly against the plastic of the phone, and her stocking covered feet press down firmly to the upholstery of the couch.
Why was she so scared now?
Nicole Nichols approaches the Lighthouse entirely unhindered, striding purposefully by faces unrecognised by her that know hers and allow her passage. Her shoes - her feet - are caked with snow that she should tap off once inside the door and away from the cold, but she doesn't even feel the chill threatening to numb her toes. She doesn't feel the shivers that run through her body from the exposure of her bare arms to the winter weather.
A million thoughts pass through her mind, though she latches on to nothing. A quick sweep of cobalt blue eyes, wide and frantic, finally settling on a familiar form. "Colette!" What was meant to be a cry of jubilation comes out as a gasp of surprise. It's really her. Nicole goes running, barreling toward the couch and her sister, heedless of the way her ice-laden shoes slip on the floor.
Five in the morning, and the Lighthouse is usually so quiet. Colette was already up and off the couch when she heard the door open, her cell phone falling away uselessly to the floor, the cord of the charger catching on her foot, yanked out of the wall by her quickened pace. While from a distance she seems so familiar to Nicole, to the hazy memories of Stephani Ciati, the girl that quickly throws her arms around her beloved sister looks so little like the very young girl she left behind.
Colette says nothing, just buries her face against Nicole's shoulder, arms tightly squeezing around her, so much that it's like she's trying to just fold Nicole into a square and keep her in her pocket. Fingers wind into the fabric of Nicole's tee shirt, and Colette is shivering nearly as much as her sister is, but from anxiety more so than cold.
Leaning back, staring up with tear-filled eyes that wet her cheeks, Colette reveals just how much she's changed. She's lost an eye, to whatever tragedies have befallen her since the bomb, it's smooth, white and murky, blinded. Her other seems brighter, more colorful, a sharper green than Nicole remembers it being. She's so much older now, a seventeen year old young woman, as opposed to the fifteen year old girl she was when she last saw her. All of that youthful innocence is gone from her eyes, but the loving compassion and softness is still there. Her hair is slightly longer, dyed bright red in strips one hte sides, the same red used as shadow over her eyes that are now lined with tear-smudged mascara, lips glossed a light pink. She's wearing makeup, she looks so much older.
Not only has her features changed, but her way of dress too. It's perhaps coincidence that today finds Nicole discovering Colette outside of her usual attire, dressed in more formal clothing of a white button-down shirt, a black sweatervest and a pleated black skirt, her legs warmed by the coal-gray stockings covering them. She's dressing like her big sis.
There's no words, just tear-filled staring, and every light in the room glowing brighter, as if a power-surge was making them shine with more color, more vibrant radiance.
Even Colette is shedding light, a faint and warm golden hue that perverts the colors around her, bends and twists them into bright and sunny yellows and oranges, as if somehow the warm light of dawn just broke, and it's her.
She's changed so much.
"Sissy," Nicole mumurs, smoothing dyed hair away from Colette's face gently. "My God, you're beautiful." She leans down just a little so she can be closer to face-to-face with her little sister. "You always were, you know. But you've grown so much. Oh… God. I am so sorry." She squints now. Somebody must have turned up the lights. She leans back to glances around, quickly realising that this source of light is her baby sister.
A gasp of astonishment. Nicole places her hands on Colette's shoulders to hold her at arm's length, "Let me get a look at you." She breathes out a heavy lungful of air. "'Letty, you're glowing."
One hand moves from Nicole's waist, palms smoothing tears and smudging mascara further away from her eyes. The young girl chokes out a ragged sob, her lips trembling as she manages to make a smile, rising up onto her toes to wrap her arms around the neck of her taller sister, pulling her down to her height so she can lean in to press a warm, damp kiss to her Nicole's cheek. When she leans back, there's an apologetic look in her eyes as her brows crease, and the light slowly dims around her to something more resembling the interior illumination.
"I missed you," is all she can really answer, closing her eyes to lean her cheek down against the touch of her sister's hand, sniffling back all of the emotional breakdown that she knew would precede this. "I— I have so much to tell you… s-so much…" She can hardly speak, every time she tries, her memories get the best of her and she's crying again. But despite her emotionally damaged state, she looks healthy, well-fed and clothed. Whoever has been taking care of her has been doing so well.
"We both have a lot to say, I think." Nicole leans in to press her lips to Colette's ear, "But I can't tell you my story here. You understand?" She pulls back long enough to cup the younger girl's face and plant a lingering, but very familial kiss on her lips. "Oh, God. You're so, so beautiful. I thought you were dead. I'm so sorry. The bomb went off and no one could find you. I went back to the apartment to at least try to find something to bury. Nobody could tell me anything. I… It hurt so badly. I didn't know what to do without you." She crushes the girl to her chest in a tight hug before she finally succumbs to the overwhelming emotion and breaks down, sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry, 'Letty."
All she can do for now is cry, hold her sister in her arms, her inexplicable return from the haze of lost memories and wherever she had disappeared to cast aside for now. There'll be time to ask, time to wonder and time to explain later, right now all that matters is that she has her sister again, that she's here, that she's alive and that they're together.
Nodding slowly, the young girl presses her face into Nicole's shoulder, squeezing her tightly, fingers wound into the fabric of her tee shirt again, lips pressing to her shoulder, mixing with the dampness of tears that stain the clothing.
For a long time, that's all either can do. Hold each other and cry, making up for two years of unshed tears, two years of lost memories and divided lives. When words finally do come, there's soft, weak and whispered, "Can… we stay here? Just— for a little while? I— I want you to meet Brian, and— and all of the people who've been taking care of me." She swallows, tensely, looking up to her sister. "I can explain here," there's a bit of a crooked smile, "I— I just— I'm sick of running." It's a terrible thing to say, as if it's all she's been doing the last two years. "Just— stay. Here. Now."
