The Bald Princess

~Eighteen~

You're not life, Sire, you're death. Life is a beautiful fallacy but you, Sire— you're my brutal truth.

Atarah

Yuri was sleeping peacefully but I was far, far away from the peace. My mind was a mess. I was a mess. I couldn't help but think about Yuri's and Fuji's mystery. Yuri had jumped down a two storey building because Fuji asked her to jump but according to Fuji— Yuri's mother, Yuri jumped down because she wanted to be like the female protagonist of the book she had read. One of them were lying. But somewhere I felt something wasn't right. Something was wrong, really really wrong.

"Yuri, you need to take the syrup. Get up, child." I said softly, gently shaking her good arm and she stirred in her sleep before rubbing her eyes as she groggily sat down on the bed, looking at me sleepily.

"Your bed is ....... warm, doctor." Yuri said with a sleepy smile and I chuckled, filling the syrup in the measuring cup before handing it to her and she wrinkled her nose at the pungent smell of the medicine.

"Hm, the bed is fine. How are your injuries now, child? Are you still feeling pain in your ribs?" I asked gently and she took a deep breath in, making me laugh. But then her face twisted as she must have felt pain in her ribs.

"That bad?" I asked sympathetically and Yuri sighed, jutting out her lower lip as she nodded her head.

"That bad." She said dramatically before she burst out laughing as she took the syrup from my hand in her smaller ones and swallowed it down, making a bad face at the taste of the medicine. "Your treatment works wonder, doctor. I can hardly feel pain in my legs though my ribs hurt a bit."

"Your ribs will take a while to heal, child. And you will soon feel discomfort in your legs too, they are numb now." I said as I jabbed her ribs to feel her discomfort. She wince a bit.

"My legs will hurt?" Yuri asked in horror and I shook my head.

"You won't feel any pain but since it's numb due to anesthesia, you'll feel a bit of discomfort but nothing major." I explained her and she looked at me as if she was trying to understand me before nodding her head. I changed her bandage of knees while she was sitting awfully quiet.

"Why do you tie a scarf around your scalp, doctor?" Yuri suddenly asked and I froze at her question. It was an innocent question but also really painful. I wanted to lie and tell her how it was a fashion but then I remembered how Yuri or her mother were lying about Yuri's injury. It could be an abuse for God's sake! It didn't felt right to lie to her, not when I knew there was a possibility of something wrong happening with her. Something that made me act on my instinct.

"Because I'm bald." I said simply and she rose her brows at me, making me feel embarrassed.

"Can you remove your scarf, doctor? I have never seen a bald lady before." Yuri asked me excitedly, not aware of the pain she caused me by her question. For her, seeing me bald head was an adventure, she wanted a taste of, unknown of the miseries that accompanied a woman when she didn't satisfy the beauty standard set by the world.

"You shouldn't look at my bald scalp, child." I said gently and she furrowed her brows at me.

"Why?" What do I tell her? That it makes me insecure?

"Because it's a curse, child. You don't want to get cursed with the same, trust me." I said, my heart beating loudly as I let those words out.

"But Fuji's brother is also bald. And everyone respects him. He doesn't even hide himself behind a scarf and no-one says he is cursed." Yuri said and I sighed, shaking my head. Because a man often gets bald. But a woman doesn't.

"Pull this scarf off." Yuri said firmly, stubbornly and before I could've explained her, she pulled the scarf off my scalp, letting my bald head to display.

This is the first time in the past eleven years I was stripped off my scarf in public. I felt naked. Like someone had stripped me of my self esteem. Tears pooled my eyes at the humiliation of the display of my bald head in front of a nine years old who was staring at me in fascination. I blinked back my tears, the burning sensation in my eyes only flared. The only thing I wished to hide was no more into veil, my only dignity got stripped off by a nine year old girl. I didn't blame her, she was a curious kid but that didn't lessen my pain any less.

She must be thinking how ugly I am. I must have scared her to death. Will she get nightmares after seeing me bald? I wouldn't blame her if she she did. A tear rolled down my eyes despite of my efforts to control them. I must have scarred her. No wonder, she went speechless.

"You're so beautiful, doctor." Yuri said and I froze, the pain in my heart ceased for a split second. Beautiful? I was beautiful? She must be making fun of me. It must be sarcasm. It has to be. Otherwise who would find this face beautiful?

'I do, healer. I think you have the most beautiful face in this world.' Warrior Duncan's voice echoed in my head, making me flinch at his smooth and confident voice. I didn't need this. I didn't need him complimenting me when I considered myself hideous.

"I wish I could be like you." Yuri mumbled and my eyes jerked up to meet her in incredulity. She wanted to be like me?

"You don't mean it." I said, my voice shaky and choked up. Yuri looked up at me, her young eyes serious and sad.

