"Come on, Rhea," Fang encouraged gently, "Let's tend to the roses, and then we'll find something to play."

"Can it be tag?"

"You always win tag."

Rhea grinned guiltily. "We should battle strengths and see who's stronger, Fang!"

"Now, now," Fang cautioned, "I don't wanna crush you, squirt."

"Hey! Who says you'd crush me!" Rhea pouted as the left out the back. Fang almost smiled at her and pointed to the roses lining the house, the back yard a beautiful place of their open garden, then further back, the trees and streams where Rhea liked to play. With the breath of fresh air as she left the house of pleasing scents, the pressure in Fang's pants loosened as she took in breaths.

"I'll get the water! Time me!" Rhea volunteered, time-zipping away to do so. Fang basked in the shining sun and started counting the seconds in her head. After five months of being shut away, it was good to feel its rays on her face again. She'd forgotten how pleasing the fresh breeze could be again.

Rhea's little form popped up in the distance near the trees as she dashed to the stream with a watering pail, then disappeared again as she time-tripped away. Fang closed her eyes and took in nature's air to breathe.

A scent hit that air not long in coming, one familiar that Fang recognized. She opened her eyes and glanced back at the balcony where Lightning now stood, obviously looking for a breath of fresh air too after she'd stormed away. Leaning at the stone rail that only met half her height, she caught sight of Fang too, and Fang looking at her.

Fang lost track of the count as something occurred to her then, "Rhea, don't— "

It was too late. Rhea next appeared right beside Fang, and Fang was right. The twenty-some feet up and over to Lightning wasn't enough to save her from the Witch-Time stint. She gasped from the balcony when real-time rushed back in and, unsteady of footing, made to grab for the rail for support. It broke into pieces through her fingers, then she was falling.

Fang reacted on pure instinct, stepped up the little black fence around the garden and jumped for her amongst the falling rocks. She managed to snag her with one arm, which was all she needed to yank Lightning to her body and shield her as best she could. She hit the dirt back-first, a brick of stone striking her shoulder as petals flew up around them, the bite of rose thorns cutting into her. "Ack!" Fang flinched, more from the sting of thorns than the chop of balcony that'd struck her.

Rose petals fluttered to settle around them like a scene.

"Fang!" Rhea squeaked, horrified and hurrying over. Lightning, who still seemed dizzy worse than ever, panted. She pulled herself up only so far as to brace above Fang on shaky arms, looking pale and sickly. Worse, so close, hovering over her in those robes, her scent washed over Fang with the aphrodisiac of roses filling her senses all at once in a rush with the adrenaline. Fang's lower member stood straight up with the party and poked Lightning, who choked with a sudden start of astonished disbelief. "I'm gonna be sick."

Fang covered her face with rose-prickled arms. "Not on me!"

"Fang!" Rhea squeaked, at Lightning's side with her watering pale, which she held up for her. "Lightning, use this!" Lightning closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. Fang hoped she wouldn't puke. "Oh," Rhea mumbled, getting so upset. "Oh…!"

Fang peeked again at Lightning, who seemed to be getting ahold of herself slowly. If she hadn't puked yet, Fang thought she might not as long as she took things easy. "Rhea, get the disinfectant and tweezers." Fang ordered, then when Rhea nodded, just to be sure, she added. "And no Witch-Time!"

Rhea scurried off away, completely visible on her own two feet.

Fang checked Lightning again and slowly lifted her arms to Lightning's shoulders, who's eyes popped open suddenly. "Easy," Fang coached, sitting up as she cautiously lifted Lightning. "Easy."

Lightning slowly allowed herself to be guided, then settled back on her butt to Fang's cautious easing. "Are you okay?" Fang checked, now that she was safe from her way of vomiting.

"…I'm okay," Lightning finally said, hand moving over her stomach with the other bracing from her knee to head, which was probably spinning. "Are you?"

"Don't worry about me," Fang brushed off. Aside from the prickers and a bruise the brick might bring, she was fine now and needed nothing.

"Thank you," Lightning rubbed her head and brushed back the dark locks of hair there and opened her eyes again. "For jumping for me."

"Don't worry about that either," Fang passed off, "I'm sorry Rhea Witch-Timed on you like that. She didn't mean to catch you in it."

"I don't know what happened," Lightning confessed, looking at the split rocks around her, then up at the broken balcony she'd cut through.

