⚠️⚠️⚠️WARNING⚠️⚠️⚠️

This chapter mentions the idea of SA, domestic violence, and substance abuse. It won't describe anything too graphic about the SA because it's still a fanfic about a kids show, but it will say that it happened. This is a mostly filler chapter, so it won't hurt to skip it if you aren't comfortable reading it.

The point of this chapter is to encourage people who have had this experience to come forward and seek help if they need to. It is also to raise awareness about the issue and how this can happen to anyone no matter of age, race, or gender. There are numbers for hotlines you can call at the end of the chapter that have resources that can help. I hope this never happens to anyone, but if it does I hope these resources and this character's story can help people cope with it.

You have been warned. If you still decide to read it, enjoy the chapter.

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Liv's P.O.V.:

"Hello, I'm Liv and I'm an alcoholic." I said.

"Hi Liv." The room said.

"I see we have some newcomers in the back, so if it's alright, I'm going to go ahead and tell you how I got here." I said. "It all started a long time ago..."

It was a tough life for me. My parents split up right after I was born. My mother got full custody of me and my dad would see me once a month. Every time we were alone, my father would... do things to me. Unspeakable things.

"I never said anything to my mother about it, not a teacher or a counselor. Mostly because I was embarrassed that it happened to me. I thought it was just normal, but one day, my mother caught on."

I was thirteen and my mother was driving me to my father's apartment for our court mandated monthly visit. I was dreading the thought of being alone with him again.

"You seem quiet. Is everything ok?" My mom asked.

"Yeah, it's just... are you sure I have to see dad again?" I frowned. "I don't like the way he talks to me."

"What do you mean?" My mom asked, obviously concerned.

"Well first he yells at me at the slightest disagreement and then he takes me into his room and... demands stuff from me." I frowned.

"What kind of stuff exactly?"

"You know what, never mind. I don't want to talk about it." I frowned.

"Honey, if your dad has ever hurt you in any way, I need to know." She said.

"In that moment I had no choice but to tell her everything. Every little awful thing that man did to me. Needless to say, my mother was not happy."

"Oh no, that is not ok." My mom screamed. "I'm so sorry Liv, I had no idea that was happening. I promise honey, we're going to figure this out."

"Thanks mom." I smiled.

We pulled up to the apartment and I saw my father standing outside. My mom told me to stay in the car while she went to talk to him. I couldn't hear through the window, but from what I could see they were arguing. My mother was berating him and at one point he pushed her down and punched her in the face.

My mother kicked him back and jumped in the car. She took off driving as fast as the car could go. My father started yelling and jumped in his car and took off after us.

We passed by the canals of Ninjago City and his car t-boned ours. Our car landed in the canal and started sinking to the bottom.

"All I remember from the rest of that day happened when I woke up in the hospital..." I continued.

I woke up in the hospital. I was still coughing from the water in my lungs and my head was really hurting.

"Oh well look who's awake." The nurse smiled at me.

"Where am I? What happened?" I asked her.

"You were in an accident, but don't worry, you're going to be alright." She said.

"Wait, my mother. She was driving the car. Where is she? Is she ok?"

"I'm so sorry sweetie, we tried our best but she didn't make it." The nurse frowned.

"What?" I frowned. "No... no no no... this can't be happening..."

"You can spend the night here and then your father can take you home tomorrow." The nurse told me.

"What? No! Don't let him take me! Please don't let him take me!"

"I'm sorry sweetie, but we don't have anywhere else to put you." The nurse frowned. "I'll give you a minute to process everything."

"I tried to prove to the court that my father was responsible for my mother's death, but no one believed a thirteen year old kid. Even if they did believe me, they couldn't find any proof so it was ruled as an accident. I always hoped my father would get caught and pay for what he did, but it's too late to get anyone to believe me now." I frowned. "Anyway..."

The next morning, my dad picked me up from the hospital and took me back to his apartment. I didn't have any other family, so I had no choice but to live with him, and it was horrible.

He was always drinking, going out to bars, and the times that he was home he was either passed out on the couch, yelling at me over the slightest little things, or... doing those things to me.

