**UPDATE** March 9 2013:
I've put a poll up on my profile page. I'm hoping you'll please tell me how YOU decide on what stories to read. Results will be viewable (except for any PMs I receive) once I close it. I will also make a special announcement about future plans on my profile at that time.
A/N: Well, I'm not sure where this came from. xD
It just popped into my head out of nowhere while I was writing my other Femslash February entry for the DGM fandom. It was just going to be a quick little drabble, however, so I thought 'What the hell, I guess I'll do it.' :P
It's been a while since I've written anything approaching G-rated fluff, after all. ^_^;
Important: Some portions of the story below (in bold text) are quoted from the No.6 novels as translated so excellently on the 9th Avenue blog. All quoted text is from Volume 9, Chapter 2.
Lili smiled at the two mice chasing each other around her feet. It was thanks to them that Ma'am was able to keep up hope of seeing Shion-niichan again. They were friends.
She smiled at them as she sat down on the floor, cross-legged, before them. Having lost their previous obstacle course, they climbed up onto each of her knees, regarding her calmly. Waiting patiently. "Ma'am has been so sad since Oniichan had to run away."
The mice both nodded and squeaked— sympathetically, Lili was sure.
"But I know that Shion-niichan will come home. Daddy though…"
Understanding what she somehow knew, the mice scrambled up to her shoulders, rubbing the tops of their heads affectionately at her cheeks to console her.
She heard a sound outside the shop— Karan.
Lili ran up to her. "I'm so glad you're back, ma'am. You know, I had this feeling, I really did. Like you were outside. I could actually tell."
'Mommy will be glad to know she's back!'
Karan, however, was clearly upset— possibly on the verge of tears. Lili tried asking her about Madam Koka and whether she'd be able to laugh again. What she really wanted to know, however, was whether her mother would be able to laugh again. Like Karan, who can smile and laugh even while Oniichan is in danger.
'Ma'am is so strong! I hope she can make Mommy strong like her…'
Because somehow, Lili already knew who would be coming home, and who wouldn't. Her kind step-daddy, Getsuyaku, who loved her like his own daughter? He would not be coming home. Uncle Yoming and many of the angry shouting people outside, they wouldn't either.
Lili followed Karan toward the storage room— Oniichan's room! —where her mother, Renka, was staring at an old computer.
"It's been like this forever. About once every five minutes, my brother's speech gets played."
Renka held her swelling belly, and her mouth twisted. The noise out on the street grew even more agitated. It hit Karan and Renka like waves crashing onto the shore.
They were far too serious, Lili thought. She knew some people might come back, but others wouldn't. Maybe they didn't know that.
They spoke of their 'children' —Lili and the baby and Shion-niichan being their hope. She liked this way of thinking better than how Ma'am and Mommy were behaving before. So she simply told them the truth.
"He's coming home soon," Lili blurted without warning. "Onii-chan's coming home soon. I can tell."
"Why, Lili." Karan scooped Lili up and kissed her on the cheek.
"It's true," she insisted. "He's really coming home."
The two women looked at each other in surprise. Lili wasn't sure what was so surprising to them, though. Would they be surprised if she told them she was going to marry Shion too? Because she was all ready to accept his proposal, when the time came. (That was how the grown-ups did it, right?) She'd already made up her mind!
Ma'am returned to comforting Mommy— rubbing her shoulder gently, and it made Lili smile. She was happy Karan and Renka could be close like that, and support each other. The mice seemed to notice her smile and took that as a cue to start running up and down and around her sides, tickling her so much she couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Ma'am and Mommy smiled too now, as they saw what was happening with her, and she was very glad. Just then, for only a moment, Lili had a nice vision of everyone being happy together. Walking down the street, with Oniichan holding one of Ma'am's hands, and Lili between her and Mommy; of course holding hands too, and the baby still in her tummy. They'd all be smiling and moving toward the future together.
Lili would remember her two daddies and always miss them dearly, but it wouldn't be so bad after a while. Because she still has Mommy, and Ma'am, and Oniichan too.
Her family.