Two adults and one twelve-year-old girl sat around the table in their hotel room.
Cinder looked bewildered. "We can't all stay in Argus? I like it here," her hands were splayed out on the tabletop in front of her. She wasn't so much pushing back as trying to understand. "I've made friends at Uncle Pete's Emporium. There's Terra and Argent and Laurel and Sarah. And the online tournament is coming up and-"
Garek raised his hands. "Whoa, easy there. We're not leaving tomorrow. You can still do the tournament." Well, at least she was starting to express her opinions, Garek mused. And her training was continuing to improve daily. "We can stay here several more weeks at least. And we might even be able to make this our semi-permanent home, but Selene and I have a lot of work to do, and that means we have to travel. That takes time to get to and from, not to mention time once we get there. We could be gone weeks or months at a time."
"But," Selene added, "Cinder, you are the one that has the right to choose what you wish. To stay here when we travel, or to go with us. It is your choice, not ours."
"That's right," Garek continued evenly. "You can stay in Argus if that's what you want. You can stay with Sophia when we aren't here," he was still coming to terms with GNU's real name, "and Pete and BA will help out. And you can even go to Sanctum here in Argus once we get your ID sorted out, an actual combat school. And you could still hang out at the Emporium with Terra after school and on the weekends that way. And Rhodes says he'll come visit as often as he can."
"But yes, Garek and I may be absent for significant amounts of time." Selene added, trying to ensure Cinder had all the information to make an educated choice.
Cinder's eyes were flicking between the two adults, her mouth a thin line.
"Or you can come with us. We'll be traveling a lot, Cinder. Sometimes we'd be camping in the wilderness for days on end just the three of us. Selene would work with you to keep your studies up. I would keep training you and prepare you for Huntsman Academy myself. But it's going to be rough, chaotic. You'd have to leave most of your books and clothes here in storage. There will be times Selene and I will have to meet with people, and you'll have to stay by yourself and occupy yourself reading, for example. And it might be dangerous. Bandits, criminals."
To Cinder, this suddenly sounded like the bad old days when she was suffering alone, waiting for Rhodes to come and offer a little hope. It wasn't fair, and that wasn't really true, but just the memory hurt. "But… Rhodes said you would take care of me, and I should listen to you. You can't just leave me!"
"Cinder, we are not going to leave you. This is your choice. And we are taking care of you, whether you go with us, or you stay with people we trust here in Argus."
"This isn't… it's not a good choice! I don't want either of those! I want us to all stay in Argus!"
Selene looked at Garek, and he sighed. He hadn't considered what staying here, where she first had freedom and normalcy and had started making friends at Pete's… what all that would do. She'd put down roots fast. And those roots included them, too.
"I apologize, Cinder." Selene searched for the right words. "We… we ourselves are not free to make the choice you wish us to make. Garek and I cannot stay in Argus and cease traveling."
Cinder was shaking. She stood up, staring at them both. "NOT FAIR!" She yelled, and then looked terrified at the fact that she'd screamed at them, and clapped one hand over her mouth and the other across her throat, and bolted for her room, slamming the door behind her.
"Well… that went well," Garek said sourly.
"She does not need to decide now. We both know the value of time to reflect, Garek."
It was over two hours before Cinder's door cracked open. Garek had left the room to meet with the Lone Huntsmen, and Selene had stayed behind specifically to wait for this moment.
"Miss Selene?" The young girl peered hesitantly through the opening. Her eyes were red rimmed, though her face was dry.
"Hello Cinder. Are you well?"
"I'm sorry." She breathed. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"You were upset. We understand."
"You're not going to punish me?"
"For being upset and yelling? No, you have apologized. That is sufficient."
The door opened the rest of the way, and Cinder crept out, looking like she had been beaten. Selene patted the couch beside her, and the tween warily sat down there. "Madame would have…" Cinder said quietly. "She would have told me I was being nasty and ungrateful. And she would have hurt me."
Selene tried to keep her voice from reflecting how angry that made her. "Cinder, Madame was a cruel person who did not love you. You should not use her actions as a measure of our expectations, nor our behavior."
Cinder thought about that for a good while, fingers toying with the hem of her shirt. Her brows furrowed. "Does that mean… that you and Mr. Garek love me?"
"Of course we-" Selene blinked, and swallowed. When had this happened? She considered her feelings on the matter. She had before felt… outraged and furious on Cinder's behalf. Then fond of the girl. But asked the question… "Yes. The answer is yes. You are… as family to us now. I know that Garek would agree." Selene felt her eyes stinging, and looked at the young girl beside her to find golden-yellow eyes blinking back at her.
"I've never had a family before…" Cinder looked down at her lap, then back up. "Do you want me to stay here in Argus? I'll do what you tell me to do."
"Oh, Cinder," Selene felt her eyes overfill, and she wrapped an arm around the young girl's shoulders. "I want to take you with me everywhere, but I feel the best thing for you would be to stay here betimes. It is a difficult choice. My heart or my head." Selene sniffled slightly. "But Garek and I agree that you deserve to choose your happiness, Cinder. No one has let you do this before. We want to do this for you. To give you your choice. But you do not have to decide today, nor tomorrow. Nor even for a few more weeks. We will go to Mistral together soon, and then return here. We wish you to have time to think on this."
"My choice…" Cinder said in a small voice.
"Yours."
"Because you love me," she searched Selene's face.
"Yes."
Cinder was trying to build a new understanding of the world at that moment. About people, and families, in a way she'd never before experienced. She felt dozens of puzzle pieces shift and slot into place, after weeks of coming to terms with the fact that Garek and Selene didn't generally demand things of her. That she wasn't expected to serve them. That she wasn't punished for things if they were accidents or temporary mistakes, and never with pain. That they explained things to her, and asked her what she wanted.