"The only thing to make all the pain go away was drinking. Yep that's right, I was thirteen when I had my first drink, and it was like a light going off in my head. Finally a little comfort from all the horrible things that were happening to me. I wanted that tiny bit of relief so badly that I was drinking at least four drinks every day. It somehow made everything less painful and made the abuse easier to take. His abuse went on for three more years, but one day, on my 16th birthday, I decided I'd had enough."

I waited until he passed out on the couch. I stole some cash from his rainy day money jar and then I made a run for it. I dropped out of high school and started living on the streets.

Of course any cash I could get my hands on would go towards more alcohol, but the people of Ninjago city were so nice to me. People gave me their spare change, blankets, clothes, food, a winter coat. It was surprising that these total strangers who didn't even know my name were nicer to me than my own father was. There was one person in particular who I owe everything to.

It was a stormy night and they were letting the homeless into makeshift shelters all across the city. I had tried multiple shelters to find a bed, but I didn't have any luck.

"Please, I just need one bed." I said to the volunteer.

"I'm sorry ma'am, we're already overbooked because of the storm." She said. "I heard the hotel across the street is taking people in for the storm. Might wanna try there."

"Ok, thanks anyway." I frowned.

I braved across the street in the pouring rain and entered the hotel. It wasn't much and there were already people sitting in the lobby. I knew it was a long shot, but I was out of options.

I walked up to the desk and was about to ask the clerk for a room, but he didn't look very happy.

"Look, I know there's a storm, but we're at capacity already." He said.

"Is it ok if I sleep in the lobby then?" I asked.

"Sorry, but it's a fire hazard if we take any more people in the lobby." He said.

"Come on, I've checked everywhere else in the city." I frowned.

"Wait, I'm in a room alone." I heard a lady say. "She can bunk with me."

"Fine, it's your lucky day kid." The clerk said.

The lady walked up to me and took me up to her room. I was a little anxious about the situation, but my other choice was to sleep outside in the rain. I would have to make this work.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, but you seemed desperate." She said. "I'm Gia. And you are?"

"Uhh... Liv." I answered nervously. "T-Thank you."

"No problem, I know what it's like to not have a roof over your head every night." Gia winked.

"You were homeless too?" I asked.

"Only two years, but I remember it wasn't easy." She frowned. "I had problems with drinking too."

"Wait, how did you know about that?" I asked.

"I smell it on you." She said.

"Oh, yeah. Well in my defense, I haven't been able to shower in a while." I frowned.

"Oh don't worry about me dear, I've seen it all. Homeless, prison, shelters, you name it." She sat down on the couch. "You can take the bed, I'll take the couch."

"Are you sure? You're the one paying for this room."

"Nonsense dear, I'm sure it's been a while since you've slept in a real bed."

"It probably is better than an old gym mat." I said. "Do you mind if I freshen up a bit?"

"Sure, help yourself." She said looking through her suitcase. "Oh here, take these."

She handed me a tee shirt and a pair of striped pajama pants.

"Are you sure? I don't want to take more of your things." I said.

"Oh it's ok, I tend to overpack." Gia said.

I ran to the bathroom and took the first shower I've had in weeks. After an hour of cleaning myself up, I put on the clothes she gave and went back into the room. They were a little big on me, but at least they were clean.

"Hey." Gia said from the couch. "The hotel crew with food from the restaurant they had for people who couldn't make their reservations because of the weather. Do you want some pizza?"

"Sure. Thank you." I said.

I took three slices of the pizza and sat down next to her. I was starving because my last meal was two days ago.

"Did they bring beers too?" I asked with my mouth full.

"They did, but I told them not to give us any." Gia said.

"What? I thought you drank?"

"I did, but thanks to everything I've learned in AA, I haven't had a drink in twenty three years."

"Wow." I said. "My first drink was when I was thirteen, I find it makes my problems go away."

"It does for a bit, but the consequences aren't pleasant." Gia frowned. "My parents were very conservative and against anything fun. When I was 17, they caught me about to drink a beer I got from a friend at school, and they immediately kicked me out. I was homeless for two years, but then when my little brother was old enough to move out, we bought a small RV and traveled Ninjago. It wasn't much, but it was all we needed. And the fact that we were out on our own, meant I could drink how I wanted to."

