Summary: this is when Gouhin comes in and helps an injured Bree with her injuries and this is also when he decides to talk to Rosaleen a bit which leads to her breaking down a bit in front of him.
Warnings: cursing, Rosaleen having a hatred of the Shishigumi lions, hurt/comfort, angst.
The clock chimed as it had just turn 9 o’clock at night.
Gohin was busy giving Bree her medicine, he wired as carefully as he could in order to save his tigress friend.
Gohin knew that Bree could come out of this, she was a fighter after all and he knew that. But he also knew he had to wait patiently for the medication to work.
He had now given Bree her last dose of medicine for today and he got up gently as he looked at her passed out form.
“Hang in there, Bree, we’ll get you all better…” he told her gently and then he walked towards the door.
“I hope….” He thought melancholy because at that moment all he could think about is what would happened to Rosaleen if Bree never survived this.
He opened the door and closed it gently and turned to see Rosaleen waiting anxiously in the hallway.
She got up and looked at Gohin in a hopeful manner.
“How is she? Gouhin?” Rosaleen asked the panda as he walked out of her mother’s room.
Gouhin took a breath and then began to speak. “She is doing well so far, I just gave her, her last dose of medication for the pain… she should be making a recovery soon…” he told her in a gentle tone.
Rosaleen sighed in relief and then she smelled the lion’s scent and growled at it… a scent that she now began to despise…
Gouhin saw the change in demeanor and then looked at her confusingly.
“What is it? Rosaleen?” He asked her in a confused tone.
Rosaleen then stopped growling and then turned towards him apologetically.
“Oh… sorry Gohin, I just caught the whiff of a certain scent I’m not very fond of right now…” Rosaleen told him and then finished with a growl as she turned towards where she picked up the scent.
Gouhin then realized she was talking about the lions. The panda knew that Rosaleen was having a quarrel with the lions and he knew that she blamed them for her mother’s injuries and also for them causing Bree so much pain from what Ibuki and Free did.
Gouhin remembered from his sessions with Bree and that he remembered how much it hurt Bree. He could remember all the angry moments and sad moments Bree had while she was having her therapy with him. Gouhin could tell from what Bree told him and how Rosaleen was behaving that they had been through enough and finally decided they had enough getting hurt emotionally like that.
And from what Gouhin could tell, Rosaleen had enough of her mother getting hurt, that she was taking out some kind of vengeance on the lions. It was like she was developing some kind of hatred for them.
Gouhin then decided to take Rosaleen somewhere, where he could talk to her about this.
“Maybe we should go somewhere to talk about this… Rosaleen.” He told her as he laid a hand gently on her shoulder.
Rosaleen looked up at him for a second and then agreed with by nodding her head at him.
Gouhin then lead her to a room and then sat down in a chair across from her as she sat in the chair across from him.
“Now, tell me everything….” Gouhin said as he lit his cigarette and took a smoke from it.
Rosaleen then took a deep breath and began to speak. She began to tell Gouhin all that she was feeling at the moment especially towards the lions.
“They say they care but it’s a fucking lie, they never cared for her… if it was up to some of them they would let her die in the fucking street…..” Rosaleen said with a growl.
Gouhin looked at her for a minute and then let her finished.
“And those 3 don’t get me started with them….” She said them like it was venom on her tongue.
Gouhin knew she meant Ibuki, Dolph, and Free, he knew the young woman had a grudge against those 3 for what they did to her mom.
“After everything, they had been through, they had the fucking audacity to hurt my mom… she trusted them… shared her pain with them…. And this is how they fucking treat her…. Fucking bastards all of them especially that Ibuki…..” she growled as she said Ibuki’s name and then said “He is nothing more than a fucking demon…. He ruined my mother’s life….” She said that as she began to get even more angry.
Gouhin looked at her and could tell she was getting angrier.
“Damn… this woman really has a grudge against those cats…” Gouhin thought as he looked at her and then he cleared his throat and trying to smooth things out.
“Rosaleen…. I understand how you feel right now towards the lions…. But they do still care for your mother… they are the ones who dug her out of those rock crumbles of that building..” Gouhin reasoned with her and took a smoke from his cigarette
Rosaleen then looked at him with a look of malice.
“If it wasn’t for them, my mom wouldn’t be in this fucking situation! They are the ones who put her through so much pain and misery and they are not even sorry for it!” Rosaleen blurted out and stood up from her chair.
“If it wasn’t for them, she wouldn’t be so fucking injured and we wouldn’t be here… under the same roof as these fucking lions…. Those Demons….” Rosaleen said with a growl, she said the word lion as if it was a bad taste in her mouth and continued.
“If I had to choose between my family and a Shishigumi lion…. I would kill him right now…..” Rosaleen said as she brought out a weapon and was about to leave the room.
