Aurora waved Oriana over and smiled at her before handing her the envelope she’d snagged off Billy’s desk.  “This should settle things with us for Tara’s training and Venice.”  

Oriana slipped the envelope into her pocket without opening it. “Thanks. Between you and me, I think I’m down to my last… dollar fifty or so.”

“Oriana.” Billy paused a second to decide whether or not to put on his Godfather skin, or his Tara-father skin. In the end, he couldn’t decide so just Billy it was. 

“Thank you. Really. For everything. If it wasn’t for you things would be very different around here, and I honestly suspect it would be much worse the wear. For what it’s worth, my door is always open to you. Sunday dinner, or Thursday night. Doesn’t matter. You’re family.” He nudged Aurora to stand and then opened his arms to Oriana. 

“I know you’re probably not much of a physical person, but I like to hug my family when I say thank you. Do you mind? Indulge an old man.”

Oriana obviously wasn’t sure how to respond- at least for a moment. On the one hand, he seemed nice enough- though the last time she’d seen him he had been threatening to torture her. Still, that was a while ago. Tara would probably want her to. Goddamn it. She stepped forward and hugged Billy with her left arm; her muscles were so tense that it was like hugging a steel trap. “I’m… not much of a hugger,” she said as she squeezed him with her left arm and detached herself.

Aurora gave Oriana a sympathetic look.  “Come on Billy, I’ll introduce you to the girls.”

“I’ll come by for dinner... sometime.”

Aurora smiled.  “That would be nice.”  Putting a hand on Billy’s shoulder she gently tried to urge him to leave Oriana to her goodbyes

“I know you’ve got a lot on your plate at the moment, Don Mastrosimone. Perhaps I can come by for a longer talk with you in a few days.” With a smile, she makes her polite goodbyes and heads off down the hall to say goodbye to Tara.

***

Tara had finally begun to relax in her room- despite it not feeling like her room at all- when she felt the hair on the back of her neck start to tingle. Her hand slowly moved toward her gun, but she exhaled and relaxed when she saw Malcolm watching her from the doorway to her room.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

Tara nodded and sat up, she opened her arms to him.  “YOU. I missed the most.” She said warmly. “Have you kept them all in line while I was away?  Jack staying out of trouble. Izzy being nice to everyone?” Malcolm couldn’t have prevented those two things even if he tried.  Izzy had an attitude and Jack was Jack, but it seemed like a fun thing to ask, to make light and start a conversation. The boy, thankfully, was talking more and approaching people and that was a start.

“The most?” he asked, as he raised a skeptical eyebrow. “No one is in line, and everyone’s in trouble, mostly. Except me.”

“Well that’s because you weren’t raised in this zoo like I was.  Lucky duck. You know how normal people behave.” She chuckled. “How are you doing?  School working out so far? Making any friends?”

“I guess. I’m good at reading. Some friends. I’m just sad a lot, but everyone says that’s okay. I just miss my mom and dad. A lot.”

She nodded, “I bet they are missing you too buddy, but I know they’d be really proud of how you’ve settled in here.  You did a pretty brave thing taking the train all the way here to the city, then coming to live with people you barely knew.  I can’t imagine how hard all those things were on top of missing your mom and dad. You’re probably the strongest of any of the Byrnes.  Your scars are beautiful.” She smiled at him. “And you’re gonna be okay. I know it without a doubt. Do you want to know why?”

Mal looked skeptical again. “Why?”

“Close your eyes.” The boy obeyed instantly. “ When I tell you to open them, I want you to pretend that you are your Dad.  I want you to tell me what he’d say to you right now. You gotta say it just like him. Make me think you’re Uncle Will. I’ll know if you don’t do your best.  What would your dad say to you?”

Malcolm was quiet for a long time. “I don’t want to say it.”

“But you know it don’t you?  You can hear his voice in your head, telling you the thing that he would say… your mom too.  Right?”

Malcolm nodded.

