To Stay
She clung to her father's hand as they made their way up the gravel path. The hand surrounded by her father's was warm despite the wind blowing, but her other hand, which clutched the bouquet of flowers, was starting to grow cold. She never understood why her mother's grave was so far away from the lake, but it was something she didn't question. It made their visits require a long trip, but it didn't seem right for her to begrudge it.
She adjusted her grip on the bouquet uncomfortably and while the movement was slight, her father still noticed. He stopped and knelt down in front of her.
"Did you remember your gloves?" he asked.
She looked away and puffed out one of her cheeks. "What's it matter?"
"Aren't your hands cold?" he questioned knowingly.
"Maybe."
"So did you remember them…?"
She pursed her lips and frowned. "No, I didn't."
"That's alright," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling the small pink gloves out.
He took her bouquet and set it down carefully as she held out her hands for him to slip the gloves on. He was quick but gently. She picked her flowers back up quickly, faster than he did, and held her hand out expectantly, waiting for him to continue leading the way. He smiled at her wryly as he lifted his own bouquet and took her hand again.
Her father told her about a few of the different types of animals that they saw along the way, but it still seemed like a long time before they reached her mother's grave. It was a single headstone nestled into an indented area of the cliffs. It could easily be missed by anyone walking along the highroad if they did not know to look for it. The cliffs also protected it from the erosive winds, which let the flowers and grasses grow more easily.
"Daddy, do you think we should pluck some of the weeds?"
"Any life growing out here is precious," he said. "Isn't it rather nice that there are more plants here?"
"I guess," she said, though she was unconvinced.
"It wasn't always so green out here," he commented.
"It isn't all that green right now," she said, glancing back at the road behind them.
Elle set her bouquet down in in front of the headstone first, but stayed kneeling in front of the grave. Her father set his down as well, although he placed his on the top. She stared at her mother's name engraved into the stone while her father stood behind her. They were both silent for several long moments as the cold breeze tossed her pigtails behind her.
"Do you want to stay longer?" he asked gently.
"No, I'm ready," she said as she stood.
"Are you sure?" he asked, sounding uncertain.
She nodded and smiled, though her eyes still seemed sad. "It's alright, because I still have you."
She held her small, fragile hand out to him once again and it was all he could do not to hold on too tight.
Prompt for this oneshot was "grave visit for mommy."
I'm sorry if this is a little bland! D: I wrote it while watching a documentary in my five hour night class toward the end of my fourteen hour day. Haha.
As much as a point of argument that Victor's actions are…I don't think that any of us can deny that what we can see in the game shows us that he was a good father, at least before the desperation became too severe. Even though some of the things he said really were awful, he was backed into a corner and really had no choices after a certain point. I'm not going to get into more details to avoid spoilers. XD