Dinner was going to be ready shortly. Cassandra could feel the dull glimmer of hunger that had set inside her stomach. The hours of sadness and regret had done well to mask her appetite, but in the end, nature caught up with her. Lia had been a great source of comfort, as the fawn continued to spend time with her. There was something to be said about the way she cared.

It almost seemed unnatural that someone could be so compelled to want to see others flourish. Cassandra wondered if she could ever emulate the kind of drive that her friend had. Lia had just gone through her own events of self-reckoning, and she still put her problems aside when it came to the brunette.

Cassandra could tell that the fawn had some things on her mind that she wasn't too happy about. Lia did not let them detract from her caring nature. She'd shrug those emotions aside, even though her friend got the hint. To her – there was no time to heal the healer. She had a job to do.

Their talk inside the bedroom had gone on longer than they had expected. It was easy to forget time when it was spent with the company of someone so enjoyable. When the dust settled and these two women found the chance to learn more about one another, their personalities flowed together like a river's stream.

When the topics of their conversations drifted away from the despair of the past and toward hobbies or favorite memories, the fawn showed a much happier side of who she is. There was something about the way she smiled that got to Cassandra. That wide pull showed off many of her bright teeth, coupled with the draw of her slender nose and the freckles that surrounded it. It was infectious. The brunette couldn't help but adopt the same expression whenever she saw it.

Lia was so reserved in the way she conducted herself, but when she settled down and got comfortable, the pitch of her voice would heighten. She'd speak faster with an unforeseen rush of energy. It was like she was so enthralled by the company of a friend. She just had to get a lifetime of conversations out of her system.

She seemed so happy…for once.

With her thin fingers combing through Cassandra's hair, Lia stood behind her as the brunette sat down and allowed her to get to work. "I admire your hair, you know?"

Cassandra chuckled as she dipped her eyes downward. "Why so?"

"It is naturally so well kept," she said as she continued to run her hands along the dark locks of her friend. They parted so easily, not tangling or getting caught up along the way. "My hair can get too curly, and I'd rather not have to contend with it."

"I'd do anything to have hair like yours," Cassandra remarked.

Lia giggled, but unseen by the brunette, she held a small frown as soon as she heard that. Her eyes focused on the poorly shaven areas of Cassandra's head, noting the jagged paths in which it had been cut. The large scar would always be there. There was no ignoring it. But, she knew how much the woman would have loved to have a full head of hair.

She had so much personality inside, and to have been limited her entire life to half a head of hair must have felt like a prison. Sensing her emotions through her skin, Lia felt how much she wanted to break out of her shell and express herself. It was that core of humanity that still existed inside the transformed woman after decades of lies and control.

Lia brushed her palm across the edge of the stubble that lined Cassandra's left side, leaning down to kiss her skull right after. "Your hair is beautiful. Gifts are not to be traded."

Cassandra reached up to hold some of her locks that dangled across her shoulder. "Every time I think about my hair, I just remember what they took from me. It's like my past is always going to be there, laughing at me no matter how hard I try."

Lia's hand came around Cassandra's right temple and the fawn gently pressed her head against the opposite side. The brunette could feel her sending a soothing energy through her hands yet again. It had to be a comforting mechanism that the woman used to calm those around her. The radiating warmth was a softening touch to a tense mindset – just enough to pull her back from feeling worse.

"Your past should be afraid of you because you won the fight," Lia said as she kissed the side of Cassandra's head. "It is never going to be easy, and you never will forget. You will just keep getting stronger, knowing that you will never fall victim to things like that again."

Cassandra's hand went higher until it found itself on top of hers. "You don't know how much I needed to hear that."

Lia's fingertips inhaled the last of her friend's emotions that it would sense for now. The fawn withdrew such efforts and returned to the person in her arms. "I do. I know when someone is in pain."

"I'm so sorry for the way I acted toward you when I came here."

"Stop apologizing, Cassandra," Lia recalled how hateful the woman had been in the beginning. She knew it was easy to harm others when there were no emotional ties to them. The brunette never even imagined that such a thing would have been possible for her – let alone with people from a different world. "You're not the only person who has ever made a mistake."

Cassandra took a breath as she thought about what Lia had said. She understood what the fawn meant. Though she had started the rivalry between them, Lia had also done her share to fuel the flames as well. It was surreal to think that she was being comforted by someone who had degraded and attacked her. Someone who a day ago would have been counted as an adversary.

