Pascal walked slowly towards his home in the outskirts of town. His sack full of rabbits he had found in the snares he placed around town. He figured he would give some away to other people in town, but first he was going to take care of his own.
Living with his daughter Celeste had its ups and downs, he was extremely grateful that he was able to see her grow now outside of that circle of vecatrans…but the scars would take a long time to heal. Sometimes he would wake up to her crying quietly in the middle of the night or staring into space and he didn’t know how to help. He had never been good with words or comforting thoughts, he was good with his hands and labor so the conversations he tried to have with her ended up plenty of times in dead silence. How does he express to her how much she means to him?
The person she had seen as a mother figure her whole life had raised her to slaughter, it was no wonder that she didn’t fully trust him. He couldn’t blame her for not feeling at home, if anything he wondered if leaving her this hut and him finding another place to stay would be best. She could have her own place and he could come visit her when she would let him, maybe that was what needed to happen in order for her to get use to seeing him as her father figure.
He sighed as he saw that there were not candles lit in the house, that meant Celeste had wandered off to the woods to get some fresh air. There was a small part of him that worried, but the rest of his heart told him she was fine, she was a resourceful girl and that she knew how to take care of herself. If Lucille could see her now, Pascal was sure she would be proud. He hoped she would be proud of him as well, for fighting for the community and for their family.
As he walked inside he washed his hands and busied himself with the catch he had gotten today, if he couldn’t show Celeste through words how much she meant to him he would try to do it his way. His rabbit stew was loved by all that have eaten it and part of it he thought was because he made it with all the love he could muster, he knew that the food was going to those he loved and so he put extra effort in the recipe.
His friends and family were safe now, in selfish days where he was filled with melancholy he wished for himself to reunite with his wife. Minutes after thinking it he would feel guilty, as he had a daughter to take care of now, eventhough they were pratically strangers…would Celeste be okay when he died? He was getting older in age and these days fights in the town were becoming more dangerous. He felt that if he died while fighting for his loved ones, it would have been a life well lived. He had been ready to die for Celeste back when the crone had her, had told Fabron to watch after her. And Fabron would, Pascal was sure of how nurturing his cousin was.
What would seeing Lucille again feel like? He has almost forgotten her features now, only remembering the ghost like appearance she had about a year ago when she last came to him, desperate and crying. Pascal hopes she was pleased with what he had done for his family.
He blinks the tears away, seeing a lantern in the distance coming back. Celeste. He shakes his head to snap himself out of his thoughts and instead busies himself on trying to make the best rabbit stew for his daughter as the lantern gets closer.
