Unbroken Ch. 13

"You are right," Charles moved a little closer to him. "But there is something that I have wanted to ask you. I just don't know how your reaction will be. I don't even know if you will be mad at me but this question has been in my mind for quite some time."

"What is it?" Luis asked, trying his best to give his friend a faint smile. "You know you can ask me anything."

Charles chuckled nervously and then took a deep breath. He didn't know how his friend's reaction was gonna be. But he was gonna ask him.

"Have you ever thought about him being innocent?" He spoke so softly. "What if that poor boy is innocent? What are you going..."

"You too..." Luis furiously got up from the bed. "Please, don't ask that question. I am sick and tired of hearing that. You and I both know that he can't be innocent. We all saw that video. Why is it so difficult to understand that he is a warlock? He is nothing but a liar and a fucking warlock."

"Luis..." Charles got up. "Look I am so sorry about all this okay? I just wanted to ask..."

"Well! Don't ask that question again. Why is it so..."

"I am really sorry," Charles apologized. He didn't mean to ask that question and let his friend be mad at him. "Please, calm down." He tried to touch his friend but he retaliated and took a few steps behind. "I asked you if it was okay. I was just curious to know where my friend stands in this situation. I just wanted to know if you ever think about Aidan..."

"Don't mention his name." Luis pointed at his friend angrily. "I don't want to hear about him. He is gone forever and I don't even want to think that he exists. I only told you about him being here because you are my friend. I actually didn't want you to..."

"Luis, I thought I said I was sorry." Charles muttered, getting closer to Luis. Reaching him, Charles got closer and gripped his shoulder. He gave it a tight squeeze and smiled as brightly as he could. "Please, forgive me for this. I love you so much and I don't want you to be mad at me. Please, forgive me. I promise I will never talk about this with you."

Luis gave his friend a cold look and then sighed. "I really don't like this. I expected you to be on my side as..."

"I am on your side," Charles beamed. "Look, your happiness is my first priority. You are the person that I love so much. It just hurts me to see you like this. I didn't mean to cause this to you. Please, forgive me for everything."

"It's fine." Luis said, rubbing on Charles' hand. "I am so sorry that I snapped at you. It's just that there is just so much in my mind right now." He held both of his friend's hands and carefully rubbed on them. "Please. I need to forget about everything. I need to get rid of these feelings that I have. I need to forget about Aidan and his very existence. I need to forget the pain that I have inside of me. I need to forget everything." A tear dropped to his cheek which he rubbed quickly. "There are so many things inside of me that I don't need to be there. I need them out of my head and my heart. I don't want to live in the past anymore. I just need to forget."

Charles took a deep sigh. "I know that you are probably in so much pain right now. Believe me, I can feel your pain. You are right. You need to forget about everything for you to be better. You need to move on and just be yourself. You need to get back to the way you were."

"Thank you." Luis gripped his friend and pulled him into a fierce hug. "I will forget about everything. I have never failed in doing anything. This issue is nothing. I will forget."

"That's the spirit..." Charles said as he rubbed on his back. "Just tell me when you need me and I will always be there for you. I will always be here to help you in anything that you want. I am your best friend and I will always be here...always..."

"Thank you." He hugged Charles tighter.

Luis was still thinking about Aidan. The pain was still there and he knew it was really doing him bad. Being in the palace and constantly looking at places were Aidan had been was doing him badly. He figured there was only one way for him to get over everything. He knew what he had to do.

Pulling away from the hug, Luis held his friend's hands and then sat on the bed with him. "Maybe what I need is just a break." He sighed.

"A break?" Charles gasped, chuckling softly.

"Yes!" He nodded. "I need a break from all this and I think I might need your help. You said that you would always be here for me and help me, right?"

"Of course," Charles cupped Luis' hands in his. "I will always be here for you. I am ready to do anything for you. I am ready to even go to the moon just to see my friend's happy smile. I really miss the old Luis. He was back about a week ago but he is now gone."

"I know." Luis sighed, moving his head slightly forward. "That is why I need a break. I need to think things through. I need to be able to forget about everything. I just wanna forget and enjoy my life once again. I want to able to revive myself."