Lia still blamed herself for her actions. Cassandra could hear it in the way she talked.

"You're the first person who has ever come to me with open arms, you know?" Cassandra tried to smile. "As terrible as today was; I would have felt much more upset if I thought that I had nobody."

Lia closed her eyes to shut away a tear. Her lips quivered for a fraction of a second as they sat near Cassandra's cheek. "Thank you."

I'm the one who should be thanking her. Poor Lia...

Lia pushed her negative thoughts aside as she giggled and kissed Cassandra's temple. "So, I have an idea that I welcome you to allow me to try."

"What is it?" Cassandra asked, curious as to what the fawn had in store for her.

Lia eyed the surviving strands of her friend's hair as she brainstormed potential ways that she could go about her plan. "Hmm…I'm thinking…" She left Cassandra on a cliffhanger as she took more time to concentrate.

"You're starting to worry me." There was a small laugh to be had at the end, and Lia was quick to respond to it.

"No, I'm not," she giggled. "If I was worrying you, I could feel it." Lia combed through more of her hair, separating the strands as she focused on the project in front of her. "I think I have just the thing in mind. Will you trust me?"

"I trust you."

Cassandra marveled at the braid Lia had managed to fashion her hair into. The intertwined strands molded together as they hung from the side of her head. It was short due to the length of hair that she had to work with, but the way the tail split into three tied lines as it ascended the edge of her scalp was beautiful. She couldn't thank the fawn enough.

"Wonderful!" Cassandra exclaimed as Lia held the small mirror in front of her. The gleam in her amber eyes was so bright as she gazed at her appearance. The fawn could barely keep her own smile at bay.

"You seem most impressed."

Cassandra giggled as she gently caressed the coiled ends of her often-draped hair. "I…I just never thought that I could have something like this. It is so amazing." She only broke her stare as she turned her eyes to those of her new friend. "Thank you so much."

Lia breathed a small laugh as she smiled back. "You are welcome."

The brunette could not keep her hands off of her hair. The simple feel of the rounded braids was so unreal. She had never imagined that in all her years that she would ever have something like this. She sighed as her eyes caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror again, remembering the woman she was made to be, and pondering the woman she once was.

"My sisters and I never got to do these kinds of things together. We always had to keep our heads covered. It was like Alcina couldn't bear the sight of what she did to us. It's ironic that given how much she changed our ways of thinking. We would have never asked why we looked the way we did. I knew what my head looked like, but she was so adamant about it being hidden that I always found it ugly." Her glimmer of sadness faded away as her teeth flashed through her curved lips. "This makes me think the opposite. For once in my life…I feel beautiful."

Lia dipped her chin as she suppressed that tear that still wanted to break loose. She smiled as she glanced at her friend, touching her shoulder as her own teeth brimmed through its pink borders. "You are beautiful, Cassandra, and no one will ever take that from you."

No. No one can.

"Thank you, Lia." Cassandra let her braids go as she looked up at the fawn. "I wish I had met someone like you sooner. You are just perfect."

The fawn seemed caught off guard when she heard that. Lia's eyes briefly widened before she dipped her chin again with a shy chuckle and grin. "You are most kind. Thank you."

As the two women descended the stairs to the lower halls, Lia seemed quiet as she led the way. Cassandra did not play ignorant of how her friend was acting. She knew that something was amiss. "Lia, are you alright?"

"Yes." She tried to fake a smile, but evidently, she was not too good at it.

"I don't believe you."

"Ugh…" Lia rolled her head back as she crossed her arms. "No. I didn't think you would, either."

"So, do you mind telling me what's wrong?" Cassandra asked as they came closer to the bottom floor.

Lia stewed in her troubles for a few more seconds before she said anything. It was a toss-up between enjoying the moment and having to deal with the issues of what was at hand. Spending time with Cassandra had helped dull the stress of what she knew that she needed to do, but such remedies would only work for so long. Thankfully, she had her friend by her side. The only problem was that she was so unused to such a thing that she lacked to courage to utilize it.

