On a Sunny Day, We Meet Again
A/N: I should be writing my thesis, but this scene popped into my head, and I just simply had to write it.
Rating: K
Word Count: 803
Disclaimer: [Insert funny text here that tells you I don't own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]
There are two little girls playing in the gardens of Li Shi, running around, chasing butterflies and picking flowers, their dark hair flying around and their brown eyes twinkling.
Jiaying is watching the scene from the distance; she would like to go there and join them, introduce herself and join their game, but she can't. She just can't.
She feels somebody walk up to her and stand beside her, and although it has been years since she last saw her, but she doesn't have to look to know who is it. Call it a mother's intuition.
"You brought them here," Jiaying tells her daughter, not taking her eyes off the two girls. Her granddaughters.
"Yes," Daisy – Skye, she has to remind herself; she still prefers Skye – replies with a little nod. "It's their legacy, too. I thought it was time to get them evaluated."
"You want them to go through the Mist?" This time she turns to Skye. The years have been kind to her daughter – she is just as beautiful as the day she first came to Li Shi. Or it might be just the mother in her seeing it that way.
Her daughter's eyes narrow.
"I want to give them a chance to decide for themselves." Her words are cold and sharp. "Something I was denied."
Jiaying just nods, understanding her anger, then turns back towards the girls. The older one, she can't be more than six, has just caught her younger sister, maybe four, in a game of tag, and now she's hugging her, both of them giggling happily.
"They are beautiful," Jiaying says softly.
"That they are," her daughter replies, and she can't miss the pride in her voice. "They are smart, too."
"They take after you a lot."
"They have a nice amount of their father in them, too, believe me," she adds with a little chuckle.
They fall silent after that, both of them watching quietly as the girls start picking flowers, putting together two pretty, if adorably mismatched, bouquets.
"They might not be possible candidates," Jiaying says after a while, but Skye doesn't let her finish the sentence.
"Because their father is human. I know. But I owe them that much to take a look. And then, when they are older, they can decide what to do with what we find today."
Jiaying simply nods in agreement.
"Are you happy?" she asks quietly. She knows from firsthand experience how hard it can be to be in a relationship with a human.
A tiny, blissful smile appears on Skye's face.
"Very much so. I won't say it's always easy, but we love and stand by each other, and I guess that's what matters at the end of the day. And he's a great father – he adores the girls."
"But will he even if they go through the Change?"
Skye simply shrugs.
"He didn't stop loving me when I changed." Jiaying feels from her tone that she considers the topic closed.
"Well, if they are accepted, maybe I could–"
"No," Skye says sternly. "You have done enough. If they are chosen and they decide to change, I'll prepare them. I don't need your help."
Knowing that she deserves her daughter's rejection, Jiaying turns away once again, just in time to see the girls race towards their mother, flowers in hands, wide smiles on the faces. Skye squats down to welcome them, embracing them as they barrel into her, kissing the tops of their heads.
They are the kind of family she has always wished to have.
"Mommy, who is she?" the older girl, clearly the braver of the two asks, pointing at her. Jiaying is ready to answer, to tell the little one the truth, but Skye beats her to it.
"Her name is Jiaying," she says, kneeling on the ground next her daughters. "She works here."
She doesn't say a word, only smiles down at them, her heart breaking a little inside.
The girl nods solemnly, then leans close to her mother and whispers something into her ear. Skye smiles slightly and nods.
"Sure," she says. "Go ahead."
The girl nods in an adorably excited manner, then, as her mother stands with her little sister propped up on her hip, she steps forwards and holds out her little bouquet of wildflowers to Jiaying.
"Here," she says, "it's for you."
Jiaying has tears in her eyes as she takes the flowers.
"Thank you. You are really kind."
The girl grins at her, then turns around, running to her mother and grabbing her hand.
"Come on, girls," Skye tells them. "Say goodbye. Uncle Lincoln is waiting for us."
The little ones shout bye, waving wildly as the little family walk away, leaving Jiaying standing there, clutching the flowers in her hand, wishing for something she lost years ago.
A/N: Just to be clear: yes, of course Ward is the girls' father. Did you expect anything else from me? :)