DonoSlane Excursions – Coming clean
Dramatis Personae:
Kirney Slane Donos (human female from Coruscant)
Myn Donos (human male from Corellia)
Alina Donos (human female from Corellia)
Selan Donos jr. (human male from Corellia)
Timeframe: ~ 32 ABY – AU
Coronet City – Tekahel District
House of the Donos Family
4:55 p.m. Corellian Time
He stood in the kitchen, peeling tubers for dinner, and watched as his wife sliced the Bantha meat for the steaks.
"Less staring, more peeling," she ordered without looking at him.
Myn grinned and threw her a sloppy salute, a ridiculous gesture with the white apron he was wearing. "Yes, Captain. Right away, Captain."
Kirney shot him a mock glower. "Well, the less you peel the less you'll be able to eat. Simple as that."
He shrugged. "Hey, I'm a carnivore at heart. Give me a decent steak and I'm happy."
"That's not what the doctor ordered," she remarked sarcastically. "Didn't he tell you to eat less animal fat?"
Myn snorted. "That quack is just out to turn me into a kriffing vegetarian. Not gonna happen!"
"Right," she said with a smirk. Knowing exactly what he was about to say, Myn was utterly predictable at times, she took a breath and said, just as he began to speak as well, "Vegetarians are the people who eat up the food of my food."
It came out in perfect unison and both began to laugh.
"Go back to peeling tubers," she ordered once the initial merriment had died down a bit, although she was still chuckling. "The kids are about to come home from school and you know how grumpy your son can be if dinner is late."
"My son?" He faked righteous indignation pretty well. "How come whenever he's been up to his tricks or he's in a snit he's suddenly my son?"
"Why, isn't that the stuff fathers have to deal with?" She smiled sweetly. "That man to man stuff you guys are always talking about?"
Myn gave a snort. "So why was it my task to speak to the headmistress when Alina floored that boy … What was his name? Ryndo?" He shook his head.
"That was because you're so much more diplomatically gifted," Kirney said matter-of-factly. "You know that headmistress is one of these insufferable do-gooders who wouldn't raise their voice, let alone have a serious argument with anyone. Just seeing her makes me want to smack her one."
Whatever answer her husband had attempted, it was cut off by the sound of the front door being thrust open forcefully. So forcefully that it banged into the wall with a resounding crash.
The two adults exchanged perplexed looks.
What followed were the clatter of boots which were flung at, not into but at, the shoe rack, subdued female sobbing and a raven-haired whirlwind which dashed past the kitchen door and stomped up the stairway. Another door was yanked open and slammed shut again. Mere seconds later guitars and bass of some heavy isotope piece of music were blasting through the house, barely dampened by the closed door and Myn cringed when he recognized the song – it was what Alina was playing whenever she wanted to be left alone.
No more tears,
No, 'cause nothing else matters
I've been closing my eyes for too long.
Only vengeance will make me feel better.
There's no rest till I know that it's done.
"Ouch!" Kirney winced. "I haven't heard that song since …" Her voice trailed off.
Myn nodded wearily. "Yeah. This is going to be a fun evening."
In silent agreement they moved out of the kitchen and into the corridor where a visibly exasperated Selan Donos jr was closing the main door.
Kirney tilted her head and shot her son a questioning stare. "What did you do?"
A look of hurt flickered across Selan's face followed by one of indignation before finally going back to exasperation. "Why does everyone assume that I did something wrong?" the teenager whined petulantly and shrugged off his jacket.
"Past performances, perhaps?" his mother asked pointedly and the boy cringed slightly.
"Yes, well …" He cleared his throat. "But this time it's not my fault."
"Really?" Myn arched an eyebrow.
"Yes, really," his son returned with a frown. "It's that stupid boyfriend of hers. He ditched her today."
"Oh."
"Yeah. And that son of a Sith had the gall to do it via a text message," Selan snarled and kicked off his own boots.
Kirney looked nonplussed for a moment. "He did what?"
Her son let out a derisive snort. "He sent her a text message. 'Don't love you anymore. It's over. Don't come around again.' What an insufferable jerk."
