Chapter 26 Hiding You vs Finding You

Twelve years ago

"Stefani! Stefani!"

Jonathan just arrived at the Hernandez Mansion after he and Jane went to their parents' grave and gave their mother her favorite flower when he noticed the butlers and maids all wore anxious expressions on their faces. He didn't waste time as he ran towards Mr. Hernandez.

"Quick!! Find my daughter!" Mr. Hernandez looked miserable and full of anxiety as he shouted at his bodyguards.

"What happened, Mr. Hernandez?" Jonathan asked, feeling anxious himself.

"Ah, Jonathan! Jonathan, please help me. Stefani, my Stefani is missing. What am I going to do? It's her mom's birthday today and we said we're going to visit her grave. When I went to check her bedroom, she's not there anymore... Jonathan-ah, my daughter... my daughter is..."

Jonathan decided to remain calm and think. They wouldn't be able to find Stefani if all of them were going to panic. Just then, he remembered Stefani's story about her mother. Without thinking twice, Jonathan sprinted out of the mansion.

"Jonathan, where are you going?" Mr. Hernandez asked, voice almost cracking in nervousness.

Jonathan didn't look back, eyes looking ahead as he thought of the many places Stefani might've chosen to hide. He was almost out of breath and his heart banged against his ribcage when he reached the playground near their school.

It was a hot afternoon and he could hear the children laughing while playing in the distance. Still panting hard, Jonathan slowly approached the slide.

While taking steps, under the slide, he noticed a four-leaf clover sitting prettily on the sand.

"Stefani!" Jonathan called after he picked up the leaf.

Then he heard a familiar faint sob from inside one of the big cemented rings. Slowly, he climbed the ladder and wasn't even surprised to see a small Stefani hugging her knees, looking like a lost puppy as she used her hand and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"You found me again, Jonathan..." Stefani said in a very sad voice that broke Jonathan's heart.

Gripping the leaf in his hand, Jonathan moved down on his knees and hugged Stefani. "It's okay, Stefani. I'm here. Don't be sad. I'm here."

Stefani's tears fell harder as she hugged Jonathan back tight, "Jonathan... I miss mom... I miss my mom so much…. I want to see her. I miss her so much..."

Jonathan nodded, hand caressing Stefani's back as he tried his best to give enough warmth to his childhood friend.

After successfully calming Stefani down, Jonathan sat beside Stefani, holding her hand in comfort. He noticed the small figure beside him was no longer crying but her eyes were the saddest ones Jonathan had seen in his life yet.

"They said... if I could find a four-leaf clover, I could wish whatever I want and my wish will be granted. So I tried my best to find that," Stefani said, voice full of sadness. "I wished for mama to appear right now but she doesn't come. What should I do, Jonathan? Does the clover fairy hate me?"

Jonathan's hand wrapping around Stefani's tightened. Once, he thought finding the solution to a math problem nobody could answer in his class was the most difficult thing he would ever do after accepting the death of his parents. He never knew the day would come where accepting his parents' death and explaining the death of Stefani's mother to Stefani would feel exactly the same.

It was true that ages don't matter when it comes to accepting the death of a loved one. Whether one was young or old, it was hard to accept the reality your loved one was gone forever. But this time, Jonathan thought it was unfair. When he stared at Stefani's desperate face asking for answers, Jonathan wanted to shout at the sky. He wanted to blame the gods as to why they took Stefani's mother when Stefani couldn't even completely understand what death means.

Instead of answering, Jonathan took Stefani in a tight embrace, holding her as if the younger was a fragile object that would break once he let her go.

"Don't cry," Jonathan whispered. "Whether the clover fairy hates you or anyone hates you... no, even if everyone hates you, so much that you want to run and hide... I, I will still find you, Stefani. I will always find you."

He could feel Stefani starting to cry again that time, so Jonathan tightened his hug. "Don't cry, Stefani-ah. I will do my best to grant every wish you have. So don't cry. Don't cry..."

Stefani gripped the four-leaf clover Jonathan gave back to her and began to cry again, bawling her eyes out with a loud crying voice screaming for her mother. This time, however, the sadness she had inside no longer felt too heavy that she had to run away and hide. Because like always, Jonathan would find her and stay with her to share her pain. For little Stefani, unknown to the people that surrounded her who thought she was too young to understand, she knew that much.