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umbry-fic · 3 years ago

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To you, with love (1)

Summary: Mother's Day is a difficult day for all of them, and one that they each choose to spend differently.

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters: Colette Brunel, Lloyd Irving, Genis Sage, Raine Sage Relationships: Colette Brunel & Lloyd Irving & Genis Sage, Genis Sage & Raine Sage Rating: G Chapter: 1 of 3 Word Count: 5877 Mirror Link: AO3 Original Post Date: 09/05/2021

Notes: This chapter covers Genis and Raine. It has been altered to work on Tumblr, so if you wish to read the original, do access it on AO3!

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~~~

“Quieten down!” Raine yelled, slamming her left hand into the blackboard with a resounding smack. The math textbook she would be referring to today was tightly clamped between her right arm and her side, always in danger of slipping out at any moment. She levelled a well-practised glare at the entire class, sweeping it from left to right; the stragglers who had yet to notice her presence flinching back and keeping the random items on their desks, ranging from toys like Yo-yos to oddities such as... an entire fish? Who would bring such a thing into a classroom? Something that came from the water, icky and leaving slime on every surface it touched... Such a thing belonged in the kitchen, where she could chop it into a thousand tiny pieces or lop it into the pot whole, whereafter she could watch in glee as green fumes rose and tickled her nose with their delightful smells. It should not be here.

At least the students were starting to take out their notebooks and stationery, conversations dying down as attentive gazes were turned upon her, creating the necessary conducive environment for learning. Finally, the lesson could start, a full ten minutes after she’d first walked into the classroom. Why she still held out the hope that this process would become more efficient was a mystery even to her, when after years of holding this job absolutely zero progress had been made, the same scenario repeating day after day.

The classroom fell into blissful silence… Apart from the few whispers, that is, that were a staple of the teaching experience and could not be suppressed. Most of them were coming from the usual culprit, sitting in the corner by the window with that eternal grin on his face.

This problem had an easy solution.

Raine casually grabbed the piece of chalk sitting on the blackboard’s wooden frame, taking aim like she had thousands of times before, with a steady hand and a sharp eye. This was the method with a 100% guaranteed chance of shutting him up.

And… fire!

The chalk flew through the air, turning over and over with a swooshing sound, before landing smack in the middle of Lloyd’s forehead.

Score!

“Ow!” Lloyd cried, his conversation with Colette abruptly interrupted. His hands flew to his forehead to rub the circle of red that had appeared, eyes screwed shut from the sting. His back hit the chair, his momentum nearly toppling it backwards, only Colette’s quick thinking to steady it stopping the disaster from unfolding.

“It’s time for class, Mr Irving,” Raine said, grabbing another piece of chalk and twirling it between her fingers, smiling menacingly. “Anything more to say?”

I have more where that came from. Do you want a taste of it?

“Alright! I get the message! Sorry.” Lloyd scowled but kept his end of the deal, shutting his mouth. Genis couldn’t help but snort, earning him an indignant elbow in the side. Lloyd’s classmates were struggling to hold back their laughter, burying their heads in their books. They all witnessed this very scene every single day, sometimes up to multiple times a day, but had not grown tired of it yet. It would remain an eternally entertaining sight, if only to her.

“Now that everyone is ready, let’s start class! For first period, we will…” Raine trailed off, scanning her desk for the piece of notebook paper that denoted this entire week’s agenda. It was somewhere, buried under all the books and other loose sheets of paper - some missives from the church, letters from the mayor, but mostly assignments, including the one Lloyd had handed in yesterday that was nothing more than tiny shreds of the original worksheet, painstakingly taped back together. No clue how Lloyd had reduced his assignment to that state, nor how he’d had the time and patience to assemble it again. She wasn’t planning to ask, considering he had once given the implausible excuse that Noishe had eaten his homework. He'd gotten detention for that one. She wasn’t going to believe him no matter how many times he pleaded that it was the truth. Ridiculous! Did he take her for a fool?

