can a good girl be a hero

Storm on the horizon

I stood looking into the big swirl before me. For the first time since I met Red, I saw something that I had never seen before. She was truly afraid. I had seen her worry when Arrow was stabbed back on the day we were transformed into werewolves. I had seen her rage and pain at losing her daughter. In both instances, she remained the saw queen I knew, but pushed to her limits. But this was different. She did not seem like the woman I knew. Her stance made her look smaller. She stood a little back from me, staring at the portal. She was scared to come near it. After seeing how many portals she had been through, I knew that it was not the portal she was afraid of, but rather, what was waiting on the other side.

I could never be sure what Red what was going through Reds mind. She was so complex. One minute you thought you had her figured out and bam, you were back to square one. She was always two steps ahead, she always had a plan. Did everything with a purpose. She was well thought out. Collected. But none of that was coming through now. I had an idea as to what it could be. This could be the first time, since she left, that was would be seeing her old orphange again. She had spent hundereds of years here as a child. Beaten and tourmented and the very last time she was here, she had just lost her sister. Her whole world. It has been possible thousands of hears since she has been here. While she does think about her time here and her sister, this would be the first time she would see it again. Surrounded by it. It would not just be in her head.

I could tell, just by looking at her, that she was shrinking back into the frightened little girl that this place had made her. She was taking deep breaths and looking at it with wide eyes of fear. Red has often held the regal air of a queen. It suited her well. She was also show her mighty wrath, much like a thunder storm. I have watched her move and snap like a snake. I was also seen her cunning side, when her eyes would hold the same glint as a fox. The most terrorifing side would be when she allows her vampire self to show. While she is always a vampire, it is only on occassion, like when she was screaming at grim, that you see the sharp fangs, peircing eyes, hear the bite in her words. However, as she stood there. She looked like no more than a child would if they were staring up at an adult. She looked so small and powerless. I could only imagine the trauma this would be bringing onto her.

But our girls needed us.

"I know your frightened. But all that happened there, happened a long time ago. You're not a child anymore. You're a grown woman. A queen. And your daughter needs you," I said.

It took her a second to take in what I had just said. She lowered her head to the ground and I was sure she was going to cry. After a moment was complete stillness, she began to hold her head up. Her eyes reminded my of my mother, from when I was young. One time a boy had beaten me up in a play park and his parents took his side and began to scream at me. I must have been 6 or 7.  I ran and told my mother who had been sitting on a bench chatting with a friend. I had ran as fast as my little legs coukd carry my, tears pouring out my eyes, blood gushing out my lip from where I was hit and my hair a messed after it had been pulled. When I reached my mother I looked a fright. She quickly got up from her seat and knelt on the ground before me. She took my shoulders in her hands and held me steady while I told her what had happened. She was still for a moment and then rose to her feet slowly. There was a look in her eyes, that I could not explain, but it made me feel safe. She took me by the hand and I showed her who was to blame. She marched over, much like a storm that you could watch move in over the horizon. She cut them down to size and they all apologized, but I will never forget the look in her eyes, when she realised her child needed her. It was a force of nature that should not be reckoned with. Red held the same look in her own eyes.

My mind turned towards Grace and suddenly, I understood what my mother felt all those years ago. There was a sudden spark in my chest and pulse of electricty shot through me with each heart beat. Grace belonged in my arms, where I could protect her. Someone had come between me and her and every fear, every boundary, everything that could hold me back, desintigrated. I could my chest rise and fall heavily as I took deep breaths. Suddenly, as though there was a strong wind pushing me, I took a step forward. Red was now moving right beside me, as we closed the gap between us and the portal. With each step we took, I swore I heard the crash of thunder. I could feel the electircty in my veins and there was the flash pf lightening in my eyes. The storm was moving in and there was no where to take cover.