Daniel Xander, Chapter 16: Aftermath

"I still can't believe you actually won. You aren't lying about that, are you?" Davy remarked for the thousandth time.
"Dude, you weren't there to see the look on Bartemius's face when Cecile collapsed." Daniel said, remembering when the old man had almost tripped while running over and staring at Cecile knocked out on the mat in disbelief. "He was absolutely speechless. He couldn't even find a taunt for me!"
"That's is something I would have paid to see." Said Davy with a glum expression.
They were on their way to the infirmary now. Daniel's victory had costed him a lot of blood. So much so that after taking a replenishment concoction from doc in the morning, he had to take one again now, in the evening. Davy seemed a bit reluctant to accompany Daniel to the infirmary and Daniel knew why. Cecile had been brought in shortly after Daniel's match, after they'd been unable to wake her up. Right now, she should be up. And Davy must have anticipated that, because when Daniel had asked him to accompany him to the infirmary, he'd gotten a bit fidgety. Daniel had delivered the news of his victory right after coming out of the infirmary. And the looks on all their faces had just made his victory moe worth it. Liz had jumped up, pumping her fist in the air. Sandra had heaved a sigh of relief. Penelope had just patted his shoulder with a satisfied smile. After a whole afternoon of celebration, all of them had headed off, while Daniel tried his newfound strength out. The realisation of his release from the weights had actually hit him after beating Cecile. He understood why Penelope had attacked him after releasing him, so that he could actually adapt while in combat.
The two of them stood infront of the infirmary door, Davy unusually stiff. Daniel held the door handle and pushed open the door.
For a school nurse's office, the infirmary was unusually big. Atleast twenty beds were lining both the walls to the sides, separated by curtains. At the moment, only one curtain was drawn; right at the bed at the corner of the room. The doc wasn't at his desk, which was kind of unusual. Cecile was most probably on the bed behind the drawn curtain. Was the doc giving her a prescription? But it didn't seem like that. Even from here, Daniel could hear a hushed conversation. Obviously, it couldn't be the doc. Davy tapped his shoulder and put his finger to his lips. Then, started to move towards the drawn curtain in an unexpectedly quiet way for someone so big. Daniel followed him as quietly as he could himself. As they approached the curtain, the voices became more comprehensible. They were definitely Cecile and Sandra's voices. Davy stopped short of the curtain and stared at it with a nervous expression. Daniel wondered if there shadows would be visible from the other side. If they were, the two girls clearly hadn't noticed because they continued talking. And now Daniel could hear them.
"....but I never thought I would get beaten like this. Not by someone like him." Cecile was saying, "I underestimated him."
"You sure did." Sandra replied, "So has your view of him improved at all?"
"It hasn't." Cecile said with an edge to her voice, "I don't think I will ever be able to stand him. He has too many people fawning over him. But I will leave him alone."
"But you won't apologize?" Sandra asked.
"Not in a million years." Cecile said firmly, "I can only go as far as to admit that he beat me. And he beat me in an honourable way. I think that can be commended."
"Right." Sandra said in a flat voice, "I don't think you should apologize either if you can't sincerely bring yourself to. But I think you owe an apology to someone else."
"Who? Madam?" Cecile asked, "I don't owe her an apology. I stick by my ideals. My grandfather brought me up. And he never lies. Samuel Xander was a villian and he will remain that way in my eyes."
"I don't mean Madam." Sandra said, "I mean me. And Davy too. But me first."
"What do I have to apologize to you for?" Cecile said casually, but behind that casual tone, Daniel could sense the nervousness.
"Oh, not much I suppose," said Sandra, her voice dripping with satisfaction, "maybe, except treating me like trash this whole time."
Cecile didn't reply, but somehow, Daniel could feel the tension in the air, like electricity.
"I wasn't treating you like trash." Said Cecile, "I was just trying to break you out of this delusion of yours."
"Delusion?"
"This whole thing about helping people." Said Cecile, "It's gonna get you nowhere-"
"Who are you to decide that?" Said Sandra, her voice furious, "Who are you to decide that for me? This is no delusion, Cecile! This is who I want to be! This is what I have chosen for myself. And I know you admired me for that. I just don't know what the hell happened that you changed all of a sudden. Frankly, that's not the point. You are my friend! You don't get to decide the path I choose for myself! It's almost like you want to control me and beat me up when I don't do what you like!"
