Disclaimer: I do not own Treasure Planet

A/N: R&R!

Also I made a few changes on the past chapters but its nothing major its just an age change on Cassandra since a reader who I will not name (unless the person in question would not be offended but just in case. Personally, I'm thrilled someone is taking such an interest and concern in my story and I thank them sincerely for their advice) who very rightly were giving me some constructive criticism and were a bit meh of the age gap between Cassandra and Jim so I raised her age a wee bit by five years. So in other words at the beginning of the story when her mother dies she's now nine instead of four.

Her Little Angel

For SmileyMe01

Gina laid close to Xavier as his chest heaved up and down steadily. Her hair was splayed across his face and was tempted to draw it away from his eyes but she was afraid of disturbing him. She didn't want to wake him. He said he had just closed his eyes for a moment. He had just come back from a voyage so he was a little tired but he still yearned to be with her again considering the amount of time they had been away from one another. Although a moment had turned into twenty minutes but she was going to be honest. She liked just lying there for a while. She enjoyed dwelling in the silence. She liked lying there in the silence for just a moment. She enjoyed his company but sometimes she just liked being there. Sometimes it was nice for them to just lie there and not make a sound. Not do anything. It made her feel like they were actually married to one another. That was a nice thought but she knew it could never be. It made her feel safe thinking that she was the only one in the world because of that but because she could feel the heat of another against her skin she knew she wasn't alone.

As she laid there she began to think about Cassandra. It was strange, to think that she was lying in bed with her master and all she could think about was his daughter. She had became a little sister to her, or maybe even a daughter...She never dared to admit this to her since she knew how much the memory of her mother meant to her. It meant enough to her for Gina to know that she would never be able to admit this to her since in her eyes no one could replace her mother. Yet, she couldn't help but be concerned about her. Especially about earlier that evening. She had such a strange look on her face when she tucked her into bed. She looked over at Helen as if...She didn't want to hurt her. No. That wasn't it. Helen wasn't in any danger. Cassandra was. She looked at her as if she was afraid of her. She knew there was something about that girl which carried something which could be her salvation as much as it could be her demise. There was something about the girl which almost seemed to light up the mansion and Cassandra was fighting against it. She still wanted to dwell in her darkness because she had been in there for so long that it was something which made her feel safe. It became all she knew. She didn't believe she should be happy again. She thought it would be like she was forgetting her mother. Her mother would just want her to be happy. That was all she ever wanted for her.

She turned to Xavier who was still asleep. She smiled and stroked his cheek. He was still sleeping. A moment later he snorted in his sleep and began to snore. She pressed the duvet to her mouth to stop herself from laughing. He had never done that before but usually they had spent the entire night drowning themselves in ecstasy that even she was so tired that she fell into a deep sleep when they were finished. She tilted her head and ran her fingers through his hair. He was beginning to get some grey hairs, which was no surprise considering that he was getting rather old. Fredrick was eighteen now.

"Goodnight, my love." She whispered and closed her eyes.

She allowed slumber to pull her into its realm at the same moment Xavier resurfaced and found a slumbering young woman in his arms. He rested his head against the pillow and watched her sleep for long to know that she would not wake up until morning. He stroked her hair which looked golden in the half light. He remembered the first day he saw her. She was just a servant to him but there was something about that smile of hers. It was kind. Not so many people had kind smiles. Some people had nice smiles, pleasant smiles. But very few of them could be considered to be able to make someone feel safe.

"Goodnight, my angel."

~ (***) ~

Jim sat there watching the little ones bicker with a smile on his face. He had been an only child so he would never know what it was like to know what it was like to have that. In fact it got pretty lonely growing up. Doppler said it was difficult controlling them all which Jim found hard to believe with a wife like his own. There was a look in one of the girls eyes. It made him think of that little girl he met four years ago. She must have been thirteen or fourteen by now. Strange, she would start looking like a woman now and he left her a little girl. Sarah Hawkins saw the frown on her sons face and walked towards him.

"Honey?"

Jim felt someone shake his shoulder and glanced up to see who it was. He met a pair of blue eyes which resembled his own and two steaming hot chocolates.

He blinked. "Yeah?"

"You look like you were off on the other side of the universe."

She could say that. He was more at wherever that girl was. What was her name...Claire? Clarissa? Cassandra. That was it. Cassandra.

He grinned. "Sorry. I was thinking about someone."

