(This is a companion piece to Sionreaver's story 'Broken Bird'. I have no idea how good or bad it is, just that I think it turned out okay for being written on no sleep....)
Nine years....alot changes in nine years, surprisingly. Especially for some people. A single body lay motionless in a dark, shoddy bedroom, sunlight filtering in through the blinds. It's not even a clear, bright light, but red, like blood. Just like much of the world those days, the sky seemed to speak of nothing but death. THe body was slumped against the headboard of the bed, not moving, appearing to be dead.
"Mommy?" A stir. The body stirs, lifting it's head slightly, but doesn't respond audibly to the voice, that of a young girl.
"Mommy, I'm coming in..." The bedroom door opened, revealing a little girl, around eight or nine in age, with long pink hair and deep blue eyes, smiling nervously at the unmoving body on the bed.
The little girl walked into the room shyly, going over to the blinds, rattling them briefly. When no protest was voiced, she climbed up onto a chair she'd put there, and opened the blinds, bathing the room in a red glow, and fully revealing the body on the bed.
Ariana Tennor had seen better days. All those years ago, prior to the slaughter of Gig, Samantha, and the others...she'd been starting to find herself a bit of happiness, finally. She'd been alone for fourty-seven years up until then, aside from the hell she'd been forced to live through from the ages of thirteen to twenty-three. When she was finally given a taste of happiness...it was all taken away, in the most brutal way.
All her new friends were killed, and as far as she knew, they were all dead. She didn't see how any could have survived...if any survived, it was Adell and Yulina, perhaps Ashi and Salem as well. Their bodies, she never found. Everyone else...the evidence was there, they were gone. That, however, wasn't the end of it. Ariana almost died herself...she would have, if not for the fact that someone decided to attempt to heal her. They were not skilled at all, and indeed only succeeded in ensuring her life would be painful. Her life was saved, but she was forever damaged.
Ariana lay on the bed, left arm laying at her side, right arm...gone, taken off at the shoulder during that last battle. Her back had been broken in the battle, and poorly healed, and as a result, her posture was off and her back constantly in pain. Her left shoulder had been dislocated and also healed poorly, so it was stiff and she was unable to move freely. Then, to top it all off...
"Mommy...I opened the blinds...can....can you see?" Ariana turned toward the voice, facing her daughter with a blank look. The green blindfold over her eyes, made from the fabric of the school uniform Moka had been wearing the day of her death, hid her eyes perfectly, as well as the burn scars around them. The ultimate humiliation for her in a fight...she, who was supposed to be immune to fire, was a BEING of fire...had been burned, to the point of her eyes being irrepairably damaged. She was blind, and there was no changing that.
"...No, Mokashi...no, I can't see....you know that..." Ariana couldn't see, but she knew that little Mokashi, named after the two vampires who helped her learn to trust people again, was looking at the floor sadly. Ariana beckoned slightly with her hand, calling the girl over. Mokashi immediately obeyed, snuggling up to her mother's side as Ariana stroked the girl's hair.
This was the most affection she ever showed for the girl. It was all she could really muster. It was better than before at least. At one point, she couldn't bear to be around her. Mokashi Samantha Tennor, daughter of Ariana Tennor, and some nameless man who had forced himself on Ariana while she lay defenseless in bed after he'd poorly healed her. If it wasn't for the fact that Ariana's conscience got the better of her, and that the girl reminded her so much of Moka, she might have abandoned her due to the ties she had to her rape...
Ariana and Mokashi lived in the same abandoned apartment, in the same building, in the same ravaged city, since Mokashi was born. For all those years, Ariana was forced to, often, fight off creatures that came after her and Mokashi, and every time, she'd be bedridden for days after. Ariana had heard of places that were safe for people to live...however, Ariana knew she couldn't travel long distances and protect Mokashi at the same time. All she could think to do, was to do the best she could for Mokashi, where they were. Maybe she'd teach her to sew, one of the few domestic skills she could do, even one handed...
~~~~~
The attacks were getting more frequent, and this last time, Mokashi was hurt. Ariana decided that no matter what, they had to leave. So, using as much energy as she could spare, she sent out little Fire Sprite messengers, to find a suitable place to live and, hopefully, help in getting there....
~~~~~
A year passed. Many of the Fire Sprites were dead, or had come back having found nothing. Ariana was on her last legs, honestly, and Mokashi was terrified of losing her mother. The two had grown closer over the last year, Ariana forcing herself to open up more for her daughter, who had been waiting for that all along. Ariana just hoped that help would come soon, so that they could continue to fully fix their broken relationship, or as Mokashi had taken to saying, 'stitching it back together.' She'd really taken to sewing, even having made many blankets and even clothes with whatever help Ariana could give.
