If Luca were given a chance to change the past, she would have definitely done it without any hesitation. The people in the past have suffered gravely for a lone child like her.

Luca may be six but she now understood what pain her family had been holding. She final understood what they all had been discussing about. What past they had been hiding. Everything fell into place after that terrifying party.

The scenes from that petrifying place, the horror that those people have done had most certainly clouded her mind, unable to control the fear that she held, unable to control the nightmares that followed. It made her so shaken that she would have screamed. She was mostly swimming in a pool of blood. So red and thick. Her hands have been touched by people who were begging to be freed.

She had felt hopeless, stricken with horror and she felt cowardice. She couldn't save them. She wished she could, wished she had the power to do so but she was powerless.

But now, her mother, whom she had never met in person nor will she meet her in the future, have most certainly clouded her thoughts and her feelings.

Luca wished that she could turn back in time and change her mother's decision.

If her mother, a stranger to Luca, a stranger who gave up on her life to save her own child, hadn't done that then all would have been well. Her father, her most beloved papa, her brothers, and Pierre, would have been happy instead of trying to enlighten a promise that they had sworn upon that day. They, at least, would have been happy and not be buried down under a single promise to protect Luca, a little girl who couldn't even be brave if asked to.

They would have been happy without Luca.

The little girl thought that being an eavesdropper was a gift. She thought that it was something special that only she could do.

If she could turn back the time, she would have stopped herself from eavesdropping because the things that she heard was painful. How stupid and naive she was to hear things she wished to un-hear.

"Luca?"

The little girl looked up and saw her whole family. They had gotten home with tension so thick that it was nearly suffocating. They thought that Luca would cry on the way home but she haven't shed a tear. The little girl just looked impassive and only her fidgeting is proof of the day they brought Luca to a den full of cruelties.

"You lied... " Luca wasn't accusing anyone. She just stated it while looking at an empty space. Luca felt drained. The little girl doesn't know what to feel first. Shock, fear, sadness.

"I know..." Her father replied. His face was filled with emotions. It was swirling with emotions that she could not even decipher.

"You lied... "

Achilles clenched his jaw and nodded solemnly. "We know... "

They were waiting for her reply but she doesn't have any. She doesn't have anything to say.

"I'm sorry." Luca then looked at Enzo. Her brother who always worries about her well-being, her brother who was always the one who took care of her. Everyone calls him a mother for it and Luca was somehow thankful for Enzo's motherly antics because at least she experienced what mothers are like even if it's her brother acting on it. "We're sorry for lying to you, for-for dragging you into that place, for letting you see those kinds of things. Baby, I'm sorry for letting you go there all alone, for letting you wander there."

He's sorry? She is traumatized beyond repair.

And yet, she couldn't find herself to hate them. She loves this family. She loves them. She loves them wholly and unconditionally. Whenever she's sick or when something bad happens, they're always there saving her and loving her as unconditionally as hers. And she couldn't find herself to hate them.

Why didn't she hate them?

Why couldn't she hate them?

"I was scared... " Luca remembered the horrible place. How horrible the smell was, how it reminded her of a certain man who made her this scared, this feeling of loneliness. She was scared. She was so scared and alone. The place was cold and unforgiving. Luca hugged herself as she remembered everything once again. "You left me alone. I was scared. I'm scared... "

"I'm sorry... " Enzo shakily whispered, trying to caress her lovely cheek but she flinched away.

She flinched away with fear dancing through her beautiful doe eyes. Her hands were trembling and her breathing became ragged.

And that's what made them feel a lot worse.

That made them feel like monsters to Luca. People who doesn't deserve her or her love. They deserve to be alone forever because at least with that, no one will get hurt. Luca will get hurt because of them.

They should've given Luca to a family who deserves her. A loving family who won't bring her to a place where she'd get more traumatized. They don't deserve her. If they gave Luca earlier, when she was just a little girl, then that man wouldn't demand her appearance. That man wouldn't drag her to a cruel place. They wouldn't get attached of they'd given her away.

"I tried to be brave."

Luca really did.

"I'm sorry, I really did."

She really tried.

"But I-I couldn't... I'm sorry... I failed papa and-and I'm sorry..."

But she failed.

"Why are you the one saying sorry?"

Everyone looks at Gabriele. He was crying, tears freely flowed down his cheeks as he angrily looks at Luca. He wasn't angry at Luca. No, he was angry at himself for telling her to be brave. Forcing her to be something more when she wasn't anything but that. How could he have said such a thing?

Be brave?

For who?

For them?

