"Impossible..." Draco gasped.
"I assure you it is not," Marie said slowly, "it is why you couldn't find any records of "Maurice Cruz" after you last saw him. I didn't leave any records of what could have happened to him..."
"You lied to me?" Draco said firmly.
"It was for my own protection, and my fathers," Marie answered.
She looked up, expecting to see Draco looking furious. Instead she noticed a tear escaping one eye.
"You thought I would just attack you if I found out?"
"NO!" Marie nearly shouted, "we feared the choir masters would have me tortured or killed for lying about my gender and pretending to be male. I apologize for any deception, and I know you can never forgive me for what I did... and a part of me is convinced I will go to hell for it. You, Lobo, and Gillian were better friends to me then I ever was to you."
"Why did you leave?" Draco asked slowly, trying to calm himself down.
"I started to develop attributes that would clearly mark me as female... and at the point where you and the others probably would have figured it out by scent," Marie said slowly.
"And how did you feel of Lobo? Of Gillian? Of me?"
"You were my friends, Draco," Marie said, "I didn't like leaving you... and my heart weeped when I overheard a couple of newcomers make fun of your name... but I could not come to your defense..."
"Lots of people who have learned about how my kind have been traditionally named have made fun of my name," Draco sighed weakly.
"I never did," Marie answered, "I admit that I lied to you... for all those years... but it was never about you. You were a far better friend then I was. It was the world that was not fair that made me lie. If it was fairer... if humanity was more like Lupman or Leoman at least or like the Felman at best, you would have known me as Marie from the beginning."
"Honestly? You would have honestly befriended me if you didn't have to hide your gender?" Draco questioned, "Suppose I think you only befriended us because it was expected of a boy to make friends with boys? You, yourself have admitted that we were better friends then you were."
Here was the anger that Marie sensed.
"You were friends," Marie insisted, "Yes, I started out to insure that no one thought that I was too much of a hermit, but I did enjoy the times I had with you, Gillian, and Lobo."
"Then why didn't you ever write us? Send us secret messages?"
"Things became busy for me," Marie sighed, "as I grew up, I was sent on more and more missions for the Inquisition... and I must admit that at the time, mourning over the loss of you and the others as friends, I was not in the mood of really letting anyone in... which Katherine became the first to really break through and get my head set on straight... by that time, I thought you had forgotten about me. You've grown up and attained a position in the Church that I will never be able to equal."
"We never forgot "Maurice"," Draco answered, "He was a good friend."
"Hopefully you can forgive me eventually," Marie said weakly.
Marie was unable to continue as Draco slowly approached. His physical size was imposing, and she feared he would never forgive her for lying. Instead Marie found herself being lifted into a strong hug.
"This does explain some things... I'll admit that I overlooked the eye," Draco admitted, "but it is good to have you back... I'd assume you prefer Marie?"
Marie nodded.
"I will never understand you and the Inquisition and why you let everything get to the point that they have," Draco said in a firm voice, "but it is good to have you back."
"You're not as mad as I had thought you would be," Marie said, thinking out loud.
"I'm furious that you lied," Draco answered, "and let those lies live for years... but nothing I can do can change the past. I would hope that you are more open in the future. Secrets are rather nasty business."
"I can't tell you how sorry I am," Marie sighed.
"I'm sure," Draco sighed, "are there any other secrets you've been hiding?"
"Not that I can remember at the moment," Marie spoke.
"Then we had best get going," Draco answered.
"You're not going to just drop the mission?" Marie asked, "You and I both know that the Puritans are likely to tar and feather us after the witches are defeated."
"Marie, I set out to be a missionary," Draco answered, "and I've failed everywhere. This is my last chance, even without your mission... and if what you've said about the witches is true, it is not like leaving you here would be wise in the long term. Besides, Gillian is one his Holiness's ambassadors and I've heard a few rumors that Lobo was sent back to where his Pack had once lived. You're the only childhood friend I have left, apparently. It is best that we start anew."
"Thank you, Father Draco Fire," Marie said weakly, "and as you said, it is best we be going. Although for warning, Katherine's family does not know of the witches. All they know about is the mission to try and convert the Puritans back to the Church."
"And you don't think they will smell the drugs we will be using to weaken the witches?" Draco asked, "I know I can smell it."
"We'll have to assume they don't know what it is," Marie sighed, "though they haven't noticed so far... if they do ask, we'll have to think of something."
Draco only sighed.
+++++++
"So Draco forgave her?" Maddex asked curiously.
"In a way," glass Marie answered, "it was eye opening for him and he didn't like being lied to... what could he do about it? He could report that Marie had pretended to be male, knowing that the Council that headed the Inquisition likely wouldn't defend her, and what would that do? Other then the obvious of punish Marie for what really could be considered a mistake on the part of Father Gabriel."