He was wondering what she was doing at the moment. Whether she had gotten over the passing of her mother, whether she was happy, whether she was thinking about him. He didn't understand why, it was like she was a little sister to him but he couldn't understand why it only took a few minutes to make him think about her after all this time.

"Hm? Is a girl?"

He looked at her and rolled his eyes. I swear, I think she can read people's minds. That or I'm making it all too obvious...

He nodded. "Yeah...Not that kind of girl, Mom."

"Oh." She replied sounding disappointed. "Well you know, I would like to know that there is someone-"

"Okay, Mom."

He knew where she was going to go with this and to be honest, he didn't want to go there. It was all very flattering and very nice but ever since he started going to the Interstellar Academy every started throwing their daughters in his face when he walked through the door. Yet again the attention was flattering but that wasn't something that was on his mind at the moment and if you liked someone you knew it. They weren't thrown in your face.

"You know I have some friends with daughters-"

Jim wanted to groan out loud but he knew he had to restrain himself. His mother had been doing this for a little while now and if it wasn't any worse every time he came home his mothers friends were shoving them in his face.

"Seriously, Mom."

She giggled. "Okay." She kissed his forehead. "Just looking out for ya."

He suppressed a laugh. How many times had he heard that line before. His friends from the Academy were always trying to set them up with a friends friend, or a cousin, or another girl in their class or a friend of someone they liked. It was endless. People just couldn't get it into their heads that he just wasn't interested at the moment.

"I think I'll be okay. Thanks, Mom."

"I suppose you've got another twenty or so years to find someone. Although it would be nice to have some Grandchildren before I die. I mean-"

"You're still in your thirties, Mom."

"Thanks for reminding me, Honey. Still, Jim. You never I might drop down-"

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we drop the subject?"

~ (***) ~

Cassandra awoke the next morning from a dreamless sleep in the arms of Helen who had held her for the entire night. She looked down at her with her hair splayed across the pillow. She looked like a water nymph. Even though some would think her plain Cassandra could see there was something pretty about the little mouse. From the way that she was holding her she was sure that they would have looked like two lovers she read about in those epic poems, lying in one another's arms in those eternal sleeps after a tragic courtship. The morning sun was welcoming her to a new day through the curtains, she swore she could hear it knocking for her to let it in. There was a sense of a new age beginning that day which before she wouldn't have been able to fathom let alone expect of herself. Her world had always seemed so dark and gloomy and suddenly in an instant the world seemed to be brightened by hope. She felt something inside her light up as she thought about this. It was as if Helen had warded all those dark spirits from the land of the dead continuing to torment her for all these years just by simply curling herself around her in a protective embrace. She reached out to stroked her cheek with the edge of her finger. She felt a tingle down her arm and drew her hand away.

When she heard someone at the door she readjusted herself in Helen's arms and pretended that she was asleep. There wasn't enough time for her to go to her own bed and to be honest she didn't want to be ashamed. She wouldn't care if she was actually sleeping and they found her like this. Anyway, she didn't have enough time to run to her bed without being detected. She was also surprised that that the Little Miss was sleeping. For all these years she was always unable to sleep, it was almost a rarity to find her in her bed with her eyes closed for even a moment. She would either be sitting up by this point or staring out the window with the same blank, eerie expression on her face. She always read into the night for as long as Gina would allow her and she would rise as soon as the sun rose from the earth. She had stared at them for a long time wondering what had changed over the one night she was absent from this room. Cassandra always tried to distance herself from everyone even those who offered any form of comfort and affection. She left the room quietly to allow the girls a few more minutes of sleep. Doubtless the morning sunshine would eventually wake them up. Cassandra blinked at the blinding light and rubbed her eyes. The light of the world seemed to be crashing down on her once she had consented to her entrance not only into this house but also into this family.

She never felt like she had slept so much. She had forgotten what it felt like to wake up from a dream, even if you couldn't remember what happened in it. You only remembered the nightmares, but she didn't remember what she had dreamt the night before she she thought that boded well for her. She had forgotten how refreshing it could be. There was something revitalizing about having a full nights sleep and there was something familiarly comforting about sleeping in the arms of another. She had never consented Gina to do so, maybe it was something her mother did. It wasn't because she hated Gina for her affair with father it was more that, she couldn't bare anyone to hold her. She occasionally let her father hold her for a moment but then she couldn't take it anymore and slipped out of his grasp. Something that she had blacked out from her memory, which was something which she found quite surprising after trying to hold onto anything she could of her mother for the past four or five years. She turned to Helen and smiled. The beam of sunlight shone across her face like a bandage had been wrapped across her eye. The young girl had such a peaceful expression on her face for one that had lost so much in an instant. She brushed her fingers lightly through her hair affectionate and gazed at her for a while.