"So let me guess, you did?"

"Only every day." She frowned. "One day I drove the RV drunk with my brother sleeping in the back. I crashed it and the RV tipped over on its side. My brother survived, but he was bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life."

"I'm guessing that's how you ended up in prison too?"

"Yeah, I only got six months but to be honest, prison was easier than being homeless. At least you had a roof, a bed, toilets, occasional showers, and knew where your next meal was coming from. The only thing was there was no alcohol. However there were these things called Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. At first I just did it because it was something that could get me out of the room, but after hearing everyone's stories and how great their lives were, I thought I might as well give it a real try. So after I got out, I got a job, an apartment, found a sponsor, and a local regular meeting."

"And what? You just stopped? It's that easy?"

"Oh please, none of it is easy, but I promise once you put it down for good, life gets easier. It won't seem like it at first, but trust me it's worth it to get to the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Did he ever forgive you?" I asked.

"Who?"

"Your little brother?" I said.

"Yes, after three years of sobriety my brother did finally accept my amends. We're not as close as we used to be, but we're getting there."

"Her story was so moving it inspired to me to put the bottle down for good and give AA a try. After I had a few months sober, I got my GED and went to a community college. Luckily Gia allowed me to stay in a camper she had, however college was hard because so many people were drinking around me. I relapsed a total of four times that year and decided it wasn't worth it, so I gave up and went back to drinking again. Then something happened that drove me back to AA..."

When I turned twenty one, I went into this bar with a few of my college buddies celebrating our graduation. We saw this dude sitting at the bar. He was the most popular kid on campus because he had an elemental power, of teleportation.

"Hey Liv, I dare you to give that guy your number." My friend said pointing to him

"Yeah right, he's too much of a bad boy for you." My other friend said.

"Oh yeah? I'll show you." I said.

I wrote my number down on a piece of paper and went over there. I was so drunk that I could've said yes to anything... even spending the night with a total stranger.

"After about a week of dating him, I left because it wasn't working out. Two weeks later I found out I was pregnant." I told the group. "I went back to tell him the news, and he didn't take it well."

"Pregnant? No, there's no way you can be pregnant." He freaked.

"Jett, I took that test three times. I have to be." I frowned.

"You don't understand, if you have this baby I lose my elemental power."

"I do understand that, but..."

"But nothing Liv! I don't want to be a father." Jet said. "And you can't have this baby."

"What? You want me to... get rid of it?"

"You have to, otherwise I won't keep my power."

"I don't give a flying fish if you keep your powers or not, this is my baby too and I'm having it!" I ripped the check in his face.

"You're gonna regret that." He said threateningly.

"We got in a fight and it ended with me getting a black eye and running away from his apartment. I went back to Gia's apartment and told her everything. She agreed to let me move in with her on the condition that I pay rent. Luckily she got in touch with her old boss and got me a job as a secretary, but the hard part was not drinking while I was pregnant."

Even though I knew I couldn't keep the baby, I still wanted her to have a great life. I asked Gia to be my sponsor, I went to AA meetings at least once a day just trying to stay sober. Then once I could afford it, I got a studio apartment and found a lovely couple to adopt my baby.

"And even though my life was an utter disaster, and today while it may not be an amazing life now, I have everything I need. And now that my daughter is happy with her new family, I know I can be happy too. Thank you for listening."

Everyone clapped for me and I returned to my seat. As the next person went up to share, I saw a quiet young girl sitting in the back. She looked roughed up and distant. I wrote my name and number on a piece of paper and quietly handed it to her.

"If you wanna go to coffee sometime, just give me a call." I said.

She looked at the note and then looked up at me. She flashed me a little smile and continued listening. Not everyone makes it in this program, but it's easier when you don't have to do it alone.

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If you or a loved one has been a victim of SA, there are resources that can help.

USA Hotline number:
1(800) 656-4673

International Hotline:
1-855-484-2846

These hotlines are secure and you can remain anonymous. They can help you find counseling, therapists, SA victim support groups and safe housing for victims.

You are not alone.

(If these numbers don't work or you know of any numbers for support services you would like to add, comment or DM me on Wattpad or Twitter so I can properly edit the chapter.)

Thank you for reading.