I had a bit of a rough night last night and writing is such a wonderful catharsis. So that's the story behind this oneshot. And since I'm on a bit of a Supernatural kick at the moment, there's the rest of the story.
Also, the name I use for every oneshot is 'Aino' which mean one, and she will generally be female.
Without further adieu...
Aino sat curled on her bed, her legs drawn tightly to her chest. Her headphones were embedded in her ears and were flooding her ear canals with a series of nostalgic tunes - each one reminding her of happier times. Times before her father disowned her for being her own person. Times before her father chose a new wife over his own firstborn daughter. Times when her father was an actual father to her.
It had been several years since she had taken a stand and left for her own sanity. Aino couldn't stay in that godforsaken house anymore. It was driving her insane. If ever there was a real life Cinderella, Aino's life would certainly qualify. She wished she had been as kind as Cinderella was to her stepmother, but it was too late for that. Everything had been said and done, and there was no changing it.
So there she sat, music from her childhood playing as she sobbed into her knees. She surrounded herself with blankets and pillows and stuffed animals, but none of it was comforting enough to pull her from her memories. They say music and smell are the two things that can conjure the most intense memories, and Aino was unfortunately at the mercy of the music that held such bittersweet memories.
There was the time her father had taken her to see Riverdance every summer. The time he set up a fort for her in the living room when she was sick with the flu. How he would play video games just for her to watch - one her favorite things in the whole world as a child. The way he made her feel safe and secure just by explaining how the world around her actually worked. How he would roll down the windows in the car and blast They Might Be Giants as they flew down the highway. How the two of them used to pretend that the snowflakes flying at the windshield in the dead of night were actually stars.
Aino couldn't help but smile what little she did. They were happy memories. Yet she sobbed. Her happy memories had been tainted by the wicked things he and her stepmother had done. By the small age of 7, Aino no longer felt the happiness and safety she had always experienced around her father. Everything went downhill so quickly after that, she was surprised she was still capable of happiness.
No matter how hard she tried, Aino couldn't bring herself to stop the music and calm her sobs. It had been a few months since she had broken down like this, and she was well due for another catharsis. She just wished it wasn't so painful.
If the volume had been lower or she had removed her headphones, Aino would have heard the flutter wings in her bedroom. If her eyes hadn't been glued shut with salty tears and to visualize the happy times, Aino would have seen the angel that was watching her with empathy and was approaching her bed. If she hadn't been convulsing in sobs or barely hanging on to reality as it was, Aino would have felt the bed dip as the visiting angel sat beside her.
But she noticed his touch. She felt his hand on her back. She felt him stroke her hair. She couldn't hear his soft, calming noises. She couldn't see his worried expression. But she knew it was there.
Gingerly, Gabriel removed the headphones from her ears, relieving her the pain of having to hear her memories. She continued to sob, but was being pulled into reality at last. Gabriel didn't speak but kept a comforting hand running through her hair and down her back, over and over again until he felt her convulsions slowing.
Aino rubbed the gluey tears from her eyes and opened them. The light was blinding at first. She hadn't opened her eyes in at least half an hour, and the tears had been building up for two.
When she finally looked over at the archangel sitting beside her, she saw the worry and pain etched into his face. For a fleeting second, she thought perhaps the reason she was feeling better was because he was reversing her pain on himself.
"What's wrong?" He asked softly. His voice washed over Aino's ears like sugar and honey.
"Just...memories." Was all she could muster. Her voice was rough and groggy, wrecked from two long hours of crying. She had so much to cry for - so much pain for a girl barely in her twenties.
Gabriel pulled himself further onto the bed and wrapped his strong arms around the frail girl. She instinctively buried herself in him, soaking in his scent of sugar and cinnamon. It was a comforting smell, one that helped her calm down. Her sobs had ended, but silent tears still escaped her eyes.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asked tentatively. Sometimes it was better for people to simply receive silent comfort. Some people preferred the well-traversed path of catharsis known as venting.
Aino had gone long enough not being able to vent. She had been alone for so long - not a soul to care for her when she needed it. But now she had an archangel that would care for her until the end of time.
"My father." She started, and bit back a convulsive sob. Her breathing was still shaky and uneven. "He used to be...so nice. He used to really love me. He cared about me. Everything went so wrong. He couldn't handle me being my own person. He wanted so badly to shove me into this cookie cutter mold that he thought was perfection. I didn't want it. He wanted to hide me from the world, keep me oblivious from the truth about everything. But I already knew it. So he disowned me. He used to love me so much."
Aino broke into all new sobs while buried deep in the Trickster's warm embrace.
"I know all about daddy issues." Gabriel gave half a laugh and held her even tighter.
Aino couldn't help but echo his laugh. Of course he knew. Of course he cared. Of course he understood. And of course she would be forever grateful for the archangel being in her life.
"He used to love me so much." She smiled with her next sob. Despite the pain she felt in missing the way her little family used to be, there was still happiness tied to those little memories. Bittersweet was only the beginning of what those memories were to her. "And now I mean nothing to him."
"Well you mean everything to me." Gabriel returned softly, a hand stroking her hair.
Aino continued to cry in his embrace for another ten minutes. It was silent save for the muffled sobs and the soft hushes. They sat like that for another twenty, Gabriel stroking her hair while she spent all her effort on pulling herself from her memories and back into reality. She was certain Gabriel was using his angel mojo to help her feel better, and she was beyond grateful for his presence and comfort when she needed it.
Her sobs had slowed, but she was still buried in sad nostalgia. It would be a very long time before she would be truly fine. But she would manage. She could manage.
Her current state might have been described as catatonic. It was similar to how someone would cry themselves to sleep. Crying took so much energy, and Aino's had all been spent. She was exhausted. Her eyes began to droop and her form fell even deeper into Gabriel's.
Before falling into the deepest sleep she had experienced in a while, she gave a sad little sniff, and whispered more to herself than the archangel holding her: "I miss my daddy."