Part 345: Seth's Family

Seth fumbled with his hair in the reflective walls of the elevator. He was so worried his parents would think he was anorexic or something. Possibly skin cancer from all the sun exposure. Shanna then reached up and forced him to put his hands down. “Stop it, Seth,” she giggled, “You look fine.”

“Yeah, I hope so.” He smiled.

“You worried you are going to look bad for your parents or Tanya?” Mia smiled.

“Little bit of both actually.”

“I want to thank you again for inviting us to meet them.” The redhead smiled behind him.

“Well, why not? Technically they are your parents too.”

The elevator dinged opened and the Brat Pack proceeded out. Mia and Shanna then immediately sat down at a nearby bench waiting for Seth to talk with his parents first. The young bookstore worker proceeded down the hallway toward the meeting room. As he got closer, he could tell his parents were not in the meeting room. They were both sitting on the bench out of it. Seth smirked, understanding they must have been very anxious to see their only son. “Mom?” Seth called, “Dad?”

“SETHIE!!” his mother screamed as he got up.

Seth quickly embraced her. She flooded his left cheek with kisses, holding her son tight. His father then embraced both his son and his wife. The family held themselves for a only a seconds but for them it felt like weeks. “Oh, my boy,” Mrs. Butler said, holding Seth by his cheeks, “Let me look at you.”

“I missed you, Mom.” Seth said, smiling through his tears.

“We missed you too, son. You don’t seem that worse for wear.”

“How did you survive that crash, Son?” Mr. Butler asked.

“It’s a long story, Dad. And what I had to go through to survive on that Island, might even become a TV movie of the week. But right now, please tell me you brought Tanya with you.”

The parents joyous look become a little sad. Seth’s smile then slowly turned to a frown. “Oh, no,” he paused, “Is Tanya all right?”

“Son, before you see her, there is something you need to know.”

“Know what, dad?” the bookstore worker started to panic, “Where is she? What is wrong with her?”

“Seth?” a female voice said around the corner.

Seth’s parents moved away from their son so he could see the love of his life. The musician looked at the girl standing in front of him. Tanya’s eyes stared to swell up with tears at the sight that Seth was still alive. She was even wearing her blue sundress, which the singer always told her was his favorite. It wasn’t her gorgeous looks or her blonde that was caught his attention; he has seen it so many times.

It was the fact that her left knee was in a brace and she was using a cane to walk.

Seth slowly started to walk toward her. She then started to walk toward him, faster that she was able. She missed him so much and wanted to hold him. Her leg then failed her and she started to fall but Seth was there to catch her. “Tanya, what-“ he tried to say.

Tanya then silenced him with a kiss. She held him closer and wanted to shower him with kisses just to prove he was real. Seth then embraced as he she wept on his shoulder. Her grip was so tight it was nearly ripping his shirt. “Tanya, are you okay?” he asked her again.

“No, please, Seth,” she wept, “Hold me . . .just hold me.”



After a while of hugging and crying, the majority of the family has calmed down. They all sat in the meeting room while Mia and Shanna introduced themselves to Seth’s parents, Seth and Tanya sat together in another corner of the room. The blonde rested her head on his shoulder, while he stroked her hair. The young couple held hands, as they basked in the warmth of their love. “I missed you.” She whispered.

“I missed you too.” Seth kissed her on the forehead, “There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about you.”

“How did you live on that Island, Seth?” She looked at him, “Was it dangerous?”

“More or less.” He smirked.

“Wild animals?”

Seth immediately thought of the Polliwog and the Polar Bears. “You could say that.” He smirked again.

“Did you get a chance to find us a good spot in Australia?”

“I did but . . .no offense, I don’t think I’ll be flying anytime soon.”

“I don’t mind. As long as you stay put for a while.”

“Why? You think I am an adventurous soul now?”

Tanya giggled. “You always have been, Seth. I knew you were still the same ol’Seth when I saw you on the TV earlier today.”

“Let me guess; the guys were amazed I could still spell my last name?”

“Yeah, the guys miss you incredibly too,” The blonde smiled, “Poor Lizzie was a little ashamed. She felt bad that she gave up on you, assuming you were dead.”

“Polar Bear said that?” Seth smiled, “Well, hell, I don’t blame her. I went down in a plane crash . .in the SOUTH PACIFIC. Any reasonable person would assume I was dead.”

“For a while . . .so did I, Seth.” She started to cry.

“Honey, I don’t blame you for giving up. I don’t blame any of you. Like I said,-“

“No, Seth, I shouldn’t have. I just . . .” she held her mouth close.

Seth then leaned up and rubbed her back. He slowly looked down at her knee with the brace. “Tanya, is there something you need to tell me?” he whispered.

“Is . ..is there some place we can talk in private?” she sniffed, wiping her cheeks.

“Absolutely,” he stood up and gently helped her up on her feet.

The couple then walked over to the side where Seth parents, plus Mia and Shanna were talking. All four of them stood up. “Mia, Shanna, this is Tanya,” Seth introduced them, “Tanya, this is Mia and Shanna. You might want to get to know them, cause they’ll always be a part of my life.”

“Huh?” Tanya shook Mia’s hand.

“They took care of me on the Island. We watched after each other and for the stuff we went through . . .we stopped becoming friends and we became family.”

Tanya was a little thrown back by that statement. But she also knew Seth and knew he meant what he said by such a thing. Tanya then embraced Mia and kissed her on the cheek. She then did the same thing with Shanna. “Thank you so much.” She offered them both warm smiles.

“It was all pleasure,” Mia grinned, “We got so much more in return.”

