TRIGGER WARNING - Mentions of self harm, suicidal thoughts and abuse. Please read with caution.

the axe forgets,

but the tree remembers.

It was a Tuesday when Maka's Mama demanded to come and see her daughter.

It was 9:17 AM on a Friday morning, nearly two weeks since the incident with Papa. Maka's face was nearly fully healed - There was only a small mark on her lip and cheek from where she bled.

Maka was finishing her breakfast. Well, finishing was a bit of an over statement since she had hardly eaten anything since the commotion with Papa.

"Maka," Tsubaki began for the millionth time, concern pooling in her eyes as she eyed Maka's plate. It was almost identical to what it was when she had brought it to the table. "You really should eat something. You'll get unwell."

"I'm already unwell," Maka grumbled quietly. She rolled her eyes at herself, not wanting to make Tsubaki worry any more than she already was. The blonde looked up to her and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Tsu," The blonde began, her eyes casting down once more. "Guess I just don't really have much of an app-"

She was cut off by the sound of slamming doors and heavy footsteps. Maka heard voices, some demanding and careful, and another high pitched and frantic. It took her a moment to realise that she recognised that voice. That voice belonged to her Mama.

"You can't stop me!" Mama shouted at someone. "I have a right to see my own daughter! Now, where is she?! Is she in here?"

The doors to the dining area flung open. When she came into view, Maka took in her Mama's appearance idly. But then her eyes narrowed somewhat in interest. - Maybe even shock.

Mama actually looked troubled. She was a fucking mess. Not smart and sophisticated like usual. Her hair wasn't in its usual elegant bun but hanging past her shoulders. Her jacket wasn't done up neatly - It was left unbuttoned and billowed out behind her wherever she walked. As well as that, she hadn't any make up on. She looked utterly lost. Sad.

Her eyes met Maka's and one emotion filled her eyes, one Maka hadn't even known her Mama was capable of feeling.

Regret.

"Maka," Kami choked out, stumbling towards her daughter before falling to her knees beside her seat. She grasped Maka's fists in her hands as she stared at the blonde's face. Maka's stomach tightened uncomfortably, and her friends quietened and leaned away to give them space. She swallowed thickly. Where the hell was Soul when she needed him?

Maka's eyes fell back to her Mama, and they widened again. It would seem Mama... cared? But since when? She hadn't seen such regret and sorrow in her eyes when she woke up at the hospital, or when she dropped Maka off at the institution. Not when her face was black and blue, or when her arm was broken. So, why didn't she care now?

Maka opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Mama's eyes tightened painfully.

"Maka... Baby, I - "

"Mrs Albarn," Miss Marie's voice saved Maka. She hadn't noticed that she was stood behind Mama. She had a cluster of security guards behind her, all breathing heavily and eyeing Mama with annoyance, but Miss Marie's eyes were angry. She looked so angry that Maka's mouth fell open.

Maka hadn't spoken to Marie since she had threatened her. Her personal sessions were with another woman that she didn't even care to remember the name of. Maka was surprised at the relief that flooded through her when she saw Marie's kind and earnest face.

"Follow me. And I am not asking." She added sternly. Her eyes softened as they landed on Maka. She stepped forwards, a smile lighting her face when the smaller blonde offered her a smile.

"Maka, hunnie," she began softly. "I can escort your Mama from this building now - " she ignored Mama's spluttering of outrage and kept her eyes on Maka as she continued. " - Or, you can come with us and we will allow you and your mother to speak. Though, I cannot allow you to speak privately."

Maka's eyes lowered to her shoes and Mama's voice came to an abrupt halt. Maka knew why Marie didn't want them to be alone. The smaller blonde pulled her hands from Mama's grasp and stood abruptly, only just becoming aware of all the other patients' eyes on her. She walked up to Marie and offered a nod. Marie smiled and looked to Kami.

"Please, follow me Mrs Albarn." Mama stood and looked from Maka to Marie warily.

"Alright," she said quietly, her eyes lowering. "And - and it's Ms Nakamura."

Maka blinked, not knowing how to respond to that.

"We can discuss this in a better place," Miss Marie said before she had a chance to speak and turned on her heels to lead them away.

