Greetings, Sing buffs! Holy crap, I can't believe the Steff Pearce series is officially a year old!
It's been so fun getting my writing spark back and creating each installment, thanks so much for every bit of support and feedback you guys have given me! I'm glad you love it so much and there's plenty more to come!
Happy reading!
Final rehearsals at the Moon Theatre were going very smoothly.
With only a week left before their upcoming variety show, every theatre member was putting their all into their remaining practice sessions. Ash had currently taken centre stage, her jacket gleaming under the flashing red spotlights as she confidently sung into the microphone. Buster and Miss Crawly observed her performance from the front row with pride, reeling from each powerful chord of her guitar blaring from the speakers:
I'm with the skater boy
I said, "See you later, boy"
I'll be backstage after the show
I'll be at a studio
Singing the song we wrote
About a girl you used to know
With one final strum, Ash raised the guitar pick clenched between her fingers and stood panting as the music died down. She smiled at the koala and his assistant giving her a round of applause.
"Nice work, Ash!" Buster said while the spotlights went back to their standard setting. "That song is gonna knock everyone's socks off! And I think we got the lighting effects timed just right to the music!"
"Thanks, Moon." The porcupine replied, unplugging her guitar before making her way offstage. As soon as she was in the wings, she immediately found herself enveloped in a hug by her girlfriend.
"Amazing as always, rock star!" Steff gushed, planting a kiss on her cheek. Ash wasted no time returning the skunk's hug before setting her instrument in the nearby guitar stand.
"Much appreciated, angel. Would you say I was also... magnifique?" She grinned mischievously as a deep blush came over Steff's face.
"Aw, come on." She muttered; the story of her and Johnny's spying escapade had spread amongst the group like wildfire. Ridiculous as Steff found it in hindsight, her girlfriend couldn't resist teasing her over it a little. "We're never gonna live that down, are we?"
"You will eventually, once it stops being so funny." Holding Steff's burning cheeks in her hands, Ash chuckled before giving her a soft kiss. "I just wish I'd been there to see you and Johnny in those wigs. I'll bet you looked more adorable than usual." In spite of herself, the corner of the skunk's mouth curled up in mild amusement.
"Okay, Steff, let's see you next!" Buster's voice sounded from the auditorium. Letting go of Steff's face, the porcupine gave her an encouraging smile.
"Good luck, Cosette!" She stifled a laugh when Steff stuck out her tongue over her shoulder, walking onto the stage. Once in front of the mic stand, the backing music started up while the skunk adjusted her glasses. Tapping her heel to the slow rhythm, she began to sing:
There'll be no strings to bind your hands
Not if my love can't bind your heart
There's no need to take a stand
For it was I who chose to start
Watching her from the wings, Ash smiled to herself lovingly; now that she no longer tried to imitate her grandma's sultry movements while performing, Steff's natural aura onstage truly shone bright.
I see no need to take me home
I'm old enough to face the dawn
The beautiful sound of her girlfriend's vocals was suddenly interrupted by a shrill chime coming from her pocket. Mild annoyed, the porcupine reached into her jeans and pulled out her phone, intending to give it a quick glance before turning it off and pocketing it again.
But when she looked down at the screen, her whole body jolted in shock. Ash quickly got a firm grip on her phone before it slipped from her fingers. Surely she hadn't read that correctly? Steff's singing faded into a muffled echo as she took another look at the email notification lighting up the screen.
The subject read: Dear Ashlynn
Ash was completely frozen; only one person had ever called her by that name. Finally regaining the will to move, her thumb shakily tapped the notification and opened the message:
Dear Ashlynn
I know you must have mixed feelings about hearing from me again. But could we find somewhere to just talk? I have a lot I want to say and apologise for. And you deserve to hear it in person.
Sincerely, Mom
A thousand questions swirled around in Ash's head like storm clouds as she scanned the words over and over. Her mom finally wanted to speak to her again? Why did she wait so long? Did she actually want to apologise to her? Or was it some sort of trick?
