Alice continues to recover, and has a much needed talk with her mother. - Dee

Also, I'm not sure how many readers crossover between my stuff and my friend's fics since I know I don't write for a major pairing, but I do want to say something about reviews/reviewing in general. If you don't like something someone has written, it costs exactly $0 for you to simply stop reading the fic. It takes a lot for someone to 1. write a fic and 2. share it with others. I know I write primarily for myself, but I do love sharing things with others because it's fun and creates a sense of community with others. Have there been fics and headcanons that I don't agree with? Absolutely. You know what I do instead of writing a review saying that I don't like it? I BACK OUT OF THE FIC AND LEAVE IT ALONE. That's all you have to do! It's as easy as that! Does the author need to know you don't like it? NO. That fic is still bothering you in the back of your mind? IGNORE IT or better yet, YOU try writing fic and see how much work goes into fic and maybe that'll make you a little more aware of how reviews can come across. Reviewing negatively on a fic is one of the rudest things you can do, I don't give a fuck if you do it to me - I've had my fair share of rude people over the years - but don't you dare continue doing it to my friends. This isn't a damn parade, you don't need to announce you're leaving, just go and let people who DO enjoy the fic actually enjoy it - Dee

As Alice woke, she heard two people holding a quiet conversation above her; the more she became aware of her surroundings, the more familiar the voices were to her ears. Apparently she'd woken up to Lucien trying to persuade Matthew to go home and rest.

"No," her fiance told their friend. "I'm not going to leave her, Lucien."

"She's not in any danger anymore, Matthew. Her leg is healing nicely, her father is locked up, and she's recovering. Please, you need your rest too, how long has it been since you shaved or gone home or eaten?"

"I appreciate this, Blake," Matthew bit out, "but I'm staying here."

Alice stirred and reached out for her soulmate; he caught her floundering hand and kissed the back of it - Alice could feel the stubble scratch against her skin.

"Hey there, sweetheart."

"Matthew," she whispered - smiling as he brushed her hair back from her face.

"How are you feeling?"

"Getting tired of that question."

That got her a chuckle from both Lucien and Matthew as she shifted on the bed; Matthew kissed her forehead and Alice blearily opened her eyes. He'd settled back in a chair next to her bed (Lucien lingering in the background behind him), and Alice could see what had worried their mutual friend. While the bruises on Matthew's face were healing (and so was the split lip), dark circles had appeared under his eyes, his skin was pale, and more stubble than she'd ever seen on him lingered on his cheeks and chin.

"You look terrible."

That got her an outright laugh from Lucien as Matthew's cheeks turned pink.

"Lucien, could you leave us for a bit?" she asked him while Matthew cradled her hand between his and avoided her eyes.

"Certainly, Alice, I'll come back later to do a check up on you and take a look at your next dose of painkillers."

"Thank you."

She turned back to Matthew and squeezed his hands to get his attention; she took in the rumpled uniform shirt - sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tie hanging loose and limp from his neck, top few buttons undone - and the way he scrubbed at his face before looking up at her.

"Did you go home at all after your half day at work?" she asked him.

"Ah… no," he answered. "Too much paperwork."

"Bullshit."

His eyes widened, but that familiar upward quirk of his mouth eased her nerves about perhaps being too blunt. She meant what she said, however, and Matthew knew it.

"You always were one to cut to the point."

"Beating around the bush isn't my specialty," she squeezed his hands again. "Talk to me. Please, Matthew…"

"I… I don't want to leave you."

"Why?"

Matthew scrubbed at his face again and Alice felt his habitual hot spot flare up on her inner lip (as well as the sting of his still healing outer lip), but she waited as he formulated what he wanted to say.

"I didn't keep my promise, sweetheart. The one where I said I wouldn't let him touch you," he finally admitted. "And then this happened and I could barely help and… and I don't know, I just… I don't feel like I deserve to be here with you, but I also can't sleep and I don't want to be far from you in case of your nightmares… I don't know."

"Matthew," she pulled on his hand to get him to look at her again. "Matthew… this is in no way your fault."

"But I-"

"Did everything you could," Alice interrupted. "We're both adults here, Matthew, and so is my arse of a father. No one could have seen how all of this could go down, and you did everything in your power to prevent it, but my father was a wild card - not something either of us could have predicted accurately. This wasn't your fault, dearest… it was my father's, plain and simple."

"But I let it happen."

