Sunny woke up, thanking her lucky stars that she didn't have a nightmare to top off the traumas she suffered from the last couple of days. She stared at the ceiling of her room, sighing deeply. She didn't know whether she wanted to stay in bed because it was comfy, or that she simply wasn't in the mood for any sort of interaction, or both.
I'm pretty sure my parents would coax me out of bed one way or another, so I might as well rip the band-aid off quickly...
Sunny got out of bed and stretched. She walked over to the mirror to take a look at herself. Wow. she thought. I look as good as I feel... Sunny Flare's hair was an absolute mess. Hey eyes were puffed up from all the tears she had shed through the night, and bloodshot from the lack of sleep. At least she still had her figure, but at the moment that was little consolation. She made a sputtering noise and went downstairs, still in her pajamas.
She walked into the kitchen to see her parents at the table. She slowly walked over to her father and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry about last night." She whispered into his ear.
"I know you are." said Stellar. "Apology accepted."
Sunny breathed a heavy sigh. "Thank you. I needed to hear that." A tear fell from her cheek, but she didn't weep openly. She had had enough of that, but she knew deep in her heart of hearts that she was far from done with her mourning. She took a deep breath before asking a question she had not wanted to ask..."Do his parents know?" Sunny asked silently.
"Yes." Said her father. "They wanted me to say to you in no uncertain terms that they do not blame you for his death. In fact, they're proud of the action he took to save you, and that if you wanted to spend some time with them, you're more than-"
"Please...please stop." Said Sunny, feeling tears welling up again as she sniffled. "I understand the sentiment, but I don't know if I can face them right now...even if they don't blame me for anything." She covered her face with her hands and sobbed into them. Glaze gently stroked Sunny's back to calm her down as Stellar embraced her, Sunny's sobs now being muffled.
After a few minutes, she had calmed down. She made an exasperated noise. "I'm having such a hard time dealing with this..." She said and put her hands to her forehead.
"You could always tell Crystal." Said her mother.
"Well naturally, I'm going to." Replied Sunny. "I feel like I need all the help I can get." She said, sighing. "One minute I feel empty, another I'm depressed, another I'm angry at the world for taking my world away from me..." She sighed again. "Why did he have to die?" Sunny said, her voice cracking.
Glaze hugged her daughter. "Your father and I are here for you, Sunny Flare, but we still want you to make friends."
Sunny rolled her eyes. "Maybe I will, and maybe I won't." She said. "I just don't think I'm ready for it."
"You won't know until you try." Said her father.
"I suppose you're right..." Said Sunny. "I guess I just need something to do to keep my mind occupied for a bit."
"Such as?" Her father asked.
Sunny shrugged. "I don't know!" She said, frustration in her voice. "It's a Sunday, there's hardly ever anything to do on a goddamn Sunday!" Sunny sighed. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, Sunny. We understand you're having a hard time." Said Glaze.
"That's putting it mildly." Sunny said under her breath. "I just wish Monday would come already so I can talk to Crystal Clarity and get this done and over with!" Before her parents could say another word, she continued. "And yes, I know it's not that simple, but the pain is driving me crazy!" She said, tears in her eyes. "It hurts so much that I'll never see the man that I loved again...or even feel his touch..." She collapsed to the floor and sobbed. "I wish I could have traded places with him..."
Her father ran over to her and embraced her. "Now you listen here, Sunny Flare." He said sternly. "If you ended up dying, do you have any idea how your mother and I would feel, let alone Rutherford?"
"I just miss him so much, Father..." she sobbed.
"I know, sweetie, I know." He said, hugging his daughter tightly. "It's going to hurt for a long time..." He gently rocked her back and forth.
Sunny cried into her father's chest as she let out her frustrations, yelling "Dammit!" every so often between sobs.
Glaze ran over to her husband and daughter, embracing the two while gently stroking Sunny's hair.
Sunny took a deep breath and shuddered. "I don't know how much more of this I can take..." she said. "And it hasn't even been two whole days!" Sunny sighed heavily. "What am I going to do with myself if all that I do now is think about Rutherford and cry?"
Sunny's mother gave her a sympathetic look. "You try to move on as best you can." she said. "Like your father said, it's going to hurt for a while...but eventually the wound will heal."
Sunny sighed. "Easier said than done at this point..."
"That's understandable." said her mother. "Is there anything you would like to do today?" she asked, hoping that a diversion or two would brighten up her daughter's mood.
Sunny thought for a moment. "I don't know..." she trailed off. "Why don't we just jump in the car and take things from there? You know...play it by ear."
Stellar Tycoon and Shimmering Glaze looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged. "Works for us." her father said. "'The sky's the limit', after all."
Sunny winced at the phrase her father used, as it was one of the last things Rutherford had said to her before the fatal accident. She managed to hide it from her parents, as she didn't want to worry them any more than she already had.