Hilda—the owner of the voice—stopped abruptly when she noticed that all eyes were on her.

"What? Did I do it wrong?" the redhead asked, taking a seat next to Noah.

"No, I didn't mean that," Salamandinay smiled apologetically. "I'm just a little surprised that you memorized and even sang it."

"It would be weird for me not to, since they always ask you the same thing when you're with them," the redhead remarked, giving the empty room a quick look. "Where's Ange and Tusk?"

"Oh, they are still—"

"Hilda! Welcome!" Ange's greeting cut her off. The mother of four was dressed in a simple light blue dress and her much longer hair was tied to a simple side braid. She descended the stairs with quick, but careful steps, planting a kiss on each of her child's forehead and then walked over to give her redhead best friend a hug.

"Was that you singing that I heard just now?" Ange said in a teasing tone.

Hilda found herself blushing. "Shut up!"

"Where's everyone else?" she asked, giggling a little seeing her friend's red face.

"They should be here any minute," the redhead answered simply, then responding to the request of the little boy next to her, she carried Noah slowly and put him on her lap. "Where's the food, Burn Princess? I'm famished!"

Ange flashed her friend a smile, feeling a bit nostalgic with the nickname Hilda hadn't used to call her for years. "Patience, Hilda, patience," she said before disappearing into the kitchen to help Momoka with the food.
***

Ange looked at the sleeping baby boy in her arms, smiling. How time flies. It totally seemed like it was just yesterday when she gave birth to Fate, and now that girl was already 7 years old, and in her arms she was holding her fourth child, who had just turn one some time ago. Having four children never once crossed her mind until she met Tusk. It was so troublesome at first, but she and Tusk gradually got used to handling their noisy four children.

The little party they planned had been going for several hours and after lunch, everyone just decided to move the party destination to the beach, which was just close by. Ange could hear faint laughter of her friends harmonizing with the sound of the waves from where she was. Vivian was running, Noah with her, holding what appeared to be a swimsuit. For a second, she wondered whose swimsuit that was until she saw Salia just behind the DRAGON girl, wearing a towel to cover her body. Chris, Rosalie, and Fate were also close by, but they seemed to be too busy building a sand castle to notice and care about the commotion near them.

Ange let out a little laugh, carefully so her son wouldn't wake up.

"Something funny happened?" Salamandinay was suddenly next to her, sitting on the sand. The Frejya Princess stroked Yuuki's hair gently.

"Nah, just wondering how fast time has flown by," Ange replied with a smile.

"You might be right," the black-haired girl agreed, shifting her blue eyes to the beach. "It feels just like yesterday when we—Norma and DRAGONs—were still enemies. Sometimes I wondered how our life would be now if we didn't meet and didn't become friends. Would we have stayed the way we were then, even until now? But although I can't say for sure, I think we wouldn't."

Ange turned her head to Salamandinay, getting interested in the discussion. "Why is that?"

"Well, fate has a weird way of connecting people and the things around them, so that it would still end the way it should've been," Salamandinay said with a smile. "So even though we didn't become friends, some way and somehow, it would still lead us to this future. At the very least, that's what I believe."

"You know, when I was still a Princess, I always thought that I would spend the rest of my life like that," Ange started, her lips curving a small smile at the memory. "But then I was actually a Norma and was exiled. I lost everything and I thought it would be better if I just died right then, because the thought of being away from the place I've always considered home was unbearable.

"But I was wrong. My true identity as a Norma gave me the chance to know about more things. It's kind of funny for me to admit this but I think my peaceful life back at the Mana World was blinding me from the actual truth and at the same time, isolating my true potential. I had a real hard time, but I was glad that I did. I grew stronger thanks to the pain I felt."

"You know, I think being a mother brought a great deal of change to you, too," Salamandinay stated.

Ange's face turned red when she realized she might've said too much. "Well, I guess you could say that," she replied simply, hiding her embarrassment.

"They seem unexpectedly close, don't you think?" The DRAGON Princess suddenly changed the topic.

Ange followed her best friend's gaze and saw Tusk and Hilda, sitting next to each other some distance from them. The two seemed to be talking quite seriously. Smiling a little, Ange shrugged.

"I kind of expected them to be fighting over me even after I got married, you know," she said jokingly. "But they grew closer than I thought that sometimes I even got jealous." She blinked, realizing what she's just said. "Wait, forget I said that."

"Too late," her best friend replied with a teasing tone.

Ange was about to reply when she felt Yuuki started moving in her arms and soon after, the boy's magenta eyes slowly opened. He let out a small cry.

"I'm sorry, Yuuki," Ange gently rocked him. "Did we wake you? Shh…"

Salamandinay's rosy lips curved a smile. "Being a mother really did change you, Anko," she stated with a giggle.

"Shut up!"