The Empire's Descent (First Draft)

Chapter 16: Second Homecoming

Luca stood by the airport entrance with a sign that said 'Cece so pretty'. Mma had suggested the latter phrase when he jokingly decided to create a sign for Cecilia. He got a few awed looks and he saw a couple tweens taking pictures, but he left them to their harmless doings.

A few minutes later, Cecilia emerged and she didn't look at all like herself. Clad in a black long-sleeved T-shirt and grey sweatpants, Cecilia was looking rather odd. The smiles grew on their faces the closer they got to each other and when she was within an arm's reach, Luca enveloped Lia in a friendly embrace and Lia felt herself sag in his arms.

"Cecilia," Luca murmured in greeting.

"Luca," Lia replied.

A flash made Luca pull apart and he realized the picture-taking was getting rowdy. He guided her to the Subaru and texted Diego to gridlock. When he looked back on Cecilia, she had her head down and her hands wrung in her lap.

"Cecilia?"

"Yeah?" Her head was still bowed.

"Will you look at me, Cara?" he encouraged.

"I'm sorry!" She blurted when she looked into his eyes. She couldn't help but feel like she did something wrong. She should have never left; she deserved everything that happened to her.

"What are you sorry for, Cecilia?"

"I'm sorry," she tried again.

"It's okay, Cecilia, you're not in any trouble," he assured her.

"He's never gonna stop looking for me," she looked outside at the scenery and when they hit the desolate backroad, she turned to look at Luca.

"I want him to come looking, Cecilia. He will never touch you again; I'll make sure of it," he vowed.

"Luca, you must never confront him! I shouldn't have left. I deserved it-it was my fault," Cecilia suddenly burst into tears and her breath became ragged as she looked horrified. As if leaving was the worst thing she could have ever done!

Luca wrapped his arms around her and thought for a second on what to say, but her reaction left him incredibly unsettled. Was this man so horrifying because of what he had done or is it something he could do?

"I don't know the situation or why you think you deserved that kind of treatment, but I know that no one deserves that. You have so many people grateful for you and your existence: Ada, Mma and Danna. They love you because you showed them love and care," Luca began.

"It's not- I- no," Cecilia babbled as she fought through her tears and something more fearsome holding her back.

"Chelsea, Yan, Kamali, Errol, Clio, Devan, Jason, Andrea, Brittany, Melessia, Ishshah, Otavia, Thalia and Apollo," Luca listed. The slow and deliberate counting tone unconsciously lulled Lia and Luca was pleased to hear Cecilia's breathing even out.

"How did you..." Cecilia was stunned and a bit nervous.

"I did some research on you, Cecilia. Those children think the world of you, the help you gave them because of your job and the love you gave them because of who you are. Don't let someone, who is actually the scum of the earth, project their own feelings of worthlessness and despair on you," Luca finished.

"Thank you, Luca... he's actually the runt of hell," Cecilia rested her head on his shoulder and mumbled at the end.

She shed a few more tears; this time because she was touched that this man cared enough about her to help her. Briefly, she wondered how far he went in his research, but she figured it mustn't have been too far-she was careful and the rest was just impossible. The drive seemed really short after that incident and when they pulled up to the house, Luca laughed at Cecilia's face smooshed against the window in awe of his home. So cute...