240 A visit to Tennessee

Remi decides that Crystal needs to have some time away. So she sends Crystal with Aisling's family to visit Steve and HeJin. Hoping that a visit with them will bring Crystal out of her stupor. Aisling watched Crystal and the twins sleep nearly the entire way to the house in Tennessee. It gave her and Astila some well deserved quiet to just hold hands and enjoy talking to each other. 

"You know that while we are here maybe you should visit with your mom. Just pop in and say hi , I know that it's hard for you but from what I saw the last report her heart is not going to last much longer. I don't want you to have any regrets. Who knows she may recognize you this time. " Aisling casually bring up the subject. Astila furrowed his brow and quietly told her. 

" I know I should go see her, you know we have never gone to see her as a family. I think we should take the girls at least once. What do you say, you up to meeting your crazy mother in law?" 

Aisling tightened her hand around his and nodded . They see the house in the distance and Aisling gets excited to se her uncle and aunt. It seemed like a lifetime since the last time they saw them. When they beep the horn letting them know they have arrived. Waking up the kids in the process. Crystal jumps out of the car and runs towards her great uncle. 

"My Cookie, I have arrived." She calls out as he walks outside. Running towards him she wrapped her arms around his waist. Steve gives her a tight bear hug in return. 

"how are you imp, have you been a good girl?" Kissing her forehead he looks over her head at Aisling. 

" of course, if I had not been a good girl mama would never have let me come. Have you been ok? No more nightmares or problems sleeping?" Crystal asks the older man. 

"I'm good imp, I had an interesting visitor not long ago. He came to talk to me about what happened back home and to ask for forgiveness. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Steve asks her. Crystal glares at him and asks. 

"Did he tell that I told him I wouldn't forgive him unless you did? You have had such a hard time because of him how could I easily forgive him." Steve could hear the anger in her voice. He takes her hand and walks her to sit on the porch. 

"It may take awhile but one day you will understand that things are not always easy to know what to do. I'm not saying he was right by no means but most of what was causing my problems was my own decisions. You see when I was having a hard time after he captured me it wasn't anything he did to me. It was what he made me remember. You were far to little at the time to understand but now you are a big girl and I think I can help you understand better. When he captured me it reminded me of a time in my life that was hard. In Vietnam my unit had been captured and and we had to kill in order to get out. It was the first time I killed someone up close. Not just one person but a number of people, I had a hard time because I had never killed a person and had to watch them die in front of me. When you are at war you bury your emotions and what normally is something you would never do becomes normal. I learned over the years to keep what I had to do as a soldier apart from who I was at home. When Marbas captured me I was not able to separate the two anymore. It was hard for me to accept and forgive myself as well as him. You know he is doing what you asked him to do. He is making amends as best he can to those he hurt. Imagine that angels from the beginning of time knew no real emotions until they encountered us. Then suddenly they start to feel , they do not know what they are feeling or why. They don't have any references as to how to properly make sense of what they are feeling. Now angels also feel these new things more intense than we do. So you can imagine that a few of them have done some pretty bad things. Things that are not in their character to do. I think that is more likely what has happened than that they are just evil. Now I am not saying that they were right by any means I'm just saying that things are not always as they seem. Forgiveness is not always for the person who does wrong. Forgiveness is more for the person who was wronged. It's like your heart is a seed in the desert. if you have anger or hate around that seed it suffocates it , doesn't allow for it to be nurtured. When you forgive that suffocating soil gets watered and the seed can grow. Yes your grandparents were not nice but that does not make you a bad person because they did not know how to deal with their emotions. You are you and you are only responsible for your emotions and actions. So it is ok to forgive them. You know your mom didn't get her voice back until she forgave Dean for what he did. When she was able to forgive she was able to talk again. Think about that when you start to let anger make the decisions instead of love and compassion." Steve watches Crystal as she thinks about what he has said . 

"I'm going to go say hello to the others, remember your still a child and do not need to make any decisions right away. You are always my precious imp that I love no matter what you do. Come inside to say hello to your auntie she has been waiting for you. " Steve gets up and goes inside the house to give the others some attention. Aisling watches Crystal from the window seeing her wipe her eyes, she knows that she is struggling with who her father and grandparents are. Remi had always hoped to keep from her who her father was and what he did but as always secrets always come to light. Sighing she turns away from the window and right into her husbands arms. 

"Our girl , will be ok don't worry, she has a large family to help her through anything. I know she has some adult things to come to terms with but she is strong and much more mature than even most of us." Astila tells her as he hugs his wife close . Aisling hugs him back looking up at him. 

"Thank you for loving me and my family for the last eight years. You know it won't be long till our anniversary I am thinking for our tenth anniversary we can go on a trip just the two of us. I want to go to Ireland where we spent our honeymoon. This time in the present please." Astila agrees quickly , it's been awhile since they have even had a date night. They hear the door open and Crystal comes in. They can tell she has been crying so both Astila and Aisling hugs her silently. HeJin watches from the kitchen smiling at the sight of how loving they are with the child. Lotus hugs her Auntie HeJin and asks. 

"Auntie can we make those sweet fish breads tomorrow? I want to learn to cook, like you. Mom has been teaching us but I like your cooking. " HeJin grins at her happiness washes over her as she looks at Lotus and Lilli. It's been so long since she has had a child underfoot. How she is going to enjoy this visit. 

"Of course I will tell your uncle we need to go shopping for ingredients. Now let's go make some milkshakes and get some cookies. " HeJin takes them to ithe kitchen table as she makes milkshakes for the three girls. Crystal hears her and comes into the kitchen hugging her aunt from the back. 

"Auntie HeJin thank you for having us visit I have missed you. It's been too long between your visits." Crystal tells her. 

"How about we have a girls take under the stars tonight. " HeJin asks Crystal. 

"I can't wait I have a lot to tell you. " Crystal smiles at her Aunt it's time like this she misses Norma the most but Auntie HeJin is not much different from her. The family gathers around the kitchen table to make plans for the upcoming week. Lilli surprises everyone when she asks .

" can we go mountain climbing. I keep dreaming of a cave in the mountain and I want to find it?" They