"I'm not a monster," Elly said firmly to herself as she stared in the mirror. "I like good people. All good people."
"Hey, sweetness?" Hizashi peered in from the doorway. "Yer not lookin' so great. You need to come and sit." He walked in and gently took her trembling hand, steering her towards the couch in the living room.
Once she was settled and he was very firmly attached to her with his arms around her waist and his chin snuggled into her hair at the top of her head she sighed and relaxed a little. "Was trying to get over this one myself," she admitted with a shaky laugh. "I didn't want to bother you."
"You know I want you to come to me whenever you need."
"Yes." She leaned into his warmth. "It's my stepfather again. I saw something that reminded me of when I went to visit them once. My step cousin was there with her family, and they had a kid."
"Were you two close?"
"Well... kinda hard to say. It felt like it, sort of. Then she went off to college, got married, had a little girl. I'm awkward around my family and kids, since they treat them better than me. Always did."
Hizashi frowned, his eyebrows drawing up in a worried look. "Even when you were a kid, too."
"Yep. We all went out to eat and I sucked it up, hoping it wouldn't be too bad. But, of course it was. The little one is trying to get my attention specifically, while I was trying to settle down because of my emotions. Kid didn't need me; the whole table was acting like she was a ... well."
"Princess." Hizashi kissed her cheek softly.
"Yeah. The treatment I never got." She paused, then shyly added, "until you came along, sweetie."
"Aww." He snuggled her closer, drawing out the sound in a soothing hum. She sighed, closing her eyes and letting him pacify her as best he knew how.
"Thanks," she purred after a few minutes. "I - I almost started to bawl there, really, and I wanted to blurt the rest of this out before that happens!"
"Blurt away, then." He grinned and squeezed her gently in encouragement.
"My worst fear is true right away - my stepfather is <i>especially</i> catering to her, and this makes me so sick I can barely sit there. After awhile, he notices I'm not worshipping her like the entire table and tells me the most insulting thing he could."
She took a deep breath, her voice trembling. "He leans in, and, staring sideways at her, tells me in a little-kid confidential way, 'you're <i>meeean</i>'."
Hizashi's jaw dropped.
"Wait. So, the guy that tortured, scared you, said you weren't his daughter, an' everythin' when <i>you were just a kid</i> had the everloving <i>balls</i> to say you were being mean to this one?!"
"All I was doing was ignoring her because - well, you know. C-PTSD, really. I was freaking out. I hadn't signed up to be with him around a child, so I was pretty pissed anyway. I knew how it would play out. I went and hid in the bathroom of the restaurant and cried until I felt like I had to go back to the table. And then, they invited them to the house for coffee!"
"My step-cousin didn't even try and act like they wanted to catch up with me or anything. These people lived near my parents. They saw them <i>all the time</i>. I flew to see them once a year, for god's sake. They made zero attempts to act like they wanted to talk to me at all and just ignored me, so when we got home I holed up in the guest room for the remainder of their little visit, crying and feeling like I never had a father."
Hizashi waited until he was certain she was done before speaking. "I'm <i>definitely</i> gonna yell at that guy when I see him," he grated angrily. "Nobody hurts <i>my</i> baby. He might've thought it's fine to chop yer heart into little pieces all the time, but nuh uh! <i>No way!</i>" He started to shake.
"Hizashi."
"That little bastard, putting everyone else before you an' then rubbin' yer face in it..."
"Sweetie, breathe. It's - it's okay. I have you now."
"My princess," he cooed softly, changing tone so swiftly she did a double take. That was fast, even for him. "Y'the most precious person in my life. You know that, right?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"Mmm. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time, hug you and tell you it's gonna be okay."
She smiled. "I would have liked that. I mean, the support from an adult. I might've gotten creeped out by the hug from a stranger."
"Might?"
"Kinda starved for hugs," she admitted shyly. "I might not have minded anyway."
"Aw," he said again with a catch in his voice.
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