The real reason he told them everything was… because he wanted to draw out the real them. The truth beneath their guarded masks.
Yeah, when he heard Celestia’s words—about the Mother and Daughter’s bond slowly fracturing, fading like a fragile thread worn thin by silence and pain…
Of course, it would fracture. Even an idiot could see why it was falling apart.
And so, that’s why Aether… made his move. That’s why he decided to expose himself first. He laid himself bare, vulnerable and open—so that they, too, would be willing to reveal their truths.
Whether they wanted to, or whether they felt forced to because of what he did… it didn’t matter anymore.
He needed them to open themselves… to let it all out.
So he opened himself first!!
“Tell me… what’s going on between you two?” Aether asked softly, voice steady and patient, as he moved toward the bed and sat on the edge. His eyes roamed over them—calm, curious, but not without a glimmer of hope.
Sandra frowned, staring at Aether. Her expression wasn’t harsh, but her eyes carried weight—like she was silently pleading with him to stop before he crossed some line they couldn’t return from.
Aqualina, on the other hand, couldn’t meet his gaze. Her eyes dropped away, fixed on some invisible point in the room.
Aether hummed gently, a breath more than a sound. “So… even after I’ve told you everything… you still can’t speak?” he asked, his voice laced with disappointment. Not angry—just… quietly hurt. “Come on, you two—”
“So just because you said everything… we’re supposed to do the same?” Sandra cut in, her voice tight, her brow furrowed.
Aether shook his head slowly. “Of course not. It’s not like that. I just… I thought maybe today, for once, we could lay everything out. No more masks. No more hiding who we are. Just… be real with each other. That’s all.” He shrugged his shoulders lightly, a weak gesture of surrender, “But if you’re not ready… I get it. I’m fine with that too. Take your time. It’s not like this is the end or anything… we still have all the time in the world. Who knows what’s ahead? I might not even be around to—”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!!”
“STOP!!”
Sandra and Aqualina shouted over him—almost in unison, but layered with different pain, both sharp and loud and sudden.
They glared at him like he’d just crossed an unforgivable line.
“Why are you talking about death like it means nothing to you?” Aqualina snapped, her voice trembling with fury. Her teeth clenched as she glared at him, chest rising and falling. “Why do you say things like that—like life is something you can just throw away?”
He just looked at her… and shrugged again.
That was what made it worse.
She could feel it boiling in her blood. That damn shrug—like it didn’t matter.
Like his life didn’t matter.
Was he trying to manipulate her?
Twist her heart? But no… she knew deep down this wasn’t about control.
It was real… And that’s what terrified her the most.
Because she knew… the longer they ignored this—this crack between them—it would only grow wider. She bit her lip, hard enough to taste blood, before glancing at Sandra, and then… she spoke.
Laid her bare heart…
“I killed her… with my own hands.”
Sandra’s eyes closed the moment those words landed.
Celestia, standing silently in the corner, stepped forward and offered them a chair with a gentle smile. As if she’d been waiting for that confession all along.
Sandra’s lips twitched faintly. She didn’t say it out loud, but her gaze held the message clearly—You really said it, huh?
Celestia, understanding perfectly, simply smiled a little more and stepped back.
Aqualina sank into the chair like her legs could no longer hold her. She bit down on her lips again as her trembling hands clutched at her clothes, knuckles pale.
“You know who I am… don’t you? I told you everything. My past. The things I’ve done. The kind of mother I was. Unforgivable. Irredeemable.”
Aether nodded softly. His eyes drifted toward Sandra. She sat there, stiff and quiet, staring hard at the wall like it held the answers she needed.
Aqualina’s voice cracked. “I… I thought maybe I could just… live this life as her daughter. I thought I could accept this new beginning. A second chance. I wanted to believe it was my way to make amends… to heal the sins of my past… to all the wrong-“
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Sandra said suddenly. Her voice was quiet, but it struck like a stone dropped in still water. She didn’t look at Aqualina. She didn’t even blink.
“Yes, I did,” Aqualina whispered, shaking her head. She turned toward Sandra, her eyes searching her daughter’s face. “I did. I killed you. With my own hands.”
Her voice trembled with the weight of memory. Her hands, raised before her, began to shake. She could still feel the pillow in them.
The way she’d held it.
The way she’d pressed it down on her daughter’s peaceful, sleeping face… until the life left her.
That moment had never faded.
Not once.
Not even in this twisted fate where she became the daughter of the very soul she had taken.
