Author's Note: So I had originally thought of writing a Christmas fic about five different pairings and tie them together (Flora/Daryll, Hugh/Kate, Grant/Samantha, Muffy/Rock, Claire/Rick) but I was writing it and I realized- it sucked. So I scrapped that and took pieces of my favorite storylines (Kate/Hugh and Grant/Samantha) and combined them to make this!
This is also my Secret Santa gift to Moonlit Dreaming! I hope you enjoy, Moonlit! I tried to incorporate a lot of different things that you wanted like family and friendship and whatnot. Sorry that it's not terribly wintery (is that a word? ...well whatever) but I figured you'd rather have a good story overall than a lame wintery story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Merry Christmas! :)
-...-
She was such a clumsy thing when she was little. She would always fall and scrape her knees. But unlike the other girls, she would merely pick herself off, brush off the dirt and start right back to running.
Her parents would watch her, holding each other close as they watched their daughter frolic about gleefully. They would giggle and joke and kiss and hug and say 'how wonderful' she was, what 'a joy' it was that the whole family was able to spend time together.
When she would fall, her mother would run over despite being in heels and ask, "Honey, do you want a band-aid?" But she would always refuse, because the pain never stayed as long as she kept on running. It was when she stopped that it stung.
And her mother would pat her on the head and tell her what a fine woman she would become.
What did she know about being a 'fine woman'?
-...-
She always thought that she was invincible. Nothing could touch her as long as she stayed out of reach.
After all, you can't hurt something you can't get close to.
-...-
"Well, this is it. Our new home, Kate. Welcome to Forget-Me-Not Valley!"
This was it was right. This valley was as unbelievable as its name. There were no arcades or shopping malls or, heck, even a measly hot dog stand was nowhere to be found. There was simply nature. Lots and lots of nature.
She followed her parents as they entered the house. It was nothing special, just a simple two-story house with a basic kitchen and two beds upstairs. How exciting.
They set their suitcases down and began unpacking. "Oh, you don't need to stay, Kate. We can unpack your stuff for you. Go explore and have fun." Her father told her, grinning his feeble smile. But her mother intervened. "Grant, I need her help unpacking or else this will take us twice as long."
Kate left before they could argue anymore. It was so much easier to leave and make believe it wasn't a fight. No, it surely wasn't that. Just an argument, a disagreement- a discussion. Yes that's what it was. A discussion.
-...-
She meets a boy a day or two after unpacking. He is young and vibrant and happy and everything Kate is not.
"I'm Hugh," he says while jogging alongside of her. She tries to follow him as he runs around her and gets so frustrated that she reaches out in front of her until he smacks into her arm and falls to the ground. She sneers.
"And I'm Kate. Nice to meetcha."
-...-
She won't admit something is wrong, because that means something is not right and you can't be invincible when something is not right. Everything is perfect.
At least, that's what she makes believe.
-...-
Her parents are having what's felt like the eighth "discussion" this week. She stays secluded up in her room where the voices are muffled and she can make believe that they are simply yelling at the TV about sports or news.
She is trying to focus on writing a story for school when their voices escalate to such a level that the pace of her pencil matches the level of their rapidly increasing voices. It isn't until her pencil breaks that her parents suddenly go silent.
And then she hears the door slam shut and footsteps coming up the stairwell. She looks down at her story and realizes-
She doesn't know how this story will end.
-...-
She hands the assignment in the next day at school and the teacher raves.
"How intense! How incredibly heart-wrenching! Kate, this is such a wonderful story! How ever did you manage to come up with such a realistic tale?"
She brushes back her bangs only for them to fall in front of her eyes once more (better, because they hide the tears forming behind the mask) and she smiles and says,
"My parents helped me write it."
-...-
Her world is slowly coming to a crumble, but she refuses to admit it.
She can't stop running this race now, because if she did, it would only hurt her more.
And hurt was not in her vocabulary.
-...-
Her mother doesn't come home any more.
Her father doesn't stop drinking until he's collapsed on top of the dinner table.
She doesn't stop crying until she's fallen asleep in the fetal position, clutching a photo of her mother to her heart.
-...-
He tries to help her through all of this.
Hugh wants her to "talk to him" and tell him "what's wrong". But every time he asks, she simply smiles and says "nothing's wrong".
It isn't until he puts his hand on her shoulder one night when they're alone on the beach together, stares her straight in the eye and says "Kate…I'm leaving" that she finally breaks down.
She begs him not to go, but he knows that he must and she knows too.
"Where are you going?" She croaks, the tears brimming in her eyes. But she won't cry, not now. She won't be weak, not in front of him (or anyone).
"I have an offer to play for a team in the city. I want it, Kate. I really, really want it."
He sounded so much like her mother when she had left her that she smacked him. It wasn't until then that she sobbed and he held her.
"I know it hurts, Kate. But please, let me help you."
-...-
He asks her to come with him.
"Think of what we could do together, Kate! There's a whole new world just beyond that hillside! You've been there. You know about all of the fame and fortune. Just think about it, Kate! Together we'd be invincible!"
She scoffs. "Money doesn't bring you happiness."
He frowns. "Does that mean…"
She averts her gaze from his eyes, for she knew that if she looked she wouldn't be able to deny him. "I'm sorry, Hugh."
She hears him close the door and she lets a single tear flow from her ruby eyes.
Her mother's eyes.
-...-
Invincibility is only good as long as you buy into it, like any other lie.
It will sustain you until the day you realize that you no longer need it.
But sometimes, when you do realize, it's already too late.
-...-
It was Christmas Eve when she finally came to her senses- the day of Hugh's departure.
She hurriedly packs her bags and her father asks her what she thinks she's doing. She tells him that she's leaving and he tells her that she'll do nothing of the sort, not on Christmas Eve!
She sneers at him. "You won't keep me trapped here any longer." She sounds so much like her mother that Grant storms out of the house, but Kate doesn't care.
She comes across a picture of her mother while she's packing. She's about to put it into the suitcase when she realizes- "I don't need this anymore."
The snow thrashes against her bare arms and legs as she sprints to the train station, but she does not care. She stumbles in the snow and scrapes her knees on the ice, but she never stops even for a moment.
The train is about to depart by the time she reaches the station. There's one ticket left and she's frantically scrambling to find the money to pay for it. She finally finds the wad of cash and receives her ticket.
She reaches the train just as it's leaving. She begs the attendant standing there to please let her on, but he tells her that she's too late.
"I'm sorry, young lady," he apologizes, "but we can't stop now. If we do, it'll only hurt us." He begins to list the reasons why it would hurt them but she doesn't listen.
All she can focus on is Hugh in the window in front of her. He glances at her and his eyes go wide. He runs from the window and is suddenly opening the door in front of her.
He smiles. "You came."
She smiles, too. "Merry Christmas, Hugh."
They embrace. "I love you, Kate."
And as the train leaves the winter wonderland of Forget-Me-Not Valley far behind, she can almost hear her mother's voice in her head.
What a fine woman you've become...
-...-