"Bullshit and you know it. I know that guilt is a tricky devil to deal with, Matthew, but please believe me when I say that this wasn't your fault… if you're going to take the blame then so will I. We both got lax and it led to this, fine… but I refuse to let you take all of the responsibility for this on your shoulders alone. Sometimes things just happen. People die, they get hurt or sick, and there's often not some explanation for it… it just happens."

He curled his hand around hers as she cupped his cheek; Alice wiped away the tears she could reach while Matthew leaned into her comfort.

"Sometimes things happen for a reason and sometimes they don't, my dear. It's the human in us that searches for an explanation, and often we can't find one… I need you to know that I don't blame you at all for what happened. Much like Jones in the car, this was another person making a decision to act - whereas Jones was an actual accident, my father chose to do this… he chose to hurt us, to threaten us, and he's the one who chose to be a dickhead in general, and he'd be reveling in the fact that you're blaming yourself right now."

Matthew snorted a laugh at her last little bit, but he nodded as she talked, and Alice hoped she was getting through to him.

"I love you, Matthew, injuries and dealing with my father is not going to change that. And I don't want you to punish yourself for something not of your doing."

He nodded again and kissed her palm, "I'll try, sweetheart."

"Sleep would help," she teased.

"I know."

"C'mere."

"What?"

Alice slipped her hand from his grasp and pushed herself up from the bed - waving away his hands to help her.

"Alice…"

"Give me a second," she grunted as she shifted over as much as she could on the bed. "Could you help me with the leg?"

"Sure, but what are you doing?"

"You'll see."

Once Matthew had helped ease her injured leg over so it was more comfortable on the bed, she patted the small space next to her.

"C'mere."

"You're not serious," he gaped at her as she raised her eyebrows at him. "Alice."

"What?"

"I won't fit!"

"Won't know until we try it, now come on."

When he didn't budge, Alice let out a dramatic sigh as she flopped back on the pillows propping her up, "You don't want to leave me, but you need rest and there's a perfectly adequate bed right here with me. Get in."

"You're sure?"

"I wouldn't have offered it if I wasn't, my dear Matthew. And it's not like we haven't done this before when you were in the hospital."

With a little more grumbling on his part, Matthew toed off his shoes and gingerly maneuvered his way into the bed next to her - somehow managing to fit his tall form underneath her chin and not have his feet hanging off the side; she let out a content hum as his arms wrapped around her middle and he slipped a leg in between hers (careful not to jostle her broken one). His body heat seeped in through the thin blankets and her pajamas, leaving her more comfortable than she had been the past few nights and days.

"Alice," Matthew spoke up - his voice slightly muffled from the way he'd tucked himself beneath her chin.

"Mm?"

"You're freezing."

She laughed and held him close, "I'm always cold."

"I'll bring you a jumper and socks from home. Maybe some gloves."

"Thank you," Alice kissed the top of his head, "now sleep."

With one last heavy sigh, Matthew did as she told and soon she could feel the way his breathing evened out and gave way to faint snores; settling into a slightly more comfortable spot on the bed, Alice soon joined him - not seeing the fond look Lucien sent their way through the window as he stopped short from entering the room.

Of everyone, Anna was the happiest to see her mum out of surgery and recovering. She took full advantage of her long weekend granted to her by the school to be at the hospital whenever she could; without fail, Anna was firmly ensconced next to her mum at any given chance during visiting hours.

Today, almost through with her first week in the hospital, Alice was vastly more lucid than she had been the past few days, and so she could actually do more than doze intermittently during Anna's visits. With Anna seated between her legs, Alice looked over her daughter's shoulder as the two of them hunched over their latest book - Anne of the Island; Alice had her finger under each word as her daughter read aloud. It was slow, but Alice was very proud of her daughter's progress.

A soft rap on the door interrupted them and Alice looked up to see both Matthew and Rose in the doorway.

"Well this is a nice surprise," Alice smiled as Matthew walked in - Rose stayed in the hallway, seemingly talking to someone else.

"Hey, sweetheart," he leaned over and kissed her softly. "There's someone who would like to see you, and you're fully free to refuse."

Something clenched beneath her ribs and Alice couldn't help but pull Anna closer to her.

"Who is it?"

"Your… mum."

Alice started to shake her head, but a look at Matthew slowed the motion. "What is it?"

