Hattie's POV:

I woke up to the feeling of a hand on my back. My eyes fluttered open and realized I was on top of Madison...

Huh?

I sat up, rubbing my eyes and looking around...we were on the balcony???

I closed my eyes again trying to remember if there was a reason we were out here...I could remember waking up from crying. I thought harder, and I remember talking to him, but not what we said...maybe it was something about dreams...?

Hm...oh! It was a nightmare! He had a bad dream. And I decided to fight off dad's bad dreams...

Hold on...

Oh heck, I did. I did call him dad before I fell asleep didn't I? He probably thought I was crazy. I am crazy.

I moved to get up, his hand slipping off my back and smacking against the floor. That certainly gave him a startling wake-up as he jumped slightly. I stopped moving and we made eye contact. It was an awkward moment before I stood up completely and hopped a bit over to the door.

He blinked and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he looked at me.

"G'mornin' kiddo..." he yawned. Madison pushed himself up a bit, letting out a small mutter as he massaged the back of his neck.

What do I even say...does he remember? Probably...maybe not. I could be lucky...!

"Good morning, Madison," I responded.

I watched him, and he didn't seem to react any differently than before. I walked back into the room, relieved, and grabbed my hat. I placed it snuggly on my head. I turned around, just to run face-first into Madison's leg. He's pretty quiet, isn't he?

I looked up and he took my hat off.

"Not so fast, kid," he stopped me, putting my hat back on the bedside table I had grabbed it from. "We may have gotten back late but you still have to wash up."

Wash up? Like, wash my hands?? I guess...I sighed and went to the bathroom, and had to stand on my tippy-toes to reach the sink. I tried to grab the soap when I heard the tub turn on. I looked back and saw Madison pointing at it.

"No. A bath, Hattie. When was the last time you took one?" He asked. I blinked but didn't answer. I turned off the sink water...

And bolted.

I don't wanna take a bath, we went to the pool yesterday!

I tried to open the door before I was picked up and thrown over a shoulder. I pounded my little firsts on his back.

"Noooo!" I whined, "I don't want to! It hasn't been that long...! Doesn't the pool count!?"

He set me back down on the bathroom's tile floor. He stared at me, keeping a hand on my shoulder, "Hattie, normally that water isn't all that clean. You need soap and water. Bath. Now."

I groaned and slumped over a bit. But I nodded. I guess it can't be that bad.

He left, closing the door behind him, and I took my hair down.

+~+

I got all the soap off and pulled up the plug of the tub. I stepped out and started to dry myself off before I got dressed. I grabbed my hair tie last and tried to put my hair up myself. I used the mirror, but every time it looked wrong. I eventually gave up and left it down and damp.

I went back out to the main room, just to see Madison halfway through his pocket dimension. I tiptoed over to try and look in finally, and see what he was doing. That was until he pulled himself back up, with two different pieces of fabric. He closed the portal, with a satisfied smile.

"Knew I still had these lingering in there," he thought aloud. He tossed the two pieces of fabric onto the bed. I climbed up to see what they were, but it was just a vest and button-up. There was also a collection of other items I didn't even know he had. There was a hairbrush, a comb, a toothbrush-how many brushes can one man have?

I lost interest in his old things, and I looked up at him. He came over, placed down a handheld mirror, and was about to grab his clothes.

"All clean?" He asked, looking at me. I nodded, and he smiled, he looked like he was about to say something else, but then his smile dropped.

"Do you want help?-with your hair I mean," He asked sitting down on the bed next to me.

I thought about it. I didn't mind it being down, I just liked keeping out of the way when fighting bad guys who'd take my things...!

...but it is weird having it down now.

"Uhm...yeah...I can't get it right," I admitted. He just smiled, and grabbed the hairbrush, flipping it around in his fingers.

"Well," he grinned, "good thing I found some of my things. Go ahead and turn around."

I turned around and heard him move closer before I felt the pull of a brush at the end of my hair. My head moved back a bit, but I tried to stay still.

As my eyes scanned the room, I was drawn to his stuff. There was a pocket watch, a handkerchief, and a folded-up piece of paper along with the other things I already saw. I reached for the paper and was just able to snag it before I was pulled back.

"Stay still," Madison instructed as he ran the brush through my hair, pulling out knots as he went.

I responded with a hum and looked at the folded paper. It was very old, having already turned yellow. Corners were missing and there were small tears. I delicately unfolded it and realized it was a piece of sheet music. The notes were smudged slightly, but still could be read...if I knew how to read music. There were small words under some of the notes, and I tried to read them, but it was a bit hard.

"What is this...?" I asked, holding up a bit and shaking it.

"Huh?" He stopped brushing and must have looked at it, because he responded, "oh. It's just some old song. It needs to be thrown away."

"Do...did you play the piano?"

He was silent, and he continued to brush my hair.

