~.~.~

Title: Our Family

Notes: Lyon is a problem child (probably because I love him least; it is my fault). Ironically, I expect he'll grow up to be the calmest, steadiest of these dumb ice brats. Not that it takes much when compared to Ultear and Gray, with their issues...

Also, compared to the series, I think everyone might be a bit too blunt when talking about their feelings? But I think my parents were very clear about this stuff with me, so… I dunno, you guys. Cultural differences?

PS, I'm almost done writing, and I don't want to have to keep posting this for two more months, so updates will be twice a week, Monday/Tuesday and Friday.

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3. "Let's try to get along."

"Alright, I know today's been a little strange," Ul said, smiling at her kids. It was a bald understatement, and the children stared back at her with understandable suspicion. "Boys, this is my daughter, Ultear. Tear, these two are my students, Lyon and Gray."

"Nice to meet you," Gray said, since he had been a nice, polite boy once, and his parents had raised him well. It still occasionally showed through, though never with Lyon.

It was a little unfair that Ultear regarded him so dubiously. "...Why did you take off your shirt?" she said, making Ul stifle a sigh.

As Gray cursed and spun around in search of his missing clothes, Ul said, "It's a bad habit he's picked up. Just... ignore it." Nudging Ultear a little, she nodded toward Gray and made an encouraging expression. Fortunately, unlike the often clueless boys, Ultear understood what her mother was hinting at.

"Nice to meet you too," she mumbled unenthusiastically.

Lyon's sharp eyes barely darted toward her, instead focusing on Ul. "You said she died," he said bluntly. Ul wasn't sure if she imagined the accusation in his tone. Again, she resolved to speak with him alone, later.

"I did. Because that's what I thought," Ul explained, keeping her voice even. Next to her, Ultear was frowning — even if she now believed her mother's side of the story, it was still a very raw wound. "Some… bad men lied to me and told me that Tear had died, but she escaped and made it home. So if you see anything strange, any people hanging around the house, make sure you tell me, even if you think it might be nothing."

She tried to convey how serious the situation and her warning was, but it was hard to tell how well the boys understood. Lyon only nodded in agreement, while Gray shrugged.

Ul sighed. "We're going to be living together now, so let's try to get along," she said, forcing a smile. "Okay?"

~.~.~

Naturally, it wasn't that simple.

Talking to Lyon proved unproductive. "You remember what I said, right? You're not a replacement for Tear, you never were. So just because she's here with us, doesn't mean I'm going to send you away or care about you any less," Ul tried to tell him bluntly when all attempts to steer to the subject more subtly failed. "You and Gray are both my precious students, and I love all three of you equally."

"Thank you, Master Ul," Lyon had replied, smiling, without actually agreeing with her.

Ul wasn't naive enough to think that would be the end of it, but there wasn't much more she could do at the moment.

They would just have to keep going day by day and deal with the problems as they came. That was how Ul had survived everything else life had thrown at her, and they'd make it through this too.

And the first thing was to always keep moving.

"Alright, training time!" Ul declared, once they'd cleaned up after breakfast. "Boys, you know the drill. Don't go far this time. We'll be keeping it short. Tear, you come too, but let me know if you get cold, okay?" While Lyon and Gray headed for the door, Ul held out her hand to the girl. Ultear accepted it shyly, her fingers tiny against Ul's palm.

The boys had started getting ready by the time Ul and Ultear joined them outside — stripping down to their boxers and stretching. Unnoticed by anyone, Ultear made a face like she was doubting the reality in front of her. Maybe it was all a weird dream? But wait, hadn't that boy — Gray, she reminded herself, the dark haired one was Gray — not been wearing a shirt the day before too…?

A moment later, her mother's jacket settled around Ultear's shoulders, and her pants went flying in the opposite direction. The woman herself blithely strode out into the snow in just her underwear and a tank top.

"We're going to keep it light today," she told her students. "I want to see you run through the forms we've been practicing. First, Shield!"

In practiced synchronicity, all three of them slid into the same stance, hands coming together fist to palm. A translucent sheet of ice appeared in front of each, Ul's larger than the boys'. Each shield had its own unique characteristics as well — Ul's was composed of flower-like petals, while Gray's was more angular like a snowflake, and Lyon's had a more solid, rounded shape.

It made sense, for that to be the first technique Ul had them practice, and it made equal sense that they would make their own variations of it.

But. 'Why did they strip?' Ultear wondered blankly. She felt like she had missed her chance to ask.

"Good, you're getting better at that," Ul praised, checking the boys' work. "Second, Ice Fountain!"

This time, three small clusters of ice spikes sprang up from the ground, Ul's slightly larger than the boys' and Lyon's slightly larger than Gray's. This spell could easily be made larger or smaller depending on how much power was put into it, and the point was to get the technique down, so a small "spring" would suffice and neither boy had been putting their all into it. Of course, that didn't stop Lyon from smirking triumphantly at Gray.

"Lyon, don't waste power," Ul scolded him. "Gray, tighten up your technique, it's too inefficient. Now, again. Ice Make: Ice Fountain!"

The boys had long since learned not to grumble about repeating exercises, which would only earn them more brutal training or some terribly humiliating punishment, so they moved to obey without complaint. Ul made them do it over several more times before they moved on to the next spell.

