Disclaimer: well…
No, he didn't!
Back in Monitor, Jedda went directly to the bathroom. It was one of the things she was enjoying the most about Central City: you just had to push a button to get warm water. She showered for what seemed hours to her, completely oblivious to what was happening outside.
Home… Well, not her home in Bengala, but quite close. It felt so good to be in a familiar place again, knowing that her friends were safe by now. It felt even better to know that Krotan was probably having a hard time now. As much as she hated Ming the Merciless, Jedda couldn't help smiling at the idea he was probably making his son suffer now. He deserved it so much…
Maybe it was time to stop showering now. Wasting water was not the best thing to do. She put a bathrobe on, stepped outside the room and nearly bumped into her father.
"Sorry!" she said. "I shouldn't have spent so much time there."
"I wasn't waiting for the bathroom", her father answered.
"Uh? Maybe you should. When did you last shower?"
She tried to sound careless but it wasn't easy. Her father was obviously upset about something. Suddenly, she felt uneasy, too.
"Jedda", he said, "you did well. What I'm going to ask you is not easy…"
"I know", she said. "I know. You want to know if he did… that thing to me?"
That thing. They both knew they were talking about rape, sex, molestation and so on but none of them dared using the exact terms. It was too upsetting. Jedda forced herself to smile and shrugged.
"He didn't", she said.
"He didn't?"
The Phantom felt relieved but on the other hand, there was something wrong about those simple words. Krotan was as evil as his father, he was no gentleman, there was no reason for him to wait for sex, Jedda still looked quite upset and, let's face it, she was a beauty. There was something illogical about him not touching her.
"Well, he didn't", Jedda said again. Don't worry about it."
"You won't prevent me from worrying about you."
"Well, that's nice of you."
"No, that's not nice. That's normal. You're my daughter."
Jedda nodded and tried not to cry. Too many things had been happening lately and this has been so upsetting...
"Father, please", she said. "I'm a bit tired now. Do you mind if I go to sleep?"
"Of course not. Jedda, you know you can always rely on me, don't you?"
The girl nodded, put a kiss onto her father's cheek and walked to the place she called her bedroom. This was no time for hugs. She would probably burst into tears if she felt his strong arms around her right now. He had been upset lately and there was no need to upset him even more.
Well… as he said, a parent can't help worrying about his/her child. Moreover, the Phantom had some kind of a sixth sense that told him if something was wrong. When she lied down to sleep, Jedda wondered how she was going to tell him what had really happened.
Flashback…
Jedda was pacing in her prison room. This was bad. If she didn't agree to marry that mad boy, he was going to kill all her friends. What could she do?
The door creaked and she turned to face her jailer. He was making a smug face and she braced herself, wondering what he was about to do.
"Hello, my dear wife-to-be", he said. "Take off these clothes now."
"What?"
"You heard me. Off your clothes!"
"No!"
She stared at him, furious. How could he imagine she was going to do that with him?
"OK", he said. "Then say goodbye to your friends."
She froze, alarmed, then she nodded, turned his back to him and started unzipping her shirt. Of course she didn't want to give her virginity to that jerk. But what else could she do? She didn't want her friends to die either. Then an idea crossed her mind.
"You, take off your shirt."
"Undress first, dear", he said.
"No, take off your shirt and lie onto the bed! I'm going to massage your back first. Then we can do other stuff."
He smiled and started undressing while she tried to look as innocent as possible. I'm going to massage him and make him relax. Then, when he feels he can trust me, I'll grab his neck and break his backbone. I can do that. My father explained me everything and I watched animals fighting to death many times, anyway. I'm going to kill that jerk.
Oh, I don't like it at all. I'm not a killer. I don't want to do that to anybody but, well, that's self-defense. If I don't get rid of him, he'll get rid of all the Defenders, and I can't let him do that.
He lay down onto the bed and gestured her to start. She started with the back of his neck, feeling awkward and wondering if prostitutes felt the same way. She could grab his neck and pressure his veins so he would faint and…
"I'd like a blow job", he suddenly said.
"No way! I mean, not before the wedding."
"I'd like to do that with three girls at the same time, too, do you mind?"
Jedda did mind about being part of any intercourse involving him but she didn't dare saying it. Even this massage felt disgusting to her. Her shirt was half-open and she had to hold herself back from zipping it back. Maybe strangulating him would be enough…
"That's good", he said. "Maybe not as good as a professional massage but you're doing well. I think I'll hire teacher so you can learn other nice things."
