What Lies Within Us.

Chapter 46: Forgiveness.

Ava's P.O.V.

After the meeting, Brooklyn and I started heading back to the house.

"Ready for the training room tonight?" She asked me.

"I completely forgot about that." I groaned.

"Hey its not so bad... I'm actually starting to kinda like it."

"Well I can't say the same."

"Hey Ava..." Kai said as he ran up to us. "Can I talk to you?"

I ignored him and continued walking. Brooklyn on the other hand answered for me.

"Ava would rather not talk to you at the moment. Whatever you have to tell her you can tell me instead and I'll relay the message."

"Pretty sure I wasnt talking to you Brooklyn."

"Yea well I'm talking to you."

He rolled his eyes and tried getting my attention again.

"Ava..."

"Avaaaaa...."

"Smiley...."

"Okay so we're gonna do this the hard way." He said as he grabbed my arm to stop me from walking and made me turn to face him. "All I'm asking is for 5 minutes. That's all...."

I looked at him out of pure annoyance then signaled to Brooklyn that she could leave.

She hesitated for a bit but eventually left.

"What do you want Kai?" I asked.

That stupid smile spread across his  face....

"Wow you actually talked to me, this is progress."

"You're down to 4 minutes and 32 seconds." I reminded him.

"Look, Ava, I know you're pissed at me and you have every right to be, but I'm sorry for what I did last week."

"Oh are you?"

"Yes, I'm serious. I wasn't thinking straight and I didnt mean to snap at you. The only thing on my mind was my sister with Jedi. I promise I'd never say anything to hurt you intentionally. I'm not that kind of guy."

"Sure." I simply replied as I started to walk again but he pulled me back towards him.

"You've gotta believe me."

I yanked my arm away from him and lost it. "Whatever Kaiser! Its not my fault you decided to be a jerk when I was only trying to help and now you think you can just suck up to me and everything will be okay!? Why are you so hellbent on making me forgive you!?"

He sighed as he slid his hands into his pockets and stared me in the eyes.

"I don't know, maybe its because hurting people in general just naturally makes me feel guilty. Regardless, I don't want you to perceive me as a bad guy because I'm not. I wouldn't hurt you Ava. Ever."

"Why should I believe that?"

"Because I like you. A lot. And even if what I did screwed up every chance I had with you, I still want your forgiveness."

His eyes were full of hope as they stared into mine, giving me butterflies. They then moved down to my lips....

Just as I noticed it he bit his bottom lip and looked away.

"I understand if you don't forgive me. I probably don't deserve it. Just know that I really am sorry for what I did."

He walked away, leaving me in deep thought as I pondered what to do.

                                  ...

Meadow's P.O.V.

"Why wouldn't you tell me?" I said through the tears as I sat in the middle of the field feeling hopeless. "Why didn't ANYONE tell me!?"

Dad ran his hand through his hair as he sighed, trying to find an answer.

This was surreal. I didn't wanna believe it.

"We were gonna tell you sweetheart. There's just so much happening right now. We didn't think you more to worry about."

This was tearing me up.

Not only had uncle Sehrem taken a place as a father figure in my life but he was my bestfriend as well.

"He- I never got to say goodbye. The last time I saw him was when we were captured in the forest. He told me not to be afraid. He promised that I'd see him again.. Dad, he promised.." I broken down, not able to hold myself together any longer.

Dad pulled me into a hug and just held me as I bawled my eyes out.

"Nothing I say is gonna make you feel better." He bluntly stated. "But I know exactly how it feels to not be able to say goodbye. I've dealt with that more times than I can count. I've gotten through it. And I know you can get through it too because you're my daughter and I couldn't be any more proud of how strong you've grown up to be. Sehrem's not dead. As long as we're alive he'll live on within us. He impacted us all in a way we'll forever be thankful for. Don't cry because he's gone. Smile because you got the chance to know him. Not everyone is as lucky as you are."

I squeezed him tighter as the tears fell even harder.

Not only was I crying over the death of my uncle Sehrem, but I was also crying because I was glad to have my dad back.