Nathanael stared mindlessly at the TV screen as he sat alongside Aurore around the coffee table as they ate snacks. "A wedding huh" he mutters while watching the daughter of some rich businessman marrying some man who he presumes is also rich.
Aurore glances at him "Sorry, what?" her eyes twinkled "Does this mean you are interested in one?"
"Yeah, in fact, I've got a proposal already"
Aurore's face paled "Huh?"
"Lila thinks I'll say no but I know for sure my answer will be yes," Nathanael says his eyes cast over as he daydreamed.
"What?!" Aurore screams.
"Ever since we have come back from Izumo I have felt constant needling pain in my chest" Lila complains to herself. She pressed her hand to chest, over her heart and frowns.
"Lady Lila!" Nooroo comes fluttering anxiously into her room "You need to go to the New Year God's place before the New Year arrives we need to receive a new talisman and soon" he holds out a slip of paper to the kitsune.
Lila looks up, dropping her hand back to her side "Oh is it time for that already?" Lila gasps as her door is kicked open and a furious snake familiar stands in the doorway "A word fox!" she hisses.
Before Lila can speak Aurore is in front of her and hits with an upper hook to the jaw. "A lowly familiar proposing marriage to her lord and master deserves to die ten thousand deaths! Outside Now!"
Lila moves up from the ground rubbing her jaw "As usual your words are a mystery to me" her eyes narrow and she bares her teeth "Which hardly matters for now I will skin you like the slimy serpent you are!"
Nooroo ducks out of the way as a war ensues between the fox and the snake.
"Stop that!"
They both come to a halt and look to the doorway as Nathanael stands with his arms crossed. "Honestly where did you get the stupid idea that I'm the one getting married?"
"So you aren't getting hitched?" Aurore says with round eyes.
"No, of course not, I just received a letter asking me to allow a wedding to take place at the shrine," Nathanael says.
"I see, so who is the couple?" Lila asks.
"It's…Mylene and Ivan" Nathanael says.
"No! That is absolute nonsense, I will not allow it!" Lila growls "A yokai cannot marry a human!"
"Well, how would you know unless you give it a chance, you killjoy!" Nathanael snaps back. "When she and Ivan are ready for their big day they would love to hold the ceremony here, to be there from when they met up to when they get married would be so amazing!"
Lila rolls her eyes "They are playing house but planning matrimony not to mention an interspecies one at that I fear your immaturity leaves you unqualified for this"
Nathanael glowers at the kitsune "I don't care, I'm doing it" he folds his arms "I've been making really good progress as a God in case you haven't noticed"
"Yeah, I have faith that you can totally pull it off!" Aurore smiles then looks at Lila with a teasing smirk "and even if Lila won't co-operate, don't worry you can always count on me"
Nathanael grins "Thanks, Aurore!"
Lila rolls her eyes and folds her arms "Damn Reptile" she hisses under breath.
"Oh, thank God I'm so relieved!" Aurore says "I totally thought you were going to marry Lila and leave this shrine"
Nathanael's face turned red with a blush but he quickly shook his head then looked to the ground "No way, I don't think I'll ever marry anyone"
Lila's eyes widened as her face paled.
"Lady Lila!" Nooroo cried, waving the slip of paper anxiously in front of her face "You must hurry if you do not get to the New Year God's Shrine before the gates close we will miss our chance"
Lila blinked herself out of weird state. She nods "You're right, I shall leave immediately"
"Hold on a second" Nathanael says "Are you talking about that God you always have to go visit on New Year's Day?"
"Yes" Lila replies walking over to her wardrobe chest "it's also the one who bestows abundance and fortune each year" she opens the doors and pushes clothes to the side, even throwing some out onto her already messy floor. "There was only one, the original…" she finally pulls out an orange haori jacket with a gold leaf design. "He had taken on the entire job by himself, which was foolish of him as it leads to him suffering bad health due to overworking himself" she slips on the haori jacket. "In the end up twelve spirits were given celestial forms and powers to help out and they alternate each year to do the Job"
Nathanael nods "That's zodiac animals isn't it?"
