A curious nervousness was plaguing me. In a way, I could easily understand it, I was on my way to tie up a single, loose end. It would either nicely tie in with my future, or I would have to bury it with my past. While I had cleaned and maintained my armour last night, I had pondered my actions, what would be best and I came to a conclusion that I would have to see through.

I wanted to keep the loose end tied in and Galatea agreed with me but still, it was a risk, but a risk that I had to take. And it should be here, giving my action an appreciable symmetry, I was not sure it would be appreciated by the other party, but I sure did.

The forest around me parted and I was looking onto a small picnic and rest-area, on a small meadow next to the river. Close to the river, a lone figure stood, looking out, over the river. It was a petite, lonely figure, looking as if the weight of the world was pushing down onto her shoulders, slowly crushing her. If I had to put it into a single word, I would use the world desolate, but part of me knew, it would not last long.

Slowly, I walked up to the figure, standing a few steps behind her, waiting for an acknowledgement. If I seriously startled her, it could be bad.

“Piss off!” the figure said in an angry, snarling voice.

With a small smile on my face, I walked closer, ignoring the warning.

“I said piss off!” the figure said, spinning around and I saw Sophia’s angry face, wet with tears. Half a moment stretched into eternity, the moment she took to inspect my face, weighing if she should attack the stranger that intruded on her grief or leave herself. But after that eternal moment, recognition dawned on her face. Of course, I had not changed that much. My hair was a lot shorter and coloured black, my facial structure was slightly different, thanks to the inlays and I was wearing sunglasses, hiding my eyes. Add in the clothes that we had bought together on our date, and especially she should recognize me. It took her a moment, but she did it, making me smile a bit. As long as I didn’t walk up to my family or other close acquaintances, I should pass muster, for now.

“But… They said you... There was a fire...” She started to talk in an adorably confused voice, incomprehension and emotions choking her off.

“As you can see, the rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.” I said, using a line, stolen from one of the great spirits of the world. It was not often that one could steal that easily and get away with it. Sadly, there was only more incomprehension on her face.

Her hand came up, slowly moving to my face, stroking it, carefully as if she was afraid that I was just a figment of her imagination. “You came for me, A…” Her mind was catching up with the situation, but was not quite there.

“No, no longer that name. I am no longer her, she is dead, do you not know that?” I stopped her, before continuing, “Call me Cat, because as of yet, I have no name.” With those words, I looked deeply into her eyes searching for falsehood, for anything but genuine joy. There was surprise, a bit of sorrow but nothing I felt suspicious about. She was genuinely happy to see me, just because I was myself. It was in that moment, that I truly made up my mind, that I suspended my doubts. I would trust her. The knife hidden in my sleeve would stay there.

“I came back for you, you know?” I said in a soft voice and pulled her into a hug. For some reason, she started to cry again, shoulders heaving as sobs came out of her throat and she tried to burrow into me. Gently, I stroked her back, making circles with my hands, trying to soothe her but kept quiet. Maybe, she just needed some time.

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We stood there for quite some time, before her crying eased off and she simply stood in my embrace. Stepping back a bit, I wanted to walk over to the benches so we could sit, just to feel her cling to me and follow.

“Sweetie, you make it hard to walk.” I told her in a soft voice. “If we go over there, you can sit on my lap and we can talk, okay?” I asked.

I felt a movement against my chest, a bit of up and down rubbing that I took for a nod and moved back again. This time, she did not quite move with me, but a moment later, she clung to my arm. I was getting slightly confused by her behaviour. Why was she clinging to me as if I was a life-preserver? We had truly know each other for only a few weeks and dated, if you want to call it that, for a few days, but she acted as if I was the most important thing on earth.

We walked over to the bench and I sat, just to have her straddle my lap and burrow her face into the nape of my neck. Apparently, we were still not talking, but there were things I would not complain about and having a cute Sophia in my lap was one of them. I would just enjoy her closeness for now and wait until she felt like talking.

A while later, she leaned back a little before moving back in and kissing me with some fervour, invading my mouth with her tongue. It felt… possessive. Good, intense, yes but it felt as if she was invading my mouth, sticking a flag in the ground and taking possession for the Kingdom of Sophia.

Finally, she pulled back and I drew in a shuddering breath.

“Don’t do anything like that again!” she scolded me with heat in her voice. “Do you know how I felt when you were not at school? When I called your phone and was told that you were gone? Never, never again!”

Her anger truly surprised me but I had seen and read enough drama’s to know how to answer. With a smile on my face, I agreed, giving her a soft kiss and told her that I would stay, that I would not do anything like that again. The caveat, if I don’t have to, was unsaid and unheard.

“But why did you do it anyway? You wouldn’t do something like that without a good reason and a lot of preparation, so spill.” she demanded. She looked adorable, straddling my lap, with a big smile on her face and still a few tears clinging to her eyes. Before spilling, I pulled a handkerchief and wiped her tears away. Yes, tear-stained Sophia was adorable, but I prefered her in a fully happy state. It was a much better look for her.

“Necessity. Clark told my father some yarn and my father swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. He did not even want to listen to me, he just yelled and raged, almost possessed. I had an emergency plan prepared, ready to carry out, just in case I needed it. Monday night, I felt the need to use it, because it felt like my father was on a trajectory to take away everything I had worked for, to tighten his control and suffocate me. There are many ways my father could have stopped me, if he had time for it. and many of those ways would have stopped me as a side-effect, without him knowing my plans or accounting for them. Sending me away into some boarding school would be the easiest and most likely way he would have chosen to get his control back. There was no way I would risk everything I worked for, my plans, my dreams and most important, my freedom. I had to act before some random action of my father made my plans moot.” I explained.

“I visited them, you know?” she asked. I kept quiet, not feeling a need to tell her that yes, I knew because I was spying on her. I had a feeling that it would not go over well.

“Grace looked truly sad and upset. Your father, he was strange. He looked as if it was a perfectly normal occurrence, losing his only daughter. Clark was there as well, talking with your father. He, Clark I mean, was angry that I was there and after he insulted me once more, I lost my temper and told him off for hitting you and saying how happy and lucky he must feel that you would no longer be able to press charges. Grace looked as if someone had slapped her and I swear, I could see your father’s eyes flash in anger, but his face did not change at all. Clark got really angry at that and yelled at me, when suddenly your father spoke. Not yelling, not angry but I could not have talked back, even if I wanted to. His voice was so cold but intense, it cut like a knife. He just thanked us for coming and suggested that we should leave. I don’t think I ever wanted to vanish that bad. Clark looked pleased for a second, thinking that only I would be kicked out, but no, your father kicked out both of us.” Sophia told me.

Those were some interesting tidbits, but nothing that mattered any longer. That part of my life had gone up in flames.

As I was thinking, Sophia asked the ten-million dollar question. “What are your plans now?”