#lila redemption
TW: Mention of murder and attempted murder
Lila shifted nervously next to Marinette. Sabine and Izzy shouldn’t be taking this long. Maybe she’d decided to leave. That it wasn’t worth the problems. Izzy was twenty three, almost twenty four, what would she want with the responsibility of taking care of a teenager? Let alone one with as many problems as she had.
“Breath Lila. I’m sure they’re just talking. Maman probably wants to make sure she understands everything that’s going on.” Sabine was probably trying to convince her to stay. Or trying to figure out how to tell Lila that her sister didn’t want anything to do with her. She started when Marinette reached over to squeeze her hand. “Everything will be fine.”
Before she could argue they heard footsteps on the stairs. It sounded like two people, and Mr. Dupain had much heavier steps. She still let out a sigh of relief when Izzy stepped through the door after Sabine. It was one of the few truths in her life that Izzy never lied to her. She didn’t know what she’d do if that changed given there was nothing else she could count on.
“I’m going to make tea, why don’t you all sit.” Sabine headed towards the kitchen while Izzy came over to the couch. Lila didn’t realize she had a death grip on Mari until Izzy frowned at their joined hands.
“If you don’t want to do this right now, we don’t have to. I’ll need to talk to Sabine about the best way to keep you away from your mother, but we can figure everything else out when you’re ready.” It was an out. She could sit back and let the adults take care of things and she’d admit it was tempting.
“I want to know.” Know what exactly she wasn’t sure. At the same time she wanted to understand what was going to happen to her, even if it wasn’t what she wanted. Izzy sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her. Marinette gave her hand another squeeze before letting go and Lila moved to sit gingerly on the couch. Izzy pulled her closer and kept an arm around her. She burrowed into her side on instinct. She’d forgotten what it felt like.
“First things first. Do you want me to call you Lila or Riley?” She felt her face scrunch up at the thought.
“Riley.” It just felt wrong, and sounded wrong for Izzy to call her anything else.
“What about everyone else?” She just shrugged. She’d been Lila for so long it didn’t bother her to be called that, but she didn’t think she’d have an issue if they called her Riley either. “Think about it. When you’ve decided we’ll make sure that’s the name you’re registered under at your new school.”
“You don’t want to take me with you?” She winced as soon as the words came out. She didn’t want to seem too clingy. Izzy hugged her tighter.
“I was actually planning on moving here so you don’t have to deal with even more change. Not to mention I could use some distance. That way you have more choices on where to live as well. Sabine told me they offered to let you stay here, and that’s perfectly fine if it’s what you want. I would still want to be close so I can be there when you need me.” She didn’t know what to say to that. Having someone who was willing to move across an ocean to be closer to her was a bit overwhelming.
“We’ll be happy to help you find a place that’s close to Lila’s new school.” Sabine set the tea tray on the table before sitting herself. “You’ll just have to give us an idea of price.”
“Money isn’t an issue. I emptied out my trust last year to make sure my Grandparents couldn’t pull something and put it into various investments. I’ve been living off the dividends but I can pull out whatever I need to for the move.” Sabine was frowning at Izzy but Lila wasn’t certain why.
“You’ve mentioned your Grandparents a few times. I take it you don’t have a great relationship.” Izzy just gave an amused snort.
“My mother’s parents. They hated our father and when he died did everything they could to erase him from my life. They even tried to change my last name but I threatened to shave my head and they decided it was a battle they didn’t want to have. I confronted them when you called me about Riley and found out they’ve been paying her mother to keep her away from me. I have no intention of seeing them ever again at this point.”
“They don’t like me.” It wasn’t a question and Lila started playing with Izzy’s shirt button. She wasn’t sure why but she remembered it helped calm them both down.
“They are old southern money and dad was a first generation Greek immigrant that was just dark enough skin wise to offend their sensibilities. It was never about you, it was about controlling me and turning me into what they wanted. You don’t want people like that in your life anyway.” Maybe they knew what she was and wanted to protect Izzy from her. “I can hear you over thinking. They tried, multiple times, to get custody of me before you were born, before your mother was even dating dad. Their stupidity has nothing to do with you.”
Lila just shrugged. It made sense, but she couldn’t help but wonder anyway. It seemed like everyone was trying to keep her contained. When she was little her parents hadn’t let her out of the house by herself. She remembered Izzy arguing with their father about sending her to preschool. They didn’t want her out of the house without one of them with her. That was when Izzy started teaching her to read.
