Help

by WittyNameTFM

Chapter 31. From Those We've Met

"Well? What do you think?" Solar asked as Indigo looked down at his handiwork. The initially gunmetal gray knee brace sat before her, now painted a dark purple with light blue lightning accents.

"This is so cool…" She mumbled, feeling a sense of pride as she rested her hand on it.

"I know you might need it from time to time, so I added a little….flair to it." He said with a knowing grin.

"I see what you did there and I don't appreciate it." Sunny spoke up flatly, interrupting the moment.

"Lighten up, Sunny." Indigo chuckled. "I'll wear it all the time, Solar. Thank you so much." She said with a smile.

"Of course kiddo. If it needs to be touched up just ask. My years of painting minis has finally proven to be a worthwhile endeavor." He chuckled.

Indigo shifted to extend her leg, moving to attach the brace right away. Her leg wasn't hurting really, but she was determined to get used to the feeling of wearing it.

"You look so excited to put it on." He teased.

"Well, I actually got a 'Solar original'. Sunny's got the watch thing, and I have this." She said, finishing strapping it on. She gingerly gave her knee a little bend, wincing at the minor discomfort. "This'll help me get back to 100% in no time."

"You could bend much further that time. Your therapy is going well." He smiled.

"Yeah, the doctors say I'll be back on my feet by the end of the month." She nodded, glancing at Sunny. The thespian had helped her at home, lifting her leg and gently bending it with Indigo to stretch the muscles again.

"That's great! I know you've been going stir crazy." He said.

"I wanna go for a walk without crutches. They hurt my armpits." She groaned.

"Yeah. They're not very comfortable." He agreed, crossing his arms.

"Sunny, hope you never have to deal with them." Indigo added with a chuckle.

"I certainly hope not to need them any time soon." Sunny said, joining with her chuckle.

"I'll take care of you if you do. I owe you that much."

"I'll hold you to that." Sunny shrugged. "Though I didn't help you to get brownie points."

"You know what I meant." Indigo gently pushed her.

"Yeah, yeah." She smirked.

The next day was Indigo's first day back. She moved gingerly with her crutches. Sunny stood to her side, just in case.

"I swear, it's like they've never seen someone who's hurt before." Indigo chuckled as they walked.

"It's a little different when it's the best athlete in the school." Sunny said with a shrug. "I guess."

Indigo looked up, pausing to rest on her good leg. Gently resting the other on the ground.

"Royal." Indigo spoke first, the taller girl crossed her arms.

Her usual standoffish demeanor seemed to fade as she eyed the girl. "Didn't think I'd see you back so soon." She said quietly.

"Nothing can keep me down. You should know that by now." Indigo smirked.

"I'm…glad to see you on your feet again." She admitted.

"Good to be back. How have things been?"

"The team's not the same without you, captain."

"You're probably gonna have to pick up the slack for the rest of the year at least." She sighed. "I doubt that I'll be good enough to go for an actual game for a while. I'm getting back to just walking at this rate."

"Hoped that wasn't the case…" She sighed. "Being captain sucks. How'd you do it for so many teams?"

"It helped keep me out of the house…so that was some motivation." Indigo admitted. "But you got this, dude." She grinned. "Oh, and no more holding grudges. They ain't good for you. Light and I hashed it out already."

"You did?"

"She was beating herself up pretty bad about it…try to let it go, for me?" She asked.

"Right." Royal sighed. "But only because you asked."

"Good! Now then. I gotta hobble my ass to class. If you'll excuse us." She chuckled, righting herself.

"Later." Royal said as she stepped to the side to give her space.

"Well that went better than I imagined…" Sunny said after they were far enough away.

"Royal gets heated real easy, but I don't think she's a bad person." Indigo noted.

"With how often she tried to egg you into a fight or picked on Sour, I'd beg to differ." She said flatly.

"I mean…okay, you got me there." She managed to shrug. "I just feel like there's some good in there."

"I do appreciate how you try to see the good in people. Just don't let them take advantage of that kindness." Sunny warned.

"Okay, okay. Geez." Indigo chuckled.

