((OCC this thread is the second in the December plot and immediately follows Broken Things))

Kate walked into her room feeling numb. She had spent the last hour or so crying in Mrs. Taylor’s office. She had tried to get a hold of herself, but every time she thought she had regained control she would lose it again. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was flushed and tear stained, it was obvious she had been crying. She had kept her head down and walked on auto pilot all the way to her room in an attempt to avoid those terrifying questions, ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘Why were you/are you crying?’ Horrible things she didn’t want to answer, she didn’t want to say them out loud and make them real. She took a shaky breath and moved into the closet.

The closet was large enough that she could place her suitcase in the center and still have enough room to move around. She ran her hand along the line of dresses hanging on the far wall of the small room. She had so many bright colors and fun fabrics; she didn’t feel much like bright colors and fun fabrics right now.

At the end of the line stood her full length mounted mirror, she looked at her floral pattered dress and started ripping at the zipper. She needed to get it off and now. She couldn’t look bright and cheery when she was so far from it.

As she grabbed at the zipper she lost it again and collapsed into a pathetic heap on the ground of her closet. She curled up into a ball with her head between her legs and her hands still grasping at the top of her zipper. How could this happen? How could the woman who took care of her when she was sick and tended to her when she was hurt and picked her up every time she fell, just be gone? Kate let the tears fall once more and wondered if she would ever be able to stop crying. At this point it seemed so unlikely.

Maya was on her way to talk to Kate; she heard from the kids in her class that she was called into Miss Taylor's office, and that was never a good sign. Even if she just had a guest, you could never know - Maya was drawn by her own curiosity to find out what happened. She couldn't find anyone in the office, so she decided to try Kate's room.

"Kate?" she peeked in through the mirror. She was used to walking in like this, Kate usually didn't seem to mind. She was just her friend who was a girl who was a boy sometimes. "Princ..."

The she saw the girl on the floor, weeping.

"Kate?" she asked, more worried now, and hopped out of the mirror, kneeling down "Kate, what happened? Are you hurt?"

She didn't look hurt. She just looked... broken.

>>Kate? Kate, what happened? Are you hurt?

Maya? Kate looked up and sure enough there was the only person she could possibly be okay with crying like this to. Maya may not have looked like the person that the outside world tended to see Kate with, but she was. For some reason this was something that never bothered Kate, she just saw them as the same person and that was the end of it all. She liked Maya and Gawain to much to make it more complicated and hurt the relationship.

“…” Kate tried to speak and tell Maya what was wrong and all that came out was sound. She was so upset at this point that she has lost the ability to speak. She had to keep trying though. She had been able to speak in the office. What was different this time was she had really let her emotions go, since she had been alone. There was no one there to seem strong for. No one there that she needed to hide from. Kate was raised to be the head of a family and a household. Therefore, loosing complete control in front of employees was not acceptable and Kate would not do it.

"Oh boy." Maya muttered, looking at Kate. She really was... sad. Something very, very bad happened to her, and Maya had no way of telling what it was.

"C'mere" she muttered, pulling Kate into a hug. She really had no idea what to say, so she just hugged her, giving her time to cry, or to compose herself. She had time, and Kate needed time. Maya felt warm tears on her face, and she hummed a little, stroking the girls hair.

"Shhh, it's okay" she murmured "Ya're gonna be okay."

Hopefully.

>>C'mere

Kate clinged to Maya for dear life and buried her face into the other girls shoulder, it was the only way she felt like she could stay grounded. It was as if she would float away if she didn’t hold onto something.

They sat there with Kate sobbing into Maya’s shoulder for a solid half hour before Kate could even breath evenly let alone speak. And once she had actually regained that ability she pulled away from Maya and looked her in the eyes searching for the right way to tell her best friend the terrible news.

”I need to go back to England. Apparently my mother sick and she passed away this morning.” Kate started to lose control again but quickly regained it with a few gasps for breath.

They sat like that for a very long time, Kate crying and Maya holding her; the fire girl finally seemed to pull herself together enough to speak.

>>”I need to go back to England. Apparently my mother sick and she passed away this morning.”

Maya's eyes widened. That was heartbreaking news. She still remembered the days after her mother went missing, how lost she felt, and how she missed her ever since. And even though her mother was not dead, or at last she had hope that she wasn't, the pain felt the same.

"I am so sorry." she whispered, with an arm still around the girl's shoulders "I'm... so sorry, Kate."

She let the girl calm down a bit. "Are you going alone?..." she asked quietly.

>>I am so sorry. I'm... so sorry, Kate. Are you going alone?...


“Jensen is here to take me back and I will have everyone at Kirby Hall, but other than that no. I’m going alone.” Kate stared over Maya’s shoulder with this blank and yet very sad expression on her face, “All alone.” There was far more than just and answer in that statement. It was how she was beginning to feel with every passing moment since she had been told about her mother. She was alone in the world. No family left to protect her. No one left to love her.

>>“Jensen is here to take me back and I will have everyone at Kirby Hall, but other than that no. I’m going alone. All alone.”

"Well... that sucks." Maya muttered, stroking her hair "I mean, I'm sure people love you there, and all. But."

