AN: Music this chapter (on repeat): When Somebody Loved Me by Sarah McLaclan from the Toy Story Two Soundtrack, Warning Sign by Coldplay, Samba de Orly by Bebel Gilberto from the Rio Soundtrack
EIGHT
o
"Sydney, are you certain about this?" The doctor asked sticking the last electrode to her temple.
"Yes, I want to remember this." Remembering her mother's talk about needs and wants and the difference, "I need to remember this." Deciding this simply wasn't a want, but a crucial piece of information that would have undoubtedly remained with her had her father not erased them.
"Ok, listen to the sound of my voice." The doctor started the process as Vaughn watched from the booth.
Jack opened the door, to Vaughn's surprise. He'd heard Sydney had headed this way and was worried. He said nothing, simply nodded his head in recognition and stood beside the younger man.
*When Somebody Loved Me*
"You're six years old… it's November and you have just been told by your daddy that your mommy died in a car accident. Do you remember?"
"Yes…" Sydney began crying at seeing herself. "I am sitting on my father's lap in our living room, a plate of cookies is on the table, I am crying… Dad just told me Mom died…she was never coming home…" She began crying harder.
Jack felt the anger rising in him again at the pain his daughter went through.
"Sydney, you are ok. Your mom didn't die; she is still alive…this is just a flashback to a memory. Now…can you remember back a couple of days…your daddy has just left on a business trip and you are at home with your mommy. What are you doing?"
Sydney began smiling. "I am sitting on the counter in front of my mother. We are making cookies, and reading Cinderella while we wait. We always make cookies when Daddy leaves on trips." She started laughing.
"What is so funny, Sydney?"
"I just put frosting on Mommy's nose. She laughed and put frosting on mine and now we are giving each other Eskimo nose kisses of frosting. We are laughing. She is so happy, smiling."
Even after today, Vaughn still had trouble envisioning Irina Derevko as a loving mother with 'frosted noses and Eskimo kisses,' that sounded more like his mother. He was especially having trouble with the image as this was around the same time Irina had killed his father and the other agents.
"She wipes the frosting off our noses and keeps reading. I love to hear her read to me." Sydney smiled again, "I just told her she was the most beautiful princess of all… She looks at me startled, and then laughs, smothering me in kisses. We start laughing again and I try to tickle her, but she tickles me…pulling me off the counter onto the floor."
A laughing Sydney makes Vaughn smile and Jack sad; he remembered times like this but had tried to forget them all. Convincing him self she was never a real mother, never loved Sydney…for so many years he'd believed this.
"I beg her to stop, and she does. I just jumped on her ambushing her with the tickles. I am sitting on her, making her beg to stop…she finally gives in." Sydney's face was suddenly a mixture of happy and sadness.
"Sydney, what are you seeing?"
"We are still on the floor, but now I am lying on her chest…listening to her heartbeat. She is stroking my back…and puts my hair behind my ear. She says she 'loves me to the moon and back… more then the stars in the heavens and the grains of sand on Earth…forever and always.' She always said that. I forgot…" A tear slid down Sydney's cheek and then laughed, "I just told her that her heart sounds like a washing machine. She's laughing… the door bell just rang and she is getting up to answer it… she kissed the top of my head and I follow her to the door."
"Do you see who's at the door, is it someone you know?"
"There is a man at the door dressed in a black suit… He says 'Hello' to me… Mommy tells him not to speak to me… she's got a scared look on her face and pushes me behind her… she is yelling at the man 'to leave the house, he shouldn't be there."
"What does the man want?"
"He says he has to talk to her…to 'show her something 'important' from the boss.' He is holding a small black box. I recognize it…its like the ones we have our family movies on."
"What does your mother do?"
"She tells him 'No. She's not leaving… and he needs to leave now!' But he comes inside and shuts the door behind him. I am really scared; Mommy is scared I can see it in her eyes. She is kneeling down to talk to me."
"What does she tell you?"
"She says she has to talk about something important with the man, to go upstairs and color and she'll come get me when she is done. I ask her where she is leaving to…She tells me she 'isn't going anywhere…for me not to worry' and tries to smile... I can tell she is upset but I go… the man knows my name, he says 'goodbye Sydney' and tells me he will see me later. I stop on the stairs but Mommy tells me to 'Go!' so I start running."
Jack swallowed hard… the man, no doubt Irina's handler, had come to their home…when Sydney was there. He was angry but took a deep breath realizing Irina hadn't been thrilled about the idea of the man there either.
