I hadn't actually ranted out loud, thank fuck, but what followed was… Awkward.

You'd think it was because of normal stuff like an estranged father/daughter reunion where both parties are awkward and trying to reach out to each other and so on and so forth. No, apparently unhinged laughter followed by an intense scrutinizing glare isn't appropriate behavior, apparently. Bah. The Cradle Robber was easily mid forties, and Mama was twenty five. I was eight. The math did not put him in a good place.

But at least I wasn't losing it so bad the insides of my head were becoming the outsides yet. Completely. Upon consideration it could be that while I hadn't said anything out loud some of the meaning had leached out. Luna had dropped the field when The Cradle Robber was introduced, but Gardemom had sensed the shitstorm coming and put it back up focused on me before I could do things. So I gave it fifty fifty odds on that one. Luna was then told to calm me down, or so I assumed given that she tugged me back to looking away from everyone else and started doing mindfuckery to me. I let her, mostly, because I'd long come to accept that she was the less… mentally questionable one of the both us.

"Is… Is the Ralts doing what I think she is?" I heard The Cradle Robber's voice faintly in the background and Luna had to do extra work.

Then there was just indistinct whispering.

Luna did good work in rearranging my insides, she couldn't actually get rid of any of the outstanding issues at hand, but she was good and pushing them down temporarily so things could be civil was acceptable for now. She would help me work through them later, when there was time, less cradle robbing triggers, and less people in general. Luna put the finishing touches on her work, pulling up some emotions and pushing down others until I was actually looking forward to the evening.

At some point Luna must have given the all clear because I was no longer under a psionic suppression field, Mama and The Cradle Robber were sitting at the table, and Gardemom and Ashely were bringing out dinner. I chose to ignore the tense, if we're being charitable with adjectives, atmosphere and turned towards The Cra- a feeling of things being rearranged- my father with a smile on my face. It must have been a very good smile because he had a strong reaction to it.

Poor Luna was working so hard. I should get her something nice. She tried very hard, and I tried very hard, but in the end there was only one way things could go until I had an explanation.

"How?" The bleedthrough of meaning made sure nothing more need be said to get my point across.

A complex pattern of emotions rippled through everyone, understanding, relief, concern, gratitude, affection, amusement- lots of more concern and a strong desire to start talking.

"It's a bit of an embarrassing story honey, are you sure you want to- Okay then, so after beating Samuel here at the Lily of the Valley conference finals nine years ago all of the trainers who were still hanging around and old enough threw the customary post-conference bash."

She looked really embarrassed now, and really didn't want to continue, but she soldiered on.

"Technically I wasn't old enough to be included in it, but I mean, I was the Conference champion and had already thrown down my challenge to the Elite Four and the Champion during my victory speech. Of course no one said anything when I walked in. Samuel was drunk already, because apparently he was always a big fan of the victory parties and wanted to enjoy every second of it."

Gardemom and Ashely finished bringing out dishes and took their seats at the table, and Mama got even more embarrassed, a blush creeping up her neck to her cheeks.

"And Samuel, he- he was really quite attractive back then." I felt The C- my father's indignation at the qualifier of back then. "And he was such a masterful trainer and already pretty famous in the Championship circuit, so- so we started drinking and talking about the fight and I kept getting him more drinks and he kept getting me more drinks, and, uh, well." She descended into an embarrassed puddle of embarrassment that threatened to set fire to the table with the strength of her blush.

The- My father was more amused than embarrassed, mostly at how flustered Mama was getting, but I was beginning to get the picture of what happened. It actually was pretty funny. I felt Luna sigh in relief against me at not having to try as hard to hold my mind and instabilities in place.

"And well, the morning after was, well, and since it'd already happened once and we're pretty convincing, things happened more, kept happening really, until after we smoked the Elite Four and stomped the Champion, then he ran out of excuses to not go back home and take care of his own affairs and then I found out I was pregnant and stepped down as Champion to raise you, uh, yeah. Lost touch, told him about you a few years down the line when I realized I-"

"Ahem." Ashely didn't actually cough to interrupt Mama, she literally said the word.