"You divorced him." Maka stated bluntly.

It wasn't a question. Miss Marie, Mama, and Maka all stood on opposite sides of one of the English classrooms. Mama nodded slowly.

"There was no chance I could stand to be near him - never mind stay with him - after he lay his hands on you." She said firmly, her eyes expressing the agony of the thought. The fucking nerve.

"Why?" Maka asked coldly and Mama recoiled. "What was it so awful for you? You've hit me harder than that with your neglect for years."

Kami flinched. Maka made her flinch.

"Maka, I cannot tell you how sorry I am." She started in a choked voice. "I just... I don't know baby - I was blind. With rage towards your Papa, with my job, just everything - "

She ran a hand through her dishevelled hair. Her hands shook as she tried to think of the words to say.

"It just piled up. You always seemed independent - "

"Independent?" Maka laughed in astonishment; her voice seemed so loud in the quiet room. Kami recoiled again.

"I didn't have a choice. I had to do everything on my own. Cook, clean, study - everything. What else could I do? I tried so hard, Mama! To get some attention, get some motherly love" Mama started shaking her head, so Maka raised her voice. "To try and tell you that Papa beat me every night when he came home drunk, while you just fucked off and left me to deal with it on my own."

Well, that was a leap. Mama's face morphed into an expression that Maka could barely recognise. Marie turned her eyes down with a frown as she heard the one thing that Maka had successfully hidden from her, from Mama. Even Soul didn't know the severity of it.

"He what? That – That wasn't the first time?" Kami whispered, her voice cracking as tears fell from her eyes. Maka felt a flare of anger at how dense she was, how fucking blind she must have been.

"It's not like he tried to hide it," Maka snapped. "You just never wanted to see it. So, you didn't. You ate up every lie he threw up."

"He – Your father - " Mama didn't even flinch at Maka's voice, her eyes were blank and somewhere else. "He did it before? He hit you before?"

Maka glared.

"Hard. All the time. You - you were never there. When I was younger, I used to shout for you when he did it - But you never came. After a while I just - gave up. Stopped shouting and just... I don't know, took it."

Mama was bawling, her words not coming easy when she tried to speak.

"Younger?" she sobbed. "When - How long, Maka?"

Maka turned her head lightly in thought.

"I must have been, what? Four, five, when it first happened."

Mama's cries worsened, Maka was angry about the hint of remorse she felt for her weeping mother.

"He was always so drunk. It was worse if you and he had argued that day, which was every day. He'd blame me. Say I was the reason you fought, and I ruined things between the two of you. But to be fair, he didn't like me since I was a girl anyway. " Maka laughed dryly. Mama's eyes widened and snapped up to Maka.

"The time when you were seven, on your birthday…" She trailed off. "When you broke your wrist – "

Maka smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah. I didn't fall out of a tree."

Mama stopped crying. She just looked… broken. Exhausted. Her eyes were blank and hollow. Maka felt another small pang of sorrow at seeing her Mama like that.

"I let this happen," her Mama whispered to herself. Maka said nothing because it was true. "I - I let this... Oh, god."

She stood abruptly, her old spark returning so strongly it filled Maka with relief. The younger blonde really thought she'd broke her. But Maka couldn't fight the feeling of love she felt for her Mama, and it was disturbing to see her so shattered. Kami strode right towards her, kneeling in front of her daughter and took her face in her hands.

"Maka," Kami said and Maka's eyes widened at her sudden intensity. "I am telling you now, you are going to get better. Miss Marie is looking out for you, and I can tell already you're making progress. I can actually see emotion in your eyes now."

Maka had to fight a smile at that. Mama laughed breathlessly.

"And when you are, you're going to come home with me. I earned the outcome in our family since Spirit was an absolute - Ugh." She shook her head. "We are never going back to the forsaken house or that disgusting, hideous man. We're going to get him put away baby. For a long, long time."

Maka's eyes widened. Tell on Papa? Could she do that?

"And we're going to be happy," Kami cried softly, pushing a stray hair from Maka's eyes with so much tenderness it made tears swell in the younger blonde's eyes. Kami looked at Maka's face and smiled sadly.

