Free Determination by Angela B. Macala-Guajardo

“Yes you do. I was never there for you. I failed you as a father.”
    “I don’t care that you were never there, and you didn’t fail me. You and Mom conceived me and loved me while you were alive. You’ve given me life and a chance to enjoy it. That’s enough for me and needs to be enough for you.” She looked at Sekiro and the Indian Numina, who were both watching with subdued gazes. “Sekiro, I don’t even know what I’m saying. I just want him to feel better. I don’t hate him at all. Why won’t he listen?”
    Dad slipped out of the hug, dropping to the pavement, and sat cross-legged with his head bowed. The lanes emptied once more.
    The Indian Numina knelt beside him. “Hm, he’s backsliding. It took me a while to coax him past this moment the first time. He carries so much regret because the accident was such an avoidable mistake.”
    “He’s human,” Roxie said. “We all make mistakes.”
    “Yes, but this one was fatal, and left a wife and daughter to go on without him.”
    “Wait, he doesn’t know that Mom died too?”
    The three of them looked at her in abject horror and a pregnant silence fell over them.
    Roxie’s face paled as she realized she probably shouldn’t have said that. She’d had this preconceived notion that her parents were together in death. So, when Sekiro had said there were two places to go to meet her parents, she’d been quite puzzled.
    “You’re an orphan,” Dad said in a hoarse voice. “Oh, god. What happened?”
    “She died shortly after giving birth to me. I don’t know the specifics. I never asked.” She turned to Sekiro. “How does he not know? Are the dead isolated from each other?”
    “It’s a complex answer. The dead have their own social network, but it’s so different from the living. It’s common to have soul mates together. However, once you see your mom, you’ll understand why your parents aren’t together in death.”
    “Why aren’t they?”
    “It’s best if you see firsthand, unless you don’t want to go anymore.”
    Roxie looked at her mourning father and the Numina kneeling beside him. She had a feeling it would be best to leave her mother undisturbed, but yet again she’d spend the rest of her life wondering what might’ve happened. Yes, the meeting with her father wasn’t pleasant; however, she’d got to hear his voice, hear him say her name, and hug him. She didn’t care about the coldness. His overwhelming regret worried her, though. “I still wish to go, but is there anything I can do to help my father first?”
    Sekiro looked at the other Numina. “Asiyah?”
    Asiyah nodded, then looked at Roxie and spoke in his heavy accent. “Keep giving him words of comfort. He will come around in time. Once he’d accepted that his mistake couldn’t be unmade, and that his family would find a way to go on without him, he was able to let go and move on the first time.” He rubbed Dad’s back. “You can stay and help if it’ll make you feel better, but it isn’t necessary. He just needs time before he’ll move forward again.”
    “I’d like to help. I just want him to be happy to see me.” She didn’t mean to say that aloud but it came out before she could take the truth back.
    Asiyah beckoned her to sit before Dad. “Just keep speaking words of comfort and reassurance to him. Your father’s determined to find inner peace, so don’t feel discouraged.”
    “Do you think I might actually see him happy?” She sat cross-legged with her knees grazing Dad’s, and her wings splayed out behind her.
    “Help him and reap the rewards from your efforts.”
    Roxie’s father sat hunched over with a dark aura encircling him, smudging the outline of his head. She took his icy hands in hers and felt his despair wash over her. She took a deep breath and mentally pushed it away, like chasing away a negative thought with a few choice positive ones. His hands were slightly larger than hers, and they looked strong, capable of wonderful