My Girl

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Look at that, me updating on time! It's a miracle my wonderful readers! So in this chapter we have more cute things happened and a little explanation of what was going on in Ros' head. I know this part is long, but I promise we're almost done with this flash back and then we're going to get onto all the cute Ro/Steven relationship stuff! As always don't forget to leave a review or a fav or follow and I'll see you guys next week!

Chapter 34

Steve was sitting there staring at what had to be the most dysfunctional family on the planet. Ro was still snuggled into Wo Fat, Con was sitting at the bar fixing yet another drink and Steve was on the couch across from the girl he was dating and the man who used to be his nemesis.

"I… I just don't get it…"

"Get what?" Wo asked.

"I mean… you woke up… out of a coma… how did you even drive…"

"Very badly," Ro said, finally sitting up. "He wasn't coherent, he didn't stay on the road. It's remarkable that he didn't crash us."

Steve glanced to Ro and then to Wo. "That must have been scary, to see your dad like that."

"I guess," she said. "I kept asking where we were going, what we were doing, and he just kept saying somewhere safe."

Wow. Even then, all that man was thinking about was bringing her somewhere safe, of taking care of her.

"I realized quite quickly that he was kinda out of it. Eventually he stopped the car and got us into the back, had me lie down and kept saying: just a few minutes. Then we'll go home. I didn't think I'd fall asleep, but I did and the next thing I know, he's shooting at Seb."

"Okay… and while this is all a great story, we still haven't gotten to any of the points you said you'd explain," Steve said. "And I'm starting to think you're stalling."

"No, we're setting the scene," Ro said with a bit of a pout.

Wo put a hand to her elbow and Ro sat back with a huff. "I told you it was a long story, McGarrett."

"Fine, and how far into are we?"

"About half way," he said. "So, right after I woke up, I asked Con to prove himself. I sent him on this terrible job, and if he got it done, I'd pay the fee he wanted me to pay. It was about a forty percent pay cut instead of the sixty I wanted."

"Yeah, and he was hoping I wouldn't come back."

"Yes, yes I was."

"Why?" Steve asked.

"Because I didn't like him. Sin Nombre challenged me. It's one thing taking it from my daughter, it's different from someone who's supposed to be your subordinate, you know? I wanted him gone, I wanted him away from my daughter. But I couldn't shake him."

"He came back, didn't he?" Steve asked with a smirk even though he knew the answer because Seb was still there with him.

"Yes, yes he did," Wo Fat said wryly, before launching into the next chapter of this massive story.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

A week ago, and only two days after waking up, Wo Fat had decided that Sin Nombre needed to be tested. He came up with what he called an impossible task, and if he completed it, he'd get rewarded.

Rewarded with what?

Well, they had spent one afternoon arguing about his pay. Wo Fat wanted to cut his pay by sixty percent, Sin Nombre wasn't going to take any less than forty percent cut. If Sin Nombre pulled his tasks off, Wo Fat would settled in the middle. Only a 50% cut. Both of them would be happy.

Sin Nombre's job, to him, was easy.

Kill the people who shot Wo Fat up. Collect a massive list of sentimental items from his apartment.

But he got to New York and found out that the people who were a part of that drive-by had gone to ground, and the one who called it was in such a position of power it would take a while to get at him.

So he started with breaking into the apartment. Armed with that list and a safe combination, Sin Nombre got to work.

He got the suitcase out of the closet hall, right where Wo said it would be, and then filled it will all of Ro's shoes and purses. Then he went for the sentimental stuff. Pictures, jewellery, notebooks and of course that stupid stuffed bunny she had been griping about.

There was a special note to make sure that he was careful with the bunny as apparently it was fragile. And looking at it, he got it. The thing had definitely seen better days.

Considering how Ro liked to keep her clothes, purses, shoes and even books pristine, he found it hard to believe that this dirty, dingy, almost-falling-apart bunny was one of her sentimental items.

