Chapter Text
They watched Rumi run off, the sparkle of her tears the only sign of her passing. When she was around the corner, only then did they allow themselves to break as the realization of what they’d just done sunk in.
“Mira,” Zoey sobbed as she collapsed to her knees, “What did we just do?” she turned her tearful eyes onto the third part of her soul, “She needed us and- and we drew weapons on her!”
“I don’t know,” Mira was equally distraught as she released her weapon. Her tears soaked her hands as she stared at them, “I- I just heard her demonic voice and my body reacted before I could stop myself. I didn’t trust myself not to fall back onto Celine’s training and hurt her if she came closer,” she collapsed to her knees and let the tears flow freely down her face as she realized how badly she fucked up.
She didn’t reach for Zoey, she didn’t deserve comfort right now, not after she hurt one of the girls she loved with her whole heart. She imprinted Zoey’s crumpled sobbing face into her memory so she could remember it, so she could remember what she cost herself with her actions.
“I- we need to go after her!” Zoey tried to stand but her legs wouldn’t hold her, “We need to comfort her,” she grew more determined, “I need to- need to tell her-,” she cut herself off and sobbed again, “I need to tell her I love her, I want to be with her,” she glanced at Mira, “With both of you. I love you both. I don’t care if she has patterns! She’s still our Rumi.”
“If she sold her soul to Gwi-Ma?” Mira asked because she couldn’t not ask, she wasn’t sure she could hurt Rumi even then.
“Then we bring her back because I fucking refuse to hurt her again,” Zoey snarled.
“Good,” Mira stood, pulling Zoey up as the Maknae’s words resonated with her even as the Honmoon faded around them, cracking due to the pain their group was in, “I’m not going to let her go. She’s ours,” she cupped Zoey’s cheeks, “Ours. I will not lose her again.”
“Good idea, perhaps we can help?” a new voice said, and the hunters whipped around, drawing their weapons, only to see someone that caused the weapons to drop to the ground in stunned surprise.
Xxx
Rumi kneeled in front of Celine as her mentor and guardian sighed. She gripped the handle of the blade Rumi offered her and when the demoness felt the weight lift from her hands, she allowed them to drop to her knees.
“You couldn’t even do this right,” Celine muttered, “Couldn’t hide the darkness in your own soul and now the Honmoon is failing. I guess it’s a good thing I know how to fix it,” she looked at the blade and spoke again, “With your sacrifice the Honmoon will be remade, and we can handle the demons until the next set of hunters is chosen.”
“Good,” Rumi said softly. At least her girls would be safe if Celine could fix her mistake. She closed her eyes, imagining the girls from the other day, after they had come back from the bathhouse smelling of their perfumes and looking lighter for having relaxed.
Zoey had rushed her, leaping onto her in her excitement to babble on about how relaxing it was while Mira pressed a kiss on her forehead to greet her and let her know that they got her some of her favorites from the convenience store.
Her heart had been so full and she almost blurted out her secret, but then Celine had called, almost like she knew. That memory until that point had been perfect, but Rumi didn’t get happiness.
A monster didn’t deserve kindness.
A monster didn't deserve love.
A monster only deserved death.
She felt more than saw Celine raise the blade and she closed her eyes, This is for the best, she thought, I’m sorry, my girls. I didn’t mean to ruin everything you worked so hard for. I hope you find the happiness a thing like me denied you.
“Get away from her!” Mira’s voice echoed around the shrine and there was a clang of two weapons meeting.
Rumi’s gaze snapped up in time to see Zoey’s Shin-kal flying at Celine to the point her guardian had to dodge while Mira fought her away from Rumi. Then, to further confuse Rumi, a male demon appeared behind Celine and grabbed her in a chokehold that forced her to drop Rumi’s sword.
Rumi made to charge the male demon but stopped when she didn’t recognize him and Mira lowered her weapon. His patterns were glowing red, a sign of his anger, but Mira didn’t move further, she spun around to see Rumi as a look of relief crossed her face and then she was running towards her, dismissing her weapon as she moved.
Rumi made to back up but was tackled to the ground by another body. She went to throw it off when she recognized Zoey sobbing into her back, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Rumi,” she kept saying.
She was slowly helped to a sitting position and then was met by the tear-stained cheeks of Mira which caused her to stop breathing. She had very, very rarely seen Mira cry.