Watching them, Ultear settled down on the steps and huddled deeper into her mother's coat. It wasn't that she was cold. Rather, she couldn't help but feel left out. Her mother wasn't just her mother anymore — she was also their teacher, and for the first time in her life, Ultear would have to share her.

She didn't like it, Ultear decided. As she continued to watch, her teeth worried at her dry, cracked lip.

"It looks you're doing well with the forms I taught you, but Molding magic is the magic of freedom and imagination," Ul lectured. "Our greatest strength is our versatility! So just imitating the shapes I teach you isn't enough. You need to make up your own spells too. So it's time for improvisation training! I'm going to call out a keyword, and you'll create the first shape that comes to mind. Got it?"

The boys sounded off, sounding serious but also excited — trying something new and developing your own magic style was the most fundamental part of being a wizard. For them, magic was something wonderful and thrilling. Not like for Ultear, whose magic was nothing more than a curse — something other people desired and used her for.

She didn't realize she was glaring until Lyon glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Most likely, she imagined his gloating look, but maybe she hadn't.

Either way, Ultear jumped to her feet without thinking. "I— I want to learn too!" she declared, instantly catching everyone's attention.

"You can't!" Lyon burst out. "That's—" '—ours, our connection to Master Ul!' he caught himself before finishing.

"You can," Ul contradicted firmly. "But are you sure, Tear? You're still recovering. Maybe later…?"

Ultear shook her head, if only to be contradictory at this point. "I can do it. My magic is strong," she said. "I want to start now. I have to catch up."

'You don't have to catch up. It's not a competition,' Ul wanted to tell her, but she realized Ultear wouldn't listen. Instead, she only allowed, "If that's what you want. Then come over here, I'll get you started on the basics. The stance is..."

"I remember. I remember watching you practice before," Ultear said, smiling suddenly at the happy memories, as she hopped off the steps and hurried to join the boys.

Ul returned her smile fondly. "That's right. You were always doing your best to copy me," she recalled. "You're very talented, so I'm sure you'll catch on fast. Just focus your magic and imagine the shape…"

"Wait," Lyon spoke up, interrupting them. "You have to do it right. And the first thing necessary to mastering Ice Make is mastering the cold. So take off your clothes."

The final statement was delivered in a firm, serious tone that was completely unsuited to his actual words, which were simply ridiculous. Ultear stared at him blankly, while Ul ran a hand over her face in exasperation. Given how serious he seemed, Ultear couldn't help but begin to consider it seriously as well. Hadn't her mother done it too, once they started training? She did want to learn Ice Make, but was it really necessary to… take off her clothes for that?

Was it worth it? Turning into a weirdo in exchange for learning magic?

Ultear considered it carefully, up until she caught sight of Lyon's expression. This time, she was sure she wasn't imagining it — he definitely looked smug at her hesitation. After all, being a weirdo didn't bother him and he had been learning Ice Make from her mother for over a year. He had been there first, even if Ultear had been Ul's first child.

There was no way she would back down, Ultear realized on some instinctual level. Throwing off Ul's borrowed coat, she reached for her shirt-tunic too.

"That's not necessary," Ul said quickly. "It's okay, really. Tear, you're still tired, and you can build up your resistance gradually. There's no need to rush. Let's start slowly and work up to it, okay?"

"That's not fair. You made us get used to it all at once," Lyon pointed out.

He wasn't wrong. Ul had trained them "all in" and that had been how she herself had been trained, by her own master. Certainly, it was the teacher's responsibility to stop before they pushed the students too far, but holding back too much would stunt their grown instead. A wizard could never reach their full potential if they didn't strive to exceed their limits.

Was she coddling Ultear, out of worry and guilt?

Lyon and Ultear were staring at her expectantly, faces set in pig-headed determination and, more worryingly, the tense undertone of doubt. Both of them would judge her answer as far more than simple instructions about what Ultear could do that day.

Uncertain and stalling for time, Ul glanced at Gray to gauge his reaction. But unnoticed in the drama, Gray had long since turned away from them and resumed practicing his magic, going through the shapes again. Honestly, he didn't see why it mattered. Lyon was just being stupid and stubborn — it wasn't like Ultear couldn't handle the cold. She'd made it all the way there in a hospital gown, after all.

They were just pointlessly wasting time. Time that could be better spent training — getting stronger.

Even feeling the weight of three stares on his back, Gray pointedly ignored them and brought his hands together again in the usual stance. Fueled by his irritation, the Ice Fountain he created was much taller this time around.

"Gray," Ul sighed, before shaking her head. "You have to keep calm. The image was too brittle that time."

As she spoke, the spikes of ice in front of him crumbled into nothing, unable to maintain their shape. Gray nodded without turning around and moved to try again.

"Alright," Ul decided. "Tear, take off your shoes, but keep the shirt on, okay? You don't have anything under it anyway, and I'd prefer if at least one you maintained some concept of basic modesty."

It was Ultear's turn to shoot a triumphant look at Lyon, and he glared back balefully. The exchange wasn't lost on Ul, but she could only frown faintly and hope that they would learn to get along.

Unfortunately, that looked like more and more of a forlorn hope.

~.~.~