"What do you do when you get to your room?"
"I get my colors and sit on the floor, I am coloring a picture for my daddy when he gets home."
Jack smiled at the memory, Sydney was always drawing him pictures for his office at work selling 'airplane parts.' Usually of they were drawings of their family and airplanes, of course, she had no idea what he really did, 'Thank God,' he couldn't have her drawing pictures of that!
"I hear Mommy screaming 'No!'… I am scared." Sydney began crying and rocking back and forth in the chair.
"Sydney, your are ok, this is a memory. You are ok; your mom is ok. What did you do next?"
"I remembered her telling me that she would come get me when she was done but I was scared for her, so I am walking down the hallway… crawling now as I approach the banister. I hear the door open and close… I hear my mommy crying… she is really crying hard. I look through the rails and…" Sydney was still scared.
"What do you see?"
"My mommy… she's on the floor, crying so hard her body is shaking… I want to go to her but I am scared, I have never seen her like this so I am waiting… I walk slowly down the stairs but she doesn't notice me… I sit next to her on the floor and put my hand on her head. She looks up at me… she is surprised and then grabs me tight, holding me really tight … I am hugging her telling her 'it will be ok. Don't cry Mommy.' We sit there a long time, rocking on the floor together. She has her face in my neck and I can feel her tears."
"What happened then?"
"I asked her why she was upset… she said that someone she loved had died… she pulls me back to look at me… I wipe the tears from her cheeks with my fingers, she holds my hands there, against her face, closes her eyes… and starts crying again… she opens them and kisses my hands…then my cheeks… tells me she 'loves me so much she never wants to say goodbye.' I tell her she is silly, we tell Daddy 'goodbye' all the time and she doesn't cry unless he goes away for a long, long time..." Tears were streaming down Sydney's cheeks. "She smiles and I kiss her cheek and throw my arms around her, hugging her neck…I tell her I love her to the moon and back, more then the stars in the heavens and grains of sand on Earth, forever and always. She is still crying…we smell the cookies burning and I jump out of her arms… I tell her we have to get the cookies out or they will burn for Daddy… I am pulling on Mommy's arm…she gets up and follows me into the kitchen. The cookies are burnt and I start crying… she tells me its 'ok, we will make more.' She keeps kissing my head and hugging me… telling me she loves me forever and always." Tears kept a steady stream down Sydney's face, and Vaughn shifted uncomfortably in his chair, this day was certainly stressful and emotionally wrecking havoc on him and the one he loved.
"Sydney, can you remember the last time you saw your mother? What was she doing?"
"We are about ready to leave… I am going next door for a piano lesson and to have a tea party with Ms. Adams because Mommy has to work on some papers at school. She's kneeling on the floor putting my toys and piano books in my backpack… she is crying… I touch her cheek and tell her not to be sad anymore… she smiles… asks for a big hug. She said she is 'going to miss me so much it hurts…'she pulls me back and is staring into my eyes…she uses her fingers and brushes the hair behind my ear… she is telling me to be good and play nice, to listen to Ms. Adams… she starts crying again and gives me a another big hug and tons of kisses that make me giggle… She is holding her hand up now… I put my hand against hers… its so small compared to hers… she wraps her fingers around mine and says she 'will love me forever and always… to the moon and back…' I finish for her, more then stars in the heavens and the grains of sand on Earth…'yes', she says with a smile through her tears… 'Don't ever forget that, Sweetheart… forever and always.' Sydney was sobbing now as she spoke, "She put my backpack on and takes my hand in hers… she is rubbing the back of my hand with her thumb as we walk to Ms. Adams."
Jack remembered the gesture well… she had always done that when she was upset, the last time on the plane to Hong Kong.
"She stands at the end of the sidewalk waving as I go into the house…that's it… I never saw her again." Sydney sobbed; Vaughn was having a hard time not tearing up.
"No Sydney, you did see her again…she is alive…this is a memory."
Sydney suddenly flashed into the present.
Vaughn hurried out the booth to her side. Jack followed slowly behind, unsure how Sydney would react to his being there. She said nothing.
"I forgot. I can't believe I forgot. She tried to tell me, tried to tell me she always loved me. Vaughn, when my mother first turned herself in… remember, she led us to Sark and the music box by telling us about music and math. She asked me if I remembered what Ms. Adams had taught me… then asked about the play."
