Rikku made to get up but I held up my hand to stop her. “Give her… another 8 minutes, then go. She’s just like me, she needs time to deal with this before moving on. In around 7-8 minutes, then go. For now, I’ll continue. George looked at me in horror as I told him, and Georgina stared at me in disbelief. I explained to George about the evidence, the lack of source and my reasoning behind my answer. Georgina laughed a cruel, knowing laugh, and didn’t bother to deny it. She even started a monologue about her plans. She grabbed a gun from her pocket and shot the woman beside her, then turned the gun to me. George stood in horror as she pulled the trigger.”

“Unfortunately for her, she’d run out of bullets. I strode forward and grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back and pushing her forward. I expected George to stop me, but I guess the fact that she tried to shoot me had stopped him from doing so. With my free, left hand, I grabbed my phone and turned off the recording function, saying I had everything I needed. I dialled the police, and they were there within minutes, arresting her and taking her away, disposing of the body of the unidentified body. And then, we were alone.”

“I felt that there was a high chance anything I did to comfort George at the time would simply be thrown back. I therefore walked out of the room and found Dawson, the Devaux’ butler, and asked him to prepare the Jaguar to ride back here. After the preparations were complete, I found George in Georgina’s room and asked him to come. I only began to comfort him when we got back here. The same applies with Charlotte, just use a bit of Empathy and Tactfulness.” I nodded at Brother, “So that’s that. Rikku, you can go now.”

A few minutes after locking myself away, a knocking sounded from behind me. “Charlotte? Are you okay or whatever? It’s Rikku, can I, like, come in or something?” I said nothing, still not wanting to bother anyone. Rikku knocked a few more times, pausing again. “Huh? Oh, right, yeah,” she said to someone else, her voice slightly muffled. “Charlotte, it’s Brother. Eyarin! Ryulla, yin ga hadak.” He banged continuously on the door, but I still left him to it. I heaved myself off the floor and strode over to the window, opening the curtains. Outside, the sky was inky and foreboding. There was no sign of the moon.

It took a while for Rikku and Brother to give up and leave, but they did eventually go. I gave it a few minutes, then walked back over to the door and sat against it to block it again. That would at least stop anyone from using the master key again, and if anyone tried to simply knock the door down…well, I’d be hurting physically as well as emotionally.

I considered the last few days…It was impossible for me to know exactly how long it had been since…that day. But I had not slept since then, and I had only picked at the sandwich Steven had forced on me. And yet I felt no hungrier or sleepier than I would usually. I wondered mildly if I looked any different. That was another thing I had not done over the last few days; I had refused to check my reflection. The mirror from my room lay propped against the opposite wall from where I sat. I considered checking it, but I was scared that I would look no different…it may sound strange. But I wanted to know that the events that had changed me so completely inside had at least slightly affected me on the outside.

For want of something to do, I did actually pick up the mirror. My hands shook as I inspected the stranger looking back at me. Their face was paler than simply white, it had no colour at all; deep, bruise-like shadows hung under their eyes, which had dulled and lost their light; their hair was limp and lifeless. Their face was gaunt and bony…They looked like something undead – a zombie, perhaps, or a vampire. Except they were a lot less beautiful than a vampire. A shiver rocked through me as I realised that the stranger I was scrutinizing, that random person I was looking at, was me. I flipped the mirror as quickly as I could, standing it against the wall before I could drop it. As if I needed any more bad luck. Berating myself silently for bothering to check, I crouched against the door again, tensing myself so I couldn’t tremble anymore. I hoped I would simply be left alone for a while…nothing seemed to matter. I could barely even remember the events that had led up to me meeting Mitsu, let alone the reason I was here.

I sighed softly as Rikku and Brother walked back to us. I’d already laid George’s head on my lap, and was running my hand softly through his hair as tears silently trailed down his cheek. He wouldn’t let himself cry, but the tears escaping his eyes showed how deeply he was hurt by this. It saddened me to see him so distraught, but there was nothing I could do. I simply offered him this one comfort, and prayed that soon he would feel more inclined to love again.

