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Princess and The Dragons	By : RWBYRemnants Category: +M through R > RWBY Views: 1054 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: RWBY is not mine and I make no money from this fic

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
WARNING: VERY graphic spousal and child abuse, emotional and physical. Please be advised and don't walk into this chapter unless you're ready.

=Chapter 20
“You’ve got a lotta nerve coming back here after the way I ran you off.”
“Please!” Weiss pleaded in a hoarse whisper; it was the best she could manage. “D-don’t hurt me! Yang… I’m only here to-”
“I told you before, and I’ll tell you one last time: I don’t care. Yang’s business is Yang’s business. My house means I get to say who stays and who goes. And you go. Now.”
For a moment, she was completely ready to give into Raven’s demands. After all, who could argue with that logic? This was someone else’s home and she was trespassing if the owner didn’t want her there. On the other hand, she was always going to be on Yang’s side - always, and it was far more important that she remain behind to show her support than to be cautious.
“I can’t,” she answered honestly.
“Can’t? Interesting word.” She leaned in closer, until Weiss could smell the hard liquor on her breath. See every pore on her noble nose. “You certainly can’t go if I kill you.”
“Can… you stop choking me so we can… talk like civilized people?”
Raven blinked in mild surprise. “What?”
“I just… think it’s easier… for me to talk without your hand… there.” Her own drifted up to tap the back of Raven’s. Her words sounded stupid to her own ears, but it was the only thing she could think of; talking was so much harder with her air supply cut off, and her head starting to spin.
“Fine.” The hand relaxed slightly, but stayed where it was. “Give me one good reason not to put my fist through your face.”
Clearing her throat and swallowing hard - now that she could again - Weiss tried to scrape some words together in her dizzy brain. After a second or two, when she could sense Raven was getting a little impatient, she squeaked, “Yang!”
“What about Yang? I told you, I don’t care who she sleeps with or hangs around with, as long as I don’t have to deal with any of it. You being here breaks that rule.”
“But… she’s hurt, and I… I just want to help take care of-”
“I can handle that.”
“You hurt her yourself.” Her face became more incensed, frown deepening and eyes flashing dangerously, so Weiss went on, “You did! I… I don’t know, maybe you didn’t mean to, okay? B-but I’ve seen the bruises! Just because of her grades! And Yang already has suffered enough bruises for one day, so if that’s how you want to ‘take care’ of her, th-then I think I have something else to offer! And that I should stay!”
This time, Raven did shake her and slam her back against the wall. “Idiot! That’s my little girl in there - you know nothing! Do you understand me?! Who the hell are you, anyway? I’m trying to keep her from ruining her life! Or getting taken in by pretty faces like yours! If she gets her heart broken, her ribs broken, she can do it on her own damn time and in her own damn place! Not my place!”
The terror was very real, but Weiss gulped and squeaked, “I don’t want to break anything! I just w-want to help!”
“You can help by never darkening my doorstep again!”
“Raven.”
Neither of them had heard Kali come in. Weiss was half-afraid she would be aiming a gun at the other mother, but she wasn’t; she simply had her hands on her hips and looked as if she were disciplining Blake instead of talking to an old friend in her own home.
“Don’t.”
“You know this isn’t right.”
“It’s right because it’s my house. Your opinions don’t matter.”
“She’s in high school!” Kali hissed back at her, eyes flashing dangerously. “And she’s really very sweet, and you’re manhandling her like she’s a home invader! When did you lose all remaining decency?”
The pure fury was increasing, even if it was no longer purely because of Weiss. “You don’t get a say anymore. The time when I had to listen to what you have to say, you telling me who to marry, what to do… that’s long gone. So I don’t want to hear it anymore.”
“Mrs. Xiao Long?” Weiss asked.
“Branwen,” she amended immediately - fiercely.
“Branwen! I… please, I’ll never come back after we get Yang set up, if you’ll… if you can help her rest and heal. I promise.”
The offer seemed to catch her off guard. “You’ll leave Yang alone?”
“I didn’t say that. I said I wouldn’t come back to your house.” When her eyes narrowed, she went on, “If I didn’t let my own father slapping me across the face stop me from seeing Yang, then what makes you think I’ll stop for you?”