Vaughn gave her a confused look, not following along but Jack knew exactly what she was referring to.
"Don't you see? She was trying to see if I remembered… remembered what she'd said before she left. I didn't… I had forgotten because of the Project Christmas programming, because you," her harsh gaze turning on Jack, "wanted me to forget the training… but I forgot everything else from that time too. That's when she figured out, what you had done to me… and you almost had her executed for it! Oh God," She pulled the sensors from her head and chest. "I have to go." She jumped up from the chair heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Vaughn asked concerned for her emotional wellbeing at the moment.
Jack felt helpless to stop her, unprepared for her assault. "Sydney-"
"No Dad… you programmed me to be a spy because you claimed you wanted to protect me, because you love me and didn't want anything bad to happen to me," Jack nodded, that was his intent, "Mom left because she wanted to protect me, because she loved me and didn't want anything bad to happen to me… So how is what you did to me forgivable and what she did isn't? Your reasons were the same? How can you, how can I blame her for doing exactly what you did She is a traitor and a killer because she was a spy for the KGB…she stole information, gave it to her country and they used it for their own benefit, she killed people on orders because they stood in the way of the KGB mission… She lied and deceived those she loved… How big of hypocrites can we be?" She took a deep breath; her nostrils flaring at she tried to calm herself. "We do the same thing… we spy and steal information for our country and use it for our own benefit… we kill on orders if the person stands in the way of our mission… we lie and deceive the ones we love to protect them from our jobs… So why is it that we think we are any better then she is? What separates her from us… the country and agency we work for? That's it… If she was CIA she would be acceptable but because she is/was KGB we have to hunt her down, lock her up and throw away the key or worse, execute her for the same crimes we commit on a daily basis."
"Sydney, she killed my father! How do you expect me to think that she shouldn't be punished for that?" Vaughn was angry. Angry because what Sydney was saying was true, but at the same time… this woman had killed his father, destroying his life.
"That's not what I am saying, Vaughn... But think about how many 'fathers' we've killed on our missions, how many children out there whose lives we've destroyed, never thinking twice about doing it because it was part of the mission, they were the bad guys and it was necessary."
Jack and Vaughn remained silent, Sydney's words ringing true.
"I've been so ignorant, if she's a monster… then so am I… I have to go." She turned to leave again.
"Where are you going?" Vaughn repeated the earlier question.
"I don't know yet. I'm sorry, Vaughn, please understand this isn't about you…I just have to think for awhile, process all this..."
*Warning Sign*
He nodded and she kissed his lips, not caring that her father was there. She turned to look at Jack and was out the door before he could say 'goodbye.'
Jack hadn't been sure how long he'd been sitting on the porch swing in the dark, when he saw headlights pulling into the drive. It was late, that much he knew. Sydney stepped onto the porch, her arms crossed across her chest. Her eyes met his and he patted the open space next to him. They sat in silence for a moment.
"I'm sorry." Sydney finally spoke, unwilling to look at Jack just yet. "I didn't mean to yell at you like that, I don't blame you…I was just so frustrated… I blame myself for being so naive, trying once again to make everything either black or white when I know life isn't that simple."
"There's enough blame to go around, we all share it." He reached across and took hold of her hand. "Are you ok?" He was truly worried about her wellbeing after today.
"Truthfully…no." She answered honestly to Jack's surprise. "I can't get the images out of my head and my mind is racing at a million miles an hour trying to keep up and process everything. There is no way I can sleep."
"Me neither." Jack smiled softly, not being able to think about anything but the look in Irina's eyes and hearing her scream out his name for help.
"Thinking about it now… I don't know how she could stand to be locked up after she turned herself in... Or Kashmir." She sighed. "I'm the one that blackmailed her into going back, saying if 'she really wanted to protect me as she claimed to… she'd go back."
"Sydney, you didn't know she had been a prisoner… you didn't know what happened to her there."
"Dad, we're spies…we should have figured it out."
"Yes, we seem to have a hard time concentrating when your mother is around." He smiled slightly at Sydney. "She was right, I was an idiot… I missed all the signs… Her knowledge of the sewer tunnels, the landmine locations… I had wrongfully assumed she was an officer there and she let us believe it, though I doubt if situations were reversed… I would have offered up that information either, unless forced…like I did to her." Jack sighed hanging his head the memory.