"It's Leta," Lia stated. "She's just been on my mind ever since…well…you know…"

Cassandra swallowed her memories, recalling the fear in Leta's eyes as she watched her sister assault her. The shriek in the child's voice was heart-wrenching. That was only after she had been subject to a barrage of gruesome visions that showcased the various murders committed by the woman that she once considered a friend. The brunette still clung to the perspective that out of everyone in that castle – Leta was the one who was truly punished for everything.

The girl had never done anything wrong in her life, and yet, she was the one who had to pay the price for Cassandra's history of violence and her sibling's bottled-up rage.

"I know…" Her amber eyes shut as she nodded.

Cassandra and Lia stopped at the edge of the final step. The fawn hesitated before her foot took its place on the stone floor. She stood there with her arms crossed and her shoulders high. The way her head stayed down seemed to be her trademark way of silently expressing her grief.

The brunette stood by Lia's side. Her hand reached over and graced the soft sleeve of her long gown as she juggled her thoughts. Cassandra would not take her eyes off her. "Talk to me."

Lia took another breath as her green eyes turned toward Cassandra's. She rolled the corner of her mouth as her eyes shifted around to the corners of their sockets. "Leta should be at the dinner table. I don't know how I'm going to approach this. I've never seen her so afraid before. Worst of all: she was afraid of me. How do I do anything about that?"

She sighed as she shook her head and looked back at the ground. "How do I explain to her that what she saw wasn't who I am?"

"Because that is not!" Cassandra took her by the other shoulder and pulled her closer. "Listen to me: she is scared of both of us, not just you. But, she is upset because she loves you."

Lia's face winced before she groaned it off.

Cassandra tightened her grip just a little to steer her back into focus. "It's going to hurt, but love doesn't go away like that. I think if she can see how you and I are now, she might find hope in there being a chance for us to be better."

Lia's voice was weak, "I'm so scared."

"Me too," Cassandra replied. "I've been thinking about what I would say to Daniela when I see her again for quite a long time. So many hours of trying to perfect the words that would undo what I'd done to her. I still can't figure it out, but if she was here, I wouldn't waste any more time trying to think about it. I would just do it."

Lia would not break out of her shell. When it came to her little sister, she found herself vulnerable. That girl was the one thing that she still had left in this world that mattered the most. "I'm not ready. I'm just not. If she ran away from me again, I…I would just…"

A pale hand gently rose under her jaw and lifted her chin up. "I will be there for you if she does."

Lia closed her eyes and rolled her lips inward. A soft nod followed two seconds later. "Alright."

Seated at the dinner table, Leta kept her head up with her right hand as her elbow pressed against the wooden top. It was a far cry from her usual straight posture, as the girl was often very excited about their evening meals together. Milo was close by as he watched her with a growing nervousness inside him.

He had managed to convince the child to come down and eat with them after she insisted on staying inside her room. He was tempted to cancel dinner altogether so that he could tend to her by himself, but in his heart, he knew that it wasn't his place. She had an older sister who was also in great pain from that tragic morning, and both ladies needed to heal.

He did not speak of Lia or Cassandra too much in the time leading up to this meeting, as he did not want to scare her away. When the girl had first bared witness to the numerous atrocities that their guest had committed over the years, she would be sent into a frantic fit of tears at the mere mention of her name.

She was afraid that Cassandra was going to harm her or the others. She'd cry, shouting that she did not want to be around her. It was only after the first wave of tears settled down that she told Milo about how upset she was that her friend had done such things. He picked up on those words like a hawk, seeing that Leta had viewed her friendship with the brunette as something special. So special, in fact, that the magnitude of her bloody deeds had birthed a different kind of fear.

The fear that such a good friend would be swallowed up by the evil she unleashed. It broke the young fawn's heart.

When Lia eventually confronted Cassandra and unleashed her wrath upon her, the chain of pain only lengthened as Leta witnessed her own sister falling victim to such actions. The display of violence crippled her outlook on the world, as she felt that in such a short time, she had lost two of the closest people to her.

It set forth a depression that a girl her age had never known could have existed. A sense of loss that Lia had tried to shield her from – and failed.

Milo was quiet as he observed Leta mindlessly twiddling her fork around. Even his daughter had never been in such a state of mind when she was alive. He wished that he could have found the right things to say, but there was no magical sentence that would break her from this spell.

At least, not from him.

The moment lasted until Cassandra and Lia stepped into the room. Both of the women were already painted with a look of caution as the little girl came into view. There was hardly any confidence as they approached the table. Leta's eyes widened and her body twitched to the side. It seemed for a split-second, she was about to turn and run away.