When he was done with the Ro part of the list, he went into Wo Fat's room. He grabbed two suits, two pairs of shoes, a whole sheaf of ties, and a drawer of watches. He then had to find the secret safe. He had to find the correct panel in the wall, pry it aside, and then put the code in.

There was a lot in there that Sin Nombre was just supposed to disregard. Like the gold bars, and the bonds. No, he wanted the cash, the documents, like Ro's passport and his own, and a little metal box. Looked like a fireproof lock box.

He packed it all up, as requested, got himself out of the apartment and then went to work trying to find everyone who had been in that car.

He thought it would be hard, but when he actually put work into it, it didn't take that long. Three days to find them, two to kill them all. The three that had gone underground and the mastermind of it all.

He left right after that. He left New York in chaos, blood painting the streets as the other families tried to take over the territory that was now up for grabs. Sin Nombre didn't care.

Sin Nombre wanted to be back in Colombia. He was certain, when he returned to that safe house just outside of Bogotá that he'd find it in a state of chaos. Ro would have blown something up, gotten kidnapped, something.

So he was very annoyed to come back and find that everything was fine. He was even more annoyed to hear that Ro hadn't caused a single problem since he had left. In fact, everyone he asked had said that she was so well behaved they were all certain it wasn't the same girl.

When he got back, both Wo and Ro were not there. Wo apparently had seen Ro and JC to school, had business in town and planned to come back.

This left Sin Nombre sitting there waiting for them to come back. He had tried to nap in his own room, it just… he just couldn't.

Ro had been giving him issues the whole time he had taking care of her. She was willfully disobedient, she threw temper tantrums if things weren't up to her impossible standards, she got in fights and, for some reason, had an extensive knowledge of chemical warfare.

She had been a hazard, she had basically been uncontrollable and now, now she was just… fine?

Bullshit.

So when he heard they were back, he was up, with all of the things that they wanted, dragging them down to the library. Because Wo Fat was always in the library with Armando planning something.

He came in dragging the suitcase behind him and Wo Fat smiled at him. "Did you get everything?" he asked as he knelt in front of the suitcase to open it.

"I did," he said and then looked around. "Where's Ro?"

"Outside with JC," he said absently. He opened the suitcase and began to dig through it, clearly not caring about most of the things Sin Nombre had gotten them. He was looking for specific things.

"Yes, but where?"

"I unno. She's on the compound…"

"Whoa, wait second, you don't know where she is? Are you kidding me?" Sin Nombre cried.

Wo Fat turned narrowed eyes up to him. He had the bunny on his lap and he seemed to be looking for something else. "I know where she is. She's here. She's not going to leave…"

"Yes she is… she's the queen of wandering off."

At that Wo Fat scoffed. "She doesn't wander when she's with me."

Sin Nombre scowled at that but said nothing else. Instead he watched Wo Fat shut the suitcase and zip it up. The things he had been looking for on his lap.

As he stood Sin Nombre could see that, along with the bunny, he had the metal box from the secret safe.

"Don't see why you wanted this. Out of everything in that apartment you made this out to be the most important and I just don't get it. Couldn't you have bought another one?"

"It's uh… it's special," Wo Fat said, which made no sense. It was just a worn white bunny. He could easily afford to replace it.

"And the box? I'm guessing it has all her important documents in it?"

Wo Fat opened it and then turned it around. Sin Nombre peered in and found that it was simply filled with paper. Pictures crudely drawn, clearly done by a child, cards, photographs of Wo and Ro in all different stages of her life. Even the inside top of the safe was decorated in rainbow and unicorn stickers.

Sin Nombre turned up to the man who was considered a ruthless, merciless, unstoppable force. This was what he had wanted. This was what of value to him?

"Are you shitting me right now?" he cried and Wo Fat's eyebrows narrowed in surprise.

He might have argued with Sin Nombre if Ro hadn't skipped into the room.

"You're back!" she cried rushing towards him to give him a hug. He normally didn't like emotional contact, but Ro really did, so he had gotten used to letting her hug him.

She clasped her arms around his chest, from the side, and he draped an arm around her shoulder.

