Protect You XVII


Ryoga exited the hospital, relieved that he and his sister finally reached closure on their complicated separation. Though, he began to dread having to come back to see his stepson's best friend still in a hospital bed from the incident at the headquarters. Dismissing the thought, he got into the car and leisurely drove to Beno's school. As he reached the school, the final bell could be heard, signaling the end of the day.

Ryoga got out of the car and began to walk towards the dismissal area of Beno's class. As he reached the area, Beno's teacher, Ms. Wilersworth was leading her students out of the building. As Beno got outside, he checked around to see if he saw who picked him up. When he spotted Ryoga, he smiled brightly.

"Daddy!" Beno happily waved. Ryoga smiled and walked up for a hug.

"Hey Leon, how was school today?" He asked.

"It was okay. I got homework for Fë again. Are we going to see him today?" Beno replied.

"Yes, we are. Mommy already knows, but first we need to sign you out." Ryoga answered, walking towards Ms. Wilersworth.

"Hello, Ryoga, are you picking up Beno today?" The elderly teacher greeted.

"Hello, Ms. Wilersworth. I am, with the baby boys here now, Yuma's quite preoccupied. Has Beno been doing well?" He patted Beno's head.

"He's always been an excellent student, though he been quite quieter lately. Not as lively as when Fëanor was still in class. Is Fëanor doing okay?" She passed the clipboard to Ryoga.

"We hadn't asked about an update on how he is exactly but he was doing better two days ago when we saw him." Ryoga signed his name and handed her back the clipboard.

"I'm glad he's getting better. See you on Monday, Beno." Ms. Wilersworth smiled.

Beno waved back as he walked towards the car. Ryoga opened the rear door, allowing Beno to enter. Quickly shutting the door, he got into the driver's seat and looked into the rear-view mirror. "Seat belt on?" He asked.

"Yep! All ready." Beno quipped.

"Then to the hospital we go." Ryoga started the engine, reversed out of parking and began their way to the hospital.

While Ryoga drove, he was mentally preoccupied with figuring out when would be the best time to talk to Beno about Rio. He didn't really have much of an idea yet since there was no clear chance it'd go smoothly. In fact, he was expecting Beno to adamantly refuse to hear anyone out. But hell, you never know if you don't try, right?

As the hospital came into view, Ryoga once again looked at Beno through the rear-view mirror. Beno was slouched, looking outside the window with a melancholic look on his face. It seemed he too had something heavily on his mind. "Leon," Ryoga called.

"Yes, Daddy?" Beno perked up, looking forward.

"There's something I have to talk to you later on about, alright?" Ryoga made his way into the parking lot.

"Okay." Beno grabbed his bag, ready to get out of the car.

Parked again, Ryoga and Beno got out of the car and walked to the hospital. Signing in at the reception desk and getting on the elevator, the two them patiently waited for their floor to come up.


The two walked out and went to the now all familiar room that Fëanor stayed in. Once they were in front of the door, they were met with Aegnor sitting in front of Fëanor's bed, softly reading a book and Fëanor laying down happily listening. Quickly sensing someone at the door, Aegnor looked up and saw them smiling.

"Oh, hi Ryoga, Beno! It's nice to see you." Aegnor got up, smiling back. Fëanor turned his head to see the two of them.

"Hi Leo. Hi Ryoga." Fëanor chimed.

"Fë! How are you today?" Beno beamed, quickly making his way towards the bed.

"Beno, you can take my seat, I actually have to talk to Ryoga for a bit." Aegnor gave Ryoga a look. Beno happily accepted the seat and began telling Fëanor about his day.

Aegnor and Ryoga stepped outside the room, far enough so the boys wouldn't overhear.

"How's Yuma and the twins doing?" Aegnor asked.

"They're alright, quite a handful but alright." Ryoga informed.

"That's good...I'm sorry I can't help out as much as I could. I just can't stay away from Fë too long. Plus they told me he's been having terrible nightmares. Sometimes, I stay the night and it just gets bad. Hell, the days I do go home, Car had to argue with me just so I can go." Aegnor sighed, rubbing his brow in frustration.

"Don't worry, Aegnor. Yuma and I understand. We'd be in the same position you're in if Beno was in a similar predicament." Ryoga placed a hand on Aegnor's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks. Now back to business- Rio. Have you had the talk with her already?" Aegnor peered seriously, all frustration and anxiety leaving his face.