“Now that I know you’re alive, they won’t be paying your mother anymore so we need to keep you away from her. I… you need to know some things about her to understand why. But I’m not sure you’re ready.” The way Izzy held her tighter, almost too tight, she knew it had to be bad.
“She never wanted me.” It was a thought that had been circling her head for a while. It really was the only thing that made sense. Izzy let out a tired sigh.
“No, she didn’t. You were a tool to get what she thought was our father’s money. When that didn’t work the way she wanted it to she came up with a different plan. Are you sure you want me to tell you what happened?” Lila just nodded. Not knowing was worse. She’d spent most of her life wondering why her mother disliked her so much. She didn’t think it would hurt more to have a reason.
“Lila, are you certain?” Sabine’s concern was obvious, even to her. She just nodded again and the woman sighed. Izzy gave her a comforting squeeze
“When my mom married dad, her parents disowned her. When they found out she was pregnant, they set up a trust for me so that I could be raised in a manner befitting my breeding.” The amount of sarcasm in Izzy’s voice was impressive. “After mom died, dad started over compensating, spending everything on me in addition to the payments from the trust. Your mom saw a nice house and a doting father and decided the best way to get access was to have a kid with him. She didn’t know that most of the money he was spending on me he couldn’t spend elsewhere until it was too late. I heard them arguing about it constantly. It was probably the only thing he stood up to her about.”
“Why didn’t she leave?”
“I don’t know. It would have been better for all of us if she had just left you with us and gone. I don’t know why she stuck it out but I do know she found a way to get to my trust.” When she stopped talking Lila looked up at her to find Izzy glaring at the ceiling.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“You deserve to know. You deserve to understand why everything that happened wasn’t your fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault either.” That got Izzy to look at her. She didn’t know what that look was but it hurt.
“Maybe not. But it was my trust fund that caused all of this. She found out that if I died as a minor, the trust would be paid out to my legal guardian.” Sabine sucked in a sharp breath and when Lila looked over at her and Mari they both looked pale.
“You think she started the fire. But… if that was the case, she needed our father alive.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be there that night. He was going to visit his sister but she called him while he was driving to tell him she had to leave for work and wouldn’t be able to see him. He got back to the house just before emergency services got there. When he realized we were still in the house he just ran in. My door was locked from the outside and she’d had bars installed on all the windows a month before. I didn’t put it together until years later. That might also be why she got so insistent that you not sleep with me anymore. You were her tether to our father so she’d be certain to get access to the money. She must have decided she could keep him without you, at least long enough to figure out how to get the money some other way.”
Lila considered what she remembered and everything Izzy said made sense. The fact that her mother still seemed to ignore her entirely unless she was causing problems for her certainly added credence to the theory. It should… hurt or something to know that her mother was willing to kill her, or at least let her die. But after everything else she couldn’t even bring herself to be surprised.
“You think she might try to get rid of me now that I’m not profitable.” Izzy just hugged her tighter.
“I think she’ll do anything to keep you from me since I’m the reason she’s no longer getting paid. In her mind I’ve always stood between her and what she wants.”
“So I was just a tool. Something to be used when needed and discarded and forgotten when not in use. It makes sense.” Sabine and Mari both looked horrified though she wasn’t certain why. Izzy didn’t react at all.
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Isadora Dimakos was generally thought to be a calm person. Everyone who knew her would tell you it took a lot to get her upset and it was almost impossible to make her lose control of herself. Hugging her little sister for the first time in ten years she was about two seconds from committing murder over what had happened to Riley, or Lila. She really needed to ask what she wanted to be called.
“I’m so sorry. I never should have believed them when they told me you didn’t survive. I should have looked into it myself.” She still couldn’t believe the lengths her maternal grandparents had gone to to try and keep everything related to her father out of her life after he died. The only way she’d be talking to them again was through lawyers. “No matter what happens I won’t ever leave you alone with that woman again.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You were still a kid too.” Izzy hugged her sister tighter for a moment before pulling back to look her in the eye.
“I haven’t been for five years now and I never once questioned the story I was told. You deserve better from me.” Riley dropped eye contact to stare over her shoulder. A lot of people wouldn’t notice the shift, but she knew how much effort it was for her to look someone in the eye. It was honestly a bit scary how little she’d changed. “Why don’t we go somewhere a little less public so we can talk?”
“I don’t want to talk.” Her eyes shifted to the floor and her shoulders hunched.
