enchanted ||c.leclerc||

»•°ACT ONE/ ENCHANTED°•«

If someone asked Maria Schumacher who her favorite historical figure was, she would give you one of two answers. Zinedine Zidane or Rosa Parks.

Now, what do these two people have in common, you may ask? Absolutely nothing. But then again, they did. Or at least they did for Maria.

The were idols in her eyes. Beloved and cherished icons for her to inspire, learn and grow from. Two completely different people, but they each spun a thread and intertwined in her brain.

Rosa Parks stood up for herself and what she believed in. She didn't think it mattered what background she was from or what family she was born into, she knew she was equal to everyone else and she could do what she wanted.

And Zinedine Zidane was one of the best footballers in the world, for the best club in the world. Real Madrid. He was legendary, and if someone said 'Zidane," everyone would think football.

Maria - or just Ria - wanted these things for herself. She didn't want to be tied down to the Schumacher name, expected to pursue a life in motorsport just because the same blood that pumped from Michael Schumacher's heart also coursed through her veins.

Just because she was the daughter of Ralf Schumacher didn't mean she was going to be like him or his brother. Or her brother.

No, Ria was different to the rest of her family, and every day she was reminded of that. She knew when she looked in the mirror, she'd find herself staring at a quiet girl with a burning passion for football and a cold indifference to motorsport.

Ria was distant from the family, she always had been. It didn't make things any better when she turned seventeen and declared in a fit of rage, broken dishes and tears she was moving away to Spain to achieve her true dream in football.

If you looked at the Schumacher family right now, you wouldn't even be able to tell she was part of the family.

While the rest were all completely German, Ria had been born in the Netherlands, influencing her accent and adding an extra nationality to her passport.

Not to mention that ever since her move to sunny Spain, her skin had been coated in a golden haze which didn't exactly align with her family's pale complexion.

Ria loved these differences. It marked her as her own person. She didn't look like her relatives and she would not act like them.

She stood out from her family, she was a small island compared to the empire the Schumachers had constructed for themselves.

And yes, a small part of that empire, Ria's part - because no matter what she'd always be knotted to them in some way - was caving in and crumbling. But that was just a tiny corner of it all, so miniscule you'd almost need a microscope to see it.

Nobody saw that Ria herself was crumbling. Nobody saw the sad, crying girl beneath her artificial smiles. Nobody heard the screams of depression behind her false laughs.

Because absolutely no one would ever reach out to Maria Schumacher, and tell her that it was okay if she didn't want to dedicate her life to automobiles. No one would ever encourage her to chase her dream and become the footballer she wanted to be.

Ria was on her own. But she was falling apart, struggling with all the problems that stuck to her like a fucking magnet and followed after her like an obedient dog.

All Ria had ever wanted was someone who she trusted whole-heartedly and could open up to. Someone who did approve of the footballing life she wanted for herself. A shoulder to cry on, a face to smile at.

And who would of thought that in her most hated and loathed environment that's exactly she'd find.

________________

"are you only reaching out to me

because you feel bad?"

❝am i wrong for tryna reach the things

that i can't see?❜❜