Headcanon - In case Celine never returned from a hunt, she had a large folder of papers both physically and digitally that were for a trusted lawyer (tied up in like 50 NDAs) to handle. The papers all had basic stuff like, what to do with Rumi, at what age to give her a notebook filled with information on the honmoon and demons, numbers and passwords for accounts set up specifically for Rumi only to use, etc. Celine had information for Sunlight Entertainment but she cared more that Rumi was set up and secure.
It wasn't until after the movie that Rumi actually looked through the papers while she, Mira and Zoey were there collecting some papers and found paper after paper after paper talking about what her favorite foods were, the lullabies she liked, her favorite teddy bears and how some of them could NOT leave her room, which flowers made her sick, what to feed her when she got sick, her favorite color, links to videos of the Sunlight Sisters and specific points to pause when Miyeong was on screen.
I’m so here for Rumi learning that sometimes love presents itself differently for some people. That yes, Celine made mistakes and struggled with Rumi’s demon heritage, but that didn’t mean she didn’t love her. I would pair this with one of my favourite headcanons: Celine keeps every piece of art, every card, every trinket and treasure Rumi ever gave her. They went to the beach and Rumi kept finding shells she proudly presented to Celine? They’re in a glass vase in Celine’s office. Wildflowers Rumi picked while they went on a hike? Pressed between the pages of books on Celine’s bookcase. There are boxes and boxes full of drawing done in crayon and washable marker, sticky notes with SE letterhead and scribbles made by a ballpoint pen, construction paper crafts and projects from both school and fun at home. Every little attempt at origami, from Rumi’s first crooked attempt at a crane to one she had done absentmindedly a few years ago out of a gum wrapper and left behind on a table on their plane.
(When asked about it Celine merely shrugs. “You made them,” she states like the answer is obvious, “You took the time and energy to make them. That matters to me.” Mira and Zoey both nearly break once Celine reveals she has similar hordes for them, too. Just not as big since she only had a few years to start collecting their “artwork”)
Rumi could literally have given Celine a shiny rock she found and Celine still holds onto it because (1) it meant something to Rumi enough to show it to her (2) she wants to remember that moment with Rumi. Celine struggles a lot with outwardly showing love or speaking it but she this is something she knows how to do. She might struggle to say the words “I love you” so instead she wraps Rumi in hundreds of documents that protect her not only as a hunter but as a person, as her daughter charge.