"I'm very good with my hands", she answered.
Yes, I'm good. I can slap you, punch you, beat you, disfigure you, emasculate you and so many other interesting things I'll enjoy doing to you sooner or later. Just wait until my friends are free from your grasp…
She was about to lock her hands around his neck when he sat up suddenly and stared at her.
"Now, take off this shirt", he said. "I want to see these boobs."
"No, wait!" she said. "There's another nice massage I'd like to…"
"Undress or I'll kill them all!"
She turned his back to him and undid her top, thinking about her last kung fu lesson. She had to move very quickly and aim at his head so…
"What's that?!" he said.
Jedda turned back to him and saw that he actually looked horrified. This was the last thing she expected.
"What's what?" she asked.
"Those ugly bluish things on your back! I believed you were pretty!"
First he kidnaps me, then he blackmails me into marrying him and now he believes I'm not pretty enough for him? I have to wake up now!
"Those are called bruises", she said as calmly as she could. "I also have some on my knees. Would you like to have a look?"
"No, but… that's disgusting! How did you get those?"
"Lots of physical exercise. L.J. likes it rough."
She was talking about the training sessions. Being the best fighter among the kids, L.J. often taught his three friends some useful moves and they sometimes ended up bruised all over. However, Krotan was not thinking about martial arts.
"You… did that with L.J. ?"
"Of course, every Saturday! He taught me things that…"
"I believed you were a virgin!"
Jedda suddenly understood what he meant and burst into laughter. This was getting so ridiculous! Then she tried hard to calm down. She had to take advantage of the situation.
"Is there something wrong with not being a virgin?" she asked.
"Of course, there is! You're not married, so you shouldn't…"
Jedda had to stop herself from telling him that even though she was indeed a virgin, she didn't mind girls who felt ready to have sex at 16. What. A. Jerk.
"OK", she said. "So, I'm no virgin any more. That makes me an uninteresting bride, doesn't it? So I can go back home."
"No! You'll have surgery just after the wedding. They'll restore your virginity!"
Krotan got up, grabbed his shirt, put a hard kiss onto his unwilling bride's mouth and left the cell. Jedda sat down and wiped her lips. She felt like crying.
End of the flashback
The Phantom spent the following night wondering what to do. His daughter was lying to him, he knew it, but how could he ask her what really happened without hurting her even more?
She didn't left her room the following morning. The boys exchanged looks and went to school without her. The Phantom was about to go and wake her up when entered the kitchen, at last.
"Sorry, I'm late", she said, grabbing some bread and some milk. "The history teacher is going to be mad at me…"
"You're not going to school today, Jedda", the Phantom said.
"Of course, I am! It's not as if anything serious had happened…"
Jedda suddenly realized that she was saying nonsense. Of course something serious had happened. They all knew it. The girl bit her lip and looked at the tip of her shoes.
"OK", she said. "What can I do to make you feel better?"
"That was what I was about to ask you. You were the victim, Jedda."
"I'm not a victim. I tried to…"
Jedda glanced sideways, breathed heavily and tried to make eye contact, which was surprisingly difficult as she hardly ever saw her father's eyes color. Better telling him everything, after all.
"Please, meet me in the library in one hour", she gasped.
And she left the room, still clutching her glass of milk.
One hour letter, the Phantom knocked at the library door. She opened the door a few seconds later and he could see that she had been crying.
"Here", she said, handing him a sheet of paper.
"Do you want me to read it here or in another room?"
"Wherever you want."
The Phantom nodded, sat down and started reading. She had written down everything: the blackmail, the stripping session, the bruises… The more he read, the angrier he felt. Eventually, he put the letter down and grabbed his daughter's hand.
"How could he do that to you?" he whispered.
"Well, it could have been worse, couldn't it? At least he didn't rape me."
"That was abuse anyway", he said, boiling inside. "He had no right to do that to you. Well, congratulation. You did well."
She nodded and sat onto his lap, just like when she was a small child. He stroked her hair and put a kiss onto her forehead.
"I wish I didn't leave you alone with him", he said suddenly.
"Thank you very much but what happened to the father who wanted to teach me independence?"
That was a good question. From the moment Jedda was born, the Phantom knew she was going to inherit his mantle sooner or later, so he had taught her everything he could to make her a good protector. He had always been proud of her but now he was realizing that watching your children grow up was not always easy.
