New Beginnings: Year One

Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Almost Lover, Luckless Romance.

The word crashed into Fionna's mind.

Fiancé.

It made her numb. She saw her relationship with Marshal slipping away from her grasp, becoming farther from her reach. She saw everything she wanted slipping through her fingers until it was gone.

Her first night home she woke up from a nightmare screaming his name into the darkness of her bedroom. In her mind she had created her first day back at school, telling Marshal about Finn. He had immediately turned his back on her and disappeared. She tried to chase after him, but could never run fast enough to catch him.

Jenny ran into her daughter's room, flipping a light on. She sat with Fionna for hours, rocking the sobbing girl back and forth until she had fallen asleep again. It killed her to see Fionna that way.

"I'm so sorry Fionna…" Her mother's words seeped into Fionna's sleep. Her dream changed to earlier that night, being told everything her family had kept from her.

~Dreams~

'Excuse me?' she had said to her grandparents. Her mind did not wrap around what was being told to her. She had been roped into an arranged marriage. Fionna looked at her mother, her inability to understand the meaning spread across her features.

'Fionna… When your father died, your grandparents decided that they were going to find you a mate.' He mother's words slapped Fionna's face. She stumbled back a step, as though she had been punched in her gut. Jenny tried to comfort her, but Fionna moved out of her reach.

'You let them?!' Her mother shook her head, it didn't make a difference. Fionna had heard enough. Quickly she turned, running away from the people she thought wanted her happiness.

The moment Fionna woke, she was on her phone with Cake, filling in the details she knew.

Cake had nothing to say. She was at a lost. She felt hurt for Fionna, the same hurt Fionna felt herself. Fionna cried over the phone, talking nonsense about running away, going to Marshal, never seeing her family again. Cake stopped her; she asked the simplest question she could form without becoming an accuser.

"What about your mom?"

Fionna sighed, staying silent for a few minutes before giving an answer. "I still have to talk to her… I accused her yesterday of letting my grandparents arrange this… marriage"

Cake exhaled, switching the phone from ear to ear. "And you haven't spoken to her since?" The silence that came from the other end gave her an answer. "Fi, hang up this phone and go talk to your mom. Don't back talk girl." Fionna could not help but smile. She agreed to call back after talking to her mother. They said their goodbyes. Fionna closed her phone and lay back on her bed, pulling the covers around her. The thought of leaving the safety of her room dismissed.

Jenny opened the door to Fionna's room after Fionna did not surface that afternoon. Carefully she walked over to the large mound of blankets. She sat on the bed and began unwinding Fionna from the mess. Eventually she was greeted by the mess of blonde hair that always reminded Jenny of her husband.

Fionna looked up at her mother, tears filling her eyes as she curled herself up. Jenny brought the teen closer to her, wrapping her arms around the crying girl. Fionna sniffed, hugging her mother tightly. "Why did this have to happen?"

Jenny sighed, rocking her daughter gently. "Fionna… let me tell you the whole story."

Fionna looked up at her mother, waiting patiently.