Hello. I am continuing with my other fic', but I felt like writing these. Basically, they are just the moments that should have happened between Danielle and Ronnie. Because we all know that she shouldn't have died (: I will try and limit them to one thousand words each, but I'm not promising anything because I have the tendency to over describe thing recently. Depends how it goes. There will be 10 of them. That's it really. Oh, and enjoy them of course (: Constructive criticism is much appreciated! This one is where Danielle gets run over, only in mine she doesn't get run over obviously ;)
Desperate.
Frantic.
Hysterical.
She runs through the darkness; finds her way through the oppressive black that casts demonic shadows across the street without knowing where it will take, not caring as long as she finds Danielle. Everything else has been driven from her mind. Nothing else matters apart from finding her little girl and telling her that she knows the truth. She has already lost her baby twice, and she refuses to loose her again. For twenty years she has grieved for the child that that was ripped from her arms at birth, believing that they would only be reunited in death.
And it is all for nothing. Mother and child have been driven apart by viscous lies from the man that has made Ronnie the guarded, cold individual she is today. In one respect she thanks God that Danielle was adopted and was cared for by a good, honest family and raised into the polite and gentle young women she is today. She has at least been saved from Archie's cruel grasp. The last few months must have hurt her, tainted her soul all because she believes that her own mother knew and didn't want her. She wonders what other lies Archie has etched on her mind. But at least Danielle can be saved; at least this mess can be fixed. Ronnie's heart was shattered twenty years ago and now there are simply too many pieces missing to fix it.
Danielle has been living mere miles from her and she has never known. She even visited Telford once with Roxie on a night out, but she never knew. When Ronnie was younger she has always imagined that if she saw Amy again she would know. She would know that she was her daughter if she was only three or if she was thirty. But she hadn't known, even when Danielle has reached out to her so many times. Ronnie has pushed her away just like she does with everyone else. She truly is the 'Ice Queen' and she suddenly feels a wave of self- loathing for the bitter woman she has become.
It astounds her that a single moment in time has shaped her entire life forever.
How could Danielle ever forgive for all the brutal things she has said? Kind, sweet, gentle Danielle. Her baby. Her daughter. She told her own child that she would never want a freak like her as a daughter.
Ronnie won't blame her if Danielle runs and never looks back. She won't blame her if she decides that Ronnie isn't worthy of being a mother to her. In all honesty, Ronnie can say that if she were in Danielle's position she would never forgive herself for all the things she has said.
But she has to try.
As sure as hell burns, she has to try.
She has prayed every day of her life that somehow Danielle will come back to her; she has spent everyday thinking that she would give up everything just to spend one more moment with her daughter. And now her prayers are answered Ronnie will not give up. She will not let the man's lies who was supposed to protect her destroy the one chance she has to make everything right again.
Ronnie knows that she will die before giving up on a chance to know the daughter she has longed for her entire life.
"Danielle," she sobs, her words echoing eerily in the night. The orange glow of the streetlight lights are the only thing left to guide her, their lights blinking like the eyes of bats. The tread of her feet is light against the ground as she runs, both hers and Danielle's locket thud in rhythm with her heart beat. If only she had listened if the Queen Vic, if only she'd have recognised that Danielle was telling the truth and hadn't been so wrapped up in her own stupid misery to notice that her little was girl was standing just metres from her. Maybe then Danielle would be in her arms now, exactly where she should always have been.
In the distance she hears a faint cry accompanied by light footsteps and what is left of her heart breaks. Wasn't a mother supposed to protect, nurture and lover her child? All Ronnie has ever done for Danielle is bind her in chains of despair and resentment. What kind of mother is she? She wonders what kind of mother she will make if Danielle lets her. She doesn't know the first thing about how to deal with young girls, doesn't even have a clue how to cook a decent meal. But she loves Danielle more that life itself and somehow that will have to be enough.
"Danielle! Please stop. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, for everything," she pleads, her voice breaking on the last word with hope, sorrow and fear.
Silence.
She can no longer hear the footsteps and all that remains is the thudding of her own heartbeat pounding wilding in her chest.
Danielle has stopped.
It's isn't much, but it is something; it is more that she could ever dare to hope for.
"I'm sorry," she repeats again. "All those things…I- I didn't…You have to…I love you. You're my little girl and I though you were dead but I never for a moment stopped loving you. You're perfect, how could I not want you?" silent tears pour down her face, little diamonds that represent all the lost moments, all the regrets and all the love that should have been there for twenty years between mother and daughter. "I always wanted you. When you were taken from me I spent every minute thinking of you, wondering what you looked like and if you were like me or Roxie and if you had a wide smile and blonde hair too," she gives a shaky laugh. "I can see now that you aren't like me at all, at least not in personality. It's lucky really, why would anyone want to be like me? You're sweet and gentle and you're perfect,"
Her voice catches in her throat then and she is unable to go on. No body has ever glimpsed this much of her, completely vulnerable and exposed. All the lost words that have remained unspoken but that have lingered like an apparition inside her heart come pouring out. She prays Danielle understands, that she will try and forgive her. She waits, unconsciously reaching out a hand into the darkness and grasping at what should always have been there.
Neither of them move.
The wind breathes between them, howling a mournful lament and tousling at Ronnie's hair.
Slowly, Danielle steps out of the shadows and into the golden glow of the streetlight. She reaches out her hand too, uncertain and afraid.
Then she steps forward and the moment is broken; the simple movement sets the world in motion again.
Her eyes are wide with fear of rejection, but there is something else there too: hope. It is the most beautiful sight Ronnie has ever seen.
"Baby," she murmurs.
Danielle breaks into a run then, a small but scared smile tugging at her lips which Ronnie has only just noticed are precisely the same shape as hers. Ronnie runs too and they embrace, both women clinging to each other as if their lives depend on it. Everything feels complete and Ronnie knows that she will never be as happy again as she is now. Her daughter is in her arms, close to her heart where she should always have been.
Danielle bursts into a fit of desperate tears, inconsolable as she sobs into her mother's chest. She knows that no words are needed, that enough has already been said tonight. They could talk eventually; they will have years and years to talk. Instead Ronnie makes gentle hushing noises and runs her hand through her baby's blonde cropped hair, tender, maternal.
"Mum," she whispers. "I've found you," her hand twist in Ronnie's blouse and she finds herself remembering the way baby Amy had done the same thing the night she was born. Ronnie feels her heart burst with joy at the moment she has dreamed of since she was fourteen years old. Everything has suddenly fallen into place. Life seems to have taken on a new meaning and even the cold grey street has taken on a new beauty.
She knows that their future will be difficult, that she will have to work hard to gain her daughter's trust and that there will be arguments, resentment and even hate. With a pang she thinks of all the lost moments she will have to work hard to catch up with. But right now none of this seems to matter as they cry together; there is only now.
Mother and daughter are reunited at last.
Meh, I went 400 words over limit. Never mind. I'm not sure if I'm pleased with this or not, but lemme know what you thought.
