Author's note: Besides co-writing ManOFiction245's Girls of Sun and Night (which, by the way, check out his stuff - I'm not just saying that because I co-wrote some of it, he's genuinely a really good writer), this is my first venture into DC Super Hero Girls, a show that I started watching last year. When the episode #HappyBirthdayZee dropped, I (A) loved it and (B) felt really sad for poor Zee with regards to her mother. MOF came up with a theory as to why she left. One evening a couple of months ago, I got bored and started thinking about said theory, which led to this little fan fic. I decided to write it because I love Zee, I love Giovanni and I liked the episode a lot, as sad as that part was. So, here we go! By the way, for anyone who doesn't know (like me until a few months ago), Mrs Zatara's first name in the comics is Sindella, so that's what I've gone with.
Something was wrong with Sindella.
Giovanni had been noticing it for the last few weeks, but if he was honest with himself, he should have noticed it earlier. These past few weeks, though, he couldn't put it down to exhaustion from looking after Zee, or frustration with work. He'd asked her whether she wanted to talk about it several times, but each time ended up descending into a fight about the usual: money, not having as much free time as they used to, the likelihood of either of those two problems improving. Sometimes it felt like they'd gone to bed angry at each other more in the past year than they had in the previous ten.
Today, however, it was Zee's fifth birthday (even though it still felt like only last week that she was born), so the two were working together on her cake. That morning she'd woken them up by running into their bedroom and jumping up and down on the bed, shouting It's my birthday! until she tired herself out and flopped down onto the bed in between them, hugging them both. After she'd had breakfast she opened her presents, then watched Princess Pumpkin Pants on TV with Giovanni and Sindella. Right now she was playing with the toys she'd gotten in her bedroom while her parents worked in almost silence. No arguing, at least.
"How long is the cake going to take?" Sindella crouched down in front of the oven, frowning at the door as if it was the cause of all of her stress. "I told you we should have just bought one."
"Nonsense!" said Giovanni "We're much better at baking than whoever makes them in the shop."
"She's five, Giovanni. She won't know the difference." Sindella stood up, her arms folded. "And then she'll whine if it's not ready on time."
"No, she won't." Giovanni checked his watch. "Anyway, it should be ready in five minutes."
This didn't seem to make her happier. She leaned against the counter and closed her eyes, putting a hand to her forehead. Giovanni asked, "Are you okay?"
Before she could answer, the kitchen door swung open. He turned around to see Zee running in as fast as her little legs would carry her. "It's broken!" She was holding the doll that she'd gotten earlier for her birthday. Her eyes were bigger than usual and her lip was trembling: not crying, not yet, but heading in that direction.
Giovanni made reassuring noises as he leaned down to her. Sure enough, the doll's dress was ripped. "Oh no, what happened?"
"I was playing and I was trying to change her clothes and it broke." She shoved the doll in his face. "Can you fix it?"
He smiled at her. "Of course I can! I'll fix it while we get your birthday cake ready."
"Really?" She smiled. "Is the cake almost ready?"
"Yes, Zee," said Sindella. Her voice was flat. "Five more minutes, alright?"
"Your mother's right." Giovanni patted Zee's shoulder. "Now, go back to your room while we sort everything out, okay?"
She grinned, hugging him. "Thank you Daddy!" She waved at Sindella. "Thank you, Mommy." With that, she left the room, happy as ever.
Giovanni straightened himself up, getting ready to cast a spell to fix the doll, but he was distracted by Sindella's face. She'd looked a bit out of it during the day, but this...
"Sindella, is something wrong?" He knew that they got on each other's nerves sometimes - didn't all couples? - but the irritation she seemed to feel towards Zee was a relatively new development. She'd been a bit more impatient than usual during the past few weeks, which came to a head last week, when Zee was complaining because she'd decided she wanted to eat her breakfast out of the (dirty) purple bowl instead of the (clean) blue bowl. Giovanni was getting ready for work when it happened, but when he heard Zee screaming her head off, he came into the kitchen to find that Sindella had thrown the purple bowl in the trash. Later that day, he asked Sindella what that was all about - it wasn't like her at all - to which Sindella responded, She was whining nonstop about the colour of the bowl and she wasn't listening to me. I lost my patience. He let it go - like any kid her age, Zee could be exhausting - but what struck him was how genuinely miserable Sindella looked. As if she hated everything about her situation.
Right now, she sighed. "What do you think, Giovanni?"
He bent down to open the oven and take the cake out. Wincing at the hot tray, he said, "I can tell something's wrong. Could you please tell me so I could see if I can do something about it?"
She sighed again, but this time it was more like a sneer. "Oh, of course! Giovanni Zatara, my saviour. I've been telling you this for years and you won't listen." Her voice was getting louder. "I keep telling you how I feel and you just won't listen."