Instead, the child resorted to raising her shoulders forward and tucking her neck as deep as she could within them. She shrunk as her breathing picked up, nervously shaking in the manner that any frightened little girl would react. The movement of the fork in her hands ceased. All she could do was await whatever was about to happen.

Cassandra could barely hold it together as she watched the once gleeful kid who danced around her fall into such a shattered state. It was only Lia who kept her reaction at bay, as the older fawn was the first to break and say something.

"Leta…"

The girl's rate of breathing only picked up faster. Milo opened his mouth like he was about to say something to Leta, but he fell short of whatever it was that he planned to speak. Maybe he didn't have anything in mind at all. Perhaps, he was so determined to see her feel better that his body overrode his thoughts. His eyes drifted back toward Lia, who could only focus on her sister.

"Hey…" Lia spoke with a nurturing sense of duty that was coupled with the unbearable sadness that infected her chest. "Leta?" When her sister did not respond, that tear that had waited for so long behind her eye seized control. It sprang loose from its cage and traveled down her ivory cheek, disintegrating across her skin in the process.

Cassandra reached over to hold Lia's hand, but she was too engrossed in the way her sister had reacted to even register it. Her thin palm was nearly lifeless in her pale grasp, and the brunette could only stand beside her as this situation played out.

Lia tried again. "I am so sorry."

Leta slowly looked up at her with her own teary eyes.

Cassandra gulped as she shook Lia's hand. "Come," the brunette spoke softly. "Let's sit down."

Lia nodded and the two carefully took their seats across from Leta. Milo brought his hand up to his beard, rubbing it as he eyed the fawns. This was a conversation that he knew had to happen, but also a consequence of everything that he tried to prevent. He wished that something could have been done to avoid this, but as he watched Lia straighten out her back and cough, he realized that this was the growth and healing that he himself had always been so afraid of.

Sometimes the hardest things in life had to be confronted. It made those who have endured them even stronger, and Lia was a strong woman.

Lia ran her fingers across her braided crown of hair before she dropped her arm back down onto her lap. Cassandra continued to hold her hand from underneath the table, hoping that it would serve to help in whichever way it could. Leta briefly glanced at the amber eyes of her former friend, only to turn away as she remembered how many people have stared into them as they begged for mercy.

"I told Milo to bring you here because I couldn't do it myself," Lia explained to her sister. "I wanted to go to you first, but…" She paused as she needed to breathe. Cassandra interlocked her fingers with hers, and the fawn bit her lip as she tried to focus. "I got scared. I just want to tell you how sorry I am."

Another set of tears quietly released down Leta's soft cheeks. Her skin was beginning to turn pink, but she fought the wails that wanted to burst from her throat. Her eyes fell back to the table as the corners of her shook into a frown. This was a lot for the girl to go through, and everyone at the table could see it. Lia almost wanted to call the whole thing off, as she could not bear to see her sister like this.

Leta opened her mouth a little as the tears drained out. Two drops traveled down the edges of her lips until they broke off and seeped into the wood. She kept her hands on the table; her fingers bent short of a fist. She was more anxious than she was angry.

Lia continued speaking, as she found no other way for this to progress. It was going to be difficult – perhaps the most difficult thing that she had ever done – but, it was necessary. "I know you're scared. You saw some very, very terrible things – from both of us. I can speak for myself when I tell you that what I did to Cassandra was wrong. I was angry and I let my anger take control. I should never have done that."

Leta finally spoke, "You were hitting her. You were screaming."

Another tear fell from Lia's eye. "I did, and I regret it." She held Cassandra's hand tighter as she cleared her throat and wiped her soddened eyelids. "I take no pride in it. I hate myself for it, but that is not who I am."

Leta's eyes glanced at Cassandra, particularly at the now-exposed scar on her head, but the fear the brunette created caused her to turn back to Lia. The child's emotions swirled inside her brain like a typhoon. She tried to balance every kind of feeling that those moments had created, but it was hard to stick to one outlook.

She settled on addressing the way she had always felt, even before today. "You're always like that, Lia…"

The older fawn's mouth pressed shut as her head rattled. She was trying to hold it all in. "I'm…sorry…"

Seeing her big sister cry only made Leta want to cry more. By now, her pink face had turned a shade of red as the blood inside her flowed faster. Every breath carried a sniffle as she drew in air, only to shake it out not long after. "Why are you like that?"

