Manny wasn't sure what to do at the moment. He could only stand there in and stare the great white panther spirit his mother was slowly approaching. He just couldn't believe it, that was his father? He was actually seeing his father for the first time. In all of his seventeen years, he never expected this happen. Never. Now Manny knew that his father was alive, he knew he wasn't dead. He didn't know how but somehow he just knew but the boy was so certain that his father would never return for him or his mother. Now here he was and in his true form no less.

Maria was also in shock but hers was very different than her son's. She was in shock at seeing the man she loved again after so many years. Only God knew how many times she prayed to him for her dearest to somehow return to her and their child, for them to somehow be able to be together. It was all she ever wanted. But after seventeen years of praying she was starting to believe that three of them would never together as long as they lived on earth. But now here he was. God had finally granted her greatest wish. But something was wrong. She could feel it, her husband was not entirely same. In her heart she could still feel that he loved her and would love no other woman besides her but she could sense him having so much pain and madness. She took note of his injuries and realized that something terrible must have happened to him.

"Oh my dear sweet Rodolfo." She said raising her hand to gently stroke the creature's cheek. "What has happened to you?"

He flinched away from her, not out of anger or disgust but out of fear and shame. Fear for her safety and ashamed that she's seeing him like this. Ashamed that their son is seeing him like this. A mindless animal who caused harm without reason or remorse.

"Stay away." He spoke before running away again.

"Rodolfo wait! Come back!"

She chased him and she willed herself to run faster than him but alas she could not for she was human and he was a spirit. So no matter how fast she ran, he would always be faster than her. He just kept getting farther and farther away from her until at last he was at a great distance and had disappeared into the woods.

"Oh no don't go away Rodolfo!" She cried out tearfully. "Don't leave me again! Come back! Please!"

But he did not respond to her pleas. She fell to her knees and started to cry. She wept bitterly and did not stop until she heard her son and Frida coming near. At first no one said anything, they only just stayed in the silence as their minds tried to comprehend what had just transpired. Finally Manny broke the silence by asking the question that had been formed in his mind ever since she called out the name of the white beast.

"Mom..." He hesitated before continuing. "Was that...Was that really my father?"

She was quiet for what seemed to be an eternity before answering.

"Yes...Yes that was your father."

"Are you sure? Really sure?" But he already knew the answer.

"No matter what form your father takes, I would know his eyes anywhere. That was him."

"Why...Why was he here?" He asked. "Why did he just suddenly show up here out of no where? And why did he show up now?! After seventeen years?! And what the hell was wrong with him?! Why was he attacking people like that?!"

"I believe I can answer that." A voice from behind said.

Everyone turned around to see that Nicholas had appeared.

"Hello again Manny." He said before looking at Maria with an emotionless expression. "Hello Aunt Maria, it's been awhile. I thought I would never see you again. Part of me considered that maybe you had died."

"What are you doing here?" Manny asked him.

"The same reason you are fool. Because Uncle has returned."

"How did you know that?"

"Don't you know anything about your spiritual heritage? I'm a blood relative of his so naturally I picked up his scent and could sense his presence. Although it had been many years since I got a whiff of him I'd never forget his scent or aura. You mean to tell me that you didn't sense him?"

"I mean...I don't know. I did feel something familiar but I didn't know why it was so familiar."

"Nicholas you said you knew what was wrong with Rodolfo." Maria said. "Do you really know?"

"Well I do not know as much as theorize but Uncle has all the symptoms of it."

"Symptoms of what?" Frida asked him.

"Going primal. As you all know spirits are connected to animals and animals typically don't have any feelings that are unnecessary for their survival like mercy or hesitance. So sometimes when a spirit is trapped with no escape, their psyche reverts to a primal state so they could fight their way to freedom without being stopped by things like fear, hesitance, mercy, ect. It's a survival technique for when our emotions get the better of us but it's a very risky technique because if the spirit cannot regain their senses then they forget who they are and just act as animal does."

"And that's what's happened to Rodolfo?" Maria asked.

"Possibly. My theory is that something ravaged his mind so badly that he reverted to a primal state as a means to escape and judging by the scene he made in town I don't think he's figured out how to get out of that state of mind yet."

"So what does that mean?" Manny said.

"It means that we must locate him and somehow bring him back to his senses."

"Why?" Manny asked. "Why should we do anything to help him? He doesn't deserve any help from us."

"Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O'Brian Equahia Rivera!" Maria scolded in a disappointed and slightly angered voice. "How dare you say such things. He is your father."

"Yeah my father who left me for seventeen years and just out of the blew decides to come back now?!"

"We've been through this! It wasn't his fault! He had no choice!"

"You and everyone else who ever knew my father have been telling me that for years but I just can't believe it."

"Why can't you believe that? Do you honestly think that I would ever lie to you?"

"No. I believe that you're convinced he loved me and had a good reason for leaving. But I just think you're wrong about that."

"Well your personal feelings about him are not important right now." Nicholas said. "If he isn't brought out of this state then he'll be a huge threat to everyone human, spirit, and demon alike. Wild animals typically kill on sight without any hesitance or remorse and spirits have unmatched amount of power. Uncle is a spirit who right now has the mind of a wild animal which means he could kill an entire town of people with just one swipe. Not helping him risks not only the destruction of many humans but many other spirits as well. Are you willing to let that possible massacre happen?"

Manny cursed at how Nicholas had learned to use his own conscience against him. Maybe he wouldn't be willing to help his own father but he wouldn't allow senseless killing to take place if he could stop it. So as expected he complied with the request. He, Nicholas, Frida, T.J, and Andrea set off into the woods to look for Rodolfo. Maria wanted to come but they felt that she was too emotional to handle this situation. She argued and she tried to follow them, she was a stubborn woman. As stubborn as her son and her son's blue haired best friend. So T.J slipped her a special herbal mist that made her sleep and they left her to be watched by Sandra, Lilith, and Davi.

