A/n - Usually I keep angst out of this oneshot collection because there’s a LOT of it in my other story

‘Closer’ but this idea popped into my head and I wanted to do it.

Family

For the first time ever Tzuyu stood out on the Fire Escape alone.

She was still in her uniform from earlier, having not been in the mood to change when she’d returned home four hours early from work. Today had not been a good day and as Tzuyu stood there in the cold twirling her lighter around in her pocket she began questioning why she had done it. Why hadn’t she listened to orders? Why had she let it get too her so much? Why the hell did she quit smoking because she really needed one right now? Taking the lighter from her pocket she looked it over somewhat fondly. It’d been her grandfathers and had her grandmothers name carved on it, even after she had quit smoking she never wanted to get rid of the lighter. It reminded her of simpler times, before her grandparents died and she was thrown back into her mothers downward spiral.

Tzuyu never hated her Mother, she never found it within herself to do so. When she was young and her Dad first left to Korea to earn money, Tzuyu’s mother had done everything in her power to provide for both Tzuyu and her older brother. Tzuyu didn’t hate her Dad either, in fact she was Daddy’s little girl. She blamed neither of them when their marriage fell apart due to the distance. In fact Tzuyu could safely say that despite being forced to live with her doting grandparents (her mother had been deemed unfit due to alcohol) she never had any ill feelings towards either of her parents.

She hated her step-father though.

He came into her life when she was fifteen, all smiles and presents. Treating Tzuyu and her mother like princess’. She remembered Kang, her brother, telling her early on that he didn’t like the man but Tzuyu had shrugged it off. She put it down to her brother being upset that he’d no longer be the man of the house. But her brother had been right, only he’d gone to join their father in Korea so he never fully understood how right he was. As soon as he and her mother were married her step-dad began to get aggressive, if Tzuyu was late home from school she’d be slapped, if her mother was ill and missed a shift she’d be punched. Her money became his money and both Tzuyu and her mother were thrown around like rag dolls.

That’s why Tzuyu wanted to join the police.

She had a strong sense of right and wrong. She knew that while there were good people in the world there were also bad people, ignoring for a moment all those (like herself) in the grey. Tzuyu had been a very angry teenager, taking out all her aggression on anyone at school that looked at her the wrong way. In a way it made things easier, when she’d show up with a black eye everyone just put it down to a fight. If anybody had even attempted to intervene maybe things would be different, but it’s too late now to ask what ifs.

The truth is, Tzuyu never knew what having a real family was like. Sure, her Grandparents had tried to raise her with love and care, but when she came out they began to ignore her slightly. They tried to stay the same, knowing it was not something that could be helped, but Tzuyu could always see the disappointment and that bothered her. She’d tried dating boys but it didn’t feel right and never lasted longer than a few weeks, this in turn got her a reputation. Labelled a whilst still a , figure that one out.