[Lauchenoiria]

Greenwood Residence, Kerlile

“This is excellent news, thank you so much, Madam President,” Juliette Greenwood said to the phone, and then paused, waiting for Rebecca Arnott to put down the phone before she removed her own from her ear. “It passed.”

“Oh, thank the Goddess!” Elisa, the middle sister of Joanna’s three daughters said, collapsing back onto her couch. “So she’ll be coming home, then?”

“Yes, they all can. It was going to be too complicated otherwise,” shrugged Juliette. “Between Mother, Councillor Robinson, whatever Hale did, Olivia Pierre, Xia Chiu, and the Auroras themselves, we’d have so many people in prison for treason it would be unreal.”

“I wonder why she did it,” mused Elisa, moving to smoke something that probably wasn’t tobacco, only for Juliette to swipe it out of her hands and throw it in the bin. “Left, cooperated with the anti-Aurora stuff?”

“Does it matter?” shrugged Juliette. “Our mother was the victim of unkind fate, the reckoning that we always knew was coming arrived at an inopportune time for her. That’s not her fault, and I can get why she’d be distressed.”

“But this is an amnesty, not saying she’s not guilty. She is, she committed treason. Actual treason! And I still want her back, and free. What does that make me?”

“A good daughter,” Juliette said firmly, leaving the room, and forcing Elisa to get up and follow after her in order to continue the conversation. “You need to quit that habit.”

“Why should I? Everything just falls to pieces.”

“The economy collapsed, Elisa. It’s not the end of the world. You can rebuild your business. It would be a much more productive use of your time than destroying your health, which is what you seem to be determined to do.”

“We should speak with Letitia,” Elisa tried to change the subject.

“She was at the Council, she’ll know what happened already - she’ll have voted on it!”

“Yes, I know, but…”

“Don’t change the subject! You need to get your act together before mother gets back. They’re not going to lock her up for that teenager either, it’s a fresh start for her. Take it as one for you too. You can improve your life, you don’t need to be stuck in the same place you have been since the war. Look on this as the dawn of a new era for Kerlile.”

“You sound like a reformist,” scoffed Elisa.

“Maybe,” chuckled Juliette, turning around and taking Elisa’s hand surprisingly gently. “Maybe that’s what we all need to be to get on in this new world. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing.”

“Maybe,” Elisa echoed, looking away. “It’s just hard.”

“I know. But you’re not alone, Elisa. You’re never alone.”

The two sisters hugged for a long time, taking deep breaths.

*

“The amnesty for all accused of treason and related crimes in reference to the Aurora incident is necessary in order to move forward from this dark moment in Kerlian history. We, as a people, have allowed too many to be locked up in the past for things that did not deserve such a punishment. We need to move forward, and as we usher in this new era of reform, we must be willing to put the dark aspects of the past behind, and refrain from repeating the mistakes of those who came before us.”

“Mum, you know they’re only doing this because it’s Councillors and President Greenwood, right?” Natasha Robinson said, spinning over from where she lay on a couch reading a Lauchenoirian magazine.

“Well, of course they are,” scoffed Councillor Carmen Robinson, crossing something out on the speech in front of her. “But I for one am rather grateful, being one of those they’ve accused of treason.”

“I mean, fair, but you can’t say that statement to the press.”

“Why not?” she said, flicking a piece of dust off a counter.

“Cause then you’d have to admit Auroras are real.”

“Oh, the world is going to know they’re real soon enough,” Carmen said, adjusting her outfit in the mirror.

“Don’t make it worse, Mum!” Natasha said, getting up and walking over to her mother, holding her firmly by both hands. “You know they’ll attack you if you do this. Why are you trying to provoke them!?”

“There are things you don’t understand, Nat,” sighed the Councillor.

“No, Mum, I understand. I know what you’ve been working on, but you can’t. This is not the right time. Call it off, Mum. Please. We’re winning without this! It’s an unnecessary risk, and people could get hurt. Please. Just think about it.”

“Natasha…” Carmen sighed, then sat down on a chair. “Very well, I won’t make the statement just now. I don’t know how you found out about the plan, and I’m going to need you to tell me, but I’ll consider calling it off. I will.”

“Good,” nodded the teenager. “And it was Olivia Pierre. She thought I already knew, which I should have. Gran told you when you were my age! According to Olivia, anyway.”

“I was trying to protect you from this, but I should’ve known you’d get yourself involved. If this goes ahead, it’s going to be very dangerous. Especially with Joanna Greenwood returning home.”

“Which is why it shouldn’t happen,” said Natasha firmly.

Carmen rolled her eyes, and stood, pulling off the smart jacket she’d put on for the speech, and tossing it over the back of one of the couches. She shook her head, and smiling a little walked out of the room towards the kitchen, followed by Natasha who swiped a cookie out of a jar by the door, as she spun around, dancing.

*

On a plane, Joanna Greenwood rejoiced. She never thought she’d ever see her beloved Kerlile again, but now she would have the chance. It was ironic, in betraying the Matriarchy, she and many others had forced Kerlile to forgive them, just by sheer numbers. It also helped that they didn’t really want her out in the world causing trouble. So she’d be going home, where she could make her own trouble.

“This reform experiment is doomed to fail,” she muttered to herself, attracting an odd look from someone sitting across the aisle. Nodding to herself, the former President of Kerlile settled back in her seat, closing her eyes and thinking of all the plans she could use to restore Women’s Party dominance in her homeland - something that was increasingly unlikely to happen, not that she knew it.