Ah! There it was! She spotted the sharp corner of lined paper jutting out from under another of her heavy, hardcover books on ruins. The paper was completely covered in her tiny, spidery handwriting, and had been haphazardly torn from the notebook she kept at home, leaving the side jagged. There were so many subjects to cover this week that she’d had to write as small as possible to maximise space, squeezing her letters together until her hand started cramping, black ink staining the part of her hand pressed against the paper, eyes hurting from writing at night. She pulled on the corner, freeing the paper and thankfully not ripping it, thin as it was.

Squinting in order to make out the words, she sought out the header for today - Friday, each letter capitalised and the word circled with red ink. Under it was the activities relegated to each period, one hour each. The first activity was��

08 AM - 09 AM: Annual Mother’s Day activity. Reminder to inform the usual students that they only need to come in from the next lesson onwards. Cards, same as always. Materials are in their usual places and don’t need replenishing, except maybe the glitter. Might be a good idea to not get it to avoid a repeat of the Glitter Incident from last year. PREVENT LLOYD GETTING HIS HANDS ON THE GLITTER AT ALL COSTS, EVEN IF HE ASKS. ESPECIALLY IF HE ASKS.

Raine’s mouth went dry, her gaze flickering to the back of the classroom.

Before she’d started her first day as a teacher at the Iselian schoolhouse, she’d received a briefing from the previous teacher, an old lady who had held the position for the last 40 years (or so the old lady claimed). The lady was kind and understanding, the exact type of person who would be amazing with kids. (Though Raine wondered if that veneer would drop if the lady gleaned the truth about her identity.) Her back was hunched over and she took a full 5 minutes to hobble from the desk over to where Raine was, so Raine could understand why she was on her way out despite her obvious love of teaching.

Raine had been shocked to find that Iselia actually celebrated many of the holidays that most other places skipped over. In her and Genis’ long and arduous journey across Sylvarant to find a suitable home where they wouldn’t be driven out with pitchforks and fires, they’d stayed in a variety of places - ranging from sleepy villages to bustling towns, from settlements high in the hills to right by the azure sea. The commonality was that holidays tended to be localised affairs, celebrated by families who were fortunate enough to still be whole. Most families weren’t. The advent of attacks from increasingly aggressive monsters and the frequent Desian raids had... unfortunate consequences. But that was just life.

A day off was still given and the marketplaces still sold the requisite gifts, but schools certainly didn’t dedicate an entire period to crafting gifts when most children were orphans or missing a parent.

Iselia was different, spared from the worst of the brutality and more protected than most other towns. The treaty between the Desians and the Church to protect the Mana Lineage prevented raids, and the wild monsters never wandered into rural Iselia, hidden away in a small corner of Sylvarant.

The town was prospering, but… That made things even more awkward for the few students who didn’t have a living mother. Namely, the three children huddled at the back, who had been drawn together by their shared similarities that created an uncrossable rift between them and the other children. Lloyd, Colette and Genis had all joined the school in the same year as she had started teaching, and so they’d never had to endure the Mother’s Day activity because of the special arrangements she made. She herself would do nothing during this period, without anyone to give a gift to.

She had but faint memories of standing by a kitchen counter in eager anticipation, rays of golden sunlight filtering through a window and illuminating dust motes dancing in the air, keeping her hands busy measuring and pouring out ingredients in precise quantities. Her father had done the rest with expert fingers - beating the flour, sieving the sugar, mixing the butter - before placing the baking tray into the oven, the wonderful smell of a baking cake wafting into her nose. She’d eaten the cake with her mother afterwards, digging the fork in for bite after scrumptious bite. She’d wished her mother a happy Mother’s Day with her mouth stuffed full of cake, crumbs visible in the gaps between her teeth as she’d grinned, a rare smile that didn't find its way onto her face much these days.

She’d been chasing that taste in the kitchen for almost a decade - the sweet taste that had exploded in her mouth and lingered for hours, eliciting a giddy happiness that seemed to make her surroundings more vibrant, lit by a non-existent lamp. It continued to elude her, even after so much experimentation. What could the secret ingredient possibly be? Not spices, not monster blood… She could only try out wilder and wackier ones.