"Yes" Lila turns to him "And it has become customary to visit the Celestial animal who represents the New Year and receive a new talisman from the new presiding God"
Nathanael smiles "Sounds great, I'll get my coat" he starts to head for the door.
Lila's forehead creases "What do you mean?"
"I'm going to come too of course" Nathanael glances over his shoulder.
"You can't, only me and Aurore will go," Lila says, folding her arms "Though I can't guarantee Aurore will ever return" she shoots a glare in the snake familiars direction.
"Oh, I was just going to say the very same thing about you" Aurore hisses back.
"If you two are going to act that way I'm definitely coming!" Nathanael says.
"Incorrect!" Lila points an accusing finger at him "Wherever you go trouble is soon to follow, it will be safer if you stay here"
Nathanael pouts "I'm the one in charge here am I not? So I say I'm going!"
Lila snarls, eyebrows furrowing "But-"
"Would someone just go already!" Nooroo screams.
'Here we go, always the same story he's oblivious to his limits, always wanting to investigate everything' Lila grumbled to herself as they approached the large torii gates surrounded by a sparkling fog.
Nathanael ran on towards them grinning "Wow, this is really the Year God's shrine?" he comes to a halt craning his neck to stare u at the top of the tori gate.
"Well, it's the entrance at least," Aurore says coming to stand on Nathanael's left while Lila stood on his right.
The fog cleared away a little to reveal two more tori gates, each of the tree torii gates had one of their names engraved on a placard.
"There are so many tori gates," Nathanael says narrowing his eyes to see through the fog that covered the entrance managing to glimpse more red torii gates behind the first set. "So we just have to pass through them all"
"It is more complicated than that" Lila sighs "As it always is, each torii gate represents a year in your life, you must pass through each one while seeing past moments in your life so you may learn from them" she rolls her eyes "A waste of time if you ask me, but still there is no going around it"
"I get to see my past memories played out!" Nathanael gasps "That's amazing!"
"You will not be entering, it is far too dangerous," Lila says "Remain here while me and the snake go to visit the New Year God"
"What!?" Nathanael frowns "That's not fair!"
"Trust me you're not missing out on anything" Aurore deadpans "I hate this part of the trip, it always makes my head feel spinney"
"You mean you feel dizzy," Nathanael says
"I call it the twelve-year hangover" she replies, then stands up.
"Oh, well I'm sure I'll be fine" he smiles "Now all I have to do is go through the Torii gate with my name on it" he runs towards his Torii gate.
"Nathanael!" Lila shouts to no effect as he heads on through the fog and out of sight. "That boy!" she huffs.
"You have to be jealous of him, right" Aurore says "He always goes about with such a free spirit, he never worries about anything" she looks to the ground "Truth is I'm scared, I don't want to relive those years after I lost Lady Ondine and I was nothing but a lonely shut-in"
"Nathanael does define devil may care," Lila says
"There's the real irony" Aurore laughs bitterly "He is free, free to do anything he wants except marry you of course but he accepts that willingly"
Lila shoots a glare in the snake's direction.
"…Smart boy" Aurore finishes.
"Unfortunately he cannot hold a candle to you at being manipulative" Lila snarls.
"Your amazing, Lila!" Aurore says in a snarky tone "I mean you know Nathanael SO Incredibly well"
Lila's face turned red, a mixture of rage and embarrassment.
"You know I'm really not digging the vibe here anymore, Byyee!" she walked quickly through her Torii gate smirking.
Lila sighed and composed herself. She glanced in the direction of Nathanael tori gates wistfully. 'She's right, I probably know Nathanael better than anyone ever has, his habits and his mannerisms, yes'
"Lila!" Aurore whined. She sat on a boulder head in the palm of her hands as she stared intently at the Torii gate Nathanael was supposed to come out of. "Nathanael went in there a while ago but he still hasn't come out yet"
Lila's eyebrows furrowed inwards as her mouth twisted into a side placement creating a crease in the cheek. 'Why do I already feel something troublesome a foot, oh right! Because I predicted this!'
Lila stands up and starts storming towards the exit of Nathanael's Torii gate. Aurore jumps up and is quick to follow. "Don't yell at him, okay?"