~~~~~
No help had come. There was still one Fire Sprite out there, but it never came back. And now, there was no more time to wait. Ariana held her daughter tightly to her with her one arm, refusing to cry despite what was coming. Mokashi, however, had no problem crying.
"No, Mommy, no! Don't go, please, don't go!" THe pleading was tearing Ariana's heart apart, despite her belief that it had long ago been ripped completely away.
"Mokashi...listen to me...Mommy loves you. I love you, okay?" It was the first time she'd said it, and Mokashi froze. She'd known her mother loved her, she'd known it....but actually hearing it...
"I love you so much...you....you are everything to me....I can't lose you, do you understand? You....you have to live....so...so I need you to....to wait here with my sword, okay? And...and wait till morning....then you take the sword, and you run, okay? You just run, and d-don't stop, okay?""No! Mommy, I won't leave you! I won't! Mommy needs me! I need Mommy! Mommy promised to always protect me, and I promised Mommy I'd make her happy!" The girl was sobbing uncontrollably, her fear of the howling and banging at the door completely forgotten. Ariana just held her tighter, burying her face in her daughters hair.
"It's okay, Mokashi...you HAVE made me happy...happier than I have ever been...you healed my heart, Mokashi..." She pulled back, placing a kiss on Mokashi's forehead gently.
"My little seamstress...you did a bit of patchwork on my heart, and I'm happy...my only regret is that I won't get to see you grow up into the beautiful woman I know you'll be..." Mokashi was speechless, staring wordlessly, with unblinking eyes, tears running down her cheeks.
"Now...I have to fulfill my promise to protect you now...so be a good girl, and hide here till morning, then take my sword and run, understand? And can you make me one last promise, sweety?" When Mokashi just nodded, Ariana smiled sadly, and gently wiped the tears from the little girls eyes. Blinded as she was, she was still able to always find her daughter, and knew her face perfectly.
"Live life the way I couldn't. Find your happiness, and let it in, don't push it away..." The howling got louder, and Ariana stiffened, before forcing herself to her feet.
"I love you, Mokashi, and you are truly the best thing to ever happen to me. Make me proud, and find your happiness..." She shut the trapdoor on the crawlspace, hiding it with the rug, before turning to the door. She took a deep breath, then summoned every last bit of energy she had left, surrounding herself in fire, just as the door started to splinter. She'd reinforced it before, but was still surprised it held as long as it did.
She turned her head toward the rug, then to the door, and shifted her stance. The instant the door was broken down, she charged, barreling headfirst into the pale, winged creatures that had come for them.
A few moments before dawn, Ariana Tennor lay dying amongst the countless burned bodies of her enemies, a content smile on her face. Her painful existance was over, and she'd gone protecting her daughter. SHe couldn't ask for anything more.
"Heh......I still got it..." She died with those words on her lips.
~~~~~
Five hours after dawn, Mokashi still lay trembling in the crawlspace, clutching her mother's sword in it's sheath. When she heard footsteps, she froze. Then the rug was thrown aside, and the trapdoor pulled open to reveal....a red-headed man, and a woman with long, silver hair, who was suddenly staring at her as if having seen a ghost. The man had a similar look, but seemed calmer. Mokashi noticed a Fire Sprite hovering over the man's shoulder. So that was where it had been, bringing the help. The man held out his hand, helping her out of the crawlspace, and she just stared at him until he spoke.
"Ah, um...I'm Adell, and this is my wife Ashi...you...the Fire Sprite...it said Ariana had a daughter...what...what's your name?""...Mokashi....Mommy said she named me after the two people who taught her that it's okay to trust others....um...Mr. Adell, can I ask you something?" Adell just nodded, wondering how to tell Mokashi of her mother's death, as they'd seen, and buried, the body, but....he had a feeling she already knew, in her heart.
"Are...you....are you my happiness? Cause if you are, Mommy told me to find you....""Maybe..." Ashi finally spoke, kneeling in front of Mokashi, eyes watering.
"We...we might be your happiness, Mokashi...I don't know if we are or not, but...I think we can be, if you like...and I....would love to bring you happiness..." Ashi wasn't expecting the little girl to suddenly hug her tight as if she'd never let go, but she didn't fight it. No, she returned the hug with all she had.
It seemed that even Ariana was able to find happiness after all she'd been through...Adell, Ashi, and Yulina still had their problems coping...but if Ariana could die with such a peaceful, content smile on her face, then she knew that they could all one day be truly happy again. And wasn't that really all that mattered?
