Chapter Six

Wheeler had brooded over their conversation long into the night and consequently slept late the following morning. He woke with a start despite the gentleness of the hand that shook him, "Wha…?!"

Despite her decision to start putting some distance between them, Linka couldn't help smiling at the rumpled appearance he presented, with his dopey expression and messed up hair. It was that look of warmth that greeted him on his first being able to focus his eyes and it dispelled the worries of the night before.

He grinned back, "Hey."

"Good morning." The Russian was helpless to do anything but respond to his mood, though she knew she was supposed to be more reserved. "If you are coming with us, you need to get up soon… or you can stay here with Gram and Nat if you prefer?"

Neither of them noticed that she'd adopted his nicknames for her relatives.

"Nah, I'm good." He sat up rubbing his hand through his hair making more of a mess with it. "Where are we going again?"

Linka's expression turned sad but the raw grief that had marked it before the funeral had been dulled. "We are going to Nina's house to… to start clearing it."

That brought the American to his senses and he apologised as he got out of the fold up bed they'd set up in Mishka's room for him.

"It has to be done." His friend said lightly, "You have nothing to be sorry for."

He stood beside her, wanting to take her in his arms but feeling the restraint of the previous evening return. "Look about last night…"

Linka reached up and pressed a finger to his lips. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

He took her hand away from his mouth but retained it in his own. "And you don't have to be anyone but yourself. You never did."

"I will try to remember that." She replied softly but not sounding convinced. Giving his hand a squeeze she pulled away. "Mishka wants us to leave within the hour, you will need to hurry if you want to help."

"I'll be there." Wheeler promised.

"Natalya, you know you cannot go with us." Linka told the young girl who was clutching at her waist, her voice soft and filled with love. "We are going to bring your things to you sweetheart."

Nat shook her head and tightened her grip making the Wind Planeteer look helplessly at her family.

Grandmuska came forward and placed her hands on the child's shoulders, trying gently to pull her away. "Come with me DorogAya moyA, we will have a nice comfortable day in front of the television and I will find you a treat for later."

The young girl gave her such a speaking glance of disapprobation that Wheeler was hard pressed not to laugh, "I think she's pretty determined to come with us Babe."

Natalya nodded in agreement and Linka gave him an identical look to the one her daughter had just given her grandmother. "Nat, we are coming back I promise." She pleaded with the girl and got only a stubborn glance in return. "You do not want to come with us sweetheart it… it is not going to be fun for any of us and it will be worse for you."

Two small blue eyes filled with tears but she began to let go, sensing that she was losing the argument. As Gram guided her away, still looking back over her shoulder, beseeching her cousin to change her mind, Wheeler moved up close beside Linka and spoke quietly to her.

"Babe it's her home." He swallowed, "I know why we shouldn't take her but to never let her see it again… I dunno, it doesn't seem right. Not when it's what she wants."

Linka tore her eyes away from the upset child, grief mirrored in her own, "And to let her see us take it apart, you think that is right?"

Wheeler shrugged, "I'm not pretending to know anything about kid psychology, I just don't want you to dismiss what she wants because you're trying to protect her. You can't protect her from everything."

"I do not know what to do." His companion admitted, half wanting him to make the decision for her. "Your instincts are better than mine…"

"No, don't do that." He lowered his voice even further and unconsciously leant towards her, "Don't doubt yourself. It's your decision, you know her better than I do, I shouldn't have interfered."

Linka gave him a watery smile, "You do because you care, I know that, and because you feel the need to speak out for someone who does not have a voice. It is one of your more endearing qualities."

"Oh yeah," He replied hopefully, and switched into full flirt mode. "You wanna discuss my other endearing qualities?"

The Russian rolled her eyes, "And that is one of your least endearing."

She didn't realise until later that it was his little dose of normality that made her snap back into her normal confident self.

Blinking away the last of the moisture from her eyes, Linka took a deep breath and made her choice, "Ok Nat, you win, come on." Her daughter jumped up immediately and rushed to embrace first her and then Wheeler.

Mishka exchanged an amused glance with his grandmother and went out to his truck, hoping they could finally get moving.

The house was cold and empty and though it hadn't really been that long it had the feeling of being abandoned.

"Where do we start?" Wheeler asked in hushed accents, standing in the hall and peering into the rooms that had once made up a comfortable home, somehow reluctant to disturb anything.

Linka shrugged but said, "I think they kept all of their papers in the study… Mishka?"

Her brother nodded. He'd been named as the executor of their wills so the legal side of things fell to him. "I will start in there."

