11: is more

~~Mauraline~~

I giggled as I ran through the dark halls, looking for a place to hide. Dad wanted to play with me today and excitement had run through me. He doesn't play with me very often, normally working on something for Gramps and Nana.

I ran into Auntie Angel as I was running.

"Maura? Where are you, precious?" I heard following dow the hall. The voice made the air get caught in my throat.

"Mauraline, come here, baby," Auntie called to me, bending to my height and holding out her arms. I ran into her, tears starting to fall. The game was already almost over, and I hadn't even gotten to where I wanted to hide yet!

I hid my face in Auntie's clothes as Dad came walking over to us.

"Angel, have you seen Maura?" he asked as if not seeing me in her arms.

"I think I saw her run into Mom's room, but I could be mistaken," she answered back, her grip tightening around me as a giggle escaped me.

"Of course. Thanks, Angel! Maybe you can join us next round?" he asked as he ran towards Nana's room.

Auntie then put me down on the floor and smiled, ruffling my hair. "Now, little angel, go hide!"

"Thank you!" I said to her before giving her another hug and running towards Uncle Levi's room. Just before I reached the door, I felt a tug towards another room.

The door was slightly open and the air spilling out caused me to shiver.

There was a piece of black tape on the door, signaling this as a room I wasn't allowed in. Something about was drawing me inside, and I looked around, making sure no one noticed as I went inside.

I shut the door behind me and gasped at the room. It was beautiful, colored in different shades of red and pink. Pictures littered the floor and I picked up one. It was a picture of Auntie Angel, Auntie Liz, Uncle Levi, Uncle Kai, and another woman posing for the camera.

The women was slightly smaller that Auntie Angel with silver hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes were a bright blue that matched my left eye almost perfectly. She was wearing a silver, shiny dress that match that of the other girls who wore different colors.

I looked at the mass of pictures but one thing remained the same in them all, that girl was in them. A different one caught my eye, it was burnt along its edges, but otherwise intact.

There were two people in this picture, and the girl who was in this one had similar facial features to the one I had seen in the other ones, except her eyes and hair were different. Her eyes glowed a soft silver that reminded me of her hair in the other pictures, but her hair was just a shade darker than my own. She had on a dress that was long and looked like one a princess would wear in one of my storybooks. It was a white color but some of the skirt fell in soft gray as a man looked to be giving her something.

I looked closely at the man before covering my gasp. This was my dad. His hair was the same but a bit shorter and his eyes were the bright red that I remembered. He seemed to be smiling at the girl, but he was wearing a suit that I had never seen in his closet before.

He was giving the girl a single red rose.

Another picture fluttered to the ground when I looked up. It fell from the dresser in the corner of the room, where a clock sat. The clock seemed to be frozen in time with the pendulum hanging up on its left side as if caught on something.

I stood up on quiet feet and walked over to the picture. I picked it up and saw the same girl as in the last picture, she looked almost the same but her eyes were a dull blue and fear was written on her features, whereas in the last one she seemed calm, maybe even joyful.

The man with her in this one made feelings of fear and hate run through me. It was as if I knew him. His hair was blonde, a few shades lighter than my own. His eyes made my stomach churn in fear. They were the same molten gold as my right eye. I reached up a small hand and lightly brushed the cheek just below it. He wore a similar suit to the one Dad wore, but I could not see what he was presenting her.

The clock above me started chiming, causing me to jump in surprise and look up at it.

"What are you doing in here, Mauraline?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Week~~

I was angry. Angry at Rose for leaving, angry at Angel for leaving the door open, and angry at myself for not telling Maura the truth before she found it all herself.

Hundreds of pictures littered the floor, all of them having one thing in common.

Rose.

"Daddy, who is this girl?" she asked me, pointing at an old picture I had almost forgotten about. It was the picture of us at her mate-selection ceremony where she had accepted people vying for her hand and attention. I smiled at the memory before picking Maura up and setting her down on the bed. She was around the same size as an eight-year-old now at only seventeen months old. As I set her down, I stared at the similarities between her and her mother. They had the same blue in one eye that was always shining with curiosity and happiness.

"That girl is your mother, Mauraline," I started, sitting myself next to her and showing her the pictures of Rose that she had in her small hands. In one was the picture of the two of us with its burnt edges and the other was one of her with Zayn. "And that man in this picture with her is the one who gave us you."

"Gave you me? How did he do that, and where is my mom?"

"Baby," I started, pulling the pictures of her mother away and setting them on my other side. "He had hurt your mother, baby. He's the man who gave us half of you, and that's all that matters."

"I don't like him," she said, her nose scrunching up as it does when she feels disgust towards something. "He gives off bad vibes."

I laughed at that, only slightly under my breath. "Don't worry, baby, I don't either. Your mom was the one who took care of you for the first few months of your life."

"Then why can't I remember her?"

"Because she didn't want you to hurt over why she left. She wanted you to be happy and safe, and she knew the only way for that to happen was for her to bring you to me and erase her from your memories."

I saw small tears start to form in her eyes. "Did she not love me?"

"Oh, Maura," I said, standing up and crouching down to her eye level. I wiped away a fallen tear and looked at a few pictures I knew she would want. I picked up the one I knew she needed then, the others would come later.

It was a picture of Rose holding Maura a few days after she was born when she and William had first left. William had taken pictures of her life away. Maura was watching Rose and Rose was smiling at her, her blue eyes sparkling at her baby. Maura had her hand on her mother's cheek and a bright smile on her face.

I quickly gave Maura the picture and she studied it before her eyes widened and looked up at me. "She loved you so much, more than you may ever comprehend. She did a lot for you and she never wanted to leave you. Don't ever think she didn't love you, because she gave up her home and family all to keep you hers forever."

"Forever?" Maura echoed and I nodded. She slid off the bed and walked towards the hall and down towards Levi's room. I smiled as she left before standing up and closing the door, only leaving it cracked enough for whenever Maura decided she wanted another piece of her mother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Levi~~

I sunk deep into the world we had created just for the two of us. Rose was already there, her new bright white wings were on her back, they had accents of gold in them. Her eyes were bright, yet full of exhaustion.

"Archangel Rosalina," I bowed, jokingly. She snorted before wrapping her arms around me.

"Hi, Levi," she said. Her body was smaller than I remembered it.

"How is it up there with the other archangels?" I asked as she pulled away.

"Hard. Only Gabriel has accepted me as the new leader of the council in my father's place, and I can not change anything until they all accept me." Her words and diction had changed drastically. She sounded more regal and older.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I wish I could be there with you."

She smiled at me. "I do too, how's my baby?"

"She's gotten so much bigger, and she found your room today. She asked me about you and if I was really her uncle."

Rose's laugh echoed off the space around us. "Sounds like me."

"It really does, Rose. It really does."