Sometimes, she wondered if that one memory was a false illusion conjured up by her mind to comfort herself when she had been mired in the depths of loneliness. If her parents had loved her so much, why had they abandoned her? She couldn’t wrap her head around it. The one question she had no answer for, even though it was her personal belief that every problem under the sun could be solved with logic.

She’d been so busy for the past few weeks that she’d completely forgotten Mother’s Day was next Friday, the thought but a faint murmur in the back of her mind.

A bead of sweat rolled down her neck, the silence in the room having turned deafening. Colette was rubbing Lloyd’s forehead in concern, Lloyd sinking down in his chair with his arms crossed while Genis poked him in the arm with a pencil. All three of them were, however, staring at her with expectant eyes. It was time for class to start, and it was too late to reschedule. Sending them out would draw too much attention as well... She had no choice but to soldier on.

“As some of you may remember, Mother’s Day is next Friday.” She set the paper back on the desk, swallowing hard. “It’s time for all of you to write your Mother’s Day cards. Supplies are in the cabinets where they usually are, feel free to ask if you’re unsure about anything. You have an hour, so get started!” She commanded, watching the expressions of the three in the back freeze in place as everyone else started scrambling around, excited conversations breaking out over what gifts people would be getting this year.

She walked to the back, dodging children running in every direction carrying coloured paper, scissors, glitter, all kinds of arts-and-crafts materials. It was complete chaos, like a whirlwind was in the midst of tearing through the place. “I’m sorry, I forgot this year,” she apologised as she reached Lloyd, Genis and Colette, feeling terrible. “You can just… sit here and talk, but keep your volume down. Try not to disrupt everyone else. I really am sorry.”

“It’s OK, Sis,” Genis replied. “You really have been busy for the past week. I would know better than anyone. It must have tired you out!”

He was one to talk. He’d been exhausted for the past two weeks. He kept on an attentive facade in class, but she’d found him slumped over his homework at home more than once, cheek pressed against the paper and eyes firmly closed. He’d drawn rather fantastical circles over his homework in his sleep, and left more than a few marks from drool. He was up to something, but it wasn’t her place to ask. As long as he wasn’t putting himself in danger, he was free to do what he wanted.

“You don’t have to apologise, Professor Raine. We’ll be fine!” Colette said, directing her cheery smile at Raine. It was just a tad bit dimmer than usual, her blue eyes lacking some of its usual shine. “We can keep ourselves occupied. Right, Lloyd?”

“Yep.” Lloyd offered nothing else, only pulling out a crumpled piece of paper from one of his many pockets and beginning to scribble all over it.

All three of them were concealing the pain they must have been feeling, the emptiness Raine herself had felt countless times, watching others shop for Mother’s Day and make the most thoughtful and creative gifts.

It must have been wonderful, to have a mother, and to know her love.

“...Alright.” She didn’t like how she was leaving the situation, but there was nothing more she could do right now. She had her own duties to fulfill.