Eventually, she slipped out of the bed and of Helen's embrace, replacing the blanket over her so that she could rest a little more. Then she did something strange. She kissed her on the forehead. It was something which perhaps her mother would have done but she felt it only fair that she had looked after her the night before that she should look after her as well. After all, they were sisters now. After brushing her hair into a loose bun with a few strands loose she went to the wardrobe to find something to wear. She was about to reach out for the velvet black dress she usually wore and her fingers curled away from them and withdrew her hand. Her arm felt limp beside her body waiting for something to be picked but she wasn't sure what she wanted. Her eyes slowly wandered to a emerald green silk dress she had not worn in a while and slipped it over her head. She was afraid it wasn't going to fit after not wearing it for a while. The only other time she had worn it was when her father had it fitted at the tailors a couple of years ago in hope she would grow out of her mourning phase. His hopes just came a little too soon. He needed to give her more time, the reason why he was never able to get through to her was because he would never understand what it was like from her perspective. He was pressuring her too much to live again. She needed time to come to that point by herself.

She turned to Helen and tilted her head, smiling. She glided over to her bedside and shook her gently. Helen woke with a start with her eyes wandering about the room in confusion. Cassandra gave a little laugh.

"Helen." She whispered, not wanting to startled her. The girls eyes snapped to hers and suddenly was able to recollect everything.

"Cassandra. What time is it?" She moaned.

"Time for breakfast. Come on lets get you into something."

~ (***) ~

After getting her into a plain, grey cotton dress both Cassandra and Helen made their way downstairs to find her father reading the paper at the table waiting for their breakfast. She gave her another glance wishing that she had offered her one of her own dresses. She didn't meant to think that she looked like a door mouse in it but she felt that since they were sisters now that they should share things. It made her feel like they were making her out to be the poor relative. That never reflected well on the family or on herself. He glanced up from his paper to greet Helen and Cassandra only to quickly look back at Cassandra after noticing that she was not in a mourning dress but rather the dress her had bought her a couple of years ago. It took more than a moment for him to realise actually, making Cassandra hide her smile behind her hand. The look on his face was priceless. His gaze lingered for a little longer than should be expected but then again he hadn't seen his child in anything but black for almost five years and with such a peaceful and...cheerful expression on her face. It was amazing how a little bit of colour could change one's countenance. He glanced at Helen who caught his eye, he gave her a grateful smile and nodded affectionately in her direction.

"Well, my dears. How did you sleep?" He asked brightly.

Yet again, surprisingly it was Cassandra who answered. It was like a little imp or fairy jumped into her body. Or it was like her mother had never died.

"Very well. Thank you, Papa." She replied with a smile on her face. He drew back slightly and threw up his hands slightly.

"That is good. That is good. Oh, I received a letter from Fredrick, Cassandra. Your brother is returning home now that he has completed his studies. Now we just have to wait and see if he'll be accepted in the Interstellar Academy."

Cassandra nodded and glanced at Gina who was carrying an infant in her arms. Victoria. Cassandra gripped onto the arms of her chair and watched the child for a moment as Gina helped her with her breakfast. She noticed that she was no longer thinking her as an it any more but more of a her. She saw her four-and-a-half-year-old sister giggling happily in the woman's arms and gave a sad smile. One filled with regret and longing. Now that she had been able to let go of her mothers death she was able to see that the cause was not of her sisters doing. She had always thought her as an instrument of her mothers death rather than something that she left behind her to comfort those she loved. The young girl glanced in her direction and began to point as she turned to Gina. She surely recognised her as she knew who Cassandra was. She had lived with her for long enough to know who she was and probably noticed a change in her appearance as well. Cassandra knew it was time to put those emotions away and do what she was supposed to do as soon as she drew her first breath. As swiftly and with the ease of water she slipped from her seat and walked into the corridor. She walked toward Gina who noticed her approach long before she reached them. Once she was close enough she held out her arms.

"I'll hold her."

Gina stared at her, wondering whether she should believe her. She turned back to the younger girl who was reaching out to her sister. She noticed that she always did even in the days when she ignored or glared at her. She gently handed her over to Cassandra who looked down at her with such warmth and affection that she had not seen in a long time.