Revamped!

[This is the final chapter of Kai's arc. It has been a wonderful adventure and to be frank, it took me about a week to write.]

Kai-nd of a Legacy: Part Ten

Kai stands in front of the mirror in his parents' room. Or former room, he should say. He looks at his reflection and sees is himself in the tuxedo for his father's funeral. It was planned to be a few days after he died and in those few days, Kai has just been grieving as Torin dealt with all the legalities. Each day would pass and Kai wouldn't keep track since he didn't care.

This tuxedo was the nicest outfit he put on in days. He was wearing the same pajamas for the past few days. He stayed with Torin and his family ever since his dad died, coming home to grab anything he needed and now to get ready for the funeral.

Kai reaches for the jacket he placed on his parents' (former) bed and puts it on, almost completing the look. He still can't believe that this day has come and how much more mature a tuxedo can make anyone look. He looks like a man; he looks like his father.

Kai immediately looks away as he reaches for the tie he has to wear. He wraps it around his neck but freezes on how to tie. His hands shake as he remembers his mother kneeling in front of him as she ties it for him. Kai isn't sure why he was wearing a tie at that age but he remembers his mother putting it on for him. His mind reminds him of his father always tying the tie for him after she died and even teaching him how to do it. How did he still not pick it up? Still, he doesn't know how to do it and he never learned because he always wanted his dad to do it.

Kai jumps a little when he hears a car honking from outside. He knows that it's his ride to the funeral and since it's for his dad, he has to be there early. Kai quickly looks back in the mirror. He removes the tie from his neck, folds it, and puts it in his jacket's inside pocket. He'll figure it out later. He gives his hair one final tousle before heading out the door.

Even if everything in his life is falling apart, at least his hair looks great.

-o-

People from all parts of Commonwealth came together to attend the memorial service. Upper class, middle class, and low class congregated as one. The service was made public and Kai didn't object to that since he's aware of how much of an impact his father had on the city. That was what kept him in office for fifteen years: he catered to each and every need the best way he could.

As everyone finds their seats and prepares for the ceremony, many of them give Kai their condolences. There were so many that it makes him dizzy. He hasn't been directly looking at faces but past them since he found it hard to focus before his mind would wander. Kai thanks and appreciates everyone for coming as he walks across the room. He heads to the front where he sees Torin preparing to start and his friends sitting nearby.

Kai makes his way over and they stand to hug him one at a time. Out of everyone here today, they're the ones mean the most to him.

"Can one of you do this for me?" Kai asks, pulling out the tie from his pocket.

The girls look at the guys. Immediately, Thorne and Jacin shake their heads since they didn't even tie their ties and Wolf wasn't even wearing one. Winter stands again and flattens her skirt. She takes the tie and puts it on Kai just loose enough for him in case he has trouble breathing during the funeral due to the overwhelming emotions. She knows it might happen from her experience.

"You'll be fine," Winter says.

"What?" Kai questions.

"Oh, that was for me…" Winter mutters. "I don't particularly like funerals but you could say it was meant for you as well."

"Does anyone?" Scarlet asks rhetorically.

"I do," Thorne says. They stare at him weirdly. "I'm not some sadist. They always have some pretty good cake afterwards."

Everyone rolls their eyes at him except for, surprisingly, Jacin who agrees. Nobody saw that coming, especially Thorne who felt some respect for having Jacin on the same page as him with something. He'll remember this forever.

Once the funeral is about to start, Kai quickly gives Cinder a kiss before heading over to his seat which was right in the front and centre of the room. All eyes turn to Torin who stands in front of everyone. He looks at Kai and Kai nods before he starts.

"Today," Torin starts, "we acknowledge a man whom most of us have known as Mayor Rikan."

As Torin talks, Kai immediately zones out since his eyes land right on his dad's coffin which is on display right behind Torin. It's an open casket and Kai couldn't bear to look at his dad's body without crying. He instinctively remembers his mother's funeral where his dad was carrying him and they were looking down at his mother's body. They dressed her in red, scented her with tea tree oil, and gave her a small bouquet of forget-me-nots to place on her chest and wrap her limp fingers around. He remembers his dad not crying a lot at the funeral, tearing up during the burial, and having his episodes at home where he even took off time from work to grieve.

"Your mom's no longer in pain, Kai," his dad said as they stood over her coffin, "she's free and she's healed. She now soars up in the stars to watch over you."

Did Kai understand at the time that his mother was dead? Not exactly. He just knew that his mother was sick, not getting better despite her optimism, and never coming back from it. It didn't hit him until now that both of his parents were taken away by illness.

Kai looks up at the sky and there are no stars in it at the moment but it didn't matter because not only was his mother up there but so was his father. They may be buried under the earth together but they're up in the sky, and they're both watching him. They'd be reunited.

So, what was Kai going to do about that?