"We took her statement, when we arrested your father, sweetheart, and… I think you should at least hear her out."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… she's not excusing your father's actions, she fully admits her own mistakes when it came to that, but it could help give you context as to why… you can listen to her and decide you want nothing to do with her and she'll understand that. You can refuse to listen to her completely and she'll understand - and won't bother us again. She's getting a divorce from you father."

Alice felt her eyebrows rise at that. A divorce, especially between soulmates, was as rare as it was taboo; it just didn't happen in their world, not with fate decreeing who you were bonded to. Of course, she thought, there were a few personal examples she knew of people marrying someone not their soulmate, so perhaps divorce was more common than people talked about.

All her life, Alice had thought her mother apathetic towards what her father did to her and Cora - how she stood silently aside and let the beatings happen - and she was curious to know if her assumptions were correct. But… could she bear to handle that conversation with her mother in the first place? Would it be better to just not know and be content in the knowledge that her father was locked away and her mother was going to leave and never bother them again? Or… was it better to hear her out as Matthew suggested?

"I… I don't know, Matthew," she smiled when Anna cuddled close - sensing her mum's change in demeanor. "What would you do?"

"If it were my parents?" He sighed when she nodded. "Honestly… I'd want to know. Growing up with my father was rough, as you know, but at least I knew why he did it because my mum told us frequently growing up about his abusive background. She didn't excuse it, but she did it to help us learn that… that not everyone we meet has a good upbringing."

"She taught you to be empathetic."

"Exactly. Now, you learned that on your own and through Temperance, but I do think you should hear what happened between your mum and dad. It won't excuse any of what he's done to you, to Cora, or to you mum, but it might help you understand."

Alice sighed, "I would like to know why… but do I have to forgive her?"

"No," Matthew tucked some of her hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek in his hand. "No, sweetheart, you most definitely do not. You can forgive down the road if that's what you want to do, but you don't automatically have to do it once you've heard her speak. That's for your judgement to decide on when, if ever."

She sighed again and held her daughter close, "Alright… but I don't want Anna to be here for this."

"Mumma! I want to stay," Anna held on tight.

"Anna, sweetheart, this is a conversation that Mumma has to have in private, alright?" Matthew smoothed a hand over Anna's curls. "Rose and I will take you for some ice cream, how's that sound?"

He ignored Alice's teasing "you're spoiling her" as their daughter nodded, and Matthew got up to let both Rose and Alice's mother into the hospital room. Rose came in first, leaning over to kiss Alice's cheek.

"Hello, Rose," she smiled.

"Hello, Auntie Alice," Rose teased back, "leg doing alright today?"

"It's healing and I have another week in here."

"I pity the nurses," her soon-to-be niece laughed and dodged the half-hearted swat to her elbow. "Should we positively fill up Miss Anna here with all the sugar and sweets?"

"To the point of making her sick so maybe she avoids them in the future."

"Mumma, never!"

Grinning as she kissed Anna's cheek, "You behave for them, alright?"

"I promise, Mumma," Anna kissed her back, but paused when she saw Imogen still waiting by the door. "You're the lady from the park!"

Imogen nodded hesitantly, "I… I am."

"She's my mother, Anna," Alice told her softly as she straightened the girl's cardigan and hair ribbon.

"Is she like the bad man?"

"No… I don't think she is."

"Okay," her daughter nodded and turned back to Imogen. "If you're Mumma's mumma, does that make you my nana?"

Alice watched her mother duck her head with a smile before she walked a little closer to address Anna's question.

"I suppose that's up to how it goes between me and your mum."

"Can't I stay, Mumma?"

"No, my darling girl," she kissed Anna's cheek again. "It'll be alright, I promise."

Her daughter looked dubious, but she carefully got down from Alice's bed and rounded it to grasp Rose's hand. "You promise, Mumma?"

Alice crossed her heart with her finger and smiled when Anna did the same - the smile grew fonder when she watched her daughter go up to Imogen and hold up the handkerchief from weeks before.

"I accidentally took this, I'm sorry."

Imogen looked from Anna to all the adults in the room and gently took it from the girl - smoothing a light hand over Anna's hair, "You're such a sweet girl, thank you. I think I'd forgotten about it."

"It's very pretty, Mumma's handkerchiefs look like that too," Anna pointed to the embroidery along the edges before she left the room with Rose.

Matthew limped over and kissed Alice's forehead softly - pulling his cardigan up onto her shoulders again before she leaned up for a soft kiss.

"Charlie's just outside, sweetheart," he told her. "If you need anything or if you're… done with the conversation, call out for him."

