Stepping through the now frosted grass, the Dragomir girls walked silently side by side. Guardians up front, behind and either side; walking at a distance to give the girls a small space of privacy but close enough to spring into action and protect if needed. Amongst those guardians were familiar faces, both the Dragomir sister's main guardian's; Rose Hathaway and Eddie Castile were there, one up front the other just steps behind the two Moroi.
A few days prior Lissa and Jill had somewhat of a breakthrough getting their feelings into the open, to try and clear the air between them. A lot of words had been said, some were hard truths and some heartbreaking confessions of how they felt about the situation. All in all it lead them to where they were at that very moment.
They winded their way around and finally Lissa came to a halt, snapping the younger Dragomir out of her daydream. Jill's eyes widened as she realised that they were there and she gazed at what was in front of her, really not knowing what to think or do as she stared at the three headstones in front of them; Dragomir engraved boldly on them.
Jill stood back didn't move at all as Lissa stepped forward, moving first to her brother's headstone. Leaning down, she touched the cool surface where his name was engraved as she whispered her hello's to him, telling him that she missed him and loved him so much before moving along to her mother's headstone. Lissa bent down, placing a small flower in the vase that stuck up from the ground, whispering her love for her and how much she missed her.
Jill stood there still frozen in her spot as she watched the older Moroi move and kneel in front of the final headstone, speaking softly.
"Hey Daddy, I miss you and I really wish you were here, some days I could still use a hug from you just to assure me that everything is going to be okay." She paused and looked over at Jill, gesturing for her to come closer. Jill stood there for a moment, taking a deep breath before stepping forward silently, and standing beside her as the older Moroi spoke again.
"I brought you a visitor today, someone you really needed to meet, someone you should have met a long time ago. " She paused again, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to focus herself and to clear her mind. "I wish you hadn't lied to us, I know there would have been a reason behind it and I really hope that it wasn't just for selfish reasons. I do hope that it was to protect our family and to keep Emily and Jill away from the Royal life like Emily wanted. But we missed out on so much because of that and now our relationship as sister's has to start sixteen years later on not the best of terms. I don't think I can forgive you for cheating on mom, but in the end If I think really hard about it I can see that in a way you were trying to protect us all and I think I can try to forgive you for that, not right now but I'm working on it. I love you daddy and no matter what, I'll always be your little girl, even if I'm not your only girl now."
Lissa sat silent for a moment, staring down at her hands as she tried to clear her mind again, her fingers twirling a small silver ring before slipping it back on her pinkie finger. She braced herself and looked up at Jill, giving her a faint smile and patting the grass beside her.
Jill stood there, still frozen for a moment before moving to sit down beside Lissa. She really wasn't sure about doing this but she was willing to try it for the sake of building bridges. She looked over at the older Moroi and gave her a small smile. "I'm really not sure what to say-"
"Please, just tell him-" She gestured towards the headstone of their father. "Exactly what you told me. If at any time you want to just get up and leave I'm not going to stop you... Just please give this a go." Lissa spoke clearly, trying to encourage the younger Dragomir.
Jill nodded and took a deep breath before taking a closer look at the headstone, reading the words one by one as she tried to build the courage to speak. She was just about to start when she read two words, two little words that sparked and ignited an anger inside of her.
"Loving father? I guess only two of your three children have gotten to experience that… I wonder sometimes, what it would have been like if everyone had of known and you were a real father to me, but then I remember... I did have a real father... One that was there for me through everything and will always be by my side no matter what. It all goes to show that blood really isn't thicker than water at times. " She paused for a moment, daring a small glance at Lissa before continuing, her voice starting to waver.
"I don't know how you could have done it, to face every day for over a decade lying to the people you love. Knowing from day one about my existence and still just not saying a word, not once caring how I was or even coming to try and visit me. You never once cared about me; I was just the dirty little secret that would make your family fall apart. How could you lie to them Eric? To the people that loved and adored you and seen you as nothing more than a loving father when in all truth you were nothing but a cheat and a liar." She stopped to wipe the sleeve of her sweater across her eyes, her emotions a mixture of anger and a longing for answers.
"Did you lie to my mother too? Did you even care about her at all or do you think that setting up a trust fund for the both of us was enough to keep her happy. She barely used your money you know, she worked hard for everything that we have and so does John… I'm glad she found him though because she had a husband and I had a father that was willing to treat us the way we were meant to be treated."
Jill stopped and wiped her eyes again, her eyes were glassy and red from the tears, and she hated that she had ended up crying from this all. Lissa took this moment to reach over and take the younger moroi's hand, squeezing it gently to let her know that she was still there, that she was there to support her through this.
She set her eyes to focus on Jill and studied her aura, she still wasn't very good at viewing them or knowing what the colours meant, but she knew the colours of darkness and she hated to see the small streaks of it through her aura. She wanted to protect her from that and take it all away from her and she was determined to find a way of helping her deal with the bond before it all got too much for her. Also knowing that if it wasn't for her running for queen they would have never have had to hunt down the missing Dragomir and put the innocent girl's life on the line, it was something she felt guilt for and will do for a long time.
Her thoughts were cut off as Jill spoke again, her emotions still running high and her sleeve even more soaked with tears.
"I won't forgive you for any of this… I can't and I won't. I have too many questions that no one but you can answer and I will never get those answers because you were too selfish to admit that you weren't perfect. I don't even know if I should be relieved or not that I can't get answers now because I'm not been sure I could handle the truth. I am so conflicted about everything to do with you because I know nothing about you at all and apparently not even the people closest to you knew you as well as they thought."
Lissa moved closer to her younger sister, wrapping her arm around her shoulders to comfort her, but at this point Jill didn't even really notice what was going on around her, she had opened up a flood gate of everything and she couldn't stop until it was all out. Her voice was small and shaking at this point as Lissa pulled her in even closer.
"I will never call you my dad; you will only ever be dad to two people. John is my father and the only man I will even call dad, he is the only man that deserves that name from me and he is the only man I will ever love as my father. You kept so much from me, I could have grown up having a brother and sister and you took that from me. I can never know Andre now… I will never know what kind of relationship that we could have had, it's too late for that. You were selfish and I hate you for that... I will always hate you for that."
Her sobs cut her off at Lissa pulled her in closer, wrapping both arms around her little sister to try and comfort her as she battled away her own tears, though failing as they fell from her jade green eyes.