The Tenth Birthday

October 1st, 1999

Eight months passed in a near blur, that was what happens when every day is basically the same, when you barely leave the tiny world that was the Umbrella Academy, and Willa had no idea how the other kids handled it. She still struggled to grasp how weirdly time seemed to work, how days and weeks and even months could easily blend with barely more than a shift in daily life within the walls of the Academy. Yes, true, from the inside world they could still see the seasons change, felt the air grow cooler and the leaves on the trees on the street and the singular tree in the courtyard change in colour, slowly fading away in the breeze. Perhaps the reason why it didn't seem to bother the other kids like it did her was because she knew what it was like to live in the real world, where time actually mattered and passed, where even the daily motions of school differed by the interactions of the other kids, but in the Academy life was so rigid, most of the time, that even the other kids own unique personalities seemed to impact little of what happened.

Willa felt for sure she would have truly have lost her mind with it all, if it wasn't for the little visits she got to go on to get her bracers tightened, though she was disappointed to never again be allowed to sneak donuts with Grace, in fact, sometimes Grace didn't even take her. The last time she had been placed in the back seat of the car and driven to her appointment, forced to handle it all on her own...she had missed Grace. She wasn't Ma, she never would be to Willa, but the kindly, pretty robot was a comforting presence and she had grown to like her, even kind of liking the mothering fussing that Grace did with her, like she did with all the other kids...it helped fill a little bit of the void, Willa supposed.

It was a shock, then, when Willa discovered that her and the other kid's birthday was upon them already, and even more bittersweet for her to realise that it was the first birthday without Ma there. She would be turning ten, double digits seemed like such a big deal to her young mind and she had been so excited to finally reach that millstone, already having been planning and hoping that Meg might sleep over for the night, that maybe they'd get pizza and get to see Toy Story 2, but now...well, Willa had no idea what to expect, not really. She had come to learn that she couldn't expect anything child-friendly or normal for a ten year to actually enjoy.

On reflection, the tenth birthday was the true end of Willa's childhood, perhaps even the childhood of the other kids, too, because this was the point when things all changed.

….

The day before the birthday, life at the Umbrella Academy ran as it did normally. Breakfast carried out silently with some German classical music playing in the background, history followed by mathematics, followed by Russian and then biology, followed by warm up laps in the courtyard and a twenty-minute gym session. Hargreeves Senor then paired them all up, Luther and Ben, Diageo and Klaus, and Willa and Five, while Allison sat out and waited with a rather morose scowl marking her pretty features. The idea was that Allison was supposed to be taking note of each fighter and observing them for weakness to improve her 'Tactical Strategy,' or so Hargreaves kept saying, personally Willa still just didn't get why Vanya couldn't participate and term up with Allison, but after eight months of living at the Academy, Willa had learned to keep her mouth shut about some thing's...

...Even if it was totally stupid and unfair.

"There will be no use of powers," Hargreeves announced, standing off to the side, on the slightly raised platform that overlooked the three padded mats that had been laid out with a metre gap between each. Each of the kids that would be fighting stood on opposite ends of their own respectful mats, facing their opponent...

Willa eyed Five warily, feeling far from comfortable, even though Five wasn't allowed to blink around the place, and she sincerely doubted Five gave a single damn about whether she was about to jump his consciousness out of his body, he had been smirking smugly the entire time, even before being told that there wasn't to be any powers, though Diego had muttered a less then quiet curse of disappointment and reluctantly tossed his favourite knife (Klaus had told her it was nicknamed 'McStabby,' though he might have been just pulling her leg to get back at Diego for something...) off to the side of the mat. Five simply arched a thick, dark brow at Willa, eyes glinting with a flash of challenge. She didn't know why he bothered; he would wipe the floor with her, she might have gotten better and fitter, now able to keep up with the other kids during laps, but her fighting skills still left much to be desired. And, it was Five, she could handle losing to anyone else, but Five was just so bloody smug about it, it made her want to smack him.

She wasn't holding her breathe on making that actually happen, though.

"Why can't we use powers?" Allison asked with a slightly confused frown, raising her hand impatiently, though she hadn't waited to be called on before speaking. She was standing off to the side of the mats, arms crossed over her chest and looking up to daddy dearest expectantly.

They all looked at her, Luther's lips pressing into a slightly wary line, almost as if he was silently begging her to just accept it. Hargreeves pinned her with a cool, rigid glare.

