Xylax sat up with a start, hearing his daughter's distant sobs. The Canin male climbed out of his chair, shutting off the TV where it had been left on, and stumbled through the darkened house.
He didn't need to switch on the lights. He knew it well enough. He found her door, and pushed it open, "Marci?" She was curled up on her bed, under the blankets, clutching the space shuttle plush in her arms. She looked up at him and squeezed her eyes shut. She curled up tighter. "Hey, what's the matter?" He hissed softly, moving his furry bulk to her side. She'd grown in the six years he'd known her, but his seven feet Canin height was still towering to her.
She sniffled, "Why does the world hate me?" She moaned.
Xylax put his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace. Her weighted blanket came with her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Nightmare?"
"No…maybe…I don’t know…" She sobbed. He didn't say anything for a moment. "Oh, fuck…" She reached for her medication by the bedside, "I forgot my stupid pills…dumb ass! Dumb ass!"
"Hey, don't call yourself that!" He said, putting an oversized paw on the side of her head.
She held his paw to her head and looked at him, "it's what I am. Everyone hates me. The world hates me." She started crying again.
"What makes you say that?" The canine alien asked as gently as he could.
"I freak out like this in the middle of the night and scare you because I don't take my meds? To start?" She grunted. "I'd be better off dead."
"Hey, no…" he winced, "You're not thinking of hurting yourself, are you?"
"No, God no," She snrked, "I…" She sighed, and turned away, "I was thinking about where I'd be without you. You're the only reason I'm not dead." She paused, "I should be dead."
"Did something happen at school today?"
"No. I don't know," She sniffled. "Some kids told me…they said it was my fault my parents were…they said…they said you weren't my real dad, that it was my fault my parents…"
Xylax closed his eyes and held her to his chest. He remembered seeing the little ten year old in the slave cages, when the Federation Marines made their landing at Port Royal.
Colonist children, –children!-- sold into slavery, from a dozen different species. Poor Marci had been in with the other human children, unwashed and sick, ready to be sold to some monster. And she had a worse story than most. Her human parents sold her in exchange for their survival. From a supposedly enlightened species, some could sure be cruel.
If she had been left with her “real” parents, her biological parents… His daughter, the person he cared most about in the world, would be dead.
“They're wrong,” He growled. “I'll call the school in the morning. Nobody gets away with hurting my daughter.”
She sniffled again, and nuzzled into his shirt. “It's not just that…”
"You persevered though, right?"
"But it's not right!" She wailed, "It's not right! None of it is right! I should've fought harder! I should've done something! There's some things you don't change but you don't just let them happen!"
He didn't know what to say. "You persevered. You're alive. We may not have the same snouts, but I do know strong blood runs in you. And no matter what anyone says, you're my daughter.”
“Even if we're not related?” Marci whispered.
Xylax chuckled. “I read a story about a human once who lost his arms in a plane crash. His doctor said he'd never be worth anything. Everyone told him to give up. He spent the rest of his life proving that bastard wrong. He held on for decades. He led others in their fight for rights. Despite what he lost he never gave up. If that same blood runs through you, and if you're my daughter, you'll persevere too."
She looked up at him, and his wolf-like face smiled down at her. "You don't need to be strong. You don't need to be canine. You just need to be Marci. That's enough."
They were silent for a long time. "Can…can you stay with me?"
"Of course, kiddo."