Marie then sighed and continued, "and Draco's life was not easy. Gillian and Lobo both remembered "Maurice" until the end of their days... but the successes they had kept them busy to the point where their memories were rather vague. Draco's failures and the memories of the "bad blood" that was between dragons and Europe's civilizations made him cling to the time when he most felt like he belonged, which happened to be when he, Gillian, Lobo, and Marie as "Maurice" were all young. Having "Maurice" back, even if now learning that Maurice was only an alias, it gave him some joy that his anger at being lied to was abated."
"It sounds like he was very forgiving," Betty commented.
"True forgiveness would come in time," Marie told the white female lupman, "but for the moment, Draco was happy to be reunited with an old friend and relieved that Marie was no longer hiding things."
++++++++++
Draco and Marie emerged to find Katherine waiting patiently with her family, Mary doing her best to try and control her young ones, with Martin's help, while Rachael and Dillon stood by quietly conversing with Katherine about something.
"Marie has told me that you have come to help us off?" Draco spoke to the closest felman, which happened to be Dillon.
"Yes," Dillon nodded, "Rachael and I have some contacts in Calais and through Calais, in England as well. We might be able to get you to the new world quickly and safely."
"Thank you," Draco nodded, "I would be very happy to hear them."
"You go ahead," Marie spoke, "there's someone else I need to get before we can head out. We'll meet you all at the main gate."
"Who else is going along with you?" Mary asked curiously.
"Vatican."
And with that, Marie disappeared down a side passage as they all walked.
"Who is Vatican, Aunt Katherine?" Bradly asked as they went.
"He will be our protector in the new world," Katherine answered.
"A soldier?" Joshua wondered curiously.
"A gargoyle," Draco interjected, "and firm protector, fit to protect the church from those might make war on it."
++++++
"And for the mission to convert souls, Vatican would be necessary," Marie explained, "The Puritans, despite seeking their freedom to practice their religion, promptly denied religious freedom to ALL others once in the New World. Alexis de Tocqueville, as he did his research for "Democracy in America" would find that before the battle with the witches in Glendale, the Puritans had existing laws that made it illegal to be Catholic, or any other religious sect, in the area."
"So the battle with the witches would start the decline of "Puritan" New England?" Lawrence asked, "I had thought some of that decay began even before that."
"The Puritans held on while they could, and while the battle with the witches was a turning point, it wasn't THE turning point," Marie answered, "Draco would end up using the battle to get the Puritan leaders of the colony to tolerate his mission... and by the time that Draco died, the New England colonies had changed so much from their Puritan beginnings that many of the laws that were on the books before the battle with the witches were either repealed or no longer even noticed, let alone enforced."
"I would have to assume so," Lawrence commented, "JFK was Catholic and he came Massachusetts."
Marie slowly nodded, "we're getting away from the topic though..."
++++++++
Marie found Vatican where he usually was, overlooking one of the plazas within the "Vatican City", although the political separation between the Vatican and Rome wouldn't be officially decided until the 1800s when Italy united and set Rome as its capital.
"We are ready to go, Vatican," Marie spoke calmly and placed a hand on Vatican's shoulder.
The gargoyle turned to look to her.
"We are ready," Marie told him.
"To where are we headed, Marie?" Vatican asked as he relaxed his pose and looked to Marie, one he had long sworn to protect.
"Ultimately Calais," Marie spoke, "where we'll get a ship. For now, just down to the main gate. You should meet Draco along with the rest of the team and a few "friends" slash "family" there."
Vatican then stretched, and scooped Marie up into his arms.
"Hold on, Marie," Vatican told her, "we'll be down there in a matter of moments."
Marie didn't protest and let Vatican carry her. It was always amazing to Marie how Vatican and the other gargoyles could fly. One would think that they are too heavy to fly, and yet they were perfectly capable of it. Marie had guessed that since they were solid stone, whatever "magic" that allowed them to move was strong enough that their wings could somehow carry their weight.
The flight was short, and Vatican soon landed before Katherine and her relatives and Draco. He then set Marie down.
"Father, since no carriage or wagon can safely hold my weight, I will fly above you," Vatican reported, "and guard you when you stop for the night."
"Wouldn't you get tired?" one of the Felman kittens asked him curiously.
"My kind does not require rest and sleep the way your kind does," Vatican said softly and rubbed the head of the kitten with one finger, "God has blessed us so to make us the perfect protectors."
"Can we go for a ride?" the other kitten asked.
"Bradly, Joshua, we don't want to impose on him," the blue felman told them.
"It would be no imposition," Vatican told her, "but if something were to come up and you would require my work as a defender while on the way, it would be preferable that I was not carrying passengers."
"Awwwwww."
"Cheer up, you can talk with Marie and me," Katherine told her nephews, "and Father Draco when he's finished talking with Rachael and Dillon."