Event Private Finished Don't forget; don't remember

This was to be expected.

...Is what Tucker could have said if he hadn't seen the look from her eyes. Utter disbelief, with a hint of betrayal he couldn't really place. He'd expected for her to call him out that he was lying with consideration that she did know nothing about him, but the reaction that followed wasn't anything he would have thought of. And the implication of her words pricked at his heart, as much as he would deny it.

He had no words to comfort her; he still had avoided talking a lot about Valencia, let alone to reach out to her to know her side of Valerie's story. Tucker didn't want to consider any alternative to that story, nor did he actually have the opportunity to think that through when Valerie was his priority at the moment.

"Your m-- Mommy's not angry with you, alright Val? She couldn't be," he spoke softly. He hesitated for just a split second before he reached out to brush away her long hair--not that it could let him see her face with her curled into a ball. His heart went out to her, feeling terrible that she had to go through the virus' symptoms like this. Maybe things hadn't gone they way they did between him and Valencia, maybe...

Tucker shook the thoughts away before it had clouded his thoughts. "Everything's alright. I'm sure she misses you being all the way here away from home," he added, lightly combing he hair to comfort her. "She's probably very worried too; She wouldn't have just left you all alone." He considered a thought for a moment, wondering if it wouldn't do harm to send her notice, but he set the thought aside for later.

Tucker could hear Valerie quieting down, but that didn't serve anything to ease his worries. Her could see her breathing was still uneven and shallow, and it was almost like he could sense how uneasy she was, like falling into a quiet panic. The old mage never really considered calming down a person going into panic was easy, but what made this more complicated than it should be was Valerie's memory loss. She was far from home with no one familiar to her and even he was a stranger to her.

His heart went out for her; she was lost and alone right now and even he felt helpless. Yet it was probably because there was no one else she could cling to that moment and she asked him not to leave. It was only the two of them here. The last time he felt as lost as this was already from a centuries-old memory. A weak sigh left him, as he lightly reached out to his daughter to comfort her. "It's alright, I won't leave." Not this time. "I'm here."

For a moment, there was silence between them, with only Valerie's short breaths filling the space, until quiet hum started from the mage. It was a familiar tune, maybe nothing to anyone, but once upon a time, he sang the words to it with Valencia. Tucker hasn't sung or heard the song for a long while and it surprised him he could still remember the tune so perfectly like it was only yesterday he'd last sang to it. He remembered it used to give him peace of mind -- and it still did. He'd hoped maybe it could calm Valerie the way it did for him.

One part of Tucker relaxed once he'd noticed Valerie seemed to recognize the song; she seemed to be finally calming down from her shock. That was good, Tucker thought. He kept humming the familiar tune, his thoughts wandered for a moment giving him a few glimpses to past memories. For how long he'd been alive, they felt rather recent.

Tucker didn't stop humming until the harpy turned to him with a question, her eyes curious despite the tears muddled her gaze. Her voice was only above a whisper but Tucker hadn't missed it. The humming abruptly stopped, filling the room with a momentary silence. How else would he know the song - it was his and Valencia's secret melody way back when. He supposes now it was also Valerie's too. He wouldn't have minded -- she was their daughter after all.

"It was mine and Valencia's," he said, voice distant as if his thoughts weren't there at the moment before he looked back to his daughter. There was a quirk at the corner of his lips, a tiny little smile from then. "We were playing around with a tune one time... it's been so long since then. No one else knew about it; we never sung it around anyone else.

"I'm a little surprised you know about it though; I would have thought--" For one moment there was a pause in his voice; almost unnoticeable but in the silence of the room, it almost echoed. A tiny little hiccup in his words from someone who was holding back a sob. "I would have thought she wanted nothing to do with it."

It was all too good to be true: Tucker also had that in his mind. After leaving her so suddenly, he'd expected Valencia had burned any traces of him, not leaving a singly one, only for their daughter to come looking him. She couldn't have searched for him without anything to go by. How did she even know it was him that she was looking for? Now, he was learning that she's sung their favorite song to Valerie this whole time.

Valerie looked at him with so much questions in her eyes. Questions he probably couldn't give answers to; questions he should not answer at all. The harpy didn't seem like she was letting go but he wondered, if she knew the whole story behind him, would she still do the same? She wondered the same for Valencia, so he'd never told her everything. It weighed down on him then, and it still does now.

"I left," he told her quietly, petting her head and combing her hair back. "I didn't want to tell her why; I never did because I couldn't." He couldn't tell her that he was scared for the both of them. He was scared for her. Any time his enemies could find him and he couldn't think how they could get back at him. For once he didn't need to think about their short lives parting them but how long would either of them have to endure what lied in store for the elements that he'd challenged for most of his life?

"I could have said I wanted to keep her safe, but I thought that would have hurt her more if I couldn't tell her what from. I hurt her that day and left without explaining to her everything." He remembered that moment clearly; it was one of those few memories that came back to him when his mind wandered. "It's too bad... I didn't stay long enough to know about you and ran away."

Tucker watched closely for her reaction; if she would push him away, if she would be enraged or if she would make distance between them. She didn't, but he'd noticed her hold falter. She had quieted down again but he could almost sense her thoughts racings, as if she was trying to piece together a puzzle, or she was scouring her memories for a clue.

He didn't say anything more and waited for Valerie to speak; he waited patiently, letting her organize her thoughts for herself. For the moment, he let his thoughts wander too; whispers he'd been hearing at the back of his mind, questions that came to mind as they both talked. He wondered how it would have been like for Valencia to raise Valerie on her own without anyway to contact him.

And then finally, Valerie spoke. Her voice had been quiet, but her voice was so clear in the silence. Tucker froze in his spot, startled by the question. The idea itself, though he'd never admit aloud, made him somewhat nervous. He'd convinced himself Valencia would do better to never seeing him again, yet Valerie's simple, innocent words made him doubt himself.

He smiled at her only with his eyes, petting her hair just a few times. "Maybe one time. For now, you need to get better. After all of this is done, maybe we can arrange something," he said, voice leveled as if he was afraid to speak any louder. "I still have some work to do; is there anything you need, Val?"