Dean opened the door to the room, looking around with another surprised sigh. It was Mika to a tee. The bed was not quite neatly made. The desk was littered with lore and makeup. There were photos, and mementos adorning the walls. He smiled a bit, tears still in his eyes as he stepped through, brushing his fingers against the furniture.

He touched the photos on the wall, a few of them depicting he and Mika together as kids. One caught his eye and caused a scoff to leave his throat, as he remembered the day fondly. They had been on a hunt, and he had managed to introduce her to one of his favorite movies. The night quickly devolved into chaos and playful fighting. In the photo, they were both smiling brightly, while he himself had several new stitches above his right eye from an accident. Good times.

He then found the closet, gently opening the door, another anguished sigh leaving his throat as he looked at the clothing inside. He picked up a sleeve of a jacket he recognized vividly, bringing it to his nose and taking a deep breath.

This was a lot to take in. It was a lot to come to terms with. It was his greatest loss, aside from his mother. In fact, it was possibly his first real great loss that he remembered the emotions from. It was the loss that had nearly torn his family apart, due to his inability to let go.

Closing the closet, he stepped over to the bedside table and picked up the book that laid there, his thumb brushing over the title, ‘Pride and Prejudice’. He laid it down on the bed, stepping over to the light switch again, and flipped the lights off, taking his place on the bed once again.

As he heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, he balled up his fists, trying to control his emotions as those familiar steps approached. He flinched when the lights turned on, his face doing its best to remain stoic.

“Hey Mika…”, he said softly, placing his hands on his lap with his eyebrows raised. His tears had mostly dried but his eyes were still slightly puffy as he stared at her, fully expecting her to run….again.

When Mika turned the light on and saw Dean sitting on her bed she didn't know how to react to his presence. All she could do was say his name as she tried to comprehend that he was in her room, her actual room. The room that had every single clue to her old self as well as her new self, every clue that she was who he just said she was. He had seen it all, he had found out. On one hand shhe was happy he finally figured it out but on the other hand she was angry, she couldn't understand why she was angry but she was. Maybe it was because it took him so long, maybe it was because if he was here, then he clearly got it out of Bobby finally. Maybe her anger wasn't even aimed at Dean, but at Bobby for caving under Dean's persistence. She just didn't know and realised after a few moment she hadn't even said anything.

She took in his state showing her he had been clearly crying, as he must have looked around the room. "h...how long have you been here?" she asked him, closing her bedroom door and leaning against it, still very much looking rough after the hunt she was on. "so you figured it out? I'm guessing Bobby told you" she said again, folding her arms across her chest in a self hug in an insecure manner as she realised as much as she wanted to run, as much as she wanted to deny it, she knew it was pointless now to do so. The jig was up and if she did try and deny it or lie her way out of it, nothing would wash with Dean, he was cleverer than that.

All she could do was stay where she was against the door, she wanted to say so much but at the same her throat felt like it would just close up every time she wanted to speak. She wanted to give him a chance to speak but she also wanted to try and explain why she did what she did, why she lied, why she deceived him for so long...but it was like every part of her body was stopping her from talking so Dean could finally get his answers to whatever he wanted to know. She glanced down at her feet almost scared of how he was going to react at her not even denying it, after years of doing just that.

Dean sighed, once again with his eyebrows raised at the confirmation, feeling like an absolute cry baby, as tears welled up once again. He then pursed his lips and shook his head briefly, holding up the necklace he still had wrapped around his shaky hand.

“Um…”, he said hoarsely, feeling a semi-unfamiliar wave of nervous nausea creep into his gut, “Actually…it was um-…It was Sammy, first. Sam’s a smart kid and…when he gets something in his head, he rarely lets it go.”

He took in her appearance, still not moving from his place on the bed, before setting the necklace gently on top of the book next to him. He blinked away tears and sniffled loudly, before slowly standing from the bed, his hands coming up in front of him as a defense, and to tell her he wasn’t going to attack her. Granted, they had been down that road…

“He um…finally got away.”, he spoke quietly, stepping forward a single step, “And in the midst of the scuffle with dad, he told me what I assumed at the time was something I just wanted to hear. I came here, and um…Bobby. Bobby cleared up the rest.”