"Are you okay, Ash?"
Snapping out of her trance, Ash turned around to see Steff now in the wings, having finished her practice and looking incredibly concerned.
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I... I just got an email... from my mom." Ash quietly replied, holding up her phone for the skunk to see. Leaning forward slightly, her eyes widened as she read each sentence in the email.
"Oh, my gosh." She murmured softly. Neither said a word for the longest time until Steff took her girlfriend's hand, gently guiding her out the doors and toward her dressing room. She could feel Ash shuddering every step of the way. Closing the door behind them, the two of them sat themselves on the small white couch, Ash still not tearing her eyes away from her phone.
"I can tell this is really surprising…"
"Surprising?" Ash scoffed. "Ha! That doesn't even begin to cover it! It's downright insane! I mean, we haven't spoken a word in two years and she finally reaches out to me? And she wants to meet up to 'apologise'? I mean, how am I supposed to respond to that?!" Her tight grip on her phone softened when she became aware of Steff recoiling from her outburst. Taking a deep breath in, the tenseness in her muscles loosened.
"Sorry, Steff." She said quietly. "It's just... you're right. This was a total shock to the system. I… I don't know what to do." Steff truthfully wasn't sure how to handle this situation, given how her relationship with her own parents wasn't unstrained. But that wasn't going to make her leave her girlfriend's side.
A light knocking on the dressing room door suddenly caught their attention.
"Ash, honey?" Rosita called from the other side. "We heard you yelling."
"Everything okay in there?" Johnny's voice joined her.
"Hey, guys." Ash replied, clearing her throat. "Come on in." The door opened and in stepped Rosita and Johnny who promptly closed it behind them.
"We're not fighting." Steff reassured them. "Ash is just… dealing with a lot right now."
Her motherly instincts kicking in, Rosita took a seat beside the two teens. "Is there anything we can do to help?" Breathing a sigh through her nose, Ash handed the pig her phone.
"My mom contacted me after two years." She explained as Johnny and Rosita read the email. "She wants to meet up with me to talk. It's a lot for me to process."
"If you don't mind me asking, how so?" Johnny asked.
The porcupine thought to herself; Steff was the only one she had told about her relationship with her parents back in high school. But
"Well… let's say my home life wasn't the smoothest." She explained. "Before I was born, my dad tried to make a living as a musician but it never went anywhere. So eventually, he settled for being a dentist instead. But after I came along, he still held onto his love for music. My electric guitar was actually a Christmas present from him, after he introduced me to Clay Calloway's music." Ash's nostalgic smile began to waver.
"Then my mom and dad got divorced when I was nine. I never saw him again after that. And when Mom and I moved to Calatonia for her new job, she was constantly worried about my love of rock. She always tried encouraging me to pursue a more 'reasonable' career. Lawyer, doctor, you name it. As you can imagine, we didn't exactly see eye-to-eye."
"So…" Steff hesitated for a moment. "What happened after that? Like, the last time you two spoke?" She, Rosita and Johnny took notice of Ash's hands clenching into fists on her lap as she winced.
"It... wasn't pleasant."
"I still can't believe you're actually doing this."
Ash rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that morning as she finally got the zipper on her duffle bag closed.
"As I've told you over and over, this is my only chance to make it in the music industry!" She had waited too long to make this dream a reality. Heaving the hefty bag over her shoulder, the sixteen-year-old porcupine started to make a beeline for the door. But she found her path immediately blocked by her mother, her arms obstructing the doorway as best as she could.
"Ashlynn, please, there are better ways to make a living that don't involve skipping the rest of your education to run off with a scruffy hoodlum!" Rachel scolded. Gritting her teeth, the teen held her bag in front of her like a shield and managed to barge her mother out of the way.
"It's Ash, Mom!" She exclaimed, ignoring the trailing footsteps behind her. "And Lance is gonna lead us both to the big leagues! I'm not gonna spend the rest of my youth cooped up in college learning what I already know about music!"
