#M.O.M.: Mother of Madness | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yourshiftersam533 · 8 months ago

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M.O.M

Katie had never really understood what had happened to her mother, Wanda Maximoff. She was just a little girl at the time, too young to grasp the weight of the magic, the pain, the chaos that had overtaken her mother's mind. All she knew was that one day, Wanda had been there, smiling and holding her close. And then... she hadn't been.

Katie's memories of those early days were fragmented. She remembered the warmth of her mother's embrace, the lullabies she used to sing, and the way Wanda's red magic shimmered like firelight. But those were the good days, the times before Wanda had... changed.

The stories she'd heard were scattered, half-heard fragments of conversations between the few who still cared for her. She had overheard mentions of grief, of loss, and of something terrible that had driven her mother to madness. "She was never the same after the events in Westview," one of the voices had said. "She lost herself. And maybe part of her heart went with it."

Katie had been too young to understand then, but as she grew older and began to piece things together, she realized that her mother's powers.. once a gift had now become a curse. Wanda, in her grief, had sought to rewrite the world, to bring back what she had lost, but it had come at a terrible cost. The cost of her sanity.

There were days, Katie learned, when Wanda had lost control completely, her mind shattered by grief and power, warping the very fabric of reality. She had manipulated time, created illusions, and twisted the world in a desperate attempt to bring back her family, but at what cost? Her actions had hurt people. Destroyed lives. The entire world had paid the price for her sorrow.

And Katie... Katie had been left behind.

Katie had never known what her mother had truly felt in those moments of madness, but she could imagine. The rage, the heartbreak, the overwhelming desire to undo the pain. The longing to bring back everything she had lost. It was something Katie, in her own way, understood. After all, she had lost so much too. But she could never imagine losing herself in the process.

It wasn't until Katie was a little older that she realized something darker, something that haunted her even more than the stories of Wanda's chaos. Her father, who had always been distant, had told her the truth. He hadn't wanted her to know, but she was too curious, too determined. He'd said that Wanda had been so consumed by grief, so broken by the weight of her powers and her loss, that she had slowly lost herself. And in the process, she had done something unforgivable.

"She tried to create a new reality," her father had said, his voice filled with bitterness. "But she forgot one thing there are consequences to messing with people's lives."

Katie didn't understand all of it, but the piece that struck her the most was the final, haunting thought: her mother had gone so far, so deeply lost, that she had once tried to take away everyone else's choices to bring back what she wanted. She had tried to control everything, everyone.

Katie wasn't sure she could forgive her mother for that. But then, who was she to judge? She was just a little girl, a girl who had never truly known her mother the way others did. She had only heard the stories, seen the aftermath, and pieced together the truth from the fractured remnants of a once-great woman.

What Katie did know was that her mother had done what she thought was right. No matter how twisted it might have seemed and had sacrificed everything in the process. And in the end, she had left behind a broken world, a daughter who would never fully understand the depth of that sacrifice.

Katie's heart ached for the mother she had never known. But in some strange way, it also ached for the woman she had become: a powerful, broken soul who had only wanted to fix the impossible.

Katie didn't know what her future held. She didn't know if she could ever fully forgive Wanda, or if she could ever fill the hole left by her absence. But what she did know was that she carried her mother's strength perhaps not the madness but the same unrelenting will to survive, to push through, and to try, no matter how impossible the task might seem.

And somewhere in her heart, Katie hoped that maybe, just maybe, she could find her mother again. But not the broken woman from before. No. She wanted to find the part of Wanda that still believed in love, in family, and in second chances. Because no matter what had happened in the past, that was the mother Katie longed for.

Katie had never been one to talk about her mother. The other kids at school had their own stories about their parents, about their lives and their memories. But Katie's were fragmented, disjointed like puzzle pieces that never quite fit together. There were whispers, stories she had overheard in hushed tones, bits and pieces of her mother's past that made her feel like a stranger in her own life. Wanda Maximoff. Scarlet Witch. Hero. Villain. Mother.

But to Katie, Wanda was just... gone.

Some days, Katie would wander into the room her mother used to spend so much time in. It was a small, quiet space, filled with trinkets from another time, books that hadn't been read in years, faded photographs, and strange mementos from a life that seemed to belong to someone else. On the desk, there was a picture of Wanda holding her, a happy memory from before everything fell apart. Katie's fingers traced the glass of the frame, lingering on the image of her mother's smile.

