Me a year ago: This'll be something quick and short and light.
Me now: What even happened.
But yeah, here are some scenes I think would've been super important but that the show completely overlooked. I guess technically this is set between 6x01 and 6x02, but I haven't actually watched past s4 (and generally don't agree with and thus ignore several canon decisions of the newer seasons), so let's just say this is set sometime after Daphne gets her body back.
All comments about character appearances that seem to go against canon are on purpose. Otherwise mostly canon-compliant.
Be advised that this is long and dialogue-heavy. There will be mentions of war and the trauma Daphne has from that and from being a spirit (like incorporeality and hints of depression). Also, this fic is 100% adoption positive.
Without further ado (the fic is long enough; no need to make the A/N any longer than it needs to be), happy reading!
Daphne ran a hand through her hair for the fifth time in as many minutes, grateful for the fact that it seemed that as they were nearing their stop, the bus was slowly clearing of passengers. She'd happily agreed to Bloom's suggestion of taking advantage of non-magical means of transport during their weekend in Gardenia, but she hadn't known to prepare for how little personal space the buses could have. She had been unbothered by crowds, once upon a time, but after spending two decades utterly alone, it took some getting used to being around masses of people again. Being sandwiched between a large, drooling dog whose owner had been too young to have been able to keep it sitting still, and an older woman who'd doused herself in overly sweet perfume had been an experience Daphne hadn't particularly enjoyed. And even though she'd been gaining her proprioception back during the summer, she had been forced to get up close and personal with the metal pole next to her in order to stay upright during the various swings and sudden stops of the vehicle.
Finally having enough room to be able to turn her head, Daphne observed her surroundings beyond the small cubicle she was traveling in. The street they'd just turned onto had less traffic than the previous one had had and was framed with a row of lamp posts and small trees on both sides. The cute brick houses were curiously glued together by their walls.
"We're almost there", Bloom announced from behind her, meeting Daphne's gaze as it shifted back inside the bus. Daphne had been looking at the view – Bloom not so much, she guessed, even when her eyes had been out the same window. She figured the novelty of it would wear off over the decades. "The next stop is ours."
Trying to mask her relief, Daphne nodded her acknowledgment. However, the joy was short-lived as they got off and started walking towards their destination, Bloom narrating a jestful tour of her childhood neighborhood to which Daphne couldn't fully concentrate on.
Truthfully, she was nervous. She didn't know why exactly. She'd met everyone else Bloom held dear – the Winx had even been present when she'd been returned to her human form. Although, she could have met them years earlier had she only been able to pay them due attention as they'd occasionally been with Bloom when Daphne had managed to contact her. She'd lamented the limitations set by the Sirenix curse and what little magic she'd been left with as it had prevented her from getting to know Bloom's friends, but seeing that Bloom had had people on her side had brought forth the impression of warmth even into her still, conceptual heart. She felt similarly about Sky, but even though Daphne liked the young man and was sure her father had already warned him not to hurt Bloom or else, she'd made sure to give her little sister's boyfriend a couple of colder looks to show the protective sentiment extended to her as well.
It was different now. Maybe because she was about to meet Mike and Vanessa. Bloom loved them, and Oritel and Marion were eternally grateful that they, in turn, loved Bloom. Daphne shared the sentiment, but her appreciation had the flavor of relief in it, too. It had been her decision to send Bloom away, after all. It had been the only possible decision to make at the time, but she would've stood behind it only for as long as Bloom stayed safe. Daphne may have saved Bloom's life, but if Mike hadn't taken Bloom home the day he'd found her, she wouldn't have had a life. Daphne didn't think she could be more grateful for anything.
And that had been before Bloom had freed their parents from Obsidian and broken the curse of Sirenix that had kept Daphne from her family. She owed everything to Bloom, and thus, she owed everything to Mike and Vanessa, too.
Shaking her head imperceptibly in the hopes that the action would remove some of the sentimentality threatening to overwhelm her, Daphne reminded herself she hadn't accompanied Bloom to her stop to Gardenia on the way to Alfea merely to thank Mike and Vanessa. They were a part of Daphne's extended family now, and she still hadn't met them officially, having needed to excuse herself from the party on Andros nearly immediately. She was in better physical and mental health now, however, and far too curious to pass up on Bloom's offer of spending the weekend with her "Earth-parents" as she'd jokingly called them – presumably hinting at the vast differences between Mike and Vanessa's and Daphne's ideas of ordinary.
Daphne had studied several foreign planets and realms growing up, but she had only glanced at the ones located outside the Magic Dimension; she had had only so much time in her hands, and it had been best spent on familiarizing herself with the customs of people she would believably meet with during her reign. So, she'd needed to brush up on her knowledge of Earth.
Since even the royal library had barely had any books with passages on Earth, Bloom had proven the best source of information, even though Daphne had felt stupid asking about things Bloom's facial expressions had told her every five-year-old growing up on Earth knew. She had eventually figured that her little sister's amusement – even at her expense – had been an acceptable side-result of her plan of how not to embarrass herself in front of said little sister's parents.
Daphne wanted to make a good impression. Her parents held Mike and Vanessa in the highest regard, and Bloom loved her adoptive parents dearly, which was why it was imperative to Daphne that they'd be on good terms as well. Her appearances in court had provided confidence about being able to act affable towards most everyone, but Daphne disliked the idea of needing to resort to political games in this case. She hoped any type of charade would be unnecessary. Bloom's two mothers, especially, had quickly grown close, so Daphne had a reason to assume that she, too, would be met with open arms. She was more anxious about her appearance than Mike and Vanessa's reception. She wanted to represent her family as well as its other members had.
"We're here!" Bloom's exclamation put a stop to Daphne's train of thought, luckily preventing her from mulling the situation in her mind so much that she missed it happening in real life.
Daphne followed Bloom up the front stairs, attempting to gather her calm as Bloom searched for her keys. She managed to get the door open eventually, leading Daphne into the hall while calling out the same words she'd spoken a minute ago. The domesticity was already entrancing.
Architecture or decorating weren't of particular interest to Daphne, but she still cast a thorough look around the room. The first thing that caught her attention was the various houseplants: there was a large vase with flowers right beside the staircase, an arrangement of flowers of a different kind on a side table, and a potted plant on top of the drawer by the front door. She would've tried to peek further into the apartment, but just as her eyes reached the corner behind which she supposed there was another room, Mike and Vanessa rounded it, stepping into the hall.
Daphne stayed back and watched Bloom embrace her adoptive parents, hurrying to swallow her nerves. Seeing Bloom with Mike and Vanessa could've hurt in the past as it would've reminded Daphne of her inability to replicate the action with her own parents, but she'd spent the summer at home, visiting every corner of the palace she'd grown up in and seizing every opportunity to hug her family.
Bloom stepped away and gestured towards Daphne casually. "So, mom, dad, this is Daphne."
Daphne felt as much as saw the pair's eyes on her, drawing a subtle breath as she took the stance she used when presented to foreign nobilities. It was unnecessary, however, as there wasn't an ounce of judgment in their gaze.
