Later that day
"what's the Honor Cassandra" asks Jade
"I need to ask a favour of you" says Cassandra
"what kind of favour" asks Jade
"George is in Madrid right now, extremely sad that his twin sister doesn't recognize him" says Cassandra
"I can imagine how that would feel, is there anything he can do to help that" asks Jade
"unfortunately not, he's been on testosterone medication for a few years and it's changed a few things and she's way too traumatized by the decades of rape to see through it, Tori's uncle has made it clear neither her nor her daughter can stay in Madrid now that they have family to return to" says Cassandra
"I see and you think I can help" asks Jade
"not me, Ellen, she said you've managed to settle arguments with Cat" says Cassandra
"Cat's easy, Tori is the hard one to deal with" says Jade
"trust me Cat is anything but easy, the whole plane ride to Sicily was nothing but screaming at me, there was no apology that could calm her down, no amount of money I threw at her would calm her down either, and she loves money, she loves shopping sprees, the difference is you can withhold things from her like love making or kisses or cuddles, I haven't seen her since she was little and believe me she hasn't changed, not even a little, that's why she didn't want to come to Sicily for treatment, us Sicilian Valentines hold ourselves to a higher standard where as her parents only care about money and Cat doesn't do well with change" says Cassandra
"now that you mention it she is a tad uneasy here, though she is getting better day by day, fine I'll do it but you have to stay here with Cat" says Jade
"I have government work to do Jade" refutes Cassandra
"ya and I have to spend money on a plane ticket to Madrid which I wasn't planning to spend so either you fly me there or you spend time with Cat, what's it going to be Cassandra Ruth Valentine" says Jade
"fine, I'll fly you but you will have to pay for fuel, it's diplomatic pass off season and they just fixed the fuel tank on my personal two seater" says Cassandra
"I thought your jet had the fuel tank problem" asks Jade
"it does and it's in the shop now, my two seater is a family heritage plane, been in the family ten years and I just converted it to half solar so it uses less fuel" says Cassandra
"let's get going then, how much does it cost to fill" says Jade as they head out
"given were both rather slim we shouldn't have to fill it, half a tank should do, say around one thousand two hundred dollars for half a tank" says Cassandra as they get in her car
"why does that sound cheap for fuel" asks Jade as Cassandra starts up her vehicle
"it helps that I drive electric, fuel in Sicily isn't that expensive but the government provides subsidies for people who buy and drive electric vehicles, the main one being fifteen percent off your electricity bill for a year, my dad's idea unfortunately, it's not always popular" says Cassandra
"you don't get along with Cat do you" asks Jade
"we're too much alike, dad likes to joke that we're twins but I don't see how that could be possible, Mom says my twin is smart" says Cassandra as they pull onto the highway
"you saying Cat isn't smart, you have no idea how smart she is, she hides it because it makes her self conscious, you should listen to the songs she's written" says Jade
"those songs she wrote with Robbie, no those are his songs he wrote them" says Cassandra
"he may have written them but they're her words, he translates them to words people will understand, she has less of a grasp on context than you'd think, not all words she associates with one thing or another actually are connected, she wrote a song about bubblegum and in it she says her sugar was stolen" says Jade
"but how do you explain the near five year age gap, clearly the sugar that was stolen was you" says Cassandra
"my dad has a private investigator company, see he's looked into Daren, he's a genuinely good man except for one crime, changing a date on a birth certificate" says Jade
"my dad would never" says Cassandra
"ever wonder why Cat's 'parents' only care about money" says Jade
"are you saying what I think you're saying" asks Cassandra 5 minutes later
"yes, her parents, Daren's own sister in fact made him give them Cat, made him forge a government document, all so they could 'raise' a daughter, the problem is Francine never cared about Cat, it was all about the money and making Daren feel like crap" says Jade
"so I'm not twenty-six" asks Cassandra
"legally you are but in reality no no you are not, you're twenty-one" says Jade
"why did nobody tell me this" asks Cassandra
"basically fear, your dad was willing to live the lie than admit in court that his sister conned him into committing a crime, he'd have been arrested Cass, you and Ellen would have become orphans, Family means too much to him" says Jade
"even more than letting Francine basically kidnap Cat" asks Cassandra
"yes, look we can talk more about this later, we have a long road ahead of us and I'd like to be out of the Catania province before Cat wakes up from her nap" says Jade