Kali hissed “Weiss!” in a warning tone. But they were both interrupted by a gruff bark of a noise from Raven. At first she thought she was coughing, but when she focused on her it turned out she was laughing. Cruelly, darkly, but at least it was a laugh; it proved the woman was still capable of that.
“You really do have a lotta nerve.” Her head tilted to one side, as if trying to appraise Weiss from a new angle. “Old man smacked you to get you to stop dating trash, huh?”
“To get me to stop dating Yang,” she amended firmly. “Because he doesn’t know the Dragons.”
“And you do, huh?” Shaking her head, she finally let go of Weiss and turned to stride across the room. Her eyes were fixated down at the remnants of the bottle she had destroyed. “A couple of weeks on the wild side of Vale and you think you know something about the Dragons. Probably all of it wrong. But fine, fine. I’ll agree to your terms. Stay out of my house and you two can do whatever you want. It’s her business. That all you wanted?”
Weiss sighed. “It isn’t. I would want to… try getting to know my girlfriend’s family. But if I can’t have that, I guess I’ll accept it.” She brushed down the front of her blouse, trying to unwrinkle the fabric and get rid of some of the dust from the mines. “I hope Yang enjoys her soup.”
Then she strode for the door. Kali moved as if to stop her, but the way she simply let her hand drop said she thought better of the idea. Raven made no such moves.

She had been walking for at least thirty minutes when the car caught up to her. The time didn’t seem to have any meaning. Maybe she was deluding herself. As far as she was concerned, Yang was more important to her than all the irate parents in Vale - as crazy as that still was to her. But there were quite a lot of odds stacked against them. Should she think about putting a stop to everything to keep them from destroying each other? Before talking to Raven, she wouldn’t have said so, but now she could no longer be absolutely certain anymore. That she loved Yang, yes. That they belonged together…
Maybe not. Maybe God, or the universe, or whatever decided the fates of mere mortals had decided they didn’t get to be happy. Not happy together, at least.
“Weiss!” Kali shouted out the window. “Get in the car!”
The girl shrugged her leather-clad shoulders. “What’s the point? My parents hate me. Yang’s hate me, too. Salem probably just thinks I’m a pain in the behind, and asked you to follow me around to make sure I don’t mess anything up. Or if I do, that she’ll know about it. So what’s the difference if I just keep walking until I fall off Glenn Bluffs?”
The car pulled a little ahead and up to the curb. It gave Kali plenty of time to get out of the car and walk around to face her, waiting with hands on hips. When Weiss began to turn as if to head a different way, she tutted loudly.
“Just leave me alone!” she snapped angrily. “Why do you care if I mess up? I’m nobody to you! Just some spoiled rich girl who… who doesn’t… who has no idea what she…”
The arms around her startled her - she hadn’t even seen Kali move. But this time, she didn’t want to be comforted, didn’t want this strange woman behaving like the mother she wished she had. Her limbs pushed, she struggled, but Kali didn’t let go for anything.
“I’m not Blake,” she breathed harshly, voice tight. “You don’t have to nursemaid me.”
“Quiet now, Weiss. It’s okay. Nobody asked me to take a liking to you; I did that all on my own. I’m not going to abandon you.”
They were both silent for a few seconds. Weiss stopped struggling and whispered, “Stop being so nice. Just… go away. Let me go back to my world, and you can stay in yours, a-and… and Yang can find someone who isn’t so pathetic. And who can understand her, and who her mother won’t hate.”
Kali laughed. “We all have a long wait for that. Listen…” Stepping back, she held onto Weiss’s shoulders with both hands. “In this life, it’s foolish to let anyone else tell you what you want. Or when to want it, or how to want it. If you love Yang, then love her. Forget about what some dried up old husk of a woman shouts at you.”
“Goodness,” Weiss breathed in slight shock at the insult. “Those really are sour grapes, aren’t they?”
“A bit. But don’t worry about Raven’s unrequited feelings from the pages of history. That’s not what matters right now.”
“So it’s really okay?” Something in her was desperate to believe Kali’s words, to trust her. Even though she had known her even less time than she knew Yang, she wanted to put her faith in someone again. “To… to try this relationship even if everyone else thinks it’s a mistake?”
“Not everyone,” she whispered with a fond smile. Her hand cupped Weiss’s cheek. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re a real catch.”
“Are you going to start chasing me around the car like you did around the kitchen?” But Kali only laughed, so she smiled. “No… I don’t think you ever meant any of that. You just wanted to trick me into admitting my feelings to Yang, didn’t you?”