Yet here she was, upset and crying her eyes out in front of her.
“Mira, Zoey, what?” she gasped out and then Mira was cupping her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Rumi,” she apologized, “So, so sorry. You- you didn’t deserve that. I- we love you so much. We wouldn’t have hurt you. I promise, I’m sorry. I love you, please don’t go.”
And then her arms were full of a sobbing Mira while Zoey said similar apologies into her back.
“How- how did you get here so fast?” she asked. She had used her demonic heritage to teleport to the shrine. It was thirty kilometers outside the city.
“Hello, Celine,” a feminine voice said and Rumi’s gaze snapped to see the back of a woman standing in front of Celine while the demon held her.
“No, you should be dead,” Celine said, fear writ on her face, “I pushed you into that tear with this bastard. You should be dead! You betrayed everything you stood for! I killed you!”
“Oh, but you almost did,” the woman’s voice tickled something in the back of Rumi’s head, “You stole my daughter from me and sent my husband back to the demon realm before pushing me into the tear you created in the Honmoon. If it wasn’t for my husband finding me and offering a deal to turn me into a demon I would have died,” she sighed and Rumi spotted a braid, so similar to hers, falling down the woman’s back and the inkling became a banging.
“Mom?” she whispered out and the woman turned around. Her breath caught, because there, in front of her, was her mother. Only, the woman had demon patterns and yellow eyes.
“Hello, my darling girl,” the woman’s face fell into a soft smile, “I’m sorry I was gone so long, but I’m going to make up for it,” the smile faded into a scowl and she spun to grab Celine’s face, “starting with the end of this monster in human skin.”
Rumi made to stand but the girls held her, “Let her handle this,” Mira said with a scowl.
“When the Honmoon shattered because of how you raised my daughter,” Miyeong started as she gripped Celine’s chin hard enough that the woman let loose a sound of pain, “Kassadin and I were able to break through, finally. We find her fellow hunters on the ground, in tears, because they pointed weapons at my daughter because of how you trained them,” Celine hissed in pain as Miyeong gripped her tighter, “You trained them so well, that when confronted with Rumi’s patterns and voice and demonic heritage, their first reaction was to draw weapons even as their very souls rebelled at the thought of hurting the woman they loved.”
Rumi looked at her girls, heart in her throat as something warm began to blossom in her chest. Zoey just held her tighter, tearful smile on her face while Mira tucked Rumi’s head into her chest.
“She’s an abomination, just like you and her disgusting father!” Celine snarled and the man growled lowly.
The man with hair the same shade as hers.
“The only disgusting one here is you, Celine,” he growled, “You took out your jealousy at the fact I had Miyeong on a child! An innocent child!”
“What do you two care?” Celine snarled, “You’re both demons! You went against everything we were taught!”
“No, that was you,” Rumi’s mother growled back, and the dual tone echoed in her voice, “We were taught to kill evil demons, not the ones just trying to escape the pits of hell. You used me to send Kassadin back to the pit, then you pushed me into a tear you made after you killed Kim! You were supposed to be our sister, the third part of our soul, and you killed us!”
“It was for the greater good!” Celine growled, struggling against Kassadin’s hold, “The Honmoon was weakening since you married this bastard. It needed to be strengthened with sacrifice!”
“It was weakening because you were failing to uphold the tenants it required of us,” Miyeong said softly, sadly, “‘Trust, love, and honor’. You didn’t uphold our tenants.”
A snap and Celine cried out in pain as Miyeong broke her arm. Rumi made to move to assist but her girls held her, “No, she doesn’t deserve your loyalty, Rumi,” Zoey begged, “Please, stay with us, please.”
Rumi stopped at the sheer pain in Zoey’s voice. She finally let her girls take her weight as the adrenaline began to wear off from the craziness of the night. She hadn’t lost her girls, even if she was confused by what was going on. The Honmoon, as weak as it was, hummed a happy note when the girls reunited with her and she finally relaxed.
Mira pressed a rough kiss to her temple, tears still leaking down her cheeks and soft apologies falling from her lips.
Rumi turned back to see Celine on the ground, crying in pain, and finally let herself feel the anger and pain that came with trying to earn Celine’s love.
“If you had given trust to your hunters, told them about Rumi, you could have controlled them better,” Miyeong told her, “They would have probably seen it as their duty to keep Rumi in check and you probably would have succeeded in turning the Honmoon gold, banishing all the demons back to the demon realm, whether they were good or not, and killing my daughter in the process.”
