What Is Your Name?

Chapter 19: Not Her Mother (Sky)

I knew Lillian would wonder where I was. I knew she'd be worried. But I was worried while staying put, so I had to take the risk. I quietly shut the door to our room and then broke into a sprint.

I was going to the med ward. We had sort of a mini hospital on campus in case of rather frequent Eli events. This was different, though. This was someone I knew.

"Sky, what the heck are you doing here?" Tempest sighed literally the second I entered the room.

"I wanted to make sure you were ok," I whispered.

"I'll be fine, Sky. I mean, at least I was the only one who got hurt, right?"

"Lillian is scared out of her mind," I confessed.

"Well, of course she is," Tempest laughed. "Her evil father is now sure of the fact she lives here, since he's seen her here more than once, so he's coming here for the sole purpose of stalking her. I'd be pretty scared, myself, and she's only thirteen."

That kind of irked me. "Don't talk about her like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you realize how hard it was to get someone her age into this stupid place? Lord Biased practically begged me to come, but then almost retracted the offer when I told him I was raising a thirteen-year-old. It took some convincing to tell him Lillian is strong. She can handle it. And now you, her friend, are also treating her like a child."

"Sky, I'm not treating her like a child." Tempest stayed completely calm. "She's not a child. What she is is a pubescent teenager who has been through way more than anyone her age should have to go through. That's why I'm saying she's probably having a tougher time than if it were me."

"You're right. I'm sorry," I amended. "How are you?"

"I've been better," she replied. "It feels like I got hit by a truck, but only on my side. A big truck. That was on fire. It frickin' burns."

"I'd say something comforting, like 'I know how that feels,' but I've literally never been shot in the side before, believe it or not."

"Weren't you in a fire, though?" Tempest asked. "I don't mean to pry, but you called the Shadow out on committing arson, and you always walk with a limp, and I just thought..." She trailed off.

"It was when I was five. Lillian was one and doesn't remember, but she was there, too. She knows about it. Eli wanted custody of Lillian, but my parents refused. They won the case, because obviously Lil wouldn't be safe staying with her dad, but Eli was pissed. I guess I got lucky, though. I mean, I got out."

"And your parents didn't?" Tempest guessed. "I mean, considering you were on the streets and all."

I nodded. "We were put into foster care, but they never understood us. Eventually they decided it would be easier to care for just Lillian. You can imagine what I had to say about that."

"I guess it's kind of selfish of me to think getting a minor bullet wound in the side is a big deal, then."

"It is!" I retorted. "All my crap was in the past, but your pain is now. You don't have to pretend you're ok just because it could be worse. It could always be worse. I could be dead. But this isn't the worst; it's what's actually happening. This is the pain you actually feel, and you have every right to feel it."

"I thought you were always trying to tell people not to worry about themselves. Since you really have had it worse," Tempest reminded me.

"Yes, I've had it bad," I agreed. "I lost Mom and Dad and my sister. In a way I lost Eli, or what he was to me before. That's why you need to get better. I can't lose you, too."

"I'm pleased to know I'm on the same level as them," Tempest joked.

"You aren't threatening to kill my niece. The bar is set pretty low."

"Limbo must be hard," Tempest deadpanned.

"We already have a winner for that. Hopefully Lil didn't inherit those genes."

We sat in silence for a while. There was nothing more to say. We didn't hate each other, so I wanted Tempest to get better, but she had just made it clear she would get better. There was no point in me worrying, but I felt like I couldn't just leave.

"I'm gonna be ok," Tempest repeated. "And so will Lillian. It's like you said; she's not her father."

"She's her mother," I explained.

"No, she's not." Tempest laughed bitterly. "Lillian may be more like her mother than she is her father, but she's Lillian. She's not her mother, she's not your sister, and she never will be. I know what it's like to lose someone that important to you. I know it sucks. But you can't just use Lillian to replace her. She can help. You two love each other, and that can help with the pain of the fact that your sister, whatever her name is, is just not here. But in accepting that, you have to realize your sister is dead. I know, I know, I know. You realize your sister is dead. Heck, you refuse to say her name, it's just that Lillian is just like her in every way. But she's not, Sky. She's not. And thank God she's not, because the world already had one of your sister. We needed her, and now she's gone, and that's terrible, but that's life. Now the world needs Lillian, someone different from her mother, but she's not going to be able to reach her full potential if you don't let her notice that difference."

"..."

"And another thing, Sky: if you're going to claim Lillian's not a child, you need to stop treating her like one. The school will make sure she's safe, because they'll have hell to pay if they don't. You can be there for her, of course, but you need to let her live her own life. You're like an overprotective father or something."

"..." I sighed heavily. "Why do you always have to be right? You're like a second Lillian or something."

"It's because she and I are both female. We're smarter than idiots like you and Grey."

"You're gonna lump me in with someone as immature as Grey?"

"Sorry, you're right, that would be an insult to my own brother."

"I hate you," I chuckled, heading back to my room.

"Love you, too!" Tempest called after me.

Ok, then.