She let herself relax a little, offering her hand to Vanessa who was standing closer. "It's a pleasure to meet you properly, Mrs.-"
Vanessa's hand was as warm as her smile as she shook Daphne's hand gently. "Vanessa, please. It's an honor for us, actually. Bloom's talked so much about you; I'm really glad we're finally able to meet."
Daphne used her free hand to tug a piece of hair behind her ear, the friendly atmosphere in the room making her feel at ease enough that she disregarded the rules about fiddling with her appearance but the generous words making her feel abashed enough to bring the old habit back.
"Yes, I regret having been indisposed the past few years", she said, pleased that Bloom likely hadn't tried to explain the details of the Sirenix curse as it allowed her the opportunity to brush the topic off with a light chuckle. "Thank you for welcoming me into your home."
Mike stepped forward, his hand making a quick stop at Vanessa's lower back as he squeezed past her before extending it to Daphne. "We're happy to have you, Daphne. It's all right to call you that, right? We've watched Bloom rehearse her curtsies and whatnot, but so far nothing has rubbed off on me, at least", Mike laughed, the beginnings of a blush creeping up his neck.
Daphne smiled genuinely. "Daphne's fine, of course. We're family."
Bloom caught Daphne's eye behind her father's shoulder and lifted her eyebrows encouragingly. The realization that her little sister had caught on to her anxiety had Daphne willing herself not to grimace in embarrassment as they seated themselves around the living room. Mike and Vanessa took the couch while Daphne perched on the armchair Bloom pointed her to before sitting next to her – well, rather below her since she'd placed herself on the footrest, elbows braced on her knees.
"So, Daphne", Mike started, "is this your first time on, er, Earth?"
Daphne flashed him a smile to show she hadn't found the question as awkward as she imagined he had. "It is. I've seen regrettably little, but so far, I've found it lovely. The lack of dinosaurs was slightly disappointing, though", Daphne mock-glared at Bloom from the corner of her eye.
Bloom stuck her tongue out while her parents chuckled. "You let me believe there were free-roaming dragons on Domino."
"How was I supposed to correct you when you didn't ask me?"
It had been their father, apparently, who'd spread that particular rumor, and even though Daphne had had nothing to do with and no knowledge of the practical joke, Bloom had claimed that she still should've contradicted the misinformation.
Bloom opened her mouth, but she didn't come up with an answer quickly enough, and Vanessa spoke before her daughter could.
"I'm glad you didn't try to pull the same joke on us last year, Bloom. I'm not sure your father would've made the trip to Domino if you had."
Mike exclaimed something unintelligible in protest, trying to defend his honor. Vanessa reached to pat his arm condescendingly, not even turning to look at him.
"Of course, dear."
Daphne smirked inwardly. She was relieved Mike and Vanessa had embraced the easy air she'd aimed to introduce into the conversation. Bloom's adoptive parents had proved her apprehension unfounded within minutes of their introduction. By all appearances, Vanessa was polite and approachable, and Mike charmingly easygoing. They'd welcomed her without hesitation but weren't pouncing on her with questions.
Daphne, for her part, had dozens of questions she'd been itching to ask her parents or Bloom about Mike and Vanessa the whole summer, but she'd mostly resisted, preferring to make her own assessment. She'd been taught not to be prejudiced, and although there was no fear of anyone at home talking badly of Mike and Vanessa, Daphne didn't want anything coloring her observations.
Of course, she wasn't completely unbiased herself, but there was nothing to be done about that except to acknowledge the fact and try to shut off the analytical side of her in favor of simply enjoying the comfortable conversation they'd fallen into. After Bloom had shared the highlights of their day in downtown Gardenia, Daphne shared her thoughts on the cute small-town and how she felt it compared to the towns on Domino, making sure Bloom was able to throw in her perspective whenever she disagreed or had something to add. She answered Mike's questions about magical transportation and Vanessa's about Dominian seasons and weather. Being recognized as an expert despite the fact that they all had personal experience from her home planet wasn't something Daphne had realized she'd craved, but it further reassured her that she could get back at least parts of the life she'd lead before the curse.
As if they'd sensed the direction of her thoughts, or perhaps it was just a natural segue, it only took one comment from Bloom about how much cooler even pre-school must be in the Magic Dimension compared to Earth for the questions of growing up on Domino to arise.
Daphne unclenched her fingers when the sting of nails against her palms registered in her alarmed mind. She wasn't opposed to sharing stories of her childhood, per se, but she had trouble compartmentalizing. She had countless happy memories, but her brain was denying her access to any of them at the moment. Every anecdote she could come up with was either tainted by the war or had a glaring Bloom-shaped hole in it. She wasn't eager to use second-hand stories, either, since she felt it would have been awkward to talk at length about their parents in front of the people Bloom had known as such for a lot longer.
Frustrated with herself, Daphne plastered on a smile and avoided the questions with finesse her mother would have been proud of. Changing the subject as soon as the opportunity presented itself, she asked, "What was Bloom like, as a child?"
"Stubborn", Vanessa answered immediately, laughing. Bloom seemed to be preparing herself to be embarrassed, but Daphne listened keenly as Vanessa launched into the story of six-year-old Bloom insisting on sleeping at Vanessa's shop for a week because she refused to believe that flowers didn't actually change color at night but that them turning black was just a trick of light.
Bloom had hidden her face in her hands and was groaning while Daphne laughed.
"This is worse than when you guys met Andy", Bloom muttered.
"You do know that your grandmother pulled out the family albums the first time I brought Vanessa home, right?" Mike asked dryly, sending his daughter a look that was gleeful rather than truly sympathetic.
Vanessa's chuckle descended into a chortle. "So much blackmail material!"
Mike cringed. "I was sure she'd take off running and never come back."
Vanessa, having sobered up quickly at the veiled note of insecurity in her husband's voice, shook her head. "That was when I decided to stay as long as you'd have me."
The tender look the two shared had Bloom turn away in disgust, and although Daphne followed suit, she acted out of respect rather than discomfort. She wasn't used to witnessing overtly affectionate gestures, and while that had never distorted her trust in her parents' love for each other, Daphne was glad to learn Bloom hadn't grown up in a home with similar restrictions.
Having given Mike and Vanessa a second, Daphne made sure to keep the smirk from her lips as she innocently said, "I'd love to see an Earth version of a photograph."
Bloom's face quickly went from thankful to betrayed and then horrified as Vanessa answered, "Of course! We have tons of pictures of Bloom."
Bloom jumped to her feet. "No! Nope, you are not putting my baby pictures on display."
Daphne struggled to keep up her casual act in the face of her sister's panicked aggression. Vanessa half-rolled her eyes as she held her hands up. "All right, sweetheart, we're sorry. We'll save the pictures for later", Vanessa winked at Daphne who gave in to the need to grin.
"Daphne has literally seen me as a baby", Bloom wailed but sat back down. "She doesn't need to see pictures, too."
"Oh, don't be silly, Bloom", Vanessa brushed her daughter's dramatics off with the experience of a mother to a teenager. "Of course she can see if she wants to."