She could only trust in their word that they would be alright.

~~~

“Uh, you two?” Genis cautiously spoke up, closing the book on mana consumption he’d been reading and attracting the attention of his friends. The three of them had made a silent agreement not to talk at all, hoping they could just fade into the background. Everyone else were bowed over their desks in intense concentration, some with tongues sticking out of their mouths as they contemplated what to write on their letters. From his seat in the back, Genis could spot the different types of letters - ranging from pink and heart-shaped to white and covered in an alarming amount of glitter, reminding him of the absolute disaster that had occurred last year and landed him with a hair full of glitter that had taken a whole week to wash off. What was the appeal of glitter? Sure, it was shiny, but how would the words even be legible under that eye-catching mess?

Lloyd was doodling something he refused to show either of them, edging away whenever Genis tried to catch a peek. Colette had attempted it once, realised Lloyd was trying to keep it a secret and had given Lloyd his privacy, happily going back to doing her math homework. Not that she was really concentrating; she kept gleefully lifting the paper every 5 minutes to show off her newest drawing. She’d gone from an adorable sketch of Noishe, curled up with his ears drooping and tail resting on the floor, a tomato balanced on his head, to a cute drawing of Lloyd and Genis as they were at their desks at this very moment. For some reason, it was missing Colette. She never drew herself, ever. Genis couldn't understand why.

“What’s a good gift for Mother’s Day?” Genis asked, placing his hands on the desk.

“Hmm?” Colette replied absentmindedly, looking up and pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, pencil still gripped in her other hand.

“Uh… Flowers?” Lloyd shrugged. “That’s one of the only memories I have of my mother. I was gathering flowers for her, and she thanked me for them. She was happy, I think...”

“Or maybe something the mother likes? That’s a safe option for a gift in general,” Colette wondered aloud, tapping the pencil against her cheek. “As long as you put thought and care into it, though, then I think it’s a good gift! It might not even have to be tangible.”

“Yeah, I agree with Colette. But why are you asking in the first place? Do you have a secret mother you and Professor Raine have hidden away somewhere?” Lloyd asked, confused.

“Of course not, Lloyd, don’t be stupid!” Genis groaned. That was one of the dumbest things he’d heard come out of Lloyd’s mouth in a long while. Lloyd never failed to surprise him with how stupid he could get. If he learned, one day, that Lloyd believed pigs could fly... He wouldn't even be surprised.

A classmate sitting in front of them turned around and shushed them, glaring.

“Sorry,” Lloyd mouthed back. “So?” He probed Genis, poking him in the arm, likely revenge for earlier when Genis had unsuccessfully attempted to draw on his arm. His pencil had not left any visible lines on Lloyd’s red sleeve. The fabric was so thick, in fact, that not a single indentation had been left behind. How did Lloyd even survive in summer? He had to be boiling in there under that much cloth, right?

“I was thinking of getting Raine something for Mother’s Day. She’s not my mother, but… she’s certainly acted in a motherly way towards me.”

That was a gross understatement. He’d been a baby when he and Raine’s parents had decided to clean their hands of the two of them, entrusting him to Raine. With no one else available to act as a guardian, she’d taken all the responsibility onto herself, even though she herself was young and inexperienced. She’d learned all that she needed to far too quickly, sacrificing her own childhood in order to give him a chance at one.

When they’d still been outcasts, wandering from town to town to find a home, unsure if they would have a roof over their heads the next day or enough money to afford the next meal, she’d always prioritised him. Any extra scraps of food went to him, all of the new clothes went to him, the medicine always went to him first and her second. To others, she may not have seemed like the doting type, but she’d taken every opportunity she could to dote on him. Those were few and far between, and always at the expense of herself. Nowadays, as they enjoyed relative serenity, she was far stricter, but still found ways to shower him with love.

One of his earliest memories was tottering through the kitchen, crying for food. Raine had been feverish, stumbling through the house. Still, she’d persevered on, gritting her teeth and making him breakfast even as her hand had slipped on the knife countless times, blood seeping from the numerous cuts on her fingers. He could still remember the steady smile she had forced onto her face even as she must have been close to passing out, all in the hopes of reassuring him that everything was alright, doing her best to trump over the fear that must have been curled around her heart. When she’d thought he wasn’t watching, she’d bandaged her own hand, sweat beading on her face, contorted into a grimace. The tears she’d hid from him and reserved only for the nights had finally started rolling down her face, striking a chord in his heart, even though he was still too young to understand.

The original reason he’d learned to cook was to lessen the burden on her shoulders. It was only after that he’d realised just how horrible Raine’s cooking actually was, because he’d never had anything else to compare it to. Of course, now he could never go back. Seriously, why did Sis think adding chillies to milk was a good idea? He’d think the obnoxious smoke would be enough to clue her in, but she thought those were a good sign! Catching one whiff of her cooking was enough to make him feel faint, nausea broiling in the pits of his stomach. She was utterly hopeless in the kitchen.