"I'm finding new ways to worry about you every day…" She sighed with a grin.

"Well, you know me. Completely helpless and in dire need of direction." The athlete laughed. "Okay maybe part of that is true."

"Welcome back Indigo!" Lemon cheered as she ran up. "Oh, your brace looks so cool!"

"Thanks. Solar painted it as a gift." Indigo lifted her leg, showing it off slightly. "I really like it."

"I'll bet he was really happy that you did." She smiled.

"How do you two have so much energy in the morning? I still don't get it." Sour grumbled as she joined them. She reached up to rub the sleep from her eyes, revealing several bandages as the sleeve of her jacket slid down.

"What happened to you?" Indigo asked, nodding toward her arm.

"Pepper." She said simply. "She's still full of energy."

"Is Pepper the name of your cat?" Lemon asked excitedly. "That is so cute!"

Sour blushed lightly. "Shut up."

"She's clawing you?" Indigo asked.

"She likes to fight." Sour supplied, crossing her arms.

"That is pretty cute. You have to admit." Sunny giggled.

Sour sighed. "Can we move on?"

Indigo chuckled, leading them to the cafeteria to meet up with Sugarcoat before class. "I sorta missed this place y'know?"

"Why?" Sour asked.

"Being cooped up is like torture when you're so used to being out and about all the time." She admitted. "I can't wait to get back to the gym, but I'm admittedly a bit worried about doing it too soon…"

"I swear to god if you hurt yourself again-" Sour grumbled.

"I know! It's not like I know what I'm doing, dude. I've never had an injury like this before."

"We'll go to the doctor before you go to the gym and get their professional opinion." Sunny said simply. "I can trust you not to do anything stupid, right?"

"..."

"Oh, that's a loud silence." Lemon said quietly.

"Indigo." Sunny huffed.

"I mean…"

"Indigo!"

"I have a track record at this point!" Indigo said defensively.

Sunny sighed. "I guess you have a point, just don't get into anything without thinking it through…"

She gave a small salute. "I can do that for you."

---

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Shiny." Cadence said before correcting herself. "Ah, um, Officer."

"Right. Sorry I couldn't tell you before now. I'd rather it be noted officially, you understand." He smiled. "I'll be on the lookout, but Violetta should stay away from the school, I'll see about stationing someone near here for the time being."

"You'll be the first to know if we have any issues." She assured him.

"Mr. Flare reported her in their neighborhood, so we felt it necessary to inform anywhere that Indigo might be." He said as he began to put his hat on. "I'm off to discuss with a few other people. You have me on speed dial, right?" He chuckled.

"Of course. Thank you for the heads up." She giggled.

"Have a good day, ma'am." He tipped his hat with a goofy grin before turning to leave, closing the door behind him. 'Solar said she worked part time at the gym downtown. I should get the name to be sure, and then I should stop by Dr. Waller's office.'

The officer looked around the school as he made his way to the exit. Memories of his time here flooded back. Though the air felt a lot warmer. Students were more talkative, more friendly. 'Cadence is doing a lot of good here. It's too bad Twily transferred out before she could see the change.' He thought with one last glance back before pushing through the doors, headed to his car.

After a little legwork, he found himself entering the gym. A kind older man sat at the counter. "Excuse me, I'm looking for a Mr. Rocco?" He said.

"Oh, that's my name." The man said. "Though only one kid still calls me 'mister'." He chuckled.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. One of my employees. She's a sweet kid. Heard her dad came by when I wasn't here, poor thing got into an accident at school."

"Her dad?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. What was his name…" He sighed. "It ain't the same as her last name. I bet he's like a step father or something, but that aint my business."

"I see." He chuckled, his suspicion seeming to subside momentarily. Though he made a note to call and check on Cobalt's status. Just to be sure. "Well, I'm here on behalf of Miss Zap." He said.

"Oh no, she ain't got in any trouble has she?" The man asked with a frown.

"No, no. In fact she's doing her best to avoid trouble." He said. "There are some pieces of information I can't share, but I'm going to leave my card. If you have a woman in her early 40's come in. Same hair color and skin tone as Indigo's. I'd like you to give me a call."

