Chapter Text
It had been over a year since the battle with the Rogue Knight and Aadit’s subsequent betrayal and abandonment of the Builder.
Despite all odds, however, the woman finally felt better.
After all, there was no longer any evidence, besides a stubborn inclination to still sleep only on one specific side of the bed, that she had ever shared her home...and her life...with another person in any kind of meaningful way.
In fact, there were almost no other remaining signs that she had ever been married, at all. She had successfully managed to physically erase as many of the painful reminders of that time as she possibly could.
The emotional cracks went deeper, of course, but she spackled over those with the skills of a true craftsman in order to be able to keep moving forward and doing what she did best: build!
Fortunately, her personal patchwork held strong for the most part and she was able to continue building her life up to where she wanted...needed...for it to be. In fact, she finally felt comfortable both in her own existence again and with the friends she had once felt she had to hold at arms’ length while she healed from her heartbreak.
Consequently, her mind, body, and soul had been able to peacefully settle down into her life in Portia once more.
At least that was the case until something so unexpected happened that it threatened to shatter the peace and knock down everything she had worked so hard to rebuild after the disastrous end of her marriage. In the process, it also exposed the original shaky foundation upon which her life in Portia had actually started to begin with.
That event? Maurice, her absent-for-many-years father...her Pa...came back to town with absolutely no notice or warning about his arrival. He had just shown up at her workshop door one morning completely out of the blue.
It was the first time they had seen each other, with almost no communication, for almost twelve years. However, the reunion had not been the joyful one about which the Builder had once dreamed – especially when she was still a kid back in Barnarock.
Instead, she was thrown into yet another emotional maelstrom after she had barely survived the last one.
In fact, her disappointment, anger, and sadness over her father’s selfish actions...not only those in the past, but his current ones, as well...warred with the small bit of hope that still stubbornly clung onto existence that maybe he actually cared and truly wanted to build a relationship with his now adult daughter.
What made all of it even worse, however, was that along with his casually inconsiderate actions towards her, he also threatened the one surprising relationship the Builder had come to depend upon above all others...the one that had kept her going during the absolute worst time of her life...the one that seemed to slowly be turning into something more.
Consequently, she knew she had to fix the situation before she lost what...who...had become so very important to her.
“Higgins, I’m so so sorry that he pushed his way in on your privacy like this – especially since it’s not just your workshop, but your home, as well,” she sincerely apologized as soon as she could to her rival builder when she finally caught him outside by his furnaces.
Since their unconventional friendship had quietly sprouted during the difficult aftermath of her personal heartbreak, they often spent at least part of each day together. However, a couple of days had actually gone by completely since she had last seen the man in more than just passing. He had obviously been avoiding her during that time and she was afraid she knew why.
“I don’t know what he was thinking or how he could possibly imagine that it was acceptable to do this to you!” she therefore added in a tone that seemed to be a mix of panic and irritation. “Old friends or not, I don’t know why Presley agreed to it, either. It's completely unfair to you!”
After all, it was clear that she was not the only one who had been extremely inconvenienced by her Pa’s sudden desire for a Builder Bout with his estranged daughter. In fact, even though she had tried to change his mind...and had even offered to share her own, instead...for some reason the man was determined to use Higgins’ workshop to complete his entry for the competition to which she had so reluctantly agreed.
~~~~~
For his part, Higgins had indeed been keeping his distance since Maurice’s arrival. It was certainly not because of her, though. Instead, he was beyond irritated by the intrusion of the town's former builder – especially since he did not know how to feel about either the man or his relationship to the obviously unhappy woman who currently stood in front of him.
Consequently, he simply tried to stay out of the way until he could figure out the best way to deal with the unexpected situation...and how to keep his personal feelings for his rival builder out of it, as well.
Apparently, that had not been the best move to make. In fact, it seemed to have made matters worse since she was clearly worried and upset on his behalf.
He definitely had not meant for that to happen.
