xp_logs | Living Pele: Growing Up (Reply)

While Hawaii settles, Alex goes to face a miserable Vida...and as proof of how he has changed from this, he forgives her.

He stood there for a long while, just staring at the door. Alex had told Shiro and Jared that he had gone out to get more boxes for packing, knowing neither would let him even come near this place. But...this was something Alex had to do. He had to face her...and in fact face his fears. Wasn't that the only way to overcome them?

Finally, taking a deep breath...Alex knocked on the Rocca's door.

Weak, she was so weak. And cold, for someone who'd never been cold in her entire life this was a new experience. Her mother had left her in the hide-a-bed in their living room, swaddled in a quilt while she dealt with the authorities. Normally she would have protested, but she was so damn weak.

She barely registered the knock, she was having trouble keeping her head upright. But it might be one of her mother's people. "Come in, it's unlocked," she managed to croak.

Barely hearing her, Alex almost knocked again. Taking another deep breath, he opened the door. He hadn't really know what to expect...but Vida looking so vulnerable had not been it at all. Reminding himself of who she was, he kept the neutral expression on his face, but he couldn't hide the emotion in his eyes. "Hello Vida." He said softly, but again neutral as he walked further into the room.

"Alex?" her voice was only slightly slurred. "Is that? What're you doing here?" She shifted further into her cocoon of blankets. If he wanted to, he could fry her right there and then and she wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it. But she was so miserable she half wanted him to do it.

But then, if she knew anything about him, she knew he would do no such thing. Alex came further in and knelt beside the bed. "How're you doing?" It was odd, and a testament to how he changed, that he didn't really feel guilty for being the one who had made her like this. Still, a note of concern came out in his voice.

That got a weary bark of laughter. "How do you think I'm doing?" she slurred. "What do you want, Alex? To rub it in? You've won, the haole have the Island, my mother's probably going to go to jail, and I'm so...so.. cold." She shivered and drew the quilt closer.

In response, Alex just smiled, genuinely. "No...I don't want to rub it in. I came here to forgive you."

"Don't...you don't. Please don't." She had done the unforgivable to him, she understood that. And it just made her failure even more painful.

"I can't not. Vida...this isn't the first time this has happened to me. I have been used for my mutation and who I care about so many times..." Alex paused to shake his head. "Anyway, I have never been able to face the people who did that to me before. I was so filled with disgust at myself and them, that I couldn't. But this time...this time, you gave me something. And you took something. You gave me a chance to prove to myself that I don't deserve this, that I deserve better. And you took that last bit of innocence away, that was keeping me from seeing that. So in return...I forgive you Vida."

Vida curled in on herself, further into her quilt. "Please go, Alex. Just go. We won't bother you again."

Oddly enough, he was still smiling and lent over to gently kiss the top of her head that could still be seen. "Goodbye Vida." Then he stood and left, not looking back.

Vida shivered uncontrollably for a minute, and then got herself under control. She had to stay strong, the future rested with her. She had to carry on the bloodline, Pele was gone for this generation. It would be up to her own daughter to see it through.