"Just tell me what I can do to help."

"Good..." Luis chuckled softly. Even through the pain that he was passing through, Luis had to show his friend some form of happiness. He didn't need to be always sad. He needed to show him some smiles and laughs. That was the only way he knew his friend wouldn't be too worried about him. "I will tell you later. But first...you have to stay with me the whole day okay?"

"Fine..." Charles chuckled, getting up from the bed. "Just tell me it's gonna be fun and I will stay with you for a whole year if you want."

Luis chuckled at his friend's bright mood. He got up and nodded his head.

"You are really crazy."

"Yeah. But I love how my craziness is able to help my friend laugh."

"Yeah, thank you." Luis said softly.

"Okay." Charles chirped, stamping his foot on the floor. "So what are we gonna be doing."

Luis chuckled and then nodded his head. "Let's go outside."

Both Luis and Charles went to the pool just to have some fun. They sat on the chairs just enjoying their day and having some cold drinks. At least, Luis was able to get rid of some of his worries. He was just happy his friend was always there him. He really loved him a lot.

***

"Baby...why do you always look like this?" Henry said, cupping Hanna's cheeks. He planted a soft kiss on her and she sighed, looking deeply into his eyes. She was not her usual self. "I haven't seen you for a whole five days and now...you are here looking like..." He gestured with his eyes. "...that."

Hanna was at Henry's house. She had only arrived a few seconds ago but her mood was not surely the same. She had a lot of thinking to do. But...she had thought coming to meet her boyfriend would somehow change her mood but it was still the same.

"He came back." She simply said, taking a gloomy sigh. "He came back five days ago."

"Who?" Henry sounded really confused. He couldn't quite understand her.

"Aidan!" Hanna exclaimed. "He appeared in the palace five days ago and he..."

"Oh my God," Henry gasped, getting closer to her. "Did he hurt you or..."

"No!" Hanna hollered. "I don't think Aidan can do that. He can't hurt me or my family."

"Honey, he is a warlock." Henry said, rubbing on Hanna's hands. "He doesn't care who hurts or what he does. He can hurt anyone in his path."

"Yeah," Hanna sighed. "But he only came for his family. He took them and then he disappeared in thin air." She sounded really sad. "But you should have seen the way he was looking like. He was sparkling with diamonds. He had shimmering diamond clothes and a huge diamond crown on his head. I have never seen anyone look like that before. He was elegant. He was looking like a real king. He also said something about having his own kingdom. I don't know..."

"He is a warlock." Henry pointed out. "He killed the priest, remember. If I can also remember, he tried to kill your grandmother. She only survived by luck. He was also after the throne..."

"I know I should hate him right now but I can't." Hanna said. "I hated that boy with passion but once I finally gave him a chance...I had a great bond with him that I failed to break up to now. I can't find myself hating him even though I saw what he did. Somehow, I can feel that he is..."

"Honey," Henry pulled Hanna close to him. "Don't trust him too much. I know he contributed to our relationship but he was probably pretending just to get everyone's trust. He just needed to execute his plans without anyone ever finding out about it. You heard he wanted to kill everyone so that he could get to the throne."

"You are right," Hanna got up and turned her back to him. She then crossed her arms on her chest and turned to face him. "We heard he wanted the throne but from what I see, he is really powerful right now. If he wanted the throne then..."

"I know you still love him." Henry got up and gripped her waist, bringing her closer to him. "Don't stress over that, my love. You should forget about him. Think of your brother for instance and how he is doing."

"He's not doing okay." Hanna said softly. "He is one of the reasons why I am like this. He's been through a lot recently. Things are not favoring him. I can't imagine myself in his shoes. It is just too much for him to handle alone."

"Too bad..." Henry sighed. "All this is because of him. He should pay for causing that to the crown prince. He should pay dearly for it. He is the reason why the royal family is like this in the first place. If you ask me...I don't think he deserves anyone's love."

"What if he's innocent like he said he is?"

