Question You can Choose Your Friends....

Parents' Day, Late Afternoon
The Quad, Whateley Academy[/quote] Martina having to deal with a bully on Parents' Day in front of her mom, this girl is a piece of work. Giorgio, someone Tatiana knows, oh great. At least Giorgio seems to tell his daughter not to make a scene, she still doesn't get that Whateley is neutral grounds.

From all she'd heard, Giorgio Volante, also known as the hero Pugno Silenzioso, was a boisterous man.

Okay, just what is going on with him? Martina worried for her mom despite Whateley Academy's Neutrality. Tatiana seduced a married man just to distract him from her team, I would be majorly upset after she pulled that too. And she has to tell him the truth about Martin/Martina, eek.

Tatiana winced, and then slowly nodded. "Marty was your son," she said with a strange calmness in her voice, belying her jangled nerves. As she spoke, she reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. "Now daughter." She handed a picture to the Italian hero.

"You are sure of that?" As he stared at the picture, doubt faded from his voice.

Tatiana nodded. "One hundred percent."

That means one of Martina's worst enemies at Whateley is her half-sister. *eyes bug out* They must not find out or it could destroy them.

"I didn't want to do that – to make things awkward for your family. What would you have done if she showed up? What would that have done to your family?" She sighed. "Someday, I think they will both need to know, but ... right now, that would be ... difficult – for both of them." She smiled. "From what Martina says, your daughter adores her father. It'd be a shame for that to be ruined by our indiscretion all those years ago, don't you?"

Right now, just keep the two girls in the dark is for the best.

"And it wasn't 'just a job'. Not entirely," she whispered softly.

Ouch, what could have been.

Parents' Day, Early Evening
Outside Schuster Hall, Whateley Academy

Okay, what happened with Martina that I'm not recalling right now? Winter camping in Norway, that will be a unique camping trip. Aliases for each of them, I wonder how many years it will be before they can live in peace.

Parents' Day, Late Evening
Outside Schuster Hall, Whateley Academy

Imp is such a great teacher taking care of her student's art projects with care. Martina alone at a table in the quad this late, I wonder did she somehow overhear what her mom and Giorgio were discussing?

"I don't know," Martina replied softly. For a moment, she was silent, then just before Imp spoke, the girl talked again. "What would you do if your mom lied to you?" she asked.

Imp's eyebrows rose. "Well, I suppose ... sometimes a parent might have to lie to protect a child." Her eyes narrowed. "Why? Do you think your mom lied to you?"

D'oh! She definitely overhead.

Tatiana needs to work on her situational awareness and realize her daughter might come back to ask her what she wants for lunch before starting that discussion. Now Martina knows who her father is and that Christina Volante is her half-sister. Martina is a good kid, all the things she could do to Christina with this information, and decides to do nothing.

"Knowing that I'm Christina's half-sister – what if her mother left her father? What if she started hating her dad?" Martina shook her head. "It wouldn't do anyone any good." She stared blankly across the quad. "I'm .... I guess I'm not doing anything."

If Christina heard all this, including how Martina isn't going to use the information, I think she might just faint in shock. Imp is great as a big sister/2nd mother for Martina.

Imp watched her walk off, wondering to herself if she'd have been able to raise a girl even half as mature as Martina. Tatiana had done a good job as a mother, and Imp was a little envious.

A wonderful story, short but sweet with something I never even suspected about Martina or her connection to Christina. And once again shows how mature Martina is, not just for a girl her age, but for any age.

Unexpected family connections seems to be a running theme of g1y2, Given the level of rivalry between Setup and Pugno, I think Whateley is one of the few places where they could have had that meeting without things going south quickly. On the up side, they were able to have a much needed conversation.

While it would be interesting if Christina had also overheard the conversation (I think any situational awareness on the part of the adults went out the window, given the subject matter), it feels like she is too 'baked' in her opinions for the reality of the situation to change them. A scene playing out in my head is Martina offering a truce to Christina (without any explanation), and the offer being immediately turned down. A piece of me wonders if the only person who could talk Christina down from her high horse is her mother.

Martina definitely showed her maturity, and her mother should be proud that she raised her daughter right (or as right as she could). Imp may not be Mischief's birth mother, but she has a chance to help the daughter of her heart be the best woman she can be. And there's always Karma, when the time comes.