"Just for a little bit," Nicole decides after a thoughtful moment of silence. "I want to take you home with me. I have a home here. I have my old job back. We can have our lives back." She pauses, suddenly uncertain as she wipes away her own tears. She crouches, smoothing her hands over Colette's face to remove shed tears and to just make this seem more real. "Do… Do you even want that? I… I fucked up so badly." It's not like Nicole to say words like that in front of her sister, but any thing softer wouldn't be doing the situation justice. "I gave up on you. I was so consumed by my own pain that I gave up on us. I promise I'll never make that mistake again. But, I… I understand if you won't give me another chance."
Colette's hands both reach up, palms pressing to her sister's face as she rises up on her toes again, bringing her lips to Nicole's forehead before settling down, "I don't— I don't want anything but you right now. Nothing." Her jaw trembles as she says that, a weak and painful smile crossing her lips. "But— I— I don't know if— "
Colette's eyes close, head shaking from side to side, "I don't know if it's safe for me to go back to the city. My— I can't remember what happened to me the day the bomb happened. I— a friend of mine told me he works for dangerous people who are looking for me, and he told me to hide out here. S-something's going on, Nicole. I— if someone wants to hurt me I— "
She swallows, tensely, "It's why I ran from Judah, why I left— why— why I came here. T-there's people here— friends— I— " The young woman's thumbs brush slowly over Nicole's cheeks. "I just don't know."
Nicole's features go steely. Her voice drops to a low, dangerous whisper. "If somebody wants to hurt you, Sissy, I'll take them apart piece by piece. They will be sorry they messed with my baby sister." She's so serious, even through the swelling emotions. "I have friends, too. Nobody will even think twice about touching you as long as you're with me."
"No, no, no, no." Her fingers slide up through Nicole's hair, curling gently against the matching dark locks. She leans in, nose pressed to Nicole's throat, words felt as warm breaths as much as they are heard, "I— no. I'm not— " There's so much more defiance in her tone of voice than she used to have. But the girl cuts herself off, letting her arms fall to wrap around her sister's shoulders again, holding her close and tight. "Later, we— later." She nods slowly, weakly, "this is just us, right now."
Nicole adjusts her embrace around Colette, fiercely protective of the young woman. "I love you more than anything in this whole world, Sissy. I'll do anything for you. Remember that." She drops a kiss atop her sister's head, letting the anger melt away slowly.
"I…" It's hard to form the proper words, to say exactly what she wants to say, the way she wants to. After so long, so much time and hopelessness everything feels changed. All those things she had said to Tavisha, about not knowing being better than the truth, how bitter they taste in the back of her throat now. But then, there is that — Tavisha. "I— I have to at least pack."
Straining to say those words, she turns her face, letting her cheek brush up against her sister's neck; a familiar and comforting feeling, even after so long. "I— I have to— there's people here I have to say goodbye to. Tavisha, and Kam, and Brian and— I just— I can't just leave." With a dry swallow, Colette lets her brow come down to rest on Nicole's shoulder. "Can— can you stay that long? Just a day? I— I want you to meet them, all of them. Meet Eileen, and her crazy doctor friend, and— I just— " She closes her eyes tightly.
"I'm…" Her words become hushed once more, "I missed you so much."
Nicole patiently waits for her sister to state her case. To list the reasons why she can't just leave. "I missed you, too." She smiles and nudges her gently back enough so they can see each other's faces more clearly. "I'll tell you what… My apartment isn't set up for the two of us yet anyway. You tell all your friends your good news while I go into town and get some things to make the apartment 'Letty-Ready. I'll clean out the spare room until the stores open, and then I'll go get my shopping done and I'll be back by dinner."
Lette-Ready. "Like, padding on all the pointy corners and special locks on all the windows?" Despite her emotional state, and the glassy look to her eyes, she manages that self-deprecating joke. Humor is quick to fade though, as she rises up onto her toes, each hand moving to press to Nicole's cheeks.
"Promise me." Her brows tense, "Promise me you'll come back," everything in her voice betrays that sense of abandonment and fear that has dwelled in her since the day of the bomb. "Promise me."
"I would never, ever abandon you purposefully. I will never, ever do it again accidentally." Nicole's face is full of sorrow and horrible guilt as she regards her sister. "I will come back. I will always come back for you." The older Nichols girl grasps the younger's hands tightly. "Do you think I need to put special locks on the windows?" She jokes, "Are you going to pull a Nickels? If I catch you smoking in the garage, you're dead meat, young lady."
Shaking her head, Colette manages to break into a smile again, leaning up to brush her nose against Nicole's. "I don't smoke, n'neither do you while I live there." The threat comes just as it did years ago when she first moved in, a purse of her lips and a quirk of a smile and one band brushing against Nicole's cheek. "It makes you smell nasty," she adds, one brow rising.
"One day." She says firmly, "One day and then it'll all be over and— " Her fingers slide from Nicole's cheek up past her ear and into her hair again, fingers winding in the ink-black locks. " — and we can be a family again." Clenching her jaw, Colette breathes out a slow and tired sigh through her nose, a smile creeping up on her lips only to fade away again from the torrent of emotions this whole reunion has brought.
"Just one more day," Nicole promises. She's quiet for a long moment, content to just hold Colette and sway back and forth gently with her. "Say… What's your favourite colour these days?"
There's a hesitant smile, and Colette's head tilts to the side, eyes blinking back tears as she looks up at her sister. Most pointedly, she just locks her eyes on Nicole's, staring into them for a few moments, before quite simply explaining, "Blue." The same it's always been, the same shade of blue, the same color she's looking at right now.
"It's always been blue."
 <date>: previous log |
Previously in this storyline… Next in this storyline… |
 <date>: next log |