Chapter 55 Forgiven

The voices surrounding her were distorted, but there was no denying their presence. Celia tossed her head from side to side as she tried to open her eyes. Which was a humongous challenge, seeing how her eyelids felt like they were made of lead.

"Come on, Cee." This voice, despite the distortion, was very clearly Roy's. This….this brought a lot of mixed feelings. On the one hand, she was right in the middle of recalling the events that had led her to falling into the ditch. He was romantically interested in her. This...this was terrifying. It was horrific, horrendous, scary, horrible…

And yet, she felt relieved that he was with her.

"I hope she'll be okay."

THAT voice...that voice wasn't Roy's. She tried to wrap her mind around where she had heard it before. Of course, since it was distorted, it was difficult for her to do. But...it sounded like…

It...it sounded like….

Celia finally managed to open her eyes. She sat up, surprised by the fact that she wasn't in the ditch, but rather, in a bed. Roy was standing right over her, smiling.

"You're awake."

Celia, despite her previous terror, smiled back. She tried to get up, but doing so hurt her leg more than it had ever hurt before.

"Oww!" She sucked some air through her teeth and placed her hand on her leg. Tears flowed from her eyes as Roy furrowed his brow.

"You okay?"

"No!" She looked right up at him. "I think my leg is broken!"

Roy looked like he was just minutes away from crying. "I...I'm sorry."

Celia sighed. "It's okay." She looked around the room that they now occupied. The walls were made out of tan, rickety wood. The window that rested on the right hand wall had glass that was distorted, so not only was seeing the outside world an impossibility, but the light that came into the room was severely lacking. Celia turned her head away from the window, taking in the other dusty, rickety features of the room.

And then she saw him.

She didn't even fully comprehend that she was seeing him initially. She blinked, her mind and her body feeling completely frozen in time.

"Dad?"

Singe smiled softly. He approached the bed, looking down at his daughter with...oh wow, was that love? Celia's heart leapt into her throat. She had never met her father before, and the first expression that he sent her way...was a loving one.

"Hello, Celia."

Celia smiled. His voice was just how it had sounded in Kamark's memories. Deep, yet light and fluffy. The fact that he was using it to say her name was all the better.

"I've…" Celia wiped a tear from her eye. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

A flicker of hurt passed over Singe's face, but thankfully, it wasn't there for long. "I...I see."

An awkwardness overtook the scene, as Celia didn't know what it was she could say next. She had so many questions that she wanted to ask Singe. Of course, she had gotten a lot of them answered through the visits to her grandparents and her time in the Starbite Society. But at the same time, there was one that was present above all else. It was there, like a poisonous stinger sending its venom all throughout her bloodstream. Celia's face fell as she directed her eyes down toward the covers of the bed.

"What's wrong?" Roy asked.

"Nothing." Celia let out a breath. "Nothing's wrong. I...I'm happy."

Singe nodded. "Well, that's good. I'm glad you're happy."

Celia looked into her father's face. "But...I do want to know something." Singe leaned forward, prompting Celia to let out a breath and ask "why didn't you come back?"

Singe winced a little, pulling away from the question like it was a knife he had pierced his finger on. He looked at Roy, then at Celia. His countenance was going showcasing all the pain that he was going through, and while Celia felt bad for him because of that, she genuinely wanted to know the answer to that question. One could even argue that she NEEDED that answer.

Singe finally sighed. "Well...I actually did."

Celia blinked, as did Roy. Out of all the answers that they could have received, that one was the last one that either of them expected to get. It confused them. It puzzled them. It made them look at Singe with a completely new perspective. But above all...well, it was still confusing.

"What do you mean you actually did?" asked Roy.

Singe sighed. "Well...it's actually a long story. You see, the whole reason I left was because my parents…"

"Threatened to put you under a curse if you returned," said Celia.

Singe blinked. "Oh. You know that." He cleared his throat. "Well, after that, I was brought into…"

"The Starbite Society," said Roy. "Where you gave up your arm for Kam and left because you remembered that you had a child with Ruby."

Singe blinked again. "Huh. You guys got it pretty on the nose already."

"Yeah, we went on a long journey to find you," said Roy.

"But even then," said Celia. "We still haven't received your side of the story." She leaned forward. "When did you go back?"

Singe let out a breath. "Well...it was after I officially left the society. I had decided to man up and go back to Ruby. I travelled for a few days as I made my way back to the Mushroom Kingdom. I must've rehearsed what I wanted to say to her in my head at least thirty times." He looked down at the floor. "When I arrived at Ruby's house, I was ready to give her my apology. I was ready to tell her that I never meant to abandon her, that I never meant to leave either of you. But...when I got to the house…"

A tear fell down from his eye. Celia felt a pang; the hurt that he was feeling was palpable. It showed in every corner of his expression, every crack in his posture, and every inch of his body.

"When you got to the house…" Roy prompted.

Singe let out a shaky breath. "She...she turned me away. She slammed the door in my face and told me to go fuck myself." He shook his head. "Which...is completely justified. I ruined her life. I wrecked things for her in a way that might never heal." He looked into the scarlet eyes of his daughter. "And above all else, I ruined your life. Before it even began, no less."

Celia's heart hurt. It screamed in a way that it hadn't before this moment. The pain...the sorrow…the despair….

Before she knew it, Celia was crying. Singe didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve any of this. He was just someone who wanted to do his best for her, for her mom. And he wasn't being given the opportunity. Heck, Celia herself had wanted to come here specifically to have Roy beat the living daylights out of him.

"So, you didn't explain to her what had happened?" Roy asked as he stroked Celia's shoulder.

"I never got a chance to. Not only would it have taken too long, but Ruby was not willing to hear anything I had to say."

Celia shook her head. "That's not fair! She should have listened to you! Singe...she loved you. She described you as her soulmate." Singe sniffled when he heard this, prompting Celia to dry her eyes and look at him with a serious expression. "If she had known even a fraction of what I learned while on this journey, she never would have turned you away. She would have welcomed you back with open arms."

Singe shook his head. "That's a little optimistic to say…"

"It's the truth." Celia placed her hand on his robotic arm. "You sacrifice so much for the ones you love. You're willing to put your life on the line for them. When you love, Singe...you love big." She smiled. "That's why...that's why I'm glad my Dad isn't Bowser."

Singe blinked. "Really?"

"Yes," Celia said with a nod. "Really."

Tears sprung up from Singe's eyes. Whether they were happy or sad, Celia didn't know. Perhaps they were a mixture of both.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay. I forgive you."

The visible effect that those three words had on Singe was extraordinary. He smiled brighter than he previously did. He held himself in a way that showed that he had regained some form of his confidence, that he had regained a lost piece of his soul. He slowly approached Celia, wrapping her in a hug. It was a little awkward, but that was more so because of her position on the bed than anything else. There was not a single drop of resentment in Celia's soul. She felt...she felt so good that she couldn't even fully name the emotion she was experiencing. She guessed...she felt...complete.

When Singe let her go, Celia smiled at him for a minute or two before she noticed that Roy was absent from the room. "Hey. Where's Roy?"

Singe looked around. "I don't know. I'll go look for him."

"Yes. Please do," said Celia. "There's...there's something that I want to talk about with him."