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1/10

When she was young, Elsheba tried to be the perfect Alkidike warrior. She rose early, trained often, and threw herself into doing everything possible to help her Alkidike Sisters in whatever way she could; be it gathering from the jungle around them, hunting dangerous beasts, or just hunting for food. And, yes, there were still many days where she did just that.

But, with more than half her lifetime devoted to life as a shut in, mourning the 'loss' of her son, and keeping herself apart from her remaining sisters and parents - bad habits had become a permanent fixture of her lifestyle, no matter how much she tried to fix it. In this case - neglecting the home. Even in the few weeks since he'd moved in, she'd ...er. Let it go a bit.

At least, with this being her new home, there wasn't a lot here to GET dirty. Actually - she'd ended up in an empty room, which she'd expected to use as a guest room for when (if) Nimueh ever came to visit.

Now, she stood inside, having just swept it out with a straw broom, staring at its emptiness. Stewing.

"Hm?" Elsheba turned towards Ujiri, then back to the room. "Oh, it's nothing. It's--" Elsheba stepped into the room and propped the broom against the wall, then paused to slowly rest her hand against it. "Just thinking." Come to think of it - she'd talked quite a bit about her siblings, with Ujiri. Explained that she had a strained relationship with her parents and sisters, and hadn't talked to them much. But had she--

"I don't think I told you about Nimueh, did I? Or - well. It's a small world, I wonder if you heard about him through gossip around Chibale?"

This was... likely the one thing that could make Ujiri turn away from her. Elsheba hesitated, the silence stretching as she considered whether to tell him the truth, or hide it. But it wasn't as if she could; now that he knew a name, he might look into it, and even then - she didn't want to lie to him, despite how scary it was.

She pulled her hand from the wall and instead stepped to Ujiri, reaching a bit warily to take his hands in her own, squeezing them. "Nimueh was... he was a hybrid boy whose parents died. I found him, in the jungle just outside the isle." Elsheba bit her lip, then turned her face to look at Ujiri, feeling tears prickling in her eyes.

"I took him in, but I wasn't a good mother to him. Back then I ... wasn't an extremist, like my sister, but I was... not brave. I let him down, and - when the war broke out, I sent him away. But I never went to look for him, after."

Ujiri was a hybrid too, there was no way he'd just wave his hand and tell her everything was okay. But she was still surprised when he didn't immediately move away from her, or show shock that she'd had a child, once, and left him behind.

To his questions she shook her head, squeezing the hands that he, for whatever reason, had allowed her to keep holding. "I saw him, after you and I met - when I went traveling. We talked a little, made... some amends, I think. I wasn't a good mother, because I didn't just... tell him how perfect he was when he was a child. How much I loved him. Instead, I made him feel ashamed of himself, because I let myself be ashamed."

She finally pulled her hands away, and turned her attention back to the room. "I looked at this room, and for a second I... I imagined if we- but that's not fair, is it? I failed at being a mother so badly, I don't deserve to even think about 'what ifs' like that, do I?"

It wasn't a response to her question, but - did she really expect it to be? She'd dropped quite the confession on Ujiri, it was ... natural that he'd have questions. Elsheba turned back to him, feeling that such a serious conversation should be had face to face. Anything less would be disrespectful to him.

As for his question, she met his gaze and gave a firm shake of her head. "No. I love you, and Nimueh, and never intend to make that mistake again." She spoke with conviction, voice firm, though after a moment she allowed herself a tentative, tired smile. "When we talked... somehow, he still called me 'mom'. I felt I could die happy. After how I treated him, I didn't deserve it, but somehow he still called me 'Mom'. He even said he might visit, which is -" She gestured around them. "Part of why I moved outside the isle, honestly. Why I was close enough to see you more often once I came home."

Elsheba still felt tensed up, ready for Ujiri to say how disgusted he was, or - that he needed time to think. It'd be fair, honestly. It was... a lot to throw at him, out of nowhere, when she'd had plenty of time to tell him the truth before now. But when he took her hand, she relaxed, so much that the tears that had been brimming finally dropped. She sniffed, then wiped them hurriedly from her face.

It felt like a weight had been dropped, and so she smiled, tearfully, at him, clasping his hand between both of her own. "Me too." She breathed. Then she dropped her forehead against his shoulder, drawing in a slow breath to calm herself down. "Sorry. That came out of nowhere. Are you okay? That's - a lot to drop on you."

"Yes! Yes." Elsheba pat his arm, but didn't move her head from his shoulder just yet. She was just - er. Relieved? There'd been a horrifying moment where she hadn't been able to read his face, and hadn't been sure--

Well. At least he could tell jokes about it, right?

"Just happy you're still here." She finally said, honestly as she could. Then she pulled back and smiled at him, then turned back to the room. "I thought of leaving it as a guest room, but -" She grimaced. "I'm not sure my heart can handle an empty room."

(8/10)

There were many things that could be done with an empty room. Storage? Some sort of ... hobby space, perhaps? Or they could close it up and let it gather dust. But she'd already hinted, at the start of all this, where her mind had gone when it came to what this room could be used for. She just expected that Ujiri might have some second thoughts about it, after what she'd admitted.

It wasn't as if they were saying they would run to the tree now, right this second. More a... expression of intent, right? So... she pretended not to watch him as he looked at the room, considering, and sucked in a breath when he finally... agreed.

It sounded like he agreed, at least. So she squeezed his hand, biting her lip to try and suppress the immediate, hopeful smile that sprung onto her face. She had to make sure. "We could always ask her, in the future. She has her... ways of answering, doesn't she?" Elsheba suggested, eyebrows raised in question.