"It's your Umbra strength," Fang filled in for her confusion, "Umbra abilities come in strong alongside other talents. Rhea's Witch-Time must've accidentally triggered your super strength."

"I've never done that before," Lightning claimed, gazing up at the destruction.

"From what I've seen in Rhea, you've got to train into all your talents. The growth in strength should come in time as you manifest everything else, but if you've never used Witch-talents before… I guess it just didn't develop. What you did there's just a blurt of the power you can grow into, triggered by Rhea drawing you into hers."

"Do I still have it?"

"I don't know," Fang shrugged, then glanced at the chunks around them and picked one up. "Try to crush that." Lightning took the stone and squeezed it as hard as she could. A little of the stone dusting chipped in where it probably wasn't supposed to, but the stone didn't crack. Fang shrugged again, "It'll come back when you start training up your talents, don't worry. Rhea's strong enough to lift me already; yours will probably come in faster since you're already of age."

"Fang, I'm back!" Rhea called, dashing over with the materials in addition to some bandaids. "I'm sorry!" Rhea apologized as she ran back to them, "Fang, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Lightning!" Rhea ran into the open-gated garden with their supplies. "I'm really sorry," she puffed again, looking distraught.

"It's okay, Rhea," Fang said before Lightning even could, "We're okay, see?"

"You have prickers!" Rhea cried in her upset.

"They don't hurt." Lightning assured the little one. Rhea still looked doubtful as Fang took the supplies from her.

"Rhea," Fang summoned the little one, "You know what we could really use?" Rhea listened attentively. "Some crystal water from that stream in the woods would do wonders for our healing. The special one you get for the roses, right?"

Rhea nodded importantly. "I can do that. I can get the water for you and Lightning."

"We'd like that," Fang assured her tenderly, "Why don't you do that for us, Rhea? And—you don't need to run. We don't want you getting hurt too, okay?"

"Okay, Fang," Rhea agreed, "I'll get glasses and be right back." Rhea scuttled away, not running, but walking quickly.

"You have a way with her." Lightning said quietly as Rhea returned into the house.

"She's a good kid." Fang answered simply. Lightning glanced from her to the door the little girl had disappeared into as Fang pulled free the tweezers.

"Is she yours?" Lightning asked, lifting Fang's eyes immediately.

"Don't say that out loud!" Fang chastised quickly, looking at the closed door, then back to Lightning. "She's too young."

Lightning lifted an eyebrow. "Is there an age where rape will be okay?"

Fang looked up at her with a stare somewhere caught between incredulity and anger, but the back door opened again before she could say anything. She motioned quiet with her hands and looked down at Lightning's arms. "Do you have any prickles to pull?"

Lightning held up her arms, which were clean. "You cushioned me."

"Good," Fang muttered, starting to tweeze them out of the backs of her arms violently. Lightning watched as the little one scurried across the long yard, then disappeared into the trees. "I'm not raped for no reason," Fang said quietly, quickly, "And other Yuns don't have it as bad as me. I meant what I said in there; the Yuns were happy to service the Umbra. Stop persecuting my people. They're not helpless little sheep."

"Were," Lightning picked out immediately.

"Yeah, before I came, they were happy to do it, okay?" Fang snapped at her barkingly.

"Before you." Lightning didn't understand.

"Yes," Fang growled, in such aggravation, she was pulling the thorns viciously. "I'm Ragnarok, not Fang," Fang saw her eyes widen and bulge and stay that way, staring wordlessly with a gape. "Yeah, even you recognize that name, huh? Didn't know the stupid men of Cocoon knew about me." Lightning didn't say anything. Fang glanced back up to see she was still staring. "Funny how that changes things, isn't it?" She went back to picking thorns. Lightning's barely-there whisper came on the hush of an exhale.

"You're the beast."

Fang smiled humorlessly at Lightning up from her arm. "That's what they call me there? Jeanne told me that was in the prophecies about me. 'The beast.'" She dragged up her sleeve, revealing a large, white patch over a darker mark beneath on her right arm. "See that seal? That's what the Umbra used to close off the 'beastly' part of me, so you don't have to worry about that coming out and ripping apart the worlds. Nope; now I'm just the baby-pumping machine." Fang took out another prickle. Lightning's eyes were still on her. She still hadn't said anything. "What?" Fang finally asked when it carried on too long, "You wanna jump my boner now too?"

Fang turned her eyes away, back to her lap where her stiffy jutted from between her legs, completely uncontrolled by Fang's own desire, which had nothing to do with these Umbra or anyone anymore.

