Day 2 & 3

Don't ask.

3 Years Later

“Isabella! Hey, Isabella!”

The brunette with blond streaks turned around and smiled at her older brother. He had become much more clean-shaven in the past year and was currently wearing a dark, designer suit that had been custom-made just for him. Still, even as a young manager of his own business, his manner towards his younger sister hadn’t changed a bit.

As her brother reached her, she gave him a hug and then scolded him, “You’re supposed to call me Tonnerre now, remember?”

Calvin wrinkled his nose at Isabella. “It’s just a stage name. Why should I call you that? Besides, it’s such a stupid name.”

Isabella whacked her brother. “It is not stupid. It’s connected to Éclair’s name "”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard this a million times. It means ‘thunder’ in French, and Éclair means ‘lightning’, so it shows how you’re following Éclair into the world of fighting, just like thunder follows lightning, blah, blah, blah.” Calvin looked at his little sister. “That’s not stupid?” He ducked Isabella’s punch. “Hey! You’re a professional fighter now, you’re not allowed to punch me.”

Ignoring the comment, Isabella took Calvin’s arm and began to skip towards the large white building. “I’m so glad that you could make it tonight. I didn’t get anyone when I called home, and your receptionist told me that you had some meetings that you had to attend so you might not be able to attend.”

“Ah right.” Calvin cleared her throat. “I forgot to tell you this, but she’s jealous of you.”

Isabella blinked. “What? Why?”

“I dunno for sure, but I heard her and some of the other secretaries talking about it, and she said something about you being a horrible distraction.” Calvin shrugged. “Anyways, if you really need to talk to me, you can just call my cell, you know.”

Pouting, Isabella said, “You never gave me your new number. And besides, you never pick up anyways.”

“I will. For you anyways. Probably.”

The bantering went on as they walked into the International Mall. It was relatively empty that day, due to it being a holiday and only a few select fifty having won tickets to shop the place completely by themselves.

Only a few shops in, Isabella spotted a short girl, wearing sunglasses, a baseball hat that covered her dark black hair only slightly, and built on tight, muscled proportions. She stopped in shock and nearly dragged Calvin into a trashcan as she did so.

“Éclair?”

Calvin looked around in surprise. “What? Where?” He looked back at his sister. “Are you going crazy?”

“That girl over there.”

“…The one with the obviously black hair?”

“Yes, that one,” Isabella replied, Calvin’s unveiled disbelief flying somewhere to her right. “It’s her. That’s Éclair!”

“…She has black hair!”

“It looks like Éclair! It moves like her!”

Without waiting for a refutation or for Calvin to tell her that what she just said had sounded very stalkerish, Isabella sped up to the girl. She was wearing a fur scarf that immediately convinced Isabella that she was right. The fur was black and white, the exact colors that Éclair’s ferret was known for.

“Éclair!”

Without really thinking, Éclair turned around and then stopped at Danzin’s sharp teeth nicking her collarbone. Darn it. I really have to stop responding to my stage name when I’m not on stage. Still, just because I responded doesn’t mean anything. Without stopping, Éclair turned around and sped the other way.

“Éclair, wait, Éclair, please stop!” Isabella ran after Éclair, Calvin somewhere in the distance muttering under his breath.

Éclair ducked into the bathrooms and went scampering through them and then out another door, with Isabella close behind her. This happened about three more times, but once they’d reached the first bathroom again, Éclair had had it. She didn’t like being chased and being unable to fight or being locked up in a mall, where everything was incredibly enclosed and irritating.

It’s time to stop this. As the bathroom drew closer, Éclair turned around and skidded to a halt.

Isabella stopped two feet in front of her. Neither of the girls was out of breath. Somewhere in the middle of the mall lay Calvin, exhausted out of his mind and unable to run any further.

“What do you want?” Éclair asked, putting on an angry expression. “Why are you chasing me?”

Taking a tentative step forward, Isabella asked, “You’re…Éclair, aren’t you?”

Annoyed, Éclair snapped, “No, of course not. What are you talking about? My name is Leah.”

Shaking her head, Isabella said, “No…No, you…” She looked at Éclair more closely. “You’re definitely Éclair. You look just like her, except…” She looked mournfully at Éclair’s black hair. “You hair. Why did you dye it?”

“What are you talking about? This is my natural color.”

“No, it’s not! Éclair, you’re…blonde. And your eyes are blue.”

With a flourish, Éclair whipped off her sunglasses. “Do these eyes look blonde to you?”

Surprised, Isabella took a step back. She was staring into eyes so dark that she couldn’t even find where the pupils were. They were lovely, but they were under no circumstances, anything close to the riveting blue that Éclair was known for.

