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Title: Our Family

Notes: Awkward. Let's be honest, Lyon and Ultear, at this age, is just a disaster waiting to happen. Well, they'll grow out of it.

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2. Ul's tears

Ultear remained docile as Ul carried her inside, or perhaps she had finally given in to exhaustion and lost consciousness. Having caught a glimpse of Ul's expression, Gray hesitated to follow. To give his teacher a moment to regain her composure and a moment alone with her daughter, he finally headed toward the firewood pile — the errand he'd been sent on before the unexpected encounter.

"Oi, Lyon! Don't just stand there, take some too!" Gray snapped at his fellow student, noticing that Lyon had also lingered outside, distracted. Under his breath, he added, "We'll probably need a lot to warm her up. She looked really cold…"

Despite the unreadable look that still lingered on his face, Lyon moved to help him without protest. That in itself was odd too. Lyon never passed up the chance to complain about anything Gray said or did, and ordering him around usually earned twice as much whining.

But of course, this wasn't the usual situation. Maybe Lyon felt off balance, like Gray did. Suddenly, their teacher wasn't just their teacher — she was a mom, with a daughter who was supposed to have died. What did that mean? And what did it mean for them? Would Ul… still be their teacher? Or—

Scowling, Gray gripped the armful of firewood and headed inside.

Ul hadn't gone far, only to the central room of the cabin, which served as a joint living room, dining room, and kitchen. Placing Ultear on the couch, she'd pulled out a towel and begun to gently dry the girl off. She paused every few moments to stare at that small, beloved figure in bemusement. She didn't look up when Gray and Lyon trudged in, dumping their loads into the box next to the fireplace.

"...Ul?" Gray ventured finally. "Are you okay?"

"What's going on? Is she really your daughter?" Lyon asked more directly.

Reaching up to quickly wipe her eyes, Ul nodded. "I'm sure of it. I don't know how, but she's my Tear," she said. Gently, she ran her hand through the girl's dark hair. "They told me she died. They were supposed to help her, but they told me her magic was too strong and she died, that her body was unrecognizable…"

Her hand was shaking as she drew back. 'I shouldn't have believed them,' Ul thought. 'Why did I believe them? I should have fought…' She bit her lip, trying to force back the guilt and self-recrimination. This was no time to break down, not when her kids — all three of them — needed her to keep it together.

Fidgeting uncomfortably under the tense atmosphere, Gray glanced at Lyon again, but found no help there. If anything, the intensity with which Lyon was staring at the girl on the couch was even more unsettling than Ul's distress.

"Uh… Clothes!" Gray burst out, making Lyon and Ul instinctively glance down at his bare chest. He'd also managed to lose his pants somewhere along the way. "For her, not for me! She'll need dry clothes, right? Should we get some of her old ones? You… still have them, right, Ul?"

Ul blinked in surprise, then shook her head slowly. "Those… won't fit anymore," she decided, thinking back. Even if she was far too thin, Ultear had certainly grown in the time she had been gone. "Some of Lyon's things should fit her, the bigger ones I bought for him to grow into. Why don't you get some of those?"

At that, Lyon's blank expression finally shifted — into a shockingly furious scowl. "Why?" he demanded, before catching himself and continuing in a more even but rather petulant tone. "Make Gray give her his clothes. Not like he uses them anyway."

Gray stared at him in confusion. He didn't see why it mattered, since most of his clothes were actually the old things Lyon had outgrown. Of course, that also meant they likely wouldn't fit Ultear, who was several years older than both of them, even if she was small for her age.

He thought Ul might yell at Lyon or at least scold him for picking such a bad time to be difficult, but if anything, she seemed to gain some measure of calm instead as she regarded Lyon closely. Unlike Gray, Ul could guess what Lyon was thinking — she remembered, painfully, when he'd asked her if he was enough to replace her daughter.

"That's no good," she answered evenly. "Go get one of my shirts instead. It should work for now. And warm up a bath."

Lyon hesitated, stubbornly, until Gray pulled him away. "What's with you?" Gray hissed.

"I'll get the bath started. You get the shirt," Lyon said with a glare that told Gray to mind his own business, or he'd get a punch to the face. Gray glared right back, but both of them knew this was no time for another of their scuffles.

As the boys departed, Ul let out a sigh. She would need to have a talk with Lyon, check that he was doing alright… but later. For now, Ultear came first.

"This time, I'll protect you. I swear," Ul murmured, reaching out to stroke her daughter's hair again.

Her hand froze as the girl on the couch said softly, "They told me you didn't want me anymore." Ultear kept her face pressed against the small embroidered pillow Ul had laid under her head, her eyes closed, as she spoke. "The people at the Bureau said you left me with them and you weren't coming back because you didn't want me anymore."

"That's not true!" Ul hissed, gritting her teeth and shaking with rage. "That's a lie! I would never abandon you! I would never…" But, unintentionally, she had. Ul shook her head, pushing the thought away. "If I'd known you were waiting for me, I wouldn't have let anything stop me from taking you back," she said instead. "I love you, my Tear. I will always love you. I will protect you. No one will take you away again."

Truthfully, what Ul wanted more than anything was to find the Magical Development Bureau and level it to the ground. Hunt down each and every branch and member and make them regret everything they had done. Seal them in ice and smash them into so many pieces that no one would be able to put them back together. She didn't think she had ever been this enraged, couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this strongly about anything.

But her head was startlingly clear too, like in a life or death battle. She knew she couldn't just run off and rampage for revenge. Ul knew where one of the Bureau facilities was, but there was no guarantee that it was the only one. She didn't know their numbers or their strength. And she couldn't take the kids with her, but neither could she leave them behind. What if those monsters came back and took them while she was gone?

Not to mention that rushing off now would be simple selfishness. It would satisfy her desire to right her mistakes, but it wasn't what the children needed — they needed her to be there for them, not off fighting somewhere.

For now, she'd bite back her rage and hatred. Ul was an ice wizard. She knew all about serving vengeance cold.

For now, she would watch for danger and make sure no one dared to come near her children again.

For now.

With a quiet sob, Ultear finally turned to look at her mother. Ul smiled down at her with all the love that she could muster, feeling as if her heart would burst at any moment from the depth of emotion she felt — the anger, the sorrow, the happiness. Tears welled up in her eyes, just like when she first held Ultear in her arms. 'This child…' She always brought out so much in Ul.

They moved at the same time — reaching for each other and embracing desperately. Rubbing Ultear's back and feeling her daughter tremble as she began to sob, Ul let her own tears flow.

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