Ethereal {Lin Beifong x Reader}

xvi. Grief

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The world was not forgiving, it seemed as though I was being dragged around by people related to my mother. I'm not sure what I expected, I remember my grandfather holding me close and crying into my shoulder. He had lost both of his daughters, each in very different ways. Lin stood by my side even through my worst nights. The nights where I threw things around the room and screamed at the top of my lungs, the nights where I begged anyone- or anything to bring her back. The nights where I stared at the moon, hoping that she could hear me. 
Those nights were the worst nights, they were also the nights where Lin held me the closest. Like she was scared of letting me go. Those were the nights where Lin stroked my hair and told me it would be alright. Those were the nights that I began to fall deeply in love with Lin.

Tonight was one of those nights. It had began as any normal night did. I slid into some night garments and tangled myself up into my a wad of quilts as Lin laid next to me, perfectly at peace. I let my mind drift to sleep slowly, before waking up screaming. I felt sick, like I was being punched in the stomach a dozen times. I shook, and the screaming didn't stop. Tears welled up in my eyes as I begged for my mother. Lin pulled me close to her, tangling her fingers in my hair. She always knew when something was off, even when I wasn't screaming and crying. It was like we were intertwined. 

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I visited my father and sister several times during the months that I called grief, Izumi seemed like she was doing much better than I was, and she even smiled when I saw her. I saw through her facade, she had been in the room when our mother took her final breath. Izumi still had nightmares worse than I did, the look of our mother's cold dead eyes haunted her. 

As time went on, I got better. I began to crack smiles here and there, and I began to get back into my old routines. Yes I still missed my mother, but I couldn't cry for here constantly. I still had a full life to live, and that was what I was going to do, and I was going to do it with Lin Beifong. 

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