After walking around aimlessly for about an hour, Davina found herself standing in front of the church she was raised in. She stood there but couldn't bring herself to walk in, no matter how hard she tried.
"Since you're already here, might as well walk in don't you think?" A voice from behind spoke.
Davina turned to see the priest smiling at her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she hadn't seen him in so long. "Someone like me has no right to enter there." She wiped her eyes, trying hard not to cry.
"What do you mean someone like you? Child, everyone is welcome here." The priest held her hand in his trying to offer her comfort but that just made her more emotional.
"I have sinned, father. Not even my uncle wants anything to do with me so why would you?" The tears she desperately tried to push back finally rushed down her face with no restraint.
"Oh, Child. You will always have a home here." He wiped her tears with the back of his hands. "There, there." He consoled her like a father would his child.
Davina cried her heart out, finally letting go of all the pent-up emotions she had been bottling up.
With the help of the priest, she was able to enter the church for the first time in what felt like forever, the place she grew up in but found it hard to go back to because of her sins.
Everything in the church looked clean, prim, and proper. Being there made her feel dirty and unworthy like she was a stain that would dirty the whole place.
Before she could run off, the priest gripped her hand tighter, shaking his head. "Don't run away, child. This is your home, at least stay for dinner." He gave her a warm smile, a smile she found hard to say no to.
"Why don't you go get changed, I'm sure you haven't forgotten your way around here."
"Of course not, father. How could I?" Davina broke into a smile for the first time since getting there but that smile was quickly replaced with confusion. "How did you know it was me?" She wondered. Her wig, face tape, and bandages were still on so how did the priest recognize her?
"I've known you since you were a baby, child. Whatever you have going on here isn't enough to make you unrecognizable, besides, who else would stand outside the church looking nostalgic for minutes without getting in but you." He chuckled.
Davina joined him in laughing at the silliness of the situation. He was right, she wasn't unrecognizable, especially to those who had seen her in her female form.
"Now go get changed, child. I'll have Miriam prepare some clothes for you."
"Thank you for everything, father." Feeling a wave of emotions rush over her, Davina found herself giving the father a hug. The only other man aside from her uncle that she considered a father figure.
It wasn't hard for her to find her old bedroom. It was currently being used by someone else but she got permission to use the bathroom.
Being there made Davina revisit her past. She could see her younger self running around the room happily, laughing, with no issues plaguing her mind. She was happy there, the happiest she had ever been in her life.
'When was the last time I felt that level of happiness?'
Pushing the thought away, Davina began undressing, finally taking off her bandages after a long day of training. Without the worry of being caught on her mind, she could finally let down her hair, completely doing away with all her disguise.
For the first time in two weeks, she was able to take a bath with the warm water she was craving and not an icy bath at midnight in the freezing cold.
It was therapeutic watching the dirt fall off her body. Oddly enough, it made her feel like her sins were being washed off in the same way. She felt clean again.
After spending the longest time taking her bath, Davina left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body, and just like Father John had said, a pair of freshly cleaned clothes was waiting for her on the bed with sandals beside it.
She quickly oiled her body and put on the dress before the cold breeze got to her. It had been so long since she wore a dress that it almost felt foreign to her. To be able to move around freely without rounds of bandages constricting her organs.
As she walked down the wooden stairway, Davina could hear laughter and chatter coming from the dining hall. She stopped in her tracks. A long time ago, her voice could be heard among those of the children laughing, but now she wasn't one of them, she felt like an outsider crashing their pleasant time.
The moment she stepped into the hall, the chatter seized as all eyes turned to her, curious to see who interrupted their dinner.
Davina stood there awkwardly unsure of what to say or how to act around them. The pressure around her felt worse than when Sir Martius stared at her scrutinizingly. There were some familiar faces in the crowd, people she grew up with, but the rest she had never seen before.
"Davina!" Father John cheerfully walked to her side, breaking the awkward silence. "Don't be nervous." He whispered to her, making sure no one else heard what he said.
Father John guided Davina to the empty seat next to his. It was clear that he specifically kept that seat empty for her.
"Everyone, this is Davina." He introduced her to the staring bunch. "I'm sure there're a few of you who remember her from her time here a couple of years back, but to the unknowing ones, she was one of our brightest students."
"And the writer of the poems you see plastered on our walls." Miss Jenna chimed in, making sure to brag about Davina's achievements. She was the nun in charge of the children back when Davina was there, clearly she hadn't stopped even after all those years.
"My poems?" Davina wondered.
"Yes. We all loved your poems so much that we framed them on the walls... Too bad you never came back to see your achievements." Miss Jenna didn't bother to hide the sadness in her face as she spoke the last bit.
Davina felt a pang of guilt hit her. Miss Jenna had raised her since she was a wee little child, she knew her absence for all those years had hurt her more than she could imagine.
"Enough of that," Father John diffused the tension between them, "Let's all eat dinner before it gets cold."
Davina gave him a grateful smile. If it wasn't for his help, she wasn't sure how to get around that situation with Miss Jenna. If there was anyone who was hurt the most by her sudden disappearance, it was her and Davina was sure of it.