Mira and Zoey gasped while Rumi stared at Celine, tears falling down her own cheeks at that. Was that her plan all along? To kill her?
“And now the Honmoon is gone,” Celine cried out, spitting at their feet, “So now your precious demons are free to roam, good or bad,” she laughed but there was no humor. She was unhinged, “I’m sure Gwi-Ma has already begun harvesting souls.”
“Then we can build a better one,” Rumi said, the first thing she had said all night as she stood tall, “You never loved me, you just saw me as a pawn in your sick game, didn’t you?”
“You are such a pathetic girl,” Celine grinned at her, sick amusement on her face, “Always wanting my love, my care, well you would only have gotten it after-ah!”
A shin-kal embedded itself in her shoulder and Zoey’s blazing eyes glared at her, “You don’t get to talk to her like that! She deserves all the love she can handle.”
“She always took hits for us in battle,” Mira growled, “Always handled the handsy sponsors or pushy fans because she didn’t want us to be uncomfortable,” her fists clenched around her resummoned gok-do. “But that was because she saw it as her duty to take those hits, because she thought she had to earn our love. She cared so much about us that she thought the only way to be a part of our life was to stay useful.”
“And because of her patterns,” Zoey went to step forward but stopped herself as she took Rumi’s hand, “she wouldn’t let us help her patch up after a battle.”
“How often did you need help but didn’t ask?” Mira asked, “How often did you take hits for us because you thought it was the only way to keep us in your life?”
Rumi felt tears in her eyes at that, “To- too many times,” she sobbed, “But I heal fast!” she was quick to reassure, “I could take hits for you that would have killed you.”
Mira let loose a stuttering breath and dropped her weapon, pulling her into a deep hug. Zoey latched on to her back once again but Rumi pulled her around so she could hug Mira too.
“no more,” Mira told her, “You aren’t to take unnecessary hits anymore.”
“Please,” Zoey begged as she still cried into her.
“Girls,” Rumi turned to her mother, “Go handle Gwi-Ma,” she smiled softly, “I trust you know what to do. We will handle this,” she glared at Celine.
“And Rumi?” her father spoke softly, “We are so proud of the woman you have become. We will talk after.”
With a nod and determination not to let these people down, “Hold tight,” she reached deep and the three of them were gone in pink mist.
Xxx
They collapsed onto their couch, coming up with a song on the spot, battling demons, and watching her sort-of friend/mentor die was exhausting.
“Rumi?” she turned to see Mira staring at her with soft eyes, “Are you okay?”
Rumi was about to answer she was fine, even if she didn’t really feel it, but Zoey’s head landing on her shoulder killed the thought, “I- I don’t know how to feel. Everything Celine taught us was a lie, my parents are apparently both demons and alive, and we just created a new Honmoon that banished all the remaining demons back, but maybe not the good ones?”
“Yeah,” Zoey mumbled against her shoulder, “We also confessed to you, but I don’t think you really heard it,” Rumi’s patterns flared bright pink at that.
“What?” she yelped and turned to stare at the Maknae.
She shared a wobbly smile, “We love you, as in we are in love with you, Rumi.”
“But I lied to you, I’m half-demon,” she started but a long finger against her lip shut her up.
“That was Celine,” Mira said softly, “She forced a lot on you, manipulated you,” she scowled, “That bitch forced you to keep us at arm’s length our entire lives,” she looked to Rumi and Rumi felt herself swallow at the look she received, “Can we make up for lost time? Can we start to show each other what we were missing?”
“Please?” Zoey asked and she turned to see the Puppy Pout at full power, “We love you Rumi, let us show you?”
“Okay,” she found herself saying and felt a hand on her chin, pulling her to Mira’s face so the taller woman could kiss her. Her breathing stuttered at the contact and, as chaste as it was, Rumi found herself wanting to deepen it.
When Mira pulled back Zoey was quick to take her place, slotting herself in Rumi’s lap and she was a lot rougher with her kiss, like she could barely hold herself back before and her control snapped.
Rumi felt Mira’s hand tracing the patterns on her arm and she moaned into Zoey’s mouth which allowed the Maknae to begin to massage her tongue with her own.