“You don’t want to talk or you don’t want to listen?” Riley’s eyes jumped to hers for a moment before going back to the floor as she processed the question. Izzy just waited. She knew that it was harder for her sister to verbalize what she actually wanted instead of what people heard.
“Just talk.”
“Okay. Then I’ll talk and if there’s anything you don’t want to hear you can tell me and I’ll stop. Sound good?” She nodded but she was still staring at the floor. So something was still wrong but not with what she said. “Do you want someone else there too?” There it was, full eye contact. Izzy looked up to Sabine.
“Lila, why don’t you go up and grab Mari. We’ll grab some food and be up in a minute.” It physically hurt to watch her just turn and walk out. She still reacted to everything like it was a command. Granted part if it was Sabine’s tone, but most of it was conditioning by her mother to not question anything. She had so much damage to undo. “You’re really good with her.”
“Someone had to pay attention and it wasn’t going to be them.” She took a deep breath when she realized how bitter she sounded. She couldn’t talk like that around Riley. Not if she wanted to let her make up her own mind about everything. “It might not be a great idea to have your daughter there for this conversation. I have to tell Riley some things that are more than a little upsetting.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” While she was happy someone was protective over sister, she didn’t need a lecture.
“She deserves to know the truth. She deserves to know exactly how dangerous it is for her to stay with that woman. Especially now that my Grandparents know I found out she’s alive.” She shouldn’t have confronted them but she hadn’t known exactly how much trouble it would cause. One more mistake in a life full of them. “She’s smart and she can look at things more objectively than any of us if given the chance.”
“You can’t be sure of that. You haven’t seen her in ten years.” God she hated that tone. It was the same one her Grandparents used when they thought she was being an idiot. Which was pretty much all the time.
“And she hasn’t changed at all in those ten years. It’s honestly depressing how much her mother has completely stifled her growth.” She didn’t expect the woman to aid her in any way but it was obvious that she’d done so much worse. “Do you know what it was you said to me that made me actually hope you really had my sister here?”
“I don’t see what that has to do with-”
“It was when you said she remembered calling me Teddy.” She couldn’t stop the wistful smile that came over her face. “She figured out how to get out of her crib when she was eighteen months old and would always come to sleep with me. About six months before the fire her mother suddenly decided that was unacceptable and got on our father to get her to sleep in her own room. He tried everything he could think of including a stuffed bear that was bigger than he was. It was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. He told her that it would protect her at night and keep all the bad things away. Riley got all thoughtful and quiet and he thought he’d finally managed it. The next morning she was back in my room with me. When he asked her about it she said that anyone that was really dangerous would know the bear wasn’t real, but my snoring would frighten away anything that got close so I was a much better Teddy.”
“It’s a cute story but I still don’t see your point.”
“Even at four years old she reasoned through the problem and came up with a logical decision. Treating her like a child will only deprive her of the right to choose her own path. She’s already had enough taken from her, I won’t do that.” Sabine was studying her again but Izzy stood her ground. She wasn’t about to fail her sister again.
“If she gets uncomfortable and doesn’t want to listen anymore?”
“Then I’ll stop. She’s already agreed to let you get her away from her mother and so long as she doesn’t change her mind the rest could technically wait. At the same time she’s blaming herself for things that she had no part in and she needs to understand that she’s not the one at fault.”
“Seems like she’s not the only one.” Izzy could only let out a huff.
“Yeah well, I’m the oldest. It’s kind of in the job description.”
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Lila made it to the bottom of the stairs but froze before she got to the door to the bakery. She wanted to do this. She needed to do this. She absolutely couldn’t walk through that door. It just got worse the longer she stood there. Her mind was running through all the worst case scenarios. She couldn’t come up with any that ended well. Her thoughts were broken by the chime sounding from the bakery door, but she still couldn’t bring herself to move.
“Good afternoon, what can we do for you?” Sabine’s voice was it’s normal cheerful tone but there was a pause from the other person.
“I was just…” Lila could practically hear their confusion. “I’m looking for my sister and this is where I was told to go.” It suddenly felt like her chest was being squeezed in a vice. Was this what a heart attack feels like?
“Of course, it’s so nice to meet you in person. I’m Sabine.” There was a pause, she assumed to shake hands or something. “I’m so happy you came all this way, but we told your sister we’d do this at her pace so it may take her a bit to work up to meeting you.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” The woman’s tone turned slightly panicked and Lila could only imagine the look Sabine was giving her. “I just mean it would be better to get the first meeting out of the way, after that it can be entirely up to her. It’s just… if this really is my sister she always had problems with uncertainty. It would be best to make sure you’re right about this and let her know that I still care about her and I’m not going anywhere. If not she’ll just work herself into a panic. She’s very good at coming up with possible outcomes and it tends to cause her a lot of stress.”