They walked through the Fog passing under many red Torii gates. "It is very likely that his consciousness has become stuck somewhere," Lila says.
"You do know it's forbidden to pass through someone else's gate, right?" Aurore shrugs
"It is too late, snake!" Lila snaps, walking along with her hands curled into fists at her sides "Where do you suppose Nathanael's consciousness is"
"I wouldn't have the faintest idea," Aurore says "Anyway aren't you not supposed to be the one closer to Nathanael, you should figure this out"
Lila bares her teeth "I swear when I find him, he's getting slapped!"
"It's not his fault!" Aurore defends him.
Then Lila comes to a halt eyes widening as she sees a figure coming out of the fog from the distance. Aurore crashes into her back and lets out a cry. "Oi, why'd you stop?!" Aurore glances around and her eyes go round jaw-dropping. "Is that…Nathanael?" she exclaims.
A red-haired boy only about five years old came running through the fog laughing joyfully. He ran past the two familiars not even seeing them. Lila reached out a hand to stop him then paused.
"Lila!" Aurore cried "Why are you just standing there? That was little Nathanael!" Aurore points in the direction the boy had run off.
"Huh" Lila blinks in shock "It couldn't be…" she trails off biting her lower lip.
"Yes, it is!" Aurore says "His consciousness has gone back twelve years in time!"
Lila gasps "No! This is bad!"
Nathanael ran along jumping over the cracks in the pavement giggling to himself. He clutches the bag in his hands tightly.
"Nathanael, "On your way home from school?"
He comes to a stop looking up to see a large imposing figure of a man, his brown-ginger hair was a tousled mess and smoke from his cigarette swirled around him. He freezes, large seafoam eyes rounding. "Hi Daddy"
His father crouches down "What's that you've got there" he nods to the small plastic bag Nathanael is holding in his hands.
Nathanael grins and holds it out proudly "I've got a bag of bread crusts for mummy!"
Mr Kurtzberg lets out a throaty laugh "I've got something you'll like better, look" he reaches into his pocket and takes out a large bar of chocolate.
Nathanael's eyes light up and he gasps in excitement "Oh!" he holds out his tiny hands "Chocolate, Yummy!" he holds it to his chest happily.
His dad stands up "I won it at the pachinko parlour, it's a prize just for you" Nathanael smiles happily up at his father. "No I've got to go" he tussles Nathanael's hair before starting to walk off "I've finally hit the big time so let your mum know I won't be back for a while"
Nathanael watches his Father walk off into the mist with large round eyes. Then he looks down at his bar of chocolate and smiles. He puts the bag of bread crusts into the little school satchel around his shoulders then skips off clutching his treasure to his chest.
"Nathanael" He stops and looks up to see a strange girl with blonde twin-tails. "There you are! A tiny version of you is so cute too!" she clutches her hands together "C'mon we've got to go home, okay"
Nathanael's eyes narrowed and he stomps on her foot "Kidnapper!" he turns and runs off screaming down the street.
Lila bites back laughter as Aurore hops about crying about her foot. "Well there's no denying it, that's definitely Nathanael"
"I told you!" Aurore hisses through her pain.
'He acts beyond his limits and even at this age he is equal parts reckless and crazy" Lila can't fight off the smile that appears on her face 'Not only that, he has this way of scampering about, I find it adorable…' she pauses as she realises what she is thinking. She shakes her head 'Whatever the case I must hurry and bring Nathanael back home in his proper form'
Nathanael walks up the steps of the bleak building. He licks the last of the chocolate from his fingers, the only leftovers being the melted stains across his face. He comes to a halt when he hears raised voices and his mother's scared tone.
Outside their apartment door stands three men of large build. His mother keeps her head down, red hair falling over her ears and hiding her face. "I'm so sorry, you have our deepest apologies," she says.
"Well, come on are you going to pay up or what?" one of the men roars at her. "I saw your husband hanging around the pachinko parlour this morning, if you've got the money for gambling games then you can damn well pay us"
"Yes, your two whole months behind on the rent now!" one of the other guys said.
