Patty Liu - Silent Reflections

“Melody, how did you get to the forest in time to help me?” Virginia asked Melody once they had made it into the forest of gold and had caught up to Tony and Princess Wendy. They were making their way out of the gold forest now and trying to suppress the urge to touch the gold. Virginia was a bit uncomfortable around Melody. She didn’t know if Melody was up to something again or she was actually for real and seriously saved her life.

“I-I heard from the old man who rowed you across the river that you guys had gotten out of the mess in the Sixth Kingdom. I just wanted t-to see if I could catch up with you.”

“Why? Are you going to try and finish us off now that you have the chance?” Virginia said in a cold voice. Wolf held her hand and gently squeezed.

“Listen to what she has to say, Virginia,” he said softly in her ear. Virginia gave a deep sigh and calmed herself.

“I already know what she has to say to me, Wolf.” She turned to Melody. “Melody, I think there is something we should discuss and get out of the way.”

“I agree,” Melody nodded. She stole a glance over at Patrick who was talking to Princess Wendy and Tony. Why won’t he look over at me? Now that he’s found a princess to keep him company he probably won’t even talk to me now. She turned back to Virginia with her eyes cast down. She gave a deep sigh. “Virginia, I know you, Wolf, and Patrick and all your friends probably hate me right now. I don’t blame you. You have every right. But…you will have to understand that I hate you too, or at least I did, Virginia, and I have every right to.”

Virginia’s eyebrows perked up at that. “Why did you hate me, Melody? Cuz I killed the queen?” Virginia stopped a moment. “I-I didn’t want to kill the queen, you know. I had no choice. She-she was evil and was going to kill everyone if I didn’t stop her. Why is she so important to you, Melody?”

Melody raised her head up and stared up at the clear sky. “I don’t hate you anymore, Virginia. I have come to terms with what you did. I finally realized that the queen had been sick and she was going to harm people. I just never knew that part of the story until the old man told it to me.” Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes and she brought her head down to eye level with Virginia. “I never thought that my mother, she was so kind and good to me, that she-that she would harm people.”

Virginia clutched Wolf’s hand when she heard Melody’s last sentence. All the blood drained out of her face. “Your mother? You-your mother was the evil queen?” Her heart was beating so fast in her chest that she was having a hard time breathing. “Melody, I-I think I need to tell you something. The shoes, the Shoes of Truth. They, I…”

Melody put up her hand to stop Virginia from saying anything further. “I know, Virginia. You and I, we’re related somehow. We share the same blood. I don’t know how that is possible and I’m scared to find out but I must. You killed my mother, therefore you had also killed someone you were related to, through me.” She gave Virginia a frustrated gaze.

Wolf tightened his grip on Virginia’s hand to let her know that he was there for her. Wolf, Wolf must have known all along just like before. Why didn’t he say anything? This is stupid. This can’t be happening. Why does everyone that is related to me end up wanting to kill me? Next thing I know, Dad’s gonna want to throttle me. This seriously cannot be happening. History is repeating itself! Virginia could feel herself starting to hyperventilate. She took deep breaths and glanced up at Wolf and he smiled and gave her a loving pat on her hand.

“Melody. Melody, I-” Virginia paused to think of the words to use. “The evil queen that I killed. She-she was my mother too!” she finally blurted out.

Melody’s eyes shot up and she glared at Virginia with shock and disbelief. “WHAT?! You’re my sister?!” she hollered out.

Her loud announcement brought up the heads of Tony, Patrick and the princess and they all peered over curiously. Tony narrowed his gaze for he thought he had heard something about sisters. He excused himself from Patrick and the princess and strolled over to his daughter.

“What’s going on? Is everything all right?” he asked with an eyebrow raised towards Wolf.

Wolf grinned and patted him on the shoulder. “Seems like you’ve gained another daughter, Tony. Congratulations!”

Tony’s jaw dropped open. “What? What are you talking about?”

“It’s true Dad. Melody and I are sisters,” Virginia said as calmly as she could.

Tony closed and opened his mouth and closed it again. He looked like a fish breathing in water. He stared at Virginia, then at Melody. Then his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell down in a heap.

“Dad? Dad!” Virginia crouched down and gently slapped at Tony’s face. “Get up.”