"I'll look after you," she promised fiercely, and it made Maka's heart clench. "I'll never let anyone hurt you again. Not me, not anyone. I promise. We will be a real family this time. Just me and you."

Maka was stunned. The blonde's tears finally spilled and rolled down her cheeks.

"You seem like… You actually care," She whispered with a small, stunned laugh. Kami mirrored her chuckle, but her eyes looked sad at the comment.

"Yes, baby," she said. "So much. And I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for how I mistreated you. But only if you let me."

She added that almost painfully, her hand tightening on her daughter's. It was then Maka realised she was waiting for an answer. She made her life miserable and allowed her husband to unspeakable things , and she abused Maka emotionally without ever having given a shit that she was doing it.

Maka looked down in contemplation, before raising her head and uttering her answer. The only answer.

"No."

Kami's eyes widened. Her hand fell from Maka's, and she leaned back.

"No?" She whispered. Maka shook her head.

"I just - I have so many bad memories tied to you Mama," Maka tried to explain, her eyes hardening. "Papa did… horrible things, yeah, but I felt more wounded by you. You didn't help me. You didn't even care enough to notice. There were so many signs, so many hidden threats in his words that I know you heard. Sometimes I thought you would say something – But you never did."

Kami cried again and reached for Maka's hand.

"But Maka - Baby, I'll do better. I will! Just please! Please give me a chance to be a better mother," she begged, but Maka continued to shake her head.

"I just need... I need time," The younger blonde said, and Kami's voice quietened once more. "I need to be able to trust you, to know you. I don't even know who you are, what you're like."

"So, you might consider it?" Kami asked feebly, suddenly seeming more understanding. Maka met her gaze for a few moments and nodded.

"Yes," Maka said. And it felt right. "If we get to know each other more, I might feel... safe. Comfortable with you."

Kami smiled and nodded slowly before clearing her throat and standing. She faced Miss Marie, who had been stood stoically in the corner up until now.

"Would it be okay to arrange weekly visits? Maybe even trips every once in a while, with my daughter?" She asked, sounding all business, which was the way Maka had always knew her. Marie nodded slowly, her eyes moving to her patient.

"So long as Maka doesn't disagree," she started sternly before nodding. "But yes, that wouldn't be a problem."

Kami nodded gratefully and her eyes fell back to Maka. There was so much love and fondness in her gaze that Maka had to look away.

"Then if that's okay with you, baby," Her mama said softly, and Maka looked up at her. "I would like to visit more often. And maybe even we could go out sometime, I could take you book shopping?" she added teasingly, and Maka struggled to hide her surprise that Mama knew she loved books.

"... That would be nice," Maka said slowly, and Kami's face lit up. "I'd - I'd really like that, Mama."

Kami nodded sharply, smiling brightly through her tears. "Then that's that."

Maka stood at the hospitals entrance and waved to Mama as she drove away. A tentative sense of optimism grew inside of her.

"I'm proud of you."

She whipped around to find Soul leaning on the door frame, smirking as he squinted in the sun, while Miss Marie watched on with a smile. Maka smiled back and walked towards him to step into his opening arms and receive a much-needed embrace. Maka looked up to Miss Marie as she turned with Soul to re-enter the building.

"Can my personal sessions be with you again, Miss Marie?" Maka asked cautiously, watching the doctor's expression. "I - I want them to be with you."

Miss Marie smiled brightly. She gave Maka a quick hug and nodded to hide her tears. Soul chuckled and patted Maka's back.

"We need to talk," he said it with a smile, but she could hear the strain in his voice. Maka smiled at Marie before turning to follow Soul. He promptly led them to their piano room.

The doors swung shut behind her and Soul sauntered forward as Maka halted in the middle of the room. She crossed her arms, trying to ignore the sense of dread gnawing in her stomach.

"So," She started, trying to break the silence. "What is it?"

She heard Soul release a long, tense breath as he turned around - His beautiful, pure crimson eyes pained when they met hers.

He met her eyes for a few moments longer before saying the words that made Maka's world crumble around her.

"I'm leaving, Maka."