“Oh that’s hot,” Mira said softly, “My beautiful girls,” she began to alternate kissing their necks and Rumi felt a jolt every time she would hit one of her patterns, tears coming to her eyes at the feelings of love, comfort, and care she received from her girls through the new Honmoon.
“God, do you two feel that?” Zoey asked when she moved back, “I can- I can feel your love!”
“I know,” Mira replied roughly and then pulled Zoey in for a deep kiss that was too fast and not enough for Rumi since her heart raced at seeing her two favorite people making out.
Mira pulled back and the three cuddled, all of them teary-eyed and sniffling. Rumi shifted and hissed as Zoey’s costume caught a tender spot where a demon had hit her in the final battle.
Zoey pulled back and saw the bruise, “Oh! I’m sorry,” she kissed the bruise which did nothing for the pain but did make Rumi feel better, “Does it hurt anywhere else?”
Rumi showed her a scratch on her hand and received a kiss there too. She pointed out Mira’s black eye and then kissed a bruise on Zoey’s jaw when it was revealed when the Maknae kissed their dancer’s bruised eye.
“It, uh, it hurts right here too,” Zoey mumbled and pointed to a clear spot on her neck where it met her shoulder.
She watched Mira smirk at their Maknae before kissing the spot, causing Zoey’s breath to hitch.
“It hurts here for me,” Mira pointed at her lips and Rumi was quick to kiss them, getting more into the kiss this time. She heard Zoey’s breathing increase as they kissed and reluctantly pulled away.
“We should shower,” Rumi found her mouth saying out of the blue. Both her girls stared at her, surprise coloring their faces before red took over.
“Like- together?” Zoey asked, voice a touch high.
Rumi took a deep breath to steel her nerves, “Yes,” she nodded, “Because after today, I don’t want either of you too far from me.”
“Okay,” Mira said shakily, “No biggy, just getting naked with my two incredibly beautiful girls, I can handle that.”
Rumi shared a look with Zoey as the Maknae giggled. Another deep breath, another steeled nerve, “How about girlfriends?” she asked and had to immediately cover her ears as the noise Zoey let out was only audible to dogs, (and demons apparently).
“I think I’d love that,” Mira smiled at her.
“My showers the biggest.”
Xxx
Rumi woke buried in her girls. Zoey was latched onto her like a koala while Mira had her arm over the both of them with her nose buried in Rumi’s hair. Her smile was wide and soft, a feeling of contentment in her chest that it hadn’t all been a dream.
They had taken a shower together, very platonically, despite Zoey’s wandering hands and everyone’s wandering eyes. God her girlfriends were so beautiful, but they were all so tired. They all washed each other and helped dry everyone’s hair before dressing in comfortable sleepwear and crashing into Rumi’s large bed.
She snuggled deeper into the blankets and her girls, remembering all the soft kisses they shared as they fell asleep, but then her hearing picked up someone moving around in the kitchen.
Her eyes snapped back open, and she shook the girls. When they both just groaned at her she bit her lip in thought. Maybe it was the tiger, or the bird? She didn’t want to get her girls up for that, especially at six in the morning.
So, shifting slightly, she pulled Zoey over her enough that Mira latched on to her and she was able to sneak out of the bed. When she made it to the door she sighed in defeat. The sun beamed directly into her door and would wake the girls at this hour.
Then she had a thought, maybe- a poof of smoke and she was on the other side of the door and was able to hear low voices coming from the kitchen. She summoned her new blade, the heavier sword throwing her balance off for a moment before she instinctively corrected it.
“It will be fine love,” a familiar voice stated, “Maybe you should wait until one of the girls gets up before cooking? It is their food, isn’t it?”
“But I’ve missed over twenty years of her life, Kass,” her mother’s voice said softly and Rumi could hear the pain in her voice, “I- I need to make up for everything. She was with that bitch for too long, she probably has no idea that I loved her, that I missed her every day in that damn pit. That she’s the reason we fought so long to break through the barrier to get to her.”
“I know, dear,” her father replied soothed, “I know we missed so much, but we are here now. It wasn’t our fault we were stuck behind that barrier.”
“I know,” Rumi heard her sigh, “but I just- I have to do something. I can’t just sit here and wait for her to get up and ask if I can make her breakfast,” she paused and said softly, “Do you think Celine ever made her breakfast? Ever gave her hugs when she was sick or sad? Did she treat her like a mother should at all?”
