Hushed Willows driftwood: a fairytale

There was a small part of Olive that expected Delight to immediately accept, and they all lived happily every after would play across the screen of their lives with a flourish of sparkles and impeccable cursive penmanship. Reality never played out like that, and though Olive had learned this lesson time and time again, she was always somewhat surprised when there was resistance to her dreams. Delight expressed his concerns and the dove’s heart did not settle, and the rush of her blood did not still, and her eyes did not stop searching his for the dark parts of himself that he was so sure existed. Still, she could not recognize anything dark or bad or terrible — in this moment, she only saw his humility and kindness. He did not want to hurt others, and this was the exact reason he would make a good father.

Still, the dove was not immune to the struggles Delight had experienced with his last litter. She had felt their frustrations herself, been witness to it all, and had probably even been the cause of some of it [hadn’t it been her and seabreeze’s idea to move the sanctuary from the boulder, after all?] but it was truly no different than Seabreeze’s weird family dynamic with she and Terance, or her own fucked-up-ness with Dakarai’s and their brood. The realization brought a smile to her face, though Delight’s concerns warranted seriousness. “We are all terrible,” the woman said with a lilt and a confident cant of her crown. “My children are scattered to the winds — i’m pretty sure that my entire first litter became trained assassins. I know that two of them are, at least.” but it did not mean that she and Dakarai were to blame for that, or that she loved them any less. These things, she had come to realize, were out of her control.

The smile then slipped from her features, hoping to convey to Delight the seriousness with which she regarded this. It had been the topic of choice on many sleepless nights, when she cried to the heavens and asked them why. The woman had belabored this topic in every which way, almost killed herself over it, experienced more pain than she thought possible because of it — but now, Olive could look back and see that had been her crucifixion, and now she was reborn. “We might still be terrible parents every day of our lives, but it should not stop us from trying — because… at the end of it all, we are not truly in control. We can only do as the gods bid, even if we do not know why.” The sylph leaned in close.  "Even if it does not make sense.”

The shakti woman did not want to continue talking about herself, but she wanted Delight to know that he was not alone in his despair — nor would he be alone when he chose to see the light. There was hope, there always was hope, but it was just harder for some people to see. “Ellie, Séamus, Ibis and Okeanos are better. It’s because of Seabreeze… She—” Olive’s sing-song voice trailed off as she thought of the right words. “She is magic.” Seabreeze was their hope — and as Delight uttered the word I love you, she realized that Delight was her hope, too. She leaned in close, and tucked her nose against his cheek for a quiet moment — a short reprieve, just for them.

When it felt right, Olive broke their embrace and walked a pace or two away from him, looking up at the willows, down to the earth, and then back over she shoulder at the dark man. “Three parents might even be better than two. And with our good hearts, we cannot lose. I mean, look at what we have here…” Olive could almost see through the thickness of the forest to the rose garden that ever-bloomed, and the river which provided them with endless food, and the holy trees which communed with the vibrations of the earth and made it accessible to the masses. There was no place better to raise a family, and it was all right here, nestled in the heart of a very powerful land.

“We have the whole of Elysium to support us. We have many friends in the lands that surround us. Our lands are safe, food is plentiful — the time has never been more right for us to try again; to be better.” She turned to face him. "All of us. Each of us. We can be better… Together.”