# Dirty Amber

Title: Dirty Amber
Status: Complete
Characters: Anon, Fang, Amber, Ripley
Rating: SFW
Classification: One Shot
Author: Anonymous
​
>Kids to Amber at school: What's wrong with your mom's scales?
>Amber: N-nothing.
>Kid: Mom said it's dirt that doesn't wash of. I bet you're dirty too!
>Amber: I am not! We're not dirty!
>Kids: Yeah right! Dirty Amber! Dirty Amber:
>all the kids start singing it in chorus
>Amber comes home crying after a particularly nasty day of bullying
>Fang tries to comfort her, but Amber rebuffs her, running to the bathroom
>Fang gives her a little space, to let her cool down.
>She's still in there 10 minutes later
>Fang tries the handle, it's locked
>"Amber? Amber, sweeting, open the door!"
>Fang gets more and more frantic about getting in
>Finally busts the door open
>Amber is scrubbing her scales bloody raw, trying to get the dirt off
>The same dirt that stains her mother's hands
>As Amber grows older, she becomes more and more distant from Fang
>"Daddy, can you pick me up from school today?"
>"Don't you want Mommy to pick you up, sweetie?"
>Amber doesn't say anything, just looks at the ground
>"Amber, honey what's the matter?"
>Amber turns her head to Anon, tears running down her face
>"I hate mommy! She's dirty and I don't want her to get me anymore!"
>Fang just happened to walk into the kitchen during this outburst
​
The dirt is Fang's past sins. Her soul is permanently stained, just as her scales are permanently stained by the tattoos.
Fang removes them by removing herself from Amber's life.
>Amber is all grown up now
>She hasn't spoken to Fang in 15 years
>She finally comes home to Volcaldera Bluffs for the funeral of her father, who dies in a tragic blimp accident
>She is dreading seeing her mother again, for all the pain that Fang put her through
>Reflects on the past, and realizes it wasn't Fang she was mad at
>Cue dramatic reunion, music swells, mother embraces daughter for the first time in years, cut to credits
>after-credits scene you see it's all a fever-dream by Fang as she lies there in the subway bathroom
>an empty syringe rolls away from her twitching body
>as blood starts to pour out from between her legs
>"Mommy's sorry, Amber..."
Wow that was dark even for me.
​
>"Hello pumpkin. Where's mommy?"
>"Grampa? Are you visiting??""
>"Yes, I wanted to stop by; your daddy and I have to change our fishing plans this weekend... what's wrong?"
>"It's nothing..."
>"Oh come on, pumpkin, don't lie to your granddad. It'll break his heart."
>"Well... mommy is dirty. Then I tried to wash the dirt off, cuz if mommy is dirty I am too."
>"Dirty?"
>"All the kids at school saw it! They saw mommy has dirt on her scales. They think I have it too..."
>"Dirt on her scales, huh? You must mean tattoos."
>"What's a ta-ttoo, grampa?"
>"That's what they think the is 'dirt', pumpkin. But it's not dirt. It's just... something people get when they want to remember something. It's a little like ink on a paper, but it lasts forever."
>"Why would mommy get a ta-ttoo? What is she remembering?"
>"Lots of things, I'm sure... she would know. But it's not dirty. Nothing wrong with having a tattoo. Even your old granddad has one."
>"Really?"
>Ripley eases onto a single knee and rolls his sleeves further up, revealing tattoos on his shoulder
>"I got this one back during the war, a long time ago. It reminds me of my friends... men I fought alongside, way back when."
>Ripley eases his pant leg up, revealing a calf tattoo
>"This one says my old unit name, like a code word. We all got this same tattoo, fighting for what we believe in."
>"Wow, that looks way older than mommy's tattoo!"
>"I got it a long, long time ago, pumpkin. It... reminds me of the friends I made. People who weren't as lucky as me."
>Ripley frowns but, seeing Amber, gently pats her head with a smile
>"Ask your mommy about her tattoos. I bet they mean something special, too... and you don't have to get any, if you don't want to."
>"Thank you, grampa."
>"No worries, pumpkin. Now let's go find your daddy."
​
>Fang points to one on her left forearm
>It's two semi-circles, separated by a small gap
>There's at the bottom there's two arrows pointing to small dot
>the top gap has nothing at all.
>"This one, is me and your father. The top is empty, because...We had a lot of problems in our lives, and nothing good to put there. The two arrows come out to show how we drifted apart, then they come back in as we found each other again. The small circle? That's you!"
>Amber traces the lines as Fang tells the story.
>"Mommy...There's two dots here."
>Fang smiles.
>"That's because you're going to have a brother or a sister soon."
​
>"Mommy...There's two dots here. But didn't you say you are st-er-ile?" Amber asks, stumbling with the tricky word.
>Please stop listening to aunt Naomi, dear
​
>Fang balks for a moment, biting her lip at the small ptero's words
>How could she put this in a way little Amber could understand...
>"Well, sweetie, that's true. Mommy can't make you a brother or sister herself."
>Fang takes Amber's hands in her own, squeezing them tight to keep her own tears at bay
>"But, luckily, Daddy and Mommy found someone else who can help with that."
>Fang manages to choke the words out without sobbing. Ever since her and Anon had discussed this, she wasn't sure she was ever going to be comfortable with it.
>But they both wanted it so bad.
>"You remember Auntie Trish, don't you Amber?"
​
​
>"Remember Auntie Trish?"
>"Is Daddy going to make a baby with her?"
>Fang couldn't control her sobs at this point, putting a hand over her mouth in a vain attempt. Especially as questions start to flood from little Amber's mouth.
>"Is this why he's at Auntie Trish's place so often?"
>"Is she's gonna be my new mommy?"
>"Will she pick me up from school tomorrow? I wanna be with my cool mommy and not you!"
​
>Ripley decides he's going to deal with this "Dirty Amber" situation once and for all.
>He will take her to school.
>Wears a fest to show his shoulder tattoo
>Amber gets out the car.
>"Hey! Dirty Amber! Is your dirty mom with you."
>Ripley gets out the car
>"No, just her dirty grandpa."
>Everyone shits their pants
>That put an end to that.
​
>Years later
>A young ptero woman walks into a tattoo parlour
>"Hi, I was wondering if I could get some work done."
>She reaches into her pocket.
>And pulls out a piece of paper
>Screen fades to black before you can see what's on it.