Lila wasn’t certain what to do with that. It was kind of nice to know that this was something she’d done her entire life. It was strange having someone who knew her that well when she didn’t know them at all. She was confused about the fact that the woman seemed unsure if they were in fact sisters, but she supposed it was best to be cautious. Sabine had said that she thought Lila had died close to ten years ago so maybe she just didn’t want to get her hopes up. Or maybe she wanted an out it case Lila wasn’t good enough.
“Are you okay?” She started and realized that Sabine was crouched in front of her. When did that happen? She just nodded. “She makes a good point about just ripping the bandaid off, but we don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Like she had any clue what she wanted. In the end though, the woman was right. She was just going to keep worrying about it until it happened.
“It’s okay.” Sabine gave her another searching look before reaching out to grab her hand. When they stepped into the bakery she saw Tom talking to the woman. She was lighter complected than Lila, but darker than Tom. Her hair was a dark brown, almost black, but seemed to have hints of red in it. Her eyes were the exact same shade as Lila’s. Sabine cleared her throat and Lila started. The hands on her shoulders gave a comforting squeeze.
“Hi I’m…” The woman sucked in a sharp breath when she saw Lila and seemed to lose her train of thought. She had no idea what to do with the way the woman was looking at her. “Riley?” That name… it sounded so familiar. Suddenly it seemed like a dam broke in her mind. Memories of her father, their home and her sister all seemed to overwhelm her.
“Izzy?” She didn’t even realize she said it out loud until the woman let out a strangled sob and nodded. Oh god, this was really happening. She had a sister. She had one more person to be nothing more than a disappointment to. Why had she thought this was a good idea? There was no way she could live up to her expectations. No way she’d be good enough.
“Ry, you need to breathe.” The woman was in front of her now. She looked concerned but how long would that last? She felt a flick on her forehead. “Stop thinking about what ifs. Do you remember when you took apart my computer?”
“Mom was mad.” She let out an annoyed scoff.
“Your mother was mad about everything, it had nothing to do with you. What did I do?” Lila just blinked at her, sorting through the deluge of memories that had surfaced.
“You asked why I did it, and when I said I wanted to see how it worked you bought me books on building and programming computers.” She frowned in thought. “Mom was mad about that too.”
“Yes she was. She never wanted to admit your potential. That’s why I was the one that helped you learn to read and write because she wanted you to be ‘normal’ and Dad had no spine where she was concerned.”
“I don’t understand what this has to do with anything.” The woman’s expression softened.
“You destroyed a two thousand dollar computer including a hard drive with all my school work, all my pictures, and all my personal projects.” Lila just became more and more horrified as she talked. She couldn’t imagine losing her computer. Her entire life was on there. “At no point did I think you did it maliciously. At no point did I value that hard drive more than you. At no point did I wish you weren’t my baby sister. And at no point will I ever abandon you.”
Her immediate reaction was to look for a reason to deny that, but when she sorted through the memories she couldn’t find one. Izzy was the one person that was always there. The one person that explained things. The one person that had never lied to her. Even she couldn’t find a reason to not believe her.
“It was my fault.” Izzy just looked confused. “If I hadn’t been in your room, he wouldn’t have died.” That got a glare.
“You listen to me. I know exactly who to blame for what happened and it’s not you. Not to mention, your room was further down the hall. The only thing that would have changed is that you actually would have died along with him. I’m much happier about this outcome.” Lila felt a burning behind her eyes and a tightness in her chest again. Then there was another flick to her forehead. “Hug?” She automatically fell into the embrace. In that moment she finally remembered what home felt like.
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Lila couldn’t remember ever being this nervous. Yes, she wanted to see her sister but her mind just kept focusing on everything that could go wrong. And there was so much that could go wrong. The school, her sister, her mother… there was no way to know how any of it would turn out. All she knew for sure was that if Sabine couldn’t convince her mother to give up custody, she was going back to the reeducation facility, and they were much harder on return students. She was so screwed.
“Are you okay?” She looked over to find Marinette coming up through the trap door. “You look a bit pale.”
“I’m fine.” Marinette cocked her head and frowned at her.
“I can tell you mean that but I don’t think it means the same thing to you as it does to most people.” She watched Marinette settle into her desk chair.