"Okay."

"You'll be fine," he kissed her again and Alice held onto his hand as long as she possibly could before Matthew followed Rose and Anna outside the room.

Silence reigned in the room - the tension permeable after Matthew had closed the door behind him - as Alice watched her mother shift from foot to foot. She evidently still got George's marks, and Alice could see what Matthew meant by Hobart "doing a number" on her father; one side of Imogen's face was green and blue (with some spots still purple) mass - reminding Alice of some weird kind of Monet painting.

"Please sit," she finally told her mother, and motioned to the chair beside her bed. Imogen quickly complied - twisting the returned handkerchief in her hands as neither one of them knew where to start.

"Alic-"

"Why?"

She didn't mean to interrupt her mother, but at the first sound of her mother's voice in conversation, all of her social niceties went out the window.

"Why, Mum?" she repeated her question.

It was the most important question to ask of her mother. Besides the question of where Cora had ended up, Alice had only ever had one other unanswered question: Why? Why her? Why stand by the side? Why let it continue? Her whole life she'd been waiting for an answer from the person sitting next to her bed, and nothing would prepare her for the answer.

"Because… I'm a coward," her mother admitted - not a tear in her eye (though they were starting to shine). "Because… I made a mistake, because I was scared and didn't know what to do, but mostly because I'm a coward, Alice."

"How did this happen?"

Her mother sighed and settled back in the chair.

"I met your father when I was… oh I think fifteen or sixteen. My family had just moved to the outskirts of Sydney and he lived very near to us. Your… George was very charming, so very helpful to me and my parents in finding work - I had to drop out of school to help with the money, you see, my parents had quite a few number of children and I was the oldest - and we thought it a blessing from God that this young man and his family were nearby to help.

"George was… different then, brighter and confident. He thought the world lay at his feet and that his opportunities were boundless; I didn't notice until later how… envious he could be, how possessive. All I saw at first was his dreams and his passion and how he took notice of me. When… when I turned eighteen, he'd already talked me into stepping out with him - with my parent's blessing - and that night… what he did might have doomed us from the beginning."

"What did he do?"

Imogen pulled up her sleeve to show a thin, old, and faded scar on her left wrist, "He… he cut himself to see if I got his mark… and I did."

"Did you check to see if he got the same?"

Her mother shook her head, the tears pooling in her eyes, but she still held them back, "We didn't. I didn't insist on it, anyways, I didn't know that was what I should have done. But he'd forced the mark to appear and I knew that was not supposed to happen in the eyes of God. It was blasphemy to take it in our own hands, and yet I didn't fight it. I was happy, my parents were happy, and a year later we were wed.

"For a time, it was joyful, in that way that newlyweds are, but soon the money grew tight and work grew slim… and then the Great War happened. George went, with other men, to the front. He briefly came home in 1915 and you were born nine months later, and then he came home again in 1917 - injured and a changed man. We had your sister not long after, but there… there wasn't much work to be found during the later years of the war - not with so many men starting to come back from the front.

"The war had changed your father; he was… darker, crueler - not at first, only when he drank - prone to nightmares and waking up in a sweat."

"Shell shock," Alice nodded - knowing of it from Lucien and Matthew alike.

"Yes, and… he didn't handle it well coupled with the lack of work, but we tried to make it work. I raised you as best I could, shielded you girls from his fits and the beatings for as long as possible, and once you got to go to school I went back to work as a seamstress, and in factories. Your father… continued to struggle, and more often than not drank away the wages."

"Is that why we moved so much?"

"Yes… and how we eventually ended up in the slums."

"What about your parents?"

"I kept it from them, after all George and I are bonded, how would you even begin to explain that your soulmate beat you black and blue, but never carried a single mark of yours?"

Alice chewed on her inner lip, if only speaking about the bond between soulmates (and the echo) wasn't so damned taboo, a lot of hurt could have been avoided.

Her mother smiled, "I know that it's hard to potentially wrap your head around why I stayed, Alice, or why I didn't insist on checking if George got my marks as well, but if I hadn't, you and your sister wouldn't be here."

"What happened when he found out you get his marks, but he doesn't get yours?"

This time, the tears fell down her cheeks, and Imogen dabbed at them with her handkerchief.

"It was… probably the worst beating I got from him, and the first time I seriously considered leaving him… I just didn't know where to go. We had no money, my parents didn't know what was going on, and he'd driven away all of our friends. I didn't know if I could leave him, let alone get a divorce. I… I didn't want to suffer, or for you girls to get hurt, but I was just so… scared and too much of a coward to do it."

