Neophyte

One

Guillermo was with his sister, who still sat on the corner of the kiche but she was no longer hiding herself. He was grateful that Metztli brought them together again, but it didn't take away the fact that Valentina still suffered trauma.

She was pregnant due to the horrific action that Pascual inflicted upon her. 

Guillermo felt a burning rage fill inside him. He never felt an intense emotion for anyone, but Guillermo felt that he had failed his sister. Finding out that Metztli is his family's descendant, he couldn't help but feel angry and confused. 

It was difficult to know what to feel about the situation.

"Why do you still feel guilt, noicniuhtli (my brother)?" Valentina whispered, but she didn't look at him. 

Guillermo slightly trembled. His sister spoke again, which was a progressive sign. "Why shouldn't I feel that way? I am your noicniuhtli, and I was supposed to protect you. It is my obligation as a man to protect those he loves." He couldn't look at his sister. It was almost a coincidence that he couldn't look at his sister. His guilt consumed him ever since he found out not only about Metztli's ancestry but also that Valentina was currently pregnant. Another realization made him think that he was like Victoriano, his father.

Valentina looked at the flames slowly, without emotion. "You are beginning to sound like him."

"Like him, huh. I am slowly realizing it myself. I wish it weren't the case."

"You were always like him. He raised and brought you into his world."

"He raised both of us. However, you were stronger than I ever was. I was blinded from the truth since I always believed his words. I fell for a lie."

"You did as did many of our ancestors. However, they weren't at fault; they were naive and innocent to trust the white devils." Valentina slowly turned and faced her brother, who eventually faced her. Siblings were face-to-face. 

Valentina spoke meekly, but Guillermo knew that she was slowly regaining her strength. He was surprised that his sister was slowly getting out of her shell. "Valentina, what did you think and feel when Metztli told us about her origin?"

"I was...slightly surprised but not entirely. I felt something different about her. When I first met her, there was something about her that seemed close yet far. I didn't understand it until now."

Guillermo bit his lower lip, hesitating whether or not to ask his sister the question he had, but he was willing to take the risk. "Are you...going to keep the pregnancy?"

The siblings were quiet. Guillermo feared he had gone too far with his question. Suddenly, footsteps echoed outside the kiche. 

Mitena and Victoriano arrived. 

Parents and children looked at each other. Guillermo moved closer to his sister, hugging her and assuring her that he would be by her side. Valentina still sat motionless, but her eyes didn't waver. Mitena and Victoriano walked closer to their children, made sure to give them space, and sat. 

Mitena had a strong urge to go to her children, hug them, beg for their forgiveness, and say that she was willing to do everything in her power to make things right. Taking a deep breath, "Nophilhuan (My children), we have failed you. We believed that everything we had done was the right decision to protect you both."

"No, Mitena, I-"

"Enough, Victoriano. I should have spoken against you. I should have strongly fought for the decision to live far away. We would have struggled, but we would have been together." Guillermo and Victoriano were surprised to hear her speak up. Valentina was unmoving and unresponsive. "I am tired. Tired of hiding. Now..." Mitena refrained from crying; she was tired of it. "...we are seeing the consequences of our failure. Oh, nocihuapil (my daughter). We failed you. We didn't protect you! All we wanted was for you to be happy! To one day have a family of your own! It should have been me! I should not have fought that day and-"

"Mitena, don't say such things! You-"

"Victoriano, you wouldn't have gone with me if you hadn't killed those men! You would have been free!"

Guillermo squeezed his hand into fists. His mother was going to be a victim of the same crime, but his father saved her. "Nonantzin, enough. We are all guilty of failing to protect Valentina. Even I...I am her brother; I should have been there. I should have gone after her. I-"

"Enough..." Valentina said in a faint whisper. Everyone flinched and focused on her. Valentina slowly made herself more visible but still kept her distance. Mitena put a hand over her chest; her daughter spoke. "Nocihuapil..."

Victoriano didn't realize that he was trembling as he heard his daughter speak. He wanted to scream in anger. Anger he felt for himself, for not protecting his family, his daughter. "Valentina..."

"Metztli told you."

"She did, please do not be angered with her." Victoriano fumed in rage over what Pascual did to his daughter, which resulted in pregnancy. However, he remembered that Metztli was descended not only from Pascual but from his daughter, Mitena, and him. "Please forgive your mother, nocihuapil. You don't need to forgive me. You may hate me for the rest of your life, but do not hate your nonantzin. She is innocent..."

Guillermo slightly raised his eyebrows. Victoriano, his father, was willing to take all the blame. He didn't care if he would be hated for the rest of his life. Guillermo was angry and hurt when he found out the truth; he often imagined how different their lives would have been if they had gone far away. He focused on his sister; it would have been her decision whether to forgive their parents. 

Valentina was silent as she looked at her parents. She was tired of hearing apologies and of everything else. She was tired of feeling and living in anger. It only led her towards bitterness and pain. "I knew that she would speak with you. She is stubborn, like me..."

"You know that she...?"

"Yes. You both know about my pregnancy."

Victoriano nodded, his stomach burning. "We will not tell you what to do with your...pregnancy. The choice is yours." He felt conflicted; he didn't want his daughter to continue with the pregnancy, but knowing that Metztli is his granddaughter from the future, conflicted him. Metztli was educated, kind, and stubborn; she reminded him of Valentina in many ways. 

"I will keep it."

"A-Are you certain that you want to? You-"

"It is my choice." Valentina slightly smiled. "I never would have imagined that I would meet a descendant of mine from the distant future. She showed me that there is hope. She showed me that my descendants have persevered as did our people. Metztli knows the truth of what happened to our people and me. Tonantzin ensured that."

Mitena gasped. She hadn't seen her daughter smile for so long. "Valentina..."

"I forgive you both."

Mitena and Victoriano flinched. "What?"

"I was angry that you not only lied to us but you have taken what Guillermo and I have always wanted...a family—a father to be by our side. I am tired of feeling angry and hurt. It solves nothing."

The emotions were too much to bear. Mitena immediately went to her daughter and hugged her with everything she had. She cried again while kissing her daughter. Guillermo watched his mother and sister; his heart felt heavy. Suddenly, he felt a strong hug; his father hugged him tightly. He was about to tell him something, but he felt his father's tears drip on his head. Guillermo saw his father crying.

There were no words.

Words weren't needed. Victoriano led his son and himself to Mitena and Valentina. Victoriano engulfed everyone in a tight hug. Mitena wrapped her arms around both her children. Guillermo and Valentina flinched, but their parents' embrace warmed them; they finally felt complete and safe. They let themselves go in their parents' embrace.

They were one.