He had no idea what the next move should be. Part of him wanted to choke her. Part of him wanted to run to her and wrap her in a hug. The other part of him, the part in control, couldn’t move from where he stood. So, he stood, tears in his eyes, silently taking in everything he had lost, standing right in front of him.

Mika initially was too afraid to even look at him, keeping her eyes low and staring at her feet as he spoke, explaining how it was actually Sam that figured it out before him or Bobby opening his drunken mouth. SHe glanced up as she saw him raise the hand that held her necklace, making her realise that with what he said, Sammy stole it from her bag. 'That clever little sneek' she thought to herself before looking back down again, her hair falling from behind her ear and in front of her face, making her unintentionally look just like the red headed girl he once knew. That shy quiet non confrontational girl she once was before looking her parents turned her cold and callous and dark.

She only looked up when she saw his feet move and he stepped off the bed and took a step forward, making her stand up a bit more straight before seeing him hold his hands up in defence to show he was meaning her no harm. The strangling from one of their encounters having really still made an impact on her. The first real reaction she did give him though was when he mentioned how Sam finally left them to go on his own path, got out of the business, using that moment to drop the bombshell about her onto Dean's shoulders, her eyes very much going wide for a brief moment then lowering again.

"How much did Bobby tell you? Dean...I'm so sorry for having done this to you...will you let me explain everything first hand?" she asked him, her voice low and all snark and natural sass that she usualy had as Kenzi was gone, vanished into some metaphorical void. It was now just her, the real her looking at him with soft sad eyes that had an element of pleading in them for him to hear her out. Tears building up into her own eyes as she saw how much it was affecting him to know that the woman he had a toxic relationship with all this time was the very one he couldn't move on from. "I'm sure there's a lot Bobby has left out" she added quietly. All she wanted to do to hug him as herself, not as Kenzi, not as some bitchy young hunter, but as her. Yet she didn't know if he would allow her to, so she stayed leaning against her door hugging herself as she felt her own hands begin to shake slightly as the reality of her having to bare all her truths was hitting her like a truck.

Dean stepped forward as she spoke, one tiny step toward her against his mourning brain’s will. He closed his eyes as she began to speak, letting the tears that had built up fall down to his chin. He wanted to tell her to hush. He wanted to hug her. But he was angry, and sad. These were emotions that typically led him to violence with anyone else.

“Um…Bobby didn’t tell me much. He just told me about what happened that n-night. This is insane…”, he whispered, clearing his throat after. He stepped forward another bit. Opening his eyes, he gritted his teeth and closed the gap between them, his hands coming up to hold her face in his hands.

It was a familiar stance, back to one of the worst nights for his anger. He trailed a hand down to her throat, running his thumb over the front of her throat as he pressed his forehead roughly against hers, “Mika…”

He whispered her name, almost as a control lever for his anger and grief. It was his brain talking him out of hurting her. Instead, another set of tears fell from his eyes, falling from his chin, and he simply placed a quiet kiss on her nose, his shaky hand leaving her throat.

She gulped ever slightly before sighing as she nodded when he confirmed that all Bobby said was what happened that actual night. SHe flinched the tiniest bit when he closed the gap between them and put his hand on her face, oh how she wanted to lean into his hand but she also knew the last time he did that, he began to strangle her and almost damn well killed her. She didn't know whether she should try and run, dare him to get his anger out on her or hold her hand ontop of his softly. She could hear him cry as he whispered her name, her real name at her as she prayed he wouldn't strangle her again whilst feeling his thumb on her throat.

