Sasha was, in short terms, a happy child. At least, that’s what she thought and no one has told her differently. She had a dad… well, she had a father and a really fun uncle who seemed like more of a dad than her father actually did most days. But she couldn’t complain about that. Her aunt was pretty cool too. She taught Sasha how to tell different plants and metals apart, and how to mix them to get different potions and concoctions. The only thing she was slightly unsure of, maybe, was her father’s view of her. Did he not really like her? He seemed to avoid her growing up or was that her imagination? I mean, from the few memories she had…
He was there, glancing at her slightly with a look of… what could she call that? Fear? Dislike? A bigger word she didn’t know the meaning of yet? But, he was there. Even when she was spending time with Ko-Ko, Ezreal was never far away. Always hidden just out of sight or sometimes completely. But she could tell he was there. He had a very energized presence… aura really. That’s the word her father taught her. He was a witch, her aunt too he told her one day but she didn’t believe she was, so she wasn’t? Sasha didn’t quite get that yet. And concerning her? Well, she might be one, might not. Her father never mentioned her mother, he completely shuts down all communication whenever she asked. Her other family members have told her that it’s a very hard thing for her father to talk about, to ANYONE really. He had a very bad experience, they would tell her. After a while, she just stopped asking. Maybe she could try to get closer to her dad and then he would tell her? There was an idea but before she could delve more into that, she was roughly brought back to the present.
“Earth to Sasha! You’re orbiting again.” Her cousin says. “Sorry Chris.” She says sheepishly, she knows she has a tendency to let her mind wander, and when it wanders, she doesn’t always reel it back in immediately. She likes to see where it takes her, it’s always interesting and sometimes scary, to see where it goes.
“Don’t apologize. Where you thinking about your dad again?”
“Yup.”
“Did you want some help trying to talk to him?”
“Nope.”
“But if you don’t ask for help, you’ll be stuck in this stupid circle.”
“She said she didn’t want any Christopher! Just forget it and try to beat THIS!” Shawn yelled, expertly getting a pebble all the way to 10 and her hopping to match.
“I hate when you use my full name Shawn.” “That wasn’t your full name, your full name is Christopher Alexander Grimm.” “Even worse. Kinda weird for my dad to name me after him isn’t it?” Chris says to his only and absolute favorite cousin. Sasha simply looked at her other friend playing hopscotch virtually by herself. She shrugged in response to Chris’ question and Chris shrugged back. After all, she wasn’t going to actually ask for help. She could do this alone, right?
“Chris, hop!” Shawn yelled. She is the loudest one of the group… sometimes it gives Sasha a headache but she wouldn’t tell Shawn that. Chris let out a groan and hopped, not as well as Shawn though, he messed up on 6.
That caused Shawn to burst out in a mass of giggles and laughter and Chris somehow blushed furiously. Sasha knew vampires didn’t have blood so that sight was a little comical. She even laughed a little herself. Putting her big, complicated thoughts behind her, she decided to fully immerse herself in her friend’s game. And they played all through the day and partially evening until Chris sulkily had to go back home to his parents and Shawn inviting herself over to Sasha’s house once again. That seems to be something Shawn loves to do, Sasha noticed. Not going back home, preferring to sleepover at her friend’s house almost every day. Shawn said her dad was never home and her mom left a while before they moved to Twinbrook. In a way, that comforted Sasha, to know she wasn’t the only one with a weird family dynamic.
Later in the night, when the girls were officially done playing with Sasha’s toys and dolls, Sasha scooted back and wrapped her arms around herself before letting out a sob like sigh.
“Shawn, do you think my dad hates me?” Shawn turned around to look at her friend, her very first friend she ever made in Twinbrook. She cocked her head to the side as if she was perplexed by the question then grinned.
“If your dad hated you, he wouldn’t be here. My mom hates me so that’s why I never see her anymore, after all, a train ticket is cheap. I think your dad, by my deductions, is… uhm, well maybe he doesn’t know how to talk to you? Or maybe he’s just dumb?”
Sasha didn’t think her dad was dumb… but she did believe he didn’t know how to talk to her. At least to some degree. Whenever she would ask him a question her would only look at her for a brief moment before quickly focusing on something entirely on the opposite side of the room. He sometimes asked her about her day at school but only if he was busy doing something like, casting a spell.
“I think he’s afraid of me.” Sasha said quietly. Shawn got a strange look on her face then it smoothed out after she thought about it for a while. She nodded in agreement with her friend then outstretched her hand to Sasha. Sasha took it and they both stood up.
“Look Sash, I’ll always be here for you. If you ever need any help, that you don’t ask for, I’ll be glad to help. I promise.” Shawn said as she wrapped her pinky around Sasha’s. That made Sasha smile and asked very softly if she could help her talk to her dad.
“Just ask him to take you to the park Friday, Chris and I will be there.” She said and Sasha nodded. After that little moment the girls both got washed up for bed and had a calm and peaceful sleep.
***Friday***
As promised, Sasha asked her father to take her to the park which he surprisingly readily agreed to. Sasha was taken aback but overjoyed anyway. She didn’t think about why her father actually wanted to spend time with her but when they arrived at the park, Ezreal simply sat on a nearby bench and watched them play. At least he watched for maybe an hour then nodded off.
Sasha thought her father looked… peaceful for once in her entire life. Which wasn’t that long, she was only 9, almost 10, but she did notice a change in her father’s aura. Ever so slightly, he seemed more relaxed. Was it because of Grandpa coming over more? She thought so and she was very grateful something was changing him for the better. It would be a few years until Sasha would actually know and understand why her father was the way he was but she didn’t think about that. She only thought with him being happier, maybe, perhaps even hopefully, he would be more involved in her life.
