3 hours later as they arrive over Sicily
"well looks like it's going to be a rough landing with that big storm around the airport" says Cassandra
"we're going to die aren't we" cries Hailey scared because of the turbulence
"that's highly unlikely Hailey, though just in case will you be my girlfriend" says Cassandra as Hailey stares at her
"yes please" says Hailey as Cassandra kisses her
"man this storm is rough, there hasn't been a storm this bad in four years" says Remy
"we are unable to land at the airport Dr. Remy, they lost power, we will have to land in northern Italy" says the pilot
"is the storm really that big" asks Cassandra
"yes, from what I'm hearing on my radio is there is massive flooding" says the Pilot as he heads north
"man that sucks, the old growth festival hasn't been cancelled in five years, the festival has only been around for seven years, my dad will be sad" says Cassandra
"why was it cancelled five years ago" asks Hailey
"an earthquake had hit two weeks before it and the president at the time had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, he didn't want to take attention away from those who needed it, any money that was donated to the festival was re-routed to a disaster fund which is exactly what will happen here" says Cassandra
"what about the naturalization ceremony thing, we want to be citizens" asks Hailey hugging Cassandra tight
"it will happen it will just be delayed, in the mean time you get to enjoy amazing Italian food for free for what will probably be a two day vacation for me" says Cassandra
"I love you Cassie" says Hailey kissing Cassandra again
"stop it you're making me blush baby" says Cassandra
3 days later back in Palermo at the government building
"name one thing you're embarrassed to admit Hailey" asks Daren
"I'm gay" says Hailey
"Tori you next" says Daren
"I have nose issues" says Tori
"Jade" asks Daren
"I've loved Cat since the day I met her" says Jade keeping it short as Cat blushes
"Sadie" asks Daren
"my family hates me" says Sadie
"ok now you Vanessa will speak for both you and your husband since he can't speak" says Daren
"I was afraid I'd out live my daughter and Robert was embarrassed he couldn't make money on his own and having to depend on Hailey for our meds was embarrassing for him" says Vanessa
"Robbie" asks Daren
"I'm Pansexual" says Robbie
"ok you have become citizens of Sicily and will be registered with the government and will be assigned a health card number and will be expected to pay taxes when it is time to" says Daren
"it was really that easy" asks Jade
"normally no but the old growth festival is about appreciation for nature and accepting new people into our lives, a select few are accepted every summer here in Palermo and in Rome respectively, normally it's a long and drawn out process but the government tries to keep it as simple as possible but vetting can take a while" says Daren
"so are my parents meds going to cost us anything" asks Hailey again putting her parents first
"there will be an upfront cost about ten dollars but nothing much more than that" says Daren
"so about my sacrifice thing, when does that happen" asks Jade
"you saved a life during the worst part of the flooding Jadelyn West, you went out of your way to save Ellen's life, you nearly didn't make it back to the hospital, I'd say that's sacrifice enough" says Daren
"well nobody else wanted to" asks Jade
"y-you saved my little sister… what was she even doing out in that weather" asks Cassandra
"you know Ell Cassandra, she loves the weather, she wanted to get a video of the flooding and got pulled into it, the current brought her to within inches of the hospitals' north wall, had she not missed it by said inches she'd have died, Jade was out having a smoke outside Cat's hospital room when Ell was being dragged by" says Daren
"why is she so reckless" asks Cassandra
"when I managed to pull her out of the current and to safety I asked her what she was thinking, she said she wanted to be like her big sister" says Jade
"I never asked for this job and she knows that, why weren't you watching her" says Cassandra
"I was told to announce to the media that the in person festival events were to be cancelled due to the storm, I wasn't gone for more than five minutes Cassandra, by the time I walked back into the house she was already gone, don't even think about blaming this on me, I feared the worst, you have no idea how fast that current was going Cass, Ell is lucky to be alive, please never try and make me feel like your traitorous mother, I'm with Remy for a reason now, she's a great mother to Ellen" says Daren
"I'm sorry it's just the weather storms keep getting worse and she knows better" says Cassandra
"she does know better but that's besides the point she's only eleven years old Cassandra, Remy is looking after her at the hospital, you should probably go visit" says Daren
"you're right that's probably a good idea" says Cassandra
At the hospital in Cat's room where Ellen is staying
"why did you leave the house Ell, that storm was crazy" asks Cassandra
"I was being stupid ok, it's my fault not dad's" says Ellen Valentine
"you were bullied again weren't you Ellie" asks Cat
"why would you say that, we dealt with the bullies last year" asks Cassandra offended
"trust me I know, my parents tried to constantly do the same with my bullies, at first they were paying Jade to ward them off, it only works for so long, money doesn't fix everything" says Cat
"they call me names, people were scared of this storm.. I thought I could…. I thought I could….." says Ellen
"wash away, oh Ellen why" asks Cassandra hugging her little sister
"you talk about it all the time, I thought it was possible" says Ellen
"Ellen, there is a difference between talking about it and actually doing it, I talk about it because of things evil mom did to me when I was younger than you, you were spared that trauma, I didn't actually think you were listening" says Cassandra