Her eyes closed as she felt him kiss her nose, just like he used to do when they were younger, when life was happy and carefree. Even though he was well and truly a hunter already, but they were happy and when they were together it was like they were normal teenagers with no involvement in the world of weird. Her own tears fell down her cheek as she sighed with relief from his hands leaving her throat. Lifting her own hand up, she used the back of her hand to wipe away her tears before finally glancing up at him properly. "Dean, I am so sorry...I can never say those words to you enough to make it anywhere near the accurate amount of how sorry I am. When I overheard John that night come over and tell Bobby why he needed you and Sam here and say I was dead, that there was no way I could have survived I just slid into hiding up here. Hells, I was in the attic most of the time. Unable to go far..." she started to explain to him, slowly and cautiously taking his hands into her own and lead him to her bed where she sat down.

She needed to get the whole story out of her system, to be fully open with him, including properly showing him the everlasting state of her back. She swallowed back saliva in the hopes it would also stop any more tears from falling as she looked at her hands that were now on her lap, fingers interlocking. "I don't remember much of the actual attack, I just remember this blinding warm light shrouding me making the wendigo cower and run away, leaving me for dead. Bobby says I somehow managed to crawl back to here, covered in blood as my back was torn to shreds as well as my having injuries to 75% of my body, including my face. I don't remember what happened when I got here. I made Bobby lie to you, using his role as my actual Uncle against him." she started saying. "I was out cold more days than not. When I came round I was overcome with grief for my folks, I felt like a ghost trapped because I didn't recognise myself. I couldn't bare to face you and Sam like that. I felt so ugly and disfigured that I thought that it would be better if you did believe I was dead. Hell, I thought it was better to be dead most of the time. It Bobby all of his effort and sanity to heal me up and help me. Some point through that I grew cold and vengeful that I didn't want to be me anymore, thats when Kenzi was born so to speak".

She took a deep breath and removed her shirt, turning to show her back where from behind the tattoo and in the proper bedroom light he would finally see the scars, all going in different directions and from just below the nape of her neck to her lower back. The scar tissue still very much raised even to this day, and thanks to the hunt she had just come back from, they were now redder than normal. "I wanted to tell you the truth but my heart and soul grew so void of confidence to tell you, I just hoped that one day you would figure it out for yourself. It was one reason why I left those clues. Those...notes from myself" she softly spoke but it was clear she was crying as her tone wavered in places. "I still don't know who I am anymore...I just wanna know who I once was and remember what it was like to be me again. I'm so terrified of losing you for good Dean...." she then cried, shaking greatly as she couldn't speak any more.

Dean allowed her to take his hands as she explained everything. He relived the nightmares all over again in flashes as she spoke. He tried to remember any clues that anyone was lying to him back in the days after she had…died. He reached down as she spoke and toyed with her fingers a bit, taking in every inch he could.

When she removed her shirt to show him her scars, he gasped a bit, shocked he had never noticed them before. It explained why most of their time together occurred under cloaks of darkness, regardless where they were. He reached up and gently ran his fingers over the scars.

“I’m right here.”, he whispered, leaning down to kiss her shoulder, “I’m right here.”

He sat in that position for a bit, just taking in everything she had just said. He still felt as if he was dreaming, or under some sort of spell. But, he also believed every word of it, because he had no evidence otherwise…and the scars.

Sighing once more, he turned her back to him, “Look. I’m not normally the move on from things kind of person, but I’m not…going…anywhere. Do you hear me? I’m not happy, about everything that’s happened. I mean…long con and all that. But this is a lot. I’m here. You’re here. You’re alive.”

Smirking, he cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her lightly.

She knew better than anyone how hard it would be to hear what she was saying. If it was hard enough to say, then it had to be ard to hear. She knew when she managed to tell Bobby way back when, he could barely hear the story as well. It was his family as well after all. She looked down as she saw him take her hands and play with her fingers, which she guessed was his way of trying to compute everything she was telling him.