"I remember being so surprised when she told us… the look on her face, the quiver in her voice… the tears in her eyes… it was the first time I saw some of the walls she built up crumbling, if only for a moment… I began to realize there was more to her then meets the eye. And Cuvee… watching him torture you…kiss Mom and lick her face… I seriously don't how she refrained from killing him right there, after what he did to her."
Jack remembered the image well, seeing Cuvee kiss Irina had made his blood boil, he never thought it was doing the same to her. "She's a master at compartmentalizing." He finally realized.
"I guess she had to be," Sydney's mind once again flashing back to the horror show of the day. "I still don't understand how she could work with him again, or why? Unless it was a means to an end, he had what she wanted and she was willing to do anything to get it…"
"Rambaldi." Jack took a deep breath, closing his eyes.
"Well now we know she is the one in the Prophecy…" Sydney leaned back against the wooden slates of the swing. "What that means and how Sloane is connected remains to be seen. I remember him telling her that he needed 'her body' to realize the word of Rambaldi… and then he was going to give 'it' to Cuvee. Makes me sick to think about the possibilities that could mean," she paused to look at Jack, "Dad, that night… when Cuvee was threatening me… he told me I reminded him of Mom at this age, 'young, defiant… full of spirit.' He made it a point to remind Mom 'that all wild spirits can be broken… 'I never understood what that meant until today." Tears were once again forming in Sydney's eyes at the thought.
"You were right… what you said today." Jack continued to stare straight ahead, "The line between who's right and wrong, good and evil…isn't as clear as we'd like to believe and differs greatly from person to person. I had never wanted to think about that before, because I didn't want to cloud my judgment…start second-guessing my work and I couldn't handle that. Maybe…that's why it is so easy to hate Irina Derevko… she is the epitome of everything I can't stand about living this life, being a spy…because she's the same thing. But with Laura,"
He paused, swallowing hard realizing he was talking about the same person, "It was just a love that came so easily…I wasn't 'Jack the CIA Agent spy' when I was with her…she was my sanctuary from that life. She… you… were the epitome of everything I loved about my life." Jack held his breath; he'd never been this open with Sydney about anything…especially where her mother was concerned.
Sydney had never heard her father so open; today was certainly one for startling revelations. "But Dad… they are the same person… I never wanted to see it either, saw 'them' as completely separate people… even told Mom so…that Irina wasn't my mother, that Laura was. But now I realize… my mother was always Irina, that Laura is…was Irina…We were just never able to see all of her…like reading one chapter of a book and believing it's the whole story."
"I know… I didn't want to believe it either…in fact, I was constantly comparing things I saw Irina doing to the things that 'Laura' did, trying to prove somehow, that 'everything' about 'Laura' had been a manipulation, part of the fabricated life she made with me because it was easier to hate Irina without seeing 'Laura' in her…" Jack shifted his weight uncomfortably on the swing. "The way she stood, the way she brushed her hair and teeth, the way she bit her lip when she was unsure about what to say, or brushed it with her fingers while she was listening intently… The way she laughed… they were all the same, 'Laura' was Irina, Irina was 'Laura.' Then I began to think how absurd the idea was that Irina had fabricated the way she brushed her teeth as Laura, and be able to keep up all those lies for so many years. I was so desperate to find and latch on to one more reason to hate her… to not trust her, to believe that all she ever wanted to do was destroy us."
"It was easier believing they were two separate people, because I could still love 'my mother,' miss her… and still hate Irina Derevko. Realizing she was both… complicates things because I feel torn… as a daughter who loves her mother and an agent after a terrorist."
Jack understood fully and nodded.
They were both quiet for a while, lost in thought.
"You really analyzed Mom brushing her teeth?" Sydney giggled, unable to maintain a serious face.
Jack smiled realizing it 'was' actually kind of funny. "Yep… guilty."
"So what's your analysis… does she brush long enough, use correct positioning." Sydney laughed, enjoying poking fun at her Dad. They hadn't laughed like this, seen her Dad smile… since... since the train and the 'drunken toaster' moment with her mother.
"She's very thorough. Always runs the water over her toothpaste, starts on the right: twenty seconds, then the left: twenty seconds, she spits, more water, then the front, the bottom, the top and tongue…rinses her toothbrush and taps it on the sink three times." He said in all seriousness.
Sydney was stunned, "Wow…you really did analyze her."