Daphne was infinitely grateful Vanessa hadn't used the argument of her only having seen Bloom as a baby.
"You two look quite a lot alike, did you know, Daphne?" Vanessa continued.
Daphne, not having expected the conversation to take such a turn and even more surprised by the statement itself, arched her brow. The resemblance between Bloom and Marion was plain as day, but Daphne had favored Oritel. She had her father's lean build and height, even the angular face. Aside from a few errant comments about her eye shape and how her blonde hair had a definite reddish tint, Daphne didn't think she shared many features with her mother – or with her little sister, for that matter.
Not that she really wanted to disagree with Vanessa's opinion.
"I hadn't noticed, actually. I guess it's easier to see now that there isn't much of an age gap", she mused.
With much more pressing concerns to focus on and more obvious terrors to battle, Daphne hadn't yet thought about the magical properties of the Sirenix curse. Time hadn't passed for her as it had for Bloom. She didn't seem to have aged physically in her spirit form, but she didn't think she'd matured with the twenty-odd years, either, when she'd barely been aware of herself most of the time. With only a flicker of magic tethering her soul to the fluid-like glow she'd called her body, it had been hard to determine if she'd even existed when Bloom hadn't been there to see her.
A cold shiver ran down her back as per usual when she thought about her past predicament, but it was a sensation Daphne welcomed since it chased the doubt away just as quickly as it created it. The philosophical conundrums the curse had introduced were interesting; she wondered if Griffin could help her research into magical incorporeality.
Vanessa tactfully didn't comment on the abnormality of the situation but simply agreed Daphne was probably right. Before Vanessa could start listing the attributes she thought the sisters shared, however, Bloom spoke up.
"Mom, could we start on dinner soon? I'm starving."
While Daphne doubted Bloom was truly hungry rather than merely eager to shift the focus away from herself, Mike was quick to echo the sentiment, and so Vanessa conceded to the request. The four of them relocated to the small and cozy kitchen.
"Are you sure there isn't anything I could do to help?" Daphne asked, needing to hear the reassurance once more before she could stand the uncomfortableness of sitting idly by as Vanessa and Bloom prepared dinner. If she was honest, she doubted she could've helped. She knew her way around a kitchen well enough to keep herself from starving to death, but that was a long way from cooking anything worth serving to others. She'd never needed to learn more. But the awkwardness of sitting on her hands and watching people she'd just met cook for her made her want to offer her useless assistance anyway.
"I'm sure. Guests aren't required to sing for their supper in our house", Vanessa comforted with a slight tease.
"Let alone cook it", Mike quipped. He leaned closer to Daphne as if to whisper. "Trust me, it's less of a hassle to stay out of it. Vanessa gets territorial; I'm not allowed to the other side of the kitchen counter before it's time to do the dishes."
Vanessa smacked Mike's shoulder with a kitchen towel. "That's because the sink's not something even you'd be able to set on fire."
"And somehow I still have my VIP-pass", Bloom threw in, grinning at Mike over the cucumber slices on the cutting board.
"That's only because you don't whine as much as your father does, dear."
Bloom placed a hand over her heart, letting her knife clutter dramatically on the table as she turned to Vanessa. "And here I thought it was because of my superb fire extinguishing skills. At least I can clean up after myself."
Mike faked a cough. "Let's not forget you're competing with an actual firefighter here, sweetheart."
"For real, dad?" Bloom challenged with a raised eyebrow. "You want to time me?"
As Mike threw up his arms in surrender in response to Bloom waving her fingers threateningly, Vanessa cut in, "Could you two try to behave yourselves? We have company."
Daphne perked up, inserting herself back into the conversation she'd enjoyed watching unravel. "Please. I don't mind."
Vanessa narrowed her eyes at Bloom who was beaming. "I appreciate the kindness, Daphne", she turned to Daphne then, smiling, "but you're the perfect excuse for these two to practice acting civilized, and I'm not above taking advantage of that."
Daphne let out the chuckle she'd swallowed earlier, exchanging looks with Bloom.
"Did you know I'm actually banned from Alfea's kitchen?" Bloom asked, grinning as she began explaining how her first kitchen duty at Alfea had also turned into her last.
After dinner, which Daphne acknowledged had been delicious even if her lack of an appetite had forcibly shifted the way she viewed food after her resurrection, Daphne hastily excused herself as Bloom dragged her upstairs. She could hear Mike and Vanessa talk in hushed but mild voices in the kitchen once they were alone.
Pushing the door open without greater fanfare, Bloom walked straight in, sheepishly turning to look at Daphne who'd stayed behind, taking in the cute room. The books on the floor next to the bed and the clothes strewn carelessly on the back of the armchair in the corner betrayed Bloom's less organized tendencies, even when the books had been piled and the clothes were clean (thanks to Vanessa, Daphne guessed, recalling the kind admonishing over napkins she'd witnessed during dinner). Every surface of Bloom's room was covered: the horizontal planes with stuffed animals and tealights, the walls with artwork.
"You draw?" Daphne gasped, marveling at the detail of the pencil sketches she couldn't resist brushing her fingers against.
"Uh, yeah, a little", Bloom sounded abashed. "Okay, a lot."
"These are stunning!"
"Thanks."
"How long have you been drawing?" Daphne asked, tearing her eyes away from the illustrations to Bloom, who was shuffling her feet.
"Pretty much my whole life. I think I was around two when my aunt gave me my first set of crayons." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and looked up. "I've heard I ruined the doorframe of her bedroom as a thank you."
Daphne returned Bloom's grin, glad to see she was growing more comfortable talking about her craft. "These are truly remarkable, Bloom. I can only wish I could draw this well."
"You're seriously telling me you can't draw?" Bloom raised an eyebrow in sarcastic disbelief.
Daphne shrugged. "Some, but hardly well enough to claim expertise. Why does that surprise you?"
Bloom parroted the shrug, biting down on her lower lip. "I don't know. I guess I just thought that, you know, since you're so cultivated. Though, doodling with a pencil is hardly a form of art."
Daphne, amused by the former and bothered by the latter part of Bloom's sentence, addressed the self-depreciation head-on. "Bloom, trust me, these are far from doodles."
She was relieved to coax a smile out of Bloom.
"I admit I've tried my hand at painting once or twice", Daphne continued, "but I've always been more inclined to music and literature."
"I've never really painted", Bloom said slowly, looking like she was entertaining the idea.
"Mom does. She's brilliant. Dad says she draws all the time, too, but I've only ever seen her paintings. I suppose she shares your views on some techniques being more refined than others…" Daphne frowned, disliking her conclusion.
Bloom's face, however, had brightened up perceivably. "I didn't know she did either of those. You think she'd mind showing me some of her work?"
Daphne shook her head with a warm smile. "I'm sure she'd love to, Bloom. Although, you've most likely seen at least a couple of her paintings already. Mom doesn't like to flaunt her talent, but dad insisted on hanging up some pieces. Not anywhere too public, of course, and his favorites are in their room or in his study, but there's one in the library, I think, and another near the Northern staircase."