"Over relying on one's powers is a foolish, short sighted choice, Number Three," he said with an icy edge to his tone, eyes flashing with obvious irritation that he was being questioned. He swept his intense gaze across the room, lingering on each of them, "I expect you all to be nothing but well-rounded in all areas, not merely accomplished in the few, and that, Number Three..." he flashed Allison a pointed glare, nostrils flaring, and Allison, to her credit, only shifted a little, "...is precisely why we are training today without powers, because you can't always rely on your abilities to be able to defend yourself or others. Now, positions!"

Willa looked uneasily back across to Five, even as her posture automatically fell into one of defence, her legs shifting so that she stood with her knees very slightly bent, bringing her hands up before her, hunching her shoulders in slightly and drawing her elbows in slightly to her body, and she noted that Five instantly did the same, green eyes piercing into her. She almost gulped...eight months later and she still felt her stomach flutter with nerves whenever she found herself having to physically fight, and Five didn't pull punches. Luther did, he was used to going gentle because no one else physically could take him, Ben was always getting told off for not attacking hard enough, while Klaus would either be all in or completely off on another planet. Allison, Diego, and Five, though...they took no prisoners, and sadly, because of that Willa suspected that's why Hargreaves most often paired her up with one of them.

"Attack!"

Five flew at her before the word had even fully left Hargreeves Senor's lips, lunging at Willa, but she recognised the move as a scare tactic. She dodged by spinning herself to the side, swinging her arm out to try and clock him across the chest, but he deflected that with a sharp blow to her elbow. She gritted her teeth as she spun back around, aiming a kick up at the back of his knee. She was going to bruise on that arm...Five grabbed her leg by the ankle and she had a second of realising she had been too sloppy with her timing, right before he used his grip on her leg to throw her off balance. The world briefly spun and she toppled backwards onto the mat, hard, with enough force to knock the air from her lungs. She coughed and squeezed her eyes shut; tossing her arm that wasn't burning over her eyes. She sensed Five looming over her.

"That was sloppy," he said with a rather mocking scoff, "I could have dislocated your knee".

"Well...thanks for not doing that," she muttered, and lifted her arm off her eyes, cracking them open to peer up at him.

He rolled his eyes, though she caught a flash of a wicked smirk on his lips, "Always got a witty crack, huh, Scott?" he said with an eyebrow arched, and he surprised her by offering her his hand.

It wasn't discouraged by Reggie for them to show one another such sportsmanship as helping one another up after knocking each other down, though it wasn't encouraged, either. And Five wasn't typically the one who showed such kindness, Luther ad Diego were more inclined, but Five typically didn't seem to care or notice, usually too busy gloating about getting one up over you. He must be in a good mood or something. She reached up to accept his hand, his grip stronger and surer then she expected, Luther sometimes felt like gripping a very muscly fish because he was so scared about accidently hurting her, and nor did Five hesitate to help haul her up. They dropped hands the moment she was on her own feet, and she awkwardly brushed her hands down over her sweatshirt under the guise of straightening it, when she was really trying to get rid of the weird tingling feeling in her fingertips.

"My talents clearly don't lie in physical combat, Five," she gave him a flat look.

"I noticed. You've got better...by a micro centimetre".

She huffed out a surprised laugh, "What a compliment!"

She glanced over to Reggie to see whether he had noticed them taking a pause in their fighting, expecting to hear him yelling at them to 'Return to positions, Five, Seven!' But the old man was intently peering at Klaus and Diego, scowling deeply in disapproval...Klaus was in a headlock and flailing around on the mat, doing a rather good impression of a fish out of water.

"Just give up, Klaus!" Diego was growling at him, "Don't make me chock you out, you know I will!"

Whatever Klaus replied with, it came out more like guttural, gurgling noises then words, but he still didn't seem to be tapping out. Willa shook her head and glanced back to Five...it was an odd combination, Klaus and Diego sometimes, they would either almost kill one another or Klaus would just barely give up any fight, which only caused Diego to become even more passionate. Today, it seemed, Klaus had chosen to fight to the death, nearly literally. It had once freaked Willa out, but now she was so used to it, she barely batted an eye and simply raised an eyebrow at Five.

"Again?"

He flashed her a near wolfish grin, "Maybe this time I will dislocate your knee," he almost seemed to threaten, and eight months ago it would have sounded like a terrifying threat, but now...

Willa rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Don't tempt me with a good time, Five," she shot back dryly, waggling her eyebrows at him.

She possibly should have been scared of the near feral flash of a smirk that filled his face.

...

