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[throughthelookingmax]

"Hey, looks like there's a town up ahead."

Reigen obviously saw it --- he was the one driving, so he saw just about everything. But Max wasn't sure that the others in the back had. She looked over the shoulder of her seat as she said it, making sure that her voice wasn't drowned out by the sound of the 80s citypop CD they acquired at the last town they ran into.

Max turned back around and squinted her eyes, trying her best to filter out the rays of blinding light that seemed to reflect off of everything.

"I think it might be near a beach, too," she said. "That looks like a seagull, right?" Max pointed at the figure of a bird flying overhead.

Comments

[espresso_doppio]

“Caspiterina! Doppio! Your hair…” Doppio’s braid was jostled. “When on earth did it get so long?”

“Um…awhile?”

“And these—tattoos?” Doppio looked down as his sleeve was pushed back for the priest to inspect his skin. “Did Piras really give you these already?”

“No way!” Doppio snapped, feeling a rush of indignation. “I asked him over and over, and he…um…” He trailed off. ‘He what? Who?’ The name sparked a feeling but the memory cut off before he could fully recall it. He suddenly shrunk back as if worried the priest would be angry with him, but Father Serra only laughed a full-bodied joyous laugh.

“Don’t look so guilty. I knew you were trying to get tattoos for awhile. I figured you wouldn’t miss your chance on your first excursion away.”

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Oh.” The priest bowed towards the rest of the group. “Please, forgive my inattentiveness. You all must be terribly road-weary.”

“No, please don’t be sorry.” Reigen reflexively bowed back at an even deeper angle. “If you and Doppio want to go up ahead, the rest of us can wait. One of our friends is down at the beach right now, but she should be back soon.”

[throughthelookingmax]

"Were you all talking about me?" Max asked with a slight smile, her hands on her waist. She hadn't heard much, but she had heard Reigen mention her being down at the beach.

It didn't take long for her to notice the new addition to their hardy crew and her eyes narrowed slightly. "What, did we get a new addition while I was gone? That didn't take long."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

‘Oh thank God.’ Reigen cleared his throat. “Father, meet Signora Max Caulfield. And, likewise…meet Reverend Gavino Serra. He’s Doppio’s father.”

[throughthelookingmax]

"Wait, priests are allowed to have kids here?" Where was here, anyway? Italy, right? That's where the Vatican was. This guy had to be Catholic.

But this guy also looked nothing like Doppio. So maybe...

"Or did you take our little Doppio in?"

[espresso_doppio]

'Our little Doppio?' Doppio repeated it in his head, slowly processing that he was being called that in front of his own dad.

"Yes, you would be right. I took Doppio in as an infant. It's been almost 16 years to the day, in fact..."

[throughthelookingmax]

"Wow," Max said. Sure was weird thinking of Doppio as a pastor's son.

[aoihitomi]

"Um," Hitomi started. "Is there a place we can stay in town?" She was just as worried as Chid that Doppio would stay here. If he was, she at least wanted more time with him.

[espresso_doppio]

"You'll stay with us, of course!" Doppio piped up as if it was the most natural thing to offer. He paused after he said it--after all, he didn't really know what home was. Self-consciousness overtook him again. He was sure he looked crazy with his visible seesawing between certainty and confusion.

"Of course. There's plenty of room in the rectory for guests." Doppio's strange demeanor didn't slip by Father Serra, but the comfort of him and his friends would come first for now. Especially since there was a small child among them.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Ah, of course..." Reigen trailed off, making sure he was appropriately gracious as he bid farewell to the dream of his beachside villa.

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio's eyes flitted around to everyone nervously before his eyes fell on Chid. This was sudden and confusing for everyone...but it had to be extra confusing for him, didn't it? Doppio put on his best brave face.

"Hey, Chid...do you wanna ride with me in the back of the truck to town? It's pretty fun!"

