Auria

5

Dawn

I don't know why he's doing this to me. He waltzed right down here just to tell me about meeting Auria. I don't want to listen to him talking about a girl I've known for years.

"Dawn, I'm sorry I left you when you were so young." That sentence catches my attention.

"I regret it so badly. You were only five. I don't have a relationship with you at all and now I'm keeping you locked away.. I don't want to do this to you." He looks devastated, but I don't care. The pain he caused me 14 years ago is still ingrained in me.

"Screw you." Is all I can say. He looks hurt, and looks away from my eyes.

"It probably doesn't seem like it, but know I love you. I wasn't there for you, but I always watched you. I was told when you broke your arm playing basketball, the time you got suspended for beating a girl your sophomore year. What was that about anyway?" He asks, looking like a child begging for a story.

"She hurt me all year, tripping me, stealing my stuff, pushing me down, telling my friends stories about me to make them stay away. She bullied me. I shouldn't have beat her up, but she kicked me and I fell down a couple stairs. I drew the line right there." His face is shocked, with a mixture of sadness for me and a bit of a smirk forming because of my payback.

"Why were you watching me anyway?"

"I couldn't completely abandon my daughter." He tells me, in a low tone. It's the first time he's called me his daughter since I've been here. It's hard to think the man I despised all these years was actually learning about me without me knowing it.

"Dad." His head jerks up and he stares at me after I call him that. A small smile on his face, full of hope.

"I hated you. I get why you had to abandon me. If you didn't, they wouldn't let you be Master. The Master can't have their child at the compound with them until they reach 14 years of age, right?" He nods slightly, and I look down.

"Dawn, I regret leaving you with that woman. I know your mother loved you. Even though she died giving birth to you, she knew it was ok because she was giving you a life. I shouldn't have trusted you with that woman that just used you. I forced her to give you to an orphanage, and I made sure you ended up being adopted by the Faron family. They knew who you were, and it was the only favor I asked of them." I knew it wasn't coincidence. They told me they didn't know a Damian Orias, but I knew they did.

"I always knew. It wasn't some miracle I was put with a family with powers. We all swore to not tell Auria until a month before her birthday. We wanted her to stay normal, y'know?" I start to cry, thinking of the family I lost.

"Dawn, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was so close to them at a time. I wanted to bring you here when you were 14 but Rose wouldn't let me. She told me you wouldn't be able to mentally handle it and I know she's right. She always was." He starts crying too, and I do something I didn't think I would.

I stand up from the floor, and he does as well. My hands are cuffed in front of me, but I don't care. I walk up to him, and put my arms around him.

"Dad, I love you."

"I l-love you too."