"Again with the music!" Rachel threw up her arms as they descended the stairs toward the hallway. "Ashlynn, it was a nice hobby but you can't keep being stubborn! You've got to consider having a more stable career, like with a law firm or a bank or something! Think about your future!" Ash gritted her teeth; she didn't have the patience to listen to this tiresome lecture again.
"For the last time, rock is not some cute little hobby I do in my off time, Mom! It's my passion, my reason for living!" She grabbed her wallet and keys off the hallway table, not once looking behind her. "You're the stubborn one if you really think I'm gonna stick myself in a boring desk job for the rest of my life just because you say so! I know who I am!"
Finally catching up to her daughter, Rachel reached out a hand and seized the handle of her duffle bag, once again stopping Ash in her tracks. "Why can't you see I'm trying to look out for you?"
With a frustrated growl, the young porcupine grabbed both handles and yanked the bag out of her mom's grip, quickly regaining her balance. "If you really want to look out for me, stop trying to micromanage me and be supportive of my dream for once!"
Rachel stared at her, rooted to the spot; Ash really wasn't going to back down from this.
"Wh-So that's it then?" She spluttered. "You're really going to throw your life away for some stupid musical fantasy?!"
Ash's body went rigid with shock, the grip on her bag slackening. Did her own mom really believe that about her passion for music this whole time? Seeing the hurt in her daughter's face, Rachel brought both hands to her mouth, all her anger instantly washing away. Why did she say that?
"Ashlynn, I didn't mean tha..."
"You know what, Mom?" Ash interrupted, turning to undo the locks on the front door. "Maybe you don't believe in me. But Lance does! So does Steff! And Dad did too! Their opinions are the only ones that really matter to me!" Wrenching the door open, she whirled around and give one final glare at her mother, angry tears stinging her eyes.
"I don't even give a crap about your approval anymore!" She yelled, stepping out into the sunlight. "Why should I when I'm obviously never gonna get it, no matter what I do?"
"Ashlynn..."
"Goodbye!"
Before she slammed the door shut with a deafening bang, the last thing that Ash saw was her mother futilely reaching out her hand.
"And we haven't seen each other since."
Everyone in the dressing room cast her sympathetic glances, tears brimming in Steff's eyes.
"Oh, Ash..." She whispered, leaning in and giving her girlfriend a comforting hug. "You didn't deserve that."
Ash sighed, holding the skunk close. "I mean, I know how things turned out with him, but what she said to me..."
Rosita placed a hand on the porcupine's shoulder, speaking calmly but firmly. "Honey, Lance may have turned out to be a jerk but that didn't give her the right to belittle your dream like that."
Out of the corner of her eye, Ash spied Johnny sat on the arm of the couch silently glancing down at the floorboards, having kept quiet the whole time. It was obvious this was hitting close to home for him.
"Johnny?" Ash asked. Snapping out of his trance, the gorilla realised she, Rosita and Steff were all looking in his direction. "How did you make up with your dad?"
Over the last few months, Johnny had come clean to everyone about his family's criminal activities before the singing contest came to town, along with his partaking as the getaway driver. Fortunately nobody held anything against him.
The young gorilla pondered over his next words carefully.
"Well... those things he said to me did hurt, that day I visited him after his arrest." He winced at the memory of his father's disgust at his confession. But then a tiny smile slowly started forming in the corner of his mouth. "But him breaking out of jail to see me and tell me how proud he was showed he really wanted to make things right with me. I still visit him when I can and he's putting in the effort to get to know me better. It's gonna take some time but we're making it work. And he is legitimately improving. We'll fully patch things up between us eventually. Baby steps."
He looked across at the porcupine gently. "So if your mom's reaching out to you, it's a possibility that she genuinely wants to make amends."
Ash didn't look fully convinced. "Even if she does feel regret... what she said about my dream still hurt."
Steff reached over and clasped Ash's hands, prompting her to look into her eyes.