“I’m not sure I understand.” Marinette gave a thoughtful hum before answering.
“Most people say it as a deflection but you use it as a statement.” Lila could only frown at her. “I just mean that when other people say they’re fine, it’s to brush someone off or get out of the conversation. When you say it you seem to use it as a declaration. I also get the impression that fine for you is completely different from fine for me.”
“I would think it’s different for everyone.” Given the look Marinette was giving her it wasn’t the answer she expected. “Good, bad, fine… they’re different for everyone. Good for you might be designing, but for someone else it would be like you taking a physics test.” Marinette shot her a flat look.
“I’m not that bad at physics.”
“I didn’t say you were, but you do hate it.”
“Fair enough, but you’re still deflecting. You’re worried. Talking might help.” Lila felt her face scrunch up in annoyance, but she couldn’t help it. Talking always made things worse, always. She’d only told Marinette and her parents as much as she had because of what had happened to Marinette because of it, but she was still more than half certain that this would all end with her, at best, sent out of the country to a regular boarding school. She was trying very hard not to think about the worst case scenarios.
“Nothing I say ever matters, or worse, I say the wrong thing. It’s better for everyone that I keep my thoughts to myself.” Marinette looked confused but Lila couldn’t figure out why. It was a simple explanation.
“Of course it matters. You explained what was going on to me and my parents and it’s changing things for the better, isn’t it?” That was yet to be seen. Sure things were going to be better for Marinette now that her parents knew what was going on but Lila knew she was putting herself in the firing line by opening her mouth. Despite Sabine’s assurances that they’d be able to get her mother to give up custody, she was still half certain she’d be sent out of the country as soon as the woman came back to Paris.
“Perhaps, but at the same time the situation couldn’t have gotten much worse so my interference wasn’t likely to cause more problems for you.” Marinette flinched and Lila reviewed the words in her head but still didn’t understand the reaction. This was exactly why she didn’t voice her real opinion.
“Are you excited to see your sister?” It was Lila’s turn to flinch. Excited was not the word she would use. “You told Maman you wanted to meet her didn’t you?”
“I did.” It had been an emotional decision. Now that she had time to think about it she was pretty sure it was a terrible idea. How could she possibly live up to the ideal her sister had of her from when she was three years old? Everything about her was a disappointment according to her mother, why would this be any different? Yeah, this was going to be horrible. “She’s going to hate me isn’t she?” Lila didn’t even realize she’d said the last part out loud until she caught Marinette’s horrified look.
“Of course not! Why would you think that?”
“Our father most likely died because he was trying to save both of us. If not for me he might still be alive.” That was the main reason but there were so many others. Lila couldn’t even imagine how terrible her mother would have been to a child that wasn’t even hers. Who knows how much of a pain she’d been as a toddler? For all she knew her sister had hated having a baby basically hanging off her all the time. Now she gets a call not only telling her that pest is alive, but that she should take custody of her. Oh and by the way she caused another kid to be assaulted.
“Lila it wasn’t your fault and I’m sure she knows that. It sounded like she would have tried to find you if she’d known you survived. That doesn’t seem like hate to me.” She did have a point. At the same time what would happen when she found out all the things Lila had done to get out of school? That wasn’t normal behavior and someone barely into adulthood likely wouldn’t want a problem child to deal with. No one wanted to inherit damaged goods. “Just give it a chance. If things don’t work out my parents will take custody of you so there’s nothing to lose.”
There was always something to lose. Most of the time Lila didn’t even know what it was until it was taken from her but she knew anything could be gone in an instant. What if her sister sided with her mother? What if she took custody of her only to send her to the same type of facility her mother had? No, she knew better than to believe things couldn’t get worse for her. No matter how far you fall there’s always another sinkhole waiting patiently to swallow you. What’s worse, Lila never saw it coming in time to do anything about it.
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Despite Sabine’s assurances, Lila continued to stay on edge. She wanted to believe the woman, really, but nothing in her experiences gave her a reason to. It didn’t help her paranoia at all when she kept walking into the living room to find Sabine on the phone and the woman hurriedly said goodbye and hung up. After the third time, Lila just decided to stay in Marinette’s room until someone called her for meals. It didn’t help the feeling of impending doom, no matter how hard she tried to distract herself.