Lia's mouth slowly opened, shuddering as her chest rose and fell. Tears silently poured out from her as she found herself unable to even look at Leta. "Because…I never talked to anyone. I let my problems grow. I never meant to take it out on you, I swear. I wanted you to be well-prepared for this life, but when I started raising you, I was just a kid myself. I never got to be a real fawn."

Milo covered his mouth as he closed his eyes, seeing the sting of his past still fresh even after all these years. He knew he had damaged these girls' lives. He hoped that time had repaired some of the scars. After his earlier conversation with Lia and what he was seeing right now – he couldn't have been more wrong.

"When our mother died, it was just me…left to do a community's amount of work." Lia let go of Cassandra's hand and nervously set hers on the table. "It was too much for me, but I still kept going. I lost focus on what truly mattered: us. You were right when you said that you wanted a friend and not a big sister. I didn't blame you for what I have gone through, but I never thought about what you were going through. I was too afraid that something would happen to you if I let you out on your own. I never considered how much of your childhood I was costing you, because I was too wrapped up in what I have lost."

Leta's face pressed as she shook her head and stood up from the table. "I don't believe you because that is how you always are You make it so personal!" She was starting to become frustrated as she let her negative emotions take hold. The girl would not fully embrace her anger, as the sadness that accompanied it continued to make its presence known. Every sentence ended in a low wail as she confronted Lia. "You're always telling me how I need to do better, and that I keep messing up. You've called me a brat. You've screamed at me."

Lia crumpled as she admitted to her transgressions, "I'm sorry…"

"When are you going to start hitting me?" Leta asked. That was the statement that finally broke her sister.

Lia began to sob into her hands as she delved deeper into her heart. "I'm a selfish person, Leta, and you're all I have left in this world. I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you. I think about it and…I just get so scared. But, I would never hurt you!"

The child took a deep but fast breath as she restrained herself from crying more. She was still angry, but her limit had already been reached. "I don't want a sister who will hurt me," she said, eyeing both Lia and Cassandra. "But, all you two do is hurt others." There was a crack in her voice as she spoke. It wasn't the kind of fury spat from someone who sought vengeance. No. It was the crippled soul of a child who had lost faith in those she looked up to the most.

Leta turned to Milo, only to see the man's face just as red as hers. The sight of the sole father figure in her life breaking down was too much for her, on top of everything else. As more tears began to fall from her eyes, her mouth curled into a sharp frown, her voice mirroring how distraught she was. "I don't want to be here anymore…"

She backed away, moving toward the exit.

Lia cried out as she watched her sister walk away from her. The fawn's arms curled around her sides as she leaned forward and wailed. In all her life, she had never been so broken before.

No…not like this…

"Leta, wait!" Cassandra's voice put a stop to the child's pace. The girl spun around and stared at her from across the room. It was not a shout of rage, but she needed to get her attention. "Can I please say something?"

The girl just stood there in awe as she looked back at her. Maybe it was fear. Cassandra couldn't be too certain. Whatever it was, Leta gave her full attention, not even glancing at the exit.

The brunette slowly rose from her chair, placing her hand atop Lia's left shoulder as the fawn continued to cry uncontrollably. "I have hurt others. I admit it. Everything you saw me do…I did." She took her hand off Lia and used it to wipe her own tear away. "I've killed. I've tortured. I'm not going to lie about it anymore."

The child's chest shuddered as she tried to remain as calm as possible. "I heard…your voice…when you were killing those women. You were happy."

Cassandra dipped her head and took a breath. This was it, she thought. This was the time to truly confess all of her atrocities. She had to break away from them, but in the process, something good had to come forth. She could only hope so, anyway.

"I did." She locked eyes with Leta. "In my world, I took pleasure in it. I've forgotten how many people I've killed. But, I've forgotten a lot of things in my life." The brunette steadied her nerves, channeling her life into her words. "When I came here, I was still that horrible woman. I didn't want to change. But, then you all took me in and for the first time in my life, I felt the love of complete strangers. It wasn't easy for me, but I began to see how wrong I was. Your sister attacked me because she had only known the dark side of me, but then she helped me find the truth."

"What do you mean?" Leta asked.