The Russian Planeteer nodded, and looked to Wheeler, "I will take the main bedroom if you are comfortable helping Nat pack up her toys and things?"

"Sure Babe," He looked down at the young girl. "You ok with that Angel?" Natalya reached for his hand and pulled, intending to show him where her room was. "Hold up, let me grab some boxes…"

At first it went smoothly as Wheeler and his charge emptied her cupboard of books and toys, packing them away carefully. She occasionally stopped to play with something, distracted first by a doll and then a puzzle she wanted to show him. The American played along, not rushing her but always bringing her back to the point.

When Nat suddenly got up and went to the door he followed her but after she signalled that she was going to the bathroom just along the hall, he went back to his task.

Linka wiped away her tears as she carefully folded Nina's clothes, packing them away to be taken to a charity shop. She'd come across several items that she remembered her cousin wearing and it had brought back memories, and a new sense of loss. There was a shelf in the wardrobe as well and the most prominent item on it was the panda that had been Nina's childhood friend. Linka picked it up and sat on the bed, hugging it to her as her grief once more threatened to overwhelm her.

The soft animal was suddenly ripped from her hands and she looked around to see Natalya looking fit to kill as she clutched it to her chest, looking around wildly at the disarray in her parent's bedroom and shaking her head.

"Sweetheart, you knew this had to be done," She said softly, reaching for the child only to have her pull away. "This is why I did not want you to come, I know it hurts, we do not want to do it, it is just how it has to be."

The young girl started crying and turned to run, only to crash into Wheeler's legs as he came to check on her. She yelped and scuttled back into the main bedroom, seeking refuge in a corner, crying and shaking as she curled up into a ball.

"This is your fault!" Linka too was crying, "I knew it was wrong to bring her here, I should never have listened to you!"

Wheeler paled as he watched his friend kneel down by her daughter, trying to comfort her and coax her into her arms. Her turned and left, feeling guilty and stupid for thinking he knew anything about raising a child.

He'd finished packing everything except clothes, and he was just wondering if he should do that too, when Linka came to Nat's door. "Er… there's um, bedding in the top box there. The rest is clothes, I don't think it'll all go in the suitcase but, er… shall I carry on or do you want to…"

"Yankee I…" She began, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry ok." He blurted out, "I was wrong, I shouldn't have stuck my nose in, it was totally the wrong call. Is she ok?"

Linka nodded giving him a slight smile, "She cried herself to sleep. Actually I was… I wanted to apologise for what I said."

Wheeler snorted and turned to look out of the window, "You don't owe me an apology for this."

Moving to stand at his side, Linka tentatively slipped her fingers between his and laid her head on his shoulder. "I do Jason, I am so afraid of getting this wrong… but you were right, it was what she needed, to grieve. What we both needed. No matter what we do it is not going to be easy on her, but the last thing I should be doing is taking it out on you, so I am sorry."

In her head she added a silent plea, Please don't leave us.

Leaving was in fact the last thing on his mind and the relief he felt that she wasn't going to shut him out made him expel the breath he'd been holding. Turning to gather her close, he told her it was alright, "We'll figure it out Babe, we'll help her through this you'll see."

Linka gave a rather watery laugh and hugged him back, "What would I do without you?"

It took them over a week to prepare the house to be sold, and despite Linka's continued assurances that it had helped her daughter, Nat was not allowed to accompany them again.

So much had to be sorted through that the task seemed quite daunting, and the boxes they had brought back to Grandmuska triggered fresh waves of tears and lots of stories about the past.

Nat remained silent, though she seemed to want to hear the tales of her parents and would smile at her family's remembrances. Linka wondered if it was because she was detached from those memories, that they didn't affect her as strongly, she hoped it was helping at least to know how much they were loved.

The young girl was beginning to take more interest in Hope Island as well and though she'd been adamant in refusing to visit any of her friends or school, she seemed pleased at the prospect of being able to write to them at some point in the future.

Wheeler didn't seem to tire of telling her stories or teasing her out of the sullens. He was always on the watch for her mood to darken, just as he was with Linka and it was becoming clear even to the Wind Planeteer that he worshipped her daughter as much as Nat had begun to adore him.

In some ways that worried Linka even as it warmed her heart. Would he really want to take on that responsibility permanently? Was he truly capable of that much commitment? And the thing that bothered her most, what did it mean for her? It was obvious that her family didn't share her concerns, even Tanya was encouraging him to consider himself a fixture.

It would be so easy to just give in to the daydream, Linka thought, to let him take care of us, but I cannot be that selfish anymore, it would be using his friendship to trap him in something he never asked for… and never really wanted. They both deserve better than that!

To be continued…