Chapter 35 - An important talk (2)

Hati looked a little helpless, unsure what to tell his mother. So he tried to stall for time and said with a sad smile, "I don't suppose you would accept that I simply fell in love at first sight?"

Looking equally sad, Sif snorted and answered, "Hmpf, I actually might have if you hadn't yelled out her name when she appeared."

Hati grinned a little and said, "Maybe the winds of fate whispered her name in my ear?"

Luna kept looking at Hati with a deadpan look and then closed her eyes, "If you're not going to be serious, then I'll just leave."

Hati panicked a little. Setting aside the fact he cared for his mother, he still needed her to gain access to his father.

So he quickly apologised, "Alright, alright! No jokes! Sorry." The number of times he had apologised to anyone could be counted on one hand, but his mother deserved one.

Seeing that Sif had stopped getting up but was still staring at him with sad and questioning eyes, he continued, "It's not that I don't trust you. You and Astrid are the ones I trust most in the whole of Asgard. Nor are you a bad mother; you are an amazing mother, and I love you for it."

Hearing him acknowledge her like that perked Sif up a little, but she wasn't about to let things go with just that, "So why won't you tell me what's going on then?"

Hati looked sad as he said, "Because it would change our relationship forever, and I don't want to lose you as my mother."

With this response, Sif started thinking about what this big secret could be, but when she thought about his words, she suddenly had a horrifying thought.

Deciding to speak her thoughts aloud, she asked, "Wait, Hati, you uh- you aren't attracted to me, are you?"

Hati gawked at his mother, thinking how she could have come to that conclusion. But then, thinking about his words, he suddenly started laughing as he realised what it sounded like.

Still chuckling, he was quick to put her doubts to rest, "No! Nothing like that, I promise. I mean, you are a beautiful woman, and any man would be lucky to be with you, but I don't go after happily married women."

Sif raised her eyebrow and said, "But that fact that I'm your mother wouldn't stop you?"

Hati shrugged and winked, "Not really. I am just a mortal man, after all. How could I possibly resist you?" Although Hati saw Sif as his mother, he didn't actually have the same kinds of feelings for his mother that an average child might have.

After all, he was already a grown man when she started caring for him and sharing some blood certainly wouldn't chase him away.

Sif narrowed her eyes in response, "You're a real lady's man, aren't you? Ugh, where could I possibly have gone wrong for you to turn out like this." At the end of her sentence, she was shaking her head in lament but with no small amount of delight.

Hati's words had driven away most of her sadness, but she hadn't forgotten the real reason they were there, "Thank you for cheering me up, little Hati. But don't think I've forgotten the real issue here.

I understand you are scared of telling me whatever you are hiding, but I promise you, you will always be my beloved son, no matter what. Whatever it is cannot possibly be bad enough for me to abandon you."

Hati smiled wryly at those words. Was he scared? He supposed he was a little. He once told Astrid that the only thing to fear is fear itself. Well, it turns out he had plenty to fear, like losing his new mother. He answered her, "Oh, believe me, it is that bad."

He then seemed to think a moment while Sif looked at him with a bit of anticipation. She truly had no idea what this could be about. She didn't believe Hati would make this big a fuss about just anything.

Not to mention that his knowing Luna's name truly was weird, even if the rest of his actions could be explained by love at first sight and a lack of impulse control.

Then, Hati asked an unexpected question, "Mother, is it possible for us to go see Father ahead of time? Preferably right now?"

Sif looked confused and responded, "Why would you suddenly ask about that? Does he have something to do with this?"

Hati shook his head, "Not exactly. I just… need to get rid of his elemental dissonance as soon as possible."

Sif still looked confused, "Why would you…" But Sif was an intelligent woman, and she quickly started piecing some things together. 

"Wait, this is about the contest next year, isn't it? You want to get Luna as your spirit companion, but you need strength to do it and waiting till you are eighteen would be too late!

But why do you want that so badly? If you hadn't shouted out her name when you shouldn't have known it yet, I really would have thought it was just love at first sight."

Hati smiled wryly, "It really is hard to keep things from you, Mother. Can you please answer my question, though?"

Sif responded with a snort while saying, "Hmpf, you dare expect answers when you have barely given me any? But fine, hold on a second."

She waved her hand as a drop of blood left her eye, forming a shimmering bubble around the two of them.

Then she continued, "Can't be too careful when it comes to this stuff, even if there is also a barrier around the house. Anyway, it is possible to see your father ahead of time, but that would require the help of Erik, Leif and Astrid. 

They might even be put in danger. Not to mention that the two of us will definitely be in trouble. If we're discovered, we will likely lose what little support we have among the elders, and they might vote to execute us, so I won't make a move unless I know exactly what is going on."

Hati nodded, having expected her to say something like that. He simply wanted to ensure it was possible to see his father ahead of time. Otherwise, he might have still tried to weasel out of giving a straight answer. 

But since things had come to this, he had to choose between telling the truth and possibly losing his mother or continuing to hide things and having Luna become someone else's spirit companion. And the latter was absolutely unacceptable to him.

Besides, his continued silence might make him lose his mother anyway. 

Of course, it was entirely possible that telling the truth would get him nothing, as his mother might refuse to take him to his father to help with the elemental dissonance. Still, it's not like he could go looking for his father on his own. He couldn't even leave the Fenrir compound!

So, he told the truth, "Luna is my wife from another life." Ignoring the accidental rhyme, he continued, "From the moment I was born in this world, I have had memories of my previous life, a life in which my wife and I were killed by the same person.

My moments of depression came from losing my wife and not knowing if she had reincarnated like I had or if I had truly lost her forever."

At this point, he looked at his mother to see her reaction and was unsurprised to see shock and no small amount of hurt. She didn't doubt his words as she could see the emotion in his eyes, and this explained so many of the abnormal things that happened around Hati.

She now looked at him with no small amount of caution but also hurt and sadness at the prospect of losing her son, or never even having had one, and asked, "So… Who are you?"

Hati shook his head and said, "I'm still Hati. I was in my previous life, and I am now. I'm unsure what coincidence or fate caused you to name me the same way, but there it is. I wasn't anyone important in that life, at least not to this world."

Sif raised her eyebrow and asked, "This world?"

Hati nodded, "Right, I lived my first life in another world, a world full of mortals named Earth. Luna and I died at around fifty years old."

Sif blanched a little and said, "So, since you had your memories from the moment you were born, you…"

Hati nodded, "Right, I was aware of myself and my surroundings from the start. I was never any brilliant child. I simply already had fifty years of experience behind me. I can't say I'm sorry for keeping this from you, though. I still think it would have been best for both of us if I never told you.

I hope you know I had no malicious intentions; I truly see you as my mother, partly because I never had a good relationship with my previous life's mother and partly because you truly are a fantastic mother.

Please look past this and continue to be my mother. I promise you, there are few things I want more than to continue considering myself your son."