“When I realized I had been reborn as her daughter… I didn’t know what to feel. I was… overwhelmed. Happy, yes—I got to see her face again. But also… b-broken. Because I was born to her. And I had to witness her pain. Her empty, shattered life… filled with n-nothing but blood and death…”
Aqualina’s voice wavered. Her eyes turned glassy, and her lips trembled with emotion that barely stayed contained.
“It’s like… this is a blessing… But also a c-curse.”
Sandra’s lips quivered. She bit down on them, as if doing so would keep her voice inside. She said nothing… but her silence screamed louder than any word.
Aqualina smiled weakly, her lips trembling as she struggled to hold it together. Then, with a breath that felt like it carried the weight of years, she continued, “I… I decided to bury the truth. To lock away the memories that haunted me… and to just live as her daughter just like how I was…. As Sandra’s daughter. I chose to pretend… to believe in that illusion… I told myself it was enough. That it was okay…”
She paused, her voice cracking as guilt crept into her tone.
“I know… I know it’s wrong. I know it’s unforgivable—”
“No, it’s not,” Sandra cut in firmly, without even turning her head. Her voice was sharp but calm, like an iron blade kept cool in the fire.
Yet—
“It is unforgivable!” Aqualina snapped, her teeth grinding together as she trembled—angry, but only at herself.
“It’s… really unforgivable…” she choked out, panting slightly as emotion caught in her throat. “Ha… ha…” A hollow laugh escaped her lips, bitter and broken.
“I chose to live as her daughter… and nothing more. I told myself I’d take this secret to the grave. That I’d never—never—tell anyone. I know I’m being selfish.
I know I am. But I just… I just wanted to see my daughter again. I just wanted to hold her. To be with her…”
Her voice grew softer, more fragile. She clutched her own arms like she was trying to hold herself together.
“I lost everything once because of my stupidity. I couldn’t bear to lose it again… not this time. Even if it meant living as her child.
Even if it meant hiding this guilt for the rest of my life.
I thought I could endure it. I really believed I could carry it… so long as I got to be by her side.”
Her gaze shifted slowly toward Sandra, who still hadn’t looked away from the wall.
“I’m happy… just being with her. I really am. I was happy…” she smiled faintly, a flicker of warmth trying to bloom.
But then it crumbled.
“Until I realized… she already knew about me.”
The moment those words left her lips, her face fell. Her gaze dropped to the floor, her shoulders sagged. That warmth vanished into a hollow void of shame and loss.
The guilt was too much to speak through now… Her voice failed her!!
Aether remained silent. He didn’t offer comfort. He didn’t move. He just turned his gaze toward Sandra, who was still staring straight ahead, like she hadn’t heard a word.
But her lips were trembling.
It was subtle, but enough to betray the storm brewing inside. She was biting it back.
Regret… guilt… something she couldn’t name.
She felt his gaze on her, heavy and unrelenting. With a sigh, she finally broke the silence.
“What am I supposed to say?” she muttered, her voice quiet and distant. “I have nothing…”
She shrugged—slow, stiff… Like her shoulders didn’t want to move at all.
Aether echoed her softly. “Nothing, huh?”
To be honest, Aether didn’t have much to add either. There were no words that could fix this. No clean answers.
As much as he hated to admit it, they knew each other far better than he ever could. Their bond—whatever form it took, mother/daughter or something more twisted—was deeper than anything he could hope to touch.
And no matter how broken it was… one thing was clear.
They loved each other.
But that love had been mangled by guilt… Warped by silence.
One of them was drowning in remorse… and the other…
“Tell me,” Aether said at last, his tone shifting—sly, deliberate, the way it always did when he wanted to provoke. “Aren’t you even a little angry?”
He tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly. There it was—that dangerous glint in his expression. Aether always played with words, like knives he could twist under your skin. Most people would have put up a wall by now, guarded themselves—but not Aqualina. Not Sandra.
“When she killed you… smothered you with a pillow… choked the breath out of you in your sleep… aren’t you even a little furious about it?” he asked, casually cruel.
“What are yo–“
Then his grin deepened.
“Or maybe…” he murmured, dragging out the words, “you brought her back… just to watch her suffer? Is that it? A punishment? A beautiful little revenge story?”
Sandra didn’t words halted as she frowned…. her lips twitched violently. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, nails digging into her palms.
“Mind. Your. Words. Aether…” she growled, each syllable sharp with restrained fury.
Aether smirked, almost too pleased.
“What? Did I hit a nerve?” he said, his voice lower, poking further, enjoying the ripple of emotion. “You wanted to see her suffer, didn’t you? Let her wither under your gaze. Break apart piece by piece… the same way she broke you that night… is that it?”
“HOW DARE YOU!!!”
SLAP!!!!!!