“Listen . .uh . .Tanya and I have some things to discuss.” Seth gently touched Shanna’s shoulder, “Would you two take mom and dad and entertain them at the bar for a few minutes? We’ll join you shortly.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem,” the red head agreed.

“We’ll see you soon, son.”

“We’ll be down shortly, dad. I promise.”



Inside Seth’s room, Tanya looked around and marveled at the lavish surroundings. This was something the two of them could have never afforded on their own. The singer closed the door and then took his lady by the arm, leading her down the small stairs into the room. “Wow, Seth,” she smiled, “This is amazing.”

“Yeah, they wanted us to be comfortable. The government and all.”

“I know, It’s not every day such a large group of people crash land on an Island and survive for two months.”

“I know. It made us instant celebrities.”

Tanya gently sat on the large white bed, and Seth sat down next to her. The blonde took his hand and squeezed it tightly. The story she was about to tell him, she wanted NOT to tell him. However, she understood that he deserved to know her big mistake. She silently hoped he would forgive her. “Take your time.” He whispered, seeing how much it was a struggle for her.

“Seth, I . . .” she wiped her tears, “For the first few weeks, I wouldn’t give up hope. I wasn’t going to let you go. But . . .everybody . .felt I should move on. So about three weeks ago, I started to see someone. Bobby Wu.”

Seth shook his head. He was familiar with the oriental, considering they grew up together. “I . .uh . .dated him twice. On the second date,” she said, whimpering, “He. . uh . .wanted to have sex with me.”

Seth’s eyebrows slowly bent inward. He reached over and picked up a glass of water on the nightstand, taking a sip. His throat felt dry all of a sudden. “How . .uh . . how does this have to do with you leg?” he whispered.

“Bobby . ..got upset when all I could talk about what was you,” Tanya wiped her tears, “when he had enough . .he . .uh . .shove me out of the car. Then grabbed a baseball and proceed to . . .hit my knee over and over. . .”

Seth felt his teeth grinding within his mouth.

“The cops managed to arrest him but he got out on assault charge only,” Tanya wiped her tears, “He . .started coming around a lot and I had to get a restraining order on him.”

“Bobby . . did all that?” the singer hissed.

“Yeah, I know. He’s not like the nice guy we knew growing up. Lizzie . .and Sharon felt so bad cause they pushed me to date him. Even Dan went to try and make him pay for what he did but . . .they broke his jaw.”

A slow tear felt down Seth’s right cheek. It wasn’t a tear of sadness; it was a tear of rage.

“I found a great doctor,” the blonde continued to try and tell her story, “They managed to make the majority of the pain go away and they said with the proper rehab . . .I might . . be able to . . .surf one day . . .”

Tanya then broke down crying. Seth completely understood. One of her favorite pastimes was surfing and if they took that away from her, it wouldn’t give her must excuse to live. The rage was almost more than the singer could bare. Then the glass in his hand exploded. “JESUS!!” Tanya screamed.

Seth blinked from the slight pain in his hand. He looked at it and allowed the rest of the glass to fall to the floor. It took him a few seconds to understand that during Tanya’s entire conversation, he had been squeezing the glass to the point where it shattered. “Hmm,” was all the singer managed to say.

Tanya then grabbed her cane and stood up, walking toward a nearby counter. She looked around and found a hankercheif. She brought it back and gently placed it in his hand, dabbing up the small amount of blood. “Seth, are you okay?” she asked him.

Seth said nothing. The tears just flowed out of his eyes. Tanya then picked up his head by his cheeks and forced him to look at her. “Seth, please say something.” She said.

“I . .should have been here.” He whispered.

“No, baby, no. This wasn’t your fault.”

“It wasn’t yours either.” He gulped.

The couple them embraced and held each other for a few minutes. Seth didn’t mind the small pain in his palm. Tanya kissed him on the cheek and then rested her head on his shoulder. After a second or two, she leaned up and smiled, wiping her eyes. “Oh, God, I must be a mess,” she giggled, “Let me go clean up and we’ll head down stairs. Your parents are probably worried about us, not to mention I want to get to know Mia and Shanna.”

Seth just smiled as she kissed him on the cheek and then got up to head to the bathroom. The singer looked at his palm and then paused for a second. Something Tanya said didn’t make sense all of a sudden. “Tanya?” he called to her.

“Yeah, baby?” she said, turning around.

“You said . . .THEY . .broke Dan’s jaw.” Seth blinked, “Who . .who is They?”

“That stupid gang Bobby’s started to hang out with. They all ganged up on poor Dan when he gave him a blackeye. I think they are the reason Bobby changed the way he did.

“Gang?” the singer raised an eyebrow,” What gang?”

“The Rojo Dragons.” She sighed, “Some kinda weird Mexican/Asian gang.”

As Tanya walked into the bathroom, Seth felt his head sinking. The kismet of his life had come back around again. He was all too familiar with the Rojo Dragons; it was the gang that destroyed Brendon’s family by corrupting his brother. It would seem they had repeated history by corrupting one of his childhood friends. Corrupting him to the point where he assaulted his girlfriend and severely hurt one of his good friends in the process.

Seth didn’t like believing in fate. It was weird enough that he could find Kate in that picture all this time. Not to mention that it might have been his destiny to die on that Island but Brendon stepped in where fate had put him. The singer slowly stood up and walked over the special case on the counter. He opened it up and looked at the sword given to him by a dying friend. He gently stroked its hilt, recalling the few joyous days he and Brendon spent together, training him to use it.

Was it for this reason? Brendon destroyed a group of the Rojo Dragons with that sword; was it Seth’s fate to do the same thing? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to believe in fate but it seemed it was believing in him. Whether it was his destiny or not, he didn’t know. However, he did know one thing.

When the time was right, they would pay for hurting for the people he cared about.