Later that day at the airport
"may I see your passes please" asks the TSA employee
"yes they're right here" says Jade handing the employee their printed passes
"that's definitely the official Italian government seal, you're good to go, I'm just going to need to check for drugs, standard airport checks for diplomatic passes" says the TSA employee
"you're going to find weed but it's medicinal, I have PTSD from a childhood incident" says Jade
"medicinal is fine, anyone else or should I pat you guys down" asks the TSA employee
"since when is it a choice to have our privacy violated or not" asks Tori
"you have special government passes, they don't just pass those out to just anyone, it generally requires extensive vetting by the Italian government, if you're honest then you have nothing to hide" says the TSA employee
"neither Sadie or I do drugs" says Tori
"my brother does but I don't, I have never done drugs consensually, how do we get to the plane" says Sadie
"walk on the tarmac, I'm going to need you to sign papers confirming and or denying drug use first" says the TSA employee as she hands them the papers
"so it's these over pat downs" asks Tori
"diplomatic pass holders are held to a different standard I guess" says the TSA employee as they sign the papers
"what gate do we use to get to the plane" asks Sadie as they hand the papers back
"you don't, you walk with me to the entrance and get in my jeep and I take you onto the tarmac where your plane is waiting, feel free to record me, I pray you don't have to use it but Trina Vega nearly got knocked out by a now ex TSA employee who called her a bunch of slurs and saying she didn't deserve a diplomatic pass because she's part Latina, it's better safe than sorry I'm afraid" says the TSA employee
"ok lead us then, what's your name" says Tori as she begins to record on her phone
"my name is Hailey Westbrook, Trina's your sister isn't she" says Hailey as she leads them out
"she is, she doesn't look like she can fight but trust me she has a mean left hook" says Tori
"that sure is a nasty left hook, managed to break three and a half of that ex employee's teeth, luckily the shift manager was waiting for us by the jeep where it happened and saw everything, she commended Trina for defending herself" says Hailey
At the plane
"Ciao benvenuti delegati della famiglia Valentine" welcomes Cassandra
"non fanno l'italiano Miss Cassandra" says Hailey
"it's a custom Hailey calm down, you know this, you will be hearing about this later" says Cassandra
"wait are you two dating" asks Jade as Hailey blushes
"no that's strictly against protocol, she's my American contact for Diplomatic passes, dating her would risk me going to prison for bribery or other illegal acts" defends Cassandra
"though if we could we would, please admit that at lease Cass" pleads Hailey
"in that there is only truth Hailey, unfortunately you have your parents to worry about, I would never have you put them before me, maybe when a time comes where you are not needed for their financial support you can make a trip to Italy, until then we must abide by the rules given to us, we must remain professional, speaking of were running late, we were supposed to be on the runway right now, hurry it up" says Cassandra
5 minutes later in the plane
"you're Cat's cousin huh, do you like flying" asks Jade
"guess I know which one she likes…. Anyway yeah it can be fun, it has its ups and downs, Cat's not exactly what I'd call a normal Valentine by any means, most of us are super successful singers, me I work for the government, I'm normally flying with heads of state as they work out trade deals, the last one was with Henderson Vega, odd name amazing person, that meeting was two days ago" says Cassandra as the private jet takes off
"one question why am I allowed back in Sicily, my family was banned" asks Jade
"Henderson, he's very well read, he stated that Cat was forcefully removed from the comfort of her friends, that he understands how that Michael West did even if by accident was bad but that it was you who called for help from the moment the match hit the dry grass, that it wasn't right to ban the one person who was trying to stop it from burning the trees, instead he proposed that during the festival you make a special sacrifice of the government's choosing, Italia and Sicilia agreed as one people" says Cassandra
"what's the sacrifice, I'm assuming something natural, love maybe or something that I grew" asks Jade
"it is not love, they know about your mutual feelings for Catarina, when she was told about the options she made sure that you didn't have to give her up, the sacrifice is a special type of weed developed right there in Sicily, floral in smell, it's ceremonial, please do NOT attempt to smoke it" says Cassandra
"I hadn't even though about that, what makes it unable or not recommended to be smoked" asks Jade as Tori falls asleep cuddling Sadie
"they manipulated it for scent without realizing they'd also changed potency at the same time, three people went into comas because they'd tried to smoke it" says Cassandra
"why not just get rid of it then, it's clearly dangerous" asks Jade
"because it cost the government money, also they ended up with at least fifty pounds of it, the government doesn't like to just get rid of something that they'd paid for, the government was promised a sellable product and was delivered a violent strain, it's six times more potent than the legally highest strain you can get medicinally" says Cassandra
"yikes, ok that's fair then, is the thing about mental patients being allowed to have some fun in bed during the old growth festival true" asks Jade
