imagine, traveler (you), yanfei, ganyu, and barbara on the same team together. the topic of cases was brought up by yanfei, and is now being discussed. she lets out a groan as she complains about her least favorite type of cases: child custody cases

“child custody disputes are the worst,” yanfei admits. “sometimes both sides have reasoning, while others have none at all.” she rubs her head. “no matter how you settle it, nobody seems to win. it’s a lose lose situation.”

her shoulders sag and the tip of her hat bends down in dismay. “the worst part is the settlement will always have a great psychological impact on the innocent children involved, when it’s literally ABOUT them. it’s... it’s awful.”

she huffs, and kicks a stray rock on the road with all the anger she can summon. “why can’t just everyone can meet the right person and be spared this particular grief?” she crosses her arms. “makes my job and other people’s lives a lot easier, y’know!”

from the corner of the eye, you see barbara’s jaw going slack. there’s a slight tremble to her limbs. abruptly, she pauses in the middle of the road and let her knees buckle together.

you aren’t the only one to notice the change in her behavior. “barbara,” ganyu calls, making yanfei stop her rant. “are... are you alright?”

she mumbles something under her breath. you blink. you raise an arm up to place on her shoulder as you say, “ barbara, we can’t really hear you but please know we’re here fo—“

she evades your hand away with a jerk.

your eyes grow wide. you draw a sharp intake of breath. she doesn’t notice. if she does, she doesn’t seem to care. instead, she glares at yanfei. if looks could kill, then barbara’s glower would definitely take one for the winning. instead of healing... she was hurting.

and hurting yanfei in particular.

“sometimes, yanfei,” she starts, in a voice all too sickly sweet even for her. “people make the wrong choice with choosing people. and they’re left with the consequences.” she gestures towards herself. “and they can’t reverse those mistakes.”

yanfei regards barbara cooly. a frown is stuck onto her face. “as a legal advisor i am well aware of these aforementioned consequen—“

“no, you fucking aren’t.”

for once in her life, yanfei doesn’t speak. she is flabbergasted as the girl takes time to find her voice.

barbara takes a deep, shaky breath and exhales. “you aren’t. you fucking aren’t maybe as a legal advisory, but not as a child living as a consequence.” her fists clench as she says, “you... you don’t know what it’s like to live apart of a fractured family.”

“all you see is the broken pieces, digging right into your skin. there’s no bandaids to put on your skin or anything that can help. you just let the wounds draw blood out, getting infected by everyone around you.”

while barbara’s eyes have been described as vibrant as oceans itself, they have never looked so soulless now. bleak and bland, it lost its idol charm. what stares at you is a hurt little girl with much too melancholy to even think.

ganyu tries to bring back life to its eyes, through some pitiful words. “child custody disputes... they help in building a base right? for the fractures pieces can be repaired through the tri—“

barbara raises an eyebrow, effectively shutting the secretary up.

“no.” a pause. “not really. the lawyer may try to help but their involvement...” she pursed her lips. “only furthers the belief that children are apart of the consequences of their choices.” she chokes back a sob. “that i’m—children are apart of the problem.”

“that no matter what, they can’t undo the false promises of love said to us. to me.”

this time, barbara doesn’t hold back her cries. she lets out a whimper before it turns to a cry and an outright wail. and she doesn’t stop, not now and ever.

after all, she was a mere fractured piece that cannot be repaired.

[END OF THREAD] apologies for the random burst of angst! the idea struck me in the shower and i just had to write it! i hope yall enjoyed :D