Summary: Fox sees the spirits of their biological family while on the brink of death, and finally gets some closure. Completely self-indulgent hurt/comfort piece written at 12 AM because the brainrot is real.
Tw: Implied murder, death, minor suicidal ideation, mentions of blood, mentions of violence, trauma, age regression (sort of), mentioned child death, near-death experience.
When Fox woke, they were drifting, floating in a vast and inky void. They struggled to get their bearings, weightless as they were. Then, in the distance, they saw it: a small spot of light. It seemed to call to them, beckoning them closer. By no conscious effort of their own, they found themself drifting closer, closer. The light was warm and welcoming, and Fox felt no fear, only a sense of peace as the light finally enveloped them...
...and then they felt their feet touch solid ground. Looking around, they found themself standing in a field covered in mist, with a sky full of unfamiliar stars above them. However, they did not have time to ponder their surroundings before a voice spoke from behind them.
At the sound of that voice, so familiar and yet so impossible, Fox spun around. And then froze. They stood there, trembling, as they took in the smiling figures of a woman and a young boy...both with the same red hair and freckles as Fox. Fox’s legs gave away under them, knees hitting the ground. They hardly felt the impact as they stared, wide orange eyes filled with tears, at the pair before them. In a cracked and trembling voice, they spoke.
The woman nodded in confirmation, and Fox burst into tears. Suddenly, somehow, they were a child again, remembering that horrible night with perfect clarity. They remembered the fire and the screams. Fox even looked the same as they had that day, with soot stained skin, and blood and ash still clinging to their clothes. They hung their now-small head and wailed, guilt filling their chest.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”, they cried.
The woman, Fox’s mum, quickly crossed the distance between the two of them, leaning down to cup Fox’s cheek with a sad smile.
“Oh, my love, my child, there is nothing for you to be sorry for.” She said softly.
Fox looked up, disbelief on their face. They opened their mouth to speak, but were shushed by their mother, who wrapped Fox in a warm embrace.
“Shh, it’s alright, love. It was never your fault.” She looked fondly at her child, running her hand through Fox’s tangled locks . “You have been so brave, and you have grown up so well. I am so proud of you.”
Fox felt a small hand take theirs, and looked up to meet their twin brother’s eyes. Although he was as silent as he had been in life, his eyes somehow said everything he could not.
Fox sobbed. “I-I missed you! I missed you so much!” They let themselves be held, and soon their sobs turned into sniffles, their tears slowing. A thought crossed their mind, and they looked up.
“Am I dead?”, they asked.
Fox’s mum shook her head. “No, not yet. But you are close. This place is the border between one world and the next.”
Fox sniffled, resting their head on their mum’s chest. “Oh...maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, if I died now.”, they said. “I’d get to stay with you.”
But Fox’s mum shook her head. “No, love. You have people waiting for you. Your family is waiting for you. It’s time for you to return to them.”
Fox felt the mist rising, curling around them, forming tendrils and obscuring their vision. The mist grew heavy, pulling them down. As they slipped back into their mind, into their body, they could hear their mother say one last thing, her voice echoing after them.
...And then their eyes opened.
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