As Sarah and Aiden closed the door behind them, Ste found herself alone in the study room. It was very quiet. She was thinking about Sarah and how she defended her rtionship with Aiden. It brought back memories.


    About thirty years ago, Milena came to US for education using name Ste. She was a teenager then, just had her fifteenth birthday. Few months aftering to US, she met Edward and fell in love with him. He was few years older and had a girlfriend at a time.


    Ste was painfully aware that her family would never approve of someone like him: American, not from a prominent family, no connections, no power. Any of those individually was strong enough for him not to be epted.


    Ste satisfied her love by stealing nces at him asionally and telling herself that is the most she can afford in this lifetime.


    Few years passed; Edward was in college. He was single (again), between two girlfriends, Ste assumed. It was a party at a home of her high-school ssmate. Edward also attended, as a neighbor of the host. Ste had her first beer, and her first kiss after she clumsily confessed her love to Edward.


    She remembers that next few weeks they met more than once, and he acted like nothing happened. That kiss was very important to her, and she was upset how did he forget about it.


    Next memory: she attended a baseball game with few friends. His college baseball team was ying, and Edward was in the team. They won, and there was a celebratory party after the game. There, he kissed her again.


    Few dayster he called her, and they went to the amusement park. She does not remember much about that park, but she can''t forget the Ferris Wheel ride. They kissed many times during that ride.


    He said that she is smart and funny, and the most beautiful girl he ever saw. Edward told her that he loves her ent and he noticed the smallest quirks that she tried to hide. Before she realized, Edward was the epicenter of her world which shook uncontrobly every time he came near her.


    Next time when Ste visited home, she told her parents about him. They didn''t approve. It was a huge fight. They said that if she does not give up on that failure of a man, she is staying home, and will never get to see him. Ste was ready to leave everything behind. Just like Sarah. But Ste was different because she was not confident that she could sessfully survive without the support of her family. She knew that she can''t win against her parents head-on. She came up with a strategy... using friendships and ckmail she pulled some strings and reached out to Master Elder of Lebedev family with a proposition that if she can marry who she wants, she will make it worthwhile to the main family. Conditions are known only to her and to the Master Elder, who gave this as his suggestion to the Elder council. When it got epted, her parents didn''t have a say in it.


    Thinking of that now, she was miserable that her parents didn''t want to hear about Edward, even though they never met him. Few times after she got married, she visited her parents, and even brought her daughters, but they would only criticize her for marrying an unworthy outsider, how they addressed Edward. Eventually, she stopped visiting them.


    Ste does not want Sarah to go through such experience. When she got married, Ste vowed to create a family who will support each other no matter what. She reminded herself of that and felt regret for calling Aiden an enemy in front of Sarah. That must have hurt her. The feeling of being rejected by your loved ones still burned inside Ste, and she does not want her daughters to go through that. If Sarah wants to be with Aiden, Ste will note between them.


    Ste decided to do her best in training them. After these two weeks, she will think if this approach will work or not. If she is not confident that they can protect themselves... she will think about thatter.


    ...


    In the guest room, Sarah closed the door as they entered. Aiden looked at her, his expression was unreadable.


    "I''m sorry I didn''t tell you." Sarah weakly said.


    "Next time, can you remember that I am here? When will you stop shouldering all burden by yourself?" Aiden scolded her while pulling her into his embrace. He took a deep breath and hugged her tightly. Aiden never thought that a girl will take care of him, he was happy and upset at the same time. As a man, he should take care of her. The more he thought of that, the more upset he was getting, and his hold on her was getting tighter.


    "Hey..." Sarah protested. "It hurts."


    "Sorry!" He loosened his hold. He remembered that she had training that day and that she is bruised up. "If Ste didn''t agree to train me, would you really leave?"


    "What do you think?"


    Aiden shook his head in disapproval. "You should really try to talk with your parents more. Sometimes you are taking their care for granted. Ste is only worried about you."


    "I know." Sarah agreed. "But when I think that they are not considering my opinion... it''s frustrating. I wish that they stop making decisions for me based on what they think it''s best."


    "That is what parents do. And you should not be so impulsive. Not with them."


    "Ha! Look who''s talking! You don''t even talk to your parents." Sarah looked at Aiden in disbelief. Since they got together, he visited his parents only once. And if it was not Jeff''s birthday, probably even then he would not go.


    He smiled and nodded, "Keeping the distance reduces the need to talk. And they don''t get many chances to interfere with what I do."


    "Well, I''m d you acknowledged that."


    He ushered her toward the bathroom. "Let''s get ready for bed. We have a busy day tomorrow."


    "You seem energetic..."


    "Absolutely. You have no idea how itchy I was while watching you train. I wanted to join, but I was afraid that Ste would beat me up." Aiden was waving his arms like he is defending from invisible attacks.


    Sarahughed seeing how silly he is. "Let''s get ready...."