She was out by the time he got back into the room and climbed into bed with her. He pulled her into his arms and wrapped them around her until he too gave in to the weariness of the long night.
The dream started out like so many others he’d had over the years. She was running through a field of flowers and he followed, calling out for her to wait, to not enter the woods where he knew danger awaited. Like always she kept going and he felt the fear hit him in the bowels like it always did as he tried to catch up. No matter how fast he went, he could never make up the distance between them.
This time the dream changed though and she waited for him at the edge of the woods. She looked…different, somehow. Her face no longer carried the soft roundness of youth; instead he was staring down at an older even more beautiful version of the little sister that he’d lost. He looked down between them as she reached out and took his hand. It felt so real in his, that little hand that he remembered so well.
“Stefano.” He was taken aback by how real that sounded, how real everything appeared. He knew he was asleep, and that this was a dream, what else could it be after all? but it felt so completely different from all the others that had come before.
She led him away from the woods and to a meadow hidden on the other side. There was a garden there, with stone benches and those little fountain statues. Butterflies of every color flew around and he could hear birds chirping in the branches of the trees. He could even smell the sweet scent of the flowers, and feel the sun on his face.
“Alice…what?”
“Shh.” She held her finger up to her lips as she pulled him down next to her on one of those benches. There was a stream there unlike any he’d ever seen before. He watched the water as it flowed calmly and waited for her to begin. A part of him knew what this was, knew that it was a little more than a dream, yet he couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He never was any good at the hoo doo shit.
“I’ve missed you Stefano, all these years I’ve been wanting to come to you, but it wasn’t the time.” She smiled and squeezed his hand as he looked down at her. “She’s something isn’t she?” He knew who she was talking about, his Jenna, so he just nodded his head.
“You mustn’t stay mad at her you know, your anger can hurt her more than any bullet ever could.”
“What am I supposed to do? She doesn’t listen, and she’s gonna get herself killed. I thought she needed me, but she doesn’t does she? She can take care of herself well enough without me…”
“Is that what you think? Nothing can be farther from the truth; she needs you more than ever. It’s hard to explain but I’ll try. You see; your Jenna has no real understanding of the things she’s capable of. It’s almost like being programmed, only no one programmed her, it’s just the way her brain works.”
“She sucks up information like a sponge and she watches everything around her, then she implements it. But she has no real understanding of the way this world works. She compartmentalizes things, like this last thing here. She knew her dad was in trouble and that he was scared. In her way of doing things, she worked out the dynamics and did what she thought she needed to do. That’s how her mind works, like fitting the pieces of a puzzle together, very methodical.”
“She senses things, and there have been times when I’ve given her a little nudge here and there, like when that pig had her hacking into places. But in essence, she really is just the innocent you thought her to be when you first met.”
“How do you know that?” she took a while to answer, and when she did all she would say is ‘I know you both’.
“Do you know how they say that there is someone made for everyone? Well in this case it’s true. She was made for you and you her. The day you were dying, she came to me, not I her. Your pain was so great that day that it reached out to her, she was too young to understand what was really going on I think, but she found you in that moment.” She smiled in fond memory.
“A lot of what she does now is to protect you, I told her once in a dream that your heart was broken. I don’t know exactly what she made of that, but from then on she’s gotten it into her head that she has to protect you. She’s fiercely protective of those she loves.”
“What you’re afraid of though is no longer necessary, everything has been taken care of, and unless she finds herself in that position again, you have no worry of her running off and getting into danger again. I’m sure you’ll protect her from such things in the future. Besides, the children will keep her too occupied for much else.” She laughed loud and long as if at some private joke.
He felt his heart jump at the mention of children, and before he could form the words she answered him. “Yes, your flower is with child, it’s early days yet but your son will be here before you know it.” He wanted to stay and talk with her like this forever, but he wanted even more to get back to his Jenna. Then he felt guilty for the thought.
“There’s no need to feel guilty Stefano, I’m your past she and your children are your future. I’m happy for you, happy that we had this.”
“Will I see you again?”
“Who knows, I’ll be around some, but who’s to tell if we’ll need to do this again? Go my brother, go and be happy. You no longer have to worry about me, and remember, you didn’t fail me; those men were at fault, never you. I never held you responsible, for any of it. You were and will always be, my perfect big brother.”