"He is not, trust me." He planted a kiss on her lips. "He is not innocent. No warlock in this world is innocent. They just prey on human beings. They demand human lives and blood. He's killed the priest already. Just thank the almighty that he didn't do anything to you or your family."

Hanna wanted to believe what Henry had told her but she couldn't do it. She still believed there was some sort of truth to what Aidan had said.

"Behind every lie is some truth." Hanna said. "Aidan couldn't have turned bad out of the blue. I spend almost every day of my life with him. He was really nice and..."

"Okay." Henry chuckled. "Suppose you are right. I don't need to judge him like that. But...whatever is the truth, we must just leave it to time. I am sure if he is as innocent as you think he is...he is going to be proven right. All you have to do right now is just concentrate on your brother and his welfare okay." He cupped her cheeks. "Now where is that smile that always makes my heart jump with joy? I haven't seen you for five days. I think I deserve a smile."

Hearing her boyfriend's words, Hanna smiled brightly and just forgot about everything. At least when she was with her boyfriend she always felt really well. She was happy.

"There you go." Henry chuckled, planting a hot kiss on her sweet lips. "Thanks for giving me that killer smile."

"Anytime," Hanna beamed.

"Okay." Henry winked. "Now let's go out."

Hanna smiled and then followed her boyfriend. They both went out to have fun and just romantically stay with one another. They needed to forget about everything.

***

Luis came down the stairs, staring straight into the living room. The entire family was there and they were actually talking even though he couldn't hear them. After Aidan had appeared in the living room, the family was not that lively anymore, or not frequently. They did things together but not like before. It was just adding to Luis' foul mood.

Taking a deep breath, Luis rushed to the living room and sat on the couch without even giving them any expression on his face. What he had come to tell them was actually really serious? He was just hoping they would understand him and agree with him even though he knew they were gonna agree with him. After all, it was all for his happiness and he knew they would do anything just to see him really happy.

"Hey son..." The king smiled brightly.

"Father," He said softly with a serious look on his face. "I need to talk to all of you and I hope you will not be mad at me."

The king couldn't understand what his prince was talking about. He looked at his family members and they all seemed not to know anything about what Luis was talking about. But he was gonna talk to him because he was really worried.

"Go ahead, son. What seems to be the matter?"

Luis took a really deep breath before he finally went to sit near his father. He sat close to him and stared at him, examining his face. He didn't want him to be sad or anything.

"I want to go abroad." Luis hollered, biting his lips. "I want to get out of here for a while. I want to go away for some time."

There was a moment of silence after Luis spoke. Everyone just looked at him without any expression. They were taken by surprise because they didn't expect that to come.

"Sure." The king simply said. "You are welcome to go anytime you want. But...you only came back a few months ago after spending a really long time there. What influenced you to make such a decision? And why do you want to go abroad so soon?"

Luis gave a gloomy sigh. "I will not lie to you father. The truth is that I am really hurting just by being in this environment. I thought I had completely forgotten about what had happened but seeing..." Paused and closed his eyes for a second. "...all those things including the feelings that I had buried came right back to me. I can't seem to forget about it. I will not lie to you because it is what I feel inside of me. I just wanna go away from here." He said as he felt tears building in his eyes. "I just want to forget about everything and live my life. I just wanna find myself again."

The king was really sad after hearing what Luis had said. But he couldn't do anything to stop his son from going. "My son," He took a really deep breath. "The only thing I want is to see you happy. I wanna see the way you were when you came back. I just wanna hear you smile and sing and...just be happy."

"Do you have to go?" Hanna sounded really sad. "Why can't you just..."

"I have to." Luis sighed, moving his eyes to her. "This is the only way for me to get my life back on track. I need to do this for all of us."

"Oh..." Hanna rose from her couch and then rushed to him. Reaching him, she gripped his arms and held him tightly. She was really emotional. She loved her brother so much that she couldn't afford to let him go. She had lived almost half her life without him and now he was going away. She didn't like it at all. "I am going to miss you a lot. I can't even imagine living without you in this house."

"Then why don't you come with me?" He pulled away from her. "We will be together and then your presence there will also help me."

Hanna wanted to go but...