“Marinette, Lila, would you girls come down here please?” Sabine’s request caused her to shoot Marinette a worried look but the girl just shrugged at her. It was very unhelpful. She followed slowly behind the other girl, trying to gauge the woman’s mood. She was smiling, and it looked genuine. She really sucked at reading people. “You both got in with full scholarships!” Marinette let out a happy squeal but Lila could only stand there in shock. Sabine was holding out an envelope to her and she reached for it on instinct. She got in?
“How?” That really wasn’t what she meant to come out of her mouth but it was the only word running through her head. There was no way a school that prestigious would let her in, not with all the expulsions on her record. Because despite her mother’s best threats, some of those schools did insist on a paper trail. Sabine’s expression softened.
“I spoke to them about some of your situation and I managed to get the therapists you actually saw to write letters on your behalf.” Lila felt her cheek twitch at the thought of being pitied by the administration. Hold on…
“How did you get them to agree to that? I didn’t think they’d give information to anyone but the patient or legal guardian.” Sabine sighed.
“Marinette, why don’t you go tell your father the good news?” The girl practically bounced out of the room in her excitement but Lila could only concentrate on the knot in her stomach and the serious look on Sabine’s face. “Why don’t we sit?” That couldn’t be good. She fidgeted as she perched on the edge of a chair.
“You didn’t talk to my mother did you?” It seemed like the only explanation but at the same time there was no way her mother would have agreed to release her medical records.
“No I didn’t.” Lila let out a relieved sigh as Sabine continued. “I’ve been gathering information about your situation and I went to them to explain some things, including you being given medication. All of them were horrified and I had to keep them from calling the police.” Okay now she was really confused.
“She’s got diplomatic immunity. Even if she actually did anything illegal it wouldn’t matter.” Sabine’s expression tightened and she wondered what she’d said wrong.
“Lila, your mother is abusing you.” She frowned at the woman in confusion. That couldn’t be true. Sure she was strict and she did things Lila didn’t agree with… but abuse? “I’ve been putting together proof to give to a friend who is a news anchor. Diplomatic immunity or not, that kind of bad press will cripple her career. I’m planning on talking to her once she’s back in Paris to give her a choice.”
“What choice?” Lila heard her voice crack. She cleared it before continuing. “Let me go to school or you’ll give the proof to the media.” Sabine was studying her but Lila couldn’t figure out why.
“That is far too easy to undo later. She’s going to need to give up custody of you to keep all this quiet.” Lila felt like she’d been punched in the chest. She couldn’t figure out why. Yes, her mother was all she knew, but they’d never more than inhabited the same space. She hadn’t been kidding when she told Ladybug she was certain her mother wished she had never been born, but for some reason the thought of the woman giving her away just to keep her career hurt. She didn’t realize she was crying until Sabine wiped some of the moisture from her face. “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you, but I do believe it is for the best.”
“Who would take custody of me?” The words came out without conscious thought. Who would want her was a better question. If the woman who gave birth to her would be willing to give her away why would anyone else be willing to take her in?
“There are two options.” Sabine’s voice was gentle. Lila couldn’t help but compare it to someone trying to soothe a wounded animal. Two? Her confusion must have shown. “Tom and I have been doing some digging into your past as well. The first option would be for us to take you in. You’d either have to share a room with Mari, or board at the school. She’s fine with either by the way.”
“She’s too forgiving, but I thought you would be more cautious.” Sabine gave a surprised blink before she huffed something that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “What… what’s the other option?” Her expression sobered quickly.
“We found your sister. She’ll be here this afternoon and we’ll go from there.” A buzzing seemed to take over her thoughts. Nothing would form properly. Later, she’d be able to process the concern on Sabine’s face and wonder what her expression was to cause it. “Nothing is decided Lila. We aren’t just going to let someone you don’t know take off with you. Do you want to see her?”
Nothing seemed to penetrate the fog her mind turned into. She could see Sabine’s lips moving still, but she didn’t hear anything. Eventually, her mind managed to form an image. It was the same room that her nightmare took place in, but there was no fire. Just the other girl. The one person who always protected her. Until the fire, this was the only place she felt safe.
“I want to see her.” She knew that the words came from her but she didn’t recognize the tone. It was small and timid. Sabine’s hand on her shoulder finally seemed to ground her a bit.
“We’ll take things as slow as you need to. She doesn’t want to push you but… I think you should know that everyone told her you’d died in the fire along with your father. She didn’t know she should have been looking for you.” The words broke something in her. Before she knew it she heard herself sobbing and Sabine’s arms were pulling her into a hug. Even through the tears she could feel something surfacing. The long buried hope that someone would actually care if she didn’t exist anymore.
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