"I did earlier today. She knew about Fë." Ryoga answered.

"Well, that's because she, Car and I had a talk earlier this week when she was accepting visitors. I needed the truth." Aegnor explained.

"Truth?"

Aegnor nodded.

"I had gotten information that she wasn't behind what happened to Fë. So, I went to her to verify. She actually seemed remorseful when I told her the extent of his injuries." Ryoga's eyes widened.

"Then who was behind it?" He asked.

"A long-time familial rival of Car and mine. Lossëhelin...even saying it disgusts me. His family had problems with ours for generations. We're in Heartland because we didn't want Fë to grow up around a constant threat like him." Aegnor informed.

"How'd he be a constant threat? You two are quite good at self-defense." Ryoga inquired.

"He wouldn't go after Car and I. Lossëhelin knows we wouldn't care about ourselves. So, he went after what is most important to us. Fë. Children are often targets of that family. I know it far too well." Aegnor sighed once again, but this time it was more of exhaustion.

"Anyways...being that Rio only intended to deal with Car and I, I had a talk with Fë. He knows she isn't the reason why he's in here."

"I haven't had talked with Yuma yet, let alone Leon." Ryoga leaned against the wall.

"Yuma probably isn't going to be a problem, but Beno...he might not be interested in anything but grudges." Aegnor frowned.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about. Everyone notices that he's not taking what happened to Fë in any way, shape or form lightly. He's not going to go along with anything easily." Ryoga crossed his arms.

"Perhaps you should talk to him with Yuma. Maybe that'd be helpful." Aegnor offered.

"It could work, but I have to give Rio an answer by tonight." Ryoga huffed out.

"Give an answer?" Aegnor's mouth rounded out.

"She offered to have family gatherings on holidays. I told her if everyone is fine with it, we'd go." Ryoga explained.

"I'll confirm with Car, but Fë is always allowed to go with you guys," Aegnor started off. "But that means you have to talk to Beno before you leave here."

With that fact now realized, Ryoga couldn't help but feel uneasy about it. Catching wind of it, Aegnor thought of something quick. "Ah, there might be a silver lining." A finger pointed up.

"What would that be?" Ryoga asked, confused.

"Yuma might not be there to talk to Beno about it, but Fë is. You might be able to get across to him if Fë can defend you." Aegnor smiled.

"That's true, but Fë can also decide not to do so." Ryoga countered.

"Either way, the talk is inevitable...why not get it out of the way? I'm going to take a walk for a bit. Hopefully, you can reach a desirable conclusion." Aegnor gave Ryoga a quick pat on the shoulder and began to walk toward the elevator.


Ryoga took a deep breath and began to walk back toward the room. Once he reached it, quickly peering inside, he saw Beno and Fë talking while Beno was writing.

"You know I can write, right, Leo?" Fëanor asked.

"Yeah, I know." Beno replied.

"Then why don't you let me write my homework?" Fëanor pouted.

"Can you stand up and give me a hug?" Beno shot back.

"No. I was told not to stand for another two weeks." Fëanor stated.

"Then that's how long I'm going to be writing your homework for you." Beno smirked.

"Leo, that's not fair!" Fëanor whined.

"How is it not fair? You have to be completely healthy; until you are, you're going to rest." Beno left no room for debate.

"I feel bad though." Fëanor muttered, knowing he wasn't going to win this round again.

"There's nothing to feel bad about. Hey, you could look at it like this. I'm doing this so I can get the answers too." Beno smiled.

"That's not why you're doing it though." An all-knowing smirk now laid upon Fëanor's face.

Seeing the two go back and forth made Ryoga smile. They really do seem happier when they're around each other. Hesitant to rain down on their parade, he walked inside the room.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyways. I just finished the last sentence for today." Beno closed the book and looked up to see Ryoga standing in the room.

"Oh, Daddy. Where did Aegnor go?" Beno asked.

"He went for a walk." Ryoga got a chair to sit down in.

"Leon, I'd like to have that talk now if that's fine with you?" Ryoga offered.

"That talk?" Fëanor looked at Beno, perplexed.

"He told me on the way here that he wanted to have a talk." Beno explained.