Nevertheless, on one hand, Higgins was thrilled that she wanted to defend him – especially since he had never had anyone to stand up for him like that. On the other, though, he did not want her to feel as if she had to fight his battles for him.
After all, he and the woman had never actually spoken about the mutual evolution of their status from fierce rivals to friends to something that increasingly seemed as if it was becoming even more (as unbelievable as that once would have seemed to both of them). Instead, they had just let their relationship grow naturally without planning or discussion. Consequently, they usually felt quite comfortable together.
As a result, he just did not know how to feel about the current extremely uncomfortable situation.
However, he had also grown to understand his rival far better since she, even at her most vulnerable, had actually chosen to trust him and to spend time with him over everyone else. Therefore, he was able to respond to the other builder’s apology with an astute observation.
“You certainly don’t seem to be as pleased by his presence as Presley and the Mayor are,” he commented in his usual dry drawling tone in an attempt to sound casual. Nevertheless, his sharp eyes never left her face as he waited for her response.
“It’s...complicated,” she replied honestly as she tiredly pressed a hand to her forehead.
It was an action Higgins had come to recognize as a signal that she was currently experiencing the severe mental and physical weariness that had plagued her ever since the climactic battle and everything it had revealed.
Fortunately, he had seen it less and less as time continued to pass. Unfortunately, the gesture seemed to have returned in full force along with the presence of her father.
Higgins could only be concerned about what that probably meant.
After all, he did not know the whole story, of course, but it seemed increasingly obvious to him that Maurice had created the awkward situation, but that she was the one paying the price for it. In his eyes, that was completely unacceptable – especially since she had already been through so much!
“Tell me!” Higgins therefore insisted.
The Builder was surprised...and touched...by his interest. That was especially true since nobody else had bothered to ask how she really felt about the situation or seemed to know or care about what had really happened in the past between father and daughter. They just assumed that she was thrilled with the man’s reappearance in Portia.
In reality, however, that could not be further from the truth.
Higgins had often surprised her, though, with his seemingly backhanded concern for her when she had been in danger or difficulty - even when they had only been fierce rivals instead of the surprisingly close friends they had become.
As a result, she actually broke down and told him the whole truth. She did not hold anything back. She told him everything about her mother’s death when she was a child and how her father had dealt with the tragic situation by simply dropping her off...abandoning her...with his elderly aunt in Barnarock.
He had never returned, either. At least, not until the present - after she had already become an established builder in Portia.
The emotional floodgates opened up entirely on their own then and, even though she managed not to cry, she could not seem to stop the deluge of her words. In fact, she went on to explain how she had spent years as a child blaming herself for her father’s absence but...try as she might...she simply could not be grateful that he had just walked back into her adult life again after she had just managed to put everything that had happened with Aadit behind her.
After all, even now, Maurice did not seem very interested in actually participating in any of that father-daughter time and bonding he had insisted was the reason for his return. Otherwise, why could they have not just built a plane together, instead of from opposite sides of such a competitive Builder Bout?
The woman knew that she probably would have actually enjoyed the challenge much more then. What she actually felt, instead, was resentment that she had to grind and fight so hard by herself night after night in the Hazardous Ruins to collect all the rare materials she needed for such a huge project that she had never really wanted to take on in the first place...at least, not under the current circumstances.
In truth, she really wished she had never caved and agreed to participate just because her Pa obviously wanted it and the Commissioner thought it was a good idea, too.
After all, during the day, she was still so busy with all of the regular work she had to do and the commissions she needed to fill for the town and beyond. What was her father doing during that time? She did not really know since he seemed to spend the majority of his day with Presley or Gale. Therefore, she really only saw him in passing when she visited the Commerce Guild.
Consequently, she found that she was always extremely tired and very sad since his arrival - just as she had been before, right after the disastrous end of her marriage. Not only that, but she was also now angry that the man was obviously dragging other people - ones that truly mattered to her - into their messy relationship, too.