"When Ashely realized I had forgotten to tell him and told me I probably should get on that, since you know, he's your dad."

I see now where I got so many of my traits from.

"So yes, uh, that's the story."

I had to admit, I really couldn't blame T- my father at all on this one, or anyone really. Just irresponsible drinking, my favorite kind in my past life. Or was it that the blame lay on both of them? Didn't really matter, I guess. The victimless crimes that followed, plural intended given that she was pretty clear the affair didn't stop at the one time and she was the initiator, were a bit harder to get past, but I knew just how convincing Mama and Gardemom could be. There's only so much willpower in a person, and the two of them were prime willpower demolishers.

"Um, so yes, meet your daughter."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Azula. You're as bright as your mothers described." Unsaid went the "And utterly terrifying."

"It's a-" I froze.

Wait.

What?

What the fuck?

Azula?

…

But I was Red. I knew it in my very soul in a way that was utterly undeniable. Luna knew it, could tell it wasn't just me imagining things and having delusions of grandeur. There was a big fuckoff sign written into the very fabric of my being that said so. Gardemom could see it too, though she hadn't ever gone close enough to see what it was, only that something was there.

"I- What?"

Red wasn't my name? Luna was with me on the what the fuck train on this one.

Had we… Just never noticed? Ignored less direct uses and substituted Red in automatically whenever we heard my name? Had all the mind fuckery done something somehow? Could it possibly be that my mothers had never actually called me by my proper name and just gone with pet names all of my life?

"Honies…?" Mama's voice was next to us. She sounded worried. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh. I, uh." It would be fair to say that Luna and I were having a blue screen moment.

We felt Gardemom's mind brush carefully against ours, unsure of what she would find and what kind of response she would get, but really, there were more important things than privacy right now, not that there was usually much of it anyway, like not being called Red and having a completely different name and having fucking never noticed.

Gardemom's wariness and caution went from that to complete disbelief in an instant once she grasped the issue currently looping through our minds, and I think that for the first time in her life she was speechless. Thoughtless? No, wrong connotation. She was something.

We continued not understanding not being named Red until a shout caught my attention.

"What the hell do you mean she didn't know her own name until just now?!"

My father looked angry, I wonder why.

"What?!" That was really loud. "You mean to tell me her psychic power essentially brainwashed her into believing her name was Red?"

"I don't care if it's more complicated than that! She didn't know her own name! What the hell kind of household are you running Asami?!"

Asami?

Asami.

Huh.

Okay.

I laughed. It was even a genuine laugh and not one of the crazier kinds that were more my speed. It silenced the room. Asami. Last name better fucking not be Sato because I think I might just go on a roaring rampage of fuck this shit and devastate the wildlife. Still, I guess I was learning how to use Flamethrower, and the turn it blue. Had to study up on the science of the coloration of flames. Oh, and Thunderbolt too, blue as well. It was destiny really, no mistake had been made, not really, just a tad slow on realizing my full Legend and Destiny. I mean, a psychic Red was clearly too much, I could have wrecked the curve without phenomenal cosmic power, it was unnecessary to that legend. No obviously the psychic power was for the other legend I was meant to create in this world.

No wonder we were so good at temperature control with our psychic powers. It was destiny. We reheated the food with a brief application of will, served us some of Ashely's delicious creamy bacon pasta, two of the fried breaded chicken breasts (or whatever the pokemon equivalent it was that had been used), mashed potatoes, a bunch of asparagus spears, and finished with some lemonade. All without moving from my seat or raising my arms from the table. Then Luna and I both proceeded to eat delicious food without using anything but our minds and mouths. I could See the future in light of all of this already, and it was glorious.

Yes, all was right with the world.