“She didn’t,” Rumi made herself known and both her parents jumped in surprise, “She had a nanny taking care of me from a young age and was rarely around,” Rumi told them as she slowly stepped into the room. “What are you two doing here?”
“We- we wanted to see you, but you three were sleeping so-,” her mother awkwardly began but cut herself off.
“Your mother couldn’t wait to see you so we’ve been here for a few hours,” he smiled softly at her, “She wanted to make you breakfast but I didn’t think you would want her using your stuff.”
“Oh,” Rumi said softly, nervous with her parents in front of her but determined not to make them feel unwanted, “Well, go ahead? I can help,” she walked forward, “In fact, I insist on helping.”
“Okay,” her mother looked like she was going to argue for a second but then decided to let it happen.
The two began making a large breakfast for the five people in the apartment. It was quiet, and slightly stilted besides a few requests or suggestions from either Rumi or her mother, but Rumi could practically feel the looks from her parents. She had so many questions, but her girls were going to be hungry when they got up, and she didn’t want to ask her questions without them there.
When breakfast was plated up, she excused herself to go get the girls. She opened the door to the room, only to see a frantic Zoey and Mira about to charge the door.
The trio froze and Rumi melted at how her girls sagged in relief at seeing her, “When you weren’t in bed with us, we got worried,” Mira told her.
“Sorry,” she apologized, “I heard someone in our kitchen and didn’t want to wake you two,” she held up a hand to stop their protests, “The two of you had a rough day yesterday, and if I was in trouble I would have called out for help. It was just my- my parents,” she whispered out tearfully. Now that she couldn’t see them, didn’t have something to do to distract her, she realized her parents were here.
“Hey, you’re okay,” Mira said and pulled her into a hug.
“They’re here, they’re really here.”
“Yes, and they are probably waiting for you to come speak to them,” Mira told her as Zoey latched herself onto Rumi, “Do you want us there for this?”
“Please,” Rumi said, “We made breakfast.”
“We?” Zoey asked, eyes bright and Mira chuckled, even if she was a sucker for Rumi’s cooking too.
“My mother and I did,” she said softly and her girls held her tighter, knowing exactly how that made her feel, “Come on, let’s go eat.”
As they walked in, they saw her parents standing off to the side, awkwardness in their body language.
“Hello, uh, Rumi’s parents,” Zoey chirped happily, “I’m Zoey, this is Mira, your daughter’s girlfriends!”
The three people related to each other choked on nothing.
“Zoey!”
“What?” she asked innocently, “Am I wrong? We all kissed, confessed our love to one another, and then slept in the same bed.”
“Well,” Mira said as a teasing smirk spread across her lips, “Rumi didn’t confess, even if we felt it through the Honmoon.”
Rumi looked at her girls, looked across the way to her parents, and smiled softly.
“I love you girls too.”
They kissed her cheeks happily at that and told her they loved her as well. There were heavy topics to come, but for now, with her girls by her side, she felt like she could do anything.
“Let’s eat,” her mother said and four stomachs growled loud enough to shake the room.
Her father blushed bright red while her mother giggled at him, “It’s been a minute since I’ve had your mother’s cooking. Sue me.”
“I’ll call my lawyers,” Mira drawled as she sat. It earned chuckles from all present and the air became less stilted.
The meal was a bit awkward at first, right until Zoey asked if Rumi’s mother could sign her Sunlight Sister’s poster in her room since she had always been a big fan.
Miyeong laughed lightly at that and nodded. She then proceeded to ask the girls about themselves, trying to get to know them with her father tossing a question or quip out on occasion.
He was being such a dad.
By the time they finished eating, Rumi was ready to ask her questions. They migrated to the living room, her parents took the loveseat and the girls took their couch. No one knew where to start, and Rumi’s questions kept overlapping one another and getting mixed in her head.
A simple touch from Mira calmed the racing thoughts. She glanced to the dancer’s eyes and received a soft smile in response. She felt Zoey wrap her arms around her in a hug and when she turned she just saw loving brown eyes.
“I don’t know where to start,” Rumi admitted softly.
“How about we start?” Miyeong said, hesitant smile while Kassadin took her hand.
“I saved your mother’s life from a group of demons who got the drop on her about two years before you were born,” he began, “She was hesitant, since she hadn’t ever had a demon save her life.”
“I was hesitant because he was a flirt and I was so caught off-guard,” she corrected.
