"Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved." - Martin Luther

Six weeks onward, Sophia had returned home and the Grayson's returned to normal-ish.

"...and he won't be able to reschedule?" Disappointment shone in Emily's voice, as she received the phone call from Daniel's assistant at Grayson Global. "Alright, well, thank you for calling, Annabelle." Emily returned the phone to its rightful position and re-entered the kitchen. "There's a crisis at the office, so your father won't be home until late tonight," she informed her daughter. "Which means dinner is the two of us." Charlotte had returned to college for the school semester, while the twins were away from home at camp for the weekend. "Is that okay?"

Sophia nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders, "Whatever."

Their lives had failed to retain a sense of normalcy, since Emily's true identity had been revealed but, most of all, Emily's relationship with her eldest daughters had suffered. Dinners were held in silence, unless the twins were present, or Daniel prevailed with attempts to oversee a more cohesive family. "I've always been afraid to love you, Sophia." The words slipped out of Emily's mouth, faster than she could control.

Sophia practically choked on her food, "Why?"

"Because you're so much like Victoria. In appearance," Emily paused, with a smirk. "And will." She sighed, "I didn't know if I would even like you."

"Gee thanks, mom."

The atmosphere became tense and Emily set down her knife and fork. "Sophia, I'm sorry but you ask for honesty from me, yet here I am, honest and you don't seem to like what you hear." The teenager pouted, bitterly, but silently permitted her mother to continue. "It never occurred to me that any of my children would be physical reminders of Conrad or Victoria, but you always have been, from the very first moment I held you in my arms. I loved you, instantly, but I always understood there would a piece of your Grandmother inside you and that piece intimidates me. It always has."

Sophia frowned, in disbelief, "I've intimidated you?"

"Sophia, I -" The sound of the doorbell interception Emily's explanation and she huffed, frustrated, that their relationship wasn't permitted to reconnect.

Emily absent-mindedly opened the door and there stood Takeda, weary and frail. "Hello, Amanda." His polite and composed affect defused the shock Emily's heart had been struck with by his unexpected presence. "May I come in?" Overwhelmed, so much so that she lacked self-control, Emily permitted him entrance.

Confidence still oozed from the elderly gentleman, who had withered somewhat with the effects of time, and Emily pursued him. She left the front door wide open, with the intention Takeda would quite quickly walk through it again. "How dare you come to my home? Do you have any idea of the chaos you've caused?" The fury burnt her chest, "Why are you here?"

The confrontation attracted Sophia's attention, and she slowly appeared, with the assistance of her crutches, "You."

Takeda glossed over Sophia's recognition of him, and his bland voiced questioned Emily, "Weren't you curious as to why I exposed you? Didn't you wonder what my motivation had been, or have you dismissed the lessons I taught you?" His eyes were dark, "There's purpose to every action. When you didn't retaliate for my disloyalty, we decided to take matters into our own hands."

Emily's eyes narrowed, "We?"

The faint click of stiletto heels could be heard upon the marble floor of the foyer, and she was back. Her hair colour had faded somewhat, though the length of her locks hadn't changed, and her skin also wore the effects of time, but her brown eyes, dark and devious, still spoke volumes of manipulation. "We," she clarified.

Sophia's throat clammed up, hoping her eyes were deceiving her, "Oh... my..." She didn't have the energy to muster the final word.

The elderly woman let her eyes drift over the young woman, who was almost a vision of her younger self, and softly smiled. Yet, Sophia didn't feel bathed in the affectionate warmth most people felt when their grandmother's smiled at them. "I've never known you to be lost for words before, Miss Clarke," Victoria's eyes bore holes in Emily's skin, who was evidently repulsed by the haunting of her past. "I'm sure Mr. Takeda will credit you an explanation as to how and why I'm here."

The sensei remained patiently silent, his head bowed, and Sophia erupted, "Someone had better explain what the hell's going on!"

Victoria briefly regarded her granddaughter with an ounce of pride; she was fearless, like the generations of females before her. Her eyes returned to Emily, a woman she maliciously prayed suffered the same fear she had done, when Emily had resolved to rip her family apart. "Amanda, I am here because your sensei had the good sense to warn me of my fate, had I boarded and remained on that plane!" Victoria's voice and eyes softened, when he glimpsed at Sophia, "If not for him, I would never have been able to experience being a grandmother."

"Why would you betray me?" Emily demanded, refusing to believe she could have been blind-sided in such a vicious way.

"I'm sorry to inform you, Amanda, but Mr. Takeda and I were old friends, years before he ever made himself known you," her mother-in-law happily retaliated. "In fact, Mr. Takeda was the very man responsible for falsifying every shred of evidence that sent your dear father to prison." Once again, Emily reverted to little Amanda Clarke; her whole world blown apart, by betrayal. "The Initiative cut him off immediately after, in order to avert any suspicion of guilt. Perhaps, his bitterness caused him seek you out and train you to destroy the entire conspiracy." Takeda's head remained bowed, in repentance and shame. "He's made a fool of you, Amanda. All the years, you committed your life to his mission, convincing you that Conrad and I were the monsters. We may have been so," she confessed, remorse in her tone. "But we would never have been able to successfully frame your father without his evidence."

Childhood scars and wounds reopened but Emily forced herself not break, not in front of her daughter. "You framed my father?"

"Of all the decisions I have made, it is my deepest regret." Takeda wallowed in self-pity, "I have spent a lifetime trying to rectify the wrong I inflicted upon your father and you." Side by side with Victoria, Takeda finally met Emily's eyes, "Had you continued your mission, you would have discovered my involvement for yourself."

Emily's eyes were dead, numb to his excuses and explanations. "Leave."

Anxiously, Sophia studied the tense interaction between her mother and sensei, who eventually bowed his head and retreated from Grayson Manor. His hooded figure disappeared into the darkness, until only the three generations of Grayson women were alone in the house. Sophia clutched the hand of her crutch, "Mom?"

Her mother didn't respond, seemingly crushed. Instead, her eyes were latched on Victoria, who clasped her hands in front of her waist, "I'm sure you're curious -"

"I have plenty of questions for you," Emily's voice rose above Victoria's, "But I'm sure Daniel will have more. Why don't I call your son?"

A flash of fear bounced off of Victoria's expression, like a firework in the dark night sky. Emily sought solace in the kitchen, to privately beckon her husband home, and Sophia utilised the moment to survey Victoria. Her father had relayed countless stories of the woman, her virtues and otherwise. "You don't look too bad, for a dead woman," she delivered the back-handed compliment.

Victoria laughed, heartily. "You must be Sophia."

"Listen, old woman," Sophia didn't even flinch, "I may not know you but I do know the stories I've heard, I know them well, and I also know those stories don't even scratch the surface of the destruction you have inflicted on innocent people."

The verbal attack temporarily disheartened Victoria, but she only bit back stronger. "I assure you, I'm merely here to -"

"Return the favour to my mom," her granddaughter finished the sentence, predictively. "She tore your family away from you, now it's your turn, right?"

"I realise you have very little reason to trust me, but my family are the most precious thing to me; that includes Daniel, your brother and sisters, you... even, your mother." With every deceptive word, Victoria snaked closer toward Sophia, "I have fantasised the moment I would finally meet you, Sophia, and reconnect with my son. I have thought of nothing else for years," she confessed, wide-open and emotionally vulnerable. "Believe me, when I say, I have not waited in vain." Sophia unwillingly met her gaze, and Victoria filled the empty space between their bodies, her arms wrapping around Sophia's petite frame. From the doorway, Emily observed the moment, questions abound; if Victoria had been alive since the plane explosion, where had she been and why had she returned?