She leaned into Selene and closed her eyes, feeling her cheeks become wet. "I'll think about it."
"Good girl."
Selene received her mother's latest letter the next day, and it struck a chord with her recent conversation with Cinder. About choices and love.
"Garek, I have a… proposal, and I wish to discuss it with you." Cinder was in her room, reading with the door closed.
"This sounds serious."
"It is. You have seen that I have been writing Mother, every week or two, and have sent these letters when I can. I have received letters in return, though slowly as well.
"Mhm."
"I… it is clear that she misses me. The letters help, but the tone of hers becomes more… sorrowful? I fear she is becoming fragile. Come, let me show you." She pulled out the most recent letter, and let Garek read over it.
Garek considered the words he had read. The Queen of the Grimm… no, that's not right. Salem, mother of Selene, misses her daughter, who had before been a daily fixture in her life for 25 years, and was now absent.
Of course, she does.
"You want to see her."
"Yes, and I would propose to take her one of our secure scrolls."
Garek felt his entire body reject the idea. "Is that a good idea? Salem-"
"She would not show it to the Queen, nor to Watts. This is a family matter," Selene interrupted.
Garek forced himself to unclench. "Right. That's… right." Selene would give it to her mother, and would ask her not to share it with... her other aspect. His brain hurt just trying to understand how this was working. But it seemed to be. "Will one of our scrolls even work there? There's no CCT link."
"I assume it will not, but it is a short trip from there to the vicinity of Vacuo, where a signal could be found. It would… give her the option, even if it were not completely convenient."
This felt dangerous. Garek trusted GNU's engineering, that it could not be used to track them. But if Watts learned of it… Selene's mother wouldn't give it to him, but… "Would Watts snoop on your mother?"
Selene found the concept repellent and impossible. "He would not dare. The Queen would not be pleased, were he to do so. It would likely cost him his life."
Garek sighed. "All right. Make arrangements to meet her somewhere safe, and return as quickly as you can. We'll wait in Argus until you get back."
Selene sent word to her mother that evening by nevermore chick. "I have told her to meet me at our Quiet Place. It is safe, and she knows of it. I will wait for confirmation."
They continued their normal routine of training, planning, and entertainment. Helena stopped by and let them know her leave had run out, and she was returning to Atlas to get back to her team. Garek took a few local Huntsman contracts to cover their living expenses, and both Selene and Cinder accompanied him on some of the safer ones.
It was the fourth day that Selene received a confirmation letter.
"Cinder, I'm going to see Selene off. You want to wait here, or at the Emporium?"
"Why can't I go with you?"
Well, that's a very good question. For which I have no ready answer. "Because I have a special transportation, and they have not been introduced to you, and would not come to me if you are there," Selene said.
Cinder frowned. That seems… strange. She thought about what that might mean. "You mean like a unicorn? No… that wouldn't work. It would come to me but not you," Cinder mused.
Selene's face warmed slightly as she realized what Cinder was implying, though it shouldn't have embarrassed her. Garek chuckled, and he would pay for that later, Selene decided.
"No, definitely not a unicorn, Cinder." Garek laughed. "But something like that. And it's a secret that no one but Selene's family and I… and you… know about. So don't tell anyone."
"Okay." Cinder thought about it. "I'll hang out at the Emporium, if that's okay. How long until you come get me?"
Garek thought. "Shouldn't take more than about three hours. And Selene will be back in four or five days. Right love?"
"That is correct."
Cinder looked at Selene carefully, and then walked up and hugged her. "Be careful. Come back soon." The woman blinked at Garek, then smiled and hugged Cinder back.
They dropped Cinder off at the Emporium around dusk. Pete was at the counter and waved. Then they drove through Argus, out the main gate, to Springhill. There they parked, and hiked back out to the clearing they had first arrived at almost two months before. Blackfeather was waiting among the trees, Selene having sent a chick as messenger. He gave Selene a baleful look and made an accusatory sound.
"Yes, I do apologize. I have been gone some time."
*WRBLE*
"Yes, you shall be able to stretch your wings. No, we will not be eviscerating anyone," she considered. "Unless we stop by Atlas first… there is someone…"
"Selene…" Garek warned.
"I can have my small fantasies, Garek. And Blackfeather is learning to understand my humor."
Garek sighed and shook his head, stepped forward for an embrace. "Hurry back," he murmured. "Be safe, like Cinder said."
"I will, love."
"And about that… I see what's happening. We've got a kid, don't we? Despite being careful and skipping the whole pregnancy thing."
"It appears we do, unless you object."
"No… it's… she's already ours. We're already a family, aren't we…"
Selene squeezed him more tightly. "Yes. And I am happy for it."
"Me too. Me too." He was surprised but not at the revelation. He pulled back and slapped her on the butt as she turned. "Go on, get out of here before we get all weepy. And leave messages whenever you are in range of a relay. Don't make me steal a bullhead and come find you."
"Cad. Varlet. I will punish you for that when I return, as well as for the Unicorn comment." She arched an eyebrow.
And she was off.
[A/N] Thanks to recent reviewer AtomicR4y! Let the mind bending and espionage continue! *throws empty mug against fireplace* Another!
A shorter chapter, and for good reasons. First we have Cinder faced with her first real difficult choice as a free person, and one that pulls at her in fundamental ways. And in the process, Selene, Cinder and later Garek come to the realization that they are now family.
And this leads to a revelation by Selene, that her mother is having issues with her absence, and they make a decision that may or may not come back to bite them.
Also, no. Selene most definitely can NOT ride a unicorn.