A Tale of One Deviant (Book 2) (Technically Hiatus, but kind of not)

Chapter 215: How I Learned What Love Is

     Mother had caught me on the open second floor where I'd teleported to just take a break and have a moment of reprieve. She looked straight up through the floor, then proceeded to walk away from the window where she and Father had positioned themselves again, and hop straight up. Kimono fluttering, charms on the ends of her hair pins dangling golden in the yellow light. Moving to hold me, then seeing how I just watched the crowd below, quiet. Thinking.

     So she only braced her forearms on the low wall and leaned a bit forward to look at me where I'd sat and leaned up against a pillar.

     "Thank you for my book."

     "I feel bad. I could've made something better-"

     "No, no, that was exactly what I wanted. Since I know you'll probably never actually tell us what happened this year...and that you'll never let us look at your memories again like you did a few years ago, this is the closest I can get to seeing through your eyes and not being such a bad parent that I don't know what's going on with my own daughter."

     "You're not a bad-"

     "I am. I'm a terrible mother. I can't keep track of anything you do, and while I'm happy that you are so confident and know how to take care of yourself, I really wish most of the time you'd...you'd rely on us more. But that's not feasible for you, because there's nothing you need from us-"

     "Mother, that's not true."

     "Just because you say it isn't, doesn't mean it isn't. What could we possibly do for you, little miss, who has everything and can make or acquire anything she doesn't have? You make it impossible to find you a birthday gift, I'll have you know. What do we have that you don't? Nothing. The answer is nothing. We're your parents - we're meant to raise, guide, and protect you. I'm your mother. I'm supposed to make sure you're fed, clothed, loved, kind, and wise. But how are we, am I, supposed to do that when we're far under-qualified-"

     "I don't need all of that from you, yes, but that doesn't mean you're as irrelevant as you write yourself off to be. Mother, who else do I call in such a way? Who else do I rely on to hug me and rely on me not needing to breathe so she can show me how much she loves me? Who else keeps me warmer than a fire when I crash their bed?"

     "But I can't give you anything-"

     Mother's voice was beginning to be laden with emotion, ducking her head so her hand could cover her face. It was really something we relied on, those red locks, to hide our faces from the world. But without it, she couldn't hide and looked vulnerable. Emotional.

     So this is why you took it away from me.

     The day I thought would never come. It'd come. It was there.

     But for some reason, while preparing the words I'd say, there wasn't much hesitation. There wasn't the need to swallow or look away.

     I was ready. Seven years later, I could finally tell my story.

     "Mother...you know I'm a Deviant, right?"

     Mother's hands were trembling while covering her eyes, but at my words, they stopped.

     And when she looked up at me, looking absolutely as beautiful as the day we met in that light, I knew I was right. There was just this look of shock in her eyes that no doubt Kiki would've had as well, if she wasn't too enamored with the commoner boy that had worked up the courage to sweep her off her feet for more than just one song.

     So I just smiled at her shock, reaching over for one of those hands, pulling it over towards me. Holding the fingers, since I was nowhere near big enough to hold the whole hand, and keeping it in my lap even when she looked ready to bolt like the world was ending.