Kai stands and everyone turns to look at him. Torin shows a face of concern and that's when Kai realizes that Torin was probably in the middle of a sentence when he randomly stood up, but Kai doesn't care.

Kai clears his throat. "I want to say something."

Kai wasn't expected to give a eulogy. When Torin asked him while preparing the funeral, Kai said no since he didn't think he could write one let alone present it. Now, Torin is taken aback by this initiative. He steps aside and allows Kai to have the microphone to speak. Kai walks up and looks at the crowd, adjusting his tie before realizing that it was already comfortable. He didn't realize that these many people showed up for the remembrance of one man. And these are just the ones who showed up.

"I have no words that are strong or accurate enough to describe how wonderful of a man my father was," Kai starts, "but I have a few things to say. My mother's been gone for twelve years and that's longer than the time I've had with her. As time passes, that same feeling will eventually come with my dad but those memories from both my parents are something that nobody can take away from me."

From where they're sitting, Cinder takes Jacin's hand on impulse. Jacin jumps a little since he never remembered a time where Cinder ever held his hand, but he accepts it. In return, Jacin takes Winter's hand with his free one and Winter takes Levana's.

"People won't always remember what you did or what you said," Kai continues, starting to choke up a little on his words. "But they'll always remember how you made them feel. My dad was a man who would not only introduce himself to everyone in the room - even if you already knew him and he knew you - he would extend his hand out and give a handshake and a smile; all before asking how your day was. That's how someone learns about you. That's how you become approachable to people and make their day with your kindness."

Scarlet wipes her tears with the edge of her blazer's sleeve, trying her best to make it subtle but fails. Wolf pulls her close from one side and on Scarlet's other side, she sees Thorne offering her some tissues because he and Cress were crying as well. Scarlet takes one and passes it to Wolf before taking one for herself. She knew that he was trying his best not to start tearing up.

Kai starts crying as well. "I know that nobody lives forever, but he should've lived even a bit longer. My dad was the best dad I could've asked for and I'll miss him terribly. I won't be ignorant to think that I'd be the only one grieving since I'm not the only one here today. He was the heart of Commonwealth and losing him was like taking that out and the blood no longer knowing where to go. Coming from the both of us, Commonwealth has always been a nice and beautiful place to live and we would love to keep it that way."

-o-

After the funeral, people continued to give Kai their condolences, commenting on the beautiful eulogy he gave. After about an hour of that, he quickly grabs a water bottle as he finds his friends who were waiting for him at the side. When Kai approaches them, nobody has anything to say because anything they would've said was something Kai has already heard from other people. They have no idea how much he appreciates that from them.

"Now what?" Wolf asks.

"No more funeral talk," Kai says. "We have just been through that and I feel like I'm suffocating."

Cinder nods. "Winter and I have been talking. Now that the Selene revelation is out, we can tell you about Artemisia."

"Do you want to?" Scarlet asks, putting a hand on Cinder's shoulder. She looks at Winter as well and she's holding Jacin's hand.

Cinder shrugs. "I know that I can't think too much about the past because we're in the present, and there were hard times back there but I feel as if you need to know that this can happen to people because it did. There are certain things in this reality that we don't want to talk about because they don't directly interfere with the lives of others, but sometimes talking about it is the best option."

"What is there about Artemisia?" Kai asks.

Cinder, Winter, and Jacin look at one another. They know what happened back in Artemisia that led to the move to Commonwealth and it was a lot of events that eventually culminated into one. It was truly a mix of every emotion in the book.

"I can tell you what I know about my mother's presidency," Cinder says. "Then again, those details may not be as accurate."

"There's how Levana married my father and Cinder became my step-cousin," Winter suggests.

"How Winter and I started dating," Jacin adds.

"Wow," Cress says shocked, "that sounds nice."

"It gets worse," Winter mutters. "There's also how my father died, how my mind became scattered, and how I got my scars."

Suddenly, all their eyes turn to the three scars under Winter's right eye that point downwards like icicles which she emphasized with highlighter powder. Those scars have always been a question to the ones who don't know, but those markings ironically made her more beautiful so they never questioned it. If they stared, they were entranced and not horrified.

Thorne chokes on the delicious cake he got from the reception. "Those weren't from a cat?! Cinder, you lied to me when we first met! If this funeral cake wasn't so good and we were somewhere else, I'd be incredibly hurt."

Cinder shrugs as she takes a bite of Thorne's cake. Admittedly, it was some good cake. Thorne is now mad about the bite that was stolen from his cake rather than the cat lie.

Winter smirks. "I wish these scars came from claws…"

[The fact that today is Father's Day (not planned, just a possibly and horribly timed coincidence) makes this chapter 1000x sadder.

Well, now you know what the next arc will be about. We'll be going back in time to see the story of Artemisia! Just a heads up that because I'm leaving town and graduating, I won't be updating until early July but on the bright side, I have the next arc already fully written.]