As Leon entered his father's office, he found Paul sitting behind his desk, slurping down his fifth glass of whiskey as he was engrossed in his work. The room had an air of seriousness, with the walls filled with the same priceless decorations and paintings.
Paul looked up from his papers, his gaze meeting his son's. His eyes had a mixture of disdain and uncertainty as he took in Leon's presence.
"Leon... you're here...," Paul's voice held the slightest hint of emotion, his words trailing off slightly.
"Yes, Father. I've come to talk," Leon replied, trying to keep his voice steady and respectful despite his nervousness.
Paul looked absolutely surprised as he heard Leon's tone. It had been years since he had seen Leon like this as he always behaved harshly and disrespectfully, whenever he spoke to him and he always remained quiet with a rude face whenever Paul used his aura to overwhelm him, just so he could speak to him.
Paul nodded slowly, setting aside the documents in front of him. He gestured for Leon to take a seat in the chair across from his desk.
"Very well. What do you want to talk about?" Paul's voice was tinged with a hint of resignation.
Leon settled into the chair, leaning forward attentively. He knew that this moment would be the most crucial moment in their relationship, for better or worse.
"I... I...uh..." Leon stuttered as tried to speak to his father but his nerves were preventing him from doing so because he kept on remembering the moment when he saw his father run away from the battle, leaving him and his mother alone with the assailants.
"What's wrong? Did something happen during the test?" Paul asked keeping his strict and professional face which he was used to at this point.
Leon took a second to calm down his nerves as he thought back to the conversation he had with Mako on the boulder. He knew he had to make things right with his father and allow him to finally explain what really happened that day.
"I... I wanted to apologize to you, Father," Leon finally said with his eyes closed which was the only way he could get the words out of his mouth.
There was a moment of silence as no words were uttered from either side prompting Leon to slowly open his eyes only to find the most shocking and unimaginable thing he had ever seen in his entire life.
Small tears were starting to form in Paul's eyes as he was left shocked to finally hear those words come out of his son's mouth.
"Leon... Is this true? Is this really you?" Paul asked to confirm whether this was really Leon because he had dreamed of this moment countless times to the point that he couldn't figure out whether it was the alcohol finally taking effect or if was it really his finally coming back to him.
"Yes, Father. I had been blinded by my emotions and so I cut you off in an attempt to push the pain away which I thought was your fault, but during the test, I finally had the chance to think back to the time when all of this began, back when Mother died..." Leon said with emotions building in his voice as well.
"Father, I want to know the truth. The whole truth about what happened to my mother," Leon spoke with a firmness in his voice, his eyes locking with Paul's.
Paul's gaze wavered for a moment, his face filled with sorrow. He took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before beginning.
"Your mother... she was a remarkable woman, Leon. Strong, intelligent, and fiercely devoted to her family," Paul's voice trembled slightly as he spoke, his memories of his late wife resurfacing.
He paused, his eyes filled with pain, before continuing. "During the time when I was fighting all those guys, I had an invisible barrier made using telekinesis to force the air molecules themselves to not allow people through and I used it to protect you and your mother when you were still inside the car,"
"However, the only downside to that was that it sapped a lot of energy from me so even though I was keeping up with all those guys and fighting them all at once, I was also protecting you. I tried my best and gave it my all but those guys were decent fighters too and waited for me to tire out and look for an opening before committing an attack." Paul said
"Their plan had worked brilliantly and they managed to stab me with a special knife which brought me to my knees and allowed those guys to take you and your mother hostage and put a knife against your throats," Paul added.
Leon listened intently, his heart aching at the pain evident in his father's voice.
"It was at that time that you kicked all that dust in the air to create a distraction for me to use which I was really proud of, and I admit I did indeed run at that moment as you saw but you didn't see what happened afterward or what were the circumstances," Paul said in a regret-filled voice.
"What happened to her, The last thing I remember before I was knocked out was that she was screaming at them to not hurt me and you were running away," Leon asked in desperation as he couldn't wait any longer he just had to know.
"Well, the reason I ran in the first place was not that I was scared or overwhelmed, it was very much the opposite, I could kill all those guys in a normal fight, but back then when they stabbed me, they laced it with a special poison that blocked me from using any abilities for a short time, leaving me powerless. I had to run to buy myself time to regain my powers," Paul began explaining.