"And you have every right to be upset with her. Your feelings are totally valid." The skunk assured her. "But just remember, she put the offer on the table, which means it's your decision whether or not you want to let her back into your life."
Rosita gave the porcupine's shoulder a comforting rub. "Whatever you choose to do, Ash, we'll be behind you all the way."
Everyone waited patiently as Ash took the time to dwell on every bit of her friends and girlfriend's input. At last, a tiny smile came over her face.
"Thanks, guys." She said quietly. "I'll mull it over."
Ash didn't speak a word for the remainder of the day.
Once rehearsals were over, she had gone straight home to her apartment and quietly reheated a container of leftover Chinese takeout for herself. As soon as that was eaten, the porcupine spent the entire evening laying on her couch, scanning the words of her mom's email over and over again. The occasional sound of passing traffic went in one ear and out the other.
Conflicting thoughts whirled about in her mind once more; after their last conversation, she felt inclined to swiftly delete the message and carry on with her life. But she recalled the instant regret on her mom's face after calling her passion for music a fantasy. Compared to Lance who had gone out of his way to deliberately and maliciously hurt and demean her, her worries about her daughter's future and accidental angry outburst didn't seem that awful.
But did that change the fact that her mother still said those nasty words?
Then what Johnny had said about his father came racing back. Surely if a thieving gang leader could turn himself around for his child, especially after disowning him, the idea of her own mother wanting to change her ways wasn't too crazy. Maybe there was a slim chance that their bond wasn't irreparably broken.
Finally Ash's thumb pressed the reply option on the email. Taking a deep breath, she slowly typed a response before pressing SEND:
Okay. Let's talk.
After Ash's mother had promptly replied to her last night, the two of them organised a meet up around lunchtime the next day. Ash had chosen Steff and her parents' café so that she had emotional support to fall back on in case things went south. The porcupine was leaning against Brewtiful's window, casting her eyes down at the sunlit sidewalk as she waited. She had it all planned out in her head: hear what her mom had to say, then choose whether or not to cut her out of her life forever, simple as that.
As if on cue, a familiar shadow fell by her feet coupled with an awkward cough. Steeling herself, Ash slowly looked toward the source.
Barring the hazel eyes and longer quills, Rachel Johansson was the spitting image of her daughter. Ash took notice of the fact that she was dressed in navy jeans and a white T-shirt with a red and blue lightning bolt emblazoned on it. A far cry from the formal red dress and business jacket with matching heels that she normally wore. She also looked a lot more anxious than Ash had ever seen her.
"Hi, Mom." The teenager broke the silence first. Breathing in deeply through her nose, Rachel responded quietly.
"Hi, Ashlynn."
"Mom, can you please not call me that? I've told you, I prefer Ash."
"Right. Sorry." Another awkward silence hung in the air until Rachel cleared her throat. "Shall we go in?"
"Yeah." With that, the two porcupines quietly entered the café with Ash holding the door open for her mother. Brewtiful was almost full, Steff bringing a cat couple their order just as Cassie and Andrea finished serving a penguin. Ash and Rachel both made their way over to the counter.
"Hey, Mrs Pearce."
"Hi, Ash!" Cassie looked up from the cash register with a friendly smile which quickly melted into pleasant surprise when she noticed Ash's guest. "Oh, hello, Miss Johansson. This is, uh, quite a surprise."
"Just Rachel is fine." The older porcupine held up her hand politely. Nodding in response, Cassie turned her attention back to the teen.
"Your usual, Ash?"
"Please." As the middle-aged skunk typed in Ash's order, Rachel's gaze lingered on the glazed treats sitting behind the glass display before her.
"This all looks pretty good." She said at last. "Uh, could I get an Americano with a sponge cake slice?"
"Sure thing." replied Cassie, her wife wasting no time in beginning to brew the hot drinks. Ash was just reaching for her wallet when her mother's arm shot across in front of her.