~~~~~
When the woman had finally finished, after all of things she had never told anyone else had poured out of her without any conscious effort of her part, the man in front of her simply nodded.
“I see,” Higgins said.
His tone did not change, but the intensity of his gaze on her did as he continued.
“In that case, Rival, there's no need for you to apologize because it is not your fault. He may be your father, but you are not responsible for his actions, inactions, or decisions. Any of them - then or now! Do you understand?”
She just nodded mutely in agreement as she fought back against the tears that, even though she had resisted them before, automatically sprang to her eyes in her relief that someone had finally recognized and seemed to understand her private struggle.
The fact that the particular person in question was actually Higgins made it even more emotional for her. After all, when her entire existence had fallen apart before, he was the one who had helped her the most with the continued normalcy he brought to her life even when everyone else had been far too kind for comfort.
That was even despite, or maybe even because of, the fact that he had always been...and continued to unapologetically be...her biggest rival, as well.
At any rate, after their current exchange, the man simply turned around without another word to go back into his workshop and shut the door firmly behind him. Nevertheless, she still felt that there had been some kind of undeniable shift between them. Somehow, it seemed that their relationship had definitively changed again with that conversation.
She did not know exactly what had happened or how it would affect them, but she knew...just as she had before...that she appreciated it. She appreciated him!
She still jumped in surprise, however, at the loud bang when the unmistakable sound of a fist as it angrily hit the inside of the metal door clearly rang out in front of her.
She could only wonder why.
What could I have said that would provoke such a violent response out of the man? she could not help but to wonder a bit helplessly. Why is he so upset now?
She did not have a chance to ask him, however. In fact, as far as she knew, he did not reemerge from his workshop all that day. He did not even show up at the Round Table for dinner as he usually did on that particular night of the week, either.
Consequently, she put on a brave face as she sat and chatted with a group of perpetually cheerful Hulu brothers while she deflected questions about the other builder's absence. After all, even though she was the only one Higgins had grown particularly close to, the others had finally accepted him for who he was and he had, somewhat reluctantly, become a bigger part of the community in the process. Plus, during the difficult past year, everyone had grown used to seeing the two of them together and no longer questioned anything about their relationship. It was simply understood that they were good for each other and left at that.
The woman was thankful for their understanding, but she still just could not help but to worry about the man in question, anyway.
She even skipped the Hazardous Ruins that night. After all, she knew she was already far too distracted. Therefore, it would simply not be safe for her to try even a basic run through them, much less a treasure hunt for rare supplies and materials.
When she finally saw Higgins the next morning at the Commerce Guild, however, and reached for his hand with the bandaged knuckles, he jerked away from her as if he had been burnt.
“Just a little accident in the workshop,” he grunted in reply to her concerned inquiry as he quickly ripped the first commission off the board without even looking at it. "Nothing for you to worry about."
He then left her standing there in a state of confusion while he went to register the job with Antoine.
Presley and her Pa entered the Guild at just that moment, though, and Presley...at least...came to speak to her. Therefore, she could not even follow the other man out and confront him about his obvious lie - or ask him why he was so upset with her.
After all, that last thought was what actually bothered her more than anything. Oddly enough, Higgins had been her anchor ever since Aadit’s betrayal over a year earlier had threatened to set her permanently adrift. Somehow, they had become even closer in the intervening time than she could have ever imagined since the contentious beginnings of their acquaintance over three years before that.
Therefore, she definitely did not want to lose him at the current time – or ever, really - even though she was well aware that she had never told him that. She was simply too afraid of scaring him off by putting such a thing into words. After all, ever since the start of their unorthodox friendship, it had become clear to her that Higgins preferred to avoid any emotional or sentimental situation - if it was at all possible to do so. She did not understand why, but since she was also trying to do the same back then...at a time when it simply hurt too much to feel anything...she did not question either it or him.
She just let whatever it was that had grown between them be what it wanted to be.
She just had not expected him, or their relationship, to become so important to her in the process.