yennefer and ciri or yennefer and jaskier, call me?
thanks so much for this prompt my dear!! here have some yen with toddler ciri, i cried while writing this :')) hope you enjoy!! 💜
wc: 546
prompt – call me
Yennefer stares sleepily as Ciri's shoulders rise and fall in peaceful breathing.
She dares not move on the bed beside her, not even to shift as her leg starts to go numb in the same position. Afraid that the slightest sound, the slightest breath louder than the others would wake her. And she needs to sleep peacefully for once.
A smile creeps upon her lips. Gods, she's so small.
And she's been through so much. She's barely five.
She tries to think about how she would be as a baby. So tiny, so vulnerable, she would definitely fit inside Geralt's palms. A silent snort escapes her. No doubt. Geralt's palms are huge.
She tries to think about how it would be to hold her then. Somehow, it doesn't feel right. The way she holds her now, the way her little arms fit around her neck when she hugs her, sometimes it doesn't feel real. But it feels right. The right time.
She has to make it right, she will burn everything to succeed if needed. Ciri didn't have much of a choice after all. It's on her now.
She wonders, will she ever love her as her mother did? She's not her mother. Not in that way, in the way that she feels the same blood flowing in her veins. She wants to laugh. When did she start believing in nonsense? Her own blood never did her good anyway.
Suddenly the girl's breath hitches, and she moans in her sleep. Yennefer feels her heart jump in her chest. Her hand hovers over Ciri's shaking shoulder, uncertain. Ciri moans again, a complaint, and then flinches and whimpers, and Yennefer wishes she didn't listen closer. Mommy, she is muttering, her voice weak like a baby songbird, mommy, mommy.
Yennefer feels a lump forming in her throat. It won't ever change. A child wants its mother.
Gently, she shakes Ciri's shoulder. "Ciri, wake up," she whispers, ever so faintly, and maybe she should have been used to the nightmares by now, maybe, but the way the girl's face twists with tears makes her heart weep. "Wake up, child, I'm here."
She doesn't know what the fact that she's here means. It has to mean something.
She shakes again, a little more firmly, and Ciri flinches and opens her welled eyes, looking up at her. Her eyes widen for a moment, then a thin whine escapes her lips and she jolts up, falling in Yennefer's arms. "Mommy, a dream..."
For the barest of seconds, for as long as she dares to go without hugging her back, Yennefer freezes. A child wants its mother.
Her.
Slowly, as though she will break the bubble of magic, she wraps her arms around Ciri's back and holds her tight as the girl sobs in her shoulder. "Shh, hush, dear," she whispers shakily and, on instinct, her voice finds a melody, an old lullaby she doesn't remember where she heard first. Silently, she sings.
Ciri slumps in her arms, her little body still shaking with some last sobs. Yennefer caresses her head as it rests on her shouder.
"Shh," she says again and when did she start crying? She leans her head on Ciri's, closing her eyes, and through her tears, she smiles. "Mommy is here."