All Too Well

♚ Chapter Twenty Four ♚

As we headed up the ladder, Smile removed the duct cover and I climbed in. Smile climbed in soon after and we began the long trek. It was a narrow, metal tunnel that seemed to be endless. "How long is this bloody duct?" I huffed as I continued crawling.

"Violet, I—" Smile started.

"Save it, Smile," I sneered. "It's over! Forget about proving your love to me! You never told me you had a fiancée!"

"Violet, I really did mean when I said I really did love you!" Smile insisted.

"What about Lady Elizabeth?" I cried.

"I...also love her as well," Smile replied softly.

"Shut up!" I screamed. "You can't have your cake and eat it!"

I heard hissing and saw one of Snake's snakes inside the duct with me. "There you are!" I grinned. "Help us out of here, please! The sooner I get out of here, the sooner I can get away from Smile!"

Smile remained silent as the snake hissed and went ahead. I followed it and Smile crawled behind me as well. We were silent for a little while longer and then Smile spoke once again. "You know, when you had your hair long and you braided it, it reminded me of my mother."

I stopped crawling and slowly looked over my shoulder at Smile. "What?" I blinked.

"When my mother was alive, she had her hair in a braid just like yours," Smile continued. "You reminded me of her. Even at the circus, the way you treated me remind me of her. I do miss her..."

I paused, taking in what Smile just told me and continued forward silently, when a sudden realization hit me. I stopped moving and started to laugh."What?" Smile demanded. "Why are you laughing?"

"Oh, Smile," I snickered as I continued forward. "You're not in love with me. You're in love with the image of your mum on me."

"What does that mean?!" Smile shouted.

"You told me you missed your mum, correct?" I restated as we continued forward. "And you also told me that I reminded you a lot of your mum. Smile, I think you confused the image of me with the image of your mum and fell in love with me because of that. You don't love me for me, you love me because I remind you of your mum!"

Smile fell silent and I could feel his blush as I giggled. "Though, I can't say you were the only one who did that..." I sighed.

"Huh?" Smile asked.

"Back at the circus, before you killed Brother Joker and Father, you also reminded me of Freckles when she was younger," I explained. "Sometimes, I saw the image of her on top of you and treated you like how I used to treat Freckles. Back in East End, I felt like a mother duck protecting her duckling, and maybe looking at you...I saw you the same way as well. Maybe that's why I gave you that second chance at love. I knew that it would never work out, but maybe...even if it was just for a short while...I would let you live that childish fantasy of yours. Like a mother to a child. Maybe the love I felt towards you was maternal. Guess that didn't help with reminding you of your dead mum, right?"

As we pressed onwards, Smile spoke up, "I...I guess what you said made sense...because looking back on it now, even when I thought I was in love with you, it wasn't the same as I felt for Lizzy, even before when I was using you. But, I really did mean it when I was sorry."

"I can forgive you, Smile," I sighed. "Can't stay mad at you forever. But I won't forget what you've done."

"Wasn't expecting you to," Smile shrugged.

"For now on, I think it's best we don't pursue a friendship," I stated. "It would never work out, even if romance was out of the equation. We should treat each other as master and servant. I won't give up on the name, though."

"It's for the best," Smile agreed.

Snake's snake, which I forgot was here, paused and hissed, gesturing it's head at something. I caught up to it and looked down, seeing a metal grate on the duct. "An exit!" I grinned as pushed down on it.

"Wait, Violet—" Smile started but the grate pushed open suddenly and I fell. I didn't anticipate how far the fall would be and I screamed until I was caught in someone's arms.

Looking up, I saw I was in Black's arms. "Sebastian!" Smile gasped as Black helped me down and then Smile down as well. "Where are my aunt and the others?"

"They are unharmed," Black replied.

"Thank you, Black," I thanked him for saving me from some broken bones. I glanced over yo Smile and we nodded in acknowledgment at our recent conversation.

"Is something the matter, Young Master?" Black asked. "You and Violet both seem relaxed, despite the current situation we are in."

"Let's say we had some revelations," Smile stated and I nodded in agreement.

"Well then, lifeboats are being prepared as we speak," Black explained. "Let's hurry to the deck—"

We all froze when we heard the the sound chainsaw running and the ceiling come down in front of us.