One of her amber eyes winked. “A little of both. But I mostly want you to have your heart’s desire, Weiss. We both know who that is. Just don’t let your desire to make everyone happy keep you from making yourself happy. You and Yang fit together really well; I’ve witnessed it first-hand. Don’t fret over the details.”
“Well… okay.” They exchanged a smile, even if Weiss’s was a little more nervous. “But how am I supposed to do that if neither of us can even go to the other one’s house?”
“I’ll keep working on Raven,” she sighed. “I think I was getting her to admit that the house wouldn’t literally crumble if she let you stop by now and then. Especially if I promised not to come back,” she added in a quiet murmur.
As she was escorted toward the car, Weiss asked, “Oh? Was this after I left?”
“It was. And I checked in with Yang very briefly, told her not to push herself, and saw that she had eaten a little of her soup. Honestly, I think Raven isn’t as bad as you feared. Not an ideal parent, but…”
Her arms folded over her chest as she slid into the passenger’s seat. “She hit her! I don’t care why, she still hit her. That’s not acceptable.”
“Oh, I agree with you; I even felt sick on the rare occasion I had to spank Blake’s behind, much less ever do anything worse. No parent should ever cause their own child physical harm. But… Yang isn’t my child, and it’s hard for me to pass judgment. Lord knows enough people could tell me I’m a monster for letting my girl follow me into the Dragons.”
“You’re not a monster!” Her hand flashed over to perch on Kali’s forearm. “You’re… a really nice woman, a-and I’m lucky to know you!”
That earned her a soft smile. “You really are. And you could know me better if you play your cards right…”
Rolling her eyes, she retrieved her hand and sat back again. “So when do I get the reading material?”
“The what?”
“Well, clearly all the Dragons have learned the same list of terrible come-ons. There has to be a book.”
That got Kali laughing so hard she almost ran a stop sign. At least it elevated their dreary mood, if nothing else.

By the time Kali and Pyrrha made the “exchange” and she was on her way back to Atlas Heights, the poor little rich girl felt at least vaguely better about the situation. Sure, nothing had been truly solved, but her fleeting crisis of faith had passed. She wanted to do whatever was best for Yang. If that meant leaving her, she would, but Kali’s words went a long way toward reassuring her that Yang needed her as much as she needed Yang. If that was true, then all that was left was to find a way to be together that wouldn’t destroy their entire microcosm.
“You’re sure you are alright?” Pyrrha asked as she took back the makeup puff.
“Yes.” Weiss checked herself yet again in the mirror; the heavy makeup would no doubt be obvious to her father, but it covered the light scratches she’d received while spelunking into the sinkhole. “Anything else?”
“The jacket,” she chuckled. Weiss smiled sheepishly and shrugged out of it. “That’s becoming a second skin. I didn’t think you liked it so much.”
As she stashed it, she said, “I do. It’s warm and comfortable. Even though the giant dragon on the back is ornamental, it’s very functional otherwise.” Then she sighed and smiled at her. “Thank you again for your help. I’m sorry to have to keep asking this of you when it’s-”
“I’m fine,” she laughed with an easy smile. “Though I worry about you running around with those women, I know now they aren’t… quite as bad as they seem. And if you and Yang are truly in love, I don’t think anything should stand in your way.”
“You and Kali both.” They shared a grin. “Alright, I’ll take up less of your day. Thanks again.”
Even as Weiss was getting out to walk down the street, Pyrrha yelled, “It’s fine! Don’t worry!” It only made her smile wider.
When she walked into the house, luckily no one was in the near vicinity. She was worried they would all be waiting for her in the living room again, since the sun was going down and it was getting too late to be out. Therefore, she was able to slip up to her room and quickly change into a dress her father found more “dignified for a young lady”, as he always put it on the rare occasions she wore any type of slacks.
The instant she emerged from her room, she was startled to see Whitley standing there. His smile was a sly as a fox's, as usual, but she decided to ignore him and keep walking.
“You missed dinner, dear sister.”
“Have I?” Though she didn't much feel like it, her smile was sweet. “I've already eaten while I was out with Pyrrha.”
“Indeed. Probably nothing but ice cream.” His airy sigh was so similar to their father's that Weiss could barely suppress a giggle. But she did and made her way into the drawing room.