She’d taken care of him through thick and thin, always prioritising him. If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t even be here today. She was the one who had taught him how to survive in a cruel world, the one to show him what familial love was, the one to impress on him what right and wrong were... She’d practically raised him herself.

Lloyd and Colette didn’t know the full extent of their past. They could never know.

“Oh, Genis, that’s really sweet,” Colette exclaimed, clapping her hands together, eyes shining. “That’s a great idea! Go for it!”

“What are you planning on getting?” Lloyd asked, leaning closer, interest piqued.

“I’ve already gotten my gift from the travelling merchants, truth be told. That’s why I’ve been working so many errands recently, to earn enough Gald.”

It was sitting in his room right now, hidden under a pile of clothes in his cabinet. The final book in a series about ruins, stocked only by the travelling merchants. Raine had been eyeing it for the past year whenever the merchants came around to town, but had no move to buy it, giving excuse after excuse about how it was too expensive, that it wasn’t a necessity, and so on.

He’d finally scrounged up enough Gald from helping the other villagers with odd jobs like cleaning houses and tending to gardens to afford the hefty price tag, leaving him with an aching back, trembling arms and a need to find an excuse to take a nap. Raine would be overjoyed to get her hands on this, but…

“That’s why?” Lloyd scowled. “You could have just told us, we would have helped you! You didn’t have to do it alone!”

“Yeah, Genis. Friends are supposed to help each other!” Colette said, pouting.

“It’s over and done with. I’m more worried that Raine wouldn’t want to be seen as a mother,” Genis muttered, fingers beginning to drum on the table.

“But… why?” Colette asked, placing her pencil down on the table slowly. “Isn’t being a mother a wonderful thing? To be able to see your child grow up and become an amazing person? To watch them achieve their dreams? Isn’t that what every mother would want? And when that’s taken away… Ah!” Colette clapped her hand over her mouth, averting her gaze. “Sorry, just ignore that.”

“Colette…” Lloyd muttered, throwing her a worried glance.

“I’m fine! Really!” Colette shook her head, waving Lloyd’s concern away. Lloyd made a tiny noise of protest, but didn’t pursue the issue any further.

Genis lapsed into silence, pondering how to explain it - how Raine loved children and working with them but seemed utterly terrified of ever having a child of her own, petrified by the thought that she’d turn out just the same as their mother, even as she proved she was anything but.

“It’s just a little quirk of hers.” Genis finally settled on that explanation. Enough to appease his two friends without giving away too much. It was true, it just didn’t give any concrete reason.

“I see… I think as long as your wish is to make Professor Raine happy, then your feelings will surely shine through! But if you want to make it as clear as possible, why don’t you just write a card like everyone else?” Colette said, gesturing towards the rest of the class. “You can do it right now, before the lesson ends!”

“Yeah, Genis, there’s another 30 minutes left! Come on, get to it! We can help you out, it’ll be fun!”

“Wha - no, I’m not letting you read what I write!” Genis protested. That would be so embarrassing! No way he was doing that.

Thank the Goddess there was a cabinet with materials a mere half a metre away from where they sat, almost within arms reach. He could do this without attracting much attention. A quick scan of the classroom confirmed that Raine was occupied, and wasn’t likely to notice his movement. Quickly running to the cabinet and rifling through it, he grabbed whatever he could and ran back to the cluster of desks that the three of them had pushed together at the start of the period, offloading all he had gathered. Orange and blue paper… That was all that remained. As expected. The rest of the class turned into hungry vultures once activities like these started, scavenging whatever they could and leaving little in their wake, only meagre pickings.

Orange was Raine’s favourite colour, the one she bought all her clothes in… And the lead would turn up just fine on orange. That settled it.

“You two can have the blue,” Genis declared, pushing the sheets of blue paper towards Lloyd and Colette, both of which stared at him, utterly lost.

But he didn’t have the time to care about them. Sitting down, he put pencil to paper, thinking hard about what he could write, tuning out the voices of his two friends. What would get the message across?

Lloyd and Colette held the sure knowledge in their hearts that their mothers had loved them, would have done anything to protect them. They could even learn little tidbits about their mothers from the people who had known them who remained in this mortal plane.

Genis couldn't help but envy that, but he at least had Raine.

Genis glanced at Raine, who was sitting on a chair she had drawn up to a student's desk, answering their endless questions with a patient smile.

Raine had no one. She had nothing but fading memories that she refused to divulge, memories that she hugged close to her chest, even as they pricked her skin.

She deserved gratitude, and the reassurance that she’d done perfectly well. She would make an amazing mother.

No.

She was one.