Bloom scrunched her brow in thought. "In the library… Oh! The one with the green landscape and the silhouette of a fairy? It was gorgeous! Wait – that's you, then, right?"
"Yes. I made mom swear that would be the last picture of me hanging on the walls until my coronation", Daphne chuckled self-consciously.
Bloom grinned in sympathy, but she didn't seem fully present. Abandoning Daphne's gaze, she quietly said, "Can you – this is awkward – can you tell me something else? Something… normal?"
Pursing her lips to prevent the compassionate whimper from passing them, Daphne settled for soft eyes and a brisk nod. "Of course. Let me think."
She considered all the little details she'd never realized she knew about her parents, voicing the first ones she thought Bloom might not have noticed herself. "Mom hates scallops. Hates them. She'd never say so, of course, but she always manages to find some proper excuse for not eating them", Daphne said with amusement. "And dad has horrible penmanship; it's barely legible. I'm the only one who can make sense of it, and that's because I've been reading his chess notes since before I learned how to."
"You two play chess?"
Daphne hummed in affirmation. "I take it you don't, then?"
Bloom shook her head. "I never cared to learn. My grandfather tried to teach me a couple of times, but I thought it was kind of boring. So did mom; that's why no one in this house plays chess. Mom does love Scrabbles, though, and so do I."
"Vanessa", Daphne said, smiling at the picture of a family game night she was painting in her mind. She wondered if Mike participated; he rather seemed like a man of few words – but then again, it didn't mean he couldn't know many words even if he didn't use them.
Bloom's expression had changed suddenly. "Yeah. Vanessa."
Taking note of the odd tone, Daphne spent a few seconds studying the slightly creased corners of Bloom's eyes and the sharp angle of her jaw, before the realization hit her.
"I'm so sorry, Bloom", she rushed to exclaim, appalled at herself for the implication one could've drawn from her statement. "I only meant to specify, never to correct you."
Bloom blushed as she tried for a sheepish smile. "It's fine, Daphne. I guess it just… hit a nerve."
Daphne nodded.
"I love having you here", Bloom prefaced, a palpable "but" hanging in her voice, "and I'm really happy you and mom and dad finally got to meet properly. But it's, I don't know, weird for me."
Bloom huffed, brushing her hair away from her face. Daphne stayed silent, giving her time to formulate the thoughts she clearly needed to get out.
"I guess it's difficult to connect you with", Bloom made a sweeping gesture with her hand, "home. No one in Gardenia knows I'm anything else now than I was when I was seven. Of course I come home mostly to see my parents, but I like being just me, too, you know? It feels weird that you see what my life was when I was 'normal'."
As much as Bloom seemed frustrated with her explanation, her words made perfect sense to Daphne. She couldn't relate to the full extent, having lived in the spotlight her whole life, but she understood the desire for privacy. And unlike her, Bloom had a space completely separate and hidden from the glitz and glamour. Naturally, she'd want to keep it that way.
Daphne quickly quelled the whispers that insisted she was encroaching on Bloom's safe haven. She'd been invited, for Dragon's sake.
Crossing the room, Bloom plopped herself down on her bed. She stared at the ceiling, appearing calmer when she continued. "Maybe it's silly. It's been years, and I'm still getting used to my new life. I still find it hard to believe I'm a fairy sometimes! And I loved spending the summer in Domino – especially since I got to spend time with you this time – but I, um", Bloom bit her lip, "I still can't help but feel a little intimidated by all of this. Being a princess…"
Daphne sat next to Bloom's lying form. Instinctively, she reached for her little sister's arm, giving it a slight pat. "I know. I'm not sure if it's any consolation, but I feel it too at times."
Bloom's laughter was mixed with hysteria. "Great. No hope for me, then."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Bloom; as you said, you've only had a few years to get used to the idea of being royalty. I've had my entire life." Daphne smiled. "I think you're doing very well."
"Thanks, Daphne", Bloom said, sounding sincere if a little deflated. She sat up, wiping the palms of her hands on her jeans. "You've helped me a lot. I've asked Stella about some of this stuff, too, but I'm never one hundred percent sure if it's the way princesses do things or just the way Stella does. And I don't have that kind of confidence."
Daphne laughed.
"She's been invaluable, too, though", Bloom amended. "I would've made a complete fool of myself on several occasions – or rather an even bigger fool, especially if you ask anyone on Eraklyon – without her."
Daphne tsked, deeming the situation carefree enough that she could roll her eyes without creating a diplomatic crisis. "Don't worry about Eraklyon." She needed to take care not to flat out say 'Erendor', straining to come up with a polite way to express her opinion on her brother-in-law's father and her father's best friend who looked down on everyone. Not that his wife was any more altruistic. "They have a reputation of holding outsiders to a higher standard than they hold themselves."
"And for thinking more highly of themselves", Bloom muttered, no doubt reflecting on her several visits to see Sky the past summer.
Daphne smirked. "That, too."
"You know, Stella and Layla held me a crash-course in etiquette a couple of years ago before Eraklyon's 1000-year-anniversary party. I was so nervous about getting something wrong and embarrassing myself – and Sky."
Bloom fell silent, her eyes dimming a touch as if they were out of focus. Worried, Daphne was about to ask, but Bloom shook her head, continuing as if nothing had happened, "I don't get how you all can remember all the rules. There are hundreds of them!"
Daphne offered a commiserative smile. She'd felt similarly many times during her life, but at least she had been able to ease into the protocols by spreading out her studies over the years. "It takes time."
Bloom sighed, nodding in resignation. She stood up, shoving her hands into her pockets as she traipsed to her desk and leaned against it. Her foul mood tangible, Daphne prepared to introduce a lighter conversation topic when Bloom's features suddenly lit up. With a manic grin and newfound gusto, she strode over to the bookcase and plucked out a heavy volume.
"I have to ask", she said, whirling around to face Daphne. "Is balancing a book on your head a real thing, or a conspiracy all royals have come up with to mess with us peasants?"
Daphne laughed in surprise. "First of all, you should stop referring to yourself as a peasant, shouldn't you?" she asked with a teasing gleam in her eyes that was supposed to keep the admonishing at bay. "But yes, it is a real thing."
Bloom stared at her. "Seriously?"
Daphne nodded, hopping up from the bed and snatching the book Bloom had in her hand. "Yep. There are other ways to work on your posture, of course, but it's harder to try to explain to a small child that they should imagine they're holding a sword between their shoulder blades or that someone's pulling them upwards from a string attached to the crown of their head."
"It's simple, really", Daphne continued, holding her breath while carefully placing the book on the top of her head. She was reasonably sure she had gained enough of her balance back for her muscle memory to be able to handle it. It was only Bloom, besides; she wouldn't laugh at her, so there was no need to be nervous. Nevertheless, Daphne's lips stretched into a wide smile as the book stayed in place even as she turned to fully face her sister.
"That's so cool!"
Daphne chuckled. "It's even easier in a gown, trust me. You can hardly move in those anyway", she winked. "Though I have to warn you, heels are trickier."
Bloom laughed, clapping her hands as Daphne did a graceful pirouette. She lifted the book off Daphne's head. "You're amazing, did you know that? DuFour must have loved you."
