"Peace is more than the absence of war, peace is accord; harmony." – Laini Taylor

The memories were fuzzy but it wasn't long before Sophia successfully realised where she was, and what had happened to her. "Hey, there," her father smiled at her.

"Hi," Sophia groaned back, in dulled agony.

The commotion woke Charlotte, who was curled in the chair beside Sophia's hospital bed, and she appeared immensely relieved, "Soph, you're awake!"

A movement in the doorway attracted their attention, and their mother leaned her head on the door frame with a misplaced smile on her face. "Hi, baby." She held a cup of steaming hot coffee in her hands, "How are you feeling?" Her eyes were stuck on Sophia, while Charlotte shuffled, uncomfortably.

"I'm okay," Sophia replied, bluntly, rather unnerved by her mother's presence.

"The last thing anyone needs is another argument," Daniel sensed the increasing tension between mother and daughters. "Your mother's here to stay."

"Your father and I realise there's plenty for us to discuss, and we will," Emily reassured her daughters, who were both wide-eyed and disbelieving. "The most important thing right now is your recovery, Sophia. When you're home, I'll answer any questions either one of you have. We can talk about my parents, or your fathers'. Whatever you need to hear, okay?" Emily leaned on the edge of the bed, "Wounds can only heal with the passing of time."

"What if your explanations aren't satisfactory?" Sophia questioned, already on top-form, despite her hospitalisation. "I heard everything you had to say before."

"There's much more," her father replied, for Emily. "More about David Clarke, your Grandmother and your aunt Charlotte. There's more the two of you need to hear about your mother's life in foster care and our lives before the two of you came along." Daniel witnessed Sophia's readiness to rip everything out in the open, again. "None of that's up for discussion yet, not until you're safe and well and back at home," he concluded.

"What about Jacob and Hannah?" Charlotte probed, "What will you tell them?"

Husband and wife searched the others' eyes for an answer; it was nothing they had discussed before. "Nothing yet," Emily decided in the moment. "We don't want to confuse them, they're still young," she rationalised, and Charlotte nodded her head, in agreement. "The same goes for Chris," Emily notedly directed her words at Sophia, "Jack and Amanda may decide they're not ready for him to learn the truth."

"They can't keep the truth from him!"

"They're his parents, Sophia, which means they're entitled to that decision." The strict order in her mother's tone could be heard loud and clear.

"Which leads us on to the question of who told you," her father expertly re-routed the conversation.

Sophia shrugged her shoulders, "He didn't say his name. He didn't say much." The memory was faint, as if it had all been a wild dream. "I was at the cemetery. He said he was an old friend of my mother's. He said he knew her secrets. He was old, about seventy, maybe even eighty. He had a foreign accent, Japanese I think."

Daniel's shock prevented him from clicking immediately, "Takeda?"

"Who else?" Emily nodded her head, in agreement, almost confirmation. "Daniel," she motioned toward the door, for privacy, and they left their daughters alone in the hospital room for the continued conversation. "He did it. He's behind everything, he has to be."

"Whoa, hold on and slow down," Daniel grasped her arm, "Behind what?"

"He disapproved of my decision to marry you," Emily vividly recalled her sensei's dissatisfaction. "He always said you were a distraction from the endgame. He thought I should have continued onward and destroyed the Initiative for their involvement, too." She closed her eyes, regretful that she hadn't done so. "He must have told Sophia, as some form of punishment, retribution maybe."

"Do you think he's responsible for the hit-and-run?"

"I can't be certain," Emily contemplated the suggestion, "Not without proof, but it wouldn't make sense. Why tell Sophia as punishment, only to have her killed?"

Daniel rested one hand on her shoulder, "It's not important now, Sophia is. She's okay. In fact, the doctor thinks she might be released in the next week. We can hire security and have the house on lockdown. Promise me, you won't go after him."

His wife reluctantly nodded, "I promise."

The couple embraced and Charlotte appeared from the hospital room, "She's tired."

"Maybe, we should all go home. Get some rest," Daniel suggested, "We can pick up the twins from Nolan's house. It feels like we haven't seen them in years."

"Would you mind if I stayed here?" Emily requested, "I think Sophia and I need to talk, alone." Her husband nodded and kissed her cheek, "See you at home." Emily hugged Charlotte, who wrapped her arms around her mother in return, much to Emily's relief. Once her husband and eldest daughter stepped onto the elevator, Emily returned to Sophia's hospital room. "Charlie's gone home with your dad, so I thought I'd keep you company. Is that okay?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Emily's lips twisted into a small smile; Sophia wasn't the toughest nut to crack. "Did the man say anything else to you?"

"He said he was your sensei," the teenager related the information Takeda had divulged. "He said he had known Victoria. He talked about destiny's that needed to be fulfilled and how he finally understood his own. He didn't make much sense, but the Allenwood records he gave me made plenty."

"I'm sorry you found out that way," her mother softly murmured.

"If he hadn't told me, you never would have," Sophia bitterly retorted, "So, I'm glad he did."

"No, I wouldn't," Emily readily conceded, "Because I have always been too scared to lose you. I've had my family ripped away from me once before, Soph, and I didn't think I could withstand the pain of that a second time around. To lose my father had been unbearable, but to lose my children would have been an indescribable pain."

Sophia suddenly realised she had barely scraped the surface of her mother's heartache, who had endured so much at such a young age. "I shouldn't have judged you before, I haven't been in your shoes and I had no right," Sophia meekly offered, "I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter," Emily affectionately smiled, "As long as we're on our way back."