"I don't think I can come with you. I don't think Henry will even agree with me. I don't even how long we will be gone. I am so sorry."

"It's okay." He gave a faint smile. "Charles is going with me. He is going to accompany me. I will be back as soon as I get back to my feet. I will come back as soon as I have forgotten about everything. Being in a different environment will definitely help me. It hurts to go away once again but...I know it's for the best. I will miss all of you."

The king got up and sat with him on the couch. He wrapped his arm around him and then held him tighter as if he was a little child, planting soft kisses on his head. He really loved his son a lot and he wanted him to get back to the way he was.

"So many things have happened. I know this is the only way for me to forget about everything. When I return, I promise I will be someone else. I will no longer be affected by all this. I will be a better son...a better brother...a better grandson and a better crown prince to my people but most of all, I will be a better person and I will find someone else to settle with. This is my promise to you father. You will see a different me."

The king tightened his hold on his son. "I know you will son." He muttered. "I know you will."

With one final kiss on the head, King Julian finally let go of his son and cupped his cheeks. He planted soft kisses on both his cheeks and then let go of him. Luis could see that both his granny and his mother were really sad.

Luis got up and gave both his mother and his grandmother a hot hug. They even shed some tears. They didn't want to let him go but they knew it was for the best so after what felt like complete hours, they finally let go of him. They were just happy that he had decided to take such a step to perfect his life. He promised he was gonna make them proud with his change. He even promised to find them a better son in law once he had fully forgotten.

"So when do you plan on leaving?" Granny asked.

Luis looked at his father and then at granny. "The day after tomorrow... The more I stay here, the more difficult it will be for me. That's why Charles and I will be leaving the day after tomorrow."

"That's okay." The king said. "We will miss you a lot. But how long do you plan on going there?"

Luis sighed and then dropped his eyes. "Until I forget about everything... It might take a few months...a year...or even two. But I promise to come back early."

"Hmm," Hanna didn't like it at all. "Even though I don't want to let go of you...I think it's for the best that you forget. I want my old brother back." She chuckled. "But I only have one condition for you."

"What?" Luis chuckled as he fought so hard not to get emotional. "What's your condition?"

"That you spend the rest of your day tomorrow with us." She said as she fought the tears that were building in her eyes. "Since I don't know when you are gonna be back...please, grant me this. Let tomorrow be a day of fun for our family. We need it to be a great and memorable day for all of us."

Luis chuckled at his sister's request. His heart was on fire. Seeing his family that emotional, Luis didn't want to go anymore. But he knew he had to do it if he wanted to be a good son to them. He was also doing it for them.

"You know I can't deny you that. I will spend the rest of the day with you. We are gonna be having fun tomorrow. Just get ready for it."

Hanna gasped and then threw herself in her brother's arms. She held him tightly and just loved how he was coping with everything. She was really gonna miss. Luis was also gonna miss her. But he was happy since he was not gonna be going alone but with his crazy friend. He was gonna be spending time with a great person. That was also an assurance that Luis was gonna get over what had happened to him.

***

The next day, the royal family had breakfast and then headed to the royal beach house which was located on the outskirts of town. It was a beautiful two floor house which looked ordinary but was indeed beautiful. It was a huge house with a great view of the beach and nature. Luis could remember how as a child they used to spend summer vacations on that beach house. It had workers, guards and everything else. It was the king's private property but he usually rent it to people that wanted to have fun.

The king had made sure that none of the people would be at the beach house once they arrived. It was a great journey to the beach house. Things were definitely beautiful and they wouldn't have loved for anything more than that. The beach house, including the whole beach and a hundred acres of land surrounding it was a private property of the king so they didn't expect to see anyone.

Reaching the beach house, they changed into their beach clothes before finally heading to the beach. Luis was glad his best friend was there. His mother had invited him and he had surely come. Luis was really glad that had happened. Henry was also there as he had also been invited.

Reaching the beach, they first made sure that they had everything with them since it was gonna be a picnic also. They had all kinds of foods and drinks. They had brought with them even pool chairs and umbrellas to keep out of the sun. Of course, granny had to walk carefully since her wound had not completely healed.