His eyes snapped down to look at her. He'd known she'd say it eventually but he didn't expect it to be so soon. He smiled gently. "I love you to, my precious little Silvia."
She smiled up at him. "Can we get out now?"
Pitch nodded. "Of course." he said as he gently lifted her out of the water placing her on the bank so he could climb he climbed out he looked at her. She was far to skinny and far to small for her age. His heart broke for the girl yet again. He sighed. "Do you remember your birthday?"
Silvia nodded. "I do. I'm a little spook cause I was born on Halloween." She smiled. "I'm ten years old."
He smiled. "Perhaps you were meant to be my daughter Silvia." He said as he stood. "Come with me."
She followed after him gladly. "Where are we going dad?"
Pitch looked back at her. "There's a friend of mine we need to go and visit. You're going to need some things like clothing that I simply don't have. And while wearing shadows is something I can do without a thought I doubt you'd like to do the same."
Silvia wrinkled her nose. "Wearing shadows doesn't sound very comfortable."
He chuckled as his shadowy garments transformed back into his robes. "Once you've done it for a few centuries you barely notice."
Silvia shrugged. "I think I'll stick to real clothes."
He smiled. His daughter was certainly amusing… His daughter… He'd thought he'd never again use that word. Emily… No he wouldn't think about that. She was Mother Nature now, and she'd made it clear she had no love left for him. She felt abandoned, cast off. A feeling he knew well albeit a different version of the feeling. A gentle tug at his hand pulled him from his thoughts. "Are you okay dad? You stopped walking." Silvia asked worriedly.
Pitch nodded. "I'm fine Silvia just… thinking…"
She tilted her headed. "Good thoughts or bad ones?"
He sighed. "Bittersweet ones."
She was confused. "What does that mean?"
"Its when a thought is both good and bad at the same time." He explained.
"How can a thought be both good and bad? She asked. "I thought that they were just one or the other?"
He thought for a moment. "Do you ever think of your mother?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Do you sometimes think of all the good times and happy memories but it makes you sad because she's not around?" He asked.
Again she nodded. "Yeah."
"Those memories are bittersweet. Bitter because of the sadness that comes from missing her and sweet because of the joy those memories hold." He finished.
She thought about it for a moment. "Do memories like that ever stop being bittersweet?"
He shrugged. "Some do and some don't. Healing of any sort takes time and some wounds simply refuse to heal." The next thing he knew Silvia was hugging him tightly. He smiled gently patting her head. "Everything is alright my daughter."
She looked up at him. "Promise?"
He nodded. "I promise."
She smiled pulling away from him and offering her hand. "Good. Now who is this friend of yours we're going to go and see?"
Pitch thought for a moment. How was he to explain to her the others that could see him. Particularly those of the female variety since they all seemed to have amorous intentions where he was concerned. "Well She's not exactly a friend. She's a... Well she's..."
Silvia smirked. "Is she your girlfriend?"
He took her hand. "Well I wouldn't say girlfriend..."
"Is she a friend with benefits?" she asked
He froze. "How do you know that phrase?"
"The monster told me. He said that its a girl or guy that you sleep with even though you don't love them." She explained.
He took a deep breath as he started walking again. It was a wonder her light hadn't gone out long before he'd seen it flickering. The poor girl barely had any childhood innocence left thanks to her biological father. "There are people out there that do things like that yes. And this woman has in the past attempted to gain my...intimate affections, but I don't believe in doing things like that."
Silvia nodded. "I don't either. If you're going to do stuff like that with someone you should actually love them."
He smiled faintly. At least she still had the right ideas about love and intimacy. Which was a miracle considering what he'd seen when he'd rescued her earlier that evening. Now that got him thinking. He'd seen lights flicker hundreds of thousands if not millions of times over the centuries. He'd never felt particularly drawn to trying to investigate the cause before. All the other times he'd just dismissed it. Who was he to care if another light went out? It just meant the guardians lost a believer or at least it always had before. But then Silvia's light flickered and something had just told him to go. What had happened with the guardians. Shouldn't they have been watching her? Or was she just another light to them as well? How many other lights were like Silvia? Trapped Remembering only fear, not hope, or wonder, or fun. Doomed to lives full of waking nightmares with no pleasant dream in sight? Was he that blind? And what about the guardians? Were they any better? Then he thought back to the moment he'd saved her. He'd thrown her biological father across the room. He'd touched him. But that... monster hadn't known fear at that moment. Had his own child feared him so much that he'd become her waking nightmare? Was that why He'd been able to grab him and throw him away?