Tony opened his eyes and peered up at the faces looking down on him. “Virginia. I hate this place. I don’t think I can take another surprise. Please don’t tell me that I’m the father of this girl here too.”

Virginia smiled down at him. “Dad, we don’t know if you’re the father or not. We just know that Mom was also Melody’s mother. For all we know, Mom could’ve had Melody with someone else.”

“Maybe Christine adopted her cuz she felt bad for leaving you and she wanted to fill up the void in her life,” Tony suggested.

“No, Dad. We’re related by blood. The shoes said so.”

“Oh. The shoooooes.” Tony cast his gaze down to the ground and wrinkled his nose in a snotty fashion. “Might as well ask the shoes if I’m the father too then.” He threw his hands into the air. “I am going back to New York once we get back to the castle. I swear I cannot take any more of this! It’s like watching those damn daytime soap operas on TV.”

“Dad, just calm down.”

“Huff, puff. Tony. You really got to relax. Back in Manhattan, they have this thing they call blood pressure that you must keep low. I think you need to or that vein that’s throbbing in your forehead is going to pop.” Wolf put his arm about Tony’s shoulder.

“You knew this all along, didn’t you Wolf? Why didn’t you tell Virginia?” Tony demanded.

“I-errrr… I didn’t know until recently. I had sneezing fits that screwed up my sense of smell when we first met her. I didn’t know then.” He turned to Virginia. “You’re not upset with me, are you Virginia?”

“No, I’m not upset. It’s not important. Let’s just please get back home. I want to see Little Peter. He hasn’t been without his parents for such a long time.”

“I don’t know who my father is,” piped in Melody’s voice. The others turned to look at her. “I think I would like to use the shoes, Virginia.”

Virginia didn’t say anything but obeyed the request and pulled out the old brown shoes. She understood Melody’s need for answers even if they weren’t the answers you wanted to hear. “Should I wear them? Or would you?”

“I thought only you could wear them?”

“No, the billy goats changed it for me.”

“Oh, well I suppose I can wear them then.” Melody took the shoes and slipped them on. “Ask me who my father is, all right? And tell me exactly what it says.”

They nodded and waited for Melody to get comfortable. Virginia looked at Wolf and he gave a slight nod. Tony had a look of worry but with a slight hint of excitement put into one.

“Melody. Who are your mother and father?” Virginia decided she wanted to know the truth of Melody’s mother too. What if the queen had lied to Melody the whole time?

“Recently departed evil queen.
Is the mother of her, she be.
Mother may the two girls share.
But different fathers for the pair.
In a place and far away.
The father has gone without a trace.
He is ruler of another time.
Banished by the queen in her prime.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed at the rhyme and he frowned with his mouth gaping open. “What load of crap is that?!” he cried out. Melody shook her head to shake off the haze and looked eagerly at the trio standing in front her. But her face immediately turned to a frown when she saw the confusion on their faces. Even Wolf, who knew almost anyone just by their scent seemed to be clueless of the rhyme.

“What did I say?” Melody asked hesitantly. She was afraid to hear it.

Virginia repeated the rhyme to her.

“That doesn’t tell us who my father is!”

“Well, I think it rules me out,” Tony said.

“He’s a ruler of some far away place? But he was banished by my mother? I don’t understand it.” Melody frowned but gave a sad sigh. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I have lived without my father for as long as I’ve lived. I don’t need to know who he is,” Melody declared with as much confidence as she could muster.

“But now that our mother is gone, don’t you want to find other family members?” Virginia said.

“I-I don’t think so. Not right now at least. I do have you, I guess.” Melody gave a weak smile. “I think I need to find myself first.”

Virginia smiled at that. She knew exactly what that felt like. In a lot of ways, she was very similar to Melody, her newfound half sister. Melody had saved her life. But she had also tried to ruin it just a few days ago. Trusting her wasn’t going to come easy.

“Sorry to interrupt but I think we should get going. The king will be expecting us since the guards have gone ahead to tell him,” Princess Wendy interrupted.

“Oh, yes. We should get going,” Virginia and Melody both said in unison.

Wolf raised an eyebrow and gave a crooked grin. Virginia seemed to have come to terms with Melody so there was nothing to worry about now. He put his arm around Virginia and they all set out again.