And froze just inside the door.
“Ahhhh, there you are,” Jacques Schnee announced as he turned his head very slightly from where he had been gazing out the window. Her mother was slumped on the floor, one shoe off and one shoe on, gazing into nothingness. She honestly couldn't tell if he had struck her or if she had simply fallen because she was too inebriated to stay on the chaise lounge.
“Father.”
“Weiss.” Smile tight, he fully faced her, hands in the small of his back. “How was your day?”
The question caught her a little off guard. Since when did her father care about her days? “Umm… just fine. How about yours?”
“Oh, I've had better. For instance, I much prefer days on which I don't have to confront my upstart of a daughter about her constant lying to this family.”
“What?” The dread that began to pool in the bottom of her stomach was strong, but she tried to keep the reactions from creeping into her face. It wouldn't do to show weakness.
“I've just had a talk with Captain Ironwood,” he went on as he rolled a white-gloved hand in the air, embellishing with gesture as much as he did with word choice. “He told me a very interesting tale. Seems he thought it rather strange that a delightful young girl like Miss Nikos should spend almost her entire afternoon all alone in Vytal Park, reading instead of enjoying the company of gentlemen callers. It struck him as odd after the first few times he spotted her there on his rounds.”
Her alibi was gone. This was a distressing development indeed! What else could she say she was doing? To give herself time to think, she answered, “Isn't it good for a young girl to enrich her mind? What's so wrong with reading?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing. However, it does raise the question… where have you been all day instead of the usual haunts?”
“I've… made another friend recently. Ruby Rose?” Maybe Ruby wouldn't be so keen to lie for her, but it was the only thing she could think of offhand. Hopefully she would have time to ask her on the following school day. “Of course, Pyrrha knows her, but she wanted some quiet time today. And far be it from me to force her to come along!”
Her father was nodding, as if he had accepted everything she said. But she knew better than to believe that. “Yes, I see. Ruby Rose, is it? That's very… convenient. A brand new friend whom I've never heard of before.”
“I'm sorry, Father, but I don't know what you-”
“How stupid do you really think I am?” he hissed at her in a dangerous tone, eyes flashing now to betray the true fury that had been hiding beneath the mask of calm all along. “As If there really is such a person! You've been out seeing that Chinese girl again, haven't you?”
After a long pause, Weiss somehow found the courage within herself to say, “I thought this would make you happy. After all, you already think I'm doing some kind of unpleasant thing with Pyrrha, though I'm really not sure what. Isn't it good that we didn't spend all day together?”
“Don't act so smug and innocent. Perhaps you weren't doing any such thing with the Nikos girl; I don't truly believe it, but I'm willing to entertain the notion. But we both know you're still sneaking around behind our backs, and that is simply unacceptable.”
“Father, please,” she attempted in a pleading tone, taking a few steps closer to her parents. Not that her mother was responsive at all; she didn't even seem to be aware that anyone else had entered the room. “I'm absolutely fine. I promise! There's no need to worry about me so much.”
Her hope had been that framing things in that manner would perhaps soothe his ego, making him think that his concerns actually mattered to her. That hope was dashed when he jerked her roughly forward by the shoulder so they could stare directly into each other's eyes.
“You're still lying to me. Can you even tell when you're lying anymore? Just admit it: you're doing immoral things with one of those girls. Maybe with all of them.”
“What?” she gasped, but her shock was so fake that she didn't even believe it herself. “Father, I- where is this coming from? What kinds of immoral things?”
His chuckle was so cruel that she flinched away from it. “Oh, good try, you little minx. Fantastic. But I'm not playing games with you anymore. Bend over this chaise lounge.”
Suddenly, her blood ran cold. “Excuse me?”
“You're acting like a child, and I'm about to treat you like a child. If you can't own up to your mistakes like an adult then you don't deserve anything less.” As he spoke, he began to take off his belt.
“Father! I'm a woman, and I'm eighteen years old! Y-you can't-”
“Do as I say, young lady!”
For a fleeting moment, she looked toward her mother for some kind of support, for any kind. At least recognition that she was listening and she cared. No such support came. Turning back toward him, she stood defiantly and said, “No.”
“You will do as I-”
“No, Father. You can punish me all you like - forbid me to see my friends, tell me I'm doing all these terrible things that I'm not doing… even call me awful names. But I'm through letting you strike me anymore.”
