"You're even more twisted than I thought." Roberto spluttered, laughing slightly, but it wasn't at all genuine. "He's lying, isn't he, Sophia?" He turned, expecting her to look annoyed at Jespa's audacious accusation - but the look was very different. Her wings were slammed over her beak, tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks, in absolute horror. At first, Roberto was fully confident that Jespa had been lying - but as he looked at Sophia's face, doubt began to loom. "It... it's not true, Sophia. Tell me it's not true."

Behind him, Jespa was now laughing - he was laughing in absolute mania, laughing as though the past seconds were hysterical. "That's another boyfriend gone!" He chanted, in triumph. "Happiness gone - Andre is applauding!" Jespa then spread his wings, and flew off, still laughing hysterically, leaving Roberto staring at Sophia. The skin around her beak and eyes had gone alarmingly pale, and she was shaking. Then, to his surprise, her eyes rolled up in their sockets. She swayed for a moment, before she crashed forwards, straight into his outstretched wings.

"Sophia!" He turned her face toward him, to see that her eyes were closed. She's fainted. Despite the million terrified thoughts in his brain, he couldn't leave her on the dangerous forest floor. Picking her up, as gently as though she were made of glass, he carried her up into the nearest tree, into a hollow. Once he had put her down, he backed away, bewildered.

My father's murderer. Jespa's cold words chilled Roberto to the bone. A small bubble of hope hovered in his mind; had Sophia fainted because of the shock of Jespa saying something so cruel? Maybe Jespa had only said it to insult her. But then, his frantic heartbeat told him that wasn't what he truly thought. Then, he heard her muttering, and beginning to stir. He couldn't help but keep his distance.

Sophia lifted her head, but didn't appear to notice him. She stumbled to her feet, only to slump into a sitting position, burying her face into her wings. Through her feathers, he could hear the muffled sound of her sobs. "Sophia." He said, finally - she looked up with a start.

"Roberto!" She gasped, jumping slightly. "I didn't know you were there."

"Sophia." He said, simply.

"I have to get back to Zenaida -" Sophia protested, hastily turning to go. "Jespa was just a little confused, he's always blurting out stuff -"

"Sophia!" Roberto interrupted, loudly, making Sophia freeze. She started to shake violently, as if she were having a fit. "Both you and I know Jespa wasn't confused." He tried to keep his voice calm and steady, but found it rising as he started to feel panic; he didn't want to imagine Sophia killing someone. "I've had enough of all these lies! You're too big a part in my life to keep something like this from me!"

"You don't understand!" Sophia snapped, half out of anger and half out of fear. "You can't know." She pushed past him, but he stopped her, putting his wing onto her shoulder.

"Do you trust me?

"What?" She spun round.

"If you trust me, tell me what Jespa meant!" Roberto tried not to shout. Sophia was resisting. Her desperate eyes were fixated on the exit, but her tense shoulders were going slack. She stopped struggling, but still, she trembled like a leaf. "Sophia, please. Talk to me." He pleaded, his wings moving to the sides of her face. She gritted her beak, tears seeping through her closed eyelids. His heart could break just by seeing her this upset. Roberto dropped his wings. "I'm going home. You have to tell me what he meant - or... or..." he couldn't bring himself to say 'I'll never speak to you again.' Turning away, he rushed outside, flying away before she could protest.

Meanwhile, Sophia stood there, utterly stunned. Then she dug her wing tips, hard, into her head feathers, and fell to her knees. She rocked on the spot, trying to stop herself from crying - but then she cursed herself when a sob escaped her throat. The tears spilled down her cheeks, and then she couldn't breathe. Choking and weeping tears, Sophia collapsed and curled up against the wall, trying to keep the panic attack at bay. She had had a panic attack as a chick, right after Andre had died, and as those memories returned, she felt a terrible wave of disgust.

It's my fault! If I hadn't made such a stupid mistake! Sophia wanted to scream and curse with every bad word under the sun. It was ruined. Everything was ruined, thanks to Jespa's vile beak. Sophia had truly thought that Roberto was the one. The others had abandoned her, just when she accepted that she was in love - and now her chance of a future with Roberto was impossible. There was no way he would believe the true story - it sounded far-fetched, and there was no doubt Jespa try to twist it, but it was real. She knew the truth - but how could Roberto ever believe her? Nobody surely would.

But then... what if he did believe her? They had been friends since childhood; he knew when she was telling the truth. But she was petrified of the other possibility. In her mind, she imagined the betrayal and disgust in his eyes. Saw him going to Eduardo, telling him what she had apparently done - killing another tribe member resulted in exile. She couldn't stand that thought, when it hadn't even been her fault. Exiled for an accident.

Words filled her mind, words Zenaida had once said. You can't run away from the truth - the truth may be frightening, but in the end, it's not the end of the world. Zenaida couldn't talk. She had never told Jespa her part in the whole ordeal. If she told Jespa the whole truth... She's too sick to bring up nineteen-year old memories. Besides, Jespa's had it in his mind for too long to be convinced it was a mistake the whole time.

She clenched her beak. This was the last straw - she was never uttering a word to him, never again. But then a shadow blocked out the moonlight, and she heard his vile, boastful voice. "There." Then his wings dug into her own, dragged her to her feet. Disgust tore through her as she saw his smug face.

"I despise you." She snarled, wrenching her wing from his grasp. "You're such a fool! I didn't kill him, not on purpose!"

"I saw what happened - don't deny the truth."

"It wasn't the truth!" Sophia screeched, shoving him in the chest. "Your distorted mind refused to accept Zenaida's explanation - you thought she was protecting me! Well, she wasn't! She was telling you the truth!"

"Don't manipulate me!" Jespa roared.

"I'm not!" Sophia snapped. "I've spent my entire life trying to find someone who cares about me, but you've wormed your way between me and all the males I've ever loved and torn them away from me. And now you've done it again - but now you may have jeopardized my entire life! Zenaida made you promise never to tell!"

"Pity." Jespa then raised his wing, to strike her - but as it came down, Sophia grabbed hold of it, freezing it in it's path. The smug expression faded.

"You're wrong, Jespa. All wrong." Sophia said, hatred in her voice. "Stay away - you have no power over me!" She then shoved him away, and pushed past him, flying as if her life depended on it. She was going to tell Roberto the truth, before Jespa told him his version.

"You can't escape!" Jespa shrieked. "I'll be watching you, sister! Watch your back, because someday soon, I'll kill you!" He wasn't lying there, she could tell. Sophia didn't dare reply - as she got further away from him, the fear of Jespa's threat was replaced by the fear of confronting Roberto. I don't know what I can do, but still I know I've got to try.

All too soon, Sophia was flying into the ravine. The reality of what she was about to do hit her hard in the chest as she made a beeline for his tree. Please believe me. I love you too much to lose you. "Roberto." She said, quietly, as she entered the tree. Roberto sat there, back to her, on one of the roots that crept along the wall. Inhaling deeply, Sophia walked across the floor, sitting beside him - to her relief, he didn't flinch.

"Soph... are you -"

"Ssh." She sighed. "I'm going to tell you the entire story. I promise you when I tell you I'm not going to lie - you can ask Zenaida if you want. I'm going to tell you what really happened." Roberto looked up at her, eyes plagued by worry. Sophia's heart was weighed by stones as she prepared to talk.

"I'm listening." He murmured.

"Alright." Sophia closed her eyes. "I'll tell you."