"Oh, okay." Fëanor quipped.

"Sure, Daddy. What is it?" Beno answered attentively.

"Well, being that it's a bit of a tough subject and Aegnor suggested I talk to you both about it, I figured I'd just get both of your opinions." Hearing Aegnor's name being brought up piqued Fëanor's interest in the talk.

"What's the talk about?" He asked.

"Earlier today, I met with my sister, Rio, upstairs and... we had a conversation about what had happened and why it happened. There were a lot of misunderstandings and lies that led to what we went through, but at the end, it was a good conversation. We had a lot of closure." Ryoga began.

"What's closure?" Fëanor curiously inquired. "Closure is something you get when something usually bad ends with understanding, usually on a good note." Ryoga explained.

"Is this closure thing what the talk is about?" Beno spoke up. Though his face appeared neutral, he really didn't want to hear anything about Rio.

"No... not actually. The talk is more about getting your opinion on an offer." Ryoga admitted. Both boys looked mildly perplexed. "An offer...?" Beno repeated.

"Yes, see, Rio and I are twins."

"Like Karu and Roru?" Beno continued.

Ryoga nodded, "Like Karu and Roru; and she is the only family apart from you guys I have left."

"What's the offer, Ryoga?" Fëanor tilted his head.

"After we had found closure, Rio and I thought it'd be nice if the family could meet on holidays; she'd host a reserved area with everything covered for us to enjoy." Ryoga answered.

"That sounds nice...would there be food?" Fëanor entertained the nice offer.

"As much as we want, it'd be covered by Rio. So... what do you guys think?"

A steady silence consumed the room, encompassing the atmosphere with silent emotions and contemplation.

Fëanor, being briefed on what had happened and where the blame belonged, was very interested but he didn't really know if he'd be comfortable going. Perhaps he would make the final decision contingent on his parents and Beno's input.

Beno, hiding his true sentiments towards this entire situation, took notice of his entire mask beginning to shatter. After what she had done, they wanted to give her a second chance? After he had seen Fë writhing, in panic...in fear...in pain as nurses tried to help him? After the serious danger she had put his mother in? His little brothers?

Forgive her and give her a second chance? Just so she could do worse if it gets to that point again?

"No."


Beno's rejection permeated the pregnant silence, providing a well-deserved harsh solvent for the abundant solution.

Both Ryoga and Fëanor looked at Beno with surprise.

Ryoga held a hopeful thought that perhaps Beno would be okay with it. However, seeing as his flat-out rejection was his first response...that thought started to dim very quickly.

"'No?'" Ryoga watched Beno's body language, one of someone holding back negativity; how much? He doesn't quite know yet.

"I don't want to. I'm not going to." Beno feels the anger boiling and bubbling inside of him like magma, knowing full well it's evident in his voice.

The hope now gone, Ryoga began taking the situation even more seriously. He has to stay neutral and hear Beno out. That was the point of this, right? To know how Beno feels.

"Why not, Leon?" Ryoga calmly questioned.

"I don't want anything from her. I hate her." Beno continued.

"Leo..." Fëanor looked at his dear friend in shock. Hate, that word doesn't leave Beno's mouth often...and when it does, it's genuine.

Ryoga takes note and takes a moment to breathe before responding. "Leon, I understand you are upset at what happened. I still am too, but there are misunderstandings-"

Beno interrupted loudly, peering at Ryoga, "I don't care! It's her fault everything happened!" From the looks of it now, the magma that has built up can't be contained or held back, exploding intensely.

"Leon, please-" Ryoga's attempts to reason and quell the now active volcano is shown to be futile as Beno interrupts him again.

"No!" Beno's furious eyes began to tear up as he stands. "If she didn't do anything, everything would have been fine! It's...It's..."

Unable to continue his sentence, his eyes meet Fëanor's. For a moment, it's almost as if the tumultuous sorrow, pain and guilt he harbored was felt. As if it was not only understood, but reciprocated in a way he couldn't grasp in his current mindset.

That's when he ran, his name being called by the two remaining in the room. He doesn't care that he's running in the halls. He doesn't care that he refused to give his step father a chance to help him understand more. He doesn't care that he's leaving the building.

