"Maddie have you seen Annie?" asked Curtis as he walked into the library as Maddie looked up from the book she was reading.
"Umm no, I don't know where she is" said Maddie very simply.
"I see" said Curtis.
"Yes, why don't you try contacting her?" asked Maddie.
"I can't, something is blocking me from doing that" said Curtis.
"Well aren't we supposed to be worried that you can't reach her??" asked Maddie in concern.
"Not at all, if she was in danger, I would know, but right now she's fine, I just don't know where exactly she is" said Curtis.
"Well she was with uncle Capi, I think they went out" said Maddie.
"Well that's fine, there is nothing to worry about, she's fine" said Curtis.
"Okay then" said Maddie.
"Maddie" called Curtis.
"Yes Curtis?" asked Maddie as she looked at Curtis.
"You know that you do not need to be forced by anyone to forgive who you don't want to forgive" said Curtis.
"I don't agree with the many ideas Stella, Annie and everyone else have" said Curtis.
"You are the only one that has the choice to make decisions about your own life" said Curtis.
"Are you advising me Curtis?" asked Maddie as she smiled.
"I am advising you, and I am also worried that with everyone's expectations you will end up making a decision just because of them and not because of you" replied Curtis simply.
"Aww Curtis, I never knew that you could be so sweet, you worry about me" said Maddie as she smiled and Curtis just shot her a look that read 'Don't push it'
"Of course I worry about you, just like I worry about Annie, she cares about you, too much that she's being a bit selfish" said Curtis.
"Well Curtis, you don't have to worry, no one is forcing me, no one can force me to do anything I don't want to do" said Maddie.
"Annie, Matt, Aunt Stella and the others just care for me, and they worry about me just like you do" said Maddie as she smiled.
"And if I chose to forgive Clove, it's not because of them, but because of me" said Maddie.
"It would do me some good to forgive, because holding grudges isn't good" said Maddie as she smiled and she stood up.
"I am glad that you worry about me, sometimes, you can be very sweet" said Maddie as she hugged Curtis and she smiled.
"Even though we do butt heads a lot" said Maddie as she broke their hug.
"Just because I argue with you Maddie doesn't mean I don't care, I argue because I care" said Curtis plainly.
"And I argue because sometimes I don't trust you Curtis, I think you are crazy" said Maddie as she laughed.
"You show that a lot, regardless, make sure that you are forgiving Clove for the right reasons" said Curtis, he was seeing this from a mature point of view, if Maddie was to reconcile with Clove now and then something was to happen later, it would cause Maddie more harm than good.
And to be honest, if there was someone less emotionally stable out of all of them, it would be Maddie, she could not keep her emotions in check, and Curtis did not want this to end up going the wrong way, which would in turn hurt everyone.
"Look Curtis, it is for the right reasons, Annie said something that made me rethink everything" said Maddie.
"She said that Clove and I are victims of Azazel, I mean she did not choose to meet Azazel, and I did not choose to be his daughter, believe me, I would have rather been a tree than his unfortunate daughter" said Maddie.
"Clove doesn't know what she did, she doesn't remember, which makes her just as innocent as anyone else" said Maddie.
"This could be a new start for Clove and I to live without him, cut off all ties" said Maddie.
"Hmm, Maddie you should know that there Is a possibility that you will not be able to cut off all ties" said Curtis.
"You should know that one fact remains, you are his daughter, like it or not" said Curtis.
"I refuse to be called his daughter, we have no ties" said Maddie.
"That's what you think" replied Curtis.
"Curtis, don't make me start to hate you again, we were getting along so well, don't ruin it please" said Maddie.
"Alright Maddie, fine" said Curtis as he felt that Maddie was denying a fact, and he was sure that it would come back to harm her, no matter what, she was still Azazel's daughter.
"I will go and find Annie" said Curtis.
"Good, yes, you go do that" said Maddie as she did not want to argue with Curtis.
"See you later" said Curtis.
"See you" said Maddie as Curtis walked away and she sighed, and shook her head, why did Curtis always have to ruin things.
…
Maddie was walking to her room when she heard voices coming from in there, at first she thought that it was Annie and Clove talking, but she was surprised when she opened the door of her room.
"Oh hi Maddie" said Lisa as she smiled and she looked at Maddie who was surprised.
"Hi Maddie" said Clove with a smile.
"Hi Aunt, you are here?" asked Maddie in confusion.
