DRAGONS & HORSES || [d. malfoy]

iii. I'd Rather Die

three.

∘₊✧─➶──𓆩𝞇𓆪──➴─✧₊∘

HER FATHER WAS never around when she was a girl but Percy had long grown over that fact. She was happy with her mom. Never curious about the man who had abandoned them.

Hell, she didn't even know who he was until her fourth birthday. A homemade cake decorated with icy blue frosting. A plate of blue, gooey chocolate chip cookies that were always baked with the right temperature and texture. Her birthday was perfect. Just her and her mom.

Although they were both happy. Her mom looked so sad most of the days they were together. Beautiful and incredible were the proper adjectives to describe Sally Jackson... but so were sad and quiet. Percy would often catch her looking off into the distance from their apartment balcony.

Most nights, Percy would lie awake in her small bed and stare at the ceiling, wondering-- for only a second-- what her life would be like if she did have a dad.

Would he play with her and keep her company all day long while her mother was away at work?

Would he take her to the park to ride attractions and rollercoasters like all the other families would do?

Would he stay by her side every time she got a nightmare?

Would he always love her and be by her side to protect her?

Would mom smile more often?

It was that year, on her fourth birthday when her mom drove them to the beach house. The sand was soft between her toes. The ocean breeze welcomed her like home. The air was warm and there was only one word to describe it all: perfect.

"Your father is a great man," Sally would often whisper to her daughter as they listened to the waves crash against the shore, "I met him here, on this beautiful beach. He loves you a lot, you know," she would pepper her head with gentle kisses.

Percy would giggle and sink into her mom's embrace as the moon rose high above the sea, her fingers still stained with chocolate after making and roasting s'mores over the campfire. She fell asleep by her mom's side with her stomach full and her heart even fuller (if that were truly possible).

In the middle of the night, she awoke to a strange sound. Footsteps against the sand. She wasn't scared though-- not at all.

Percy sat up, looking around only to find the silhouette of a tall man slowly walking towards her. When he approached, she could feel something homely about him, almost bringing the same sensation of a warm ocean breeze. She didn't need words to know that this mysterious man was her father.

The man said nothing all night. He simply sat by her side watching the moon, occasionally stroking her hair gently. In the morning, her mom woke up. Sally gasped in surprise when she noticed the figure besides her little starfish.

"What's her name?" her father whispered softly, for he didn't realize that Percy had been faking her sleep all night long. His voice was deep yet soft, like the residing of waves after it has met the beach line.

"Her name is Perceval. She's my pride and joy," Sally smiled fondly, slowly taking a seat besides her daughter. She ran her fingers through her dark raven hair gently.