De-Rusting Memories

-----Yui's POV

Yui: "Ready?"

Luna: "Mhmm!"

We've all grouped up at the training area just outside the mansion. Luna's parents are watching over by the bench with Natalie, while Nick and Alice have begun to spar against each other as well. I for one would be going against Luna, but we plan to switch partners after the first round.

Our swords quickly clash with one another as I'm reminded by the difference in our weapons. Her longsword has so much power behind it that I was almost caught off guard, especially with how fast she came at me. However I manage to deflect her blow and reposition myself away from her reach, but she'd go straight back on the offence, trying to apply pressure with her reach which is honestly well done by her, but I can see a few openings in between her swings, allowing me to slip past and pressure her into retreating. But just then, she suddenly tripped over her feet falling back onto the ground.

Luna: "Pfft, Hahaha~"

But instead of crying over a little scraped elbow, she just laughed it off. I expected as much though, Luna has always been somewhat of a clutz, but it's rare for her to slip up in combat like this. I guess she would be rusty though after not practicing for so long.

Yui: "Your feet must be still asleep.'

Luna: "Maybe, hehe."

I give her a hand, helping her stand back up before she dusts her clothes off and checking her elbow.

Yui: "You okay?"

Luna: "Just a little scrape. Nothing to worry about."

Yui: "Try your best to not slip up then~ I'll be the aggressor, let's just focus on your movement for now."

Luna: "Okay."

We continue our little sparring session, only this time Luna focuses on defending with me focusing on attacking. Now that I'm aware how slow her feet are, I do my best to gauge how aggressive I need to be, trying not to overwhelm her and make her fall once more. And for the most part, this seems to be working. Her feet slowly but steadily starts to find their rhythm again in the midst of our sparring session, but I don't try and push her too much, only trying to let her remember her foot work.

Yui: "You got it."

Luna: "You think?"

Yui: "Mm!"

We exchange more blows as I decide to pick up the pace just a little bit more, but even this much made Luna begin to break out in a sweat. I was worried her feet would freeze up but she's surprisingly hanging in there quite well. I wouldn't say she's back to her full fighting power, but I'd say she's got at least 70% of her power back. And with our session now at an end, Natalie runs up to us, handing both of us glasses of water.

Yui: "Thanks."

Luna: "Thank you, Natalie."

Natalie: "You're welcome. Would you like me to have a look at your elbow, Luna?"

Luna: "Oh, no it's okay."

Natalie: "We don't want to get it infected."

Luna: "Mmm. But I've survived much worse before, so I should be fine."

Yui: "Luna. Even small cuts could end someone's life."

Luna: "...Fine~"

Natalie: "Thank you."

Luna may be used to me having maids and butlers around, but I guess she isn't used to being taken care of in that sense. I watch as the two of them go back to the benches as Elira immediately looks over to see how bad the wound is, and just judging from over here, there's no real commotion going on as Natalie ends up treating Luna.

I end up looking up in the sky after taking a sip of water, wondering if Fabian is also looking up at the same sky, but my mind quickly wanders off, thinking about how my old parents are doing right about now. Are they also looking up at the sky? Wondering if I'm up in heaven or something? My parents weren't religious like Kaede's parents, but after everything I've seen here, I guess our "god" would be something like Mai. If only I could go back there and tell them all about my life here... If only.

-----Kaede's POV

With Mell now dressed in one of my black dresses, we proceed to move back downstairs to join everyone else.

Mell: "You sure I don't look weird?"

Kaede: "Like I said, you're beautiful."

But Mell still seems to be embarrassed with wearing my clothes. I guess her situation is quite unique as I never experience my body drastically changing over only a week. There's probably a lot more for her to discover now, but more importantly, I need to make sure she's safe. She might look a lot more mature, and probably will continue to grow rapidly, but she's still my child. I don't want to hand her off to anyone and have them hurt her in anyway.

We soon make our way downstairs as we catch the gazes of everyone else. Everyone had the same look on their faces when they noticed Mell, with wide open eyes with a few of their mouths agape.

Sicily: "Cute!~"

Lillian: "You gave her your dress?"

Kaede: "Yes, I had to. Did you not realize how much Mell has grown?"

Fleur: "Now that you mention it-"

Faye: "Wait! She's my height!"

We all giggled at Faye's realization, but Mell was still quiet, opting to stick close to my side, trying to hide as much of her body as she can from everyone else. It's such a nice feeling being relied upon even in a situation like this. It really makes me feel like Mell trusts me and isn't afraid to come to me for support.

Lillian: "But it's true. I thought it was just my eyes playing tricks, but seeing you two stand next to each other like that... It's clear that Mell has grown quite a considerable amount."

Mai: "Hmmm~ This is quite interesting."

Suddenly, Mai jumped into the conversation, staring at both Mell and I.

Mai: "The vampires I know don't age at all when they turn. Whatever age when they're turned into one, is the age they're stuck with."

Kaede: "Wait. So you think we can still die like humans?"

A slight glimmer of hope rushes over my body. For the longest time, I figured I would out live everyone else, but with this new information, maybe-

Mai: "No. Kaede, you haven't been ageing further for quite some time now."

But that small bit of hope was completely crushed at Mai's next words. It's not that painful as that was already what I had thought until now, but it still stings to have it said to my face.

Mai: "But I do find it interesting. Kaede, you grew at a normal pace. You never grew suddenly like in Mell's case here."

Now that she points it out, I guess that would be quite weird... I guess the only difference between Mell and I would be that I was a natural born vampire and Mell is my offspring when I turned her into a one.

Fleur: "Sis and I remined the same though."

Now that Fleur points it out, both her and Faye haven't declined in age and has just remained the same. It's honestly a bit puzzling trying to figure out what all of this means.

Mell: "..."

I can feel Mell clinging onto my dress behind me with all this talk going on. I can't imagine what's going on inside her head right now. Maybe we could have a talk later about it, but at least for now I should keep an eye on Mell and see how much Mell changes over the next few days. With that in mind, I raise my hand up to her head and gently pat her head, trying to ease any worries that are circling around inside her.

Kaede: "Everything'll be okay. Remember what I said earlier?"

Mell: "Mm-mmm."

Even if she miraculously grows taller than me, aging more than me, she's still my daughter, no matter what happens. I wrap an arms around her waist to comfort her as I look back at everyone else.

Mai: "Hehe. You really care for Mell."

Kaede: "Of course I do."

Sicily: "But to think this all happened back when you saved us."

Lillian: "Mm. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. So I'm glad to see that you've found happiness."

It's a bit irksome to hear that, but I get what they mean. It might be due to my past with not having siblings that I feel a strong attachment to Mell, even if she's more so my daughter rather than a younger sister. But it still fills that gap that I had, which is relieving to me. And even when I was raised by mom in this world, whenever she left, I was always alone. I remember a part of me craving something to help ease the boredom, so Mell also satisfied that part of me as well. Sure Yui is here, but she fills a different part of me, something entirely different. I know it's unlikely given everything that's happened to both Yui and I, so I don't like thinking that there's a chance where we do separate. But with Mell, she's a core part of my family now, and there's no replacing family. I know that all too well back in that other world... It's not like my relationship with those parents was bad, but when it came to my relationship with Yui, everything just felt off, and it was painful knowing that there was nothing I could do.

Kaede: "Yeah..."

But it does make me wonder what my parents are doing in the other world right now. Am I forgotten? Replaced? I wouldn't be surprised if they had another kid and just went on with their lives as if I was never there. Not that I really care though. Right now, this is my world, and there's no way I'm throwing this life away like how I did in my other life.