Alice reached out a hand and let her mother take it, "I was petrified when I left, Mum… the entire way to Melbourne."

Imogen squeezed her hand, "I was rather jealous of your courage - that you did it even though scared the entire time… I wish I had done the same and maybe all our lives would have turned out the better."

"Or maybe he would have come after us… I had to sneak aboard a train to get to where I was."

Her mother squeezed her hand again, "So many what ifs… I'm glad you did get out… and I'm so sorry I… I'm sorry I never stood up to him like I was supposed to, I'm sorry I didn't leave the second he laid a hand on you… and that you had to grow up so very fast."

Alice looked down at their joined hands and sighed, "I'm… I'm not sure about how I feel… I'm still angry about a lot of things, still angry at you, but… I do understand it better… damn it, Matthew was right."

Her mother tilted her head to the side (the same way she did, Alice realized with a jolt), "Matthew is… your soulmate?"

"Yes… and he said I should hear you out… and he was right."

"I won't tell him," Imogen smiled and Alice couldn't help but return it. "He seems… he seems like a very good man."

"He is… I still can't hardly believe it."

"I'm glad your experience with the bonding wasn't like mine, for you and Cora both. The universe made up for my blasphemy."

"Mum, no," Alice shook her head. "You're just as much of a victim as we were."

"I also enabled it by letting him continue, my dear Alice," her mother leaned forward and gently cupped Alice's cheek. "I didn't come here to ask for forgiveness or to tout that your father is all to blame… I must take some of that too since I stood aside for my own protection over protecting you girls, and I have to live with that. You've such a strong and big heart, Allie, no wonder you've had such a fruitful life because of it, but I know it can also get you into trouble."

"How so?"

"Because mine got me into trouble too, but you have a will of steel that helps to protect you, which you do get from your father."

"Matthew does call me stubborn, and when Lucien and I team up, he swears his hair gets greyer with each passing hour."

That startled a laugh from her mother, and Alice didn't pull away when Imogen moved to sit on the bed next to her hip.

"You've made a home here, I can see that in the way you are with the people, with Matthew and your charming daughter… I was sorry to disturb it."

"How did you find out I was here?"

"Cora didn't tell us, if that's what you were wondering. No, your father charmed it out of the nurses - first hearing that her sister had visited, and then that you were a doctor, and finally he… looked at the guest log for Cora."

"But how did he find out about Ballarat."

"Again from one of the nurses who didn't know him like we do, my darling girl."

Alice sighed, "At least he's going away… what are you going to do?"

"I… don't know. If Cora and Peter are willing, I might stay with them for a little while, find a job, find someone to help me get a divorce from George."

"Why…" Alice couldn't believe she was suggesting this, but here she was asking. "Why, and I'll talk with Matthew, don't you stay at our house? I… we have a guest room at the house and while it's not great, it's something. I'd ask Lucien or Jean about you staying with them, but…"

"No, I understand, it's their house," her mother smiled. "You're… sure about this offer?"

"I do want to talk to Matthew about it, but… like I said, you've suffered just as much as Cora and I did - if not more - at the hands of George. I… I want to actually get to talk to you more, and… Anna likes you. She's a good judge of character, but…"

"I won't harm a single hair on her head," her mother was already answering by the time Alice trailed off. "I see so much of you in her."

"She's my foster daughter."

"And yet your souls are so similar… if it's alright with both Matthew and Anna, then… yes, I'd be happy to stay with you for a little bit."

"I'll see if Cora and Peter can come up, and we'll all have a discussion about where to go from there. But first…"

"What is it?"

"Can… can I… can I hug you?" she was only half-surprised at the tears forming in her eyes, she hadn't quite forgiven her mother - that would take more time she hoped - but all she wanted in this very moment was a hug from her mum like it had been when she was younger.

"Of course."

Imogen pulled her into her arms - gentle around the still healing bruises and stiff muscles from bed rest; Alice clung to her - breathing in that familiar scent of honeysuckle and beeswax (she used it in her sewing) that always seemed to follow her mother - and felt her mother's tears land in her hair as her own soaked Imogen's shoulder. There was still a long road of things to figure out, but for right now, Alice could hug her mum for as long as she wanted to - no longer in fear of one of her father's outbursts - and take comfort in it.