"fair enough" says Cassandra
4 hours later At the airport as they approach Cassandra's Cessna 172
"that's no two seater plane, that's a four person plane Cass, the fuel was nowhere near as much as you said, maybe seven hundred Euros" says Jade
"sorry I incorporated my tax into the price, this is a major airport and I get charged three hundred euros when I hand in a personal emergency flight like this one, the wait could be up to half an hour, I hope you don't mind sitting in my plane in this heat" says Cassandra as they get in her plane
"these seats are comfortable, why classify this as a two seater, there are clearly four" asks Jade
"because the back two are broken, whoever owned this before me snapped the back supports and given I was elected to the press office I haven't had time nor the energy to fix them, I haven't flown my baby in months" says Cassandra
"how long have you been registered to fly this plane" asks Jade as chatter comes on the radio
"Roger that, taxiing onto the runway now" says Cassandra as the taxi man pulls Cassandra's plane out of the hangar and she starts the plane up
"wow this plane runs amazing, you must love flying" says Jade as Cassandra rolls onto the runway
"this is my real dream Jade, I've always loved flying, I'd fly the jet if I was qualified" says Cassandra as they take off
"have you ever taken Hailey up in this" asks Jade in awe
"turns out she doesn't fly well when she can see how high she is off the ground so no I haven't though I wish I could" says Cassandra
"I guess knowing your real age makes the relationship between you and Hailey make more sense" says Jade
"ya I guess it does, less age gap, so about my dad, did he really have a choice" asks Cassandra as they reach altitude
"no, not really, they were both bad choices, either he gave Cat up or Francine would take you both away from him and your first mom, Cat was small, underweight when she was born, your dad couldn't bear to see her maybe die so he gave her up, much to your first mom's anger, she never understood why he would give away his own child" says Jade
"how did Cat find out, clearly she wrote that song to get a message out" asks Cassandra
"from what I can tell she's always known, that it's the root cause to most of her problems, minus the eye thing, she brought it up with Doctor Isabelle basically the moment they were alone, while the blood test confirmed that you are twin sisters Isabelle warned her not to make a fuss about it, that your dad was doing good things for Sicily and that bringing this up would end all that" says Jade
"…. And Cat wants nothing more than for good things to happen, is that why she fought with me on the plane there after I picked her up" asks Cassandra
"yes, she was so close yet so far from her family that it hurt her, that she would be forced to keep that secret, that she couldn't hug you without you calling your cousin, she genuinely feels that she spent so long trying to believe her 'parents' were really her parents that she believes she's crazy, the only reason she's even remotely stable is because of Sadie, Tori, Andre, Robbie and I are there, we chose to uproot our lives and come to Sicilia to support her, that means a lot to her" says Jade
"I can't imagine the fear she has to deal with, I dealt with the fear of never knowing, I guess that explains why Cat took Ellen in so easily yet hates that she's basically a mini her" says Cassandra
"exactly, also why your dad trusts her to take care of Ellen, Cat is really good at misdirection, Ellen hasn't told many people is because she's focused on making sure she documents how long her pubic hair gets before it gets itchy, Cat distracted Ellen with a task to make sure she didn't accidentally misdirect the public with a story about Tori waxing her special place, we both know what would happen if she left something out" says Jade
"Tori would be arrested, though to be fair Tori did offer" says Cassandra
"yes Tori offered but only to the extent that it was to make Ellen comfortable, Cat said that Tori was very nervous even bringing it up, that when it comes to that part of the body Tori is terrified of being accused of things, the only reason Tori even offered is because she was taken aback by Hannah's comment about how pretty Tori's Kitten was, back in LA Tori was only really seen as a pretty girl who guys would kill to have sex with, her talent as a singer was always second, even with guys wanting to get inside Tori's pants they never complimented her beauty like that, Tori felt obligated to return such a compliment with that shaving slash waxing session so they could appreciate their own kittens, in a desperate effort to avoid them asking to see her kitten again" says Jade as they pass over Mallorca
"Hannah's getting bold then I assume" asks Cassandra
"oh very bold, she's begun sneaking into the bathroom when Ellen's having a bath to 'brush her teeth' yet when caught is often found to not be wearing underwear, or she will say she's not looking when Ellen is changing when she's really staring at Ellen's naked body as she's changing, it's become a real problem" says Jade
