Wow, to be quite honest I thought I wouldn't make it this far. Thank you so much for the reviews! They're extremely appreciated. Really, lately I've been having those winter blues so reading your uplifting comments really make me feel better. Thank you to Marie, ObsidianLove, iamCambria and even Seryyth. Constructive criticism is always welcomed if delivered properly, so thank you, along with the hidden compliment that you think this story is great. Though you made me change the format of the story, nevertheless I thank you for your help.
Many more thanks to LilAngel927, Amberflame805, grandprincessanastasiaromanov5 (lovely name by the way) and so many more! You all make me feel warm inside. :)
Okay, enough of the fluffy talk. Let's continue, shall we? (Seriously, I got to get this ball a'rolling because of a deadline.)
The following day was a Saturday, so Sadie woke up at seven thirty to watch television and have Alice's special breakfast of Saturday flapjacks. It was kind of endearing seeing them wake up to the new day. It brought a strange of feeling of warmth into my heart, or at least where it should be.
Sadie woke up groggily, rubbing her light blue eyes to get the sleep out and almost stumbling in her pink nightgown. Once she was halfway down the hallway, she noticed my presence and held up her hands.
"What is it?" I asked, raising a brow. Did she need another hug? She should know by now I wasn't into hugging or any physical touch at all. Affection like that was sickening.
"Bring me to the table." she mumbled, holding back a yawn.
I let out a bark of laughter, causing Alice to look up at the sound. She smiled, rolled her eyes and continued sliding another large flapjack around in the pan and flipping it expertly.
"What makes you think I'll do that, little one?" I put my hands on my hips, giving her a challenging eye.
She grinned widely and puffed out her chest, "Because I'm the princess of this household! And it is by royal degree-!"
"Decree." I corrected.
"-that you do what I tell you to do!" Sadie finished, completely awake now.
I folded my arms, contemplating her reasoning. She's such a child. I finally sighed exasperatedly, picked her up and swung her over my shoulder, causing her to squeal.
"You didn't clarify how you wanted to be delivered to the table, your Highness." I grinned as she flopped into the chair. Sadie beamed up at me before setting her big eyes on the plate of buttered and syrupy flapjacks Alice set there. I watched Sadie wolf down the fluffy breakfast, and then I looked up at her sister.
I didn't expect our eyes to meet, so we both quickly looked away, or at least I did. I don't know what caused me to look away. Maybe it was the modesty since she was still in sleep clothes or her hair was messy. I don't know…
"Did you sleep well, Pitch?" Alice asked anyway, causing me to look back at her.
I had to straighten myself out. I wasn't acting like myself. Where was the regality I possessed? The smoothness, the swiftness, everything that once defined me? It all melted away when this mortal was around, leaving some sort of mumbling fool that I didn't know was me. It was out of my character, and I hated it immensely. I still do to this very day. I will not allow Alice to see that.
"I slept just fine after finishing my nightmare duties. And you?" I coolly looked at her, but I heard Sadie hold back a giggle. I shot a look at her, and Sadie grinned wider.
"Ignore her. She's always hyper on Saturday mornings." Alice waved her hand in Sadie's direction, who huffed in response to that.
"I can tell," I grinned, and she smiled in return.
"I slept pretty well, actually. Usually I don't sleep very well most nights. Probably because I work a lot." she shrugged as if it wasn't an important matter.
I felt my brows knit together in worry, "That's not healthy. You should get more rest, even in daylight. I promise I won't give you nightmares if you rest."
Alice laughed at that, making this prickling feeling dot across my cheeks. This feeling felt like fire, as if someone held a candle close to my face so I could feel the heat of the flame, right across the bridge of my nose, my cheeks and the tips of my ears.
"Stop laughing at him, Alice. He's blushing." Sadie said, looking at me worriedly.
Alice immediately stopped laughing, trying to be respectful, "I'm sorry! It's just that what you said isn't what I normally hear. But thank you for the promise."
I shrugged, "I don't normally offer that. At all."
"Aw, then it's a high honor!" she teased, winking at me.
I gruffly muttered something under my breath, looking away so she wouldn't see the blush on my face again. I bet I looked ridiculous. I used to be something feared! Where did all that go?!
Sadie seemed to save my hide, because she quickly finished her breakfast, cleaned her plate and then tugged me over to the television.
"Sadie, you're a greedy little girl." Alice gently scolded, putting on her jacket to go back and work a shift at the bookstore.
"I am not! I just want my friend sitting next to me when we watch a movie. You can have him when you get home." Sadie stuck out a childish tongue at her, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
Her sister sighed tiredly, before looking at me with those adorable eyes of hers, "You don't mind, do you? I was going to call a babysitter-"
"No, it's fine," I waved away her excuse, "you go earn that fat paycheck. I'll be here forced to watch Barbie movies."
"Ha!" Alice laughed, slamming a beanie over her hair, "I taught her better taste. Enjoy some good ol' Disney classics."
Now, normally I would never succumb to a children themed movie. I honestly dreaded the thought of Snow White or Little Mermaid, but Sadie ended up wanting to watch some movie called the Lion King, followed by the second movie and then...a one in a half? That's a strange title. Movies can't be cut in half. Odd. There's so much I need to know about the mortal world than I thought. But quite honestly I enjoyed it somewhat, the idea of lions acting like it's a battle of the land and throne. Immediately I recognized this relation to another great piece of work written by Shakespeare, Hamlet. I knew this entire movie was based off of that play, so I was impressed.
Halfway through watching a scene of two lions tumbling down a hill during some song, Sadie turned to me and asked a very blunt question.
"Do you like my sister?" she asked, and I could just barely see the corners of her mouth rotate upward into a disguised smile.