Giovanni's chest ached: he knew that she was telling the truth. He hadn't meant to ignore her, but balancing work and raising a little girl was tiring work. "I know. And I'm sorry. I know things have been harder lately, getting work and everything, but I promise I'll make this better -"
"When?" The anger in her voice nearly made him drop the cake. "When? You always say things will get better, but when? Don't you remember how things used to be? We had everything, Giovanni. We had our own show, people knew about us, we were starting to get really big. And now…" She gestured to around her. "It's all gone."
Giovanni brought the cake into the living room and lit the candles after putting it on the table, trying to comprehend what his wife was saying. "But Sindella…" He hesitated, trying to phrase this right. "Of course things aren't the same as they used to be. We have Zee to think of now: we can't just travel around the world the way we planned. But we can do smaller shows and build our way back up -"
"I don't want smaller shows." She put her hands to her temples. "This isn't what I wanted, Giovanni. None of this is what I imagined for us. And then I have to hear you say oh, it'll get better soon, oh, we can do smaller shows - I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you telling me this!"
"What do you want me to do?" Giovanni turned around. "I'm sorry that things aren't going well. I'm sorry that I haven't done enough, that I haven't listened to you. I just... look. Things are obviously different now, with Zee and everything, but we knew we were going to have to put the show on pause for a while. I will have this conversation with you, I promise, but..." He shook his head. "Our circumstances changed. Zee is our top priority now, you know that. We have to focus on her for the time being." And I thought you wanted this, you told me how excited you were to have a baby…
"What about me?" Sindella looked genuinely upset. "Why can't you ever focus on me? And what I want?"
Giovanni's mind was in about five different places at once - the main one being confusion at the sudden resentment Sindella seemed to have for their daughter - meaning that it took him a second to register her leaving the room. He followed her, trying to keep his voice low enough that Zee wouldn't hear him. "Sindella, please. I'm sorry I haven't been paying enough attention to you, but surely you know that we need to look after Zee before we do anything else -"
"Zee, Zee, Zee." That sneer again, not as pronounced but somehow all the more vicious when it was being used with Zee's name. "Every problem we have somehow comes back to her, doesn't it? If you can't stop using your daughter to deflect all your failings, I'm done."
"Done? What?"
He was standing outside their room, looking in at her. She grabbed a bag and walked out, shoving past him. Giovanni stared, barely being able to understand this.
She was leaving. She'd packed a bag already. She'd been planning this.
"Wait!" He ran after her as she opened the door. "Ella, please, I'm sorry. I love you -"
"No!" She glared at him. "You always say this, the same things over and over again - I've had enough!"
"Not now!" Please, Sindella, stay just a little longer, don't leave Zee alone on her birthday…
"This is the last time!"
"Please, this is - no, no, no, no -"
"I'm leaving!"
She slammed the door in his face.
Giovanni stood there for a second, stunned. He closed his eyes as they stung, but he was barely able to register the tears as his own. Later, the pain would hit him, the realisation that the love of his life had walked out and left him behind. Right now, the shock was too great. What now?
The answer to that question made itself clear as he turned around. Sitting at the table, with her back turned to him, was Zee. He hadn't even heard her leave her bedroom. How much of that had she heard?
Okay. Zee doesn't understand what's happened. I can't tell her this now. What she needs is a great birthday to take her mind off it.
He walked towards her, putting on a big smile. "Who's ready for birthday cake?"
She looked up at him and his heart broke as he saw her sad eyes staring at him. "But... where'd Mom go?"
"Mommy… had to be… somewhere." This evidently wasn't enough for Zee, who folded her arms and turned away. "But you know what?" He walked around so that he was facing her again. Lifting his hands like he was presenting one of his shows, he said, "We're still gonna have an amazing celebration!"
She gasped, a little smile forming on her face. "Really?"
He nodded. He could make that promise to her, at least. She'd have her cake, then he'd put on a little magic show for her: she loved the magic shows. "Every birthday from now on shall be Zee's best birthday ever!"
Zee smiled wide and jumped into his arms. He held her close, allowing himself to be happy for this moment. Tomorrow he'd have to sit her down and explain what had happened, but this evening would be nothing but cake and happiness for his little girl.
"I love you, Daddy!"
He hugged her tighter, stroking her hair. No matter what, they always had each other. "I love you too, Zee."
Author's note: I really hope ye enjoyed this story! Shorter than my usual ones, but it felt right. Title credit goes to ManOFiction245. Besides Girls of Sun and Night (which is very much still ongoing), I've got a few other ideas for DC Super Hero Girls fan fics and I can't wait to share them with you. Also, to fans of my Five Nights at Freddy's series: don't worry, the next story is in the making!
