I cannot thank you all enough for the reviews on that last chapter. I was really skeptical on the approach I took for the big "father reveal and meet" chapter, but I'm glad all of you like it.

Cinder's arc is not over yet! It has only been now eight out of ten chapters. We still have to get these kids back to Commonwealth.

Sifting Through Cinder: Part Eight

Artemisia, Luna

Cinder wakes up and she immediately feels stiff. She rolls her shoulders back, feeling those, her neck, and spine crack. More satisfying than it sounds. Cinder sits up, squinting her eyes and raising a hand to cover her eyes from the morning sun. She looks down and sees that she's been sleeping on gravel in the same clothes she wore to the car show. Confused, Cinder looks head and sees that she's outside and has a view of building tops. She's on a roof in downtown Artemisia. Okay.

Cinder looks beside her and notices that Cress's head is using her thigh as a pillow. Her eyes are closed and she looks so peaceful. Even Wolf is asleep about an arm's length away from them.

Cinder pulls her phone out of her pocket and looks at the time. It's the middle of the morning and she needs to charge her phone but Cinder scrolls through her photos and messages to try and see how she and the others got up here. It's like Thorne's party all over again but she remembers the part where she met her biological father. Cinder couldn't help but imagine how the conversation would've gone if he knew or if she didn't see his wife and kids. Although she can't lie that he did make sweet cars that gave her, Cress, and Wolf a lot of good photos.

That's when she remembers. After they left the car show, Cinder wanted to show them how Artemisia looked at night. Sure, they could see all the lights from the sidewalks and streets but there was something different about seeing the city from the stars and watching everyone below. They could look at the tops of people's heads, following them from where they're going clubbing or walking home from work or having a date night. So they came to the roof of their hotel which was in the centre of the city and they spent the night just looking around. Then they started talking into the night while catching up with missed called and messages from their friends back home, mentioning Cinder's dad and the point of this trip for her.

Cinder thought that there was no point of coming but, maybe, that was the point. Just like seeing Artemisia from a higher point of view, looking right into her father's eyes and hearing him talk was just the bit more she needed to be content than looking at a photo and reading some bullet points of important information. It felt comforting that they spoke about cars, the one thing they seem to have in common, and that he cared and showed concern that she seemed lost. It was awkward but warm at the same time.

To think that was her night and now she woke up on a roof.

"Good morning!" Cinder exclaims, ignoring Cress's and Wolf's groans to the sound of her voice.

-o-

Winter Hayle-Stepcousin: Tell me how it went.

"It was nice," Cinder responds. She watches as her cousin narrows her eyes through the screen, wanting more than just three words. "It's a story that'll be told better in person."

Winter is Cinder's real sister. Step-cousin be damned to the stars! The lack of blood meant nothing. They grew up together. They could've been told they were real sisters since they've known each other since they were babies. Winter is more Cinder's sister than any of her half-siblings.

Cinder looks up as her hotel room's door opens, watching Jacin and Wolf walk in. Cress was outside on the balcony calling her dad as Cinder phoned Winter in their room. Where the two boys were? She couldn't care less.

Winter Hayle-Stepcousin: Is that Jacin?

"Is that Winter?" Jacin asks, pointing at the phone.

Before Cinder could say yes, Jacin stands behind her and looks, putting his entire face on the camera's view. Winter squeals excitedly as Jacin takes the phone and Winter starts blowing kisses at him. Cinder makes a mental note to burn her phone after that call. Jacin ends up on the phone for ten minutes before ending the call for her.

"Can I help you?" Cinder asks as she takes her phone back.

"I figured I'd save you from Winter's doting," Jacin says, sitting on the corner of the bed. "Wolf told me that you cried at your mother's exhibit."

"Wolf!" Cinder yells. She looks over at her friend who doesn't even look up from his phone.

"Oh…" Jacin says with a small laugh. "That was true? I thought he was pulling my spades."

"Shut your spades."

"Don't worry. I only wish I was there. I could've witnessed it."

"It was the show of a lifetime. No other viewings."

"I'm just saying that if I was there, maybe you wouldn't have cried since you would never do that in front of me."

Cinder grins a little. "Now I feel bad."

"For what?"

"You know that flannel you and Winter alternate and wear?"

Jacin's face grows with concern. "What about it?"

Cinder walks over to her suitcase and opens it. When she pulls it out, she sheepishly holds it out. Jacin takes it and fans it out. There are no tears or holes but when he holds it up to his face, that's when he notices.

"It smells like you!" Jacin exclaims, throwing it at her head. "You contaminated it!"

"You can think of me now!" Cinder throws it back at him.

Jacin throws it on the bed for now. "I also need help with a college application essay."

"If the college is on the other side of a different planet, then I will pay for everything." Cinder looks at Cress coming inside. "Or ask Cress for help since she's the smartest."

Cress perks up a little. "What's the topic?"

Jacin grins, looking at Cress before Cinder again. Wolf looks up interested.

"Well," Jacin starts, "because the topics were released in around the anniversary of your mom's death, the topic is: Many scholars argue that Selene Blackburn is more important in Luna's history than she's given credit for. To what extent was Selene Blackburn the primary factor in the downfall of President Blackburn's regime?"

Cinder stares at him blankly. She knows that Jacin would make that up but he wouldn't since he just learned that Cinder cried at her mother's memorial. Cress looks away and Wolf holds back a laugh. Cinder looks at Jacin's phone when he pulls up the application document and Cinder can't believe that it's an actual topic. When she curses, Wolf bursts out laughing.

"Selene Blackburn herself would be the best primary source ever," Jacin says. He isn't wrong.

"I can't tell if you're being serious," Cinder mutters.

"You could argue that Channary got sick after Cinder's - er, Selene's birth," Cress tells Jacin.

Jacin nods. "I could but correlation does not mean causation. The public reports and articles have reported that Channary's death had nothing to do Cinder's birth. She was a sexually active smoker."

Cinder cringes. "Watch your mouth. That's my mother you're talking about."

"What? Everyone in Luna and their dog knows that."

"But," Cress says, focusing on Jacin. She's very into this debate. "Channary was a single parent who refused nannies, putting all her attention towards Cinder. Balancing a newborn and a country would've stressed her out."

Jacin nods, writing all this down on a notepad and pen he found on the hotel room's desk. "And stress heightens the effect of any disease. This is amazing."

Cinder can't believe this is happening. "But, as the question asks, does that make me a revolutionary?"

"I'd say so," Wolf says. "It doesn't matter that it's not a causation thing. You know, a lot of people are actually grateful for Selene Blackburn because you got your mother out of office. You ended a battle in a regime you didn't know you were blood-deep in so I'd say that makes you a revolutionary. People glorified you even if you weren't the cause."

Cinder pauses, exhaling as she takes all that in. She listens to Jacin scribbling this down for his essay. Wow. She really is a revolutionary if she took down her mother's regime just by being born. Cool.

"I'm so getting into university…" Jacin says, tearing his sheet. "Imagine, I get in with a Selene essay and Selene Blackburn might pay for it? Say, Cinder or Selene, could you give me a quote?"

Cinder scoffs. "I hate you."

"I hate you, said by the infamous and revolutionary Selene Blackburn." Jacin smiles at her. "That's one for the history books."