"yes, though the festival isn't observed all over Italia or Sicilia, in the areas it is mental patients are allowed to make love within a window of time, though Cat isn't technically a mental patient, she's just on a hold because the eye condition can cause hallucinations" says Cassandra
"why a hold" asks Jade
"because none of our family wants to risk being the target of her hallucinations, I'm not much older than you guys, I may be rich in my own right but I don't live on my own, otherwise I'd attempt to help, she isn't nuts, the doctor overseeing her care has a daughter with the same condition, it can be unpredictable at times, she hasn't lost her connection with reality, she knows what she's seeing isn't always real, however it feels real to her in that moment, James isn't getting any more stable or the hospital would send her back home in about a month" says Cassandra
"her brothers name is James" asks Jade confused
"yes, anyway you need to be prepared for what you're getting into, you will begin to believe she is insane, you will be called insane for dating her" says Cassandra
"oh believe me I would have been called insane if I dated her before it happened as well, I was seen as the bully and or the angry girl, me dating Cat who is seen as the hyper, cute girl would have had many people laughing, trust me I'm ready for ridicule from people who know us, she needs me more now than ever, and I need her, I'm this close to being happy Cassandra, I'm not going to let anything get in the way of it now, I'm going to be there for her no matter what, I was the first person she met in LA and we became fast friends, I will ABSOLUTELY NOT let her go through this alone, never again will she have to be afraid of going through things alone, if I'm allowed to stay here then I will stay here, I'm here for her" says Jade
"Cat is loved here, the Sicilia government won't push you away, they may limit where you can live but denying her a chance at a future isn't likely to happen, the Valentine family bloodline goes back hundreds of years" says Cassandra
"what about money" asks Jade
"you may spend your American money but it must be translated to euro's first however most banks are limited hours as they prepare for the festival next month so most likely your American money will be accepted till after that date" says Cassandra
"my dad has an account in Britain, he said I could take money from that account if I needed to" says Jade
"it would be preferable if you opened an account in Sicily and just transferred money into it, Sicily currently has the lowest interest rates on credit cards and stuff, especially during the summer, the banks lower interest rates to boost spending" says Cassandra
"as soon as I get the clear to live here from the government I will certainly do that" says Jade
"I work for the government Jadelyn, you are free to live here, I don't say that lightly or to just say it, you were cleared of all wrongdoing, Cat is like a Disney princess here, she is generally considered untouchable by the people here, your relationship will be respected" says Cassandra
"I appreciate that Cassandra but I need to hear it from the government themselves, the high up's in government" says Jade
"that is literally me Jade, I have sole authority in that manner, I petitioned the courts on the presidents behalf, the president of Sicilia is my boss" says Cassandra
"but you can't be much older than me" says Jade in disbelief
"indeed, I may only be five years your senior however I was elected as the youngest peoples representative in Sicilia, the people voted for me, no I wasn't on the ballot however my compassion caused many to write me in, I'm the people's reference for the president, if he has a policy plan he runs it by me, I run a poll by the public and if they like the idea as much as I do or don't, then the president goes by that, he promised to give you one chance, Sicily does have some financial disputes, damages caused by nature that we can't just keep fixing over and over, we need buildings built for the current worsening every year conditions we face here, if we had companies who could build or design new buildings to withstand the conditions we face here, the people are begging for it, the companies refuse to help" says Cassandra
"I know a guy" says Jade
"who" asks Cassandra
"Tori, she'd convinced her dad to retrofit his house with energy saving devices and reinforcements where needed though drawing actual blueprints isn't her thing she does have many ideas, her dad's energy and water bills went down a hundred dollars a month, his insurance company even gave him a rebate for it, she's a singer at heart, the song she wrote last month was about the evil sides of humanity, it was amazing, though people started calling her an eco-warrior and a flake so she won't even admit her knowledge of that kind of thing to anyone who doesn't trust her, gay's get a lot of hate in her area of the city, latino gays even more, it's all she's ever known" says Jade
"I'll never understand why Americans do that, the president may be somewhat average but that's why he hires people like me, that and his family has a history of mental issues, he runs everything by us young people, as a way to sanity check, so far he isn't showing any warning signs and he's not good at hiding things like that" says Cassandra
"how long till we get to Siciliy" asks Sadie
"a few hours, we have to top up in Japan, there was a storm there on our way here so we had to burn more fuel than we'd hoped to, be prepared for jet lag" says Cassandra