Abashed, Daphne smiled at Bloom's continued chattering. Balancing a book on the top of her head was hardly a skill she'd ever thought would impress anyone aside from her parents when she'd first learned how to, of course. To Bloom, however, it apparently was a "kick-ass bar trick", which Daphne gathered was a good thing.
"Thank you", she said anyway. "I'm not sure I remember you mentioning anyone by that name earlier, though?"
"What? Oh, okay. I probably haven't", Bloom rambled. "I just assumed she was already teaching when you attended Alfea. Actually, I think Stella once said DuFour had been there from the construction, or at least something about her having influenced the architecture…"
"That would've needed to be a pretty long while ago", Daphne quipped. "But if she's a professor at Alfea, it makes sense why I haven't met her. I didn't attend Alfea, Bloom."
"What? You didn't? Why?"
Daphne shrugged. "Tradition, I suppose. I never actually asked mom and dad. It just hasn't been done. Mom was taught at home, too. You're the first of our family to ever attend Alfea."
"I am?"
"It's not that big of a deal", Daphne comforted as Bloom's eyes widened. "Most monarchs have no qualms about sending their children to Magix for education – on the contrary, several realms acknowledge the three schools as the foremost institutions in their respective fields."
"Okay", Bloom nodded slowly, hopefully remembering she had several classmates of high birth in her circle of friends alone. "So why isn't Domino one of them?"
"As I said, I don't know."
Daphne did, however, have her speculations, which Bloom quickly caught up on and pressed until she continued. "This is merely my interpretation, mind, but I wager it has to do with the Dragon Fire. Even to this day, the majority of our advisors are men and", Daphne flicked her hair over her shoulder, "well, at least in the past they have found it unsavory for a woman to possess magic as violent and powerful as the Dragon Fire. Never mind how it benefits the kingdom if flaunting it risks the reputation of said kingdom."
Bloom followed up her snort with an eye roll. "Yeah, that sounds plausible."
"Don't worry, though", Daphne smirked, riding their moment of shared sarcasm. "Since Sky attended Red Fountain, I'm sure you'll have no problems convincing him to let your children attend school in Magix as well."
Bloom flushed red in an instant. Picking up the closest stuffed animal, she took a swing at her sister with it. "Daphne!"
The next morning – the clock on the wall confirmed it could be called that; for Daphne, the difference between late night and early morning was nonexistent nowadays – had Daphne quietly slipping out of Bloom's room and tiptoeing to the bathroom she remembered Bloom showing her the night before. The house was quiet. She assumed she was the only one awake, so she took her time, deciding against using her magic to assist with her morning routine since as much as she would've fancied the practice, she wanted to use up all the time she could.
Standing in front of a full-length mirror after washing up, Daphne studied her reflection. She'd changed into daytime clothing, but between the jeans Bloom had assured her were absolutely necessary and a modest lace top, she barely felt more dressed than she'd been when wearing her nightgown.
She'd never particularly liked fashion – it was just another way to control her – but Bloom had dragged her to a few places, and shopping with her sister had been fun. It was weird not needing to wear court-approved clothing. It had felt almost illegal to buy some of the items Bloom had insisted she'd looked good in, knowing she would never get away with wearing them back at home.
It was exciting, though. She was comfortable even if a little self-conscious, which was nice for a change. And the point was to blend in instead of to stand out, which was another first.
Daphne brushed her hair, adjusting the way the strands fell on her shoulders to her liking. She was glad she'd cut her hair just before the war; otherwise, the combination of the novelty of her fingers not passing through it, and of the anxiety of piecing her changed life back together would've guaranteed the return of her nervous habit of twirling it.
Having fiddled with her hair, the hem of her shirt, and the delicate gold necklace she had refused to part with even while sleeping, Daphne eventually forced her hands down and took a deep breath. She wasn't the crown princess of Domino in this house. Not today. It was rare and even more so, strange – in a pleasant way – to know that someone would look at her and see something else. She was used to carrying her title with her wherever she went. To Mike and Vanessa, however, she was first and foremost their daughter's big sister.
Turning her back on the mirror, Daphne decided she'd dawdled long enough. She followed the faint clinks downstairs and to the kitchen, pausing by the doorframe to wait for Vanessa to acknowledge her before she'd step into the room.
"Daphne!" The woman's eyes sparkled with surprise. "Good morning."
Daphne returned the warm greeting. "Good morning."
"You're up early."
Daphne pressed her tongue against her palate. If Vanessa only knew how early. "I find I don't need much sleep these days", she answered vaguely.
It was true; she barely felt any negative effects of her insomnia. It had taken her half the summer to really start feeling anything, physically. After twenty years of being incorporeal and spending most of them in the bottom of a lake with water close to passing through her, the feeling as if her limbs were still sort of floating had lingered, numbing any wear or ache her muscles must have felt after the dramatic increase in labor.
Mentally, though, the lack of sleep was getting to her. Or maybe it was the nightmares she'd have during those brief periods when she'd manage to fall asleep. The terror of finding herself back in the lake – between life and death and wondering why she was cursed to not being able to join her family on either side – was enough to make her jolt awake several times per night to make sure that wasn't the case.
Vanessa offered a smile and a nod, not prying further. "I'm glad to have some company. I've always been an early riser myself, but Mike's schedules are what they are, and for Bloom every morning is a struggle", she chuckled. "She's still asleep?"
"Yes", Daphne answered, grateful for the opportunity to interrupt her train of thought. "I didn't have the heart to wake her."
She had, after all the psycho-magic messages she'd used to contact Bloom in her dreams, suspected Bloom might be a heavy sleeper. Vanessa had as good as confirmed it just now, meaning Daphne wouldn't necessarily have needed to tiptoe around the room that morning the way she had, stealing glances at Bloom's sleeping form both in confirmation that she hadn't disturbed her and in the fascination of watching her little sister in her childhood bedroom.
"That's okay", Vanessa said. "I usually need to get breakfast on the table before either Bloom or Mike will bother getting up." She gestured for Daphne to sit down as she started puttering around the kitchen. "Do you drink coffee or tea, Daphne?"
Daphne hesitated with her choice of beverage, too focused on reminding herself about the previous night when she'd been in the same situation to keep herself from feeling like she needed to join Vanessa in making breakfast.
"I'm making both anyway, so you don't need to worry about that. Bloom and I prefer tea, but Mike refuses to start his day without his half a gallon of freshly-brewed coffee, so…" Vanessa smirked.
Daphne laughed quietly. "Coffee, then, please. Thank you", she added swiftly.
"I hope it wasn't the sleeping arrangements that bothered you", Vanessa continued the previous course of conversation while rummaging in the cupboards. Her tone was conversational, but the pitch betrayed a hint of genuine worry. "We had a guest room when Bloom was younger, but it's kind of been turned into a multipurpose room."
"Oh no, nothing of the sort!" Daphne assured. "As I already told Bloom, everything was perfectly fine. You have a beautiful home."