Luca was already brave. She was already drained and yet she fought with every strength she had. The little girl was struggling but she kept moving forward with slow but steady steps. So, who was he kidding? If anyone was sorry, it should be him. The asshole who asked her to be brave.

"I shouldn't have asked you to be brave, okay? You shouldn't have forced yourself and it was my fault for leaving you alone. It was my fault for letting you see that. I couldn't even protect you, I-I couldn't even shield you from that place and now you're covered in blood a-and it's proof that I'm such asshole, Luca. I couldn't even console you when you cry, I couldn't even help you when you were down, trying so hard to be so damn brave... " Gabriele clenched his jaw as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

She wanted to hate them.

But she couldn't and that's why Gabriele's words made Luca feel very sad, letting the little girl feel more afraid. She doesn't want them to leave her.

She doesn't want them to feel guilty about leaving her all alone as long as they'll be beside her at the end of the day.

"Don't leave me alone." She began to wail, her walls were crashing down fast and easy. Her tears fell continuously as she shake her head in denial. "I don't wanna be alone! I-I want papa and everyone! I'll be braver next time so p-promise me that you w-won't leave! "

They said that they were supposed to give Luca to a family who deserves her. Who deserves her other than her own family? She doesn't want any other family. She loves her family even if they were monsters or killers.

Who cares?

Who cares if they were monsters?

Monsters can love.

Everyone couldn't help but cry at her words. Who cares if she's brave? They love her so much that it scares them. They love her so much that they don't care if she were brave or not.

Enzo cried louder and reached out to hug Luca. The little girl cried on his shoulder while the rest formed a group hug. Everyone was crying.

"Oh, Luca... " Pierre cried. "We won't leave you, bubba. Who said that? We won't... we would never, okay?"

If she could turn back that time, she'd want her mama back.

"Mama had to die because of me... " Luca sobbed, clenching Enzo's shirt tighter. All her thoughts came crashing down. All her pain came crashing down. She couldn't help but cry. All she could do was let it out. Let everything out because she's scared that maybe they'll leave her side. "She left me, she protected me but please don't leave me too... Don't leave me alone..."

What scares her more wasn't the room or Kale. It was them leaving her, it was them getting hurt, it was always them.

Achilles flinched at that. He doesn't know where she found that information but somehow doesn't have the power to ask.

Whoever told her, it doesn't matter.

In the end, it was his fault for not thinking another possibility for another outcome where both of them can live. He was so determined to find one but he was running out of time and because of that, Maria had to pay. She had to pay. And it was his fault for making a mistake, it was his fault for being so slow. It was his fault.

"She died protecting you." Achilles found himself saying, his voice stern. "And we were supposed to protect you but we failed that. We failed you, bambina... "

"You didn't though." Luca said, glaring at her father. Who said that they had failed? If they didn't bring her to that party then they were all dead. There was no other way and she understood that after Matteo explained it to her. Luca just hated the fact that they left her alone to fend for her nightmares. She was just so scared.

"Papa tried so hard. Everyone did. You didn't fail. You promised mama that you'll keep me alive and I am! I'm alive and I'm well and I am happy when I'm with Papa or when I'm with Enzy or Gabi or Juli or Pierre!"

"We're evil, Luca... " Sydney whispered, shaking his head.

"You're not evil! All of you are not evil, you just become the villain everyone expected you to be." Luca said stubbornly, glaring at Sydney.

That made everyone look at her in awe and in disbelief. It was such an innocent thought that would have been discarded but her words held weight and it affected them all.

"We're so sorry, Luca." Enzo said, wiping her tears while smiling softly at her. "We're so sorry... "

Luca sniffled weakly and nodded. "Promise you won't leave me."

"Luca... " Gabriele strained but Luca was stubborn.

"No." Luca shook her head. "Promise me..."

They can't promise her that. What if they break it? They already broken one, what if they break this one? Luca would be so devastated.

But seeing her now, forcing them to promise. They want to keep this promise. They want to protect her. They want to shield her from danger, from the cruelty.

From everything.

"Okay... " Pierre said. He didn't promise but he will try. "Okay, bub, okay."

For Luca.

Everyone seemed to agree and Luca seemed satisfied with that because she smiled at them before leaning forward to Enzo's shoulder, tired and drained from what has happened.

"Love you all... " She mumbled, hugging her brother. "So, so much... "

They do too.

So, so much...

_____

What do you feel?

What do you think?

Confusion?

Anger?

Sadness?

I didn't re-check this so I hope there wasn't any large mistakes...

Hope you guys enjoyed it.