We are Stray Kids - A Stray Kids Fan-Fiction

Chapter 96: Hidden scars and healing

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Humming to himself, Felix hopped down the sleek, stone stairs towards the kitchen-living room area. No matter how often he had walked down the stairs in the last two months, they still felt foreign to him. As did the constant taste of salt in the fresh, cold air that was so evident in all of Atlantis.

The almost forgotten underwater city was a weird place to live in for a land bound creature like Felix, but it was slowly becoming his home. Sometimes, he still missed Yellow Wood, but according to Yeon Hana, his parents' therapist, who he occasionally chatted with, it was natural.

Felix really liked Hana a lot. He never had gotten to talk to her much back at the NCT Headquarter, but he found that he admired her a lot. She was very strong mentally. Even after hunters had injured in a way that made her loose the ability to walk, she still made herself strong for others. The amount of people she helped by just being a trained therapist and having an open ear to everyone's worries and problems wasn't truly comprehensible for Felix.

"Felix, honey? Is that you?," Mrs. Lee called from the kitchen. A tinge of anxiety in her voice.

"Yes, mum, it's me," Felix quickly answered, quickening his steps. He emerged from the stairs into the open kitchen-living room area. His mother stood by the stove, her piercing green cat eyes meeting his chocolate brown ones. She breathed out and her eyes turned back to normal. Felix put on a soft, yet bright smile to ease his mother's fear away.

"Just me, mum," the young cat hybrid said kindly. He made a mental note to pronounce his steps a bit despite them being very quiet, almost soundless by nature. His mother returned his smile and turned back to the stove to watch the pancakes that were sizzling in the pan. Her shoulders were a bit high and her whole frame still seemed so fragile, even after two months of recovery. It yanked at Felix's heartstrings in a bad way.

Before her capture, Mrs. Lee had been a bright and kind woman. Felix had often compared himself to her since they shared a lot of characters traits. According to others, they also had the same sunlike smile. Only Minho and Mr. Lee argued that their smiles were different, but they saw the nuances better than anyone. The members of the Sky Clan also had told Felix multiple times when he was younger just how similar he was to his mother, and how similar Minho was to their father. Minho, who had been told the same, had found it annoying, but Felix never minded it. He loved his mother too much to mind it.

So, seeing her flinch when she was touched unannounced, witnessing how she tensed up when she heard or sensed someone approach her, or notice how she still couldn't eat too much, it broke Felix's heart. He knew, that couldn't prevent her from hurting, but he had promised himself to help her as much as he possibly could. It was slow progress, but progress nonetheless. 

"Mum, can I hug you?," Felix asked, voice softening to a whisper. Mrs. Lee let herself deeply exhaled, her shoulders dropping down a bit. She turned off the stove before facing Felix's with a loving smile on her face.

"Of course, hon," she answered, opening her arms. Felix didn't lose any time and moved into the embrace his mother offered. He let his head rest on her shoulder while his arms were loosely put around his mother's frame. The familiar scent of home surrounded Felix, but he reminded himself to not hold his mother too close. There was a possibility of her not being entirely comfortable with it.

Mrs. Lee herself didn't take that kind of caution with Felix. She held her youngest son as close as she possibly could, burying her nose in his ginger hair.

"I love you so much Felix. I hope you will never forget that," she mumbled into Felix's hair before placing a gently kiss on the ginger locks. Felix nodded against his mother's shoulder, enjoying her warmth and just general presence.