Daphne thought back to Bloom's embarrassment the previous night when she'd presented the air mattress meant for Daphne to sleep on. She'd taken note of her little sister's moments of abnormal behavior throughout the entire day, building her own assumptions by one fleeting awkwardness at a time. Having had them confirmed by the generous shade of red coloring Bloom's face as she'd rambled on about the faults of the particular air mattress, however, Daphne had said nothing. Instead, she'd sworn there had been nothing a few spells wouldn't have fixed – having more flourish to her magic than she usually had to draw attention away from the subject at hand and make Bloom feel at ease again as they'd started casting spells according to Bloom's instructions.
Vanessa tsked, smiling abashedly. "Thank you. It must be very different from what you're used to. I'm not sure my imagination is active enough, even after everything I've seen."
Daphne hummed in good humor. She was about to respond but held off as she caught the inquisitive look and light smile Vanessa pointed at her.
"What's it like, being a princess? I've been curious."
Daphne raised her brow in surprise, unable to give an answer on the spot. Vanessa had certainly not meant to back her into a corner, but she could still feel the poised smile she regularly used in court to buy herself time to think creeping on her lips as she pondered the question.
She lowered her fingers onto the countertop, drawing arbitrary figures as she formulated her response. "On the outside it looks easy, I suppose. What people see is the ostentation – the dresses, the code of etiquette, the glamour. They don't know that ballroom dancing in a corset and heels is practically an exercise in holding your breath while balancing on nails", Daphne let her smile turn into an unfeigned smirk. She was exaggerating a little to make sure she didn't appear judgmental about the question itself; she was glad Vanessa seemed to appreciate the joke.
"But royalty goes deeper than that", Daphne continued, having decided to answer the question openly. She was actually pleased Vanessa had forced her to put the abstract thoughts she'd mulled over her whole life into words. "Representing your people and answering to them is a big responsibility but also a tremendous honor. It means a part of you doesn't belong to you. Mom once said it's similar to being a mother in that regard."
Daphne peeked at Vanessa who offered a short laugh and a nod, clearly relating to the comparison in a way Daphne couldn't.
"I had to stretch myself thin enough with one child and my regular life; I don't dare imagine needing to have shared my time with a kingdom on top of that", Vanessa said. "Impressive – both of you."
Remembering both the times she'd caught her mother crying late at night, and the times she'd seen her square off with her tears in order to continue with her day, Daphne agreed wholeheartedly, but she was forced to fight a blush on her own behalf. "I'm afraid I don't have a point of reference", she tried to explain away the admiration. "There's not much of a choice. You're born with the title, so it's the only type of life you know…"
Daphne bit her lip, abandoning eye contact as she wished to have done to her previous sentence before misspeaking. Busy berating herself for the careless mistake, she didn't even realize that the awkwardness she'd feared hadn't settled. Instead, Vanessa met her wary glance with sympathy.
"I reckon that's the usual case", she said with an airiness that encouraged Daphne to straighten herself back up. "Bloom seems to be doing well enough for herself, though. I know she doesn't always feel like that, but from what I've gathered…"
Twirling an empty mixing bowl in her hand, Vanessa let her sentence remain incomplete – displaying the worry Daphne had expected her sister's adoptive mother to feel over the subject. The elevated pitch of Vanessa's voice and the hopeful look she'd cast made Daphne hurry to answer the quasi-question.
"Bloom's been doing wonderfully."
Vanessa smiled with more than a hint of relief. "Good. I know I shouldn't fuss about it; she's a smart girl and she's surrounded by love and support, but I can't help it."
Setting the bowl back on the table next to a carton of eggs, Vanessa took a breath before confessing, "Truthfully, I was worried about what your parents would think of Mike and me since we had obviously been lacking in the royalty aspect when it came to raising Bloom."
The words were far from an accusation, but they were honest enough to be heavy. Daphne swallowed twice to make sure her reassurance wouldn't sound defensive rather than encouraging; she knew in her bones that her parents would never have even entertained a thought of negative variety when it came to Mike and Vanessa, but she could understand Vanessa's point of view, too. "I'm sure they never-"
"I know", Vanessa interrupted her, bowing her head. She rubbed her left eyebrow before moving her fingers to flip a piece of hair away from her face. With a self-conscious chuckle, she continued, "They've assured me the same themselves. Your mother, especially, has been incredibly gracious towards me. I couldn't have asked for anything better, for Bloom or myself."
Daphne nodded, relieved to have the confirmation that the goodwill was mutual. Not that she'd suspected Vanessa, or Mike, of having ill intentions, but knowing how deeply indebted her parents felt they were to the pair, her protective streak wanted to ensure against their vulnerability being exploited.
"They've grown fond of you."
Normally, she would never have spoken for her parents; it would be unheard of to do that in the professional sense, and she wouldn't dream of violating their privacy by sharing something they didn't want her to, but she knew the sentiment wasn't a secret. It shouldn't have been news, either.
As Vanessa blushed and tried to brush off the statement with a reciprocal comment of her own, Daphne found herself straining to listen. The latest turn of the conversation had reminded her about something she desperately wanted to know. She'd held off on disturbing the cautious and light atmosphere of the past evening with inquiries that were natural to people as intimately connected as she and Bloom's adoptive parents were but tactlessly intrusive for people having their first-ever conversation.
She had the opportunity now. It hadn't been long – propriety dictated that she continue to wait – but Daphne trusted her intuition ahead of impersonal rules of conduct. Maybe it was the earliness of the hour that created a dream-like bubble around the kitchen, separating its occupants from the rest of the world. Maybe it was the soft hoarseness of Vanessa's morning voice or the knowing gleam behind her eyes, as if she, too had secret questions. Whatever it was that made ignoring caution seem like a good idea, Daphne decided to seize her chance.
She flitted her eyes around the room, subtly wetting her lips as she prepared to voice the question that had danced on the tip of her tongue for the past 24 hours but had now plunged itself deep into the pit of her stomach.
"Vanessa, may I ask you something?"
Vanessa looked up. "Oh. Yes, of course."
Daphne took a deep breath. "Did you ever worry about us – about Bloom's biological family?"
Vanessa frowned, but her smile didn't falter. "What do you mean?"
Daphne suspected Vanessa knew what she'd meant but didn't want to seem hostile. Kicking herself for being afraid to be more precise, Daphne tried again, ignoring the urge to wince as she specified, "Were you afraid we would come to take Bloom back?"
She prayed the tense had been right.
Vanessa set the bowl of batter aside. "I don't think there is an adoptive parent who wouldn't be afraid of that", she said slowly, kind yet frank. "Especially given the circumstances in which she came into our lives."
"What happened?" Daphne asked before she could bite her tongue. Trying to justify her actions and to soften the rushed and intrusive line of questioning she was treading – one that would certainly have her stepping over lines she should know better than to cross – she sheepishly reminded Vanessa about why it was personal to her, "I had never teleported someone across realms before, and Earth's low magical energy made it nearly impossible to navigate where exactly Bloom would end up."