Wo Fat let them hug for a bit, though he was clearly not impressed and then he held out the little white Bunny. Shaking it until it got her attention.

"Look what I got for you!"

"Mr. BUNS!" Ro cried. She let go of him right away and lurched for the bunny. She snatched it up out of his hands and crushed it to her chest hugging it tightly.

"Ah yes, the bunny," Armando said. "I remember him. He was here with your father the first time."

Ro's eyes narrowed. "What?"

Wo Fat slammed his elbow into Armando's side cutting off anything else the man might have said. "Never mind that. Don't you have something to say?"

And just like that everything else was forgotten. She perked up right away. "Thank you, Daddy."

"Daddy? I'm the one who broke into that apartment and brought everything back. He was here with you the whole time."

Ro turned a little half smile up to him and then said: "And thanks for rescuing him for me," in the most patronizing tone in the world.

Once she was done appeasing him she turned back to her father, a different kind of smile on her face. "Daddy, can I ask for something?"

"I suppose."

"Well, my birthday is next week…" "—Yes I know." "… Well… I was wondering…. Since you're well now. Can we have a party?"

"Sure. What kind of party? A Tea party? Not sure I can get you dim sum."

"No, no, I mean like… so… they do something here. It's called a Quinceañera, can I do something like that?"

Wo Fat glanced to Armando who said: "Yes, it is a thing but…"

"Okay, so it's a thing and you want one. I mean… I might be able to, it is a little last minute Ro…" Ro just had to frown a bit at her father and just like that he cracked. "What does it entail?"

"Well it's a big party. Lots of people come, and there's music and a big cake. I get to wear a white dress, and we do a father daughter dance and… I just thought it'd be nice to have one."

"Do we even have a lot of people to invite?"

"Yeah, I've been to three different schools."

"Alright. Put together a list of things you need and I'll see to setting it up."

Ro squealed a bit and then handed him a list she had already written up, clearly expecting this moment. "Thank you Daddy."

She went to skip off but Wo called out: "Can you take the suitcase up to your room, please." Ro came back right away, going for the suitcase. "And unpack it please. You can put my stuff on my bed."

"Okay, Daddy."

Right, so she was still ending every sentence with daddy. Nice to see that hadn't stopped, though it should have.

As soon as she was gone, Armando nudged Wo Fat. "Uh, so you know… a Quinceañera is for girls turning fifteen… which Ro is not…"

"Mm… so… I throw her a Quinceañera and just don't call it a Quinceañera," he said and then he just turned away like that solved everything.

Armando looked frustrated but otherwise wasn't going to argue with him apparently. Con was starting to understand why it was Ro was the way she was.

It was her father's fault.

He scowled at Wo before finally snapping: "Your priorities are outta whack!"

Wo didn't even bother to look up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean everyone told me you were this cut throat crime boss but you're a cuddly family man."

Wo Fat cocked an eyebrow at him. "You're right. My priority is my daughter and her happiness. And I will literally stop at nothing to make sure she is safe. So keep that in mind."

Sin Nombre shook his head. "You know, I couldn't figure out how that girl ended up the way she did, but I totally get it. You cave into every single one of her demands, no wonder she's such a brat."

Wo Fat had been looking over the papers, the plans that Armando had drawn up but at that he straightened and then carefully turned his face back up to him.

"What did you just say?"

Beside him, just out of Wo Fat's view, Armando was giving him the signal to just shut up. But Sin Nombre wasn't afraid of this man who was whipped by his own soon-to-be-sixteen year old daughter.

"Your daughter's a brat," he repeated and just like that Wo Fat was standing.

"How dare you!" he snarled. "She is not! Is she a behavioural problem? Yes. Will she throw a punch? Yes. But she is not a brat!"

"I hate to break it to you, but your daughter was throwing temper tantrums at every turn, while you were sleeping. We all had to deal with six months of her entitled bullshit!" he cried. And then he started mimicking her. "Oh that's the wrong colour of blueberries, pick new ones. Ew, why would you get me the white one, I clearly wanted the pink! Oh my god, why is it so sunny, I don't want to go outside!"