The next day started off nearly as every morning at the Umbrella Academy started...only this time, at six in the morning, there was a sudden blaring of a foghorn in the hallway outside. Willa nearly had a heart attack, awaking from a lovely dream about a bright garden with herself and all the kids, Meg and Ma, just...hanging out, only for the dream to come abruptly to an end by her almost falling right out of bed. Her heart pounded as she wrestled in a panicked, half-asleep stupor with her blankets, terrified that the world was ending or something for that God awful sound to be going off when the sun hadn't even risen outside, only to stumble out into the hallway, finding the other kids, blurry eyed and just as alarmed as her, all dashing out of their rooms.

"Get dressed into your training wear," Hargreeves Senor ordered them, standing at the end of the hallway, looking as fresh as a daisy and scowling as sternly as ever, peering at them all with great disapproval as they all just gaped at him, "From today onwards, you will start training one hour in the morning as well as your normal training in the evening..."

"What?" Klaus gasped in despair, not even wearing a shirt, his mop of curly brown hair sticking up on all angles as he gripped at his skinny, bare chest in horror, "But...but that's not even legal!"

"Enough dramatics, Number Four," Hargreeves barked sternly, and if Willa had been in anyway still asleep before, she was wide awake now, staring, slacked-jaw in disbelief, at the old man, "You have had a decade of being coddled, it's high time that you start to advance your training," he held his head higher, somehow managing to glare down his nose at them all, "The time has come for you to start to use your abilities to help others, and in the coming months the opportunity to do so will be presented to you. You must be ready. I expect you downstairs in the courtyard in five minutes".

Willa didn't really know what any of that meant and judging by the looks of bewilderment and disbelief on the faces of the other kids, none of them seemed to really get it, either. And to think, she had thought that turning ten might just mean a special treat and a day at the museum, this seriously hadn't been what she had imagined or wanted.

...

They ran twenty minutes of laps before Reggie hauled them back inside, their faces both cold and heated from the chill in the air, lips chapped from the light rain and wind that had fluttered through the courtyard, but old Reggie hadn't allowed them to stop. He had forced them to keep going, even as their clothing became damp from the rain, and even once they were back inside the torment continued. Laps followed weight training, while Luther was given balance training separately from them all, before they were finally released back upstairs to shower and dress into their uniform for the day.

Willa was already feeling half dead. Her arms and legs ached, weight lifting was usually conducted once a week and normally Hargreeves Senor let her and the other kids just sort of casually play around with the lifting gear, seemingly okay so long as they were lifting weights, but today's session had been different, he had actually been walking around and timing them, adding extra weight and pushing them to pump harder. By the time they all left the gym, even Five and Diego, by far the physically best outside of Luther, looked dishevelled and worn, while Klaus had thrown up twice. Some birthday gift.

Breakfast was actually kind of nice, Willa was shocked to see pancakes with fresh fruit brought out, and Vanya would later inform her with an amused grin that it was basically the only time that they ever got to eat something vaguely 'Unhealthy,' though there was no syrup or even honey to be found, but the fruit was sweet enough to make up for it when one had barely touched sugar in months...she hadn't been able to catch Five sneaking his favourite midnight snack and try as she might, she had no clue where he stashed the marshmallows, so she'd gone without. She was a little resentful about it. After breakfast, though, things were again a little different, they still had lessons and while they were a little more intense than normal, they also ended at lunch time.

It couldn't exactly be called a birthday party, not technically, but it was more relaxed and free then the Umbrella Academy had ever been. Willa was stunned to come downstairs for lunch to find that the dining room had been laid out with more fruits and foods that they didn't typically get, like popcorn and mini assortments of sandwiches, and pizza rolls, while a large plate sat in the middle of the table with eight cupcakes sitting on top of it, each cake with a number ten birthday candle sitting unlit on top of the white frosting...of course, a black umbrella had been scrawled in black icing on top of the cupcakes, but Willa was just so amazed that they were actually getting any cake at all, she didn't care.

"It's pretty much the only day we actually get to relax a little," Vanya quietly said to Willa, while the other kids all rushed for the table, Grace standing by and smiling widely with Pogo, "Grace and Pogo, I think, push for our birthday to actually be kind of kid friendly, they do most of the planning and stuff".

"What about your dad?" Willa asked softly, not seeing old Reggie anywhere.

"He's usually around".

