Sohalia
Maybe Harper hadn't been a very good father where Jude was concerned, in the end - but Soh remembered the days that she and her best friend had spent in and out of Harper's home in Torchline, the days when it had really felt like she had her own little family. And yeah, maybe it was a little fucked up that she viewed Harper as a father figure even after she and Jude had broken up, but he was the closest thing she'd had to a parent in years. As starved for affection as she had been, she couldn't help but latch onto it with all she had.
But it could also be argued that she didn't really know what a true parental relationship should look like, having lost her parents so young and having been raised by a guardian who may have loved her in their own way, but not in a way that had been enough. Maybe Harper had failed her, too, in the end - disappeared from her life as surely as she'd disappeared from his. Maybe they had failed each other.
Soh stepped into Koa's embrace, hesitant but miserable enough to push past that unsure feeling in the pit of her stomach, wrapping her arms around him in return for the feel of his around her. And for a moment - just a moment - she allowed herself the space to grieve, and rage, and feel. And for a moment, he let her. He held her as her tears flowed and then slowed and then dried, and when she withdrew from his embrace, it was with clear eyes and a calmer soul.
"Thank you," she said, her voice soft but sure, and after gathering herself up, she led the way to her shop, which was still just as she'd left it (albeit a bit dusty). And perhaps things were still a bit awkward, still a bit uncomfortable, but the time they spent for Soh to look around, gather some of her things, and lock back up was pleasant enough that the girl began to believe that maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to work together to put their past behind them.
fin
But it could also be argued that she didn't really know what a true parental relationship should look like, having lost her parents so young and having been raised by a guardian who may have loved her in their own way, but not in a way that had been enough. Maybe Harper had failed her, too, in the end - disappeared from her life as surely as she'd disappeared from his. Maybe they had failed each other.
Soh stepped into Koa's embrace, hesitant but miserable enough to push past that unsure feeling in the pit of her stomach, wrapping her arms around him in return for the feel of his around her. And for a moment - just a moment - she allowed herself the space to grieve, and rage, and feel. And for a moment, he let her. He held her as her tears flowed and then slowed and then dried, and when she withdrew from his embrace, it was with clear eyes and a calmer soul.
"Thank you," she said, her voice soft but sure, and after gathering herself up, she led the way to her shop, which was still just as she'd left it (albeit a bit dusty). And perhaps things were still a bit awkward, still a bit uncomfortable, but the time they spent for Soh to look around, gather some of her things, and lock back up was pleasant enough that the girl began to believe that maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to work together to put their past behind them.
fin
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Sohalia.
Feel free to use force/magic on Sohalia.