"you can see Barcelona from here and Madrid is in the distance" says Cassandra changing the subject
"Cessna aircraft explain your business" says the air traffic controller over the radio
"Cassandra Valentine, I'm here to drop off Jadelyn West to deal with the issue at the capital regarding freed sex slaves, my clearance code is C19801" says Cassandra
"clearance granted, proceed to Madrid airport landing zone one" says the controller over the radio
"thank you" says Cassandra
"why clearance codes, are the Spanish airports closed right now or something" asks Jade
"to small aircraft yes, it's an attempt to vet pilots and make sure they're not smuggling in children, especially since the old trafficking ring used small planes to bring children in, they don't want old trafficking people to come kill their former slaves to prevent them from giving up information" says Cassandra
"wow Henderson must take it very seriously" says Jade
"believe me he takes it very seriously, my clearance code was issued by the Italian government and handed to the airport controllers, barely anyone gets clearance codes right now" says Cassandra
At the Madrid airport
"you can not stay Cassandra Valentine you made it known you were dropping her off" says Jennabelle
"I'm not staying, I just need to refuel, she's dealing with George's sister and daughter then will return to Sicily with them" says Cassandra
"I will have your plane refilled but you must stay here while it's inspected, clearance or not it must be inspected for trafficked girls" says Jennabelle
"I understand Jennabelle, your father is very by the book, I'm glad Henderson is taking this seriously" says Cassandra
"are you Adriana Vega's sister" asks Jade
"indeed I am, glad I'm not invisible to everyone" says Jennabelle
"Tori really wanted to come visit but because of her ptsd she is considered unfit for travel, even by boat, she'd love it if you guys could visit" says Jade
"I'm schizophrenic, I'm lucky they even let me work here, Adriana hasn't been allowed to do a model shoot out of the country in years and she's getting married next week so I doubt she has any plans to leave Madrid anytime soon, unless Dad has plans to visit Sicily anytime soon and dictates that we have to go we couldn't if we wanted to" says Jennabelle
"my little sister has what Adriana has, that's thanks to Tori's sharp memory for connecting those dots, we'd have never understood why she went and touched women's privates, Ellen has no role model to aspire to be like, nobody she can talk to about her condition" says Cassandra
"wait Ellen Valentine, the weather girl, she's gotta be fifteen" says Jennabelle shocked
"she will be twelve in October, she needs someone she can talk to that can relate Jennabelle, her role-model is Catarina Valentine because she's been through hell and keeps coming out stronger, most kids in her class wanted to be just like Cat after that documentary came out about her school" says Cassandra
"well now Adriana and I will have to visit, we love Ellen's utterly unique weather pictures, Adriana always says Ellen is a born photographer, though we assumed she was in her mid teens, being eleven makes those pictures even more amazing" says Jennabelle
"what about your inability to travel" asks Jade
"that's a technicality on France's part, they don't believe Adriana has the condition she says and was officially diagnosed with, Adriana's fiancé is Italian, she had to rescind any plans to return to her home town of Messina when she pronounced her undying love for Adriana, if Dared Valentine invites us we would be duty bound to visit and under his watch, thereby being allowed to travel around Sicily if we are allowed, France didn't want us to travel their way, Sicily or southern Italy is open if we are invited, Adriana always loved doing shoots in Sicily and Italy proper, it was the only two runs she had that the public kept their space, normally she's swarmed with fans, in Italy and Sicily they waited till after the shoot was over to ask for pictures or autographs" says Jennabelle
"then my dad will be sure to invite you guys, you have my number Jennabelle, let me know when you guys want to come and my dad will make that official invite, you could quit your job and come work for us, see the world as I have this past year, or you could live your life as Ellen does and take pictures of the increasingly worsening weather and eat ice-cream" says Cassandra
"why does your name seem very American Jennabelle" asks Jade
"I'm not a victim of trafficking if that's what you're getting at Jadelyn, my mom died giving birth to me and they never wrote down names for me so my dad was left to name me, he's always liked the funny names Americans come up with these days, Henderson isn't exactly a very common first name either, my mom had Alzheimer's and could barely remember to eat while she was pregnant with me let alone remember to write down baby names, anyway Cassandra your plane has been refueled, I will get Jadelyn a cab so she can go meet Mr. Williams" says Jennabelle