And he was. Once the kids had enjoyed their lunch and blown out their candles on their own little cupcakes (Willa hadn't bothered to make a wish, what would be the point?), Grace and Pogo had directed them into the living room where Hargreeves Senor was sitting by the fireplace, reading a newspaper, seemingly ignoring them all. It all felt very awkward and uncomfortable, and weirdly formal as the birthday presents were given out. Luther got a couple of new records and a model rocket kit, Diego some comic books and a box of matchbox cars, Allison a big box of different coloured nail polish and a bracelet making kit, Klaus a crystal growing kit and a string of fairy lights, Five a Etch A Sketch and a toy robot, Ben a large set of different types of charcoal and paints, Vanya a lockable diary with a set of different coloured jell pens, and Willa was rather startled to receive a cheap pink camera and a lava lamp with sunflowers painted on the base and top of it.

"I hope you like it, honey," Grace said to her with that ever tender, affectionate smile. It was the same smile she gave to all of the other kids, too, like Willa was just like one of them...it made Willa feel a wave of warmth towards the robot lady, "Allison told me your favourite flower was sunflowers and Vanya thought you might like to take pictures, so you can share them with your mum one day".

Willa was...well, she was touched. She didn't know how to deal with that, quite honestly, it shocked her that she had even gotten any gifts at all, somehow she still felt like such an alien in this house, even though the kids never treated her any differently. She wasn't a Hargreeves, though, she would maintain that to her dying breath if she needed to, but yet she wasn't treated any differently than anyone else. It touched her even more deeply that Allison, who she really wasn't overly close with, and Vanya who she was probably the closest to, had both seemingly played any role in getting her presents, but also very thoughtful gifts. She remembered telling Allison months ago about her favourite flower, only in passing, too, while for Vanya to even consider that she might want to take pictures to one day share with her Ma...it made her eyes almost well up with tears.

"Oh, God," Five eyed her as if she was a bomb about to explored, a slight look of horror weaving across his features, "You're not going to cry, are you?"

"Leave her alone, Five," Vanya shot him a small frown, her voice soft, but there was a slight, light, warning edge to it that Willa hadn't heard in her tone before. She was smiling gently when Willa risked glancing at her.

"Yeah, shut up, Five," Allison added slightly more pointedly, throwing the dark-haired boy a dark glare. She sniffed haughtily and turned back to smile encouragingly at Willa, "She's allowed to cry if she wants".

"I'm not going to cry," Willa told them embarrassedly, though she wasn't entirely being honest, there was a definite wobble to her voice and she did kind of feel rather overwhelmed with emotions.

She blinked back tears that threatened to spill over and smiled widely up at the other kids, all of them gathered around the two large couches that were set up in the living room of the house, across from one another, the floor at their feet littered with brightly coloured wrapping paper and their new gifts in their laps. She looked at them all and felt as if she actually did, perhaps, belong. It was the first time in eight months she had actually found herself feeling truly like one of the Hargreeves family, like she could maybe spend the next eight years of her life living at the Umbrella Academy, doing all this insane training and schooling, separated from her Ma and Meg, because even though she was definitely not a Hagreeves, she had grown incredibly fond of these kind of mental kids she was stuck with.

Luther gave her a warm, kind smile that was oddly a little goofy...Sure, she couldn't exactly claim to really like how Luther seemed to live purely for making his daddy proud, but beneath all that she knew that Luther was a big teddy bear who had crazy dreams about one day travelling to the moon. Then there was Diego, who gave her a thin, tight smile, but his dark brown eyes were warm and inviting, and she thought back to how distant and standoffish he had been towards her when she first arrived. But the truth was that Diego was a sweetie, a hothead, for sure, but he cared so much. Allison largely kept to herself and Luther, but despite her slight haughtiness, Allison did have a good heart and Willa knew that the other girl was genuinely a nice girl; she just hadn't spent enough time with her yet. Klaus, goofy and by far the most relaxed out of all the kids, was also probably one of the saddest people she knew, even though he didn't show it outwardly, over the past eight months she had caught glimpses of his misery and it just made her want to hug him tight and never let him go, but yet, he still smiled. Five might be one of the most arrogant and entitled people in the house, close to defying even Hargreeves senor, perhaps, but he was also highly intelligent and witty, and Willa was positive that he had a good heart buried beneath all of his superiority. Ben, ever the sensitive, gentle one of the group, was by far the most distant seeming figure out of all of the kids, but he was probably the first one Willa would turn to if she ever just needed someone to listen to her babble on, even above Vanya. Speaking of Vanya...perhaps on the same level as Klaus, Vanya was just as sorrowful as the young medium, but yet she had also been the first to hold out a helpful hand to Willa when she had arrived, even though Vanya had every reason to hate her...her kindness inspired Willa to want to be more like her.

