Gracious Death

Prologue
Edward grabbed my hand.

He was young. It was his 5th Birthday last week.

He looks just like my father. Lanky and tall, but muscular, or at least, I think he'll have his strength. He has thin, high cheekbones, and soft, short brown hair. His emerald green eyes are glittery and cheerful.

Edward has never experienced true pain, or loss. I pray he never will.

But I'm sure he will.

Skye and I got married a few years ago. But I still have the nightmares.

My father, dying, head cradled in my hands. The thick smell of burning flesh risen into my nostrils. How thick and evil the scent was. But this was never his fault. Not mine. Not Skye's. Not Maxis. Not Sophia. No one's, except the Americans sent to kill us all.

And I will never forgive them.

Edward giggles as I lead him to the garden.

"Let's review your alphabet." I say with a forced smile.

He grins back with his pearly white teeth.

"Okay!" he replies, plopping to the soft green grass in the back of Group 935's workspace.

"A?"

"Apple!"

"B?"

"Benjamin Franklin!"

I smiled. He really loves history.

"C?"

"Cat!"

He has a strange love to cats, so we had gotten him a small brown kitten for his birthday.

"D?"

"Dog!"

"E?"

"Elephant!"

And we continued until we finally went back inside, where Skye was waiting.

"Hey hun." he says with his cocky smile.

"What is it now?" I say with a laugh.

"You're going on a business trip tomorrow to Shangri-La. We found evidence Richtofen, my father, and the other two had escaped to there." he calmly said.

"Really!? Alright! Who's going with me?"

"No one."

"Oh."

I frown, eyes scrunching up slightly in anger. Why alone?

"Why...?" I ask with confusion.

"Because this is something that's very important to you. And we can't leave Edward here alone with...with....with the others!" Skye replied shakily.

It's true. We once left my co-worker, Dayna, to watch Edward, and when we returned, Edward was kicking and screaming. We never left him with anyone ever again.

"Alright. I'll pack tonight." I replied with a grin.

"Okay. I love you, Xena." Skye said, eyebrows raising.

"I love you, too." I told him, and dashed off to pack a small pack to bring along.

This would be fun.