"I'm so sorry…" Mrs Kurtzberg says, trembling. "I promise I'll have my husband pay you all by Monday, I'm sure"
Nathanael begins to shake, he looks down at his hands covered in chocolate and guilt overcomes him. He furiously wipes his hands on his top and trousers leaving stains. The shouting becoming a jumbled mess in his mind.
The men finally walk off and Nathanael slowly approaches. His mother turns around and spots him. Her worried expression melts away into a smile "Nathanael, good your home"
He manages a smile "Mummy!" he rushes into her arms as tears fill his eyes.
Mrs Kurtzberg laughs "Look at the state of you, let's get you cleaned up, okay" Nathanael nods as he clings to his mum letting her take him back inside the apartment.
Lila watches from outside the building, sitting high in the branches of a tree. "Nathanael has barely ever spoken of his parents, now it makes sense"
Aurore gives her a shove with her foot as she is sitting behind "Makes sense my tail, let's hurry up already"
Lila ignores the snake's whines. "His mother is suffering in secret from an illness, it is doubtful she will live much longer"
Aurore's eyes widen in shock.
"One crept away in the night, the other stayed just to die" Lila mutters.
Through the window, they can see Nathanael fast asleep curled up on his mum's knees as she strokes his head.
"Well as sad as that is we've got to get out of here quickly!" Aurore says.
"Wait!" Lila orders "Just a little longer…" her eyes glaze over 'That is a Nathanael I do not know at all, Seeing Nathanael at this age is fascinating' Lila thinks to herself.
Nathanael bites into the rice-cake with relish. "It's so yummy, mummy!"
Mrs Kurtzberg smiles "I'm glad you like it sweetie" she heads to the refrigerator "I'm putting the leftovers in the freezer so if you ever get hungry you know they're there" she opens the fridge and then exclaims "WHAT, No, the money o hid in the freezer to pay this month's electric bill is gone!" she pushes aside ice blocks and a bag of vegetables "How did he find it there!" she collapses on the floor much to Nathanael's shock. "Curse you, that was the best hiding spot I could come up with"
Mrs Kurtzberg then begins to cough. Nathanael gasps jumping down from his seat and rushing to her side. "Mummy, do you feel yucky again?"
"No, No, I'll be fine" she lies, managing a smile. She pushes herself up into a kneeling position and strokes Nathanael head pushing his hair out from his eyes "I'm sorry, Nathanael" she clutches him in her arms "Now listen to me, maybe someday Mummy will have to go away for a while, if that happens you have to be a big boy and take care of yourself okay?"
Nathanael frowns but nods.
"You'll have to clean the house and lock the doors every night," his mother says.
"Will I be all alone then? What about daddy?" he asks.
A scowl appears on Mrs Kurtzberg's face "What about daddy? Don't you dare count on that good for nothing father of yours! And don't tell him where you keep your money, I don't care if he begs or cries you keep it to yourself, kapiche"
Nathanael nods slowly.
"Good Boy" she says and strokes down the wayward hairs on his head. "and I'm going to leave you with one last piece of advice" she says "Under no circumstances can you count on love, it's just a trap so whatever you do don't get married it'll only lead to you getting depressed, I want you to live a long happy life even if it means you have to stay single to do it, okay"
Nathanael smiles "Okay" he nods "When I grow big I'm going to stay single and do everything all by myself!"
"Great!" his mother says.
"Interesting, Nathanael got his nerves of steel from his late mother" Lila mutters.
"Human children all grow up learning from the example of their parents, Nathanael is no different, his parents set the example of who he would become" Aurore says "Now can you tell me why you have gotten so comfortable sitting here, I can understand wanting to watch Nathanael as cute as he is now but you do realise these are just his memories none of it is actually real per say"
Lila glances at Aurore.
"We gain nothing from watching, while Nathanael is in pain we should just get him out of here," the snake says.
"Yes, you are correct," Lila says. Looking at the scene that had now unfolded as his memories had sped up. A young Nathanael was crying at his mother's funeral. Lila bit on lower lip feeling a little guilty she had made Nathanael go through it all again.
'But even so…I have to see more'
The memories flashed by after his mother's death as Nathanael slowly grew up surrounded by misery. While all other kids his age got to have childhoods Nathanael was left to looking after an apartment and no good father. Lila and Aurore watched in horror as bad thing after bad thing happened to the boy. Then when he was six his father started a fire when he was too lazy to put out his cigarette before falling asleep. The whole apartment block was burned to ash luckily everyone escaped.