She heard the gasp escape his lips when she showed him her scars, knowing that for the first time it would sink in why she was always so funny about him getting near her back, or why she refused to let him see her back in any kind of bright light. She just didn't want him feel pity for her scars or asking more questions that were too difficult to answer, or more to the point, even more difficult to answer than they were now. Her skin shivered slightly as she felt him touch her scar tissue and run his fingertips down each and every one of them, but she let him hoping that doing so would help him understand why she chose all her actions she did these last few years. Not only that, she hoped it would help her overcome her shame of said scars which she still had to this day, despite a full back piece of a phoenix rising from the ashes being over the top of them.

She closed her eyes tightly as he leaned down and kissed her shoulder, reiterating how he was here for her. That he wasn't going anywhere. She wanted to believe him so much that this influx of information she was giving him wouldn't make him be the one that does the running off, she wanted to believe him so much it hurt her heart to hope for such a thing so much.

It took her a few seconds to reopen her eyes as he turned her round to face him, looking him in the eyes as he spoke to her, more than three words. She nodded at his words, accepting that he wasn't happy about any of this or what she put him through as she understood he woiuld be angry about it but when he smirked and kissed her, she kissed him back then pulled back ever so slightly. "I know how much you must be angry with me and you have every right to be mad at me. I'm mad at me for it. I wish that my own self disgust and hatred for the world didn't effect my life and those around me but all I can do is hope that one day you'll learn to forgive me" she told him. "Because I can't do this alone anymore Dean...I've ruined so many lives and I hate myself for it." she told him, forcing herself not to burst into tears again, as she felt the stinging of tears threatening to escape once more. "I have never stopped loving you though, please know that" she added.

Dean didn’t know how to express into words the fact that he was both angry, and happy at this moment. He scanned her eyes, for a few seconds, proving to himself slowly that it was actually Mika. It was hard to care about the anger he had about the lies, when she was there. He could kiss her. He could touch her. She was with him.

He pressed his forehead against hers, a comfort move that he had always done when she was upset. Only now, he was doing it because of his own upset too. His eyes never left hers as he didn’t allow her to pull far away from him, “I am angry. I’m not going to lie to you. But one thing I am not going to do is fight you.”

He shook his head slowly, pecking her lips again, “And you didn’t have to do it alone in the first place. I’m not as mad as you want me to be…because I can’t be angry about things anymore. I mourned you. I felt you die, every time I was with you…with her…”

He blinked away tears, a little more angry than he originally believed himself to be. He wanted to lash out. He wanted to scream and shake her, but he also just wanted to wrap her in his arms. The feeling in his mind was tearing him apart. So, he did the only thing he could at that moment. Now wasn't the time to lash out in anger. He could bring it up when she wasn't this hurt...when he wasn't this hurt.

“Hey…”, he whispered, lifting her chin up with his finger, kissing her lips once again. He brushed her hair behind her ear, clutching her against his chest as he did so, doing everything in his power to make sure she felt safe. He pulled away, kissing her nose softly, “You’re safe…Let’s get you cleaned up…”

Feeling his forehead against her brought back so many memories of how he would do it to her when they were kids. The simple action brought so much calm to her back then, and it still brought a sense of calm to her now, even if she was hurting and still half expecting him to lash out at any second. She listened and understood that he was angry, she would be too if she was Dean, how could one not be after all this time? But hearing him say he wasn't going to fight her on this was of one the greatest reliefs she could have ever known.

She welcome ever peck he gave her, returning each one gladly as she heard the truth she had been ignoring from Bobby this whole time. She didn't want to believe that she didn't have to go through this alone all this time, but whenever Bobby had told her as much, she just figured he was saying it as empty platitudes. So hearing Dean say it it seemed to reso ate a little bit more, she wasn't so quick to brush it off as bullshit. Yet it was the fact he admitted he felt her die everytime he was with her alter ego that really drove home the guilt of what she had done all this time. She could have blamed everyone else for her actions, but she knew there had to be blame on herself as well. It wasn't just John's constant telling Dean she was dead, his constant yelling that Dean needed to stay away from 'Kenzi' as she was poison, it wasn't just Bobby struggling every day to convince her what she was doing was wrong, or the toxic consequences of her and Dean's actions in motels that drove her to keep up the charade. It was her own choice out of self disgust and self hatred and fear of what he'd do or say to her that drove it on for so long.