"Oh, don't worry. I got it." Rachel said, promptly scanning her own credit card. Incredulously, Ash lowered her arm; she didn't remember her mother ever being this charitable. But she silently reminded herself not to let her guard down too early.
"You two have a seat over at table four, we'll bring it right over." Cassie pointed at the only empty table right in the window. Nodding gratefully, Ash and Rachel headed over there and sat themselves down. While the other customers cheerfully talked among themselves, yet another period of silence lingered between the porcupines.
"So... it's been quite a while."
Understatement of the millennium. Ash thought, tempted to roll her eyes at her mother's attempt at acting casual. "Yep. How's, uh... how's the real estate business going?"
"Yeah, it's going well." Rachel gave a tiny nod, fiddling with her quills hanging by her ear. "Just sold a property to this couple hoping to start a family."
"Cool, cool." Another brief moment of quiet passed before the older porcupine spoke up again.
"And you're a part of the Moon Theatre group now."
"Yep, just adding the final touches to our show for next week." Ash leered at her, raising a cynical eyebrow. "Definitely not a musical fantasy." Rachel immediately winced at that sentence. The tension quickly softened as Steff came over, their order balanced on her tray.
"Here you go, guys." Steff smiled politely as she placed each coffee and cake slice in their respective places. Rachel took a whiff of her drink's aroma.
"Thanks very much, Steff." She said. Before the skunk turned to go, she gently placed her hand upon Ash's shoulder.
"Hey. Just call me if you need anything at all, okay?" She told her tenderly. Ash nodded with a thankful smile, earning a soft kiss on her cheek in return. The porcupine watched her go back to the counter before turning her attention to her mother, who looked quite surprised.
"You and Steff?"
"Yeah." Ash grinned, stealing another loving glance at her girlfriend tending to a different table. "She's awesome."
"What happened between you and Lance?" Rachel asked.
"Dumped him." Ash fought the urge to grimace as she remembered Becky's sardonic grin that fateful night. "Caught him cheating on me in my own apartment." Her mother's face instantly softened at this new information.
"Oh. I'm so sorry that happened to you."
The young porcupine blinked in surprise; with how much her mother had constantly derided her ex as a bad influence, she had been expecting an 'I told you so'. Regaining her senses, she blew gently on her hot beverage and had a sip.
"Well... it hurt but I've moved on from him." Ash looked across at Steff who was giving a camel a refill. "I'm in a better place now." Following her daughter's gaze, Rachel gave a tiny smile. On the rare occasions she'd seen them together during high school, she could always tell Ash and the skunk were extremely close.
"Steff always was a sweet girl." She said before taking a long sip of her steaming Americano. "Mm, her folks brew one heck of a coffee too..."
Rachel flinched at the sound of Ash roughly putting her cup down. "Mom, stop trying to butter me up with flattery and get to the point."
"Um, right." Lowering her own cup, the porcupine cleared her throat and uneasily met her daughter's hard gaze. "About the last time we spoke to each other... I didn't mean..."
"Yeah, you didn't mean it." Ash interrupted harshly. "But you still said it, and it still hurt me. After you and Dad split up, you never talked to me about any of my interests, especially in music. And whenever you did, it was always brushing it off like it was a dumb little hobby I'd outgrow. It was always 'Ashlynn, this would be a more suitable career for you' this and 'Ashlynn, I think you should have more realistic goals' that." Her mother winced at Ash's scathing impersonation of her voice.
"I know." She responded, her voice barely audible. The teen breathed a frustrated sigh and carved off a piece of her cake with her fork.
"Yeah, you wanted to look out for me but you didn't have to talk down about my dream to do that. Oftentimes it seemed like Steff and Lance were the only support I had. Like nothing I did would ever be good enough to please you."
The silence between them lasted for what seemed like hours, Ash's glare boring into her mother's soul. In all her years of attempting to steer her daughter onto what she saw as a more sensible path, along with her time afterwards spent reflecting on their argument, to actually see and hear how much damage her actions had truly done left her too stunned to speak. Whenever she opened her mouth to try and respond with some kind of meager defence, the words immediately died in her throat. Finally the porcupine's shoulders slumped as she let out a long remorseful sigh, casting her eyes down at her coffee.