[princechid]

Chid nodded, his blue eyes gleaming with excitement. "Yes!"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen climbed into the driver seat and waited until Hitomi took her place shotgun and Max crawled into the back before starting the van up. His eyes went to the truck ahead and the first thing he saw was Doppio helping Chid up into the bed. Right away, Doppio began chattering to the kid. He couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the brightness in Doppio’s expression said it all.

Reigen wished he could say the same for the van. It already felt strangely empty. Still, he was the Captain. He had his role to play.

“This is a good thing,” he said as he jerked the shift into drive.

[throughthelookingmax]

"If you say so. Can't say living with a priest would be my first choice." Okay, so maybe Max was being a little bitter. But now that she watched Doppio cheerily chatting with Chid... "But I guess you're right. If this is where he belongs, he should probably stay here."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

‘Still…I’m kind of uneasy.’ It went beyond anticipating Doppio’s absence, but Reigen couldn’t put his finger on one thing. It was a lot of things. There were still a lot of unanswered questions about their friend’s past, and he thought they’d be together to uncover them. But…it wasn’t up to him, was it? It was up to Doppio.

Reigen glanced sideways at Hitomi. “You alright?”

[aoihitomi]

"What?" Hitomi had been so distracted by her own thoughts that she hadn't even realized she was being addressed until she felt Reigen's eyes on her.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Just checking on you.”

[aoihitomi]

"Oh," Hitomi breathed. "I'm just a little sad that we might be leaving Doppio behind. But I should be happy, right?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Hey, I’m sad too. Right as I got him to perfect my special onigiri yaki-onigiri technique! Who else is gonna make a dozen of those things upon request?”

[aoihitomi]

That was enough to set off the waterworks for Hitomi, who tried to brush away the tears as fast as they came. It was no use.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

‘Ah, jeez.’

The road was narrow and the priest drove his truck in no particular hurry. Reigen took one hand off the wheel to gently pet Hitomi’s hair.

[throughthelookingmax]

What was she supposed to say in a situation like this? It wasn't like Max could just tell her they could keep in touch via email. They weren't even sure if they'd be able to come back here to visit. For all they knew, some chasm would open up behind them and puke up some other big section of the galaxy, stopping them from going back the same way they came.

Max knew that from experience.

But still, Hitomi had something that most people didn't. So maybe they couldn't Google Maps their way back here, but they did have their own way of getting back. Even if it was really long and not always convenient.

"You're right, this is where Doppio belongs. But this doesn't mean it's goodbye forever. We can always use your pendant to get back here. And even if there's a chance we can't... we should really try to enjoy the time we got with him."

Hitomi peeled her hands away from her eyes just long enough to look up at Max's.

"Doppio definitely wouldn't want to see you crying right now."

[aoihitomi]

"You're right. Thank you... both of you."

Hitomi brushed away what she hoped would be the last of her tears.

"I don't want Doppio to be worried our last days together."

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio bounced slightly with every bump the truck ran over. It made him nauseous in the van, but somehow he felt fine being in the wide open air in the truck bed. Better than fine. The sharp air of the coast flowing through his air mingled with the warm sun on his skin. It wasn’t just familiar, it was nostalgic.

When he leaned his head back, he suddenly felt something wet and slimy on his cheek. He shrieked and fell onto his side—and when he looked where his head had just been, he saw a giant fluffy white dog’s head sticking out of the rear window to watch over the two humans in the back.

“Meet Vento,” Father Serra laughed from the front. “He’s a Maremma Sheepdog. The shepherds said he was no good since he bonded with his humans instead of the flock, so I took him in a few months ago.”

“Vento?” Doppio spoke his name as he sat back up, attracting the big boy’s attention. He carefully pressed a hand to his snout, giving it a little rub.

[princechid]

"A sheepdog..." Chid said in a mixture of awe and surprise. He had seen plenty of creatures since being whisked away from Freid, but those were mostly Pokémon. He had never seen a dog like this, that reminded him so much of a Beastman who visited the palace when he was even younger than he was now.

Chid raised a tentative hand to touch the dog's neck and after a moment of hesitance, let his hand run over the dog's long fur.

"Did you have a dog growing up, Doppio?"