She hadn't realized until now how much she wanted to understand her mother. Not just the power, not just the magic, but the woman behind it all. The woman who had tried, and failed, to keep everything together. The woman who had fought for her family, even when it meant losing herself in the process.

Katie's father rarely spoke of Wanda, but there were moments when his grief slipped through. He had never been a particularly affectionate man, and his quiet bitterness was something Katie had grown used to. But in rare moments, when she caught him looking at the old photographs or silently watching a news report about one of the Avengers, she saw the ache in his eyes. He had loved Wanda, loved her fiercely, even after everything. But even his love couldn't save her.

Katie was sitting alone in the living room one evening when the doorbell rang, cutting through the quiet. She rose to answer it, unsure of who it might be. When she opened the door, she found Bucky Barnes standing there, a familiar yet distant figure from her past.

"Katie," Bucky said softly, a faint smile on his lips. "Mind if I come in?"

Katie stepped aside, letting him enter. She hadn't seen much of him in recent months, but she had always known he was one of the few people who understood her mother, even when she had been lost. Bucky had seen Wanda at her best and at her worst. He knew the cost of loving her, the price of standing by her.

"How've you been?" Bucky asked, taking a seat on the couch.

Katie hesitated, sitting down beside him. "I don't know," she admitted. "Some days I feel like I'm just... stuck. Like I'll never really understand what happened with Mom. What happened to her. I don't even know how to remember her."

Bucky's expression softened, and for a moment, he was quiet. "You don't have to have all the answers right now. Wanda didn't have all the answers either. She was trying to do the best she could, even if it didn't always work out. She loved you, Katie. She loved you more than anything in this world."

Katie swallowed hard, trying to keep the tears at bay. "But she wasn't perfect. She made mistakes. Big ones."

"Yeah, she did," Bucky agreed, his voice gentle but firm. "But she was still your mother. And no matter what she did, or what happened, that love never went away. It was just... buried beneath everything else."

Katie blinked, a single tear escaping. "I just want to know her. I want to know what she was like before all the magic, before everything went wrong."

Bucky sighed, leaning back in his seat. "I can't bring her back, Katie. But I can tell you about her. About the times when she wasn't the Scarlet Witch, when she was just Wanda. A woman who cared about the people she loved, even if she was broken."

Katie looked up at him, her eyes searching. "You really think she cared? After everything she did?"

Bucky gave her a small, sad smile. "I know she did. Because no matter how far she fell, she always tried to fix things. And that's something, isn't it? No matter how much she hurt, she didn't give up. And you can take that with you. You carry that strength inside you, Katie. That's what makes you who you are."

Katie sat in silence, processing his words. It wasn't easy to accept that her mother's love had been so tangled with her pain, that the two had become inseparable. But perhaps that was the truth about Wanda, she had been more than just her powers, more than just her grief. She had been a person, someone who had fought, struggled, and loved. And now, Katie was left to carry that legacy, to find a way to understand it, to make sense of the woman behind the chaos.

Bucky stood up to leave, but before he did, he turned back to Katie. "Your mother wouldn't want you to carry this weight alone. You've got people who care about you. People who'll help you find your way."

Katie nodded slowly, her heart heavy but her resolve growing stronger. She didn't know if she would ever fully understand her mother. But she knew she would try. Because, despite the pain, the mistakes, and the magic that had once consumed Wanda, there was one thing Katie was certain of: Wanda had loved her. And that love was something worth holding on to. Over the months

Bucky's visit's became more frequent as the weeks passed. He didn't always have the right words to offer, but Katie could tell he was trying to fill in the gaps. Some days, he would show up with a bag of food, and they would sit in the quiet of the house, sharing stories, sometimes awkward, sometimes bittersweet.

One evening, as they sat together, Katie felt the weight of the silence settle between them. She hadn't asked Bucky about her mother in a while, but tonight, she felt the need to.

"Bucky," Katie began, her voice soft, "can you tell me more about Mom? Before... before everything happened?"

Bucky sat back, eyes distant as though recalling a time long ago. He exhaled slowly, as if gathering his thoughts.

"Your mom was... something else," he said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "She was a fighter, that's for sure. But she had this side to her, a side that wasn't about the power or the magic. It was about the people she cared about. She had a way of making you feel like you mattered, like you could do anything."

