55

"That will be enough of that," my dad interrupted as he tilted my face up to look at his. "For the past few weeks I have talked with both you and Kelli about what happened. Your friend Ali came by to talk with us, and even introduced us all to Millicent."

I hadn't known about Ali and Millicent, and I could only stare at my dad with an open mouth as he chuckled at my surprise.

"Yes, the four of us talked to them. And everyone has come to the same conclusion. Had you given in, or done anything like it, none of you would have come home alive. That bastard would have killed Kelli for certain, and Jess so she couldn't talk about it. And from what you and Millicent have said about his actions and personality, I think Jasmine would have been discarded as a loose end no matter what you did."

"I've also wondered if I should have just passed on the whole Neko thing to begin with," I replied and my dad wiped my eyes with his thumbs like he used to when I was little.

"And none of that talk either. Look around you and listen," he said as he brought my attention back to the applause that was still going on minutes later. "You were always a great person, and not just because you were my daughter. But you were given a gift on New Year's that brought Kelli fully into your life, opened your mind and ours to some incredible new possibilities, and gave you the insight to know that Jasmine's parents needed today so that they could fully move on from her death. You! You gave them that. It was your idea, and that's why we all agreed that it had to be you to walk in her place."

"Little girl, don't ever sell yourself short about anything, or I will be there in a heartbeat to thump you."

I giggled a bit at his threat, and I could tell that my dad was glad that I was still able to laugh.

"You know, when Millicent came to talk with us, we learned some damned interesting things. What sticks out in my mind, though, is when she told us that you were destined for great things even though she couldn't tell us why. Do you know what I did?"

I shook my head in response to my dad's question, and I was curious as to how he had reacted to Millicent. Apparently Kelli was too, because she had decided to join us and indicated that dad should continue.

"I looked her square in the eye and I laughed at her," he said, and I was again shocked at my dad's behavior. "When I finished laughing she asked me what I found so amusing. What I told her was that she had magic that let her know you were going to be great, but you were my daughter. I knew you were destined for greatness the moment I took you in my arms for the first time. The power of family told me that!"

"I love you dad," I told him, and he pulled both Kelli and I into a tight hug and let us know that he loved us too.

Much later, Kelli and I were in bed just talking to each other about little things. We lay there basking in our shared emotions, and enjoyed the simple contentment of physical contact. We talked about new ideas and the need for new lessons and training. I was slowly learning the basics of martial arts from Sensei Rick, but Kelli's newly unlocked magical abilities required a very intensive regimen with Ali, Millicent, and the rest of the Circle. We were preparing to walk a dangerous path with a lot of risks.

But that is what you do for family. It's what you do for those you love. You take a little risk, and you step out into the dark, heedless of your own wellbeing in order to protect people you care about. We would train, prepare, and plan for the next time we would have to come face to face with Mathias, or the Red Cloaked Woman, and we would not hesitate to face those risks for the ones we loved.

Because in the end the only thing any of us really have is love.