~~~

Raine trudged into her home, shoulders slumped, yawning. Another day of marking, dealing with the belligerent mayor and conducting consultations at the schoolhouse was finally over. The sun had long dipped below the horizon, replaced by a crescent moon that had cast the dirt path home in an ethereal, shimmering light, perfectly sufficient to make her way home.

She closed the door slowly, ensuring it made nary a sound. It was approaching midnight and Genis was almost certainly asleep. She didn’t want to make any noise and risk disrupting his precious rest. Time to tiptoe around all the loose tiles. Thank the Goddess she’d long memorised where they were located and could navigate around the house in total darkness, not a single candle or lamp aflame.

The sight of a familiar head of silver hair passed out on the dining table was enough to stop her in her tracks. Genis? Now that she was listening properly, she could hear his soft breaths, breaking the utter silence of the night.

What was he doing out here? She’d told him that she would be back by noon, sure, but she’d been delayed by work many times before. He’d never bothered to wait up for her ever since he turned eight, turning in once it got too late. He was nothing if not punctual, following routines like clockwork. They must give him comfort, in the same way it did for her - to see the world in an organised fashion, to try and slot everything into neat alcoves where they fit perfectly.

Silly child. He’d wake up with an aching back tomorrow, sleeping with such terrible posture. It was no one’s fault but his own; she would have to tell him off tomorrow. What was so important that he had to wait up for her, anyway?

But first, she’d have to get Genis up to his bedroom and put him to bed. Carrying him wasn’t as hard as one might think, since he hadn’t gone through his growth spurt yet. He certainly wasn’t the tiny bundle that fit snugly in her arms anymore, but she had practice lugging him across the house while he played the role of a limp sack in her arms. The delicate part was not waking him up, which involved trying to achieve minimal jostling of her little brother.

It had been quite some time since she’d tucked him in. He wasn’t a small child anymore, after all. She had to keep reminding herself of that, every time she looked at him and couldn’t help but think of the toddler she had taken care of, once.

Hmm? She spotted something, lying next to his hand. What was this? A book as thick as five of her hands stacked atop each other, the cover red and emblazoned with golden text spelling out “A Guide to Ruins, Part 5: Ruins Across the Asgard Region”.

Wait… This was the book she’d wanted for over a year, ever since she’d thoroughly combed through part 4 (on Triet ruins). How had Genis gotten his hands on it, when it cost the equivalent of almost an entire week’s worth of food?

She flipped through the high-quality pages, crisp and printed in black ink, filling the room with the scent of a new book, fresh and indescribable. It was one of her favourite smells, rivalled only by the smells created by Genis’ cooking, as he created delectable masterpieces in the kitchen, even if they were nowhere near as unique as her creations. It had been a while since she’d owned a completely new book, instead of a second-hand one. The second-hand books she settled for were often not in pristine condition, the pages stained with dubious substances or riddled with holes where it had been eaten through by bugs when the books had been left to rot on abandoned bookshelves, the information they contained nearly lost to time had they not been rescued. There was a history to be found there as well, though she still preferred the completeness of a new, untouched book. New books were hard to come by, however, and expensive. She wasn't one to splurge.

Slotted in between the cover and the first page was an orange note that slid out onto the tabletop. Picking it up, she decided to read through all of it, even with her tired eyes and the slight headache she was nursing. Genis deserved to have his message read if he had gotten her such a wonderful gift. What was the occasion? She didn’t know. Today was supposed to be special, wasn’t it? But she couldn’t remember how exactly, the thought having niggled at the back of her mind for the whole day. It certainly wasn’t her birthday.