That had been part of the plan; given the Ancestral Witches' determination to get their hands on the Dragon Fire, it had been big enough a risk that Daphne had known the planet she'd sent Bloom to. She had needed to take precautions in case they had decided to "interrogate" her before killing her. She'd been ready to die to protect her little sister, but after hearing Griffin's tales of what the witches were capable of, she hadn't trusted herself implicitly not to accidentally let something slip in the process. So it had been better she hadn't known.
Vanessa pursed her lips in sympathy. "Mike found her in a burning building. When he came home from work that day, a baby in his arms… I'm pretty sure I got mad at him. We'd", she paused to sigh, "we'd tried to have children for a while without luck, and he just waltzed in with a baby. It felt like an insult. Of course, the moment I saw Bloom up close, I realized it was not cruelty but a blessing. I fell in love with her right then and there."
Vanessa was smiling dreamily, and Daphne found herself returning the expression, even if hers was wistful more than anything as she tried to recall the feeling of holding her baby sister.
"Mike explained what had happened and suggested we ask social services if we could look after Bloom while they tried to find her family. They agreed."
Unfamiliar with Gardenia's legal system, Daphne cut in, mildly horrified, "So there was a chance you couldn't have kept her?"
"Yes." Vanessa waved her hand soothingly, mindful of the spatula she was holding. "We wanted to help her, but the bureaucracy around fostering and adoption is rather complicated. We didn't know much about it at the time, so as soon as Bloom fell asleep that night, we started looking into it. I kept telling myself that logically, Bloom had a family somewhere and that she was just lost, but I had a feeling that wasn't the case. I don't know if it was intuition or if a part of me had already gotten attached, but when I looked at her, I saw my daughter. I didn't want to let her go, even though I obviously would have if the authorities had managed to find her birth parents.
"As I said, however, I doubted they would be found. Bloom was alone in the middle of a fire; it was odd. I tried not to judge as I couldn't truly believe anyone could willingly abandon a baby in a place like that. So I figured I didn't need to worry about the birth parents changing their minds about leaving their baby as much as about having accidentally kidnapped their child."
Despite the slight uncomfortableness, Daphne chuckled along with Vanessa.
"I worried about what had happened to them and if they would come looking for Bloom. After all, if they hadn't left her by choice, they would want her back. Sometimes I hoped…" Vanessa shook her head, aborting her confession. "As the years went by, and Bloom became legally ours, it got a little easier. I was less afraid someone would come take her away. More afraid she'd leave. Which… I guess it was partly the reason we didn't tell her about the adoption. We meant to, as soon as she'd be old enough to understand. As soon as we'd have proved to her we loved her just the same."
The emotion was loud in Vanessa's quiet voice, and for a moment the only sound in the kitchen was the sizzling of batter on the pan she was staring at. Daphne averted her eyes, allowing Vanessa a moment to collect herself – not the least since that meant she had a chance to do the same and process what she'd heard. After Vanessa flipped the pancake, Daphne decided to speak.
"Thank you for sharing that with me", she said, the phrase far more than an act of courtesy as she needed to push the words through the stickiness in her throat. She was touched that Vanessa had trusted her with such personal details.
"Sure", Vanessa smiled, turning away from the stove momentarily to continue other breakfast preparations. Setting the water pan down after filling two cups, however, she didn't reach for the tea but straightened up and looked at Daphne.
"Can I ask you something in return?"
Vanessa's expression was soft and hesitant, but Daphne couldn't help the wariness that crept in automatically due to the phrasing. After Vanessa had been so open earlier, she felt as though she owed Vanessa honesty whatever she asked – but one of the first things her mother had taught her had been that she knew if she owed someone something. She'd explained that many men figured a female ruler was easy to manipulate emotionally. Acts of kindness were free; if someone expected you to reciprocate without a clear quid-pro-quo agreement in advance, it wasn't a favor but extortion.
"Certainly."
Vanessa didn't seem to mind the crisp answer.
"Why did you choose to send Bloom away? I know it was during a war, and I'm grateful for your decision as it not only kept her safe but brought her to us, but how could you-", Vanessa stopped herself abruptly. "I mean no offense. I just… I couldn't bear even the idea of never seeing her again."
Daphne watched Vanessa play with the kitchen towel in her hands, suddenly hoping she, too, had something to distract herself from the memories the question had brought to the surface. To keep herself from fidgeting, she sat on her hands discreetly, biting her lip as she tried to formulate the emotions wallowing in her stomach into words.
"It's all right", she said quietly, determining she wanted to answer. "And of course, the decision wasn't easy. I had promised our mother to keep Bloom safe while my parents went after Valtor. I stayed behind and was supposed to stay out of the action. But things went wrong."
She'd been inside the palace, keeping Bloom tightly pressed against her chest so she wouldn't see the chaos and destruction that her big sister had been following through a window, keeping her eyes glued to the courtyard but both ears out for any potential threat. Daphne had begrudgingly let herself be sidelined from the main battle, but she'd refused to have anyone stay with her, knowing they couldn't afford to lose any more capable fighters. So she'd been alone when the witches had found her.
Daphne took a deep breath, forcing the memories back. She'd been reliving that day for two decades; she would not allow them to terrorize her right now. After making sure her voice would be steady and free from the panic and pain of her past, she continued, "I had a duty to perform and a promise to keep. I had pledged to protect my planet. As a princess, a guardian fairy, and as a big sister, I had no choice – even if it meant sending Bloom away from her family. I thought that in the worst case, we would need to go search for her after the war." She smiled without any humor. "In the end, it didn't much matter whether she was on Domino or here on Earth."
Their family had been ripped apart, and their planet had been destroyed. The only ones who'd been left to miss Bloom had had no idea that she'd even been alive.
"I had always assumed it would be us looking for her, instead of the other way around."
Surprised by the bitterness that had leaked into her tone, Daphne didn't find Vanessa's following silence odd. Determined to coat her mouth in sugar before divulging any more opinions, she counted to ten before lifting her gaze from her lap.
Vanessa's eyes were rimmed with tears. Daphne managed to mask her shock, but her face burned with the embarrassment of both having emanated her grief and for having caused Vanessa's distress.
"I can't even imagine-", Vanessa cut herself off to clear her throat.
"I'm sorry-", Daphne began, but was interrupted by a burst of broken laughter.
"No!" Vanessa blinked several times. The tears stuck to her eyelashes but didn't escape down her cheeks. She tried again, somewhat calmer, "Goodness, you have nothing to apologize for, sweetheart. I'm the one who asked, and I appreciate you answering. No, I was thinking… I feel horrible, knowing another family needed to be destroyed for me to get my own."
Daphne inhaled sharply, her lungs tightening around her heart. It hadn't even occurred to her to view the situation like that. "No", she repeated the exclamation Vanessa had uttered mere seconds ago, with a steadier voice but no less passion. She'd been taught never to object in such a blatant manner – the polite way to a "no" was via a "yes, however" – but she wasn't worried about hurting Vanessa's feelings at the moment. The thought was so erroneous that Daphne's need to disabuse Vanessa of the notion took precedence over respecting differing opinions.