"but I always listen to you, you're smart and funny and very cool and popular" says Ellen
"do you like girls or boys" asks Cassandra
"I don't know yet, both…. Neither I don't know, I don't have friends to choose from, I'm the extremely uncool nerd sis, how can I possibly know" says Ellen
"that Australian girl seemed to like you" says Cassandra
"oh she's cute, I don't think he wants her to like me though" says Ellen
"why" asks Remy
"he seems different, he was scary the last time he talked to dad" says Ellen
"you don't trust him" asks Remy
"nuh uh" says Ellen emulating Cat's speech patterns
"I'll give him a call, he's scheduled to meet with your dad next week to help with disaster relief because of that massive supercell storm we got, the core hurricane warning area was the entirety of Sicily, meaning nobody here was safe from the possibility of a hurricane, it could have dropped anywhere on the island and done tons more damage, Italy proper had tons of damage done, Northern Africa had massive flooding, Spain lost power to about a million homes, France lost internet to almost half the country, southern Germany lost power completely, that's just the countries reporting in, we don't know what damage was done to the countries unwilling to talk to us" says Remy
"pwease no talk to bad man, he scare me" cries Ellen
"as much as I would love to Elle, it's important you know where you stand, you may not know this but you have so many fans, Cassandra so far hasn't grown beyond Sicilia, your fans exist over Spain, Italy proper, France and Britain, the sooner you understand where you stand, liking girls or boys or both or maybe even neither the sooner your fans can rally behind you and believe me they will, it is very important, if he's as scary as you say then I fear for Hannah's life" says Remy
"you fink so" asks Ellen
"ok I totally don't speak like that" says Cat
"yuh huh" says Ellen
"oh great my little sister is a Cat Valentine mimic just what I've always wanted" jokes Cassandra
"really" asks Ellen
"oh great she really is like me" pouts Cat
"why that make you sad, I thought you'd like it, you always tricker me" says Ellen
"because I don't know up from down these days Ellie, my eyes are going nuts with how I see things, I guess I just don't see how you think being me is a good thing" admits Cat
"you don't see how your family sees you Cat, especially us younger girls, we idolize you, all the hate, the issues you went through, the fact that you're still here and stronger than ever means everything to us, it inspires us to be strong against those who decide to bully us, it pushes us to help others be strong too" says Ellen
"then why are you afraid of Mr. Williams" asks Jade
"y-you know him" asks Ellen
"indeed I do, or my dad does anyway, he may seem tough but what you don't know is he's trans, he knows the struggles, I happen to know for a fact his daughter Hannah is leaning towards girls, he doesn't know how to handle it, what comes off as aggression is most often fear for his daughter, she rarely speaks and it's genetic, his sister was kidnapped when he was little and hasn't been seen since, it's been nearly forty years Ellen, he has every right to be scared for her safety, theoretically since she's homeschooled she could learn anywhere, he is near the end of his second and probably final term as head of state in Australia, if he so much as has a thought that maybe Hannah will be safer here I'm almost certain he will let her stay here" says Jade
"so Mr. scary Williams was a girl" asks Ellen
"yes, anyway Remy make that call" says Jade
3 minutes later on the phone with Mr. Williams
"what is it with the Valentine administration and time zones, you woke me up its not even six in the morning here" says Mr. Williams
"it's Dr. Hadley and that is most often my fault, anyway my daughter Ellen doesn't have any friends here and got along really well when you were here before Christmas, she's questioning her sexuality but has no reference, is it possible that you could bring her again when you meet my husband next week" asks Remy
"she's what eleven, doesn't she have time to figure that out" asks Mr. Williams
"she does but the Valentine family prides itself on self reflection and like I said she has no friends so the only self reflection she does is self Hate, I know your daughter leans gay, all I'm asking is for time for them to be together as friends, Ellen fears you, she didn't even want me to make this call" says Remy
"I'll admit I do hide a lot from my people, I always bring her when I visit Sicily but I can't stay there long, the election is close and I have to campaign for my party's candidate soon after, I don't trust her around others, that's how my sister was taken" says Mr. Williams
"believe me I doubt Ellen will let her out of her sight, she's very protective of people she has connections with, the Valentine family as a whole is super protective" says Remy
"but my daughter doesn't speak very often, I don't want to miss hearing her soothing calm voice" says Mr. Williams
"you can set rules, I have no problem recording your daughters voice while she's here, Ellen has many fans outside of Sicilian influence, they wouldn't let anything happen to her or her friends, they'd riot if her or her friend went missing, look, all I know is Ellen needs friends and she has a connection with Hannah, Hannah spoke in low tones around Ellen but she spoke the whole time regardless" says Remy as shuffling is heard on the other end
"in that case I'm on my way, the Parliament has approved an immediate relief bill for Sicily and Italy, I've been getting word of possible Canadian funds coming as well, anyway I will be there in a few days" says Mr. Williams
"we thank you for that" says Remy as she hangs up