Wo Fat's mouth dropped in surprised he then turned to Armando who said: "He has a point. She was prone to throwing tantrums… and actual heavy objects… when she was upset. Beamed poor Rico with a toaster. Man quit the next day."

"A toaster… why…"

"He made her toast too crunchy," Sin Nombre snapped.

Wo Fat took that in and then said: "Well that doesn't sound like my little girl. So you must have been doing something to upset her."

"Wow!" Sin Nombre crowed and then turned to Armando. "Can you believe this guy?" He turned back to Fat put his hands on his hips and said: "Listen to yourself. You're making excuses for her like it's perfectly okay for her to be a little monster…"

The quickness in which Wo Fat was around that desk, his hands at Sin Nombre's throat to shove him down into the nearest chair was shocking. So shocking that Sin Nombre hadn't even expected it. He didn't even get a chance to deflect.

"Don't you ever call her that again. Do you understand me? Do not ever say those words to her. She is not… that. And I will not allow you to make her feel like she is!"

Wo Fat had been telling him just how seriously he took Ro's happiness and safety. Sin Nombre could now see that not only did that mean emotional safety, but the man had not been lying.

"Let me go," Sin Nombre growled.

If he had to he'd beat this man, but Wo Fat let him go and the two went about straightening themselves out like they hadn't just almost gotten into a physical altercation.

After a moment of silence Wo Fat said: "I know my little girl better than either of you. And she is not a brat. If you were having issues, then you did something or there was something upsetting her. Now, I'm guessing it was the situation with me, but I'm fine now, so she'll be fine now."

"I don't know, my friend," Armando said. "It seemed like standard behaviour of a spoiled princess. My wife keeps saying that that's how my girls are going to end up if I don't stop bending to their tears."

It was clear from the way Wo Fat rolled his eyes and shook his head that he didn't buy it. He didn't believe them at all. But Sin Nombre was sure, absolutely certain, that Ro had him blinded. Wo Fat only saw his little girl when he looked at her, not the brat he was turning her into.

"Fine, why don't we put her to the test?" Sin Nombre said and Wo Fat cocked another eyebrow at him. "Yeah, you're so sure she's not the problem, go a head, test her. Fuck up the party in some way and then watch the meltdown."

"She's not going to have a meltdown," Wo Fat growled.

"Then you shouldn't be worried," Sin Nombre shot back and Wo Fat sighed.

"Fine. Another test. What do I get when we prove you wrong?"

"A bottle of whiskey."

Wo Fat regarded him for a moment. "I get to pick which one."

"Fair."

Then the two men shook on it.

Once that was done Sin Nombre said: "Speaking of tests. I passed mine. So let's lock down my rate."

"Oh for god sake!" Wo Fat snapped before storming towards the door.

"You can't avoid it forever!" Sin Nombre called after his retreating back. But that didn't stop him from leaving.

Oh well. Sin Nombre could pin him down for that discussion later.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Despite how last minute this party was, Wo Fat actually managed to plan it exactly to Ro's specifications.

He had gotten the location she wanted. He had gotten all the decorations she wanted. The invites had gone out literally two days after the party had been agreed upon. He even had catering down.

At that moment all he needed to secure was a hair and makeup artist for the day of, the cake, and a dress for Ro.

And it was the dress that this test hinged on.

Ro had shown her dad a picture of this poofy white shimmery dress, saying that this was the one she wanted.

Strapless, sweetheart bodice covered in lace and diamonds, a giant fluffy layered skirt that basically had a whole train behind it. It looked like a wedding dress and he hadn't liked it at all, but Armando had confirmed that that was the tradition.

The girls would wear white, almost like a wedding, to symbolize coming into her womanhood. Though they did wear other colours, white was traditional.

Wo Fat thought this was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. But his baby wanted one of these Quinceañera things so that was what she was getting. Even if it wasn't officially a Quinceañera because she wasn't turning 15.

For the test, though, Wo Fat was going to buy her the wrong one. Present it to her. And then watch the fireworks explode.