Looking back up at him as he lifted her chin with his chin, she kissed him again back, let him sweep her hair behind her ear before she felt herself clutched against him, making her close her eyes tightly and cling onto him as if for dear life. She reluctantly let him pull her back to look at her, peck her lips once more and nodded at his idea of getting her cleaned up, suddenly remembering what a state she was in after her hunt. "... Right" she replied.

There was still a lot to discuss, but she was in no shape to discuss it at the moment. He had sprung this on her, fully planning to tear her to shreds for her lies and manipulation. Hell, he wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t still do so when the time seemed right. But seeing her was too much for his brain to lash out with.

Dean smirked at her willingness to let him help her clean up, “What the hell have you been doing? You look like you’ve been wallowing in a swamp…full of thorns.”

He scoffed a bit, pulling a bit of leaf from her hair as he stared at her, trying to convince her with his body language that she was at least safe. He stood and reached a hand out, “I’m assuming that with all the hiding up here, you have to have a bathtub, or at least a shower…show me.”

Mika knew at some point Dean would want to discuss more with her, and maybe it would be a good thing, maybe it would trigger a memory that she had buried so deep down she had forgotten it or something, maybe he would lash out at her at some point and she would probably lash out back but would take anything he gave her as he did deserve that at the very least. For now though, she was tired from the hunt, mentally exhausted from finding Dean in her room and making her relive that night whilst admitting that she yes... She was who he thought she was.

"Was told it was a simple vengeful spirit hunt... It would be fine I was told. No, I get the one vengeful bloody spirit that is so filled with energy killing people by luring them into the woods that it throws me into a tree... Into a mud puddle... And I'm pretty sure at some point I ended up in a nettle Bush. Can't say for sure though. Still got rid of it but still..." she explained, giving him the look that said 'if anyone so much as tells me it's a simple hunt again I will tell them to go fuck themselves'. "and of course it was the one time my lighter decided to not light the first try" she added, taking his hand and getting up off her bed.

At his assumption she nodded, "yeah, I do" she replied, leading him to her own little bathroom. It was small but roomy enough to not feel claustrophobic inside and could easily fit two people in it. She had a bath and a shower head in the bath mounted on the wall, so she could at least have either or if she wished. Like most bathrooms it was pretty standard looking, pretty clean and new looking compared to the rest of Bobby's house, a toilet and sink and a mirror above the sink as well as a cabinet that stored anything and everything she'd possibly need. She was also well aware she was still in her jeans, boots and bra after showing him her scars but she didn't care. She had already told him a great deal of her most vulnerable side, this was nothing in comparison.

Turning the light on in the bathroom she caught her reflection in the mirror and frowned, seeing exactly what Dean meant. "wow.. You weren't kidding.." she remarked.

He listened to her explanation for the hunt, wanting to chime in about not going alone to hunts, regardless of how easy they are supposed to be. But, then again…after hunting with her on a few trips since the accident, he knew she wouldn’t be too happy with him asserting that she couldn’t fend for herself.

Followed her into the bathroom, stepping up behind her as she looked into the mirror. He ran his fingers over her back lightly, now that the light was showing a bit more of the damage from the hunt. He kissed her shoulder lightly, before stepping around her to the bathtub. He turned the hot water on, adding a bit of cold to make sure she didn’t end up scorched.

“I think I’m going to stay…”, he muttered, taking off his jacket. He tossed it into the doorway followed by his t-shirt, “You look like crap. I feel like crap…and my dad’s mad at me.”

He shrugged his shoulders, while unbuckling his belt, “…C’mon…”

He then kicked toed his boots off his feet, stripping the rest of his pants off and climbed into the bathtub. It wasn’t the most effective method of bathing, but he was going to inevitably end up wet, anyway, if he was assisting.

