Chapter Text
In another universe, she wasn't so scared. In another universe, maybe things would have worked out better - and maybe she wouldn't be so afraid of seeing it all again after three years.
Three long years that felt more so like eternity. In fact, to Hagia, three years was probably nothing.
Barbie was finally going back to a place she once called home, and people she remembered as her family. She wasn't alone in this, of course. Rosemary had helped her remember everything. Helped her remember what she was doing in shadows house in the first place. Helped her remember that she was human. Naturally of course, she brought Barbara who was also accompanied by Maryrose and Rosemary.
Rosemary and Barbie's home village was by the water, surrounded by forest and fields and fog from the ocean that came in and hung heavy before sunset. It was gloomier than Barbie had expected, but it was also beautiful. The bits and pieces were still slowly coming back to her.
She remembered she was raised by her father, and she was the youngest of three girls. She remembered that Rosemary and herself trained extensively in ballet before the selection. In a small community like theirs, everyone whispered about how the two girls were bound for success - Rosemary was naturally gifted, and Barbie was set to surpass both of her older sisters. Making it through the selection was the greatest honor of all in their small village.
But there was another girl who attended every ballet class, every local festivity, every school day - a girl who barbie finally remembered - Hagia Deveraux. She remembered her wanting to be called "Sofie", as a shortened version of her middle name. Sofie was also raised by her father alongside her twin brother, Donatello. They all called him Donnie.
Barbie recalled Sofie and Donnie living rather comfortably. Not as extravagantly as the members of the manor did, but they were born into a wealthy family, and could afford things like extra ballet sessions, vocal lessons, expensive clothing and specialized tutoring, but the two of them were generous in all their ways. If memory served her correctly, Donnie was quiet and introverted, but he loved gossip - ironically enough he was the sweetest of their small inner circle. He always dressed nicely, behaved accordingly; though he did have a horrible habit of working himself to the bone with studies. He always looked tired.
With Sofie, if it weren't for the way that she dressed, it was hardly possible to recognize her as nobility. She didn't use the mannerisms she was trained to use, she spoke in slang and when men spoke of her inappropriately she called them horrible things. That's right, Barbie remembered how much Sofie hated men.
Additionally, she recalled that Sofie was always getting her clothes dirty - coming home to her relatively large house on the waterfront smelling like the ocean or the pond and coming home with various creatures and bones. Yet somehow, her and Rose were always called the most beautiful girls in town. Remembering these things made Barbie slightly less anxious. Sofie was always very free-spirited, and Rosemary had even described her as whimsical.
Barbie had her family in the back of her mind, but remembering Sofie made her feel fuzzy. Like she was worth waiting to come home to. She and Rosemary both recalled her not attending the selection due to the pressure of focusing on her studies and ballet lessons - and Rosemary understood completely why Barbie was more frightened of seeing Sofie again over finally reuniting with her father and two older sisters - whatever they may be doing with their lives now.
Barbie felt the girl next to her grab her hand. It was Rosemary who had placed her hand softly over hers in understanding. No words were said between them. The seats directly across from them was where Maryrose and Barbara sat - Barbara had fallen asleep on Maryrose's shoulder, and Maryrose herself had fallen asleep against the window.
The village was close, and it was a considerable amount of time away from the manor. Four hours? It felt more like eight - but none of them were really keeping track.
It wasn't until they reached the train station that Barbie's nerves got the better of her, and rosemary had to stomach her own anxiety. Maryrose woke up first, followed by Barbara, who clung to her side.
"Ah, we seem to be here." Rosemary pointed out.
If one thing about Rosemary still bothered Barbie, it was how she always stated the obvious.
Her hand left Barbie's, Barbie not realizing how much comfort she found in the warmth of her touch until it was no longer there.
Everyone had been cleared of the brainwashing induced by soot - including the villagers and townspeople. Since Kate reclaimed shadows house as mirrors house, every family was notified about the whereabouts of their family that had entered the manor, and that the children who lived were more than welcome to go back and forth between their village and the manor as they pleased. Of course Barbie's family knew she would be coming back. They knew Barbara was going to be there, too, which frightened her slightly - because even though apparently "Barbie" had been her nickname her whole life, she was still Barbara. A name she no longer considered her own. The name Barbara now belonged to her former mistress, and she couldn't find it anywhere in her to make it her own again. Not after everything. Not anymore. Once, perhaps, but not anymore. This was Barbara's first time outside the manor, first time meeting the outside world. It made both her and barbie unsettled.
As they stepped off of the train, immediately, they were greeted by a familiar face they hadn't seen in a long, long time. When Barbie met the face of her father, she froze. Was she to embrace him? Smile? Cry? She didn't do any of those things. He didn't say anything either. Rather, he teared up.
Barbie thought that this was because the girl that left the village and the one that returned three years later were not the same person. And barbie expected extreme and negative reactions. To her surprise, that wasn't the case.
She couldn't quite tell if it happened to be the weight of emotions or some level of logical thinking, but her father walked over to both her and Barbara, pulling both of them into an embrace. Hot tears met the girls’ skin, and heard the man repeat, “my girl is home,” and, “I’ve missed you,” and “you’re both safe now,” - because never did this man imagine that sending his daughter to the manor meant sacrificing her life. Nobody knew that – how could they?
Rosemary and Maryrose both knew where to go to find her remaining family, but instead stayed where they stood to watch the scene in front of them.
"Barbie, someone came to meet you." Was what her father said with tears staining his cheeks.
"Barbara, they want to meet you, too."
They pulled away from their bittersweet embrace to find Donnie and Sofie standing in the doorway. Barbie and Rosemary told their former shadow masters all about them, and what they remembered. And here they were, reunited at last.