"However, I couldn't just run away because they would have for sure killed you and your mother. I purposefully distanced myself just enough so that they gave chase and continued to threaten me while my body dealt with the poison." Paul added.
"Everything was working according to plan, those guys thought that they still had several minutes until I got my powers back, but in reality, I had trained my body to neutralize poisons and they had only seconds before I got my powers back." Paul continued.
"However... there was just one thing that I didn't calculate and that was your mother," Paul said as his eyes started to become watery with tears and regret filled his heart.
"Why what happened to her?" Leon asked respectfully but in a slight hurry as he couldn't hold back his emotions anymore.
"When you got knocked out, you were hit quite hard and even though you were alive, you were bleeding from your head and your mother had lost it after she saw you in that state," Paul said while trying to keep his tears from falling out.
"She broke free from the guy who was holding her and rushed over to you. She knew some water healing skills but there was no water nearby. She was in complete desperation as she couldn't let her son die. In a moment of desperation, her water ability evolved further and she even managed to awaken her mutant gene." Paul said with great pride and love.
"Her water ability grew so strong that she was able to manipulate the water that was inside those guys' bodies. The scene was so terrifying to watch as I watched your mother kill for the first time as she sapped every last bit of water from the three guys near her, turning them into literal husks." Paul added leaving Leon absolutely shocked.
"As soon as she got her hands on water she used the excess water to form a bubble shield and use the remaining water to heal you. Her only focus was to make sure you were safe, she didn't care about anything else and that is what led to her death." Paul said.
"What? How?!" Leon asked as tears were also falling down his face.
"There were a few other guys who didn't immediately chase after me and after your mother pulled that stunt they start to focus on her and began attacking her bubble. Your mother was pretty strong at that moment but she didn't stop for a second and continued to just heal you, leaving the bubble barrier unattended."
"By this time, I had regained my abilities and I was trying to deal with all those that followed me as quickly as possible so that I could make my way towards you. With me not having to spend a lot of my energy keeping up an invisible barrier, I fought more freely and made short work of all of them, but by that time those people had already broken down your mother's bubble barrier."
"I looked over just as the barrier fell, and rushed back at the maximum speed that I could, but... It was just too late," Paul finished with his lips quivering and his vision becoming blurry with all the water that was welling up in his eyes.
"Your mother... she fought valiantly to protect us. Her bravery was unmatched. But in the chaos of battle, a stray bullet struck her," Paul's voice faltered, his eyes finally breaking out tears. "I couldn't save her, Leon. I couldn't protect her."
Both father and son stared at each other with tears falling down their faces as they both sat in silence to reabsorb all of their leaking emotions and past memories. Leon was left in absolute shock and disbelief as he couldn't believe what her father and mother had done to keep him safe that day and he cursed at himself for how he had treated his broken father for years.
Leon reached across the desk, placing a hand on Paul's trembling one, knocking the bottle of whiskey off the table in the process. "Father, it wasn't your fault. You did everything you could. You can't blame yourself for things that were beyond your control... and so can't I"
Paul looked up to his son's face in shock as he heard him say those words. After many years of living a miserable life, Paul genuinely smiled for the first time in years as he nodded to his son, his tears now freely flowing. He took a moment to compose himself before continuing.
"I've carried the weight of that guilt for so long, Leon. I blamed myself, convinced that I had failed as a husband and a father, which was why when you pushed me away I thought that this was the way God was going to punish me for my failure," Paul's voice quivered with emotion.
Leon's eyes softened as he listened to his father's confession. He understood the pain Paul had carried for years, and now, the importance of forgiveness and healing.
"Father, we can't change the past, but we can shape our future," Leon's voice was filled with compassion. "We've both made mistakes, but we can find a way to move forward, to rebuild the bond that we once had."
Paul looked at Leon, a mix of gratitude and regret evident in his gaze. "You're right, Leon. I've missed so much and let my pain blind me to the bond we share as father and son."
They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of their shared history hanging in the air.
"I love you, Father. And I want us to find a way to heal, together," Leon's voice was filled with genuine sincerity.
Paul reached across the desk, grasping Leon's hand tightly. "I love you too, Leon. And I'm ready to try again, to be the father you deserve."
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