TOMMY - HOURS LATER

I wish I could sleep. Unfortunately, the events of the afternoon keep running through my head. We'd managed to distract the children after we returned home so that we could put off the discussion about Zedd's past as well as my own. Mara Jane wasn't kidding about telling Kerch what had happened, though. Man, was he pissed off! Somehow I get the feeling that Jax has talked himself right out of any inheritance and is probably dangerously close to being outright disowned, especially once she got to the part where he'd stated how she and her brother were abominations that deserved to die. Even if he and Zedd still aren't on the greatest of terms for a father and son it's clear that he will rain hell down on anyone, family or not, that dares to harm our children, and for that alone I am highly grateful.

Too restless to stay in bed, I slide away from Zedd and get up. I wander through the kitchen to get something to drink before going to look out the window. It's raining, which fits my mood perfectly right now. I still don't know what the hell we're going to tell Mara Jane about what Jax said. Some if it is or was true, but the rest isn't, and the last thing I want is her being afraid of becoming some power addicted creature of evil, or believing that her father still is one. Unfortunately she's smart - too smart for her age, really - and absolutely smart enough to realize that if we address some of what was said because it isn't true, that what we don't address must be because it is true. I pause as I realize that thought almost didn't make sense to me, as convoluted as it was.

Shaking that off, another concern resurfaces. We definitely know that Mara Jane has power now and apparently she needs to be going through an extremely negative emotion to trigger it. I'm still not sure if it was rage or fear or what that triggered it this time, but it's the first time she's actually done what she did today with the power orbs and we're lucky Zedd was there in time to stop it. However, relieved as I am, I'm also not stupid enough to believe him intervening this time is going to provide a long term solution. What if we're not there the next time she loses control? What if it happens while she's out with Dar or Pina, Jason or Kira? What if it happens when she returns to school? If she does that on Earth, we're screwed, there's no two ways about it. There has to be a way to help her control it, but how? And how much power does she actually hold and have access to?

I sigh heavily. What the hell are we going to do? Days like today show me very clearly just whose daughter Mara Jane is. If I didn't know better, I'd almost believe that there's nothing of me in her at all… Pina wouldn't do something like that, would she? Granted, what she does to help us conceive goes past my scientific understanding, since I still don't have all the knowledge I'd need about the procedure and the different physiologies.

I start matching up Zedd and Mara Jane and the only real differences I'm coming up with is gender and how they acquired their access to the dark powers. I know that Jacob is still young yet, but even at five years old, he's still showing some definite personality markers - and they match up to mine, rather than Zedd's. So, is that due to who carried them or gender or is there something else going on? Genetic engineering maybe?

I shake my head at the admittedly ridiculous direction my thoughts have taken. Like there's some kind of conspiracy going on behind my back. Jeez, Tommy, what is wrong with you? I can hear someone moving around and, based on the level of stealth, I'm betting it's Mara Jane. Curious, I move further into the shadows waiting to see what she's up to.

It doesn't take long to spot her as she creeps into the room and over to the computer. It only takes her a minute to wake it up and, after a minute's hesitation, she starts searching. I can't let her find out about Zedd like this. It'll do her no good aside putting further wrong ideas and information in her head, as well as no doubt greatly distress Zedd. "Mara Jane." She jumps badly, barely containing her squeak of fright. "What are you doing?"

"Daddy, I-" She stops and I wait patiently. "I couldn't sleep. I keep thinking about what he said about Papa."

There's no question what 'he' she means. "So you decided to do a bit of research?"

"I just…I just want to know what's going on." Looking upset her next words sting badly. "I want to know why you and Papa lied to me."

Not really able to deny her unintentional accusation I heave a sigh before making a rather risky decision. "Come here, sweetheart." I sit on the couch and she curls up into my side under my arm. At twelve, she doesn't really sit on my lap much anymore and I kind of miss it. Not to mention that things like this make her have to grow up faster than I care for. "I'm sorry that we didn't tell you everything about our pasts, but some things, honey, some things are better left alone."

"But we're family, and you always say family has to trust each other." Damn it.

"I know, which is why Papa and I told you that we'd talk about this tomorrow. I understand you wanting to know, but we did give our word we'd sit down with you and explain things so why are you doing this without us?" She starts to answer, but I say, "The truth, baby."

She takes a deep breath. "Because I don't think that you and Papa will tell me everything I want to know. And – I want to know what I am."

"What?"

Sighing herself now, she looks near depressed. "I want to know what I am. I know what happened today wasn't right and - what I did today scares me."

