Sigewinne's dare || Wriothesley x F!Y/N

Chapter 7 - Crying tears.

𝒮𝒾𝓁𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝒹𝑔𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 - 𝒲𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒫𝒪𝒱 - (Abuse/Childhood Trauma warning)

She ran in, her footsteps heavy against the brown wooden ground. She wasn't chatting to me, it was unusual. She didn't even try to take off her shoes or grab some lollies from the kitchen. She completely ignored her surroundings. Her figure ran up the stairs and then a loud thud echoed through out the house. My body shivered with consternation.

"Sige...?"

I grew up in an household where crying wasn't manly enough, crying was for the weak, for the girls and women not the boys and men. That the girls had to learn how to cook and look pretty while the boys protected and learnt how to do "man" things like fighting and every single job in Teyvat. You couldn't be vulnerable, you had to be stoic and strong otherwise you were a disappointment to our parents. No one wanted to be a disappointment, the scars you were left with were traumatising.

Our lives were just side characters to our parents who lived the life of the main character. They took the pleasure of sipping their wine and alcohol while we worked to clean and stabilise the house. The amusement on their face generally made us believe we were in a safe family not one full of abuse and trauma.

One day, I heard a scream break out from the back shed. My senses raced into panic mode. It sounded like one of my siblings. I assumed that one of them had accidentally tripped over and hurt themself.

I sprinted over, dropping all the items in my hands. The door was slightly open but that wasn't the reason I was shocked. I was horrified by the mere presence of a warm red thick liquid that ran out from underneath the door.

I slowly pushed the door open, endeavouring to unfold the door without being seen. Before my eyes was one of siblings slowly being beaten to death. Her eyes were filled with of some the most panic-stricken terror I had ever seen, even to this day. 

Our parents would always discipline us physically, sometimes we would be left with scars. They didn't seem to care for our screams and blood. We had to learn how to tend to our weeping wounds ourself.

After a couple of years I slowly learnt what was right and what was wrong. If your collar wasn't done proper that wasn't good enough. If you couldn't pick up a certain amount of weight you were weak and that still wasn't perfect enough.

You were never perfect enough, even if we succeeded in all areas of the craft. I have never been perfect since. Sometimes I still apply myself to those rules.

I left that night with many scars, some mental and others physical. Each scar reminds me of that night of blood shed that I caused, the murder that now forever haunts me. The night that left me locked away from the true world, forever. Straining me from the happy reality that my younger self and siblings once strived for. 

I have placed myself into Sigewinne's shoes many of times. Trying to give her the best childhood without tears and blood shed so, seeing Sigewinne cry and storm off into her room made two sides of me active. Fight, I wanted to fight against her. Treat her the same way my parents treated me but I couldn't bring myself to even lying a finger on her now. I can't put a young girl through the fear of that. If a teenager boy was destroyed by it then a young girl would be left in pieces in only minutes.

The second one was flight. I wanted to just... leave. I didn't want to do anything else expect flee the scene, run away like a coward. I understand where she's coming from. I have promised this little girl so many things many times. She has every right to feel aggrieved. I just didn't want to see the memories flash in my head again.

I bit the side of my cheek, the small taste of iron filling up my tastebuds. I bawled my hands up into a fist and knocked my fingers against the door, hoping she would open up and give me my relief of my satisfaction, "Sige...?" I noticed how vulnerable and scared my voice sounded. Tough it up Wriothesley. "Winnie, honey?"

"..Stop calling me that!!" Her cries were loud and full of anger. The emotion reminded me of when I use to fight against my parents right before they would...

"Sigewinne please. I was held up with work. They needed back up, I'm sorry," I tried to push open the door but she blocking it off from me. Oh Sigewinne...

"You don't even love me!" She hissed to which I froze. My head lowered and a clear wet tear dribbled down my cheek and down onto the surface of the ground. I choked up a nervous laughter.

Had I already failed as a parent?

"But I do... I love you like..." My body felt like it was about to shut down at any given moment. Like my brain had cancelled all of its powers, "Like- like my daughter."

There, I said it. I see Sigewinne like my daughter. Happy? I don't know how she's going to react, it's making me fearful. Her silence is making my ache heart with anticipation.

Suddenly the door open and crying girl crawled her way out of her dark fogged room. Her hands slid to rub away the tears that streamed from her eyelids, "Really...?" She questioned, raising her head to look up at me.

I bent down and opened my arms, "Why wouldn't I?" I tilted my head, my lips curving into a soft gentle smile. I waited for her, if I had to stay here for years then so be it. She deserves the love, care and patience just like any other kid did.

I felt bad. Sigewinne lost her parents a fair while back and though she was young, she still remembered everything. She still gets nightmares of seeing them drown in the macro-scale ocean. Their screams being like static to her ears. Whenever she does get a bad dream she runs into my room and climbs under my blankets, only to just cling onto my arm tightly.

Her small light blue eyebrows buried downwards towards her eyes, giving her the biggest saddest frown I had ever laid my eyes on. I chuckled, still waiting for her to hug me back.

She slowly began to waddle herself forward to embrace her arms around my body. She gently squeezed me as tears surged down from her pink eyes. My fingers threaded through her hair gently, threading around her smooth textured locks. "Shhh..." I hummed, my lips drawing to kiss her cheek.

"You're one of the strongest girls I've seen," My hands slid under her legs, giving me the opportunity to scoop her up inside my arms.

"I'm not... I'm just a weirdo. These bunny like ears? Everyone makes fun of them. They call them weird," Her fingers ran across her ears, it looked like she was attempting to pull them out. I quickly stopped her.

"I actually think it makes you look cuter and plus, everyone says my hair looks like it's been blown around from a hurricane." I laughed, trying to lighten the mood

"Heh, I guess." She giggled, finally. A smile, it worked.

"How about we get dressed and go to bed? You can sleep with me?" I offered.

"With the cute fluffy matching onesie's you bought?"

"...Fine." Great. I know how much she loved those onesie's, it's just... I didn't.

"Yaya!! Thank you da- Wriothesley."

I paused. This wasn't the first time Sigewinne had nearly called me dad. I didn't care but she did. Even if I told her many of times it was fine she still felt bad.

"Sigewinne you can call me dad." I smiled back.

"No it's okay. You're not my dad," Her smile dropped, she really wanted to call me dad.

"Then why did you just try to call me dad, hm? It's alright Winnie. I'm not here to judge, I'm here to love and take care of you."

"Okay... dad."

"That's my girl! Alright, come on. Let's get ready."