Right now, he can't take being there. He can't look at that hospital bed without remembering the state Fëanor laid in. He can't look at Fëanor without a sense of guilt tugging at him. Having to remember the look of utter relief replace unfathomable despair, on a face that usually smiled brightly. His eyes shut close as he ran until he bumped into someone.

Now on the floor, Beno began to raise his head to apologize to the stranger.

"Beno?" The voice was not that of a stranger. He quickly opened his eyes to see a confused Thomas, now crouched and concerned.

"Papa...?" The tears from his eyes flowing effortlessly.

"What happened?" Thomas asked.

"Daddy and I were visiting Fë and he was talking to us about my aunt and I got upset and ran out." Thomas took the tearful explanation into account and rose.

"Hey, how about we go back upstairs, tell the others that I'll take you out for a walk and then we get something sweet to snack on?" Thomas offered, holding his hand out.

"Okay...but I'm not going into the room." Beno sniffled as he allowed Thomas to help him back up.

"That's fine, as long as you promise to tell me how you're feeling about all of this." Thomas bargained. Beno quickly agreed and the two began to walk back inside. Thomas went to the reception desk to sign in. Completing that, he and Beno walked back up the stairs and up to the floor Fëanor was on.

As they nearly reached the door, Thomas turned and looked at Beno. "Hey, how about you sit on the bench while I tell Ryoga I'll take you for a walk?" Thomas patted Beno's head, receiving a brisk nod as Beno went to the bench.

Walking to the door, Thomas knocked and the two looked up at him. "Ryoga," Thomas spoke briskly.

"Thomas." Ryoga reciprocated.

"I'm not going to go into detail; however, I don't appreciate my son leaving a public building in distress alone." Thomas' eyes narrowed.

Ryoga sighed heavily, "I know, Thomas. I can't leave Fëanor alone and I can't allow Leon to disappear distraught. However, Fëanor isn't allowed to be left alone, so I'm put in a tough spot."

"I'll let it go for now, being that he bumped into me when he left the building, however, I will talk with Yuma about it. I'll be taking Beno out today so he and I can talk." Thomas replied, turning to walk off.

"I'm sorry...it's my fault. If I didn't get hurt then Leo probably wouldn't be so upset." Fëanor softly apologized.

"Fë, it isn't your fault. We are all upset that you're hurt, Leon just doesn't know to whom the blame should be aimed at." Ryoga countered.


Thomas sighed and went to the bench Beno sat patiently on. "Alright bud, ready to go?" Thomas smiled.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Beno hopped off the bench and walked beside his father.

Once outside, Thomas looked down at Beno. "So, what are we getting?" He asked.

"Can we get sundaes?" Beno replied, looking up at Thomas.

"That works. We can go and sit at the park and finish them up while we talk." Thomas looked ahead to figure out if they should find a truck or just go to the parlor.

Beno silently went along with his father's plan, following him as they let the silence settle.

Soon after, there was a parlor in sight and the two coolly entered and went to the counter. "Hello, what can I get you two today?" The clerk kindly greeted.

"How about we get a big Banana Boat and share that?" Thomas glanced at Beno.

"I'm taking the strawberry side." Beno declared.

"Alright then, a Banana Boat Royale it is." Thomas told the clerk.

The dish was promptly made, Thomas paid the clerk and the duo were now en route for the park.

As they walked, the lazy silence again keeping the two from talking, Thomas took a shot at starting the conversation. "Beno." His son looked at him.

"Yes, Papa?" Beno answered.

"Can you give me a bit more detail on why you left the hospital?" His voice was calm and neutral.

Beno looked down.

"W-well...Daddy started off saying he met with his sister today and that they had a good conversation. Fë and I asked him what we were supposed to talk about and he said that there was an offer that he wanted our opinions on." Beno began.

Walking into the park, Thomas raised an eyebrow and asked for clarification. Beno explained as much as he could to Thomas about what the offer entailed and why he stormed out until they found somewhere to sit and start eating the banana boat.

"Okay, I think that's enough about the situation." Thomas sighed, placing his spoon back on the vanilla side of the sundae.

"First off, I understand you were upset about the offer—and we'll get to that next, but Beno, you can't just walk off like that. It's dangerous. If I weren't there, something could've happened to you." Thomas chastised calmly.

"I know...I'm sorry I ran off." Beno looked down, the strawberry ice cream now not looking as appetizing as it did before.

