Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mitsu shook her head running her hand through her hair as she read the sign over again. "I just....I don't..." Ruffling her hair in frustration she turned to Shun. Her eyes seemed to be begging him to tell her that this was some kind of mistake. "This...can't be my dad." He didn't seem anything like this when she was growing up. "And its dated twenty five years ago. My brother would have been five. He wouldn't have acted this way with him.....would he?"

Her gaze was becoming a bit more doubtful as she hesitantly looked back at the picture. It wasn't really him was it? But how could it not be? The man in the picture had the same shaped face, the same dark hair, and the same eyes that Mitsu remembered. Her image of her father was shattering by the minute and she finally turned away from the picture and hurried down the stairs. When she hit the first floor she didn't stop and continued toward the door even as the bartender called out to make sure she had found the picture. Mitsu didn't even look back but continued out the door and into the street.

When she felt his hand wrap around her wrist she stopped, her head down cast and her ears drooped. Maybe she realized she was being childish. Learning anything about her father was good wasn't it? So why did it leave her feeling so...disappointed?

"I want to go home..." She said softly, crimson eyes turning back to look at Shun. They were glassy and sad, the kind of eyes that didn't know how to process what she had just seen. "Will you take me home?" The few things they had were still at Jenna's, they would have to go there first, but beyond that Mitsu was ready to leave this place.

There was a moment of hesitation before she nodded. She still wanted to find something for Xiu for Christmastival but other than that she was ready to go back to Amity. "Yeah.." But for a moment longer she hid in his embrace, burying her face away where it couldn't be seen. That wasn't the kind of person she thought her dad was and her brother had never mentioned it. Had he just be sheltering her all along?

With a bit of a sigh she finally pulled away wiping at her eyes before she looked up at Shun. "You know which way to Jenna's right?"

When they had arrived back at Jenna and Alister's place they found the elderly couple working outside to bring in firewood for the stove. Jenna smiled as they walked up to the door, her arms filled to the brim with wood. "I wondered where you two had gone off to. Did you do some exploring?"

Mitsu nodded a little but didn't seem overly excited.

"Well...why don't you both get inside and I'll make you something warm to drink. Go on now." She shooed them inside and followed behind them while Alister continued to bring in firewood.

Placing the wood she had down Jenna immediately went into the kitchen and lit the stove so that she could put the kettle on. "Would you like a bit of tea? I have an herbal brew that should perk you both right up."

"Oh will you? It will be sad to see you go. I hardly see my own son that often anymore. He's got his own family to tend to." Jenna kept talking as she put some water on the stove to boil and pulled out a tea pot and a bag of various dried herbs.

"Would you like a little bit of gin in your tea? I don't usually let young pups like yourselves drink but you've probably already had a bit while you were out and about. They put a little in most of the hot drinks." She started to pull out a bottle but Mitsu quickly shook her head. "No? Okay then." She set it aside for now before turning back to the young ones.

"So where will you be heading back to?"

"Yes, he's in his fifties now." Jenna nodded. "Was a bit of a wild one that boy. Him and all his friends were. They all settled down after they started families though."

She looked around the kitchen for a moment before she pulled open a drawer and produced a picture. Walking over to the kitchen table she had a seat and placed the picture down for the two of them to see. "There they all are. It's been a long time since I've had an excuse to pull this photo out."

Mitsu took a seat opposite of the older woman and peered down at the photo. She wouldn't have thought much of it until she saw the people in the photo. It was a group of four men or more like older teens all grouped together laughing with each other. From the picture it looked like they were playing a card game and the boy on the left, who sat taller than all the rest, looked to be winning. It was that boy that Mitsu couldn't take her eyes off of, mostly because she had just seen him in another picture not ten minutes ago.

"Oh? South to Amityville?" Jenna went on. "It must be mighty warm down there." She looked back to Mitsu who was staring so intently at the photo. "What's wrong, Screechheart? You're looking a little pale."

The woman smiled but shook her head. "I'm surprised you know that name. No, this is my boy here," She pointed to the young man on the other side of the table who looked like he was about to fall out of his chair while laughing. "Todd Flint. Though you couldn't have separated him from Gavin for anything. That pup was over here nearly every day. He certainly liked to live it up. I think he wanted his son just as wild as he was."

"What happened....to him I mean?" Mitsu asked softly, touching the picture by Gavin.

"Oh, I'm not sure, Dear. I haven't seen him in such a long time. He moved away more than fifteen years ago. It was so odd, he had another baby and suddenly he grew up and decided to raise his family elsewhere. Todd was sad to see him go but I can't say it wasn't for the better. Those two often spurred each other on to do the most terrible of things."

Something about that statement struck Mitsu deeply and she felt that prior sense of disappoint fade just slightly as a softer expression took over her face. She touched the picture again lightly another question coming to mind wondering if she might get an answer.

"Do....do you know if the Lupus family is still around?"

Jenna was surprised to hear another question for the girl. She often didn't speak much but had to think about her question. "I don't think so dear. It wasn't long after Gavin moved away that his parents decided to move someplace warmer though I'm not sure where. They used to live just down the block, right across from the market."

By the time Jenna was done talking the kettle began to whistle and she rose to prepare their tea.

Mitsu was a little sad to know she wouldn't be able to meet her grandparents but she was hopeful they were still out there. It would just be a matter of finding them though Mitsu wasn't sure where to start. At least it was something though and it made her feel just a little bit better....Her father had changed for her.

"Oh, it's no trouble, Screechheart. Tea takes no time at all." Jenna was pretty certain that was why she was being thanked. Smiling she set the tea pot on a cozy in the middle of the table and placed a cup in front of both Shun and Mitsu. Once they were set she poured them both some tea that smelled richly of flowers and rosemary. "There now, drink up. If you like I can make you a bit of a meal to take with you to keep you warm on your journey back."