"You know why I tried to break you out of that?" Cecile said suddenly, "It's because I am someone who's been out there and seen what it's like for people like you! The military doesn't care! No one cares! You will be left all alone if you walk this path! Sandra, I wasn't trying to control you. I wasn't. I might have done things to hurt you unintentionally, but that was me being tough on you."
"Tough on me?" Sandra asked in a constricted voice.
"You are one of the only people I have cared about. And you are also one of the only people who seemed to care back." Cecile replied, "When I saw you-when I saw you going out there and doing what no one has the guts to do-I got jealous. I felt ashamed. Ashamed of myself. I thought I was an embarrassment, with my fixation on the armed forces and fighting all the time. And you Sandra. You came from nowhere. And you managed to give more than I have ever seen anyone give. Not even Madam. You were an inspiration. But I knew-I know-that this will go forever unappreciated.
"I never tried to control you Sandra. I stopped holding back around you because I thought I might be able to influence you to get stronger. That was what Bartemius advised. He told me to be hard on the people I care about. He told me my kindness wasn't my true self and that it would be wrong to show you guys kindness. I thought by following his advice, I could influence you to become stronger. I am not shifting blame for how I acted. My actions were my own, albeit taken out after taking his advice. But I realised him talking about influence was just manipulation. I realised it much later.
"But it didn't work. And I was completely in awe. The arm incident was completely an accident. I have regretted driving you away since. But I was afraid you wouldn't forgive me. Or that Davy won't forgive me. So I had no choice. All I could do was lash out. And then Xander came by. And you know what happened later on.
"It may have seemed that I had grown to hate you. And I am sorry for that. I know an apology doesn't cut it. But that's all I have to give now. I will try Sandra. As best as I could to be better. And I will understand if you walk away now. I sincerely won't mind. I have been really stupid and so full of venom that I can't possibly ask you to stick around me."
"I won't walk away, Cecile." Sandra said, and her voice was completely constricted with emotion. There was a sniffle and then Sandra continued, "I will help you grow out of this, Cecile. I will help you. Because if there's one thing I really want to do, it's to help someone I really care about."
Cecile caught her breath, and then, in an equally constricted voice, she said, "I really care about you too, Sandra."
Suddenly, both girls wailed and there was a clasping noise from beyond the curtain. They were both crying, surely.
"You won't leave me? You will stick by?" Cecile asked in a vulnerable voice.
"I won't leave you." Sandra said.
"But what about Davy? Will he really be ok with this? After all, I have treated him badly too." Said Cecile.
"I can't speak for him." Said Sandra uncertainly.
"Honestly, I haven't appreciated what he has done for me enough. And he is friends with Xander now. But-but I really don't want to lose him. Lose either of you guys." Cecile said.
Davy stepped forward and pulled away the curtain. Just beyond, Cecile and Sandra were standing, facing each other. Daniel could feel himself cowering subconsciously.
"I am not going anywhere, Cecile." Said Davy loudly, "I will help you too! Whatever Bartemius has fed you, I will help you take it out!"
"Davy..." Cecile said, and for a moment, Daniel couldn't believe he was looking at the tough looking girl from Madron coffee house or Bartemius scholars accessories shop. He wasn't looking at the girl he'd faced off against this morning. He was looking at someone different. Her expression wasn't arrogant, but gentle and vulnerable, as if she couldn't believe Davy was offering to help her too. She looked like she was about to cry as a tear leaked from her eye. Then, her eyes fell on Daniel, and her expression changed.
"You!" She said loudly, her expression turning to fury, "You trash! You didn't beat me in our match, ok? How-how long have you been standing here anyway?"
"Sometime now." Daniel said in a tense voice.
"You-I-you!" She seemed to be at a loss for words. Then, "How dare you come here and eavesdrop? It seems you really lack family values."
"Calm down Cecile!" Said Sandra, throwing Daniel a look of caution, "He was just eavesdropping. Nothing serious. We all have done that sometime, you know?"