All of them inspired her to want to be better, to try better, each and every day, to not allow what Hargreeves Senor had done to her to define her path for the future. They all had so much possibility and the Umbrella Academy was only going to be a chapter in all of their lives, and Willa was going to make damn sure that one day, she helped them all escape it. She promised herself, then and there, clutching her new lava lamp and camera, that they would all get through this mess and find their own happiness in the future, that they would stick together, because even though she wasn't a Hagreeves, she was one of them now. They were bonded through their own shared misery and happiness of being in the Umbrella Academy, that had to mean something...Right?

Later in her life, there would be a day when Willa was reminded of this very moment, how naive and hopeful she had been, and she would laugh to herself. Even as a kid, she had been sickeningly optimistic and hopeful, she could kind of see why Five had found her so irritating back then, but that promise had kept her going, back then. Perhaps it had kept her going all along, it might not have exactly worked, but when you're ten years old and clutching at anything to try and cling onto in a strange, scary world without the security of all that you've previously known, a child will grasp at anything. Even if it's a childish, hopeful fantasy.

...

Hey, Ma

It's my tenth birthday today and apparently the first of many birthdays to come without you, but...I think I'm going to be okay. I've been here for eight months now and I know nothing's gonna change anytime soon, and to be honest, even though I hate Hargeeves Senor and wish I was back in Wales with you and Meg...I do like the kids. Maybe I've just been with them to long now, I've been reading a book on psychology (Old Reggie scoffed at me the other day when he caught me and told me that psychology is a 'Weak science,' but I dunno, I liked it...), and there's that whole concept of Stockholm syndrome. Maybe I've just developed that, or maybe I'm starting to forget what it's like to be at home with you and Meg, I don't know...but I do know that it's not that terrible here.

Yes, I miss you and Meg every single day, and yes, I miss eating sweets and watching movies and TV, and having loads of free time to do whatever I like, but I'm learning loads, Ma. I like it. There's so much stuff that I know now that I wouldn't have been taught in Wales, I can now kind of hold a conversation in Russian and I got an A mark on my physics paper the other day, so I guess I'm not doing that badly, either. And then there's the kids, Ma...they're all so different and special, and amazing. They've kind of become the closest thing I guess I have to family now...well, most of them, I still think Five is kind of a jerk and he does make it hard sometimes to like him, but even he's pretty cool, in a totally insufferable way. Allison and Vanya helped Grace to get my presents, a camera and a sunflower covered lava lamp, and I almost cried in front of literally everyone. It was so embarrassing, but I also kind of wish I could explain to them how much I love that they even thought that deeply enough about me.

I love them all, Ma...I really do. I probably shouldn't, I feel a little guilty saying it, to be honest, 'cos I feel like I'm betraying you or something, but I can't help it. I just want to protect them all and keep them all safe, and for all of us to get out of this school one day. I know we will, I'll make sure we do. Until then...I guess I'll just have to suck it up and get on with it, and enjoy the little things that make the Umbrella Academy semi-decent, like...like tonight. For our birthday we went to the ballet, the boys, except for Klaus, all kind of hated it, I think, but it was beautiful. Hargreeves Senor told us we're going to start dancing lessons soon, I think I might actually enjoy that.

Maybe that's the secret to all of this, Ma, for the next eight years, just focusing on the tiny things that make being here good. If it is, I guess I'm gonna be okay, so I hope wherever you are right now, you're maybe doing the same thing.

Love,

Your Sunshine.

Originally, I planned to write out the whole ballet scene, but honestly, nothing about it couldn't have been covered easily in Willa's diary to her mum. I'm kind of curious about what you guys think of the gifts the kids got, too? I tried really hard to keep it very late nineties, early two thousand era appropriate, and I kind of figure from the glimpse we got of the kids rooms that they had toys and stuff, Luther even had an entire collection of records and Five very clearly had toys in his bedroom, that had to come from somewhere. I figure Grace and Pogo were probably largely behind it, since I can't see Reggie being that concerned, and I figure that birthdays and Christmas was likely the most logical time for the kids to have received those things. Also, did anyone else have a lava lamp growing up? I was born in the late nineties, but I remember them coming back into fashion when I was eight...so mid to late two thousands, and getting a purple one for my birthday. They were kind of cool as a kid.

Please tell me what you thought :)