Atticus Finch x Violet

Prologue

Scout slowly climbed into Atticus' arms on the bed after everything that had happened that night. She just wanted to go to sleep peacefully, knowing that Jem is safe. Scout felt comforted by the soft rain on the window and Atticus' warm body and his deep voice that put her to sleep in only a few minutes. For some time, Atticus hadn't been doing the best, after losing the court case and the man he was defending being killed really dimmed his light, and tonight had felt like the last straw. All he needed was to just take a break from everything. Take a break from his job, his current life, his declining reputation, all of it was just an endless black spiral that ate away at his happiness, and tonight seemed like it took the last glimpse of joy away from him.

He was still in his lawyer suit when he sat on the bed and Scout climbed into his arms, but he didn't care. He knew he would let her sleep in his arms until he fell asleep as well. As he slowly drifted off into sleep, he started to think about what could make him feel better, because it seemed like his life was going completely downhill. He didn't know what could help him, until he realized that he had started to feel a faint flicker of light back in him, but it was still very dim. Until the court case, he had been shining bright, but now all he could get was a faint dim light. He just looked down at his daughter in his arms, falling asleep safe and protected, and a hint of a smile grew on his face. He felt the stress in his mind melt away very slowly as his breathing got slower.

As Scout fell asleep in his arms, he realized that everything would be okay. Scout was safe, Jem was safe. Arthur Radley had saved his children, and he was barely able to thank him before he went back into his house, but all that mattered at this point was that his children were safe. He didn't know what came next, but before he could think about that for any longer, he was asleep.