Dearest sister,

I wonder if you’ll remember what day it is, when you receive this letter and the gift it came with. If I base my answer on your behaviour through past years, then most likely not. You're probably spending this day like you would any other day, even though to most this is a special day. It’s Mother’s Day.

You’re wondering why I got you something for this one day with so much history attached to it, aren't you? It’s a day that carries heavy emotions for both of us.

The answer to that question is that I just wanted to say thank you. For everything that you’ve done for me, throughout the years. You may think that it was your duty, but you were the one who made the choice to go beyond and do as much as you could, to give me the chance to live a happy life.

I know you’ve always held a burden within your heart, the fear that you’ll turn out just like our biological mother, that one day you’ll have the sudden urge to abandon me. But I know, with all of my heart, that this will never come to be true.

Sure, you’re strict with me most of the time. There are times when you yell at me, or make fun of me as a sister would. But you’ve always loved me. Maybe you don’t always express it directly, but it does show. I know you do.

Sorry for all the times I’ve been infuriating, or refused to back down, or been coerced by Lloyd into pranking you to the point of annoyance. I must have really made you see red. I can’t promise those will never happen again, though. I’ll just say sorry one more time? That’s not enough. Maybe a bribe would work better.

I truly hope you stop doubting yourself, for you’ve been an amazing mother. The best one I could have asked for. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I’ll work to be better, every day. I know I’ll never be able to repay everything you’ve done for me, but I’ll try my best. Bit by bit, day by day, from moment to moment. I hope I can make you proud, someday.

So, happy Mother’s Day! I hope you enjoy the book. I know you’ve wanted that one for a really long time, and your adoration of ruins has been made very obvious to me over the years. Don’t read it all in one go like last time, though! You were barely functioning the next day. You need your rest too.

Genis

Scribbled with a much more frantic hand at the bottom was: P.S. There's a slice of cake on the kitchen counter. Knowing you, you probably skipped dinner. I hope it's to your liking.

The letters on the paper warped before her very eyes from the layer of tears that obscured her vision, held back from escaping purely by her iron control. Oh, Genis…

The two of them were living a life of relative peace, far from the days of constant worry and hunger, where there were moments she had to shield Genis from mortal danger, unsure if she would see the sunrise again. Yet those days lived on in the back of her mind, a shadow she could never escape from, hounding her in moments where she thought she could relax. Even now, she worried that she hadn’t done enough, though logically, she knew she’d done all she could as a young child herself, shoved into an adult world she wasn’t ready for with no one to depend on.

Emotions didn’t bow down to logic, however. They had a mind of their own.

It was a relief to hear, directly from Genis’ mouth, that she’d done… well. A weight she didn’t even know had been pressing down on her chest had been lifted, allowing her to finally breathe easy.

She was proud of him, however, something that she had to find the time to express to Genis. He was brilliant, and already so responsible, far more sensible than most other children his age. This was most likely due to the circumstances surrounding his growing up, but... she always would be proud of him, no matter what.

She’d raised him, after all. He did not need to repay her for anything. The joy that came from seeing him happy and fulfilled was sufficient for her.

Walking the short distance to the countertop, she took up the fork lying there and dug its tines into the cake. It was as masterfully baked as always, making her empty stomach growl, the little piece she’d speared dropping crumbs back onto the porcelain plate. She dropped the piece into her mouth, feeling it melt as she chewed thoughtfully.

It wasn’t straight from the oven like her father’s had been; it wasn’t even the same flavour. But somehow, that same taste was back, sweet and causing an explosion of warmth in her chest, a stray tear rolling down her cheek.

So that’s it. I’ve found it after so long…

The mysterious ingredient. It was within reach all along.

~~~

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#fanfiction #multi chapter #tales of symphonia #colette brunel #lloyd irving #genis sage #raine sage

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