"You can leave the apologies for Ryoga and Yuma when you get home. Right now, I want to know how you feel. Why do you refuse to accept the offer?" Thomas placed another spoonful of vanilla ice cream in his mouth.

At first, Beno was silent and frowning. Thomas patiently waited only looking away from his son to scoop up another spoonful of ice cream.

"I don't trust her." It was quick and cold, something he doesn't hear much from his son.

"What is it about her you don't trust, Beno?" Thomas questioned.

"She can hurt us again...she can hurt Fë again." The pained look plastered on Beno's face only made Thomas' concern grow. He knew that Beno was affected by the ordeal, however, to what extent was hidden well. With the mask off, he's seeing the fear and worry like a full moon in a clear night sky.

"Papa, can I tell you a secret?" Beno asked, quietly.

"You can tell me anything." Thomas replied, placing the spoon down again.

"Remember when I had asked to see Fë after Daddy showed up that day?" Thomas nodded quickly.

"Seeing Fë like that...because of my aunt, made me think..." Beno's sentence trailed off with hesitance. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to disclose such a painful thought.

"What did it make you think?" Thomas inquired, allowing his son to see his complete investment in their conversation.

"It made me think...maybe if I didn't become friends with Fë...he wouldn't have been screaming and crying so badly that day. Maybe he wouldn't have missed so much school. Maybe he wouldn't have the bad nightmares he tells me about..." Just saying the thoughts out loud made his throat tighten up.

"Beno, you don't know if that's true." Thomas countered.

"But...it happened, right? He's my friend and he's in the hospital because of my family."

It then dawned on Thomas. "Beno, don't tell me...you think what happened is all your fault? That Fë is the hospital because of you?" Thomas needed to confirm this "secret" that his son has been harboring with such toxicity. Beno didn't speak after that, words honestly didn't seem to want to come out anyways. Just a simple tearful nod to confirm the validity of Thomas' inquiry.

Thomas couldn't describe the feeling that accompanied his heart sinking. As if agonizingly watching a porcelain doll breaking itself as atonement for something that was out of its control.

Thomas got up and sat to his son, quickly embracing him. "Beno, I want you to listen carefully, alright? None of this is your fault. None of this is Fë's fault. It was all out of both your and Fë's control. If you want to blame anyone, blame us adults for not being careful enough; for not protecting you two like we should've. Understand? Don't throw yourself under the bus and beat yourself up for something that falls on us adults." Thomas' voice laced with languish effectively eased some of his son's internal turmoil.

Beno pulled back with a sniffle, "What about Fë?"

"What about Fë? Beno, look, you care about him a lot, right?" Beno nodded.

"He's very important to you, isn't he?" Beno nodded once again.

"Then you should focus on helping him get better. That's what friends do, and I know you help him very well. Being able to calm him down in a state like that so easily, that's not a simple thing for people to do." The praises lifted the boy's morale, making him sport a small smile.

"Now that I think about it, Fë's probably feeling just as just as bad as you were." Beno looked at Thomas with shock.

"Why would Fë feel like that?" Beno asked.

"His best friend is super upset that he's stuck in the hospital. Wouldn't you feel bad if he was like this because you were there instead of him?" Thomas' words made Beno realize something he hadn't thought about.

"Then...what should I do? How can I help Fë feel better about me feeling bad, Papa?" Beno quickly wiped the tears off his cheeks, determination setting in where the doubt and turmoil laid dormant.

"How about you two talk about it? You'd have to apologize and make sure you let him know you're better now first so you can help him get better too, alright?" To Beno, that seemed simple, too simple.

"I can do that." Beno nodded.

"That's what I wanna hear." Thomas smiled, patting Beno's head.

"How about we get back, now that you're better?" The two of them stood up.

"Okay, Papa."


A.N:

Hello dear reader~

I nearly gave myself a whole stroke from rereading this as I finally try my best to return from a hiatus. So, here's a mid 2020 revision~ I still am quite disillusioned with the story as a whole and will finish it most likely at the 20th chapter—could change if I decide to add in a bit of the arc that was supposed to be in the story as part of the resolution before the end, but I plan to keep it as short as possible as I do wish to focus my energy on more interesting projects I have. Stay safe and wear your MASKS.

- Lucio