[ @disparaiitre // i don’t remember this prompt, maybe a nightmare? // not accepting ]
SHE HAD these nightmares often. Her children, both biological and adopted, shot down by men in body armor and face masks. Men who knew no guilt, who never cared about their target’s names.
Those same names she would scream as they all bled out in front of her, and the question was: which one to prioritize?
Her own daughter, of course, of course. No choice. They had been separated for far too long, she had to save her own flesh and blood. She had to save her.
But– William would always have a haunted look in his eyes. No pain, no fear of death. But that she was picking someone over him. Over the boy who had never known real love. And she couldn’t let him down, couldn’t betray him after she had helped him learn to trust, learn to feel loved. But he would understand, he would understand if she sacrificed him for her Aelita. Wouldn’t he?
Yumi would cry, curling in on herself. Sobbing for her own parents, for her real family. And trying to inch away as Anthea drew closer. Save them. You have to. And blood would bubble out of her mouth as she spoke, her hands shaking around her ribcage.
Yumi had a family, had a life outside of all this disaster. And thought it wasn’t Anthea’s fault that she had been dragged into it, it was still haunting. To realize how much Yumi had– so much more than her other children, a home and parents and a family that wasn’t steeped in blood and secrecy. Aelita and William were doomed from birth. But Yumi had much more to begin with, and she had lost so much more because of it. She had no stake in this besides her boyfriend, and she had given up so much to keep them all safe.
And it was this dream, this horror that was not just a nightmare– but a possibility. A very real possibility. It was in the waking moments, where she realized that she would. She would sacrifice Yumi if it meant saving William or Aelita. She had less of a connection to the girl. Yes, she loved her. Yes, she called her daughter, and Yumi called her mother.
But she would wake in a panic, knowing that she would always, always pick Aelita. And William would understand, of course. But after those dreams, she would always tiptoe around Yumi in the safehouse. As if the girl could read her mind, would feel her surrogate mother’s possible betrayal.
jbbartram-illu
andulkaphoto
annaxmalina
yousharknotpass
turnnoffyourmind
kaledo-art