"Oh, honey, it's okay to be scared about what happened. We all were scared or worried." Change scared for terrified and that's probably a lot closer to the truth. "Knowing what you're capable of will make you more careful in the future. As for what you are, you're you, you're the same person you've always been, just - special."

"Am I evil?"

"What?!" Honestly shocked by her question I take a moment to recover before quickly shaking my head. "No, Mara Jane what he said to you, that was just him trying to hurt you and in turn hurt me and your father. You are not evil. You're not capable of being evil."

"But I could have killed him, if Papa hadn't stopped me-"

"Again, you didn't know what you were capable of and it's perfectly normal for it to be out of your control given how young you still are. As I said though, now that you're aware of what you can do –"

"I wanted to kill him." Her soft statement is barely above a whisper and when it finally registers I have no clue what to say. "I didn't like being mad like that, but I also didn't want to stop it. It felt…"

"Addicting" I finish, realizing we might have a very big problem in the future if we don't find some way to help her while still young.

"I'm sorry I didn't stop when Papa told me to, and that I hit him. I know that Papa said he wasn't mad at me for hitting him, or for trying to kill Uncle Jax, but I know that hitting and attacking people isn't okay, so why didn't I get punished?"

"Because your Papa knows how it feels to feel the way you did today. That feeling of wanting to stop but not being able to bring yourself too, he knows very well what that's like, baby. As for Jax, in spite of the fact that he is Papa's brother, what he did today was wrong. It was mean and cruel and honestly, baby, it's okay to feel like you did today, but it's not okay to act on it. You've never been pushed that much before and we know that you didn't know how to handle it."

"I don't understand why he hates you and Papa so much." And I have no idea how to begin to explain that one to her since I'm really not all that certain myself. "I don't understand any of it really. I just – I just want to know what no one has told me. Everyone else seems to know what's going on and I'm stuck in the middle and have no clue."

I sigh and press a kiss to the dark head against my shoulder. "You're right, you are stuck in the middle, and unfortunately I don't know how to fix that as trying to protect you from things seems to just make it worse."

"Can't you tell me something? Anything?"

Thinking it over and knowing Zedd will be upset if I try to explain our past to her outright and without him here, I however am suddenly struck by what I think might be a decent compromise. "All right, let me tell you a little story, princess."

"Daddy-"

"Trust me?"

Sighing, but giving a reluctant nod she settles in as I begin.

"Once upon a time, many, many centuries ago there was a handsome, yet troubled young lord named Rage. This young man while greatly misunderstood by those around him and struggling to find his way in the word fell in love with someone very much."

"Who?"

"For the sake of the story we'll call him Spite." Feeling that title fits Zedd's ex fairly well, as does for the purpose of the story calling Zedd himself by his most defining trait when young I continue calmly. "Now Rage loved this idiot, known as Spite, and did all he could to make the other young man happy. Unfortunately, Spite was very true to his name and ended up manipulating the young lord for his own selfish needs before eventually breaking his heart. Now because of this as well as the fact that many people thought badly of this young lord already, in his hurt and anger, he turned to the only thing that made sense to him at the time, which was evil. He believed that since people already thought him evil that he might as well prove them right in the worst way possible."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"No, it doesn't, but that's how hurt he was, and sometimes when enough people hurt you for a long enough period of time, it becomes harder and harder not to give in to any solution you can find. No matter how badly it might turn out, or what it might cost you in the end."

"So then what happened?"

"Well, then this young lord served the forces of evil for many centuries, becoming more and more well known for the power he welded along with his skill in conquering worlds and destroying his enemies. That is until one day, he was given a new assignment - to take over for someone who was doing a bad job trying to take over the planet she had been assigned to conquer."

"What was her name?"

"Well, not that it matters I suppose, but we'll call her Jealousy if you wish. Now, at the same time that this young lord was traveling to the new planet, there was a different young man named Sorrow. This young man, much like the young lord, felt misunderstood by those around him and in his quest to try and find a place to belong was captured and put under Jealousy's spell, and through the spell, was forced to work on the side of evil."

"That's sad."

I barely repress my chuckle. "I suppose it was."

"So both Rage and Sorrow were evil now?"

"For the time being, however since the young man didn't want to be evil as the young lord had all those centuries ago, he was one day freed from the spell and in gratitude joined the ones that had freed him, helping them by fighting the evil witch Jealousy that was trying to take over the planet. Over time he actually became great friends with the ones who had freed him and found, for the time being a place where he felt he actually belonged."

"That's nice."