It had been a mistake. She could feel it in her bones, even before the belt lashed across the side of her face. An accompanying sting told her that it had broken the skin. Weiss only had a moment to stare up at him in sheer horror before he was speaking again.
“I wasn't asking you to do it, you ungrateful tramp,” he snarled as he grabbed her by the hair and forced her to bend over the furniture. Unfortunately for Weiss, the man was stronger than he looked. “I did not want to do this, but you have forced my hand. If you won't let me help you expunge your inner demons, I'll beat them out of you!”
The hand reared back, and Wiss felt her entire body clench. This couldn’t be happening. She wanted to run away, but the hand in her hair kept her held fast; she was frozen in this terrible moment with her father about to lash her with a leather strap. Was there no justice left in the world?
“HELP!” she couldn’t resist shouting. Maybe Whitley would surprise her by doing something. Maybe a neighbour would hear. Maybe-
The loudness of the noise was almost worse than the pain itself. Hot shame flooded her face, and her breath stopped fast. He was going to pay for this. That voice in the back of her mind somehow sounded like Yang; she tried to hold onto that. Tried to picture her sweet Yang, the noble Dragon she was weathering this mistreatment for.
Or was she? No. She was doing it for herself. Yang might be worth it, but this was not about their relationship. This was between her and her father, who couldn’t let his daughter be her own woman.
“Had enough?” he asked harshly. But Weiss couldn’t speak. He roughly shook her by the head. “WELL?!”
A weak voice from nearby breathed, “Stop… my little girl…”
“That’s enough out of you,” he snarled down at his wife. “If you weren’t such a disappointment, perhaps we both could have prevented this from ever happening!”
“But you shouldn’t…” Her voice faded. Weiss couldn’t even see her from that vantage point, but had a feeling she was still lying face down.
“I’ve given you everything,” Jacques snarled - before striking her across the backside again. This time, Weiss let out a brief yip of pure agony, then sucked in a shuddering, snivelling breath. “And you repay me by throwing it all away! Do you think I haven’t heard of the Dragons? That no one else has heard about the drag race that took place in the ruins of Mountain Glenn? No one has seen you driving around with some black-haired woman? Who is she, Weiss?”
“F-Father, I… I c-can’t-”
“ANSWER!” Another slap of the strap, and Weiss felt she might wet herself again but she was determined not to give into that urge. She would be stronger. The first two lashes had been so shocking she couldn’t even separate the sting itself from the added pain of it on the healing scar; he was going to open the skin again, when it had finally started to heal over!
“Stop! I don’t w-want this! Stop it, please!”
His arm reared back; she felt the movements. This strike was going to be even harder. “Then tell me.”
“NO! I’M DONE LISTENING TO YOU!”
“Fine.” The arm rocketed down-
And never connected. There was a long moment in which Weiss sniffled and sobbed, clawing at the fabric of the chaise lounge as if she really had been struck. Then she slowly ceased as it sank in that nothing was happening. Turning around seemed to take forever, especially with the fist clenched around her ponytail, but she eventually managed.
Willow Schnee had never looked so furious in her life. The look matched that of her husband, who was both glaring and looking incensed at this sudden betrayal. Her arm was extended over her head from her kneeling position, hand closed around his forearm to keep the next blow from landing.
“Well,” he breathed, to give himself a moment to find his words. Then he snarled, “Look who’s awake.”
“I’ve been awake this whole time,” she snapped at him, slowly pushing to her feet. “You made an assumption, and that assumption was wrong.”
His brow knitted as he also stood, trying to keep her from gaining the upper hand. “What?”
“You probably don’t even remember striking her a couple of weeks ago. You promised me- no.” She shook her head so hard the messy silvery bun at the nape of her neck bobbed back and forth. “You promised all of us that it would never happen again. She came to me to complain, and I was deep into the wine the way I… I have been all too often.”
“Mommy?” Weiss breathed in sheer disbelief. She could hardly believe this was the same woman!
“This is absurd,” he snapped back. “We have a delinquent daughter, Willow. You have the audacity to hold me to that old standard when I’m struggling to keep her from-”
“So when she came to me, wanting to cry and be supported but seeing me so pathetic…” Her head shook again, eyes closed as she suppressed her own self-hatred before glaring at him again. “The entire next morning, I thought about taking my own life, Jacques. Ending it all. I never meant to become like this, and I wanted to forget what you’ve done to me. Still, I knew if I did that, if I died… I couldn’t be there for my girls ever again. To protect them. You did this to Winter, too, when she declared she wasn’t interested in the family business - and she was strong enough to push back. Weiss has always been more delicate, and you still treat her like this?”