As Sasha played with her friends, she enjoyed herself to the fullest, even when Shawn sometimes cheated during tag. Or the times where Chris complained it was too hot to run around like maniacs and wanted to just sit and do nothing. It was a good time for all the kids. Twinbrook’s school system didn’t really believe in summer vacation, at least, the public school didn’t. But sometimes they got a week off of school just for a mental break from all the learning they had to do. When that happened, the kids all hung out together, being almost inseparable from each other. People looking on always thought how great it was for them to have each other. All three kids thought the same. But really, everyone knows that.
***
“Here we go again. Vampires, werewolves, and the sky pouring down rain.” Shawn says mostly to herself. Sasha was busy digging in the sand, quite proud of herself for getting this cloaking spell down. Normally it would take a few years to master but her dad showed her a quicker way: Find something to mentally hold onto, and just envision yourself cloaked in something you would need, like a blanket. For her and her friends, she chose something waterproof, on account of the rain today. Actually, she kind of made their whole play area waterproof and that caused this whole kerfuffle going on now.
“Say that again you wolf!” Young vampire Christopher was spouting angry slurs through gritted teeth at his most hated enemies currently. The Rockwell’s. A pair of werewolf sisters always accompanied by their older brother whom of which, Sasha had maybe a slight crush. Ok, a major crush. That’s why she was pretending to be busy looking for treasure buried in this treasure-less sand pit.
“I said where are you FANGS leech?”
“Uh-oh, that’ll really set him off.” Shawn mumbled, personally enjoying the spectacle playing out before her.
Mirabel and Elisabeth Rockwell were one of the few kids who actually enjoyed causing chaos in the school, though they never really got in trouble for it. The Rockwell’s were one of the more influential families in Twinbrook with their parents being in the politics of the city. Either way, Christopher didn’t have a positive view of them. And it is NOT because they were werewolves and he was a vampire. That was so last century.
Jack Rockwell didn’t care about his younger sisters causing mischief, after all, Jack was 14. Obviously more mature since he was older. He also didn’t care about the little vampire boy calling his sisters wolves… they were, in a sense. To Jack he was simply tasked to keep his sisters safe from harm and danger and from his observations, the little lilac haired kid only had the balls to spout insults from a distance away. Every interaction seemed to be that between them. He was very uninterested in that. He did wonder how he wasn’t getting wet though. That was impressive, he had a little respect for whoever could pull this off. If Sasha knew that, she’d be as red as a tomato.
“You and your little entourage of weirdos don’t scare us Chris. The loud one and the silent one can’t even do anything worth mentioning to daddy.” Elisabeth spat and her sister let out an annoying sound in agreement.
“Yeah all three of you are useless, let’s go Jack.” Maribel huffed and turned away with her sister following. Jack got out of his head and followed behind his sisters. They seemed to have forgotten it was raining and as soon as they stepped out of Sasha’s range, they were drenched. Jack simply put his hood up with Maribel and Elisabeth screaming about their hair being ruined. That put a smile of Chris’ face.
“Serves them right.” He said and after awhile, Sasha’s grew tired from a constant use of her limited magic and the spell broke. By then, the rain had let up a considerable amount and the trio dispersed for the day. Sasha was the only one to stay at the park, thinking about what the girls had said about her.
“Sasha. Hey, Sasha? Kiddo!”
“Huh?”
“You just going to stand out here and get wet all day?”
A nice surprise on a very wet day. Her father came to her honestly, much needed rescuing. If he didn’t show, Sasha would have probably been out here thinking for the next hour or so.
“You’re in your head again aren’t you? And you completely drained your magic… What in the god’s name were you doing?” Ezreal asked his daughter. She looked to his eyes and saw none of his normal disgust, malice, or distrust. What she saw would, for Ezreal at least, be called ‘concern’.
“I… was…” she started out very slowly. It was always hard for her to talk to her father but right now, it seemed extremely impossible. He was bound to judge her and go back to his old self. “I…”
“You were in your head again. Where did you get that from? Did someone say something to you? You have a tendency to over analyze, you know.” Ezreal did a little trick he learned from reading in his office. He stared into her eyes, something he trained himself to do, and he saw a slight blur and it got brighter. “Oh.” Was all that he said and waited for her to tell him.
“There are these girls… and their uh, well these girls called Shawn, Chris, and I useless and I guess I just…” She trailed off.
“You’re… not useless, you’re just different. And you’re learning how to control your magic.”
“Yeah but–”
“You overthink, you’re an introvert, you’re a funny kid who doesn’t know how to ask for help. I think you get that from me. You have an entire family that loves you and sometimes you might get overwhelmed trying to fit in. Sasha, you nor your friends are useless. You just haven’t found your purpose yet. Those Rockwell’s are all the same, thinking they’re better than everyone simply because they have money. Don’t let them get to you.” Ezreal for once, maybe thrice, actually sounded wise in his life. That made his daughter feel a little better.
“How did you know about the Rockwell’s?” “I have a few tricks I could teach you one day. But come on, let’s go home. I’m tired of the rain.”
***
During the end of summer, the Xavier’s decided to actually come together and have some fun. Of course they invited Sasha’s two best friends and enjoyed the weather and festivities. It was a good life for Sasha, one where she couldn’t complain. Everything was starting to look up for the shy and quiet girl who was slowly opening up. And this summer was just one for the books in her mind. Hopefully, she would grow up to be a normal member of society, even with her father being the way he is, and her family being slightly, weirdly different. Who knows what the future might hold.
The Legacy of the Xavier's 