Luciano

I hear her scream.

That's all it takes for half the house to come running.

When Savannah first came here, I made it clear that if anything happened to her while she was here, everyone would get a bullet in a place of my choice.

Urgently, I get up, hearing her screams her even more bloodcurdling.

People are probably touching her.

Fuck, what a mess I made.

"Everybody step back, get out of the room,"

Maids and nurses and guards herd back, letting me through.

She's sobbing profusely, I've never really seen her cry before.

When she got kidnapped, probably set her off. These things are triggering; I would know.

I shut the door quietly behind me, ordering a maid to cook us something to eat.

My gut clenches as I watch her thrash and plead.

Quietly, I approach her bed, slipping in next to her but far enough away that she won't clock me.

"Hey, hey, can you sing for me, Kitty?"

She doesn't stop crying, or talking in her sleep, but she does stop thrashing around so that's good.

I inch closer to her, sighing in relief when I slip my arms around her.

"I'm going to hold you Kitty, okay? But it's just me. It's just me."

Her hands lock around my chest, almost like she's clutching a teddy bear.

Crying still hasn't stopped, neither has the fearful murmuring; but she's calmer.

"It's okay, Kitty. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you, amore mio. Mi prometto."

She buried her face further in my chest, making whimpering sounds that stabbed my heart.

"I'll tell you a story. It's a story my Mamma used to tell me when things got rough around our house."

I smiled at the thought.

I stroked her hair, just like my Mamma used to do mine.

"Once upon a time, when there was nothing nowhere,"

It's harder to translate verbatim than I thought.

"And the world was empty, there was one soul. Just one. And he was lonely, so he split in two, not noticing that it was uneven. From him came a woman. And she was his other half; his better half.

As time went on, and the world started changing, the soul and his better half became lonely, so they came together, and split once more; and from them came a little soul.

So they were happy once again, but little souls most some times turn into big souls, though it was a naughty thing to do,"

I remember I would always giggle when my Mamma said that, and I'd say, it's not naughty Mamma.

And she'd say; that's what you think, because you are a little soul.

"And he went out, and made humans. He made them to be just like him, and his Mamma and Papa; with a better half.

He was sad though, because he didn't have a better half. He asked his Papa what to do, and his papa said: You must give most of yourself to have her.

And so, he did. But then, he made some bad choices, and his other half slipped away. So he chased her and chased her, until he could chase no more.

And that is why, sometimes it takes so long to find your better half, because that little soul now a big soul is sad, knowing his got away."

"Never let your better half get away,"

All was quiet, the scent of her(cherries) filling me, her soft body holding me as if I were her savior.

Nothing felt better.

I laid a kiss on her head, covered in sweat from her fighting.

I whisper a secret in her ear, knowing she won't understand even if she can hear me.

"Penso ... credo di essere innamorato di te."

(I think... I think I'm in love with you.)