Cassandra's voice was calm, despite everything that she felt inside. She wanted to show Leta just how much she had overcome her past. "I was taken from my family, years and years ago, by people who I thought would protect me. I was wrong." Her finger touched the scar on her temple. "The monster you saw was what they made me into. It doesn't excuse what I've done because I made those decisions. It was easy to make them when it felt like the woman I used to be was dead. The woman I never knew had existed. You've seen the terrible person I was, but you've also seen that woman too. That's the woman who became your friend."

Leta cried as she turned away to run out. She felt lied to, as if Cassandra had been pretending to be someone else, omitting the grisly truth of her life. That Lia's teachings that had caused so much stress over the years were hollow as the fawn failed to abide by them herself. At the same time, she felt the weight of two broken lives that she held in the balance. It was all just too much, and she couldn't take it anymore. "Just stop!"

"I hit my sister!" Cassandra shouted at the top of her lungs. The entire room fell silent, and Leta suddenly stopped running. The brunette caught her breath as a couple more tears dripped away from her long lashes. "You remember what you said to me in the forest? You just wanted to be like me, right? That's what broke me because that's what she said to me after I beat her up, all because she broke some stupid trophy of mine that doesn't even matter to me anymore. I killed people, but I never felt regret until I hit her because she was one of the few people that I ever loved."

Her voice groveled as she re-envisioned that horrible night in the library, seeing Daniela's tearful eyes locked onto her with a sense of betrayal that she had never known until then. "She's dead now, and I never told her I was sorry. Sorry doesn't take it away, I know, because I'll always hold my actions against myself, just like Lia can't forgive herself for what she did to me. I can promise that she would never hurt you because she was a better sister than I was. She still took the time to teach you things. I gave my siblings nothing. She wanted to be with you. I wanted to leave my family. But, like me, she is hurting and she needs her sister – who is here right now"

Leta had turned back around. The expression of sheer shock that was on her face would not dissipate as she stared into the sincere eyes of the woman whose life she had changed.

Cassandra's lip quivered and her nostril curled as she repressed the full display of sorrow that wanted to be shown. "I may never get to see my sisters again. You and I may never talk again while I'm still here. I won't force it. But, when I leave, I at least want you to know that you are the one who saved me. I'll always remember you and our friendship. You don't have to forgive me for what I've done, but please, don't give up on Lia. She loves you." Her hand covered her mouth and nose as she began to cry, taking Lia's hand as she slowly fell back into her chair.

Milo turned around to glance at Leta, his brows furrowed with an upward pull. His frown was still able to be seen past his white beard, and though he did not say any words, the way he stared at her was enough.

He wanted her to believe how sorry everyone was. He clung to his last hope that they stood a chance at a better future together, and it was her who would be the foundation of it all. At the same time, he knew that she had to be true to herself. This wasn't Castle Dimitrescu, where love was forced into the mind. Here – it had to come from the heart.

Leta watched as the two women cried together and said not a single word as she came running toward them.

The girl rushed into her older sister's arms, who openly embraced her. Lia cried tremendously as she held Leta as tightly as she could. She gripped the edges of the child's gown, not wanting to let her go. "I love you, Leta…please forgive me!"

The two fawns shared their tears as the youngest accepted everything she had heard. "I love you too!" Leta cried as she buried her face into Lia's shoulder. "I don't want to lose you."

"You won't lose me, Leta." Lia kissed her head repeatedly. "I will always be here with you, I promise."

Cassandra watched as the two sisters made their amends, sealing the bond that had always existed. Her heart felt as heavy as a stone as she viewed firsthand the love that could be shared between them. If she couldn't save her sisters, at least she could save these ones.

Milo got up from the table, wiping the tears from his face as he did so. He could only stare at the two as they held one another. This was it, he thought. This was what his daughter had always sought: a better future.

After all the violence that came before – there had to be something good.

There had to be something after.

They could not live in loss forever. That was something that he himself had forgotten so long ago. For these two fawns, he wanted to give them the best life that he could, but he knew that he had fallen short of that. It was always out of his hands. Such a situation was born from the tragedy of his past. Now, there was a light that could shine away the darkness.

His daughter had always believed in such a thing, even if it took time. It was a moment that she would never get to see for herself, but he was there to see it for her. The ability of the fawns to forgive and see the better in others had never died.