Nathanael walked through the street beside his father clutching his bag straps. He paused and looked up at the sky which was starting to fill with snowfall. He held a hand up to catch some but his eyes didn't hold any light that they would usually contain.
It made Lila feel furious for what he had been put through. Still, she knew she couldn't do anything. These were merely memories and there was no changing them.
Nathanael sat in his class as other kids ran around shouting and laughing about the snow or how it would be Christmas soon. Nathanael would hide in the corner, his head down and hair shielding his face from view. He would draw quietly on any piece of scrap paper he found. It seemed to be the only thing that kept even a little part of him sane.
As he walked home through the cold a few of classmates went the same way as him talking happily between themselves.
"Hey, Ami what are you asking from Santa Claus," a boy named Jake asked.
Ami straightened her dress "Last year I asked for a fashion-dream dolly so this year I'm asking him for a fashion-dream dollhouse"
"I'm getting a remote control race car, much cooler than some dollhouse," Jake says.
"I'm getting a bicycle," another says. They all look to Nathanael in front. "Hey, Nathanael what are you getting"
"I'll be okay" Nathanael turns to face them and holds the key which was on a chain around his neck "I clean my house and keep my money hidden, I lock all the doors so no strange man will get in while I'm sleeping even if he begs or cries, you should all lock your doors before you go to sleep too"
His classmates fall silent then Ami speaks "You're such a weirdo, Nathanael!" they all start to back away.
"Santa Claus comes down the chimney idiot!" Jake says. "And he brings presents, he isn't bad!"
"You're going to be on the naughty list!" another exclaims.
"I've seen enough!" Aurore wails theatrically "I can't watch anymore, the pain is overpowering!"
"This Santa guy has claws?" Lila asks, with a blank look.
"You are not helping at all!" Aurore complains. She holds a net in her hands. Lila raises an eyebrow. "It looks I'll save him while you sit there like a couch potato"
"I am not a potato, I am learning about Nathanael" Lila retorts. 'Nathanael…it is no wonder he got such a determined and stubborn attitude it is the only way he could survive surely he would have been crushed under the weight of all this without it, the poor boy"
"Nathanael, dear" Aurore calls. "Long time no see" Nathanael looks up at her with a confused expression then recognition dawns on his face.
"Ah, don't look at me like that!" she steps away to keep her feet safe "I'm here to help you, I'm Aurore, your primary and most loyal familiar, don't you recognise me?" she tilts her head. "I guess there was no way you could have remembered me"
Nathanael glares "I do remember you" he takes a breath then shouts "Stranger danger!" he points accusingly at Aurore.
She sighs "I should have known"
Nathanael runs past her hoping to escape when suddenly he collides with someone's legs. He falls on his butt and looks up to see a girl with long brown hair and fox ears. He blinks. 'She's pretty and seems nice…'
"Nice save, Lila" Aurore runs towards them
Lila grabs Nathanael small hand, clasping it in her own larger hand "Come quickly, we have to run"
Aurore comes to a halt, eyes narrowing.
Lila picks Nathanael up holding him to her side "The stranger is closing in" she smirks devilishly at Aurore. Nathanael nods and holds onto her kimono. Lila sets off into the sky, roaring flames of fox fire appearing underneath her.
"Hey!" Aurore exclaims.
'That is what you get, you lousy snake'
Lila walks along a street filled with blurry buildings as she gives Nathanael a piggyback. He was currently pulling on her ears much to her annoyance. "Your ears are so funny, kind of like a cats," he says tugging at them as Lila winces.
'I swear, why did I get caught up in this mess?'
"Hey, can you hear a lot?" Nathanael asks. He decides to test it out before waiting for an answer "Hey! HEY!" he shouts into her ears.
She flattens them against her head and glances at him with a frown "Don't do that!" she shakes her head and sighs. Then she puts him back down on the ground to walk alongside him. He runs beside "come on, I want to touch your ears now, please"
'Right, now I suppose we should head to the exit' Lila thinks totally blanking the younger version of Nathanael as her eyes dart about 'Now which direction'
"I said I want to touch your ears now, please…Please?" Nathanael says tugging at the bottom of her kimono.
