Chapter Text
Chelsea woke up to feel tears running down her face. She was very confused. How did that happen? She was way too young to remember most of that. Chelsea walked to the bathroom and washed her face.
Holly would be there soon to check on her. Chelsea lay on her bed, thinking about the dream. She had been told stories about the battle but hadn’t been told the full story. ‘Why did that dream feel so real?’ Chelsea felt like the dream was real, but she knew it wasn’t. The stories she had heard never ended with her mother yet for everyone to retreat.
Chelsea was so deep in thought that she hadn’t noticed the knock on her door. “Chelsea? Why are you up this early?” Holly asked, looking at Chelsea confusedly. “Huh? Oh, I uh couldn’t sleep,” Chelsea lied. “you okay?” Holly asked, noticing that the girl seemed distracted.
“Yeah, I… just had a strange dream,” Chelsea said, not bothering to look up. “Okay… I’ll bring your breakfast soon,” Holly said, placing something down on the counter before leaving, a bit concerned for the girl.
Chelsea looked out the window, still distracted. ‘Just one more day...'
~~~~
A few minutes later, Holly knocked on the door. “Come in!” Chelsea said she barely put any effort into making her voice heard.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Holly said she placed Chelsea’s breakfast on the tray. “Yeah…” Chelsea said, looking at her breakfast. “I’ll let you know when your therapist is here,” Holly said, leaving the room.
Chelsea began to slowly eat her food. She didn’t know why she felt so… distracted. There just seemed to be an endless cycle of thoughts in her mind, and she didn’t know how to stop it.
~~~~
Holly knocked on the door and opened it to see that Chelsea had only eaten half of her food. “Your therapist will be here soon,” Holly said, cleaning up the tray and a few other things before leaving.
Chelsea wasn’t too excited to see her therapist, but she knew she needed the help. She had been dealing with so much pain and stress on her own for far too long. Chelsea patiently waited for her therapist to arrive.
~~~~
After a few minutes, Kate knocked on the door. “Come in!” Chelsea, at this point, was very tired of yelling. “Hey Chelsea, how are you?” Kate said, sitting down. “I’ve had better days…” Chelsea admitted. “Oh, well, I hope it gets better. Today I want to get to know you better and see what else we can do,” Kate said, smiling softly.
Chelsea looked at Kate, a bit confused. “O-okay” Chelsea started to feel a little nervous. “Remember what I said last time: if you need to cry or take a break, it is okay to do so,” Kate said, noticing the slight change in the girl. “Tell me, what was your childhood like?” Kate asked in the softest voice she could.
“I know you told me that your mother died, but had anything else happened to you?” Kate said, trying to clarify her question. “Well… I was told many stories of the battle growing up,” Chelsea said, hugging her stuffed shark. “What kind of stories?” Kate said, writing something down.
“Well, most of the stories were about my mother and how powerful she used to be," Chelsea said, looking a bit sad. “Holly told me that you had a strange dream last night; can you tell me about that?” Kate asked. Chelsea looked at Kate, surprised, but nodded her head.
“My dream was mostly of my past, the battle, and my mother's death,” Chelsea said, trying not to tear up. “Can you tell me about the battle?” Kate said with a caring smile. “Most of it was just fighting, until a mermaid named Celeta; she was my nanny as a child,” Chelsea said, hugging her shark closer.
“She brought me onto the battlefield. From what I’ve been told, she brought me there because the castle was under attack and she thought I would be safer with my mother,” Chelsea said, trying to remember what the mermaids had told her. “After my mother yelled for everyone to retreat, I saw her in the hospital... I watched her die for the second time…” Chelsea had tears running down her face. Chelsea looked at Kate; she was smiling sadly. Chelsea had left the part where she almost died out, not wanting to admit it just yet.
Chelsea then put her thumb in her mouth. Kate watched as the girl tried to calm herself. “Do you want to take a break?” Kate said, seeing the girl in such a state. “No…” Chelsea said, removing her thumb. Kate smiled softly. "Well, then, do you want to move on?”, Chelsea looked at Kate and said, “o-okay”.
“Tell me, do you have any other methods of calming yourself?” Kate said, looking at Chelsea. “I like to listen to music and watch movies,” Chelsea said, a bit embarrassed. “Mostly newer songs, but if I’m feeling really stressed... I like to listen to kid songs,” Chelsea said, an embarrassed blush covering her face. “And what kind of movies?” Kate asked and continued to write things down. Chelsea’s blush deepened. “….mostly kid movies.” Chelsea started to nervously play with the fin of the shark plush.
"Are there any specific movies you like?” Kate asked, wanting as many details as possible. “Sometimes I watch trolls or the emoji movie…” Chelsea looked at her hands nervously.
