“What did you do?”
Maya finally turned to look at him. “I decided to do my job. The wedding was beautiful. People were happy. And I found some joy in watching others have a good time, perhaps selfishly thinking it was because of how good I was at my job.”
Apollo was leaning forward, his arms folded on the table, watching her. “The Strifes are your adoptive family.”
“Yes. They never knew anything about my original family, mostly because I was never taken out in public by my original family. As my mother’s love child with someone outside of the family, my father wasn’t about to show me around to others. Despite the fact that nearly half of my siblings were from other mothers.” Maya shook her head as if to get rid of the memories. “I can see now that I was fortunate to have been removed before I thought that their lifestyle was normal. The Strifes weren’t perfect, but they were loving. At least to me.”
“And older,” Apollo said.
“Yes,” Maya smiled, “much older. I was probably their last shot at raising a child, which makes me pity them.”
“Why?”
“Because I was not an easy child to raise. I constantly talked about going back to my real family, and when they didn’t let me return, I told the Strifes they weren’t my parents. Our dynamic changed before they died, but they definitely didn’t deserve what I did to them for years.”
“Did you ever tell them that you loved them?”
“Yes. When I was in my early 20s and learned about my original family, I became grateful for what the Strifes had done for me.”
“Then I guarantee you they felt it was worth it.”
Maya shook her head. “I don’t think so. They had me for nearly 20 years, yet I only appreciated them for about five.”
“I can assure you that the first time you told them you loved them made it all worthwhile.”
“You can’t know that,” Maya said, looking at her empty mug as tears pricked behind her eyes.
Apollo stretched out his gnarled hand and covered one of hers. “Yes, I can. They saw the daughter they had raised become a successful and empathetic woman. There’s no better reward for a parent than that.”
Maya looked up at him, a tear escaping. Quickly wiping it with her shoulder, she said, “I wish I could believe that. But I didn’t believe it when they said it, so I don’t think any assurance you give me will change my mind.”
“Perhaps not,” he squeezed her hand, “but sometimes it helps to hear someone else’s perspective. Parents often don’t know what they are talking about.”
Maya looked up at him, ready to argue, but Apollo was smiling at her, his eyes shining as he watched her. “Oh, you were lightening the mood, huh?”
His smile widened and he nodded, “I am really looking forward to a period where my daughter won’t listen to me. What you are giving me is some good practice in people tuning me out and rejecting my advice.”
Maya smirked, “And here I thought you have Cosmo for that.”
Apollo chuckled and pulled away from her as he relaxed in his chair. “Unfortunately, he will never count.”
“Why’s that?”
“He’s more like a brother. And brothers never listen.”
Maya couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t particularly funny, but she felt lighter and more relaxed. True to her nature, she couldn’t help but voice that. “I usually hate talking about my past, mostly because it just makes me upset.”
“It is always difficult to relive unpleasant events.” He stood up and walked over to her. Holding out a hand, he said, “Thank you for entrusting your past to me. I promise, it will not be in vain.”
“What do you mean?” Maya stared up at him, although her body responded automatically to his offer, and she reached out and took his hand.
With his gnarled hand he pulled her up, and his other hand he pulled her chair back. “I will use what you told me to try to undo the injury as much as possible.”
“Do you … will you be able to …” Maya squeezed his hand, nervous about asking the question she never thought she would ask anyone. “Can you undoeverything?”
He squeezed her hand back. “I feel certain that I will be able to make it so you can shift without pain. And if you want, I can help teach you to fly.”
It was not the question she was going to ask, but it was definitely one of the things that Maya had never hoped to be able to do. “Really? You think … you may be able to fix me enough that I can actually be a dragon?”