“She still won’t admit she was charmed by me,” he grinned roguishly, and Zoey giggled. Rumi felt her own lips twitch while Mira just smirked at him.
“So being charming just runs in the family then?” she glanced at Rumi who blushed brightly at that and Zoey snuggled close while giggling.
“It took him a few months to wear me down, but our senior hunters said to always be on the lookout for ‘good’ demons,” she laughed softly, “since they would always be happy to give hunters information on other demons.”
“Can you tell which are good and which are acting?” Mira asked, frown on her face and Rumi wondered if she was asking that because of her or because of the Saja Boys.
“Our eyes are more gold than yellow,” Kassadin replied, “It’s a bit hard to tell sometimes, but that’s how you tell.”
Rumi saw both her parents’ eyes were different than the Saja Boys. They were gold instead of yellow, which made her think they were telling the truth, “Why were we never trained in that?”
“Because Celine feels like I ‘stole’ your mother from her,” Kassadin sighed, “She had been in love with your mother for as long as she had known her, but…” he hesitated.
“I have nothing against people who are attracted to the same sex, but I’ve never been attracted to a woman beyond ‘oh she’s pretty’,” her mother said, “But she apparently never listened.”
Rumi’s throat closed up. Those nights when Celine was a bit drunker than normal after a party when she lingered in their condo before heading back to her home under the guise of ‘making sure they made it to bed’. The looks she received, the- she let loose a sob, “She made me look like you,” Rumi told them tearfully, “Was- was she grooming me?”
All of them froze at that before Mira’s rage snapped out, “Did she ever attack you?”
Rumi shook her head, “You were always there, or Zoey was nearby when I would see her looking at me strangely.”
“I noticed,” Mira sighed, “I didn’t understand the look, but I knew it wasn’t right,” she wrapped her arms around Rumi, “Now that we know, I’m glad I listened to my gut.”
“You would send me out to be with Rumi in those situations if you needed to do something out of the room,” Zoey gasped, “I was just too happy to be spending time with Rumi while you were busy that I didn’t pay attention to Celine,” her hands covered her mouth as she looked at their leader with a worried frown, “I’m so glad nothing ever happened.”
“I’m glad you let me kill her,” Miyeong growled, her eyes glowing a dark gold while her patterns pulsed red.
Mira perked up, “You killed the bitch?”
“We did,” her father replied, “twenty-six years late, but it felt good.”
“Agreed,” Miyeong groaned, “I just wish we had been able to break out sooner, but the Honmoon didn’t allow for stronger demons to come through.”
“So you guys were married?” Rumi asked to get the conversation back on track.
“We are,” Kassadin laughed, “Your mother was the one to propose. I was so lost in love that it never crossed my mind.”
She rolled her eyes, “Yes dear, sure. More like you were too nervous to do it because you thought I would say no.”
Rumi smiled softly as she listened to them playfully argue, her girls leaning their heads on her shoulders, letting her parents’ voices wash over her, and when her mother laughed, she felt something warm build in her chest.
A memory of her wishing for her parents’ love surfaced in her head as she watched them act like a normal couple, and she had something she needed from them.
She tapped her girls on their legs and both leaned up so she could stand. Her parents went silent, staring at her in confusion, but she just walked forward.
“There is something I’ve wanted from you, both of you, ever since I was little,” she said softly.
“What’s that?” Her mother asked just as softly as she and her father stood.
In answer, Rumi just opened her arms and said, “A hug?” she choked.
The two of them disappeared in pink mist only to reappear in front of her (four feet away) and pull her in tight, “We love you, so much,” her father told her tearfully.
“And we are so proud of the woman you’ve become,” her mother finished.
“I love you too,” she replied through her own tears and she felt two new hands on her back.
“Come here girls,” Miyeong said and then Rumi was in the middle of a group hug, her family around her. The only person missing was Bobby.
They had a lot of things left to do, such as explain her mother’s return and Celine’s death, figure out if they were going to go public with her relationship with her girlfriends, figure out an ID for her father, but for now, she was going to bask in the love of her family.
Her true family.
Maybe, a monster deserved love after all?
“We love you,” Zoey and Mira whispered in her ears as if they could read her thoughts.
“And you aren’t a monster,” her mother told her, smiling.
And Rumi, Rumi thought she might start to believe that surrounded by the warmth of her home.