“But no funny business.”, he chuckled, splashing a bit of water up onto his head to wet his hair.

She knew deep down she shouldn't hunt alone, especially as it risked never being found if things went wrong but after their last few encounters she just didn't want anyone around her at all. She'd rather have done things alone than have a single person with her, even if it was reckless.

She watched him in the mirror step up behind her and trail his fingers lightly over the damage that was her back once more. Just like before it sent shivers down her feeling him touch what she always tried to keep hidden. His kiss of her shoulder brought a small smile to her face before turning to see what he was doing. Leaning against the sink she couldn't help but feel glad that he was willing to stay with her as she glanced across at the direction his jacket went flying into the doorway as he took it off, making it very obvious that he was planning on sharing her bath with her.

With a simple single nod she used her feet to kick her boots off, very rarely actually bending down to untie the laces first before proceeding to peel herself out of her skinny jeans as she walked closer to the bath, fully undressing and stepping into the bath, sitting in front of him after his little smart ass remark. "you should be so lucky" she quipped back at him. "But... I'm glad you're staying Dean" she told him, pulling her knees right up to her before reaching over to grab her scrubbing sponge to start washing the dirt off of herself.

As she stepped into the tub, he sighed in relief a bit that she wasn’t protesting about him helping her. He pulled his own knees up to his chest, making sure she had plenty of room. Before she could even dip the sponge into the water, he took it from her, “I mean, where else would I be?”

He squeezed the sponge above her head, wetting her hair down for shampooing. After wetting her hair, he slowly picked leaves and twigs from it, flicking them onto the floor outside the tub. He brought the sponge up and wiped the dried dirt from her forehead, and nose

“Turn around here…”, he whispered, gently turning her by her shoulders, making sure to clutch her to his chest as he helped her move, “It’s hard to wash this mane of hair with you all the way over there. And your back looks pretty sore…”

He reached around for the nearest shampoo bottle he could find, while trying to find the courage to ask questions. But she seemed more relaxed, and he didn’t want to ruin that.

“Feeling any better?”, he asked gently.

As he took the sponge from her, she had to blink a couple of times to acknowledge that the sponge was out of her hands as fast as it was in her hands, but let him take over if he was silently insisting in his own way to help her out. At his question she couldn't think of a good enough answer and found herself shrugging in response, "I dunno...I guess I always had it in my head you'd run a mile when finding out" she admitted to him just before she had to closed her eyes and mouth as she felt the water from the sponge get squeezed on her head, wetting her hair. She let him pick the leaves and twigs out of her hair, knowing, it would no doubt be easier for him to do so than it would be for her, especially with wet hair.

As he wiped her face clean she couldn't help but just look at him the entire, only closing her eyes very briefly when she felt the sponge get near her eyes due to where the dirt had gotten on her after she turned enough so he could actually get to her face. She then gladly turned back and closer to him with his guidance, his little remark bringing another small smile to her lips before it disappeared again at the mention of how sore her back looked. "Not surprising...the spirit threw me into a tree and my back got the brunt of the impact" she said to him, letting him reach for her shampoo bottle, which she grabbed and handed to him to help him out.

"A bit yeah, this isn't how I thought my night would be ending after the hunt thats for sure. But I'm not complaining." she replied to him, doing her best to not move her head forward and onto her knees whilst she knew he was focusing on her hair and back. "It feels like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders now you know..." she said to him, "I feel like I can finally be an open book to you".

Dean squeezed a bit of the shampoo onto the top of her head, not quite sure how much to use. He then began gently lathering, trying to make sure if she had any wounds on her head that he didn’t irritate them further. He also couldn’t help leaning down to kiss along the back of her neck, in spite of the soap that ended up in his mouth.

He smiled softly against the back of her neck, “If I’m honest, I didn’t expect to be this calm. But you also know I have always come to bat for you, regardless of how bad it hurt or I had to hurt someone…to think that I have hurt you…”

He choked down the pain in his throat that threatened tears again.