"It was but this would hardly be a worthwhile story if it ended there. So, that in mind, then came the day that the young lord arrived to take over the work of enslaving the planet from the failing miserably at her job Jealousy. The young lord and the young man now being opponents fought several times, neither of them giving up. What neither of them knew however was that the battles they fought, and the passion they shared during their battles - even if it was filled with hatred at the time - made a bond form between them. After a long time of the lord losing, finding it harder and harder to bring himself to actually try and kill his young opponent anymore due to the unknown bond, the evil side sent yet another group to take over the job. And so the young lord left."

"But he was still evil?"

"He was still evil and now somewhat depressed due to his failure." I take a breath. "Anyways, a few years later, a great power swept through that section of space, destroying much of the evil. The lord barely survived the power wave because, while he had been evil for a long time, he wasn't completely evil and having so much of himself destroyed at once hurt him very badly. It took a long time for him to recover and get better, but he did with the help of two companions that would eventually become his chosen family. Once he was better though, he decided that the evil life wasn't what he wanted anymore and so began to build a new one, using the reputation he'd built when he was evil to help him."

I brace myself. This next part will be hard, but it must be done. "Now, while the Rage was recovering, Sorrow went on to finish college and continue defending his home planet from other threats. Until the day that an evil threat he'd accidentally helped create almost killed him. He spent a little time in the hospital and then was moved to a care facility while his friends continued to fight without him. Because they were still trying to help protect their planet and stop the evil that'd almost killed him, he was left feeling abandoned and thought they no longer wanted to be around him."

"But they were fighting."

"Right, but he didn't know that. All he knew was that they took him to this place and left him, and while at this place the people who were supposed to be taking care of him were actually very mean to him and hurt him more and more every day."

"That's terrible."

"It was, but thankfully it gets better as one day, Rage, many planets away, felt like something was very wrong. He and his friends searched the galaxy for information until they heard about Sorrow being hurt and almost dying. He remembered the young man that he'd been so mean to and had fought so hard against and he felt bad about what he'd done, so he decided that he would do everything he could to help his old enemy. He went and took Sorrow away from the terrible place that he was trapped in and brought him back to his castle. While there, Rage helped him recover and kept him safe and it wasn't long afterwards that they discovered the bond that had been forged so many years before. After a time, they fell in love and with the blessings of their friends and family, they got married. They went on to have a family, with Rage carrying their first child, a beautiful little girl, and Sorrow carrying their second, a handsome little boy."

"What happened after that, Daddy?"

"Oh, their story isn't over yet, baby girl. They still have many years left I would hope and maybe even more children in their future, but who knows?"

She thinks about this for a minute before giving a slow nod. "It's you and Papa, isn't it?"

"It is."

"That's why he said that Papa was evil. He was, but he isn't now and he doesn't believe it." I nod. "And that's why Papa has powers and can change into his other form! It's from when he was on that side."

"Exactly. And for whatever reason, Jax doesn't want to accept or believe that Papa has changed and is a good man now."

"So if his other form is from when he was evil, then that means that Uncle Dar and Aunt Pina – they were evil too and they were the ones that helped him get better when he got hurt."

"They were" I agree.

"So you got hurt too." Looking upset by this, she is clearly not pleased as she recalls that part of my story.

"I did but considering I never would have met your Papa if I hadn't and we probably would not have been blessed enough to have you and your brother, I'm not upset about it anymore."

Thinking this over for a few minutes her next question has me cringing inside. "Why did Uncle Jax call you a pet?" Crap.

Deciding to go with the simplest and most appropriate answer given her age, I can only hope that it's enough to satisfy her for now. "There are a few reasons but one of the main ones is because I used to be a full human and, compared to many species in the universe, they aren't very evolved and many more advanced species think of humans as not much better or smarter than pets."

"That's stupid" she says after a little thought. "I'm part human and I'm smarter than a pet."

Unbelievably relieved at her response, I agree, "Yes, you are." I let her think for a few minutes. "Mara Jane?"

The only answer I get back is a soft snore. I stand up and, as I'm about to pick her up, I hear from the doorway, "Good story, love."

I flash him a quick smile and pick our daughter up. "The best part is that it's true."

"Mostly."

"Mate, at this age, she knows what she needs to know. If necessary, we'll explain more when she's older."

I carry her to her bed and tuck her in as Zedd watches. "Come on. Let's go back to bed. We'll deal with the rest of this in the morning."

We go back to our room and curl up together. I'm fairly certain that neither one of us will be going to sleep for a while yet, but it's not all that long before Zedd's back asleep and I'm not that far behind him.