Lightning uttered, a single syllable utterance like a mewl that barely touched the wind, which was carrying a sweeter scent now from Lightning.

"I can smell your lust growing for me, you know," Fang told her frankly, and Lightning looked horrified. "Don't worry about it; that's a handy effect I have on the Umbra. Just like you guys can't keep from turning me on with that 'scent,' I echo back a similar lust in Umbra. I imagine it's a little overwhelming for you, being newly exposed to me. It's why you couldn't look away the first time you saw me. Happens to everyone."

Lightning still hadn't spoken, but her eyes never left Fang's face, which was, frankly, a surprising feat for her people. It looked like she wanted to speak, but words alluded her. Fang sighed. The overwhelming bit for her first timers had passed a long while ago, but this was taking particularly long to sink in for this one. Fang thought she shouldn't blame her though, coming from a world of men. She must've looked like candied sex on a cloud to her.

Then another thought struck Fang that she hadn't considered before, but it might explain Lightning's stark lack of words. "You're not a virgin, are you?" She remembered Lightning blushing inside when Rhea had claimed she'd make a good pregnant mom. Jihl, on the other hand, seemed too confident for that. "Of a penis?" Fang modified, "You don't have to be scared, if that's the case. I can do you with Jihl, if that helps."

"No," Lightning finally whispered, almost soundlessly.

"No, you're not a virgin?" Fang asked, then wrinkled her brow. "That must've been unpleasant."

"No," Lightning said again, so quietly, "I don't… I don't want to use you for sex."

Fang snorted. Rhea appeared out the trees at the far end and both of them turned when they'd heard her footsteps in the grass. Fang waited quietly, giving Lightning a look as she tugged free the last of the prickers from her arm. She reached over her shoulder with the tweezers for the ones in her back.

"Let me," Lightning volunteered, seeing her struggling to find them at the difficult angle.

"You don't have to do that," Fang protested, not needing, used to, or comfortable with the offer of help.

"Don't be stubborn," Lightning chastised, taking the tweezers from Fang's fingers. "You can't even see your back." Fang looked at her again with that disapproving squint as Rhea hurried back to them, hurrying, but keeping the cups from overspilling.

"I have water!" Rhea announced, scurrying over to them with the large cups of crystal-clear water from the streams.

"Thank you, Rhea." Fang took one of the glasses as Lightning paused to take the other from the little girl. Fang chugged back the drink, then settled it down with an "Ahh," that made Rhea tentatively smile. "See? All better now." Fang gave the little one a smile, which she saw starting to adopt nervously. Lightning took a drink for the benefit of the little one. "See?" Fang said again, "Lightning's getting better already too."

"It's just water," Rhea giggled, feeling tentatively better.

"Spring water that Rhea brought!" Fang corrected, "Can I get a little hug for it?"

Rhea bit her lip, then threw into Fang, who breathed her little daughter in and settled, hugging her warm. She kissed the top of Rhea's head, then reluctantly let her go. "I'll tell mommies it was my accident while we were playing tag and run, okay, Rhea?"

Rhea's little smile grew so big. "You're the best, Fang."

Fang nodded to her little girl, "Just run along to your room for now, okay Rhea? I've gotta talk about Lightning with some boring, grown-up things."

"Okay," Rhea promised, then said, "I really am sorry, Fang."

"I know, kiddo," Fang echoed back, "It's okay."

"I'll see you, Fang!" Rhea said, then, "Bye, Lightning!"

Fang waited for her to disappear back into the house and the door to shut behind her. Lightning was at her back again, pulling out little thorns. Fang cleared her throat, relatively settled from her daughter's visit again. Fang caught Lightning's eyes over her shoulder. "Are you okay with it?" Lightning finally asked, her expected curiosity growing too big.

"The sex?"

"About being used to procreate," Lightning clarified, a deep sadness in her eyes when she asked. "Walking around this beautiful place, being expected to give Umbra children whenever they demand it of you…"

"Well, it's my place, isn't it?" Fang rubbed the back of her neck, brushing a thorn away. "I give immortal children, I should be a gift to our makers." She sounded so spiteful, even as she said it.

"…you shouldn't be expected to," Lightning said softly without her original hatred. "Not if you don't want it."