"He clearly looks very pleased to see me all vulnerable!" Cecile continued, as if determined to demean Daniel for something, "Of course, like father, like son! This is what growing up under the influence of Samuel Xander gets you-"
"Cecile, enough!" Sandra said sternly, "Daniel is our friend too! You don't know what he's like-"
"I know plenty!" Said Cecile sneering, "A leech, is what he is! Leeching off of Madam and Penelope Sherman!"
"You know, for someone admired by so many people, you sure spew a lot of venom." Said Daniel through gritted teeth.
Everyone in the room fell silent. Cecile was staring at him as if he'd just dropped from the sky. Davy's eyes were darting between all of them.
"Samuel Xander this, Samuel Xander that." Daniel said, feeling a balloon of anger expanding in his chest, "Is this what all this has been about. This unnecessary animosity? Because people like you can't move out of the past? Fine by me. Continue living in the past. I don't care. But before talking about my family, I hope you know what your family has done."
"Daniel!" Davy said loudly, his expression fearful, "Don't!"
Sandra and Cecile just looked at them, confused.
"You care about her, don't you?" Daniel asked, "So why keep her in the dark? So that she can continue on like this? Harbouring this hate, this hostility against me and my parents? I may not know much, but a caring friend shouldn't his the truth from their friend."
"Ok, wait just a second." Said Sandra, "What are you two even talking about?"
"This isn't about me or our friendship-" said Davy, apparently not hearing Sandra, but Daniel cut through him.
"Yeah, this isn't about you," Daniel said, "this is about me. It's about the animosity she feels against me. And let me tell you, I don't want to have a fight like this in the future. I don't wanna be held responsible for something that isn't my fault and I sure as hell don't wanna be attacked for it."
"Ok, this is getting ridiculous." Said Sandra angrily, "What are you two talking about."
"I am talking about how Cecile here doesn't know what her grandfather did, and how she holds me and my father responsible for what happened to her family." Daniel said.
"Wait, what?" Said Sandra in surprise, whipping her head towards Cecile who was just standing there, dumbfounded. "You don't know?"
"Know what?" Cecile asked, her eyes wide.
"About why your grandfather was exiled." Daniel said.
"It was because of Samuel Xander." She said, though she herself sounded uncertain, "My grandfather told me as much."
"Because of Samuel Xander? How?" Sandra asked.
"I-I don't know! Don't ask me!" Cecile stammered, "I don't know..."
"Your grandfather killed his underlings." Daniel said grimly, "If I am not wrong, after my dad saved Joseph Brown-Liz's dad-the government had to dispel the sworn protection oath because of Joseph Brown's inability to save people and instant replacements being unavailable. If I am remembering correctly, the then leader of Faction Leopard was your grandfather, who went onto rampages and even killed his own men."
"No-no-no way." Cecile stammered. She had turned really pale. "No way."
"Cecile," Sandra said gently as Cecile slumped down onto the bed, "I am so sorry. I thought you knew-"
"No way!" Cecile roared suddenly, "You lie!"
"I don't!" Daniel shouted himself, matching her fury. Finally, he was letting go of something he'd been feeling uncertain about all this time, like a spike in his heart. Training with and getting to know Penelope had helped distract him from this, but he wasn't distracted anymore.
All this time, somewhere inside him, he'd felt that everyone's anger at his father was justified. He'd fought to defend himself, not his father's honour. But now, thinking about it sickened him. Whatever his father had done, none of it mattered. His father was still the greatest man he knew. He'd heard enough about his father from these people. No one had the right to attack his father for a decision that hadn't had anything to do with any of these people.
"Move away from the past, Cecile." He continued, "It's not gonna do you any favours. Your grandfather's actions were the reason for his suffering. Not my father's actions. And I am not hearing another word against my father from your mouth again."
Cecile was breathing hard. Her eyes were teary. Davy was looking down at his feet. Sandra however had a stern expression on her face. She turned to Davy.
"You kept this from her?" She said sternly.
"Well, so did you and Bruce!" Davy said accusingly.
"I-I thought she already knew!" Sandra said, "I mean, it's her family!"
"I only recently found out! How do you think I could have broken it to her?"
"Well-"
"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" Cecile shouted at the top of her lungs.
Everyone looked at her. She was biting her lower lip and tears were flowing from her eyes.
"Just leave." She said in a choked voice.
None of them needed telling twice. The three of them left the infirmary at once.