Gouhin got up quickly and grabbed her arm.
“Whoa now!” Gouhin then grabbed the weapon out of Rosaleen’s hands and then set it down somewhere. And then made Rosaleen turn to look at him.
“Rosaleen, this isn’t the way to handle things… and your family is part lion remember… look I know the lions have caused so much pain towards your family Rosa…. But you can’t live like this, Poppy… IN HATE….” Gouhin tried to reason with her and even called her by her nickname that he had for her.
Rosaleen looked at him for a moment and then continued her angered rant
“I hate them, Gouhin… I hate them…” Rosaleen confessed as she paced around angrily. “I hate their fucking pride…. I HATE THE INSANITY IN THEIR MINDS!” Rosaleen shouted the last part out, showing her raw emotion in her words. her eyes also turning red in anger as she shouted the last part.
Gouhin was taken back as Rosaleen said that, he couldn’t believe Rosaleen would say such a thing. He expected this from other animals but not Rosaleen. But he let her continue because he knew he was seeing the deeper side of Rosaleen now.
“I’m so tired of those guys hurting my mother… I’m tired of her hurting in general… I just want her to stop hurting and be happy for once… all my life I have seen others hurt that woman… and not even give a damn that they did… and those guys hurt her… broke her damn heart and not once… NOT ONCE… did they fucking apologize to her…” She continued as her rage grew.
“I wished we never met those fucking bastards…. I wished the Shishigumi part of our family was not there at all… I’m ashamed of it… I hate them! I hate them so fucking much.. they almost killed my mother! And they don’t even FUCKING CARE!”Rosaleen shouted and then in her anger she punched the wall leaving a huge dent from her fist.
Gouhin took a step back a bit as she did this and watched as Rosaleen’s whole body then started shaking a bit.
When noticing it, Gouhin cautiously walked towards her and looked at her face and saw that she looked numb almost emotionless. The only strands of emotion was the tears in her face coming down.
Gouhin noticed how her body was shaking and trembling more frequently now as she cried and then with a gentle cautious hand, he grabbed her arm and then brought her into his arms as gently as he could.
Rosaleen snapped out of it a bit when she felt Gouhin hugged her and then realized what she just did.
“I’m sorry Gouhin… i didn’t mean to show my emotions like this… I just felt so much anger…” Rosaleen tried to explain but then Gouhin interrupted her.
“Ssh Rosaleen… it’s okay… everyone shows their emotions in a different way… I have seen so many times before… but you got to realize… you can’t live in bitterness and hatred your whole life…. Those two emotions ruin a person… and you care so much… you have more heart than anyone I ever met… if you let those emotions fester… it will destroy whatever kindness and compassion you have left.” Gouhin reasoned with her.
Rosaleen nodded her head as she looked up at him. And then Gohin continued.
“And you don’t really hate the lions… in my honest opinion… I think you’re more just disappointed in them… angry at their actions… because you thought that your mother finally found someone who did love her and would not abandoned her like your father did… but then Ibuki and Free thought of this scheme and it not only destroyed your mother’s trust in them but it also destroyed your trust as well…. Am I getting this all correct?” Gouhin asked her as he looked at her gently.
Rosaleen looked up at him in shock as he got what she was feeling correct. “Yes….” She said softly as she looked at him.
Gouhin nodded and then continued.
“In this life… we all get hurt… even by our loved ones…. But sometimes we got to forgive them, not for them but for ourselves… you see if you don’t forgive them, you are letting them control you… you are letting the pain and anger that was caused to control your life… you are giving the person the power to control you through what they had done to you. Forgiveness is not a gift for the person who hurt you, but is for you… by forgiving that person, it helps you to let go of the past and helps you finally move on in life and be free…” Gouhin finished.
Rosaleen stayed in silence as Gouhin continued.
“In time, Rosaleen you have to forgive them for what they have done… not for them but for you, Rosaleen, you must let go of all this anger and hate… before it consumes you….” Gouhin warned her as he finished.
Rosaleen then nodded her head at Gouhin. But she was unsure if she could forgive them… in her eyes… they don’t deserve her forgiveness or her mother’s.
“Alright I’ll try….” Rosaleen said but really her answer seemed to be a lie… luckily Gouhin didn’t notice.
Gouhin nodded at her and then let go of her and then began to head out.
“Well, I got to head back to the clinic… take care Rosaleen and remember what I told you okay… and don’t worry I won’t mention our little talk here… it’s just between you and me….” Gouhin told her and then left.
Rosaleen told him goodbye and then was now alone with her thoughts…
“Sorry Gouhin, I don’t think I’m ready to forgive them yet….” Rosaleen thought miserably and then left the room to check on her mother.