Daughter dearest

Naomi Thompson

Naomi came through the portal as the last of the family, her husband having gone on before her at her behest. It had only been so long since the battle had ended and she was still weary from it, running on the last dredges of adrenaline. Tragedy's Denouncement had been satiated for the time, locked back in whatever dimension it had come from. It was the very last thing that she wanted to think of at the moment, amidst the scared group of refugees from Halcyon. Terror had been wrung out of her long ago. Now all that was left was a bone-deep tiredness. Soon, she would reunite with her husband and perhaps then she could rest. It would be hard to cope in this new world but it would be like her first transformation from hope to despair incarnate. Difficult, but doable.

In the crowd, though, the familiar curve of a chin came into sight. Her breath caught. She brought her eyes back to the spot, trying to find another glimpse of it. There. Naomi broke into a run, all of the energy back into her body. "Janelle!"

@Keen

Naomi Thompson

It was her, it was Janelle. Naomi crushed her daughter into a hug, not that the girl seemed to mind, trying to burrow further into the safety of her arms. She buried her face into Janelle's shoulder, inhaling deeply, reaching out with all her senses to confirm that her daughter was here and fine.

"Oh, Janelle," she said, fond beyond all description. "Janelle." There were so many things to tell her, so many things that had happened in the last few days. Now that she had the chance to say them all, Naomi could not decide where to even start. Luckily, her daughter gave her an opening to the most important question.

"He's your father," Naomi said, smiling. "Of course he's fine. He came ahead of me to try and find you but I'm guessing you haven't seen him yet, have you? We can find him now, together." What a beautiful word. Together. She had never appreciated it so much until that moment.

Naomi Thompson

"He can't be far." Naomi forced herself to end the hug although she refused to let go of her daughter, keeping a steady hold on her shoulder. It was just too soon for them to be parted out, she felt, and the possibility of her suddenly vanishing right then and there felt so real and terrifying. "We'll find him soon, I'm sure of it."

"Food would be good," she agreed gently. "You can introduce us to the people you've met here. I hope they've been kind to you." And in the back of her mind, Naomi noted that they had better have been kind to her child or else there would be hell to pay.