"You did well", he said again. "Really, I'm impressed."
"YOU SHOULDN'T!"
Kit Walker stared at his daughter and saw that she was in tears again. OK. Now, she was eventually cracking, like any normal teenage girl.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"I was about to kill someone!"
"That was self-defense", he said in a soothing voice. "He was threatening you. You had every right to…"
"Not in that room. Later. I had him frozen under ten inches of ice and I knew that could kill him if he remained like that for more than a few hours. I could have had him put in jail but… no, I wanted him to suffer for hours and then die! Father, I'm not a killer so what happened to me?"
The Phantom remembered. Everyone had watched Krotan encased in ice and no one had protested, no one had said that this was not the right way to deal with criminals. Being the youngest, Kshin had probably not understood what was really happening but even straight-shooter Flash or compassionate Lothar hadn't been moved by Krotan's fate. Nobody cared if Jedda killed him, even indirectly.
"You were upset."
"I shouldn't have… Well, I know he deserves to suffer but I'm not… I believed I was not a killer. I stooped to try to kill him when it was not necessary, and I wanted it to be slow and painful. I thought I was not that kind of person…"
Jedda started crying her eyes out. The Phantom stroked her hair thoughtfully. He didn't know what to say. Of course, his daughter's reaction had been perfectly human and normal, and she knew it. She was hurt because she had the feeling she had betrayed herself. What could he say?
"Don't blame yourself", he whispered.
"You always told me you don't believe in unnecessary violence."
"I always told you to stand up for your friends, too. You were worried about us all."
"Yes…"
I'm nearly seventeen and I'm crying in my father's arms, like a little baby. Ok, the situation needed a little bit of drama but now it's time to get a grip on myself…
"I want to go back to school tomorrow", she said, wiping her tears. "Don't worry about me."
"Jedda, is there something I can do for you?"
Jedda thought about. Her father looked genuinely worried and she hated to see him upset. Of course he couldn't erase the bad moments but maybe he would feel better if she asked him for something sensible.
"Well, I wouldn't mind a chocolate ice-cream…"
Jedda spent the afternoon playing with Kisa. When the boys went back from school, she was feeling much more relaxed. Rick had brought her homework and they had to work hard all evening. Everyone was doing as if nothing wrong had happened.
She went back to school the day after, pretending that she was all right. However, she couldn't sleep at night. After a few days, she decided to go straight home just after school and bumped into Rick.
"Rick!" she said. "Sorry, I didn't see you. I have to go, now…"
"Are you all right?" he asked concernedly.
"Why are you all asking me that question?"
"Because you nearly married him. I wouldn't want to have to marry him!"
For the first time for days, Jedda burst into laughter. Rick, marrying Krotan! Being able to laugh about the past events felt surprisingly good.
"There's nothing you can do about it", she eventually said.
"Then maybe you need a shrink."
"Why would I have to shrink anything?"
"A shrink", Rick explained, trying not to laugh. "That's slang for therapist, you know. An expert you talk with when there's a big problem."
Jedda nodded. She needed to talk, indeed, but it wasn't easy with the boys, or even with her father. Maybe a shrink would be a good idea.
"Miss Walker?"
The woman calling her name was in her early 40's. Despite her glasses and curly red her, she reminded Jedda of Soala, a Bandar woman who acted more or less like a surrogate mother to her when she was younger. She looked kind and dependable and the girl decided to trust her.
On the other hand, the room was somewhat surprising. It looked like a nice place but there was a couch just next to the window. What was the point of a couch?
"Do I have to lie down?" Jedda asked.
"Whatever makes you feel comfortable."
"Then, if you don't mind, I prefer a chair", the girl said, sitting down.
"Good. I'm listening to you."
Jedda thought about. Recovering from that adventure was probably going to take some time but at least she was glad she had someone to help her. She already felt slightly better.
"Well", she said slowly, "some weeks ago, I met that boy. He looked nice and kind and harmless and I wanted to trust him but then I realized…"
The end.
Author's note: I apologize if I ruined your childhood. Now that time has passed, I realized that there was something really creepy about Jedda's "wedding". She's kidnapped and blackmailed, and she looks perfectly OK in the next episodes. In real life, that kind of events lead to traumas that need to be worked on. OK, all characters were traumatized at one moment or another and none of them went into therapy. Well...