“You have done some horrible shit. But…I’m so sorry about what happened when we were in Minnesota a couple of years ago. I dream about it every night…and now that I know, I can’t…”

He shuddered and kissed her shoulder again, picking up the sponge and pouring water over her head to begin rinsing the shampoo out.

Mika never thought that she would ever feel him being like this with her or sharing an intimate moment with him that wasn't about being tangled up in the sheets with him. This was something else, it was close, intimate but not sexual. It was caring and loving despite everything they had gone through together. She closed her eyes as he kissed along the back of her neck, taking in his touch as if it would be the last time she would feel it. She listened to his words, sensing that he was yet again getting choked up about the realisation of what he did in Minnesota.

"After what I said to you that night about myself, you had every right to lose your shit in the way you did. I would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed. It does still haunt me but I have forgiven you for it. I forgave you a while ago" she told him truthfully. She was done lying to him or twisting vague truths in with her lies, she just wanted to be fully open to him now for a change, to try and make amends for everything she put him through.

"So please forgive yourself" she added as she felt the shampoo leave her hair and run down her back with the water, the feeling of it all too familiar that she was almost numb to the sensation. For the most part she didn#t have much feeling in her back anymore, but this night was proving to her that she could still feel something on certain levels of touch, whether it be from Dean or from being shoved into a tree.

As the last of the shampoo fell from her hair, and she asked him to forgive himself, Dean sighed, “You know I can’t just do that. I have to make things right, which…they feel pretty alright, right now. I mean, this is the first time we have had time alone to enjoy…anything, when we weren’t fighting.”

He smirked at the fights they had started with each other while she was Kenos, and even before, when she was Mika. He knew that fighting was just part of her personality, and possibly a part of her personality that was intensified by the attack and survival.

“I’ll try, if you’ll try…”, he finally whispered, running the sponge from her hair, down her back. He gently washed her back off and assessing the extent of her fresher wounds, “But you have to try and forgive yourself for what you’ve done. I’ll do my best to only hold a grudge when I’m really angry, and my words are out of my control…as you know. And you’ll do your best to forgive yourself, and not lie anymore.”

As he finished the sentence, he winced at how it sounded at the end, but also knew that she wouldn’t take it too personally, considering how bad the night could have become. He wrapped both his arms around her waist and pressed her against his chest, “I think you’re clean princess…”

He muttered the words playfully as he leaned back and rested his head on the back ledge of the bath, her against his chest and the world feeling a tiny bit safer, whether the people outside of this house realized it or not.

Mika let him take his time to reply to what she told him about forgiveness, understanding that it would be difficult for him, just as it would be for her. She too understood the whole wanting to just take moments to enjoy things together when they weren't fighting, which also made her smirk ever so slightly as she remembered the many times they had fought when she was Kenzi in particular. Sure they had their little moments before she changed herself when she was just the red headed girl, but they were nearly as bad as when she was Kenzi. Usually when they fought before they got 'separated' they last a few hot headed words then they were instantly back to forgiving each other again. Not only that the fights she remembered were usually because she didn't want him to confront those who bullied her, including her father and he wanted to. Otherwise she used to be rather quiet and shy. The typical bookworm artist who liked old independant book stores/cafes.

She nodded at his reply before continuing to hear him and sighed, knowing that as harsh as as his words came out, he was right. She did have to have learn to not lie anymore, be open with him, not be afraid to ask for help when it was needed and just let him in once more. She rested her own arms on his as he wrapped them around her waist and leaned back on him, her head beside his own. "I'll try my hardest to be a better person... For both of us" she confirmed to him before smiling as he called her princess. "you've not called me that in a very long time" she pointed out in a reminiscent manner. Like him, the world felt safer in this very moment for her, a moment she never thought in a million years she would ever feel again.

All those nights in motels where they fell asleep hugging when she was Kenzi just didn't feel anywhere near the same as to how it felt now. She couldn't even think of much else to say to him even though she knew there was no doubt so much more to discuss.