Ut oh. This one felt like a great humanitarian, maybe like her mom. That'd been well enough for Fang when she'd first been brought into this, and she'd always have appreciated Raina's outspoken choice about refusing to use Fang when this had first began, but it wasn't something Fang wanted again. It was easier when they treated her like breeding stock, lest the mixed feelings like in Cereza and Jeanne. Mixed feelings for everyone all around, and awkward sex.

Fang snorted. Everyone had sympathies. It didn't stop them from wanting a taste. "You say that like you won't be fucking me sometime this week." Lightning was quiet. It brought a bitter grin to Fang's face. "It's easy to say," Fang said, standing and turned. Lightning stared at her with sorrowful eyes. "Less easy to resist when faced with it, isn't it?" Fang took the tweezers from Lightning's hand. "Thanks for helping, but I don't need it. And frankly, I prefer it the other way, without your sympathies."

"I'll be in Rhea's room if you need me for servicing," Fang turned and walked away. Lightning didn't call her back.

XXX

"Sorry about that," Odile apologized for her, "You'll have to excuse Lightning for it. She's not particularly fond of her mother." Her mothers looked on her in confusion and concern. Odile was going to have to start at the beginning. "This might take some explaining," Odile said with a little sigh. Here came the tough part; it'd come with sticky emotions, and Odile wasn't particularly fond of speaking of what they'd done, but Lightning's snippy behavior needed its rightful excuse, and the time for these answers had been long since yesterday. Her mothers had waited long enough, even if this would be particularly hard to take. Odile remembered Araidne breaking down in front of her yesterday. The poor woman. She had no wish to inflict the same on these two, who'd been more than accommodating and treated her a thousand times better than what she got at home.

Odile reached out a hand to her nearest-sitting mother and laid her fingers over it. "Mothers…" she addressed, looking between them, "I don't want you to cry…"

Jeanne's expression was fast in dropping, and Cereza was at her side almost immediately, also in moving closer to Odile. "Jihl, what?" Jeanne asked in a hushed voice, not really wanting to know these things of dread. "What did they do?"

"It wasn't all terrible," Odile tried to soften, "I was allowed to have Lightning… it was something the men said Umbra have a weakness for, 'lusting' for each other, but I think it was just an allowance given to earn our compliance. They raised us telling us a lot of things… about you, the Umbra, about our dads. And, I didn't really care or anything, some of it sounded flimsy anyway, but Lightning… Lightning listened to them."

"What did they say?" Cereza asked, trying to find the depths of how far this went.

"Oh, you know," Odile passed on, "Stuff like how evil the Umbra are and how you slaughtered children and that," Jeanne glanced at Cereza uncertainly, "But the important things were about our dads. Important to Lightning, anyway. They said they were Cocoon men, and that you'd taken them against their will, forced them to impregnate you and such."

Jeanne's eyes pillowed. "Your fathers were Yuns. We can't even reproduce with men."

"I know that." Odile assured, "But Light's going to need some more convincing. She had ah… replacement father figure, I'd guess you'd say. And he was nice to both of us, I mean, but Lightning got warped into everything he'd tell us. So, she thinks the Umbra are a bit evil, and especially her mother. That's why she walked out."

Jeanne looked stressed, and Cereza, worried. "Don't worry, mums," Odile tried to assure, using the endearing term she'd heard from little Rhea and liked, "She'll come around. Lightning didn't like it there either; she's just got this loyal thing. It'll fade the longer she stays here; she already likes it better. She's just got a stubborn side, and, well… she's going to feel real crappy when she finds out men can't impregnate us."

"Jihl?" Jeanne asked, and Odile could practically see her heart throbbing in her chest.

"We were taught…" Odile started carefully, choosing her words for smallest impact. "That women were meant for reproduction, and if you failed in that purpose, you'd be killed or worse, made into a slave." At the quickly forming horror on both of their faces, Odile quickly added. "We weren't slaves! They let you try to get pregnant until you were twenty-five before determining that. But… " they still didn't look any better. Odile sensed rising despair. They were really hurt for her. No one but Lightning had shared that pain with her. "Mums, it's okay," Odile tried to ease them, "It's over now, and we're both here and free…"

There was a force of strain and reservation they were each holding in. Cereza squeezed around Jeanne's shoulders, who looked angry, so hurt, and enraged. Her fingers were shaking. Odile wasn't sure what she should say in a position like this. "Mums…" With both her mothers looking near breaking points, Odile resorted to a comfort she'd only given Lightning before in her tenderest of moments.

She pulled her mothers into a hug.