” I said as we pulled into her driveway. “And try to just answer with the first thing that comes to mind.”“Okay.” She said.“Favorite actor...” I asked.“Toss up,” She started. “Robert Downey Jr. or Robert Picardo.”That, I had not been expecting. She just named two of my favorite actors.“Favorite Band or Artist?” I asked.“Disturbed.” She said as we got out of the car.“Favorite TV show?” I asked.“Power Rangers, all the way. I hear there’s a Japanese...” She started to say, but caught that I hadn’t. She had intended to voice the issue the day Hades had opened and the evil dead had spilled onto earth. By that evening she had been a widow and now she stood, with the man she’d once had an affair with waiting in the next room. Why should she feel guilty, she was, by every definition, a free woman now. She was free to speak to whomever she wished, yet just the thought of the young man sitting in her living room sent a hot shiver down her spine, as though he were a forbidden treat she was. The mother she had loved and given up everything but her own life to protect. Cloud didn’t regret her choices. Given the chance, she’d go through it again if it would mean saving her mother. How many years Cloud had lived with the abuse her stepfather had dealt out, she didn’t quite remember. But she did remember, clear as day, when this picture had been taken. It had been a day of both good and bad memories. Things she cherished in her heart. It had been that day that her stepfather had begun. Give her a little more time, when you are preparing for a competition. As much as she likes to see you two dancing with each other, she longs for you to dance with her as much as you can, Charles.”Turning to Claire she said, “I know that this is going to be tough for you, but you can’t be catty with her or even around her. All right you two, why don’t you work on that crazy new dance of yours that you want to show off to Kalista. I will get her over here by Thursday. Have it ready by then..