"Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us."
-Brian Jacques

Striker found Maria sitting right in front of a familiar tree. The same tree he'd buried his love when she passed away. It'd barely changed since the last time they were here.

The impling was gently running her hand alongside the carving her dad made.

Serenity Remington

Forever ours

Maria knew what he meant by those words; he'd told her so. She also knew how painful it was being here, especially for him. He was there when it happened after all, whereas she hadn't the faintest idea of what was going on. Not that anyone could blame her, she'd been less than a year old then.

After a moment of unsettling silence, Striker walked up to her side. "Hey, baby doll."

"Hi, daddy..."

Something was definitely wrong; Striker could sense it in her tone and the look in her eyes. He knelt beside her and reached out to her, but she turned her head away squeezing her eyes shut. Striker noticed she was shaking slightly; he knew she was no good at hiding her feelings no matter how much she tried.

"Are you okay?" She shook her head still not looking up. "Sugarplum... look at me."

Maria hesitated but slowly turned her gaze back to him. When she did, Striker was shocked to see a cut on her cheek. "Sweetheart, what happened to you?" he asked trying to keep calm.

"It's nothing..."

"Maria, talk to me. Tell me what happened." She winced at her father's firm tone and looked down.

"Mother's Day is coming. I... I couldn't help but think about mommy... I don't remember much about her but... it hurts, y'know?" Maria sucked in a breath. "Claire is always picking on me. I tried to ignore her but... she wouldn't stop rubbing in my face how she has a mom and I don't... and... and..."

"And what?"

"She... she called me a... a bastard child..." Striker went stiff. Maria sniffled. "So, I punched her in the nose... then she threw a rock at me... I-I just wanted to get away..."

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away. Striker, sad to see his daughter like this, sat down and pulled her close to him. "Baby girl, don't let that brat's words get to ya. Just cause yer mama and me weren't married when you were born doesn't mean we don't love ya. I promise, we'll always love you no matter what happens. And we still do."

Maria tried to wipe her eyes when she realized she'd been crying but Striker gently stopped her.

"Hey now, what did I say about crying?"

"Th-that I shouldn't be ashamed to... even in front of you?"

"That's right." The cowboy lifted her chin to look at him. "It's okay if you wanna cry, princess. Believe me, I still do whenever I think about... well, ya know. Everybody needs to at some point."

"You sure? You don't think I'm a crybaby, do you?"

"Baby girl, I wouldn't love you any different if you were."

"C-can we stay here? I-I don't wanna go home yet."

"Course we can. Might do us both some good." Striker kissed her head. "It's okay, I gotcha."

That did it. Maria buried her face in his chest letting out all the tears she'd been holding back. Striker started shedding some of his own as he held her, rocking her in his arms.