"Sydney, I was with your mother for eleven years… we brushed our teeth together every morning, and every night when we were together… I saw the same routine day after day… I am a spy and trained to notice detail… hard not to."
Sydney was quiet thinking about her parents morning rituals…she was still having trouble picturing them sitting in the same room, let a lone, sharing the bathroom brushing their teeth.
"Like the way you eat an ice cream cone… always biting the top and then licking the sides all the way around, first clockwise, then counter, then clock, then counter."
This made Sydney laugh and surprised her that her father had paid such close attention to these small details. "Well I have a confession to make too… I was analyzing Mom's movements as well… but for a different purpose. I wanted to see how much of me, I got from her… like the way we both tuck our hair behind our ears…"
"Or scrunch your eyebrows down when you are unsure about something or are thinking." Jack added knowing all to well the similarities between his daughter and her mother. "Or your stubbornness." He smiled and Sydney laughed knowing it was true, even Irina had agreed on that. "I am really happy you came over tonight, Sydney."
"Me too." She smiled, "We've come along way…" She added softly thinking back just a year ago when they barely spoke, unless mission related.
"Yes." Jack had been thinking the same thing.
"Mom leaving our lives…put distance between us…" Sydney contemplated, "and her return…has brought us closer again."
Jack nodded agreeing with the assessment.
"Dad… we need to find Mom."
"I know, but, Sydney, if your mother doesn't want to be found… it's unlikely we will find her and if by chance we do, she is bound to escape again. Egos aside, I think we both know she's the best spy in this family. What?" He asked off Sydney's surprised look.
"You just called us a family." Her eyes still wide at her father calling Irina Derevko part of their family. Jack remained silent, contemplating his wording as well.
"Sydney, you do realize that if, when we find your mother, she… she broke her immunity agreement..." Jack looked to Sydney to see if she was following where he was going with this. "She will either serve a Life-Term or most likely be Executed." He fell silent.
"But Dad, she defied the KGB to save your life… my life more than once, doesn't that count for something?" Sydney was upset with the notion of putting her mother back in prison for the rest of her life after what they'd witnessed today… her mother would rather be dead, this she knew, and that wasn't something Sydney could think about. Not so long ago… she had wished her mother would have died… but that was before she knew the truth or at least part of it.
"Maybe, but doubtful. She has a long list of crimes against this country… Multiple counts of murder, theft, espionage…each one of those alone, punishable by death." Jack brought the reality back into the situation.
"I know… it's just… I have so many unanswered questions… and I need her to know that…" She couldn't finish the thought out loud… unable to believe what she was about to admit.
"You need her to know what?" Jack asked softly, already having a pretty good idea, though he wasn't sure he would get Sydney to admit that she still 'loved' her mother, in spite of everything...
"I just… I think she should know… that we know the truth. That she didn't want to leave us… that she really did love us… about my grandmother… Kashmir…" Sydney paused thinking whether or not to ask the next question.
Jack could read the expression on her face and knew there was more; she wanted to ask something, "What is it? What do you want to know?"
Sydney was startled her father seemed to be reading her mind but went ahead. She was looking straight into Jack's eyes, knowing it was a painful subject, trying to gauge his reaction. "Dad… did you know… about the baby…t hat Mom was pregnant when she left?"
Jack was quiet a minute, "No… I didn't know… Not until today."
"Apparently, there is a lot we didn't know about her…things she didn't tell us." Sydney was thinking back to all the comments her mother had made about the truth taking time, and wanting to explain her self someday.
Jack had been thinking along the same lines, so much 'he thought he knew' but didn't really have a clue. "I'm almost afraid to find out what else she hasn't told us about."
-Undisclosed Location-
*Samba de Orly*
"Are you sure you're going to be ok down here by yourself?" Katya leaned against the railing, taking in the beautiful view.
"I'm fine… I can take care of myself… now." Irina quickly corrected herself, knowing that without her sister's help that night, she would have died. She rubbed her hands over the now very visible 'bump' under her shirt. At twenty weeks, she was finally showing to the point where she could no longer hide it.
"Rina, you only have one working arm, you're pregnant and you're restricted to 'light if non-existent activity'…how are you going to take care of yourself?" Katya had pointed out all the obvious reasons why this could be very dangerous.
"I can stay if you want… help you here." She offered sincerely seeing how vulnerable her sister was for the first time in her life.
"No… I need your help, but with something else." Irina spoke softly, but determined. "I need you to take care of some things for me where Jack and Sydney are concerned." She walked back into the house, making her way to the kitchen and Katya followed.