"Barbie...Rose..." Sofie spoke as she too began to tear up. Donnie was next to her, crying and speaking incoherently. Sofie, equally a mess, called him a dork.
Sofie wasted no time hugging barbie, which barbie didn’t quite expect, but didn't retaliate. She returned the embrace, unsure where to put her hands, unsure whether or not she wanted to cry, unsure whether or not she had actually missed the twins enough to hug them. Her head was spinning. Reality was so surreal. She didn’t know what to do when Sofie dug her face in the crook of her neck. She faintly remembered the smell of her perfume. She noticed neither of them had really grown at all. Shockingly, her and Sofie were roughly the same height, Donnie being just about a couple inches taller. All of them were quite abnormally short.
Donnie had run over to embrace Rosemary – of course aware that Maryrose was there as well.
“Hey, Rose!” He dove in to hug her tightly – because out of their former inner circle, Donnie and Rosemary had chatted the most – and Rosemary had recalled her memories of the twins long before Barbie ever did, sharing every memory and detail with Maryrose in secrecy.
“Donnie, it’s wonderful to see you.” She spoke softly, hugging him back.
“You must be Maryrose,” Donnie continued, not wasting a second hugging her as well, shocking both Maryrose and Rosemary.
“Well, it’s lovely to finally meet one of the infamous Deveraux twins! Donatello, isn’t it? Pleasure.” Maryrose spoke, as flamboyantly as ever.
“Sofie! Get over here and meet Maryrose!”
Sofie turned around crying hysterically.
“Okay, but you come over here and meet Barbara! She’s lovely!”
“Stop shouting, you’re so loud,” Barbie said under her breath.
“Rose, come here!” Sofie gestured, forcing everybody into an embrace. When they pulled away, Sofie grabbed Rosemary’s hands.
“I finally did it, I became a prima ballerina,” She said with a bit of hesitance, covering it up with a smile.
“Ah, so you must be the ballerina!” Maryrose jumped in, leaning her elbow on Rose’s shoulder.
“Sofie?”
“That’s me,” Sofie smiled, shaking Maryrose’s hand.
“Yes, Rosemary and Barbie have told us all about you and your brother.”
“You became a prima ballerina?” Barbie asked, knowing that at one point, it was a goal of the three girls to achieve such a thing together. Before the selection, of course.
“Yeah, I did. I did it,” She continued. “All those years of ballet finally paid off, huh?”
Barbie stayed quiet for a moment before a soft smile appeared on her face.
“I’m proud of you.” Was what she said.
Sofie began crying hysterically again.
“I’m so glad you’re back.”
_____________________________
Sofie and Donnie, of course, showed up to the train station in a carriage – when realistically, they could’ve walked. Easily. Though, knowing Barbie and Rosemary were coming back, along with their former shadow masters, their father ordered for them to be picked up in the carriage.
It was sizable, large enough to transport the whole group.
Despite everyone being relieved to see each other, the silence was painful. Barbie didn’t know exactly how to speak to her father after all of this time. What if he asked about her eye? Or about what happened to her? Or about the horrible person she became in the time she was gone? Would he still love her the same? Would her two older sisters? In fact, now that she thought about it, no one had mentioned them at all. Were they married? Did they have kids? Did they still live in the village? Were they even still alive? Questions she wanted to ask festered in her mind, but she couldn’t bring herself to say any of them.
Was Barbara okay? She seemed to be handling everything well enough. She seemed happy next to Maryrose, and it seemed that maybe Barbie’s presence in her life wasn’t needed as much as it was before. Was Rosemary worried? She didn’t look worried. She looked calm, like her thoughts were masked by her soft expressions. Barbie wondered if her grandparents who raised her were even still alive. Was she wondering the same thing? They weren’t there at the train station.
Barbie felt something cold on her forearm. It was Sofie’s hand. Why was she so cold? Was she always like that?
“Barbie, is everything okay?”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. She was overthinking again. Like she did the entire trip from the manor to the village.
“I’ll manage,” She spoke quietly. Her tone made Sofie question what it was exactly that she went through in those three years to cause her to change so drastically. So much so that she wouldn’t talk about it, or trust in someone that she grew up with.
“I don’t wanna pressure you, but you can talk to me...if you want. I understand it’s been years since we’ve spoken, but...I’m relieved to hear you’re okay. After everything I heard happened at the manor.”
Okay? Was she okay? She didn’t know. She was alive. But being okay and being alive were different things. Her heart was beating and she had barely survived what was thrown at them. Did she feel alive? Did she feel okay? Everything happened so quickly. So suddenly everything she thought she had known changed.
“...I don’t know.”
Sofie paused.
“Don’t know what?”
“I don’t know.”
Barbie didn’t look sad, she looked empty. And Sofie understood.
“Okay.”
In the carriage, everyone sat close, and Barbie and Sofie had to speak in hushed tones.
“I’m sorry.” Barbie whispered bluntly.
“Don’t say sorry.” Sofie whispered back
“Okay.”
“You can talk about it when you’re ready.”
“Okay.”
Barbie looked up from her lap to see Barbara, Rosemary, Maryrose and Donnie had started up a conversation, across from Barbie was her father, who had sat quietly. The carriage was headed in the direction of the twins’ house – the big one on the waterfront with a view of the ocean. Maybe seeing a place she saw briefly in her memories would make her feel less sick to her stomach. Did Rosemary feel this way? This was a moment she missed Barbara sitting next to her. Why wasn’t she sitting next to her? Sofie was a lifelong friend who felt like a distant stranger. Sofie had all of her memories and Donnie had his. They never went away. Barbie’s did. It wasn’t until she was bleeding out in a battle against the adults that she recalled such memories. This carriage was cozy and full of people she recognized.
She felt so alone.