Still, the girl in front of her was Éclair’s exact height, moved like her, and looked like her, despite all the color changes.

“I’m not going to tell anyone, Éclair. I’m just…a fan. I just wanted to say hi to you.”

“I told you!” Éclair said, trying to sound as exasperated as she could. “I’m not Éclair!”

“Why are you lying?” Isabella asked, hurt. “I can tell. I’ve watched you fight so many times. I know that you’re Éclair.”

Éclair. Don’t be silly now.

Quietly, without moving her lips, Éclair hissed back, “Well, there’s really no other choice, is there? She’s obviously not going to shut up.”

Meanwhile, Isabella was still talking. “I know everything about you. You’re " my idol.”

Disgusted, Éclair snapped, “Do you know how weird that sounds? You’re disgusting. Get the hell away from me. I’m not who you think I am.”

Stunned, Isabella asked, “Why…” She shook her head. “Why are you being so mean? Did something happen?”

Oh man. This is not going to end well. “I’m not your sweet little princess. Éclair is not your sweet little princess! I’m a fighter. You think that fighters are nice? Are you insane? Or have you just been cooped up in some fairy tale world for all this time?” Éclair’s voice got harsher and harsher until finally, Isabella took a step back, shock written plainly on her pretty face. “And besides, how can you even see that it’s me? My hair’s black, you can’t even see half my face, and I’m not even wearing makeup! Are you some sort of stalker b***h or something?”

…That was not nice, Éclair.

Snappishly, Éclair replied, “I’m not trying to be nice.” She glared at Isabella and then turned around. ‘Why are you being so mean?’ Honestly.

“Fight me!”

Something like shock kept Éclair from reacting as fast as she normally would have. After a moment of letting the two simple, but mind-blowing words run through her mind, she spun slowly around and stared at the fuming brunette in front of her. “What did you just say?”

Isabella’s tanned skin shone red under the tan and her fine eyebrows were knotted in a scowl, her lips turned down, her hands shaking with agitation. Slowly, she opened her mouth again and the same words came out, “Fight me.”

Bemused, Éclair asked, “Are you crazy?”

Isabella’s handbag went slamming to the ground, creating a noise like a mini thunder clap. Her eyes flamed as she stared at Éclair. “You have disgraced the name of Éclair. She is the best fighter in the world, and she is a kind person. She…she encouraged me to become a fighter. You " you don’t deserve to be Éclair!” Isabella shot forward, bent on attack.

“Ha! Are you kidding me?!” Éclair jumped out of the way easily, Danzin holding on grimly with his little claws. “You’re the one who called me ‘Éclair’! You’re the one who put all those stupid hopes and dreams onto me!” Éclair lightly deposited Danzin on a nearby potted miniature palm and turned to face Isabella. “And let me tell you " I am Marie-Claire Sanders, Éclair of the Arena, and I just called you a stalker b***h.”

She charged forward and then kicked towards Isabella’s feet. When Isabella jumped, Éclair slid under her and came up behind her in a back handspring that landed with a kick right in the center of Isabella’s back.

It was as if a hammer had been struck straight through Isabella. She collapsed on the floor, completely bypassing the knee-phase and going straight to face first. Her mind was panicked, racing, unable to focus, and she couldn’t even force her lungs to fill.

Very coldly, Éclair squatted down by Isabella and tilted her head up so that Isabella, dazed though she was, had to look into Éclair’s eyes. She made a gasping sound, but still, her lungs failed to do what they were supposed to, and she just gasped more, unable to breathe properly, but struggling hard to do so. Éclair watched her with cold eyes.

“You still think I’m a sweet little princess?”

Something in Isabella broke.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t tell anyone about this little incident. Nobody was supposed to recognize me, no one knows that I’m here, and I have an alibi for being somewhere else. So unless you want your career completely shut down before it’s even begun, I wouldn’t say anything.” Éclair let Isabella collapse back onto the floor and walked away. Danzin slunk after her, eventually catching up and regaining his place on her shoulder.

Isabella said nothing, even five minutes later, when Calvin ran up to her and asked her, pleading, to tell him what was wrong.

In the end, Calvin had to pick Isabella up, gently, and carry her out of the mall where a swarm of family guards converged on the two of them, placing Isabella gently inside the car and escorting Calvin into the other side, where he gently stroked the hair of his beloved younger sister. Her eyes were open and her breathing normal, but not a word escaped from her.

Author's Note

Second part of day 2 and first part of day 3.

Reviews

[Larry Dyson]

excellent!