"You're right. You're right…"
Taking a moment to have a calming sip of her beverage, Ash's glare softened a touch. "It's been two years, Mom. Why reach out to me now?"
The teenager waited as Rachel carefully thought about her next words, anxiously taking a drink from her Americano. Gradually she managed to look into her daughter's eyes again until she finally spoke.
"I... I didn't think you wanted to talk to me ever again after... that. To be honest, I was surprised I even got a reply to that email. Believe me, not a day goes by where I don't think back to when we last saw each other and regret everything I said to you." Rachel paused to massage her eyes. Folding her arms, Ash waited patiently for her to continue.
"It's just... after the way your father struggled with his own music career before you were born, I was worried when you started showing an affinity for music like him. He tried out for so many gigs. And he was crushed every time he got turned away. I didn't want you to risk going through the same hardships he did. I thought I was helping you by trying to steer you away from that." The porcupine's eyes began to gloss over as she thought back to that fateful day. "But when you left, and I saw the look on your face from those horrible things I said, I took a lot of time to reflect on myself."
Her voice started to break. "And I realised that in my attempt to push you toward a secure future… I was just pushing you away. And making you hate me."
The dam finally broke. Ash looked on in shock as Rachel silently wept, placing a hand over her mouth.
"And... I'm so sorry." She choked out. "I let you down… I'm a horrible mom."
Ash's whole demeanour softened; in that moment, any remaining suspicions she had about this meeting being a con of some kind evaporated. Never in her life had she seen her mother this vulnerable, let alone cry.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spied her girlfriend on the other side of the café, looking over at them in concern. After a second, Ash raised her hand slightly in an 'it's okay' gesture. Giving her a nod, Steff carried on cleaning the empty table she was at. It wasn't until the teen reached over and laid her hand on top of Rachel's other hand that she opened her eyes again, still letting out tiny whimpering sobs.
"I don't hate you. And you're not a horrible mom. Honestly I don't even think you'd crack the top 10 worst moms." Her little attempt at humour made Rachel's crying subside a tiny bit. "The thing is, even after all our disagreements and how badly things ended between us, I was still clinging onto some tiny semblance of hope that our relationship could improve."
Taking a napkin from the table's dispenser, Ash held it out to her mother. Rachel gladly accepted it, dabbing her eyes while taking long shaky breaths.
"Well... for what's its worth..." She said, her voice still strained. "I liked your song."
"My song?"
"Set It All Free." Ash's eyes went wide with shock.
"You… you saw the show?"
"The whole thing." Rachel replied, smiling gently. Totally stunned, Ash listened intently to her mother's recap. "I was walking home after a late shift when I passed a whole crowd gathered round the TV store window, watching those two pigs dancing and singing on the screens. I'd heard about a singing contest but I was too overloaded with work to look into it further. This beaver watching noticed a flyer stuck to my quills and when I pulled it off to look… I saw your picture on it. I asked him whether you'd been onstage yet and when he told me the show had just started, that was that. I knew I had to see you."
"I pushed my way out of the crowd, nearly stepped on a mouse as I did." She continued. "Flagged down the nearest taxi and told him to floor it. I got to the theatre just as the audience started clapping along to your singing. I couldn't squeeze through to the front so I stood up on a seat in the very back to watch. And…"
The porcupine placed her hands atop her daughter's, looking her straight in the eyes with a proud smile. "You were astounding."
The sincerity in Rachel's voice nearly made Ash's heart stop.
"Seeing you rocking out under the spotlight, singing your heart out, having the audience in the palm of your hand. It fully cemented how wrong I was to doubt you. I wanted to run up on that stage after you finished, give you the biggest hug… tell you how sorry I was for not being the mother you deserved."
