"When we moved to America from here in Paris, he suddenly hated me. He started making a loving with his magic. He loved my mother but saw me as a burden. Anything that happened to my mother, he blamed me for, even a small cut. He never did anything because my mother was around."
Connor let her speak, simply being there to listen and as an outlet, holding her hand and allowing her to squeeze it.
"This is the Paris of my childhood," Raven sang. "These were the borders of my life
In this crumbling, dusty attic
Where an artist loved his wife
Easy to remember, harder to move on
Knowing that the Paris of my childhood is gone."
He kissed her hair and murmured, "Très belle."
"Ma mère me manque," Raven whispered.
He nuzzled her hair comfortingly. "I know."
Raven started to cry. She didn't know why, but she did.
Connor wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest.
Raven cried into Connor's chest. The tears were a mixture of sadness and happiness.
He would hold her as long as she needed it. He stroked her hair to calm her down.
Raven just kept crying. She wanted to stop, but she couldn't.
"Shhh… shhh… It's alright," Connor tried to ease her.
"I know," Raven sobbed. "O don't know why I'm crying."
"It's okay, everything is okay," he said, using a soothing voice that he only ever saved for her.
"It's OK because you're here with me."
“Exactly. So think about me and your mother. And maybe even the good parts of your father if that helps,” he urged her.
"There were no good parts of him that I remember. I only know this place because my mother told me about it," Raven said, breaking away from Connor's grasp and going to the window.
He let her go, watching from a distance. He had the feeling she needed some time alone.
Raven looked at the view that would have been hers had her family not left.
After a few moments, Connor spoke up again. "You good?"
Raven nodded. "I think so."
He approached her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Nice view, huh?"
"It's what would have been," Raven replied.
"Your father doesn't deserve you, you know."
"And you do?" Raven questioned, looking at Connor
"No. I don't," he replied softly. "I never said that I did."
Raven reached behind, brought on EOF her wings in front of her body and started to stroke its feathers. "These were his handiwork, you know."
(Wait, what? Sorry, I lost you…)
(raven has wings…
She started to stroke the feathers…
The wings aren't natural…
Her father cursed her and they appeared…)
(bump)