Myn felt his anger pulse. Nobody treated his little girl like that. Nobody! His right hand curled into a fist and ...
Kirney placed a calming hand on his arm and shook her head. The message was clear – Don't. Turning her attention back to her son she asked, "How come you know this much about it?"
"My sister and one of the stars of the school's smashball team? Kinda hard not to know." A look of utter disgust appeared on his face. "It was the topic of school gossip today and every idiot seemed to have an opinion."
"Did you say something to her?" Myn felt like an idiot but he had to ask.
His son rubbed his face wearily. "To my sister? Who has the temper of a thermal detonator at times? Nope, I value my skin."
"Okay." Myn shot his wife a look and received a nod in return. "Go to your room. Dinner will be ready in an hour or so."
"Yes, Dad." The boy picked up his backpack and moved up the stairs to his own room.
Once the door had been closed Myn let his head drop and groaned. "So much for that nice calm evening I had hoped for."
"Sounds like it," his wife agreed as she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment. "You have any idea how to proceed in such a case?"
"You're asking me?" he asked with an incredulous frown creasing his forehead.
"Right," she returned wryly. "Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to."
"You don't happen to have own experiences in such a situation?"
"No." Kirney's contemplative look suddenly changed to discomfort. "If I'm honest I was always the one who broke up. On the other hand none of these relationships were real, all were either part of my training or of a cover identity. I didn't even send a text message, I simply vanished without a trace. "
"Terrific. You think we should go in there?" he asked nodding at the closed door of Alina's room one story above them.
"I don't see a way around it."
With another sigh Myn moved towards the stairway, Kirney followed one step behind. At the door they shared once last glance, just to steel themselves against the onslaught of emotions and temper from their daughter, and knocked.
The first knock was ignored. The second, too. The third produced no reaction, either.
"We know you've heard it, Alina. Can we come in?"
No reply came forth, only the music continued to boom through the house. Straightening his back Myn put his hand on the door latch and pulled the door open.
Alina had thrown herself facedown onto her bed, her face buried in a cushion. The music drowned out any other sounds but it was obvious she was crying. The shake of her shoulders gave her away.
Kirney moved swiftly to sit down beside her daughter while Myn shut off the entertainment center. As the music broke off the sobs became audible.
"Oh, honey," Kirney said quietly as she stroked Alina's head. "I'm so sorry."
"Leave … me … alone. Please," the girl ground out in between sobs. "Don't … wanna … talk."
"We know," her father said quietly and sat down on the bed as well. "But can't we just be there for you?"
Alina sat up and wiped the tears off her face to glare at her parents. "You have no idea how I am feeling," she spat.
"No, we don't," her mother agreed. "Neither your father nor myself have ever been in that situation. None of us were ever treated this way."
"See?" her daughter all but screeched. "You can't know how it looks inside me now. You probably met in school, first love and all that poodoo. You've had a picture-perfect life. You've never been hurt this badly." That last sentence was flung at her parents with the viciousness and speed of a proton torpedo launch. But all that anger suddenly vanished when she saw the pinched look on her mother's face and registered the sorrow in her father's eyes.
"Would you believe," Myn finally mumbled with difficulty as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat, "that your mother and I started out as mortal enemies?"
The look of utter disblief on Alina's face was answer enough.
"Obviously not." He gave a sigh of … He didn't know of what. It was neither disappointment nor anger. Perhaps the tiredness washing over him was the understanding that a long-buried secret was about to come into the open again. He looked back at his daughter again. "You don't know the heartaches and pain your mother and I went through because we never talked about it."
Alina darted her eyes from her father to her mother and back. "What are you talking about?"
"There is a story to tell, honey," Kirney answered quietly. "Something we haven't told you before. Something about my past in particular and how I met your father."
"And now you would tell me?"
Kirney exchanged a long glance with her husband before nodding hesitantly. "Yes, I think it is time for that. But I want your brother to hear it as well." She swallowed audibly. "I don't want to tell this one more than once."
"I'll go and get Selan," Myn said and rose from the bed. "Why don't we move this to the living room?"
Kirney gave a dejected nod.
Songtext taken from Within Temptation - "In the Middle of the Night" - Album "The Unforgiven"