Even through wincing at the slight jab at her character, Weiss saw that her father was starting to back down, though he would not entirely. “Well, well. Isn’t this lovely! You’ve been lying, too - lying about being your usual saturated self. Spying on me. That’s the trouble with women, isn’t it? Never can tell when they’re being honest with you. Maybe they simply aren’t capable.”
“Spying on you,” she affirmed through clenched teeth. “I shouldn’t have to! I shouldn’t have to fill wine bottles with grape juice just to fool you into underestimating me – to ensure you’re not abusing our daughter! Well… you’re not going to hurt any of them anymore. Put the belt away, Jacques.”
“I’ve had enough,” he said in a low, dangerous tone, eyes still flinty and hard. He jerked his forearm but she didn’t let go, so he began to shove and tug until she did - but she stumbled into him, and he reacted instinctively, pushing her to the floor.
“Mommy!” Weiss gasped, heart lurching as she watched her poor mother sprawl out on the oriental rug.
“Look what you’ve done now. Look where you are! Do you feel proud of yourself, Willow? Glad that we’ve come to this point, all because you couldn’t handle rearing our daughters to be fine young women, instead of… of cross-dressers and freaks?!”
Cross-dressers? Did he mean because Weiss occasionally wore trousers? Or because Winter was in the Women’s Army Corps?
Glaring up at him with twin daggers for eyes, her mother snarled, “Go to hell.”
His arm reared back to strike his own wife. It had been a long time since he did that, as well - but the situation with the Dragons seemed to be pushing him past his breaking point. For a brief instant, Weiss felt responsible. She wished she hadn’t ever talked to Yang. Wished she could be a perfect little girl, so Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t fight anymore. Wished her sister was here, so she could have someone on their side - or Kali, or anyone at all so she wouldn’t feel so scared.
But the first crack of leather on the skin of her mother’s raised forearm, her yelp of pain, snapped her out of the reverie. Rushing forward, she wrapped her arms around his, screaming, “Stop! You can’t!”
“I’ll do whatever I want to you traitors!” he bellowed, incensed. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to reach the arm with the strap in it, so he was easily able to lash her across her side. There was nothing else she could think to do but sink her teeth into his wrist. “AH! Traitors and animals! You’re insane! Well so be it!”
This time, when he pushed her to the floor, it was with intent. Weiss felt real terror gaping up at the towering figure, his shoe pushing into the center of her chest. This was really going to hurt. The belt dangled from his hands as he took aim, tried to figure out how to crack it like a whip just right so that it reached her skin.
“I’ll teach you a lesson you will never… ever forget again.”
Those were the last words he was able to get out before Willow brought an expensive vase down upon the crown of his head. The shattering of pottery was loud enough to echo through the entire house, and probably outside. As he sagged, she was just able to see the blood begin to drip down his face before he crumpled completely, sprawling on top of her.
He was right about one thing: that moment of terror, being pinned beneath her bleeding father who had been seconds from delivering painful punishment to her face, definitely taught her an unforgettable lesson. “Never trust a man again” probably wasn’t the lesson he intended, but it was the effect nonetheless.
Then her mother was heaving him off her, weaving weakly for a moment as she tried to regain her breath. She looked at Weiss, the pure adrenaline slowly giving way to worry. “Oh, Weiss… oh, my poor baby…”
“Mommy?” she whimpered, shaking all over. She couldn’t even bring herself to cry; she just felt numb. Too much had happened, and she didn’t understand everything quite yet. But then something else pushed through the fog. “Mommy, it’s really you!”
“Yes, honey! Oh…” Wrapping her arms around Weiss and pulling her to a sitting position, she whispered, “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry it took me so long… I don’t know what was wrong with me. I’m so sorry!”
They were quiet for a long minute or two, trembling and clutching at each other as if they were the last two humans in the world. Despite the terror that still thundered in her heart, she couldn’t erase the gratitude. Her mother had returned to her. After so many years, sure that she would never come back from the grip of alcohol, she was here; they were together again.
