III. Father

Baltor never thought he'd be a father.

That luxury of life always seemed out of reach to him.

He'd spent hundreds of years of service under the Ancestresses, knowing full well that that was the only life he'd ever know. There was nothing else for him but being their pet, and destroying the lives of others to gain power. It wasn't the best life, but it was the hand he'd been dealt.

For years, he'd been content with it. Baltor had wreaked havoc and terrorized realms without a second thought. Soon enough, he'd grown to actually enjoy it. He reveled in seeing others be as miserable as he was (despite them never reaching the level of apathy he had reached).

And now, looking down at the sleeping baby in his arms, he was sure he'd definitely been dealt a new hand. Not only was he a father; he was a father to a daughter. He wasn't sure which part was more terrifying.

She was tiny, wrapped up in the soft pink blanket. Her hair was a brilliant shade of red, just like her mother's, and based on her features, he could tell she was going to look exactly like her. That was completely alright with him. Baltor never admitted it, but he'd hoped that their child would look like her. Although he prayed to all the gods he knew she didn't inherit Bloom's fiery, defiant attitude.

Looking up to check on said fairy, Baltor saw she'd drifted off to sleep as well. It didn't come as a shock to him. He knew she had to be exhausted after spending all those hours in labor. Hell, he was exhausted just trying to contain her for that long.

Bloom had been more than hesitant to have kids. After living her life without her birth parents, she was mortified that something would happen to her and him that would leave any child that they would have abandoned and alone. With how prone she seemed to be to danger, their safety couldn't be guaranteed. She adored Mike and Vanessa, but the not knowing of why your real parents weren't there –those were emotions she desperately wanted to spare any child from experiencing.

However, her feelings towards that quickly changed once they found out about their little surprise.

The child suddenly stirred, drawing his attention back down to her. Staring into her wide eyes was like he was gazing into a mirror. Her grey irises matched his perfectly, chilling him to the bone. He was almost too distracted by them to notice she'd wormed one of her arms out of the tightly wrapped blanket to reach for him.

"You are just as stubborn as your mother," he muttered, going to try and tuck her arm back in the blanket.

He came to an immediate halt, feeling her tiny hand close around one of his fingers. It gave off the slightest amount of pressure, warning him to keep it there. Baltor sighed to himself, watching her eyes slowly slide shut again. Like mother, like daughter.

For a while, he was in awe of how quiet and innocent she was. She barely cried at all, and hadn't cried since they put her in Bloom's arms a few hours earlier. And that only added to his underlying fear.

The longer he watched his daughter sleeping, the sooner he realized that Bloom had been right. No matter how hard they tried, some type of evil was bound to find them. Whether it was a few days from now or a few years, danger was always on the horizon. They had much more to think about now than just the two of them.

She was going to have powers she wouldn't be able to control on her own; and he'd be damned if she were to be left alone like he'd indirectly done to Bloom all those years ago. This was his chance at grasping the new hand he'd been dealt –to protect instead of destroy.

Bloom had set him on that path.

And now Alice would keep him on it.

I have no idea how to describe the emotion I'm feeling right now. It's kind of a mix of apathy and one of anger that I can't find the scene in Mockingjay Part 2 with Buttercup so that I can practice my acting with it.

Soo, I've been working on this one for a while. Kind of. I had about two sentences of it done months ago, but then I dropped it because I wasn't sure how to continue it. However, the other night I saw Mockingjay Part 2 (which is a fabulous movie by the way) and was inspired by their ending scene; therefore, I sat down and just typed the rest of it out in like three hours. I know it's short, but I've been focused on NaNoWriMo this month, so I haven't had a lot of time to work on anything substantial for you guys, but I promise that the substantial work is coming! Just give it some time!

I'm not sure when this story will be updated again, and I am definitely working on some of the requests that you guys sent in as well, but, like I said, I can't guarantee when this will be updated. My life is kind of a roller coaster right now. I don't want to go too into detail here (I might on tumblr later), but hopefully everything will work itself back out in due time.

For those of you who saw my previous tumblr post about not being able to write anything for a while, yes, I am not supposed to be writing anything right now, technically. But, as most people know, I have no self-control whatsoever.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this! If you liked it, please leave a review, and if you have any requests for a drabble you would like to see in the future, do not hesitate to say so in a review or a PM, and I will see you guys later!

~Bloom