Lila looks down at him "No" she says bluntly then starts to walk on. Nathanael pouts but continues to walk alongside her, this time quietly.
'hmm, it is weird I thought at first all the scenery was blurry but there are parts surprisingly more detailed than others' she looks around her eyes scanning the area. She glances at Nathanael and then realises what is going on. 'I see this is the world of his memories so the more he paid attention to something back then the more clearly it appears now'
Lila looked at the ice cream stand Nathanael was staring intently at, it was more detailed and clearer than any of the other surroundings. "Would you like some ice cream?" she asks.
Nathanael jumps and looks up at her like a deer caught in headlights. "No, ah, t-that's okay, thanks!" he rambled.
"It is no problem" she held out a hand and in a puff of smoke, a small tub of ice cream appeared with a spoon as well.
"Oh, wow!" Nathanael's eyes widened.
Lila smiles and hands it down to him.
"That was amazing, big sister!"
"Big sister?" Lila repeats feeling weirded out by the name. She decides to ignore it. "If there is anything else you desire then let me know, I am happy to fetch it for you" she smiles.
'In this world, the things you long for are as plain as day, for me satisfying those wishes is a simple matter'
Lila continues to get Nathanael everything he wants ranging from balloons he saw other kids being handed out and kids toys he stares longingly at through the shop windows.
They stopped in a diner and Nathanael stared at the dinner in front of him which was all of his favourite foods. "Is this really my dinner?" he asks.
"Of course it is," Lila says, she strokes his hair putting down the wayward strands only for them to spring up again
"For real?"
"Anything you want if it will help you smile"
Nathanael begins to eat his dinner with a joyful smile.
After that they end up on a beach as Nathanael draws in the sand with a stick he found. "The suns going down," he says "Everyone will be going home now"
Lila looks at the sunset with round eyes 'His sunset is huge!' it took up most of the sky.
"I don't want to go home," Nathanael says in a trembling voice "at home I'm all alone, nobody is waiting for me," he says "I have to be all by myself" he finishes his drawing, it was of a house.
Lila glances at him 'I understand, I know what you truly desire' she places a hand on top of his head "This is only for the time being, in a few years when you are older you will become the head of a household rowdier than you can imagine" she removes her hand from his head to fold her arms.
Nathanael looks up at her with wide eyes "Are you telling me I'm going to get married when I'm older and then I'm going to make a new family to replace my old one?"
Lila looks down at him "Not exactly…"
"That's good!" he declares putting his hands on his hips "Because I'm not getting married"
Lila frowns "And why is that?"
"Because my family has really bad luck with no good losers!" Nathanael says "Love isn't real and marriage is a trap" he folds his arms while grinning proudly.
Lila's forehead creases and she pouts "It is not that you have bad luck but that you are a poor judge of character" she crouches down to be on eye level with Nathanael "Take me for example, I can fill all your days with happiness, anything that you wanted I could readily provide there could be no one more dependable than me to bring back the bacon as they say"
"I see what you're trying to do, you're using yummy foods to try and trick me into a loveless marriage" Nathanael exclaims. He pouts and eyes Lila suspiciously "so do you really love me, I need to know"
Lila freezes eyes widening. 'When asked in such a direct and adorable way…' She looks to the ground as her cheeks tinted pink. Finally, she looks back up and places a hand on Nathanael's head '...how could I not tell the truth?' she smiles "Yes, I do love you" Then she takes his hands in hers an amused smile on her lips "Well then, will you marry me, Nathanael?" 'I will always ensure he has that carefree smile on his face'
Nathanael grins "Okay"
She stands back keeping a hold of Nathanael's hand as they head towards the exit.
'What am I going to do?!' Lila rakes her hands through her hair 'To have gotten swept up in the moment and proposed to him! How am I meant to get out of this one?' she covers her hot blushing face with her hands already imaging the scenario.
"Lila, you ask me to marry you right?" Nathanael smirks.
