Discover L (Book 2) | Complete |

~ Together Again ~

"When we realised we wouldn't be able to get back to you, we decided we needed to survive this place for as long as possible. Maybe we could think of a way out in time."

"We just hadn't realised how much time had passed."

They both stared at her, and fresh tears started to fall. L wanted to go to them, hug them, and reunite like she'd seen families do on TV. But she couldn't move her feet. Her emotions were about to explode everywhere. All she could think to do was ask more questions.

"When you left me that day... did you think about what kind of life I would have?"

They seemed to expect her question and nodded their heads.

"We thought about it long and hard. We knew it wasn't guaranteed that you'd live a peaceful life, but we'd hoped it would be a good one. And it would certainly be safer than a childhood as a Keeper. We didn't want you to grow up as a child on the run."

"And yet, that's exactly what I had." L clapped her hands together.

Her parents looked confused. "What do you mean?"

L swallowed against the lump, forcing her emotions into check.

"I ended up moving from foster home to foster home. I couldn't stay in those places, I hated it. Nothing ever felt real, or the family rejected me for being weird. But I could tell deep down that they wouldn't be my home anyway." She'd made peace with her childhood, but for some reason, she needed them to know about it all. "Oh, and I was almost abducted by a Demon when I was young... he actually came back years later to try and finish the job."

L's parents were transfixed, their expressions caught somewhere between horror and guilt.

"L... we're sorry. We could never have predicted that... agh, we should have been there!" Her mum's voice was laced with hurt and anger.

"We tried to come back for you the moment we spoke to the Jadavah. We fought with that creature for weeks, until we could barely move. I promise you, we've never regretted any decision more than we regretted leaving you."

L heard the sincerity in her dad's voice, and although she thought she'd left her anger at her parents behind, some of it must have held.

"I wouldn't have minded growing up on the run, as long as I could have been with you. As long as we could have been a family." L pushed away the tears that were trying to force themselves out.

Her mum was sobbing again, and her dad was staring at the ground. They'd really been left with an impossible decision, and though they'd thought it was right at the time, it didn't stop L from resenting it.

"Please forgive us, L. Please."

L closed her eyes, digging deep to figure out just what she was feeling. She was angry at them, but she was angrier about the situation and how they'd all been lied to. Their decision had been for nothing; her growing up alone had been for nothing in the end.

"Tell me something," L began, and she wasn't sure how she would feel hearing the answer.

"Alright, go ahead."

"If you could go back, knowing what you know now. Would you still choose to do what you did? Would you still leave me?"

She waited with baited breath, watching her parents peer at each other.

"No, we wouldn't." They answered in unison.

"We would find a way to keep you safe and spread the news that the prophecy was false. We would bring you up as a Keeper and teach you everything ourselves. It's what we always wanted... and never..."