Tara reached out her hand and took Malcolm’s.  “No one can take them from you. Not really. Not ever.  Hang on to them. It hurts to think about their faces and voices but they live in you now.  Their strength and courage… their love… it’s who you are. And you’ll add to that in time. Aunt Aurora.  Uncle Billy. Me. We’ll each give you something to take with you on your own journey - to tell your own stories.  That’s how it works. Family is everything Mal. Don’t forget it.”  

“I won’t.” He got up to leave, then paused in the doorway. “Izzy told me that you were going to kill the people who killed my mom and dad. Did you?”

Tara drew a breath.  

“Viola died helping me find Ori.  She was shot by a sniper who was trying to kill me.  She was an assassin who killed your parents because she was paid to, most likely as a way hurt my mom because she loved your father so much.  Serena… she was the other woman. An assassin. Also paid to kill your parents. Like Viola they both had horrible lives and terrible deaths. Serena and Viola will never hurt anyone ever again.”

“Good. Thank you.” With a sad smile, he started to leave the room.

Tara nodded.  “Malcolm?”

“Yea?”

“It can end there.  That can be the end of all the terrible, if you want it to be.  I know you’re smart enough to know that Aunt Aurora and Uncle Billy love you but they are who they are… but it’s not who you need to be.  You have so many choices. Please understand that is the real gift your father was fighting to give you - it wasn’t just revenge for his mother’s death.  It was so you might have the ability to pick whatever life you wanted for yourself. He can rest in peace now and you can be whoever you choose to be, just the way he always wanted.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Exhausted, Tara threw herself back on her bed as soon as Malcolm turned the corner.

***

She woke up with the realization that someone was biting her lower lip- and it wasn’t herself. Tara opened her eyes to find two grey ones staring at her.

Tara inhaled sharply and lashed her tongue out across Oriana’s upper lip.  Ori could see the smile in Tara’s weary brown eyes as she let out a soft approving noise and reached up to pull Oriana down to her bed.  In the short few days they’d had together, Tara had already discovered her favorite place to nuzzle into, the exact way her body fit together snugly with her lover’s and as if by muscle memory she tried to return to it.

“Your mother asked why we were in Naples so long. I told her you had a business deal.”

“You should have told her that I had to spend several days exploring every part of you until I could navigate your curves by memory… that would have been something to see her react to.”  She chuckled playfully. “You dodge knives well though so… I wouldn’t have been worried.”

Oriana shrugged, then twisted around to sit on the bed.

“I could take her. She knows it. I know it. Nothing to prove.” She smirked, but it faded. “I’ve got to go, though.”

“I know.”  Tara said quietly.  “Manhattan isn’t so far away though, I mean, it’s not like Venice.  I’m sure we’ll see each other soon… right?”

“Yeah. Give me a couple of days to figure out what I still have here.”

“Sounds good.  I think I’ve got a few things to occupy my time too.  So, no rush. You know how to find me if you find a free moment.  I suspect you could track me down if I pulled a disappearing act too, so… no worries.”  She kissed Oriana softly before leaning her forehead against the other woman’s and speaking again, “I will miss this though.  I don’t think I’ll sleep half so well without you beside me… but it’ll make me excited to see you again, so that’s something.”

“Good.” Oriana smirked.

Tara caressed the other woman’s cheek, trying to imprint that softness in her mind until the next time she might feel it again.

Ori didn’t say anything, but she started to pull away before kissing Tara again. Then, without looking back, she left the room.

Tara leapt out of her bed and ran down the hall ambushing the woman at the top of the stairs with another kiss.  “Okay.” she said when she finished, blushing furiously. “Now you can go.”

Jack froze at the bottom of the stairs, holding a sandwich in his mouth staring blankly at the two women.

Ori walked down the stairs and said, “He didn’t see anything”.

Jack shook his head, clearly agreeing that he saw nothing.  Nothing at all.

Cerise rested a hand on one shoulder, while Azure rested her hand on the other. “You seem smart,” said Indigo. “What’s your name?” asked Sage. Grinning, Ori made her way outside.

With her thumbs in her belt loop, she studied the New York sky and took a deep breath.

Home.