You Sweet Fool

"Don't you ever say that." Vervain's voice came out more heated than she intended, her arm tightening around Ashetta as if she could draw her close enough to shield her even from the battering of her own thoughts. "Listen to me," she said, her voice softening, becoming almost sad. "I have lived a life without you there. I have done it, I've been there, and it's not better, Ashe. Okay?" Tilting her head to rest it against her daughter's raven locks, Vai breathed in deep and let it out again in a long sigh. "I understand that you might feel overwhelmed," she said. "But you are not alone, and you deserve love. Even if you can never accept it in a romantic sense, you deserve a mother's love and you'll have it until I draw my last breath. You hear?" Ashe could have been as terrible as her Master and Vai would have loved her all the same. She shook her head and sat up to gaze down at the smaller woman. "Then learn," she said simply. "The things you've done... not giving up, even when it seems like the world is nothing but blackness and shadow. You wouldn't be beaten. You learned to be bad, so learn to be better. All you have to do is want it." vervain I am always on your side