"You want me to shoot him for you." Katya said in a serious tone, but jokingly as she watched Irina grabbing a large chopping knife.
"No." Irina looked Katya in the eye, letting her know she was serious. "I don't want to kill Jack… I've already caused enough pain for them." She looked down quickly, grabbing a mango from the bowl on the table. She tried to cut it with the one arm not in the sling, but the mango kept rolling to the side.
Katya watched her sister struggling to cut the fruit, "And you think you can take care of yourself?" She said sarcastically watching the struggle continue, knowing Irina was frustrated by more then just not being able to cut her own fruit.
At Katya's remark, Irina's eyes flashed in defiance and raised her arm with the knife, slashed it down at incredible speed leaving the mango in two pieces and spinning, she was always good with a knife. She smiled and raised her eyebrows, "Yes…I can take care of myself." She looked at the still unpeeled fruit lying on the cutting board and sighed. "Ok… so maybe I need a little help. Will you please?" She turned her pouting eyes to Katya, who shook her head smiling at the pathetic look. She took the knife from Irina and began peeling the mango for her.
"So what is it that you need me to help you with concerning Jack and Sydney?" Placing the pieces of fruit in a bowl handing them to Irina.
"I'm going to give them their freedom... Jack what he's always wanted…and Sydney what's rightfully hers… We can talk about that later. " Irina walked back onto the veranda, eating her fruit along the way, not wanting to talk about the subject for the moment.
Katya wasn't exactly sure what that meant but followed her sister once again outside. "So why here? What's the catch?" Katya asked looking at the thick luscious jungle around her. "Couldn't be more opposite of Russia if you tried."
"You mean other then the fact that mangos are good and plenty here?" Irina smiled, trying to stifle her laughter with a mouthful of her current favorite fruit. Seeing Katya's look, "It has beautiful beaches, warm weather, quiet when I need it to be, isolated from the rest of the world…has no extradition treaty with the US…" She casually dropped that into the conversation.
"Ah… so that's why you chose here." Katya took a seat next to Irina, picking out a piece of fruit from her sister's bowl.
"Well that and the mangos." Irina smiled a sudden surprise flashing across her face, grabbing Katya's hand and placing it on her stomach, "Feel this…wait…there." She smiled widely at the baby's movement.
"Wow… that's quite a kick for such a tiny baby." Katya marveled at the movement going on inside Irina.
"I almost forgot how amazing this was," Irina smiled moving their hands to another area on her stomach, "She moved… here."
"She?" Katya asked surprised.
"Alexei told me just before we left… I had a feeling she was a girl, everything has been the exact same as it was with Sydney… including the kickboxing moves. When I was pregnant with Sydney, she used to keep me awake at night with her kicking… drove me nuts. If I only knew then those powerful legs would turn into deadly weapons." Her radiant smiling slowly fading when she thought of the once tiny baby she carried inside her, now hunting her down, the thought, tearing Irina apart inside. She had told Sydney their relationship as Mother and Daughter was complicated… what an understatement that had been.
"She sounds amazing."
"Oh she is, Katya… You'll see… she is so beautiful and intelligent…stubborn." Irina couldn't help but smile thinking about how wonderful her daughter turned out.
"Just like her mother."
Irina laughed, Katya was right. "Yes, definitely the stubborn part. Soon after I turned myself over to CIA, Sydney came to me to decode a list of names. I told her I needed a pencil and paper," She smiled, shaking her head, "She said, 'No,' so determined, stubborn...it was hard not to laugh. In that moment I saw the same stubborn little girl who would tell us 'No' so calmly when she didn't want to go to bed. I told her I couldn't decode the names without a pencil and paper, to which she finally relented, breaking the pencil into this tiny piece, so I couldn't use it to stab anyone later I suspect, and this tiny crumpled paper. I could see it in her eyes then, she was trying so hard to keep me at a distance…not that I blame her, the first thing I did after not seeing her for twenty-one years was shoot her." Setting her plate off to the side, pulling her leg up and tucking it under the other, using her one good hand, she began caressing her belly and the active baby beneath.
Katya's eyes, following Irina's movements and resting on the arm, still pinned together and held in a sling. "So… who's going to cut your mangos for you when I leave?" She asked in a serious tone causing Irina to laugh, making Katya smile… each of them realizing just how much they had missed each other.