Absolution (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Valentina shut down then, not talking anymore. When Kitty returned with some food, she saw how sullen the little girl was and she let out a small sigh, leaving the tray beside Vincenzo and not pushing in any way. She knew Valentina had lost a lot in a short amount of time and she needed space to process it all.

Valentina didn't touch the food and soon enough, she let Vincenzo carry her to bed and tuck her in. Beneath the covers, with her stuffed bear, she cried again. Kitty could hear her sobs as Vincenzo came down the stairs and she wanted so badly to scoop her up and comfort her.

"I feel so bad for her, love." Kitty said, looking up the steps to the tower room and struggling with herself.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know... But there's nothing to be done. If Warwick stays, Valentina will never see the man she loved again. He'll fall apart..."

 

[heartofcourage]

"We'll give her the space that we need and hope that she doesn't get too far away from us." Kitty said as she wrapped her arms around Vincenzo and hugged him tightly. "I wish none of this ever had to happen to her."

 

[KieranSoares]

"It'll hurt for a long time... She understands what's happening, she's smart as can be... But she's so young that part of her just wants to resist as if it could change something."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I wish i could take all of her hurt on myself. I'd rather go through it than to watch her suffer." Kitty said softly. "It isn't fair."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I feel the same, cara mia," he sighed, one arm draping about her middle as he walked with her to her parlor.

Warwick set off some three days later after a morning with his children. He wasn't himself, but he tried to be as alert and attentive as he could up til leaving them. The cabin officially went to Cole, and Ciaran remained while he finished building his own home, and Cole welcomed Valentina anytime she liked.

 

[heartofcourage]

The other Ghis children, especially Ashien and Kayla, welcomed Valentina into their little family. She was sullen and serious, not wanting to participate in anything outside of helping Vincenzo with his herbs. Kayla often did the same, helping her Papa along side her half sister between her lessons on being a woman of a royal court. She was flourishing while it seemed that Valentina dimming before their eyes.

 

[KieranSoares]

Vincenzo did everything he could to support Valentina, but no words could help her. She remained low through summer despite everyone's best efforts, but as autumn came on and Vincenzo prepared to travel to Italy, he decided to take Valentina with him. He was certain that if anyone could help, it'd be his mother Carmena. They would see Warwick on their journey home, as he was away conducting business for Brian in Denmark.

 

[heartofcourage]

Valentina was excited to be going to Italy, but she was suspicious that Vincenzo was going to bring Kitty along as well. She hadn't been brave enough to ask, but Kitty seemed to have been planning on it. She had been waiting to hear about Selena, needing to know that she had safely delivered the baby before she could truly think about leaving Scotland for a long journey.

"I don't want her to go." Valentina told her father one day as they made count of the herbs that he needed replacing. "Trips are always for just the two of us."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Valentina," Vincenzo scolded quietly, fixing her with a somewhat surprised frown. "She hasn't seen Italy for years. I'm not going to leave her out of something she's looked forward to since before you were even born. And some of your siblings might come along as well."

 

[heartofcourage]

The little girl had shown that she could have a bit of a temper in the past few months, but she rarely ever showed it. However, she could say some bitingly terrible things without even thinking about it, wounding her family to the core. She wasn't a bad child, simply lost in sorrow that didn't seem to be ending.

"Papa, why are you looking to change absolutely everything? Traveling was something that we always did together. Sometimes with Da and Mummy, but mostly with the both of us. Why does everyone else have to be included now too?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"Because they haven't had the chances and advantages you have. They've been trapped here for years, nearly two decades for some of them. We will still have journeys and share things between just the two of us, but this time, I want to bring the rest of this family. Your siblings were dragged home last time they went South to Italy and Greece. I want them to have new, good memories."

 

[heartofcourage]

Valentina let out a huff and sat down in her chair, arms crossed over her chest as she sulked. She knew that Vincenzo was as stubborn as she was and he wasn't going to change his plans just because she insisted.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Valentina..." He sighed, setting his work aside to face her. "I know you're hurting and I know nothing is helping... Change can hurt, but it's often for the best. This is a change I've wanted for so long... To have our family together down south without being terrified of a mad king awaiting us here. But you and I are still going to keep a lot of our traditions. Like the island off the coast where some of our special herbs grow... That's all ours. We'll go out there, just the two of us."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It won't be just the two of us." Valentina muttered, glancing up at and seeing the dark warning in her father's eyes.

She had never seen Vincenzo truly angry at anything, but she knew that she was testing everyone's patience. She was about to say something more when Kitty suddenly opened the door and looked at Vincenzo with a luminous smile.

"We have a boy." She said, relieved and happy to have finally heard from Selena about the birth of her first grandchild. "Ruben. She said that he's a beautiful little lad."

 

[KieranSoares]

Vincenzo looked up, his shoulders relaxing as he stepped past Valentina to step into the hall with Kitty, embracing her tightly. "That's wonderful to hear," he murmured calmly.

 

[heartofcourage]

"We'll have to make an extra stop on our way to see him. If I know Selena, she won't come back to Inverness for a while longer." Kitty said with a wide smile as she noticed how tense Vincenzo had been with Valentina. "What's wrong, love?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"Don't worry about it, cara mia... It's something Valentina and I have to work through together," he murmured, kissing her cheek.

 

[heartofcourage]

"She's most definitely your stubborn and headstrong child." KItty said softly as he kissed her cheek. "Love, if it's that important, I can stay behind. I don't want to come between you and her."

 

[KieranSoares]

"No, you're going. And so are any of the children who want to go. My mother wants to see all of them. And maybe we can talk Selena into coming if she's recovered well. It's still warm enough that by the time we pass by, Ruben should be alright to travel... I just wish I could get Durban too."

 

[heartofcourage]

“You’ll just have an angry little girl on your hands, but I suppose that’s nothing new since Ashelin died.” Kitty said softly as Vincenzo insisted that they were all going to Italy as a family.

 

[KieranSoares]

"She'll see it's for the best. And we'll go still have things that are just for us, and trips that'll be just the two of us."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Love, I can only hope that it's as easy as you think it will be." Kitty said, knowing that she was asking him to believe that the future would be better just as he had for her. "She has been fighting hard for weeks to call me anything besides Ma. I overheard her and Kayla talking the other day about how she felt like she didn't have a mother and father anymore. Kayla had to point out that she was the only one that still had both. I think that hurt her feelings even more."

 

[KieranSoares]

"None of this will be easy," he murmured. "Simple and easy just don't go together that often." He smoothed a hand back through his hair and looked to Kitty once more. "I just don't know what else I can do... I can't help her. No one can. And no one can ask Warwick to be miserable just to make her comfortable... It feels like Ashelin was the last piece holding half this family together.

 

[heartofcourage]

"She might have been. She was a force of nature." Kitty said softly as Vincenzo admitted that he was at a loss as to what to do for Valentina. "I'm sure she would tell Valentina to cheer up and stop sulking and that little girl would snap to attention."