[RH] Sparkles 2

A collab between me and @Starship-VGer , he sketched and colored while I lined and shaded!

Spark belongs to him, Stella to me, and the Umbreon is a random NPC.

Also the story below is written by me and is 1164 words!

>[Sparkles Part 1]

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The former lieutenant paced back and forth in front of the double doors that led to the medical ward of the hideout. She had been ushered outside as her fretting over her daughter had only put her in the way. She understood, but it only added to her restlessness. Her large claws click clacked as she moved across the tile floor. The hall was dead silent other than her own paw steps. But even then she could only focus on the silence.

She never knew something meant to be silent could be so loud. Stella liked to pride herself on being someone who was not easily panicked, unless the situation called for that sort of reaction. She tried to be patient when it came to Spark’s moments of illness, avoid worry so that she wouldn’t spook the little ones. She was their mother, that was her job. Be strong for them. Doing so had been harder lately.

Truth be told, this… thing, whatever was wrong with Spark had terrified her from the first time she witnessed it. But for all intents and purposes, for a while it seemed to only effect her sometimes. Usually for a short while and then Spark was back to their old happy self, running around and playing like she always had. Back when things had been okay and her sister didn't look at her like she'd carved her heart out with her own claws. Back when Tora and Hiro were still here.

Oh how Stella longed to go back.

She plays over every single time in her head, burying herself in guilt that she should have tried harder to figure out what was wrong, when it was less of an immediate concern. It was only occasionally. But the fits had started to occur more and more, to the point where Spark spent a good chunk of their time in the medical ward. Stella tried to take her out when she could, but found herself slightly more protective as her condition worsened.

Oh Arceus above, if only she'd tried harder to fix this. Maybe they would have already. Maybe that day in the clearing wouldn't have ended the way it had. She should have felt relief when she got Spark away from the danger, but she didn't. She didn't regret choosing her daughter, she never would. Not being fast enough to save them both though, that's the thing that makes her want to sob like a scared pup.

She'd been focusing so much of her hurt on her family's reaction to her losing Tora, but she loved him too. That was still her nephew, and she had lost him too. But when she thought about that, she felt guilt instead. As if she had no right to mourn him when it was her fault that he was gone. So instead she focused all of her emotional energy on her own kids, primarily Spark's illness.

It was not and would never be Spark's fault. Not Tora, not her sickness. Stella's blame for everything wove itself in a tight grip around herself and the illness, barely letting herself rest because she needed to know what was going on.

She couldn't save Tora, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to save Spark. Someone had to. Before she had one fit too many and it was too late.

That’s what had happened again, today. It had been only a couple of days since the last one, and she had had another fit today. She had been so excited to play again, but the kids had barely started their game before it happened again and adults were rushing in to get her back inside. Stella felt that same tug of guilt at her heart, it had been so long since the kids had felt safe enough to go out and play, or felt up to it. Everyone was still reeling from the Tora thing, and a good chunk of her family didn't want to be near Stella. But then the coughing started again, and the kids were screaming for Stella, and the day stopped before it began.

The opening of one of the doors jolted her from her spiraling thoughts, and she watched as one of the medical staff peaked out. An Umbreon, they had been one of the Pokémon working on Spark when she'd been brought in. “Miss Stella? I thought I’d let you know that Spark is okay again, we’ve got it settled down for now.”

For now. Oh how she'd heard that a million times already, in this exact situation. It was a pair of words that she was uncomfortably familiar with. Something the doctors told her to tide her over. It wasn’t news to her. But today something about it mixing with her spiraling thoughts of Tora and fear for her child made her snap.

“For now?” She hissed through her teeth, the other Pokemon shrinking back a bit as Stella rounded on them before answering. “We’re doing all we can, there’s only so much we can do when we don’t know what’s causing this. I know that's not what you want to hear-” Fur bristling, she snarled in their direction but didn’t make a closer move towards them.

“Then figure it out! You all keep telling me that, for years it’s been a we don’t know. Spark is a child! Do you hear me? She shouldn't be stuck in beds like this. She should be running around and having fun, not stuck in hospital beds day in and day out because the medical staff just oops! Don’t know! It's like a broken record in this place!”

“We’re trying to figure it out Stella, I assure you we want to help Spark just as much as-“

Moving this time to stand nose to nose with them, she glared down at them, lips pulled back in a snarl that left the Umbreon falling quiet again. "Don't you dare tell me that you want to help her just as much as I do. Not when all you've ever had for me was the same remix of uncertainty. Don't you sit there and make me false promises that you're all doing your best and that you hope that it's enough."

Staring at the cowering Pokemon before her, Stella stared at them with narrowed eyes before standing up straight again. “Try harder.” She knew this wasn’t her. She respected the medical staff of the hideout. But she was scared, and she was tired of not knowing anything. "I'm going to see my daughter, so that she's not alone when she wakes up." She shoved past them then, not waiting for a response or move to stop her.

She felt helpless, more than she ever had in her entire life. Even more than she had when she was a child. She was supposed to keep her children safe, and she couldn't even do that. What kind of mother was she?

Stella hated feeling helpless.