(I actually watched the emoji movie while writing this ;-;)
“What do you do if you can’t listen to music or watch a movie?” Kate asked, looking at Chelsea. “I usually just try to be alone... If it’s really bad, I might run away from the area,” Chelsea said, still continuing to mess with the shark.
“So from what you’ve told me and what Holly told me,” Kate looked at her notes, while Chelsea began to feel more embarrassed. ‘What did Holly tell her?’.
“It seems you’re more inclined to be drawn towards childish things, and that’s okay. I believe that it might be because you never really had a childhood.” Kate looked at Chelsea with a sympathetic look. “Many people who didn’t have a childhood or a good childhood tend to act childish." Chelsea just listened as Kate spoke, trying to process the information. “I think I want you to focus on actually accepting your inner child and start expressing it,” Kate said, her clam voice never changing. “What do you mean?” Chelsea was a bit confused.
“I mean that because you didn’t have an actual childhood, you have an inner child wound. It may be harder to do on your own, though, so maybe try to get some you trust to help,” Kate said, looking at Chelsea for any signs of confusion. “So you want me to act like a child?” Chelsea said she was trying her best to understand.
“Kind of, I want you to express your childlike self and feelings. I know that it might be hard to accept, but I promise it will help you,” Kate said, smiling softly. “How do I do that?” She knew she sucked her thumb, but what else could she possibly do? “Well, you can start by doing stuff you liked to do when you were younger. You could also express your childish energy,” Kate said, giving the basics. “There are other things you can do, but I would rather you make the changes for yourself to make sure the changes work for you,” Kate said, smiling. “Okay…” Chelsea said she was starting to understand better.
“Unfortunately, our time has run out. I will talk with whoever is taking you home about future therapy sessions," Kate said, smiling as she handed Chelsea a small note. Kate left the room without saying another word.
Chelsea looked at the note; it was just a better description of what Kate wanted her to do. Chelsea laid on her bed and grabbed the phone. Ruby had gifted to her. She decided to watch a show she liked as a kid, ‘curious George’.
As Chelsea watched the show, she remembered why she liked it as a kid. The show was funny, yet entertaining, and had a bit of a lesson.
Chelsea enjoyed watching the show until she heard a knock on her door, interrupting her episode. “Come in!” Chelsea looked at the door to see Ruby walk in. “Ruby!” Chelsea said with a smile. “Hey Chelsea,” Ruby said, looking a little sad. “Is something wrong?” Chelsea asked, starting to feel worried about Ruby. “No, I’m fine,” Ruby said, trying to act normal. "Ruby, that’s a lie,” Chelsea said, knowing that Ruby could never tell a good lie.
“What happened?”, Ruby looked down. "I... broke up with Connor.” Ruby’s voice was so soft that Chelsea almost didn’t hear her. “What?! But I thought you liked him." Chelsea said she was confused. “I… thought I did,” Ruby said, still sad. “Oh…” Chelsea looked at Ruby, then thought for a moment. “Come here,” Chelsea said, moving over to make space for Ruby. Ruby looked at Chelsea, then climbed onto the bed.
“Want to watch something?” Chelsea asked as she pulled out her phone. “Sure…” Ruby looked up at Chelsea; she had a small smile. “What do you want to watch?” Chelsea asked, looking at Ruby. “I… don’t really care,” Ruby said, leaning onto Chelsea’s shoulder. Chelsea looked at Ruby, then put on an ‘inspector gadget’ episode. Ruby looked at Chelsea confused; Ruby never thought Chelsea would like something like this. “Ruby?” Chelsea had noticed that Ruby was looking at her. “Huh? Sorry, I just didn’t think you would like something like this," Ruby said as the intro song played.
“I liked it as a kid. My therapist said that I should express my childlike self. Whatever that means,” Chelsea said sarcastically. Ruby started to laugh. “Thank you,” Ruby said after she calmed down. “For what?” Chelsea said, looking at Ruby, confused. “For this, it helped me forget about Connor,” Ruby said, still smiling softly. Chelsea just smiled and laid her head on top of Ruby’s.
After a few episodes, Ruby noticed that Chelsea looked tired. “Chelsea?”, Chelsea looked at Ruby. “You look tired; I can leave if you want,” Ruby said, getting up. “No!” Chelsea said, grabbing Ruby’s wrist and pulling her back down. “Sorry, I… I just like your company,” Chelsea said, blushing softly.
Ruby looked at Chelsea, then smiled. After a few more episodes, Ruby noticed that Chelsea was struggling to stay awake. “Chelsea, if you’re really that tired, I think you should get some rest,” Ruby said, starting to feel worried about the girl. “I’m not tired…” Chelsea was betrayed by her body as she let out a yawn. “Sure, just try to rest, okay?” Ruby said as Chelsea closed her eyes. Ruby put Chelsea’s phone on the table next to her bed so that it wouldn’t fall.
She then quietly left the room.