During the trip through the woods Frida noticed that Manny was trailing behind the group which was very unusual for him so she decided to trail behind as well and see what was bothering him.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"Not really." He said. "I saw my father for the first time today and it was when I was seventeen. You think anyone would feel okay about that?"

"No but at least you finally got to meet him. Sort of. You didn't really talk much."

"I just want to get this whole thing over and done with. Get him back to normal so he can run off and leave me and Mom alone again."

"Wait a minute you want him to leave? This is your father who you've never known and probably thought you'd never meet. But now he's come back and you don't want to get to know him?"

"Duh. I thought I made that fairly obvious earlier."

"But he's your father."

"He's a sperm donor. That's all he's ever been to me. He abandons both me and my mother the very day I was born and never comes back. You call that a father?"

"You don't know for sure that's how it went and judging by what your mom has said I don't think it was like that at all."

"Well that's' the downside about love. It makes you blind. Mom loves him so much that she can't see what kind of man he really is."

"You don't even know the guy so how could you see what kind of man he really is? You're basing your views on him on your feelings not facts. You don't know him, your mother does, and I believe her when she says that your father loved you."

"If he loved me so much why didn't he ever try to be in our lives? He was an all powerful spirit, if should've been able to come out with some way to be in our lives."

"Maybe he tried to but it just didn't workout. That doesn't mean he never loved you or cared about you."

"He left and he didn't come back. He never came back and as a result I was branded a pariah, separated from my mother, persecuted and mistreated all my life, did terrible things that I couldn't prevent, have an uncle who tries to not only destroy me but everyone else in my life too!"

"Oh so that's what this is about." Frida said changing her approach to the subject. "You think it's your dad's fault you've had such a rough life. You're not really mad at him, you just need someone to blame for all the bad stuff that happened in your life. No offense but that's really petty."

"I'm mad because he abandoned me and my mom."

"But lots of people who knew your father have told you that him leaving couldn't have been helped. Your mother has told you that repeatedly but you choose not to believe it because then you wouldn't have anyone to hold responsible for what you've had to go through. Admit it!"

"If he hadn't of left then-"

"Nothing bad would ever happen to you? Is that what your saying? That you would have the perfect life if your father hadn't of left? Well my father never had to leave and my life isn't perfect. Bad stuff still happens to me. It happens to everyone and it's not because their fathers weren't around when they were growing up."

"I'm not saying bad stuff still wouldn't have happened to me if he had stayed but he probably could have prevented some of them. Like explaining to me what exactly I was and how dangerous my powers were. Tell me what kind of harm I could cause if I'm not careful. Stop that damn council from taking me away from Mom and leaving me alone in those woods! Stop them from taking you away from me and making me forget you! He could have prevented that!"

"You don't know that and for all you know things could have been a lot worse if he stayed. You don't know. That's your problem. You're making these assumptions and judgments about your father and his choices when you don't even know him. That's not fair Manny. It's not fair and it's not right either. You always say how much it hurts you that people have always judged you without even getting to know you first, but you're doing the same thing to your father. It's not his fault that you've spent a great deal of your life being hurt and alone."

"Then who's fault is it then? Is it my fault? Did I do something wrong and everything I've suffered is just some form of karma?"

"No." She said. "It's not your fault that bad stuff happens and it's not your father's fault either. It's no one's fault. Bad stuff just happens and it doesn't matter if someone deserved it or not. It happens to everyone and it can't be stopped. And I'm guessing maybe that's hard for you to accept which is why you feel the need to blame someone but it doesn't change anything."

"I...Just...I just want to know why stuff like that had to happen to me. Why me? Why is it that the world thinks my existence is wrong? I just wanna know why?"

His body was tense. She was glad that the group had moved so far ahead that they didn't notice them talking which meant Manny wouldn't be embarrassed by what she did next. She hugged his neck and comforted him in the best way she could. He was still stiff and tense but she could feel that she was comforting him.

"It's because the world we live in can't be a hundred percent good." She told him gently. "It has to always have some bad parts to it. It's not fair but no one ever said the world was fair. No one ever said that the world would never be cruel or ugly. That innocents wouldn't know pain or suffering. It's terrible truth about life but it is the truth. Earth will always be full of bad things."

"Then why do we even bothering living?" He sighed.

"You know why. Because the world can't a be a hundred percent bad either. There's still some good in it and that's why we still try to live. Sure if we stop living we leave behind the bad stuff but he we leave behind the good stuff too. And there are somethings in this world that are so good that it makes facing everything bad worth it." She then leaned up and whispered something into his ear.

"If you had never been sent to those woods you would never have met me and if my life was hell, a life where you would be the only good thing in it, I still wouldn't stop living. Because a life without you, a life without anything good, that is truly hell."

He moved his hand to grasp hers in a gentle way.

"I'm not going to kill myself you know." He whispered to her.

"I know but please don't thin you have nothing good in your life. I may not be the best person in your life but I really want to make you happy. I try so hard to make you feel accepted and that you don't have to be alone. But maybe it's just not enough."

Their fingers interlaced and with his free arm he returned her embrace.

"Frida, no one has ever made me feel accepted the way you do. You've seen every part of me. The good parts and the bad parts, the parts that are scary and ugly but that never scared you off. Your feelings never changed. You really do accept me."

"I have no choice to accept you. My heart won't let me do anything but that. The love I feel keeps me from focusing on only the bad parts of you and forgetting the good parts. I love you."

"I know." He said.

"And I love you more than you will ever know." He thought to himself. "But I can't ever let anyone know how I really feel because if I did I could lose you and I could never live any life without you either."