He was sure that she wouldn't, but both Armando and Sin Nombre were both certain she would.

The fake dress he bought her was red and gold.

It too had a sweetheart bodice, but it also had off the shoulder sleeves. The bodice had this trailing golden filigree sewn in that faded down into the skirt, except the skirt had flower detailing.

It too was stunning, but it wasn't the one she wanted. They all knew that and she was very, very excited about that dress, she kept saying it was the most important part. The one thing she wouldn't compromise on.

On the day Wo Fat was going to show her the dress he picked, Sin Nombre stood outside the door so he could at least hear it as it started and because he needed to witness it himself in order to win the bet.

Ro was called into the library and she came right away. That was something else Sin Nombre wasn't used to her. Her coming when she was called. But if her dad called for her, if someone said he wanted her, she always went to him.

He was sure it was cause the man had almost died, but apparently she was always like that. Sin Nombre wasn't sure he believed Wo Fat anymore. Clearly he view his daughter through rose-colored-unspoiled glasses.

But he sent for someone to get her, and sure enough, a few moments later, Ro skipped into view. She said a brief hi to Sin Nombre before going right into that library.

"You wanted me, Daddy?" she asked.

Aw, she had hit him with the sweet little girl daddy. Goddamn it, he might cave here and there.

"Yes, your dress came in," he said and Ro squealed loudly. "Would you like to see? Try it on, make sure it fits."

"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" she cried as she bounced up and down.

Wo Fat bent down behind the desk and pulled out the massive white box and then handed it over to her. Ro happily took it from him, dropped it to the nearest chair and then pried the top of the box off.

Both dresses had been done, custom, by the same designer. She wouldn't be expecting what she was going to find inside, so he wasn't entirely surprised when she paused when she got the box open.

Wo Fat stood there staring at his daughter as she took in the red dress. The smile was on her face, disappointment was in her eyes, but she hadn't said anything to him yet.

"I know it's not white like you wanted, but I thought this one was better for you," he said. "Since red is a lucky colour in our culture."

Ro finally turned up to him, a smile on her face that he knew wasn't her really happy smile. That was a politely happy smile. "Thanks Daddy! I love it! I'm going to go try it on make sure it fits, make sure it doesn't need to be tailored or anything."

He nodded and she ran off with dress. Sin Nombre had just come in, concern and confusion clear on his face.

"Look at the dress my dad picked," she said showing it to him. She put it up against herself so Sin Nombre could get a feel for how it was going to look.

"It's red," he said.

"I can see that, silly," she shot back. "What do you think?"

"You wanted white," he reminded her and she frowned at him. Wo Fat frowned too. It kinda sounded like he was trying to goad a response out of her.

"I know, but dad thinks red would be better, cause it's lucky in our culture."

"You're not Chinese."

"I know that too, but he is and he raised me and I did live there for a while… so… yeah," she said, though she was frowning again. "I'm going to try it on, I'll be right back." She took two steps away and then turned back. "You stay there!"

Sin Nombre watched her go and then turned back to Wo Fat who was just smirking at him. "Oh shut up! It's a one off, clearly!"

"No, I do believe we proved you were wrong," Wo Fat said.

"There's no way she's not actually going to throw a tantrum about that dress. She's clearly not that happy with it."

"Oh just admit you were wrong!"

"No!" Sin Nombre snapped. "Your daughter's a brat. She's a brat because you cater to her, you spoil her and the quicker you realize you're raising an entitled spoiled princess the better it will be for everyone that has to come in contact to her."

Wo Fat just rolled his eyes. "You're just upset because you know I've picked an expensive whiskey."

And he had too. He had picked a Karuizawa, Japan's best vintage whiskey. He would no doubt not want to pay the price, which was fair. But it wasn't like he hadn't picked a Dalmore. A Scottish whiskey worth the same amount.

Sin Nombre growled at him, like an actual growl of anger but was cut off when Ro said: "What do you guys think?"

They both looked up and she was in the dress. And oh boy did it look good on her. In fact it didn't quite look like she was his little girl anymore. She looked all grown up.

