027 Parents
Title: No parent
Fandom: Abhorsen Trilogy
Characters: Lirael, Sabriel, Sanar, Ryelle
Prompt: 027 Parents
Word Count: 606
Rating: G
Summary: Sabriel finds out that the Clayr were never good parents to Lirael
Lirael had always wondered what it would like to have parents. In the months after Orannis’ defeat, when they all had terrible nightmares, she would watch Sabriel comfort Sam and Ellimere after they woke up screaming, and she would wish that Arielle had been there to comfort her through her own bad dreams.
Bad dreams were something Lirael had always had. When she was a little girl, she would always dream about the day her mother left. Then when she was still a little girl, but her mother had died, her dreams would show her all the gory rumours, in detail. She grew out of that eventually, but she hardly ever had a good night’s sleep. She would have given anything for just one time when someone would comfort her in the night, but that had never happened.
One night, Lirael woke up suddenly, and saw Ellimere curled up against her mother’s side, gradually falling back to sleep as Sabriel played with her hair. A sudden wave of loneliness hit Lirael, and she curled up, muffling her sobs in the pillow.
A few minutes later, the bed sunk down a bit and Lirael felt the covers being pulled back from over her head. Sabriel pulled her up to where she was propped against the wall and wrapped her in a hug. It was the first time Lirael had ever been comforted by a human after waking up in the night, and she hugged Sabriel back fiercely as she sobbed.
A few minutes later, Lirael drew back, embarrassed that she’d cried all over her sister.
“What’s the matter?” Sabriel asked her, passing over a handkerchief for Lirael to wipe her face.
“No one ever hugged me after I had a bad dream before,” Lirael admitted. Sabriel was shocked.
“None of the Clayr ever hugged you when you had a bad dream?” she asked incredulously. Lirael shook her head.
“They couldn’t be expected to, they weren’t my mother,” she said, trying to defend the family she grew up with.
“They were your relatives!” Sabriel said. “You shouldn’t think you were a burden to them, you’re a member of their family even though your mother died!” Lirael sighed, she knew the Clayr’s parenting techniques weren’t the best, but that was just the way they were.
The next day, Sanar and Ryelle had no idea why Sabriel kept glaring at them.
“Sabriel, have we offended you?” Ryelle asked tentatively, wishing she wasn’t being fixed with the venomous glare.
“Not me, Lirael,” Sabriel snapped and turned away. Ryelle and Sanar exchanged confused looks.
“Why have we offended her?” Sanar asked. Sabriel turned back to them.
“You haven’t offended her, just treated her as if she were a nuisance her entire life!” she said angrily.
“We never thought she was a nuisance!” Sanar said, surprised.
“So why do I hear that no one ever came to her after she had a nightmare? No one, not once!”
“We gave her a separate room, so that she could have some privacy when she screamed,” Ryelle replied. Sabriel looked at her incredulously.
“So there was a child under your care who obviously had emotional trauma, seeing as she had so many nightmares she needed a room so she didn’t disturb anyone. And you never thought that that child might need comforting after those dreams?” she said sarcastically. “I find myself ecstatically happy my father didn’t send me to stay with the Clayr instead of Ancelstierre, although I found out he did contemplate it.”
Sanar and Ryelle looked at each other in confusion. How was one supposed to act like a parent to someone else’s child?
Fandom: Abhorsen Trilogy
Characters: Lirael, Sabriel, Sanar, Ryelle
Prompt: 027 Parents
Word Count: 606
Rating: G
Summary: Sabriel finds out that the Clayr were never good parents to Lirael
Lirael had always wondered what it would like to have parents. In the months after Orannis’ defeat, when they all had terrible nightmares, she would watch Sabriel comfort Sam and Ellimere after they woke up screaming, and she would wish that Arielle had been there to comfort her through her own bad dreams.
Bad dreams were something Lirael had always had. When she was a little girl, she would always dream about the day her mother left. Then when she was still a little girl, but her mother had died, her dreams would show her all the gory rumours, in detail. She grew out of that eventually, but she hardly ever had a good night’s sleep. She would have given anything for just one time when someone would comfort her in the night, but that had never happened.
One night, Lirael woke up suddenly, and saw Ellimere curled up against her mother’s side, gradually falling back to sleep as Sabriel played with her hair. A sudden wave of loneliness hit Lirael, and she curled up, muffling her sobs in the pillow.
A few minutes later, the bed sunk down a bit and Lirael felt the covers being pulled back from over her head. Sabriel pulled her up to where she was propped against the wall and wrapped her in a hug. It was the first time Lirael had ever been comforted by a human after waking up in the night, and she hugged Sabriel back fiercely as she sobbed.
A few minutes later, Lirael drew back, embarrassed that she’d cried all over her sister.
“What’s the matter?” Sabriel asked her, passing over a handkerchief for Lirael to wipe her face.
“No one ever hugged me after I had a bad dream before,” Lirael admitted. Sabriel was shocked.
“None of the Clayr ever hugged you when you had a bad dream?” she asked incredulously. Lirael shook her head.
“They couldn’t be expected to, they weren’t my mother,” she said, trying to defend the family she grew up with.
“They were your relatives!” Sabriel said. “You shouldn’t think you were a burden to them, you’re a member of their family even though your mother died!” Lirael sighed, she knew the Clayr’s parenting techniques weren’t the best, but that was just the way they were.
The next day, Sanar and Ryelle had no idea why Sabriel kept glaring at them.
“Sabriel, have we offended you?” Ryelle asked tentatively, wishing she wasn’t being fixed with the venomous glare.
“Not me, Lirael,” Sabriel snapped and turned away. Ryelle and Sanar exchanged confused looks.
“Why have we offended her?” Sanar asked. Sabriel turned back to them.
“You haven’t offended her, just treated her as if she were a nuisance her entire life!” she said angrily.
“We never thought she was a nuisance!” Sanar said, surprised.
“So why do I hear that no one ever came to her after she had a nightmare? No one, not once!”
“We gave her a separate room, so that she could have some privacy when she screamed,” Ryelle replied. Sabriel looked at her incredulously.
“So there was a child under your care who obviously had emotional trauma, seeing as she had so many nightmares she needed a room so she didn’t disturb anyone. And you never thought that that child might need comforting after those dreams?” she said sarcastically. “I find myself ecstatically happy my father didn’t send me to stay with the Clayr instead of Ancelstierre, although I found out he did contemplate it.”
Sanar and Ryelle looked at each other in confusion. How was one supposed to act like a parent to someone else’s child?