Lost At Sea

Chapter XXX -M- You

"I forgive you."

"Just like that?" He asks astonished.

I smile. "Just like that. I told you, Mr.Aisner. I understand that pain, I understand the hurt and self-hatred you felt all of these years, thinking you failed my dad. You didn't. I know for a fact how good of a friend you were."

"How are you so sure?"

"You kept this necklace for over twenty years. Another person would have thrown it away, since it reminds you of something unpleasant. You didn't because you truly cared about him. Besides, no one would have ever known about this if you hadn't told me."

"I guess that's true."

"You felt the need to apologize for something that was neither your responsibility nor your fault."

"I'm truly very sorry to hear about your mother. She passed away hating him." He says regretfully.

"No, she didn't." I'm sure she knew how much he loved her, and I believe she loved him too, for the rest of her life.

"She didn't?"

I shake my head with a small smile. "She never had any hard feelings towards my dad, I think she loved him too much. Whenever she talked about him, she was always smiling. She told me that he was happy, but I guess that's what she hoped for. In her case, I think that not knowing was the best for her. It allowed her to have hope that even if she left me, I had someone out there, somewhere. That hope allowed her to rest and let go of all the pain. And I choose to believe that she died happy with that thought and woke up next to my father. They were probably worried for a long time, but both knew I would still find my way back to people that would care about me."

Silent tears were running down his face.

"Thank you." He says softly and I just pat his shoulder.

I look behind me to see a look of shock in Dylan's face seeing his father's tears. Is almost hilarious.

"You are very welcome, Mr.Aisner."

"Please call me Luke. Not only are you the daughter of my brother, you are my son's 'Honey'." He jokes. I blush profoundly as Dylan protests. "You are family. Whatever you need, me and Clara are here." Luke calling my father 'brother' and me 'family' made me happier than I thought it would. I care about his opinion much more that I imagined.

"She only needs me." Dylan proclaims.

"Shut up." I say to him before smiling at the couple. "Thank you so much, Luke, Clara." They smile and nod.

"What do you kids say about dinner?" Clara asks.

"Yes! I'm starving!" Dylan runs ahead to the dining room.

"Does he always act like a child?" I question.

"Yes, pretty much. Good luck with him." Luke says and Clara elbows him. "What? I'm telling the truth!" I laugh. They are a great couple. When Luke is stern, Clara is warm, when Luke is goofy, Clara is sensible. They have an amazing and inviable balance.

"Shush. They are so sweet together." I look away shyly. "I hope Dylan isn't too hard to handle. He acts all tough to everyone else, but usually only acts this carefree with us or his gang...is amazing that he shows you this side of him."

"I owe a lot to Dylan and I'm glad he trusts me enough to be himself with me." She smiles warmly.

We sit at the table and Luke goes back to being serious, although not as cold as before.

"There's one more subject we should discuss."

"What is it?" Dylan asks.

"Adrien." He says without hesitation. "I'm not going to apologize for him, but I do feel outrage for what he did to you." He talks directly to me.