He didn't like it at all. But he couldn't tell her that.

"Oh don't you look pretty," he said as she twirled.

"It reminds me of the one I wore for my seventh birthday," she said. "Except no dragons."

It was very similar, except that one had been a traditional Chinese dress. This one wasn't anything like that. Only the colors were similar.

"Do you like it?"

"I do!" she said but he could still see the disappointment in her eyes. She was lying to him. "Are you going to wear a matching tie?"

"Of course."

"What do you think?" she said and Sin Nombre looked her up and down.

"The white would look better," he said and she frowned at him.

"Get out," Wo Fat snapped. "If you have nothing nice to say, get out."

"Alright, alright," he said. "It looks good on you kid. You're gonna be the prettiest of the ball."

"Thanks."

She kept swishing her skirt around, her eyes pointed down to watch it do it. To anyone else it would look like she was trying to figure out how the skirt would look when she was dancing, but Wo knew better. She was disappointed and trying to hide it by busying herself with swishing and avoiding everyone's eyes.

"Alright, well, why don't you go see if you have shoes and jewelry to match," he said and then turned to Sin Nombre. "And don't you have something better to be doing?"

Sin Nombre shot him a scowl but the two of them headed for the door. He had to say, he was very proud of his little girl. She hadn't thrown a single tantrum or said a single negative thing despite being disappointed. So much for being a brat.

Clearly something was going on while he was unconscious to make her act like that.

He couldn't wait to give her the right dress. She truly deserved it.

"Hey… uhm… daddy… can I talk to you?" Rowan asked just from the doorway. Wo Fat looked up to her. She was chewing her lips, a nervous habit.

Oh, here we go, maybe the tantrum was going to start now.

"Sure, what is it baby?"

Ro came back into the room and then promptly sat down in one of the arm chairs in front of Armando's desk. They were more for show than comfort. "I uh… I heard you and Con arguing…" oh no she had heard that? God he was going to kill the boy. "And… he was right… I was being a brat."

"Oh, Ro, don't let him make you feel that way," he said rounding the desk to come sit beside her. "I know that he's over exaggerating…"

"He's not though," Ro cried, tears starting to form in his eyes. "I was horrible. I was yelling at people over stupid things… things I never cared about before. I was throwing tantrums, and throwing things… I hit a man with a toaster…"

"Yes I heard about that," he murmured. "Alright, well… do you know why you were acting like that? Cause, let's be honest, that's not like you."

Tears were starting to stream down her face and Wo Fat immediately went into his breast pocket for a handkerchief. She took it and dabbed at her eyes.

"Do you know why you were acting that bad?" Ro nodded and he gestured for her to go on.

"Uhm, a month after we got here… I uhm… well… did they tell you I fell asleep in your room a lot?" Wo Fat nodded and she sighed. "I uh… I woke up late one night and I was still in your room, and I figured I should be a big girl and go back to my room and… when I came out… I could see a light on… in the library and I heard Armando say: What are we going to do? And I got curious…"

"You went to eavesdrop, didn't you?"

She nodded softly. "They were talking about you. And what they were going to do if you… if you didn't wake up… and then they were discussing what would happen to me and… and… well… no one wanted me. They were talking about putting me in a home, but was it going to be here, or in New York, or China where you came from? Maybe they'd find my real family and… and…"

Oh god. He knew what happened.

"They just… I unno. Maybe it was stupid to think that someone would want me, someone other then you. But… I mean… I hadn't even been that bad up until that point and… I just… I guess since they figured I was so horrible I might as well be that horrible…"

"Oh baby, you're not horrible," he said reaching out for her but she slapped his hands away.

"You're the only one that thinks that," she snapped. "If I don't have you, I don't have anyone. I was going to be alone. All alone… and… and… I don't want to be alone."

And then she just devolved into tears.

Wo Fat was out of his seat right away. He crossed to his daughter and pulled her right into his arms. He held her quaking form as she sobbed into his chest. For a while that was how they stayed.

