King Of Fighters Fanfiction X Dead Or Alive

Unaccepted

Rugal waited impatiently as Elisabeth called Adel and Rose.
"They said they would come," Elisabeth said, hanging up. "Be patient, Rugal."
Rugal just nodded. He was feeling scared. He didn't know how her children would react when they saw her like this.
"You think they would... accept me?" Rugal asked anxiously. "After all that I've done? And to top it all off, look at me!"
"I'm not really sure about that," Elisabeth said. "I didn't tell them anything about your... predicament. We'll just see how they react."
Adel and Rose soon arrived. Rugal immediately ran and hid behind the curtain. He didn't want them to see her like that.
"What is it, Miss Blanctorche?" Adel asked politely. "You said it was urgent?"
"Sit down first," Elisabeth said, pointing to the settee. "We need to talk."
Elisabeth was kinda surprised to see Rugal missing. He was only sitting there a minute ago.
"You know how many people were resurrected after Verse was defeated right?" Elisabeth began casually. "Do you think your father could be one of them?"
"Well..." Adel said, looking down. "I do miss him, but I feel like it would be better if he stayed dead. He caused too much trouble and committed lots of unlawful acts to be forgiven. He never had any mercy and only thought about power."
Rugal was kinda heartbroken when he heard this. This was true. He had done lots of bad things in the name of power. And now, he was regretting it.
"That's true too," Elisabeth said. "But what if I tell you that he did indeed come back alive?"
"That would be great, provided that he doesn't go back to his old ways," Adel said. "We would only accept him if he chooses family over power."
"I really miss him," Rose said. "He was a good father even when he was a bad person. He never neglected us."
Ash noticed that Rugal was hiding behind the curtain and casually tapped her on the shoulder.
"What are you doing here, Miss Rugal?" Ash asked casually. "I thought you were supposed to be there?"
"Shh!" Rugal said, shushing him. "Don't blow my cover!"
"Could you two come over here?" Elisabeth said, seeing them. "You too, Ash."
Ash gladly pulled Rugal out of the curtain towards his children. Rugal looked at them with fear in her eyes.
"Do you recognise her?" Ash asked, pointing at Rugal. "I'm sure you do!"
"No we don't..." Adel said. "She looks familiar, but I've never seen her before..."
"Adel, it's me!" Rugal said, trying his best to sound like her older self. "It's me! I'm your father! I'm Rugal Bernstein!"
Adel and Rose looked at each other, wide-eyed.
"You've gotta believe me!" Rugal said desperately. "Rose, my baby. Even you don't recognise me?"
Rugal took her hand in his and looked at her pleadingly. She quickly withdrew her hand, a disgusted look on her face.
"I don't care if you're really daddy or not, but I don't like you," Rose said. "I can't accept anyone that has been gender-bent, even if it was Adel."
She got up and left abruptly. Rugal gave Adel a pleading look but he got up to leave too. But not before giving his father a reassuringly sympathetic nod.
Rugal could not say anything. He choked on her words. Even tears were not falling.
"Rugal..." Elisabeth said, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze.
"Leave me alone," Rugal managed to whisper. "Don't look at me!"
Elisabeth sighed and got up. She motioned for Ash to leave too. Ash kinda felt sorry for him and wanted to comfort her but Elisabeth led him away.
"He needs some time alone, Ash," Elisabeth said when they were safely out of earshot. "He needs to let his feelings out."
"Shouldn't we try and do something to cheer him up?" Ash asked. "He looks so down and broken."
"He is," Elisabeth agreed. "But he needs time to let it all out too."
They went to Ash's room because he insisted on giving Elisabeth a new manicure. They were kinda relieved when they heard Rugal enter his room next to them.
They spent hours with their nails and soon, Jacques came to call them for dinner. They went down and saw that Rugal wasn't down yet.
"I'll go call him..." Elisabeth said, getting up. "He's probably still sulking and wallowing in misery..."
She went up to Rugal's room and knocked the door. She knocked a few times but got no answer.
A little anxious that he did something to herself, Elisabeth tried the knob. To her surprise, it opened easily.
She ran in and stared in shock and disappointment.
Rugal was heavily drinking red wine that he found in Elisabeth's wine cabinet.
"Where did you get that?" Elisabeth asked, snatching the bottle. "And you finished the whole thing?!"
"What can I say?" Rugal said, obviously drunk. "Being sad makes me not realise how much I drink."
"Where did you find these?" Elisabeth asked.
"It's yours, you should know," Rugal said with a shrug. "I just found them and drank them!"
"No dinner for you tonight," Elisabeth said, taking the bottles away. "And no more wine."
"That's okay, I'm already full," Rugal said, leaning back on the bed. "I'm not hungry."
"Wait till you get sober," Elisabeth said, going towards the door. "Then you'll know."
She slammed the door behind her and went back to the dining hall.
"Look at this!" Elisabeth said, showing the bottles to the two men at the dining hall. "He stole my wine!"
"Now that's a big offence, Betty," Ash said seriously. "How did he even get them?"
"Who knows?" Elisabeth said. "We need to do something or else Rugal's gonna die a second time."
"He might even try to kill himself," Jacques said. "One of my old friends were thrown out of his house. The next day, he jumped in front of a moving train!"
"We need to do something," Ash said. "Betty, Jacques, to my room after dinner."
"No I think it's best we go to Jacques's outhouse," Elisabeth said. "It's safely far away and we can discuss in peace."
"It's on," Ash said with a smirk. "I have a plan. It may not be a good plan, but it's certainly effective."
"Well, as long as it doesn't cost your existence, I'm okay," Elisabeth said, stroking his hair. "I can't risk losing you again."
"Enough with the cheesy stuff, Betty," Ash said with a chuckle. "It's nothing of the sort, don't worry. I'll tell you guys about it later, okay?"
The other two agreed. They finished their dinner and soon, the three of them were sitting around Jacques small, but very comfortable outhouse.