Nula

"Welcome to Nula traveler!" A middle-aged woman came to greet the pair, curious as to all the stuff that was coming off the ship.

"Thank you," Cain smiled, making the married woman's heart skip, "I was wondering if you could point me to the Dante Company?"

"Ah! You must be our new resident! The one setting up a clinic! If you take a left out of the docks and head up the hill, you won't miss it!"

The woman looked at him in surprise, knowing he was the figure who helped rebuild Nula after its 'merging' with a nearby uninhabited skyland.

Merging was a phenomenon when skylands collided, and it usually ended in one or both islands getting destroyed in one way or another. When Nula collided with the other skyland, it ended up destroying most of their farms and killing a few farm hands.

As a frontier town, it was already difficult enough to live so with the loss of their main food supply, they lost hope. Many left, leaving behind generations of love and care that built their homes and what the town was today.

However, the young Cain became their savior, as they started getting funds and workers to help rebuild and expand their town. People started coming back, new and old residents, and the town started flourishing.

Their savior only asked for a plot of land to open up a clinic, to which they happily agreed. Although they weren't aware of what kind of clinic it was, having a resident doctor in town would do wonders for the town.

Cain thanked the woman who blushed slightly as he complimented her. She then left to complain to her husband about how he didn't tell her she was pretty enough while Cain and Luna left the sailors on the ship to unload everything they couldn't fit into their storage rings and take it to the clinic.

Cain made his way to the Dante Company, the merchant company he had business with, and how he was able to get around the Lailan Council. They weren't the most popular company, a pretty new one but that was perfect for Cain who wanted to keep his movements hidden from the Council.

He was invited into the branch head's office after the receptionist confirmed his appointment. The Crane man thanked him for his patronage and they quickly got the boring paperwork out of the way before Cain was given the key to his clinic.

They made their way back down the hill and made their way through the town toward the fields on the newer Skyland addition where most of the space had not been used. His clinic had a few acres to itself so he would be able to set up a farm, stables, and other more private buildings on the property so mothers could spend time in an isolated and comfortable environment.

On the way back, he thought about how he recognized a few people, and how the few he recognized, didn't recognize him. He was gone for too long it seemed, and really wanted to reach out to his mother if she was still here. He was still anxious though so he was trying to put it off.

When they got to the clinic, they opened the door of the 3-story building with a basement. The basement was their lab, set up with equipment the sailors helped bring here while the other 3 floors were just a normal house.

The basement was also equipped with a nursery and sterile room so he could help give birth to the women that would eventually come here if needed. The house was decorated sweetly and it made him think of how much it looked like a newlywed's home.

Luna kept a stoic face but her wagging tail gave away her thoughts on the house. She liked it too, feeling a bit like a new housewife for Cain since this would be their home. While it would be a bit different since other women would also be here giving birth to his children, it was still adorable.

The hours went by as they finished setting up the things they needed. Eventually, Luna addressed the elephant in the room since Cain was antsy and trying to find little things to keep him busy.

"Let's go see your mother." She said making Cain freeze.

"B-But we have-""No buts, you're putting it off. Your mother isn't going to hate you and I know you want to see her too."

Cain sighed and sat on the couch with his arms resting on his knees. Luna sat next to him and wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"You'll be fine. I'll be there with you and if for some reason she doesn't want to see you, I don't mind giving her a piece of my mind."

"You don't have to do that Luna," Cain held her hand on his arm, "I know I need to see her, it's just hard after growing up not knowing her. I was too young to remember much of her and my childhood and the things people said to me about her only made it harder to remember any happy moments I had.

"She's like a stranger to me, but she was also the only other person who fought for my freedom like you. I'm just scared of what she'll think of me."

Luna listened to his woes and comforted him. Another 20 minutes later, they left and Cain tried to follow his old memories toward his home. He remembered the stone-ladened road they were walking on and the large two-story wooden home that stood tall on another hill that looked down to the town below.

He could see the balcony he remembered being with his grandpa on, wondering how he was since he was old and it had been almost 20 years since he was born.

They stopped at the door and Cain hesitated to knock. Holding Luna's hand and given a bit more encouragement, he knocked on the door as his heart pounded violently. They waited a while, to the point that it got awkward but before Cain could knock again, the lock on the door unlatched and slowly opened.

"Who is it?" A familiar, but tired-sounding voice came from behind the cracked open door.

The woman behind it didn't open the door all the way, only peeking out slightly to see the two people. She was surprised to see a wolf girl since the frontier was mostly made up of humans, but she was more intrigued by the male.

His head was down but she felt like she knew him, it was strange since she had pretty much locked herself up in her home for the last decade and wallowed in her sorrow.

When he lifted his head, however, revealing those special eyes that seemed to match whoever he was talking to, her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. A mother would never mistake their own child and she started crying silently as she opened up the door more to reveal her aging body.

She was once in her prime when he was young, but after all the stress and sorrow she experienced, she looked older than she was. Barely in her forties, she now had wrinkles on the corners of her eyes that connected to bags under them.

Her tired eyes seemed to light up as she stared at the young man in front of her.

"Hi, mama." Cain scratched the back of his head and had a hard time looking at his mother.

He felt responsible for her condition. If it wasn't for him, she would have lived a normal life and he fought to keep himself from crying as well.

"Cain?" She called out and slowly moved toward him.

When she was right in front of him, she reached up with shaky hands to his face, making him look her in the eyes. He too started crying and smiled.

Luna let go of his hand and let him have a moment as she watched with a wagging tail. She also wiped some tears away, knowing just how much Cain struggled to come to terms with his mother and how much he beat himself up for hating her.

"I'm home." Cain said, making Vala choke up.

"My baby..." She said before the dam broke and she burst out crying. She dug herself into her handsome young boy and cried her heart out.

She never thought she would ever see him again after the Council stripped her of her title as a High Priestess, and as a mother. She wasn't allowed to care for her own child and she hated the Lailan Council with all her being.

Cain held his mother tightly, letting his own emotions come out in full force. They both mumbled "sorry"s and "I love you"s to each other as they stayed on the front porch in each other's arms for almost an hour.

The sun had long set after they calmed down and Vala eagerly invited her son and the woman he brought in.

"I'm so glad you came, home baby." Vala held his face tenderly with a smile as he helped her in the kitchen to make food.

Luna smiled at the mother and son pair, happy for both of them.

"So? Whose the girl?" Vala smirked as she whispered to her son, already knowing the answer.

Cain smiled wryly and decided introductions were in order.