Him holding her, soothing her, promising to her, over and over that everything was going to be okay. He was there now, she was safe, she wasn't alone. But she just kept crying.

Eventually, her sobs did subsided into sniffles, but still he didn't let her go, and she didn't let him go either.

"I really don't like this dress, Daddy," she eventually said and he smiled at her.

"I know. Though it does look good on you, I think it might be better saved for a different occasion. Valentine's maybe?"

"Okay."

He got her to let him go, pinched her chin softly, and then carefully wiped the rest of her tears away.

When he was sure she was okay, Wo Fat walked back around the desk and pulled out a different box. "This is the real dress. Sorry, I tricked you my dear. I just wanted to prove a point."

Ro smiled almost shakily. She opened up the box and there it was. The white dress she actually wanted.

"While we're at it, is there a particular reason why you want a Quinceañera? They're for fifteen-year old's you know."

"I do have a particular reason, thank you very much," she said in her normal prim way and then sighed. "It's my nemesis, Veronica." Yes, Ro always had one of those. "She invited me to her Quince earlier this year, and she made a big deal about how I'd never have one cause you weren't ever going to wake up."

"Ah."

"I broke her nose."

Wo Fat winced. "She's invited to this, isn't she?"

"She is."

"Ah so this is a revenge Quinceañera," he said and she nodded brightly. "Well, I'll be sure to not disappoint." He then tugged his daughter to his side and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Why don't you go try that one on and uh… dry your tears. No more crying tonight, unless it's happy tears. Okay?"

"Okay, Daddy."

He then pushed her towards the door. She shot him one last smile before heading out to try the real dress on.

As soon as she was gone the weight of her confession hit him. Because, in at least one aspect, she was right.

If she didn't have him, she'd be alone.

He was going to have to do something about that.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Neither Wo Fat or Ro had come down for dinner.

They had dinner together in his room, which wasn't entirely odd since he had woken up. The first week after he woke up, Ro didn't even go to school. She just stayed glued to his side the whole time.

He had, however, managed to get her broken of that habit. Starting with coming down to dinner with the rest of them.

Something must have happened if she had regressed but no one knew what it was. Though he was told that Ro had been given the real dress. The white one she had wanted.

Maybe she had thrown a temper tantrum, just not when they were expecting it. Maybe it was delayed.

But that night, when Sin Nombre and Armando were in his library drinking and smoking Wo Fat appeared, looking… well… haggard.

He came in, suit jacket missing, white dress shirt unbuttoned to the point where they could see his chest, his sleeves unevenly rolled. There also seemed to be smudges of black on his chest, like mascara.

So Ro had been crying.

"Are you okay?" Armando asked and Wo Fat just sighed.

"I figured out what set her off," he said.

"You mean the wrong dress?"

"No, I mean six months ago. I figured out what set her off six months ago," he said as he helped himself to Armando's whiskey. He took a long sip of it while the two men waited.

"Well, what is it?" Armando asked when Wo Fat hadn't moved to answer yet.

"She heard you talking," he said, his eyes pointing at Armando. "About what you'd do with her if I died."

Armando's eyes flicked over to Sin Nombre, who had also been there for that conversation. Clearly neither of them had realized that she had heard them, or that her switch in behaviour coincided with that night.

Though, now that he thought about it, actually it made sense.

"I didn't know that she…"

"I told you she only acted out like that when she was scared," he said. "I told you, you had to have done something, and there you go. She was freaking out about being left alone, thinking none of you really liked her or wanted her so she acted accordingly."

"I'm sorry, my friend…" Armando started but Wo Fat just held out a hand and halted his apology then and there.

He downed the rest of his drink and then collapsed down in a chair.

"This whole situation has illuminated that she was right. I had no plan for her if something were to happen to me and considering my line of work that was quite foolish of me," he said.

Well at least he could acknowledge where it was he had gone wrong.

"Obviously I need to fix that," he said. "And you're going to help me."

If it were possible Armando's face fell even farther.

Yeah, like that wasn't a completely ominous thing to say.