What’s Your Name? Letter Y
This is the penultimate week of the ‘What’s Your Name?’ posts, and the penultimate installment of the current narrative. Today’s Y name was picked in advance to be interwoven into the last installment.
I’ve cheated a little because Yas is just a minor character in this narrative. The story is too far along to bring her into the spotlight.
Yasmin: (Yasmine) Feminine variant forms of Jasmine.
To catch up on the previous installments of this story, just click the following links:
Yasmin
The kid is on the floor crying hysterically, Sabine paces back and forth, and I’m not sure what to make of Tate. The guy is distraught, he may not be screaming or bawling, but I know him, and it’s as if the universe has just slapped him in the face. He and Xena have history and there is love there. Maybe they just had to find each other again, but I think it has dawned on Tate that they may never have the chance now. I feel sorry for the poor bugger. It’s very rare that Val Grimley feels sorry for Tate Edmonds.
“Your Mum has done a really brave thing,” Neema says to Quentin, but he just buries his face into his arms.
I take the letter from her hands and read it for the umpteenth time:
I think I can lead them as far as Italy, definitely to Barcelona. Do what you’ve got to do to keep our boy safe. I love you, Tate. I’m at peace with how things are between us, and I will always have your back, you know that. Tell Quentin and Sabine that I love them, and thank Val for all he did for us. Just make sure you get that damn box and get off of this planet. All my love forever and always, Xena x
“This doesn’t mean the end,” says Yas, reading over my shoulder. “You said she has a good load of money, and she’s clearly intelligent. If she gets to Italy, she could still escape the T.D.E.D.”
“And then what, Yas?” Tate snaps. “We get the comm box, contact home, and then leave Xena here to rot. No. I met Xena when I was twenty five and she accepted everything I told her about home, about us. How many people have you met who have accepted you- loved you?”
Yas isn’t one to be scolded, and I feel her temper crackle in the air around me. “I’m just trying to be positive. But if you want the truth, Xena’s gone and we have no way of finding her, so I say we don’t waste her sacrifice and we get that comm box. If we do nothing, and she does die, then no-one wins, right?”
Placing a hand on her shoulder, I shake my head in warning. She’s right. Hell, Yas is always right, but tact isn’t her strong point.
“I agree,” says Sabine. Both Tate and Quentin gawp at her. “Xena has done this to give you a fighting chance. Take her offering and run with it. I couldn’t live with myself if I lost my sister and it was all in vain. Please, Tate. Please, get your head back in the game.”
Tate nods, but doesn’t speak. Instead, he crouches beside his son and holds him close.
Neema hands me a laptop. “Well, Mr Hacker, it’s your time to shine. We need confirmation that they’re following Xena’s trail, and then we get this show on the road.”
I look to Tate. We’re a team, but it’s his approval that I look for. I’ve always looked for his approval because he’s my safety. When I crashed the ship he was the first to defend me. I know he can never fully forgive me, nor will the others, but Tate never gave up on me, just like I refuse to give up on him.
He exhales loudly. “Do it, Val. Get us off this rock, buddy.”
Content belongs to KJ.Chapman
