Detka ✧･ ROMANOFF-BARTON 1

seven ➴

"It is in our darkest moment that we must focus on the light."

Papa dragged me into the room where he kept all of his guns, ammo, arrows, and bows. As usual, I wasn't allowed to touch anything. It was clearly to keep me safe, but sometimes I hated how Icoukdnt do anything around here just because I was younger. I watched my dad open up what looked like a closet, which revealed all types of arrows that served different purposes. 

"What's that one for?" I asked, pointing to one of the arrows with a red tip. 

"Explodes things," He answers curtly. He usually did that when he was trying to stay focused on things. I usually asked him a lot of questions about his gadgets. I could tell that it probably wasn't the time, but I wanted to try my luck with one more question. 

"How about the green-"

"Ivessa." He sighs with a hint of annoyance in his voice. 

"I know," I groaned. I hated when he did that, honestly, because all I was doing was asking questions. He rolled his eyes away from me and reached over me to grab what he needed.

Once he was done, he kind of stood in place. He stared off at all of his tools distantly. I had taken a seat at this point because I had nothing else to do. I was observing him curiously. He let out a shaky breath. After a few seconds, he looked down at the floor as if his nerves were really getting to him. I watched silently until he took a seat next to me. He didn't look t me or say anything to me. Instead, he pulled a small picture from a pocket in his leather jacket. I noticed that it was a picture of Il , Zo and I. 

"I remember that," I comment quietly, pointing to the photo. Papa chuckled a little and held it out to me.

"Yeah, it was on Zo's birthday," Papa explained. He paused for a long time and just stared at the picture.

 "I remember when I didn't even know that she existed," He chuckles in disbelief. He shakes his head and looks away for a moment as if he was letting it all sink in.  "You know, I saved mama and Zola from that place." He went on, looking over at me when he finished talking.

I furrowed my brow a bit. "Huh? From where?" I ask. I didn't know that they had been saved from anywhere. 

He shook his head. "The bad place. They were stuck," He tells me while looking off at the floor.

"Why didn't they try to leave?" I question, staring at the picture as if I'd never seen it before. I didn't really understand what place my dad was talking about, so I hoped he wouldn't mind if I asked questions. 

He chuckled. "They couldn't, Malyshka. I'm sure she tried, though." He shrugs. "Mama was very young and she didn't really know how to be a mom. I hardly knew what I was doing as a father, either," I nodded slowly, even if I didn't fully understand. 

Papa sat silently for a few more seconds, staring down at the picture as if he regretted something. He had clearly zoned out because he didn't say anything about the way that I stared at him. He seemed sad.

 "Zola isn't my birth child, either." He mumbles, shaking his head as if he didn't want to admit it was true. It was so sudden. 

 I didn't understand what that meant at all. It seemed like he was ashamed of admitting it. From how he said it, I tried to assume that it wasn't a good thing, but he ended up explaining it to me anyway.