Daphne sought Vanessa's gaze. "The circumstances that led to Bloom coming into your lives don't matter. By taking her in, by loving her, you treasured and honored what we fought for." Daphne dug her nails into her thighs, trying to keep her voice from becoming too faint. "And what could've gotten overshadowed by the price of our victory."
Vanessa looked surprised, but she mustered a genuine smile, chuckling to herself as she shook her head. Daphne didn't understand the reaction, but as it was obvious that Vanessa had heard her, she stayed silent as Vanessa scraped the burned pancake off the pan and threw it in the trash.
Turning the stove off, Vanessa abandoned the half-filled bowl and leaned against the tabletop. She chewed the inside of her cheek. "Daphne, I want to say something. It's too little and grossly overdue, I imagine, but I need to say it nonetheless."
Daphne, curious, nodded for Vanessa to continue.
"Thank you."
Daphne frowned. Or she thought she did. She could've been crying or have her mouth hanging open for all she knew. She'd been forced to grow up to be an expert of controlling her reactions, but Vanessa's statement had rendered her blank, disconnecting her brain from her heart.
Before Daphne could recover enough to speak, Vanessa raised her hand to ward off any possible interjections. "I know! Bloom's your sister, it was your duty, there wasn't a choice; of course you did what you did." Her voice grew painfully soft. "I know."
Daphne looked at the woman who'd taken Bloom in without hesitation and loved her as her own – who continued to love her as her own even after Bloom's biological family had returned in their lives. She did know.
"And she wasn't mine yet, but you still saved my daughter's life. Despite the fact that it cost you dearly. So, thank you for your dedication to your little sister."
Overcome with emotion, Daphne had to break off eye contact. She was vaguely aware of stammering something she meant to be a dismissal, but she couldn't find the right words.
She'd abandoned Bloom. She hadn't wanted to, but in the midst of her panic, she hadn't seen another way. It had been her way of keeping the promise she'd made to her mother and to herself to keep Bloom safe, and a way of protecting the Magic Dimension from the Ancestral Witches – by all accounts, it had been the right decision – but between those loftier goals, it was easy to forget she'd sent a baby to fend for herself in an unknown planet.
Forcing a steady inhale through her nose, Daphne refused to let the greedy fingers of guilt wrap themselves around her. She'd seen where that road led; she didn't want to follow. With a somewhat forced smile, she pressed the soles of her feet against the legs of her chair to ground her as she sought the grace to accept Vanessa's gratitude. She wasn't entirely sure it was directed at the right person – her parents deserved most of the glory, along with all the other Company members – but it was clearly important to Vanessa. She wasn't exactly wrong, either; as little as Daphne felt her actions had amounted to in the grand scheme of things, it had been entirely her decision to send Bloom away. Naturally, Bloom was the only thing that mattered to Vanessa, and it would've been incredibly disrespectful starting to argue with her over semantics regarding a fought war that for years, Vanessa hadn't even known she had had a connection to.
However, none of that meant Daphne couldn't take the opportunity to tell Vanessa something she had spent literal years rehearsing in her mind in the vague hope she'd one day get the chance to say it aloud, even if at the time she hadn't even known who she'd be saying it to.
The smile on her face no longer felt forced as Daphne met Vanessa's anxious eyes. "I should thank you for your dedication", she declared. Mike and Vanessa had in no lesser amount given their lives for Bloom.
"That's not-"
It was Daphne's turn to cut Vanessa off before the latter could fully object. "Please, Vanessa. I'm sure my parents have already thanked you, but I'd like to express my personal gratitude as well. It was… difficult… being on my own for all those years, but knowing Bloom was safe and loved brought me comfort."
Vanessa's voice had an edge of gentleness to it. "That's exactly what I meant, Daphne. You were there for her as soon as she needed you."
Daphne blinked in surprise.
"Heaven knows Mike and I would've been useless in all this", Vanessa drew a horizontal circle with her hand, a chuckle halfway on her lips, "magical stuff. And we weren't much of a help when she wanted to learn more about her origins, either. I know you've been invaluable to her."
"Oh", Daphne said for want of a proper response. "That's very kind, but I can hardly take much credit. I did what I could, but due to my", she paused to think of a word that wouldn't scare Vanessa, "condition, I could only point Bloom in the right direction. She did all the hard work – keeping up hope for the both of us included."
Vanessa was either keener than Daphne had given her credit for, or she knew more than Bloom had let on, as the woman studied her for a moment before softly asking, "So, you helped Bloom find your parents, thinking you couldn't reunite with them?"
"I didn't see it like that", Daphne said – taken aback, constrained, quiet. Maybe the thought had crossed her mind the odd time, but she hadn't wanted to think like that. She had wanted to be happy for the people she loved; they were a family and they deserved to be happy. Maybe she'd felt some envy, but it hadn't been any fault of theirs that she hadn't been able to join them.
"I'm sorry; I wasn't trying to imply anything", Vanessa assured quickly. "I just think it's admirable."
The sincere words had the swift burst of offense flickering out. Daphne shook her head, as a response to Vanessa as much as at herself for being hasty in her reaction. "I don't find it much different than you supporting Bloom finding her biological parents", she demurred.
Vanessa bowed her head graciously but was quick to stop the tables Daphne was trying to turn. "Any decent parent would've done the same. You love your child; you want what's best for them. I admit that I worried at first about how Bloom would react to the hardships of such a decision, but it's clear as day now that finding Oritel and Marion, and you, Daphne, was the best for her."
"So was her finding you."
Vanessa swallowed heavily but merely smiled, refraining from a comment that would have dragged the conversation out unnecessarily. They'd said everything there had been to say. Daphne knew it would take a long time to reconcile with the variety of information and emotion she'd revealed to her little sister's adoptive mother and vice versa, but exhausted, she tucked that thought away, content to sip her coffee and observe as Vanessa set to cooking the rest of the pancakes. The heaviness of feelings that had been present during their conversation had lifted with its end. The silence that had replaced it was companionable and comfortable, so unlike the desolate silence of the Lake Roccaluce or the tense silence during court proceedings. It reminded her of the rare moments of peace when she'd been old enough to stay up until the ball had ended and all the guests had departed when she had sat by the fire with her parents, all in various stages of formal wear and awakeness.
The thought of home still filled her with gratitude and giddiness that had her heart soaring. She'd been so close to giving in to the idea of such a place no longer existing, of never seeing her family again.
By the time Vanessa had finished all the pancakes, they'd both recovered enough to have switched to pleasant chatter. Waiting for the smell of breakfast to wake up the remaining members of the house as Vanessa swore it would, Daphne tried her best to answer questions about Dominian flora. She was racking her brain for the different flower species that had survived the permafrost when Mike entered the kitchen, muttering a sleepy "good morning" as he kissed Vanessa on the cheek on his way to the coffeemaker. He poured himself a cup and took a sip before even seeming to notice Daphne's presence. At Mike's bleary double-blink, she opened her mouth to explain, but he simply reached over with the pot in his hand and filled her near-empty cup up.
Daphne reveled in the feeling.
Hope you liked it, thanks for reading! It's my first time writing any of these characters, really, so I'd love to hear your thoughts!
