Lillian's Valentines Letter

Any other Valentine's Day would have been completely inconsequential to the woman, but on this particular day, she had many things on her mind and heart, her form reflecting the lifting of a repressive weight such as the past. All she truly held close to her heart had long passed to a cruel fate, except for one who miraculously reemerged from that bloody past. She felt she hadn't done nearly enough to express her innermost thoughts and feelings, and what other day than this one to motivate her to do so?

With pen and paper as well as a reluctant breath, she would write,

To she who braves the sea of time,

For times upon times, I have kept my heart and mind closed to the world at large. That time of death may not have taken me, but it surely wounded my spirit. Even so, I continued on for ages, bleeding in silence, surviving and carrying myself through.

The sights and sounds of friend and company falling to blade and illness cut into me, but such were mere nicks comparable to the deep, gaping hole that your passing left within me. My mother by bond, the one who had raised me, cherished me, taught me well, rendered faceless and irrecoverable.

The realization had crushed me, on that field. Not that you had passed, but that I would not see your face again, even in death. That I would never see your proud smile, your disappointed squint, or your restful gaze for however long I persisted. But even so, I carried on, wondering if I was even right to.

In all that time, at heart, I do not feel I ever grew away from that strange, quiet child you held so long ago. I surely lived, but I did not thrive. I recall those talks and hopes you had for me, and recently have been reminded of such... Right now as I sit and write, I cannot help but think, "Did I truly live the life I wanted? The one I deserved?", and my only answer was, "I should do so now.".

Seeing you alive once more, in better or worse moments, was truly a shock. At times I wondered if I was living within some feverish delusion, but I had to accept that you indeed conquered the depths of death and found your way back up. We reunited, and we are back with the Vandenreich, and even after so much time apart, you only desired to see me better, happy.

I had been reluctant to form such close ties with another, but you continue to provoke that desire to connect, to remind the humanity within me. I am still unsure of what fate this new life for us holds for us, but... I desire it to be one where we can survive, and thrive, together, with whoever else we may grow to.

From,
Your daughter, inspired by your bravery and tenacity