“Rin,” I began, “What of our Father? Georgina aimed to kill Charlotte in order to force our father out of hiding, but she didn’t succeed. I think it’s time that we, ourselves, knew where he was.” Rin smiled softly and turned to Rikku, who nodded. “Okay then. We shall tell you. Do you remember your fake father, who was tried at the Al Bhed Court of Injustice by a Judge named ‘Franklin Dawes’?” I thought for a second. “You mean the same Franklin Dawes who wrote a book on Criminal Justice?” I recalled seeing it in the local library one rainy day. “Yes,” Rin began, “The very same. This man, Franklin Dawes, is your father.”

I slipped in and out of awareness, never sleeping yet not properly awake. My thoughts blurred into each other fuzzily, until things made even less sense than before. Wondering mildly what time it was, and what everyone else was doing, I stared up to check the window. As I stared out at the light, dawn sky, it occurred to me that the only form of entertainment was the window. It had replaced watching television, reading books, listening to music…I thought about Mitsu’s books and music, wondering if we had similar interests. There were so many things I had not asked about whilst he had been alive…and now…I couldn’t…

I smiled gently. Franklin Dawes, award-winning author and Judge extraordinaire, my father. I couldn’t have chosen someone I’d like more. As I mused over the thought, a slightly unhappier one arose in my mind. Charlotte would have to know, and I was NOT in the mood to talk to her at the moment. I pondered over how she should find out, and knew that if I never told her, she’d hate me more. So I decided to write her a note and slip it under her door, she’d be content with that. I gently lifted George’s head from my lap and stood up, kneeling beside him to stroke his hair, and kissed his cheek lightly before grabbing a pen and paper from a drawer in the kitchen.

“Charlotte, Rin told me who our real father is. Franklin Dawes. The Judge who tried our fake dad? That’s him. Am scheduling a meeting with him before Christmas, which only leaves tomorrow. If you want to come along, reply to this. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

I slid the paper under the door and followed it with the pen, only just managing to fit that under the wooden frame. I then sat before the locked door, waiting patiently. Before too long, I heard some scribbling from the room, and waited as the scribbling continued.

I noticed the scrap of paper slide under the door next to me, followed – after a little effort – by a pen. The writing was scruffy and fast; it was definitely Steven’s writing. I read it quickly before sighing deeply. Steven obviously didn’t want me to come and our father wouldn’t want to know me…Could I handle one more rejection? Scraping my hair back behind my ear, I scribbled down a response. ‘Sure, if you don’t mind. What time?’ I decided I needed the closure; I wouldn’t want to go on not knowing what my father would think if he met me. I didn’t need yet another regret. Biting my lip indecisively, I closed my eyes and shoved the paper and pen back under the door.

I took the paper and read it, processing it slowly as my mind reeled from the questions I’d ask my father. I nodded and turned to Rin, standing up and walking over, sitting by George again and stroking his cheek softly. “So, Rin, we’ll see Fran-I mean, Father, tomorrow, but what time?” Rin pulled a notebook from his pocket and flipped a few pages in, scanning each page as he went. “He has a court case at 11am, lasting two hours, then another at 5pm. We could schedule a meeting for between them?” I nodded, and Rin marked something down before pulling out his phone and speed-dialling a number.

I caught snippets of the conversation, but nothing truly registered in my mind. I was too focused on the gentle features of George, who lay sleeping silently at my side. I stared dully at him, taking in his wonderful, unique beauty but my mind was wandering. Julian… would have been here by now. Charlotte would have told me to open the box with the blue nail polish in it… his arms would be around me, holding me tight, that cute, sweet voice of his whispering softly in my ear… How I missed it. What was George to me? I couldn’t tell. A casual boyfriend, that hadn’t been defined as such? A crush that was falling too deep? A… a rebound? I watched him stir gently and drifted in and out of thought until I felt a vibration in my pocket.

Snapping back to reality, I darted my hand into my pocket to grab my phone and checked it for messages, seeing one from Rin saying “You there?” I turned and he grinned at me as I shook my head lightly. “Sorry about that. You were saying?” Rin smiled and leant forward. “2pm tomorrow, at the ABCI. Tell Charlotte.” I frowned slightly as I mulled it over before realising: Al Bhed Court of Injustice. I wrote it down, sitting next to the door once more, and slid the objects beneath it, through the small crack and back into my sister’s hands.