"...Madison...?"

"Remember when you said you didn't want to talk about your bad memories in the metro?" He asked, a bit of a rough pull on the brush.

Ah...alright...

"Oh...yeah...ok..." I mumbled and folded the page back up. I was going to put it back, but I didn't like the idea of it being thrown away. It looked like it would probably be a nice song. I pushed it into my pocket and shifted in my spot.

The silence was tenser than before, and a bit uncomfortable. My foot bumped into the mirror as I moved in my spot, and I looked at it. Why did he even still have all this stuff anyway...?

"Why did you keep all this stuff...?" I asked, maybe I'll get a response this time.

For a second he didn't say anything, maybe it was something he didn't want to talk about either.

"I thought I would need them," he answered quietly, moving the brush further up my head, "when I got free I ransacked the house for things I could take with me, things I could carry. In the end, the stuff that ended up in the drawers at my home and in my pocket just ended up... reminders."

"Of the memories...?"

"Exactly."

"Did you learn from them...?"

He stopped brushing my hair, "what?"

"Learn from them...like you said," I turned back to look at him, "about how memories are about things you can learn about yourself and other people."

He blinked at me, before a small smile pierced his lips, "well I guess I should listen to myself then, huh? I guess I did learn things. Mostly how not to be an absolute doormat. Now. Turn back around, kid."

I stuck my tongue out at him but did as he said. A much better atmosphere to be sitting in.

A few more minutes passed, and he stopped and put the brush down. He let out a short breath, and shifted to my side to look at me, "you have a hair clip or hair tie, don't you?"

I slipped my hair tie from my wrist and handed it to him. He took it and started to put my hair up. I pulled a little hair out to the side of my face so he wouldn't put those up as he tugged on my hair slightly. He stopped after a few seconds, and got up, I looked at him and felt my hair. It felt correct.

"There you go, now," he grabbed the shirt and vest, "I'm going to...try and take a shower."

He reached up and grazed his crown with his fingers before he strummed them through his ponytail.

I nodded, "okay."

He went to go to the bathroom before he stopped and looked at me. "Don't...do anything dangerous."

"I won't."

"I mean it, Hattie."

I laid back on the bed, "I know, I won't."

I felt him still looking at me before the sound of the door closed, and I sat up. The water turned on, and I hopped off the bed. I grabbed my hat and slipped on my boots. I tiptoed over to the room door, quietly opened it, slipped out, and closed it behind me. I walked slowly to the stairs...before I ran down them to the garden.

As long as I don't do anything dangerous, he won't mind! You're so smart Hattie, you deserve an award, let's go have fun!

I looked around the garden for a minute, before seeing there wasn't much to do in there. I went over to an archway to a small balcony. It looked down into a casino! Am I allowed to gamble? I have a slot machine of cool clothes on my ship! I don't like them as much as I like my regular clothes though.

I jumped down, my badge swooping my umbrella above my head, stopping the rough impact. I listened to the sound of slot machines running, and the crows at a table cackling away. I made my way to the counter after listening to some of the conversations, but they all seemed to be useless banter.

I hopped up to the counter, peeking my head over the edge to look at the seal.

It looked down at me, and tilted its head at me, "hewwo miss... Uhm...I bewieve youw awre too young to play...youw can go to da kiddie corner...!"

That sounds lame. But I guess I can't do anything here. I stepped back with a small huff and turned around. I walked back down passed the table, and to some doors that slid open as I approached. I came out onto a walkway and realized it was the same one I'd met back up with Madison on the day before. I looked to the end of the walkway, but there was no way down.

This place is very confusing and inconvenient to get around in. Thankfully I have things to help with that now...!

I jumped over the edge, my umbrella opened up, and I landed right in front of the reception desk. I spotted the glint of a timepiece from inside a box behind the counter and tried to hop over and just grab it.

"Oh! No, no miss!" One of the seals yelled as I tried to open the box. I looked back at it, and it seemed nervous. "Youw have to talk to da captain fiwrst to get someting frwom da lost and found..."

I looked at the box, and back at them, pretty confused. It's my thing...it's lost and found...why can't I just...take my thing? This should be the easiest one to get!

"Pwease miss...? He only lets us get someting if we do a good job," The seal whined, and I sighed, giving in. I let go of the lid and went back over the counter, and started to drag my feet up to the captain's cabin.

I...may just write a whole book about Madison and Hattie being an adorable father-daughter duo. Just oneshots. Who-who would read that? As someone who doesn't read oneshots, I'm killing myself here (yeah I know I should read them bc they can be good but is it my fault for wanting a full-on story........? Yes. Yes it is.)

Anyway-hope you liked this chapter, it was cute to write and made me smile reading back on it :D

later nerds

(I promise there is more angst but I need to lead up to it-get y'all's asses tense.)