Hajun finally noticed that his daughter had gone quiet at the same time that he realized she was crushing his gift.
"Pinky-Pie?"
Ignoring her unfitting new pet name, Seras' voice came out low and demonic.
"No... She can't teach her. Not now and not ever."
Hajun nodded in understanding as he started to pat his daughter on the shoulder. "Yes, I know you might want to train her yourself, but I think this might be a great bonding chance for the three of ... hm?"
When Hajun finally touched his daughter, he realized that she was burning up.
You could've fried an egg on her skin.
One look into her dark red eyes revealed a most horrid simmering rage.
"She can't teach her... She's not qualified... I won't allow her anywhere near my baby..!"
Hajun quickly grasped that maybe this was about more than just who got to have the honor of being Courtney's eventual teacher.
A pained expression crept onto his face as he lightly squeezed Seras' hand.
"My daughter... I thought that you had forgiven your mother for the past..?"
Seras reeled and snatched her hand away. "Forgive her?? After everything she's done!?"
"She didn't know what was happening... Neither of us did."
"Is that supposed to be an excuse?!"
"We have no excuses for our negligence, but your mother would have done something if she knew that you needed help!"
"I didn't need her fucking help, I didn't need anyone's help! I crushed those bastards underneath my foot all on my own!! They are nothing, and they will always be nothing compared to me!!"
The longer he listened to Seras' enraged rambling, the less he understood what was really going on.
The mood was so sweet just a few moments ago. How could everything have possibly become this unhinged this fast?
He had a vague idea, but he really hoped that it wasn't the case.
"Seras, did you... see your siblings..?"
Again, Hajun unintentionally used a criminally wrong choice of words.
Seras, who was already boiling over, snapped.
"I DON'T HAVE ANY SIBLINGS!!"
Seras' roar contained a deeply held anger that shook the entire room like an earthquake.
Glass cracked, furniture rattled, and Hajun felt his own ears bleed.
But nothing, and I do mean nothing, hurt Seras quite like the family picture on the wall falling to the floor.
Once the glass shattered, the reality of what she'd done finally set in for Seras. She lost her rage instantly and panic filled it's place.
"No, no, no, no, no..." Seras teleported across the room and tried to pick up the shattered remains of the picture frame.
But her hands were shaking too badly to even pick up a single broken piece.
She loved this photograph. It was her idea to put it up.
This was taken from the trip where she and the others traveled to a remote lake in Eden by themselves for a couple of days.
They'd put up a luxurious log cabin and everything.
Everyone had on a bathing suit that hugged their body tightly and accentuated their various aspects... except for Bekka.
She also had a plastic bib on because she insisted on hunting for crawfish in the lake. (There initially weren't any, but Tatiana and Lillian made a sizeable population so that she would have something to do.)
Looking back on it, this was without a doubt one of the most special days of her life.
Aside from the days she spent having sex, her wedding day, and the day she gave birth to Gabbrielle, she had spent everyday training for atleast an hour... or four.
This photo was of the first time where she was able to live simplistically.
There was no fire burning down her back to train in preparation of a enemy that might never even cross her path.
She felt whole, but more than that, she felt like she was enough as she was.
It was an experience that she never took for granted, because she hoped that everyday would be like that 10,000 years from now.
But this incident was perhaps a reminder of the fact that what she was wishing for was a pipe dream.
Because all it took was one single outside piece to send her into a spiral and make her ruin it all.
But she was equally undeterred.
"I just need to get out of the house for a bit... Clear my head, you know?" She forced a smile onto her face as she nudged him playfully.
But Abaddon wasn't smiling. He looked incredibly hurt.
And seeing the man who had never tried to do anything but love her unconditionally in such a state as he was now was enough to fracture her damaged mind even further.
'Stop it.'
'Please don't look at me like that.'
'I can't bear it if you look at me like that.'
"I-I'm not leaving forever, my love. I-I just need a couple of days to sort myself out, and then I'll come back to you, and the girls, and our children a-and it'll be like I never left!"
Abaddon wasn't worried about Seras coming back.
In fact, he knew she'd return within less than a week because her love for him and the family they'd built was immense.
No, he was only upset to see that Seras didn't even seem to consider opening up to him as an option.
As if she was too afraid that whatever would occur as a result would change their relationship dynamic forever.
He thought that they were closer than this. No, he knew that they were.
But he couldn't get through to her because she wouldn't let him.
"...I don't want you to go, Seras."
She dug her claws into her palms until blood was drawn in order to stop herself from crying again.
"I-I have to, or else I..."
Abaddon cupped Seras' cheek in his hand and drew closer to her.
She timidly shook her head 'no' as if she knew what was coming, but when the moment came she did not run.
Their lips finally connected and Seras felt her body melt so dramatically that Abaddon had to support her with his arms.
It was a simple kiss, and yet it was the sweetest thing Seras had ever tasted in her life.
More gentle than the wing of a dove, and more intimate than any of the sex they'd had before.
It was euphoric.
Seras' worst fear came true, because she didn't want to leave this man anymore.
Imagining an hour or a day without feeling these lips pressed against her skin was like a nightmarish hellscape that she shuddered to even fathom.
She fell in love with him all over again, and she remembered every reason why she decided to marry him in the first place.
He was everything that she had ever wanted in a husband.
And that gave her the strength to finally pull away.
It reminded her that the reason she had to leave in the first place was because he was so perfect.
She couldn't stay beside him while she was this... mess.
He deserved better than this from her, and she would fix herself even if it killed her.
Abaddon felt Seras literally tear herself from his arms.
She quickly righted herself and grabbed her bag and the prized spear that decorated the wall.
Just before she left, her eyes caught sight of the girls standing just outside the doorframe.
They were already crying.
Seras covered her mouth before her own sob could escape into the air.
She vanished right before their eyes; leaving behind a few drops of tears and an apology carried by the wind.
Abaddon didn't see Seras leave.
He physically couldn't watch her go.
His gaze was only on the photo frame that had already been repaired.
In it, one could very clearly see Seras holding out both of her hands to make a cheesy heart. And smiling more brightly than the sun.
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Important Authors note below!