Coming Together

-----Kaede's POV

Once we freed everyone from the camp, with the help of Mai using her teleportation, she acted as a ferry, taking everyone back to Yarene, back to the queen's hall. Mai also seemed to have restored Sicily and Lillian's memories as they're still knocked unconscious. I took them back to the place we've been staying, leaving the rest in the queen's hands.

Selene: "I wonder when they'll wake up?"

We're all patiently waiting for the two of them to wake up as I sit next to the bed they're both laying on. Lilith has been resuming her duties as the queen's personal maid, so she's currently trying to get some clothes together for Sicily and Lillian as they're still dressed in rags. For now though, I've put a blanket over them.

Fleur: "Won't take too much longer, right?"

Kaede: "I don't-"

Sicily: "M-mmm..."

Suddenly, Sicily is the first one to move as she slowly opens her eyes. The first thing she sees would be my own eyes as we immediately lock gazes with one another as her eyes quickly widen in surprise.

Sicily: "K-Kaede?"

Kaede: "Welcome-"

Sicily: "Kaede!"

Springing up from the bed, Sicily lunges forward, wrapping her arms around me, almost pulling me up and onto the bed with her in the process.

Sicily: "I'm not dreaming, right?!"

Kaede: "Fufu, no. It's all real."

Unlike Selene who's still quite small, Sicily and Lillian both look exactly how I remembered them. Hahh~ How I've missed this. I end up wrapping my arms around Sicily, enjoying her warmth for a bit longer. I feel like a part of me has returned with Sicily, like the hole inside my heart is now filling in.

Kaede: "I missed you."

Sicily: "Mm! I missed you too..."

Eventually, we break our hug as Sicily turns around to see her sister still sleeping away. I wonder what will happen when she wakes up?

Sicily: "She's not awake yet?"

Kaede: "No, but if you're awake then it's only a matter of time before-"

Lillian: "Mmmm~"

Speak of the devil...

Lillian: "Kaede!"

And just like that, I found myself repeating the exact same situation as Sicily, only this time, Sicily seems to have wanted another hug as all three of us pull each other into a tight embrace.

Faye: "Makes your heart feel all warm inside..."

Fleur: "Yeah... I'm glad that it all ended well."

Seems like our little display has put smiles on everyone else's faces, but it's still not over yet... Mell's still out there, waiting for me. She might not be born yet, but I'm not going to waste a second once she's found. I'll even tear her away from her parents if I have to. Just remembering when I found her in that cave pisses me off.

Sicily: "Kaede?"

Kaede: "Ah, it's nothing."

Seems like my anger was leaking through a bit as Sicily managed to feel it during our hug. We slowly part from one another once again as I smile at the two of them.

Kaede: "Just thinking about Mell is all."

Lillian: "Right~ She wouldn't be born yet..."

Sicily: "Shouldn't she be born in Oakvale?"

Kaede: "Huh?"

Sicily: "Well, wasn't Oakvale not too far from the cave?"

Kaede: "But wasn't she taken as a slave first?"

Sicily: "No. I still remember when sis and I was in that cave when Mell was brought in. I remember it clearly since she was so little back then..."

It makes sense now that I think about it. I'm not sure why I was set on the idea that Mell was taken by the slavers. Actually, now that I think about it more, how would she even escape them? I feel a bit stupid now for just assuming that. But at least we haven't wasted any time. We still have years before Mell will actually come into this world.

Kaede: "So then we know where to look-"

Yui: "Wait! But wouldn't going to Oakvale be a bad idea?"

Suddenly, Yui joins the conversation with quite a bizarre statement.

Yui: "Like, with how much we've changed... I'm scared that if we mess with the timeline, maybe somehow it'll lead to Mell not being born..."

Mai: "She's right."

And as if on her side, Mai appears, floating in mid-air. I guess she's finished with all the other captives from the camp.

Mai: "As it stands, we should have no issues with Mell being born as we haven't affected Oakvale in any way. May I suggest that I watch over this matter until she's born? Until then, we'll stay here in Yarene."

Kaede: "...Okay."

I really want to be there though, right when she's born. But Yui and Mai are right. If I just waltz in there and start making a mess to find her, She might not even come back...

Mai: "Don't worry, Kaede. I'll inform you as soon as I find her."

Kaede: "You better..."

Mai: "Hehehe. Of course."

The only question now would be a matter of when... How long am I supposed to wait? I know it's going to be years, but I can't help but wish for her to be born faster. Like maybe there's something that might help for her to be born quicker? But that'd just be me attempting something that might cause more harm than good.

Fleur: "S-so then we're just expected to live here until then?

Kaede: "I guess..."

Faye: "That just means we have plenty of time to make a warm home to welcome Mell into!"

Fleur: "Exactly."

I guess that's all we can really do, huh... In the next instant, I feel arms wrap around my shoulders from behind as I quickly see the blue ring on their ring finger, feeling the corners of my mouth pull up into a gentle smile.

Yui: "I know it's difficult, but I'll be here, waiting with you."

Her words are so soft and sweet that I find it impossible to break my smile as I grab hold of her hand that's wrapped around me.

Kaede: "Thank you."

Sicily: "Wait! Yui's eyes?!

Lillian: "Don't tell me..."

Ah right... I guess they wouldn't' know.

Kaede: "Yeah... I turned my wife into a vampire."

Sicily/Lillian: "Wife?!"

As if in sync, Yui and I both show them our rings as Yui continues to hold me from behind.

Lillian: "W-what else have we missed?"

Kaede: "Nothing else I guess."

Yui: "Oh! I figured out that I can do this!"

It was then that Yui extends her hand towards a candle that's lit on a desk. And in the next moment, the flame from the candle breaks off from it as Yui slowly brings it towards us.

Sicily/Lillian: "..."

They're left speechless at Yui's little stunt. To someone who would just walk in, they'd think Yui castes a simple tiny fireball. But what makes this impressive is that Yui can interact and take control of the mana around her directly, something that not even I can do.

Yui: "I'm still weak when it comes to creating magic, as I mostly rely on blood magic now. But I can do stuff like this now."

My current theory is that Yui, who still holds her knowledge from the previous timeline, still has her muscle memory or the core idea in order to take over mana. She explains it similar to mana sense, where you expand your mana out to look for other sources of mana, mostly to detect other people or monsters. But Yui can somehow hijack the mana directly. She tried showing me how she did it, but it's still a mystery to me.

Lillian: "That's kind of like elf magic..."

Yui: "Eh?"

Sicily: "Right?! That's what I was thinking!"

Actually, now that I think about it, Sicily and Lillian do have the power to take control of the mana around them. Only for them it seems to be tied to trees and nature in general.

Lillian: "Mm... Our mana resonates with the forest, so we can take control of it to an extent."

Sicily: "Yeah! But this is the first time I've seen this!"

Both sisters are watching in awe at Yui's little flame, and in the next moment, Yui floated it back over to the candle, lighting it back up before dropping her hand back down. If Sicily and Lillian have more of an idea how it's done, then maybe it might be possible to learn. I might have more mana than Yui, but with how precise Yui can control the mana around her, I don't think I can get to that point. I guess this might prove to be a nice distraction until Mell is born, learning how to hijack the mana around me. Might prove useful to protect the other's around me... Especially Mell...