guestsurprise, who owns Gena and Cassie, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Rachel, Sasha, Perseus, and Melodica.
A/N: This story is the sequel to "Not Allowing A Disagreement To Come Between Us".
No Guilt Allowed In This Family
"I'm worried, guys," Rachel said as she paced the living room while she spoke with Toepick, NRG, and Upgrade. "Gena and Cassie seem really sad and I think I know why."
"They're still feeling guilty that they almost let a disagreement come between them and you and your sister?" Upgrade asked.
"I think so," the blonde-haired woman said. "I'm not sure why though. We all made amends."
"True, but sometimes guilt can run a bit deeper," NRG said gently. "Perhaps they are unsure of how to let go of the guilt they feel."
"And they probably blame themselves that they almost let a rift get too big to mend," Toepick said softly.
Rachel paced the floor again. "I can't let them keep feeling guilty," she said firmly. "I've even noticed that Cassie's hugs are lighter too, almost like she's afraid she'll hurt someone again."
"So that wasn't just my imagination the other day," came Whampire's voice as he jumped down from the ceiling. "I noticed that too."
"What are we going to do then?" Upgrade asked.
"We have to get them to snap out of their guilt and cheer up," Rachel said firmly. "But how?"
Sasha came in and she looked sad. "They really feel guilty about what happened," she said. "And nothing I said could cheer them up. They look so sad."
NRG stood up suddenly. "Cassie and Gena were willing to listen to two strangers last time, yes?" He asked.
"Yes?" Rachel said, curious as to what he was driving at.
"Are there two other aliens they haven't met yet? Ones who could perhaps help them to let go of their guilt by listening to them?" He asked. "I've heard that sometimes talking to a stranger and telling them your problems can help."
"That is true," Sasha said before falling into thought. "It is a good idea. But who could help them?"
Upgrade stood up. "What about Melodica and Perseus?" He asked. "The girls haven't met them yet, have they?"
"No, not yet," Rachel replied before nodding. "I think that just might work."
"I'll talk to Melodica," Sasha said.
"And I'll talk to Perseus," the blonde-haired girl said.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the Mansion...
Cassie was laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was hurting because she was still a little upset over the fact that the disagreement sometime back had almost caused a huge rift and she also was afraid that she'd hurt someone with her strength. While she was working on controlling it more with her father's help, she was still scared she'd accidentally hurt someone again.
She knew her aunts forgave her, but the guilt still stayed, no matter how much she tried to put it out of her mind. "Maybe I should withdraw from the program," she said to herself. "It would probably be best if I did."
Gena was in her room, brooding over the incident too. "What kind of a friend am I that I almost let a rift get between us and our loved ones and almost made it too big to fix?" She asked herself.
Rachel had found Perseus and the Thep Khufan agreed to talk to Cassie. "She is Four Arms' daughter, correct?" He said.
"Yes," Rachel said. "And Gena's daughter too. Gena and Four Arms are engaged."
He smiled. "I recall him mentioning that he had a beautiful fiancée and daughter," he said. "Let me go find Cassie and see if she'll be willing to tell a stranger her troubles."
"Good luck, Perseus," the owner of the Grant Mansion said as he headed out to find the young girl.
Melodica listened to Sasha and nodded. "I'll talk to Gena," she said. "Maybe if I can relate to her, she'll be more willing to listen to me."
Sasha cocked her head to the side. "Relate how?" She asked curiously.
The female Thep Khufan smiled. "Kuphulu was once reprimanded by someone I trusted a long time ago and I went into protective mother mode, telling off that person because I was protective of my son, not realizing that the person was trying to help my son," she said.
The young woman looked sympathetic. "I think we mothers have all been like that at one point or another because we love our children no matter what," she said.
Melodica nodded with a smile before heading out to find Gena.
Cassie heard a knock on her open door and turned to find a Thep Khufan she hadn't seen before standing there. "Hello, little one," he said, his voice pleasant.
His greeting made the young girl stop short of running, but she did get up and stand by her bed. "Can I help you?" She asked curiously.
He smiled. "Actually, I was hoping to help you, Cassie," he said.
She looked surprised. "How do you know my name?" She asked.
"Your aunt Rachel told me," he said. "My name is Perseus."
Her eyes widened. "Wait, you're the Thep Khufan that knew Aunt Rachel and Aunt Sasha's adoptive father," she said in realization.
He nodded. "Rachel is very concerned about you, little one," he said softly. "She's worried you still feel guilty over what had happened, though she and Sasha forgave you and your mother."
Cassie flinched and turned away, but felt hands rest on her shoulders. "What is troubling you, little one?" He asked her, his voice still soft.
She didn't pull away, but when she felt him pull her gently into a hug, she clung to him, her tears falling hard and fast. Perseus let her cry into his shoulder as he rubbed her back, his experience as a father helping as he comforted the distraught teenager, stroking her head in a calming manner.
"I...I just can't get past it," he heard her sob out.
He had a feeling he knew what she was talking about. "You want to get over the guilt, but feel you can't?" He asked gently. She nodded. "Why do you feel that way, little one?"
"Because I'm afraid it'll happen again," she admitted. "I'll hurt someone with my strength and I don't want that to happen!"
More tears fell down her face and Perseus held her. "Little one, you've been in training with your father to learn to control your strength, have you not?" He said.
"Yes, but...,"
Cloth fingers gently rested against her mouth, making her stop talking. "No buts then," he said. "You learned from your mistakes and you need to let that hurt and guilt go, because there's no guilt allowed in this family."
"But how?" Cassie asked before giggling as Perseus began tickling her.
"Well, one way is to tickle that hurt and guilt out of you," he said with a chuckle, sitting on the bed with her in his lap, lifting her shirt up just a little to expose her stomach. "And if I remember being told correctly, you go crazy if your stomach is tickled."
Cassie quickly tried to block his hands, but a few tendrils tickled her neck and underarms, forcing her to try and block them, but it did her little good. Rachel, who had come up to see how it was going, came in.
"Need a hand, old friend?" She asked with a smile.
"Yes, I do," he said with a smile.
Grinning, Rachel went up and began tickling Cassie's socked feet, making her niece laugh even more before Perseus made her squeal when he blew raspberries into her stomach.
Gena was in a similar predicament as Melodica and Sasha were tickling her. "Come, Gena," Melodica said with a smile as she tickled Gena's neck. "You're a good mother and you need to let go of any guilt you have right now."
"She's right," Sasha said, tickling Gena's stomach.
Gena's laughter filled the room before she finally tapped the bed in a sign that she needed to breathe. The two let her up, giving her a chance to catch her breath. She looked at Sasha, but then dipped her head sadly. "I was wrong to jump to conclusions," she said.
"Gena, we all do that sometimes," Sasha said gently. "But we're all family and no guilt is going to remain, nor any sadness over what happened. We made amends with each other and that's what counts."
"She's right, Mom," said Cassie as she came in with Rachel and Perseus behind her. "Like Uncle Perseus said, there's no guilt allowed in this family."
"That's right," Rachel said with a smile.
Gena smiled gratefully and hugged her family. "Thanks for sticking with us, guys," she said.
"Why wouldn't we?" Melodica asked gently. "We're all family and that's what family does."
"Hear, hear," Sasha said in agreement and the others echoed her as they came together for a big group hug.
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GoldGuardian2418