There was still hope for a brighter tomorrow.

There was a brighter tomorrow.

Lia opened her teary, pink eyes and gave the man a soft smile. "Milo…you too."

Though he was nearly three times Lia's age, the man found himself just as emotional as her ten-year-old sister. He walked over and wrapped his arms around the older fawn, who did the same to him. To see the woman whose life he had destroyed forgiving him in full took the strength from his legs. He fell onto a knee, pressing his forehead against her shoulder as he cried away.

She finally accepted for the person he tried to be – not for what his choices had caused.

She never had a father until she met him. No fawn ever did. She never needed one, but now, she wanted one. There had to be someone who cared. A guide in this world who had seen its ways. He had cost Lia almost everything that she ever had, but he spent his life fighting to make up for it. She knew he loved her and Leta as he loved his daughter, Julianna.

Cassandra could see it in the way he held them. This wasn't like Alcina. He would give everything that he had for them, and he understood the mistakes he had made – whatever they were. He had his own demons, but he continued to provide and nurture these girls. He did not have to brainwash them into believing in a false life, which would have spared him the pain of denial. He fought all these years to earn their love.

Lia and Leta were his daughters – nothing less.

As Cassandra looked on, she thought about how these were once people who she held no regard for. Nothing more than pests or obstacles to her goals as she sought to return home and take more lives. In only the span of a few days, they had become something greater than she could have ever imagined. She had seen all their emotions. The way they smiled and laughed. How they cried.

Most of all, she saw their love – and felt it at the same time.

However long her time in Locwitary was to be, she wanted them to thrive. They had already been through so much.

The brunette could only guess how many of the women she slaughtered had siblings and parents. How many families would never get to see their loved ones again all because of her selfish lust for carnage and violence? How many Letas and Lias did she torture to death? How many Milos were robbed of their daughters? She'd never know.

That was something she would have to undo whenever she returned home. All she knew was that the Cassandra who she used to be was dead. She died in the cold snow with a dagger straight through her heart.

The Cassandra standing here now was a new woman who sought only good. Most of all, she hoped that one day, she could be part of –

Leta reached out her hand and beckoned the brunette over. "You too, Cassandra. I don't want to lose you, either."

Cassandra thought she had cried out all her tears since she returned from the encounter with Alcina. But, that was not true. The woman was a crying mess as she immediately joined the trio and hugged them. It was one of those surprise turnarounds that shook the heart for everything that it was worth. Nothing could ever prepare one for it, and it was the best feeling that there was.

The genuine rush of joy and happiness was not brought from death – but from life.

"Thank you, Leta!" She sobbed as she held her arm around the girl's back. "Thank you!"

Neither of them would let go of the other. They were all locked as one.

That was when Cassandra realized that her hopes had come true. She was part of something that she never thought would be possible ever again.

A family.

NOTES:

A little bit of a shorter chapter but I feel there was no need to bloat it. This is where the healing begins. This was kind of a tipping point, as we saw the chance that Leta could have chosen to separate herself from Lia, but with Cassandra's help, a broken sisterhood was avoided.

Now, everyone is ready to come together and move ahead.

Where do we go from here? Well, the next chapter will finally reveal the science around Cassandra's predicament. Why doesn't she have her powers? How did the dagger take her and Alcina here? More importantly, what are the rules of these realms? Lia and Milo will answer those as we inch closer to discovering how to bring Cassandra home. Fragmented Fears readers, take note 😉

We're only a couple more chapters away from some seriously big events. There are a lot of unanswered questions and loose ends that have not been forgotten.

The next chapter will be out on May 14th.

Also, if this released on a Sunday for you, my apologies. I meant to get it out sooner, but at the most, my times are based on EST of the U.S. I usually upload at the start of the day for my readers on the opposite side of the ocean.

So, after two consecutive weekends of back-to-back chapter releases, I'm going to slow the pace just a bit. Still aiming for a schedule of a Flies releasing one week, then Fears the next, rinse and repeat. When this story concludes, expect me to be pumping out chapters of Fragmented Fears, and then the third installment (Daniela) will commence! Can't wait!

Thanks for being the best readers that I could have ever asked for! You guys are amazing through and through! I hope you all are enjoying your weekend and I wish you the best! Can't wait to talk to yall and hope you stay safe in the meanwhile! Take care! 😊