Katie leaned forward, eager to hear more. "What was she like... when she was happy?"

Bucky's gaze softened. "When she was happy, there was nothing she wouldn't do for those she loved. I remember this one time, after a big mission. We were all beat, bruised, and tired. But Wanda, she insisted on cooking dinner for the whole team. It wasn't anything fancy, just pasta and a bunch of vegetables, but she made it feel like a celebration. She had this warmth about her, this quiet strength, like she could light up the room without even trying. We'd all be sitting around the table, cracking jokes and sharing stories, and she'd just listen. Like she was taking it all in. You could tell she loved those moments just being with people she cared about."

Katie could almost picture it: her mother, sitting at the head of the table, her warm eyes glowing with love, her laughter filling the room. The image felt foreign yet comforting.

"But," Bucky continued, his smile fading into something more sorrowful, "there was always that shadow with Wanda. Always that heaviness. She tried to hide it, but I think we all saw it. I think she saw it too. The grief from losing Pietro, from losing so much. She was always pushing herself, always trying to prove that she wasn't just her pain, that she could still do good in the world. But sometimes... sometimes the weight of everything she carried became too much."

Katie didn't know what to say. Hearing about her mother's warmth, her care, her strength it was the mother she had always imagined. But it was clear now, through Bucky's words, that there had been so much more to her. Her pain. Her struggle. She wondered, if she had been there, if she could have helped. But that was a question she would never have an answer to.

Bucky seemed to sense the shift in her thoughts. "Wanda wasn't perfect, Katie. She had her demons, just like everyone else. And sometimes, she pushed people away, even when she didn't mean to. She didn't always know how to let people in. But the truth is, we all knew her truly knew her. And we loved her, flaws and all."

Katie thought about that for a long moment. "What was she like when she... when she lost control?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Bucky hesitated, his brow furrowing as he recalled the darker times. "When she lost control, it wasn't Wanda anymore. It was like something else took over. She had so much power, so much grief. And when you mix that with someone who doesn't know how to let go of their pain, it becomes... dangerous. But even in those moments, when she was lost in the chaos, there were flashes. Brief moments where you could see her again, the Wanda we all knew, the one who just wanted to fix everything. She didn't always know how to stop herself, but she always regretted it afterward."

Katie swallowed hard, absorbing the weight of Bucky's words. Her mother's journey had been one of love, of strength, and of an overwhelming desire to do the right thing. But it had also been one of terrible loss, of grief so deep that it warped her reality.

Bucky continued, his voice softer now. "There was one time... before all the madness. We were all in a rough spot. Wanda and I were in the field, and things were going south fast. I don't know how she did it, but in the heat of everything, she reached out to me she didn't even say anything, but I could feel it. She was scared. Not for herself, but for all of us. And in that moment, I knew she was always thinking about others. That's who she was. That's who I remember."

Katie closed her eyes, trying to picture that moment. Wanda, her mother, terrified for others even when she had every reason to be afraid for herself. A mother who had tried to protect those she loved with all the strength she had, even if it had cost her everything.

"And then," Bucky said, his voice a little rough, "there was the last time I saw her. Right before everything ended. I don't think she ever truly accepted the fact that she couldn't fix everything, that she couldn't save everyone, even though she tried. It broke her, Katie. But she never stopped caring."

Katie's heart ached as she absorbed everything Bucky had shared with her. She was slowly beginning to understand the woman her mother had been strong, loving, broken. She could see the pieces now, the fragments of Wanda's life that had been scattered across the world.

"You're more like her than you know, Katie," Bucky said, breaking the silence. "You've got that same strength in you. The same heart. And that's something to be proud of."

Katie wiped the tears from her eyes, feeling both an emptiness and a strange sense of connection. "I don't know if I'm strong like her," she said quietly. "But I know... I want to be. I want to remember the good parts. The parts that made her my mom."

Bucky nodded, his expression soft. "That's the best way to honor her, kid. Remember the good. Remember the love. Because, in the end, that's what mattered the most to her."

Katie sat in silence, the weight of her mother's legacy sitting heavy on her chest but, for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel so alone. She wasn't sure how to carry it all yet, but she was willing to try. For Wanda. For herself.

And maybe, just maybe, she could start building her own path, a path that honored both the woman who had loved her and the woman who had lost herself.

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