She sighed; she really didn't know what she should say, or what she should offer. She was really not that experienced in comforting peope.

"Listen, Kate" she muttered, glancing at her "Do you want me to tag along? I mean, it's not like I've got the money or anythin', but I'm pretty good at sneaking into places. And it's not like I've got anything else to be here for right now."

And it was the least a friend could do.

>>Listen, Kate, Do you want me to tag along? I mean, it's not like I've got the money or anythin', but I'm pretty good at sneaking into places. And it's not like I've got anything else to be here for right now...

Kate looked at Maya once again. She looked into Maya’s eyes trying to see if what she had said was only because she felt bad or was it because she actually wanted to come with Kate. To help Kate. Maybe Kate wasn’t alone. Maybe her mother had been so wrong about the world. People weren’t cruel and judgmental, they were good and caring. Kate hadn’t met one person that hadn’t had good intentions deep down at their core. Gawain. Maya. Sam. Andrew. Twyla. Mrs. Taylor. All of them would be there for her and she knew that. Kate had yet to see the things her mother had said she was protecting her from. It dawned on Kate that her mother had died locked in a tower, never really seeing the world for what it was and she wasn’t going to let the same thing happen to her.

Some of the sadness dissipated as a new determination was set forth in Kate and she smiled weakly at Maya, “That would be nice, but why would you have to sneak?” Kate wasn’t sure exactly why Maya thought that she had to sneak her way into the county. Kate had more than enough money and resources to bring her back with her, and she thought that Maya had noticed that by now.

>>“That would be nice, but why would you have to sneak?”

Kate seemed to calm down a bit, hearing her suggestion. Maya smiled at her, and wiped some tears away from her face. She still felt hot. That was healthy for her.

"Well, it's either that, or ya're payin' for my plane ticket, Princess." she grinned "I wouldn't object if you did, but, y'know. Being a knight and all that."

She sighed, and kissed Kate on the forehead. "I can't let you go alone. I lost my mother too, that's not somethin' you should deal with all by yourself."

The tears seemed to be fading fast with Maya’s help and soon they were gone. Kate was still very sad of course, but something about Maya’s presence seemed to calm her enough to be able to keep from being a broken and crying ball on the floor.

>>Well, it's either that, or ya're payin' for my plane ticket, Princess. I wouldn't object if you did, but, y'know. Being a knight and all that.

Kate closed her eyes as Maya kissed her on the forehead.

>>I can't let you go alone. I lost my mother too, that's not somethin' you should deal with all by yourself.

“To tell you the truth Maya, I’m not so sure we will be able to take a public plane on such a short time table, but if it is I don’t mind buying you a ticket at all. Though, I wish you could be seeing my home under better circumstances. I was kind of hoping to bring you and some of my other friends there over the summer to meet my mother and the rest of the Kirby Hall residents. It would have been fun, but now I don’t know if it would be so much fun anymore.” Kate looked off into nothing really and realized that her home would never be the same.

>>“ I was kind of hoping to bring you and some of my other friends there over the summer to meet my mother and the rest of the Kirby Hall residents. It would have been fun, but now I don’t know if it would be so much fun anymore.”

"Maybe not not" Maya sighed "... but it's still your home. Maybe later on we'll all go back there. And have tons of fun." she smiled a bit "So, we're leaving in a hurry? Do you need help with something righ now?" she asked, looking around "Y'know... anything."

She really didn't know what kind of help to offer; she was willing to d anything to make Kate feel better. Like, helping her pack. Or... whatever.

"I'll need to find someone to take care of Angua." she muttered to herself.

>>Maybe not…but it's still your home. Maybe later on we'll all go back there. And have tons of fun. So, we're leaving in a hurry? Do you need help with something righ now? Y'know... anything. I'll need to find someone to take care of Angua.

Kate couldn’t help but smile, even if it was smaller than small, and hugged Maya, almost knocking her to the ground with the force behind it, “Thank you. You are the best friend anyone could ask for.” Kate pulled away and glanced at her dresses again, “I need to pack but my clothes just don’t seem appropriate right now. I never really realized how cheery I dress.”

Kate stood and pulled out a few things, throwing them on the small ottoman in the center of the room. They were probably the least bright clothes she owned.

>>“Thank you. You are the best friend anyone could ask for. I need to pack but my clothes just don’t seem appropriate right now. I never really realized how cheery I dress.”

Maya let Kate tackle her and she huggd her; at least the worst of the crying was over, for now.
"It's the least I can do." she muttered, rubbing her back. She knew the funeral was going to be hard for her to get through, and returning to a home that changed a lot would be difficult too. It was really the least she could do to go with her.

"All right, I'll leave you to packing" she nodded, standing up "I'll go get ready too. I need to find a sitter for Angua. If you need anythin', you know where to find me."

>>All right, I'll leave you to packing. I'll go get ready too. I need to find a sitter for Angua. If you need anythin', you know where to find me.

Kate looked at Maya one more time, "Thank you." She said it from the bottom of her heart, this meant a lot to her.

She then turned back to the clothes and started the packing process.