Once again, it was all quiet in the Mar-Hagai household. This had not become unusual in itself over the course of the last six weeks but when its two noisiest members were the most silent ones, this was a cause for deep concern. The only sound in the living room on one particular Summer night was the crackling fire, casting shadows onto and by the curled-up figure sitting on the floor, staring into the carpet, dressed rather disarmingly in a simple jeans-and-T-shirt, hair tied back. The older figure was almost equal in looks and mood, sitting in a large comfortable armchair, fingers drumming on the arm, eyes fixed on the woman on the floor.
"Are you sure you don't want anything, Nelly?" he ventured, gentler than those who knew of his reputation would believe.
"Nothing that you can get right now," the named woman croaked, shaking her head for emphasis.
Jak sighed internally, not knowing what to do. It had been six weeks since Deimin died and Jakuelynn had begun her retreat into herself, barely sleeping, barely eating. It was as if her entire world had stopped spinning, throwing her off upon its sudden halt. Jak understood how she felt; Precursors knew it had happened to him more times than he cared to remember.
"Something to eat?" he tried again. "You haven't since ten hours…"
"I said I don't want anything!" she snapped.
"Jakuelynn, you're pregnant, remember?" he replied, anger flaring, tone hardening. "You sure you want this child?"
The warrioress curled up tighter, tears escaping from her eyes. "Day," she whispered. "I want my Day back…That's all I want…That's all…" She took a deep breath and pushed herself to her feet, pacing back and forth in the room. "Precursors, Jak…" She scrubbed at her eyes furiously, her tone increasing in volume. "I didn't even want a child in the first place! What kind of world am I going to bring him into, huh?" She whirled around, eyes brimming with tears. "Also, in case you didn't recall, my birth mother died by the hands of my adoptive one, who then tried to kill me when I was seventeen!" She plunged her hands into her hair, sobs filtering through her voice. "What kind of mother am I going to be based on the examples I remember in my life, huh? A shit one, that's what…" Collapsing onto the sofa beside her father's armchair, she didn't quite burst into tears, but curled up again on her side, arms around her knees, sobs escaping her mouth. Fuck damn you, Day, you died and left me pregnant with your child, a child I don't even want but can't get rid of because he's the last piece of you?
Jak counted his breaths, controlling them until his daughter finally went quiet, clutching a pillow.
What felt like hours passed as Jakuelynn's breathing calmed, the sobs departing from it. For a long time, Jak thought – prayed – that she had fallen asleep, and he was just about to do the same when –
"Tell me about Sandover."
He raised his head and looked quizzically at her. "What?"
His daughter shifted up to a sitting position, pillow still at her stomach almost protectively. "Sandover. Sandover Village. You spent, what, thirteen years of your life there, right? From two or three to fifteen." She looked at him, red-eyed. "Tell me about it. What was it like?"
The veteran warrior was understandably speechless, not least because it was exactly forty years since he was last in Sandover. "Nel, it's been four decades since I was last in Sandover. I may not tell you the whole truth…"
The broken woman shook her head. "Tell me as much as you can remember."
Jak drew a deep breath. "Okay…well…it…It was…beautiful. Clean. You could breathe there – not like in Haven. No smog, no fumes, no crime…it was…very small. Everyone knew everyone's business, you know? Except for where Daxter came from…"
A small chuckle emerged from the warrioress.
"Anyway…" the warrior chuckled. "There was a huge beach right next to it. Sentinel Beach, we called it…it was beautiful. White sands, deep blue seas, wide, grassy cliffs behind it…and huge statues at the lower end where you can dive off them,"
Jakuelynn chuckled. "Sounds like the Spargan coast…"
"It's also where I met your mother," Jak continued. "Dax and I were four and she was three at the time, but she was inspecting the wooden wheel lift between the beach and cliffs, wanting to know how it worked. She was a top mechanic by eighteen. Go figure,"
"I guess that's where I get it from, then," the young woman replied softly.
Jak nodded. "It is." He cleared his throat, continuing. "There was an island a little way out of the mainland, and a jungle beyond the village. Samos would never allow us to go to either of those places, but when I turned nine, we went to the jungle…" He shuddered as a private memory returned. "Moving on…"
"Hang on! What happened?" Jakuelynn sat up, pointing at her father in a 'stop right there' motion.
"What happened where?" Daxter answered, conveniently walking in. "You talking about Sandover?"
"How did you know? Were you listening in the whole time?" Jak asked.
"Maaaybe…" Daxter hopped onto the mini-armchair attached to Jak's own one on the left. "You tellin' her about the wumpbee thing?"
Jak glared at his orange best friend. "Daxter! I wasn't going to tell her – "
"What happened, Dax?" the warrioress asked, face bright with child-like curiosity.
"On his ninth birthday, many, many years ago – literally – we took a trip into the Forbidden Jungle. Your dad decided it would be a good idea to wake up a hive of sleeping wumpbees with a huge stick – "
"That was your idea!"
" – and then, unsurprisingly, they chased us until we went into the sea! Managed to catch Jak, though* – "
Jakuelynn laughed at the look on her father's face. "Lemme guess…they got you?"
"Big time," Jak replied, sulking like a child. "Took a week for my face to get back to normal."
"And now you have a massive phobia of them,"
Her father nodded.
"Hey, Nel, that's the happiest ya looked in weeks," Daxter suddenly pointed out.
"Yeah, 'cause my pain makes her laugh," the silver-haired warrior sulked.
"That it does, Father," Jakuelynn chuckled, a large smile on her face, "that it does,"
Despite his embarrassment, Jak smiled. "Honestly, it is good to see you smile,"
The warrioress nodded, putting her head to one side. A small silence grew before she spoke again.
"Y'know what?"
"What?"
"I think…" She stopped, hesitant. "I think I will have something to eat. We got any Yakow burgers left?"
"Honey, you bought out Sandover's – this Sandover, I mean – entire supply of Yakow burgers!" Daxter pointed out. "What do you mean, do we have any left? I think we got a whole year's worth of them!"
"Hey," Jakuelynn said, slightly defensively, hands spread defensively. "That's my craving,"
Jak shrugged. "'Spose it's not a bad craving to have," he said. "You want a Yakow burger? Could do with one myself. No, stay there, I'll get it."
Jakuelynn mock-saluted her father as he pushed himself up and headed towards the kitchen. Raising her legs again, she focused on her flat stomach, hand giving it small strokes.
"I'm sorry about what I said about not wanting you," she whispered. "Just…your Daddy's gone. And he shouldn't have. He really shouldn't. But…but that's just how it is. And someday I'll accept that. R-really…"
*See jakxkeiraaddict's "Why Jak's Afraid Of Wumpbees". Yeah, JKA, I stole'd, sowwee :DD