"I do, doctor. Atleast no-one will drag me by my hair if I go bald. You're so lucky." Yuri said, sadness swirled in her eyes and I felt my heart clenching at her words. Drag her by her hair? Who does that to a child!

"Who drags you with your hair, Yuri?" I asked softly, trying my best to control my protective stance for her. It was hard to control my anger when someone found it their legit right to abuse other, especially a child. Yuri looked at me, her eyes suddenly got clouded by horror. She looked scared.

"Fuji's husband." Yuri said softly and I blinked.

Fuji asks her daughter to jump down the building, very well knowing the fact that the jump may even kill her. Fuji's husband— Yuri's father drags her daughter by her hair. What kind of father does that to his daughter? Do they abuse her? Or is Yuri lying to me? But why would a nine year old lie about abuse? Especially when she was lying on the hospital bed with four broken ribs and three bones with knee injury. Yuri didn't look like she would lie about such matters. I just knew she wasn't lying.

"Isn't Fuji your mother?" I asked and Yuri slowly, almost in hesitation nodded her head. I could clearly see fear palpating inside her eyes. She was scared.

"She..... she is."

"Then why don't you call her as one. Why take her name?" I asked cautiously, waiting for her reaction. I didn't want to trigger her anxiety. And Yuri looked at me, helplessly. There was something inside her eyes that made me realise, Yuri was a victim of abuse. She had to be, her horrified eyes said it all. Every time she flinched, it made my heart to clench in pain. No child deserved this.

"Because Fuji's husband doesn't like me calling her as my mother and Fuji says I am not her blood." Yuri said, shrugging her shoulders as if what happened with her was normal. She was made to believe that abuse was normal. And that's worse than an abuse because the perpetrator makes the victim to believe that everything was their fault. And I could see the same happening with Yuri.

"So when you jumped down the building, did..... did Fuji asked you to?" I asked shakily, sitting beside her and Yuri shook her head, playing with her horse toy.

"No, Fuji told me I'm an angel and can fly in the sky. Do you know, I even have grey wings? Fuji asked me to test my powers but I think, I am not trained enough." Yuri said, playing with her toy and now I was starting to understand what Fuji was trying to to do with Yuri. She was trying to hurt her using her naive childhood. She didn't push her down, she didn't ask Yuri to directly jump down from the building but her ways were effective to make Yuri jump down and it was enough to gain Fuji a sympathy.

"Have you ever seen your wings?" I asked Yuri softly and she suddenly went sad.

"Fuji says I can't see my wings because I am not her blood daughter. She has blessed me with those powers. Fuji loves me, doctor. Fuji's husband doesn't but Fuji tells me she is more than enough for me, that I don't need anyone but her. And she was telling me the truth, she is enough for me. Fuji always tells that her husband hurts me but her love shall always be bigger than his hatred. You met Fuji right? You saw how much she loves me, right?" Yuri said, her words were more mature than her age. She didn't sound like an ordinary nine year old. And for the umpteenth time I realized, pain never differentiated between the age of people.

"Yuri, a person becomes angel by their karma, by the work they do, by the smile they spread. Wings are a myth and even if they exist, you would have seen them, they are not liable of your bloodline. Do not jump down from another building again to test your wings, okay? You don't have them." I told her and she looked at me with something weird swirling in her eyes.

"Fuji was lying?" She asked sadly and I smiled at her— a smile to express my support.

"I don't know if Fuji is lying or not, child but love can never be used to abuse somebody. If Fuji loved you, Yuri, she wouldn't have stood up against her husband for abusing you. Love can always heal the scars, Yuri but love can never curtain the abuses. I know it's hard for you to understand, child as you're just nine but do not stand abuses done to you because if you don't question them now, you won't be able to question them ever again in your life."

"When I wasn't too small to get exploited, doctor, then I am not too small to not understand you. Aunt Mary always told me that pain comes with different face, Yuri but remember, pain is the ultimate lesson of the life. Age can never reduce the pain as it can never increase the pain. But Fuji loves me, doctor. I'm an angel, I just can't see them. You always thought creatures didn't exist but you already met one, didn't you?" Yuri asked and my eyes widened in shock. How did she knew about me meeting a creature?

"I told you, I am an angel. Fuji never lies to me, doctor. I can see the past through people's eyes, I just need to practice flying more, doctor. And do not worry, we all belong to the same world." I blink at her, not understanding what she was trying to say. She was saying that she is an angel and she can see the past!?

"All this time, you..... you were acting like a kid. How old are you, Yuri?" I asked and I saw the little girl's smile widening as she shook her head.

"Youngest of all the angles, doctor. And here to protect you. I am your guardian angel, Atarah."