"Yes, I had to drop of some of Annie's laundry, and some of yours as well, and I happened to meet Clove, she's so sweet" said Lisa as she smiled.
"Oh you are exaggerating Lisa" said Clove as she laughed.
"Right…" said Maddie.
"Are you done reading Maddie?" asked Clove with a smile as Maddie nodded.
"I am" said Maddie.
"That's nice" said Clove with a smile.
"Maddie, help me convince Clove have lunch with us, I mean, an official lunch" said Lisa as she smiled.
"Well I don't know, she's busy, right Clove?" asked Maddie as she looked at Clove.
"Well no, not today, I'm not, let's have lunch together… oh I mean, if you want me to" said Clove as she smiled.
"No, no, of course you are allowed to" said Maddie.
"Great, I will be expecting you for lunch then, see you" said Lisa as she smiled and she left the room.
"Annie's mom really is something" said Clove as she laughed.
"Yes… that's Aunt Lisa for you" said Maddie.
"So what were you two talking about?" asked Maddie as she was curious.
"Well nothing much really, she invited me over for lunch, and we just chatted a bit" said Clove.
"I see" said Maddie.
"Yes, does it bother you that I spoke to Lisa?" asked Clove as Maddie sat on her bed.
"No, it doesn't bother me, I mean why would it bother me? You are allowed to speak to whoever you want to speak to" said Maddie.
"Okay, I just wanted to check, so I wouldn't be overstepping my boundaries" said Clove as she smiled.
"You don't need to check in with me, anything you do is fine" said Maddie.
"Thank you Maddie" said Clove as she smiled and she hugged Maddie as Maddie smiled a bit, it felt silly, it would seem that the mother, daughter relationship had been turned upside down.
"We should go now, Aunt seems really excited to have you over for lunch" said Maddie.
"Oh well, okay then" said Clove as she smiled.
…
"Thank you for inviting me to lunch Lisa, it was wonderful" said Clove as she looked at Lisa and she smiled.
"Oh you don't have to thank me Clove, it was nice having you here" said Lisa as she smiled and Clove smiled.
"Maddie, I'm making dinner tonight, and I could use your help with the desert" said Lisa as she smiled.
"Aunt, please tell me it's chocolate cake?" asked Maddie.
"It's chocolate cake" said Lisa as she laughed.
"Then you have my help" said Maddie as she laughed.
"More like she has your help licking the batter" said Annie as she laughed and she shook her head as everyone else laughed.
"I wonder how she doesn't get sick from licking the batter?" asked Matt as he shook his head.
"That's because unlike most people, I have an iron stomach" said Maddie as she laughed.
"Sure you do" said Annie as she shook her head and Clove laughed, everyone here was just so nice and funny.
"I'm really sorry now, but I have to leave, this was wonderful" said Clove as she smiled.
"Oh that's fine Clove, see you for dinner?" asked Lisa as she smiled and Clove looked at Maddie.
"Yes" said Clove as she smiled and they exchanged greetings as she stood up and Maddie excused herself as she followed after Clove.
"They are starting to get along well, that makes me happy" said Lisa as she smiled and she looked at John who smiled.
"I am happy for them too" said Annie as she smiled.
Clove remembered that she had to change into her training outfit so she walked in the direction of their room as Maddie followed after her and she smiled.
"All your friends are so nice" said Clove as she smiled.
"Yes, they are" said Maddie as she smiled and Clove opened the door to their room as they both walked in.
"You are so lucky to have people who care for you" said Clove as she smiled.
"I know I am, I consider them all my family, because despite everything, they took me in and they treat me like one of their own, I am forever grateful for that" said Maddie as she smiled, she was so thankful that regardless of the fact that she was the daughter of their worst enemy, they didn't judge her.
"I am curious though, how did you and Annie become friends?" asked Clove as she smiled.
"Well we sort of grew up together, even though we weren't really good friends, I was a horrible person to her, and yet, she allowed me to be her friend and everything, she and her parents accepted me with no bias at all" said Maddie.
"If there are people that I love, it would be them, especially Matt, I know that they all have my back, even Curtis" said Maddie as she smiled and Clove smiled.
"I am glad that you have a family who love you, because you deserve it, you are such a wonderful person Maddie, and I'm not just saying that because I am your cousin" said Clove as she smiled and Maddie nodded.
"Well I have to go to training now, I will see you later, have fun" said Clove as she smiled.
"Bye" said Maddie with a little smile.