"Then why didn't you?" The teen asked, causing Rachel to glance down at the table guiltily.
"As happy for you as I was in that moment… I was also wracked with shame." She paused to slowly have a bite of her cake before quietly continuing. "Listening to the lyrics, I figured you wrote that song about me. That you'd moved on with your life and didn't want me in it anymore. Given how badly I screwed things up, I can't say I blamed you. So after the show ended, I just left you alone. But all these months, I still couldn't shake that guilt eating away at me. So I plucked up the courage to finally contact you and… here we are."
Thinking back to her grand performance, particularly the lyrics 'this is my kiss goodbye' and 'it's not just a dream', Ash realised how the song could've come across like a dig at her mom.
"Mom… my song was directed at Lance." She explained. "For keeping me under his thumb when we were together. I thought he cared about us, but after he cheated on me and I kicked him out, I realised how much he'd been holding me back."
Rachel's cheeks went red with embarrassment under her fur. "Oh. Right"
Ash took another sip from her coffee before speaking again. "In hindsight, dropping out of high school wasn't the best decision, but it did lead me down the path to where I am now. I have a healthy social circle, the best girlfriend in the world, and a secure job that I enjoy while still doing the thing I love. I'm the happiest I've been in a long time." A warm smile stretched across Rachel's mouth at how far her daughter had come.
"I'm proud of you. Truly. And I know your dad would be too." Releasing a deep breath through her nose, she solemnly looked Ash in the eyes once more.
"Listen... I hurt you and I can't undo the things I did or said. But when you..." Biting her tongue, she rethought her phrasing. "If you ever feel ready, would you be willing to give me a chance to prove I can be better?"
Rachel waited with bated breath while her daughter leant back in her seat, thinking long and hard about everything that had transpired.
"Well coming to one show doesn't erase how much your actions or words hurt me." Heart crumpling in her chest, Rachel tilted her head as if to say 'that's fair'.
"But… I can see you're willing to try. So…" After a long pause, the teenager gave her a small nod, the tiniest smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Yeah. I think I would." A breath of both joy and relief escaped Rachel's throat. She downed the remainder of her coffee and leapt to her feet, a beaming smile nearly splitting her face.
"I won't let you down! I promise!" The porcupine exclaimed in delight, opening her arms for a hug. But when she noticed Ash recoiling, she immediately stopped herself; there were still some boundaries to be set between them for the time being. Biting her lip, Rachel instead offered an outstretched hand. After a second, her daughter grasped and shook it.
"It's a start." She said with a small grin. Returning the smile, her mother brushed a few lingering cake crumbs off her shirt before clearing her throat.
"Well I'll see you later... Ash."
A wave of euphoria swept through the teenager; it felt so good to hear her mom finally call her by her name. Rachel made her way toward the door, giving her one last glance over her shoulder before closing it behind her. At that moment, Steff came over with her tray in hand.
"How did it go?" She asked gently. "Are you two gonna be okay?" Staring though the window, Ash didn't respond until her mother had rounded the corner at the end of the block.
"In time. Like Johnny said: baby steps."
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Song(s) used:
Sk8er Boi - Avril Lavigne
Angel of the Morning - Juice Newton
Rachel – Pamela Adlon
Apologies for the long wait for this story, I had some conflicting thoughts about bringing Ash's mother into this series. On one hand, I liked the moral that you aren't obligated to forgive someone who's hurt you and are well within your right to cut them out of your life, especially given the number of parental figures Ash already has in both the movies and this fanfic series.
But ultimately I chose the idea of Ash's mother having an arc similar to Alador Blight from The Owl House, genuinely feeling bad for their actions and committing to do better after apologising, however long it takes for their bond with their daughter to fully heal. Kinda shows that anyone's capable of change but they have to want to change, as well as use the second chance they've been given to prove they can be better like Johnny's dad did.
Hope I executed it well enough. If not, feel free to critique.
The movie Sing belongs to Illumination Entertainment. I only own my OC, Steff Pearce.