I nodded, "She's a nice person. I haven't met a nice person like her in a very long time-"
"I mean, do you like-like her?" Sadie asked again, and I could tell by her attitude she thought I was dumb.
Alright, maybe I was a little bit ignorant. I pointed out that just because she added the same word in front of the original doesn't make it any more important. She groaned and flopped onto her back, landing right onto the cushions that fell off the couch.
"Pitch!" she exclaimed, "Do you have a crush on my sister or not?!"
I stammered, "W-what?! Who do you think you are of accusing me of such-!"
Sadie leaned back up and her expression was almost amusing. She was imitating the same look Alice used as if to say, 'no nonsense.' I sucked in air through my teeth and looked back to the screen to see some baboon talking to Simba. Hopefully my blush would look like a reflection of the screen or something.
"I don't." I muttered, "Aren't you kind of young to ask something like that?"
Sadie smiled, excited, "It's fun to talk about! Come on, I'm a girl. Besides, why do you always blush when she says something nice and you compliment her a lot and I always catch you staring at her and you follow her around and-!"
"Would you kindly shut your mouth!?" I snapped, causing her to immediately silence herself, her eyes wide that I was ticked off. I sighed, and then turned back to the screen, "Alright, so I do. What does it matter anyways?"
Sadie immediately brightened at that. She shot up like a lightning bolt and jumped all around, completely ignoring the movie she wanted to watch in the first place. Her hands were flying everywhere and she did so many dance moves with one burst of energy, I thought she was having a spasm that needed to be checked out at the hospital. She finally did one final whoop in the air before plopping back down onto her knees, leaning a bit too close to my face as if I were a specimen at a zoo.
"What are you gonna do? Flowers? I think you should do flowers!" Sadie dreamily sighed, "it's the most romantic thing a-!"
"I'm not doing any of that."
She stopped. It's as if my statement shattered her fantasies like broken shards of mosaic glass. But instead of getting angry about it, she gave me a curious look. "Why? Is it because you don't have any money?"
I shook my head, not really wanting to tell her why I know I'll never approach her.
"Think about it, Sadie. A spirit, who to everyone else, is invisible. You want me to be with your sister?" I asked, giving her a look that a teacher most likely would give to question the judgement of a student.
Sadie merely nodded excitedly, "Yeah!"
I sighed once more, running a hand through my hair from the stress that was slowly building up in both my chest and my head. How can this girl not get it? Spirits and mortals can't be like that. They never can. How was I to explain all this to a nine year old? I looked up at her, and noticed how she genuinely looked concerned.
"Your sister would hate me. It just...wouldn't work, okay?" I leaned against the foot of the couch once more and glued my eyes to the screen. End of discussion.
Wrong. I should have known Sadie wanted to talk more.
"How do you know? You've done nothing wrong." she said, but was surprised at how I shook my head.
"Sadie...I'm a terrible being. I killed my own family, I tried destroying the Guardians, I almost succeeded in gaining total control over the world, I threatened the life of a child and I almost killed Sandman. You think your sister would find any redemption in that?" I looked at her.
As I suspected. She was horrified. She looked heartbroken, that I was a killer in the past. She looked down at her bare toes, sadly wiggling them to distract herself for a second. She must have thought for a while, because she looked back up at me with a determined glare and said, "Yeah, you deserve forgiveness."
"You're just saying that." I rolled my eyes, but Sadie shook her head furiously.
"I'm not! Sandy told me everything. He said you were under control of evil magic when you killed people in the past, so it technically doesn't count."
"Sadie!" I shouted, angry, "I killed my own wife and the king and queen of the Constellation I lived in and I murdered countless others to gain total dominance of the universe!"
Sadie's lower lip started to tremble, and her eyes were becoming glassy. I sighed, leaning up to face her, "You need to understand that. Life isn't...life isn't just a fairytale. Call me a hypocrite because I'm literally the walking proof of it, but bad guys are never forgiven. Bad guys never get a happy ending. And...and I'm a bad guy."
Sadie's tears stopped when I said that. She looked down at her lap, her hands folded perfectly as if she was contemplating the words I said to her. I truly felt guilty I just told her the most horrifying things that happened in my life. That wasn't something I should just throw onto a child, especially one who has suffered with loss like she has.
But then she opened her hands, and inside was the stone Sandy gave me. It was a bright pink, like the shade of the lightest rose one could find. When I picked it up in my hand, there was a warmth to it that felt as if it was a living object. I could almost feel a faint pulse in the stone. I looked up at Sadie, who timidly smiled.
"You're not evil, Pitch. I know you're not. Because if you were, Sandy wouldn't have given you a second chance. If you were, you wouldn't be here. It wasn't your fault that many people died, you were being controlled. It wasn't fair. But now you can make it better...and stop wasting time." Sadie said, pointing to the rock and then to me.
I flipped over the stone, noticing how the color of light pink was on both sides. It still radiated a warmth that was inviting. I finally smirked, and a harmless chuckle escaped my throat.
"You know, little one…you're wiser than you look."
Sadie shrugged her shoulders, smiling a little bit brighter than before, "Mommy taught me that. She always believed people were good inside. Daddy taught me also that forgiveness is important, and that grudges are not worth it…" she trailed off, trying to recollect any memories of them.
I smiled, and touched her cheek reassuringly. She looked up, trying her best grin to hide her sadness that they were gone.
"You're one of the bravest kids I've ever met, Sadie. You keep on honoring your parents like that. You'll be very happy if you do." I promised her, and tapped her nose to make her smile.
She giggled and hugged me, and this time I didn't flinch at the touch like I used to. I patted her back and smiled brightly, gladly welcoming the feeling of being something close to the fatherly figure once more. I missed that parental feeling. I miss being a father…
Sadie drew back and said casually, "So are you gonna kiss my sister or not?"