Then they heard a sound from the doorway. Turning to look, they saw Whitley standing there with sheer shock in his features. “What… what have you done, Weiss?”
“Whitley… I…” She had no idea how to handle this situation.
“I’m calling the police!” he yelped, scampering away. Her mother moved as if to follow, but she trembled and fell again, clutching her head.
“Mommy? Are you okay?”
“No…” Clearing her throat, she pushed a hand into her eyes. “My head hurts. It’s… it’s been that way since I stopped drinking. I get headaches all the time now. They’re getting a little better day by day, but it’s still not… I can’t even remember what it was like to have a clear head.”
“When did you stop? I don’t…”
“It was the next day after he hit you.” Swallowing hard, she forced her eyes up to look at Weiss again, powerful shame flooding back into her face. Without the anger at her husband to mask it, Weiss could see just how deep it ran, and she had to look away rather than witness her mother in such a state. “I had been thinking so hard already about why I couldn’t stop him. Silly as it is, that confused me. Why couldn’t I lift a finger if I loved my girls? What kind of mother was I? And that day, when I poured myself another glass of wine, it all kind of… I don’t know. Fell onto me at once. I needed that drink to help me forget my failure, but it was the cause of my failure. I tried to drink it, a-and the wine tasted disgusting to me for the first time in years, so I spat it out, and… I didn’t know what else to do. Jacques asked why I did that, and I…”
Weiss sat up a little straighter, petting her hand up and down her back. “It’s okay. Just… just tell me.”
“I don’t want you to hate me,” she whispered fearfully, eyes turning to the corner. “You should. But I don’t want you to. I sound so selfish…”
“Please, I can’t! I can’t hate my mother! Tell me what he did, I… or what you did, all of it. I need to know.”
“Alright.” Swallowing hard, she whispered, “I lied. I told him I thought a bug got into the wine, and he said to try it again. With him watching, I had to finish the glass, and it tasted better, of course… but I resolved that it would be my last. I had to think of something.”
“So… you filled it with grape juice? I heard you say something like that.”
Her lips twitched into a weak smile - or something like a mockery of one. “Yes. Some ‘great scheme’ of mine. The local church helped me, actually; I carted off a bunch of wine to them, and told the priest in confidence that I wanted help to wean myself off the spirits. He agreed to help fill them with juice and cork them, so I could indulge in the ritual of drinking until I didn’t need it anymore. I… I would feel bad for lying to him, too, except it wasn’t untrue. Just wasn’t the main motivation.”
“Mommy, I love you,” she told her earnestly when she saw her face beginning to crumple again. “Please, can you hear me? I love you so much, I don’t hate you!”
“I hear you, Weiss,” she said with an easy laugh, even while tears slipped down her face. “I always heard you. Sometimes, I just couldn’t reply… or couldn’t remember what you said in the morning. But I’m sorry you ever thought I was ignoring you. I’m such an awful woman…”
Shaking her head violently, she clutched at her so tightly she was worried about hurting her. “No, I’m an awful daughter! I’ve been doing… d-doing so many bad things! Daddy was so mad!”
“Shhhh, shh. It’s alright. You aren’t an awful daughter, not at all.” There was a slight hesitation as they embraced. Then she forced herself to say, “Even if… the things your father has been saying… even if they are true.”
“What kind of things?”
“About you becoming friends with the Chinese girl. That she’s an opium fiend and might be- well, I shouldn’t like to repeat improper things.”
In that moment, all she wanted was to let them have this sweet reunion. To enjoy being in her mother’s arms again. But the truth slipped out; she needed someone to tell her she wasn’t an awful daughter. “I’m in love with her. I know it might be sinful, but it doesn’t feel like sin to me! I just… j-just want to be part of her life, and her a part of mine! I’m sorry! I’m sorry I’m so terrible!”
“Shhh,” she repeated, a little more desperately now. “It’s alright. We’ll figure out everything later. I’m sorry, I wanted to be there for you, but I couldn’t when… with my…” Her voice broke as she said, “I’m so weak! I was so weak for so long, and I let him hurt me, and you, and Winter and Whitley, a-and I… and I didn’t know wh-what to…”
Again, she was overcome with the sensation of having to take care of her mother, as if their roles were reversed. But at least she was herself again. She was trying. That was all Weiss could ask for, and all she had wanted for years. Maybe they could try together from now on.
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Princess and The Dragons