Because Of Me

"...mom?"
That soft, sudden voice caught Hera off guard, and she turned quickly towards the door, where the painfully small figure of her daughter was half-hidden behind the doorframe, one eye peering out at her as she let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders drooping.
"Aegis, child, don't frighten me like that..." she said wearily, concern creeping into her voice; "Why aren't you asleep? Did I wake you?"
Aegis shook her head, rubbing at her eyes as she stepped out from behind the doorframe. Her talons scraped softly at the floor as she wandered to her mother's side and wrapped her slender little arms around her waist, burying her face against Hera's belly.
A moment later she realized, with a stab of alarm, that her child was crying.
"Aegis..." she murmured softly, tilting the girl's face up and feeling her heart break all over again at the sight tears filling her bright blue eyes; "Aegis, love, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"...was it something I did? Did dad leave because of me?"
Hera's throat tightened, and her vision fogged over with fresh tears as she sank to her knees, her hands shaking slightly as they rested on her child's shoulders.
"Why would you think something like that?" If someone had put that idea into her head...
"He told me to be good for you... he said he'd come back..." Aegis' soft voice wavered and cracked, and tears spilled down her cheeks as she wrung her hands anxiously. "Wasn't I good...? Did I do something wrong?"
"Aegis - no. No, you didn't do anything wrong..." Hera whispered hoarsely, gathering her daughter - her shy, soft-spoken, too-serious daughter - into her arms and holding her close; "You mustn't ever think this was your fault. Your father loved you very much, and nothing in this universe could change that."
Drawing back slightly, she cupped Aegis' face in her hands and tenderly brushed the tears from her cheeks.
"You were his pride and his joy, and there is nothing you could ever do to make him abandon you, do you understand?"
Hiccuping softly, Aegis nodded once, not breaking eye contract.
"Someone else, though... someone did something very terrible to your father," Hera continued gently, moving to hold both of her daughter's hands in her own. "They took him away from both of us, and it will be a long time before either of us will see him again..."
"H-how long...?"
Hera's voice cracked, then, as she hugged Aegis close once more and felt her burrow into the embrace, her little body shaking.
"A lifetime, child... a lifetime..."