"What's all this about, officer?" He asked.

He sighed, trying to find a vague way to explain. "She's currently not living with her bio parents. They are not allowed near her, I've had reports of attempts to make contact. Is that enough?"

"Oh my goodness. The poor kid is going through a lot…" He frowned, looking down at the card. "You can count on me, you got a name?"

"I'm officer Shining Armor. The woman we are looking for is named Violetta Zap." He smiled.

"Violetta." He spoke as he wrote it down. "I'll make sure she don't come near the kid."

"Thank you, sir. Have a good day."

"Keep doing good work, kid. Be one a' the good ones."

"I'll definitely do my best." Shining Armor chuckled, heading back to the door.

As he exited, Rocco reached over to his phone, dialing a few numbers. "Michiru? We got an update on the kid." He spoke. "Indigo is gonna need some extra eyes on her when she can come back to work." The muffled affirmation from the other end brought a smile to his face. "Good. Let the others know and I'll give you the details in person."

Shining Armor climbed into his vehicle with one more stop in mind. He handled every case he was handed with top priority, though he had to admit there was a bit of a personal investment at this point. While he and Indigo hadn't had a significant amount of interactions, she was a classmate of his sister and a student of his fiancée. Not to say that was necessary, she was a person who needed intervention. He pulled into a parking spot near the psychiatrist's office. He knew she'd have to be informed…he just had to make sure he didn't sound like he was trying to ask about confidential information.

As he approached the desk, the receptionist looked up. "Good morning. Do you have an appointment?"

"Morning! I do not, I just need to speak with Dr. Waller, does she have a moment?" He asked.

The young woman picked up the phone, dialing into her office. "Doctor? There is a…um police officer here, he wants to speak with you…"

"I have a few minutes. Lead him back." She said, confused by the request, but when the door opened, it began to clear up.

"Good morning doctor. I won't take up a lot of your time." He said.

"I can assume you know I can't answer questions-."

"Right, I'm aware." He chuckled. "One of your clients, Miss Indigo Zap, has had an incident involving her biological parents. I'm letting you know to be on the lookout. If her mother learns that this is a place Indigo goes to often then she may try to ambush her here."

"I…see." She frowned. "That's-" She sighed. "I'll keep an eye out and inform security. It's up to your men to keep her away."

"I know, ma'am. We'll do our best, but we can't be everywhere at once…so I'm asking for your help. For her sake." He reached into his pocket and handed her one of his cards.

"Thank you." She said, looking at the card. "I have an appointment to keep, I apologize that I have to cut this short."

"No, no. It's fine. Thank you for hearing me out. You have a good day now, Doctor." He nodded before being led back out by the receptionist. "Thank you too, ma'am."

"Have a nice day, officer." She waved.

Shining stepped out, feeling a bit of weight off his shoulders. 'Okay. Now…back to patrol…'

Author's Note:

I usually post these early in the day. Time got away from me this month. I hope you guys like this bit. Indigo's defense force is being built up. Thanks for reading!

Comments

[RainbowSunshine]

How much longer do we have with this awesome story?

[WittyNameTFM]

11488903
Honestly? I'm not sure. I've been debating on ending it around the time Indigo and Sunny actually get together...but I've also got the feeling of expanding the story past that. 🤔

[RainbowSunshine]

11488909
Yes definitely expand!

[WittyNameTFM]

11488916
I'll keep that request in mind as I move forward.

[The Sleepless Beholder]

"We'll go to the doctor before you go to the gym and get their professional opinion." Sunny said simply. "I can trust you not to do anything stupid, right?"

"..."

"Oh, that's a loud silence." Lemon said quietly.

Hahahahahaha

Glad to see everyone's on Indigo's side. And yay for recovery! I was half sure you were gonna keep her without walking forever.

[WittyNameTFM]

11488997
Nah. That's gonna be saved for the car accident.
I promise she won't just be getting hurt the whole time. I'm glad you found that little bit funny. I love that expression, its so underused.