'He's going to keep bringing it up! Using it against me!' Lila silently prays for the ground to swallow her up so she never has to see him again.
"What is the matter, Lila?" Aurore asks coming out of the Torii gate with an unconscious Nathanael. "You're awfully fidgety" she smirks. "Don't you worry about a thing, I can keep a secret as a fellow familiar" Aurore smiles "Nathanael won't know a thing about what you did to him as a child"
"Wait seriously?" Lila stares at Aurore in shock.
"SO you did do something!" Aurore growls.
Lila snarls. They are about to launch into a fight until Nathanael's voice cuts through the tension "Stop!"
They look to where Nathanael had been set on the ground to see him sitting up rubbing his eyes awake. "Where are we? What happened?"
"You're on the other side of the Torii gate," Aurore says.
Nathanael frowns "Huh, when did we go through? I must have fallen asleep, it does feel like I woke up from a really long dream"
"Yeah, what kind of dream?" Aurore asks.
Lila feels a mixture of relief and conflict. 'It would appear I was worried for nothing, Nathanael doesn't remember and even if he did he would think it was just a work of fantasy'
"I don't know I can't remember anything so it mustn't have been that important" Nathanael says.
Lila feels like she was hit in the chest with a sack of bricks. Her hands curl into fists as her nose screws up in rage. 'Not important huh? I'll remember that next time you try to confess your love!'
"Right then, let's get to the year God's shrine grab the new talisman and go home" Nathanael starts to walk off with the two familiars following.
"The entrance should be around here somewhere" Aurore mutters.
"I've never met next year's God before, I wonder what he's like, have you ever met him?" he looks to Lila "Lila?"
Lila looks at him with a glare. 'Does he really not remember?' she decides to test him to see. "Nathanael would you like some ice cream?" she makes a tub of ice cream appear similar to the one she had made before.
"Oh, neat-o" Nathanael says taking the ice cream without even a second of recognition.
"Ice cream, my love, I missed you!" Aurore stares at the ice cream longingly.
Nathanael raises an eyebrow "Since when have you loved ice cream?"
"Ever since that time at the beach" Aurore responds.
"Oh then here you can have it, you don't mind do you, Lila?" Nathanael looks to the kitsune in question.
"No" Lila grits out, she minds very much.
"Good" he hands Aurore the ice cream who begins to eat it with a joyful smile.
Nathanael laughs "Jeez, Aurore your just a child!"
Lila's eyes narrow 'He says that with no irony despite the fact he was the child a few minutes ago'
"Oh that reminds me, you take after your mother a lot" Aurore mentions.
Nathanael's eyes go round "You think I take after my mother?" he says "I don't know, I always thought I took after my dad in ways, I was really young when my mum passed so I don't remember much" he smiles ruefully "All my photos of her burned in a house fire we had"
Lila's eyes widened as she hears the sadness in Nathanael's voice. They continue to walk on. 'It seems twelve years is enough time for a human to change' as she is busy thinking she doesn't look where she is going and walks into a wall of wool. She stumbles back "What the?!"
"Are you alright?" Nathanael looks to her with eyes filled with concern. Then all three of them crane their necks to see how far the wall of wool went.
"Hey!" a voice shouted down they looked up to see the figure of a boy with messy black hair. "Are you the human land God?"
"Oh, Lord Year God it's you," Aurore says.
The boy slowly clambers down through the wool as he shears at it with special clippers "Sorry I can't give you a proper greeting but I've got to shear all this wool by the New Year or else we'll have a lot of problems"
Nathanael glances over at the end to see the sheep face peeking out from the bundle of wool. It bleats happily.
"What the heck!" Nathanael exclaims.
"This is the Zodiac sheep," Lila says.
"So this thing is a sheep!" Aurore says then launches herself into the floof of wool. "I expected it to be a lot softer…"
The black haired boy slid down to land on the ground near the trio. "I wish!" he leans against the wool his green eyes filled with annoyance "This guy keeps going on about how having lots of wool will be all in next year, but if I can't get him trimmed down then there is no way he'll fit in the shrine" he sighs.
"Then why did you wait until the last minute to handle it?" Lila deadpans.
"If it's not too much trouble we actually came to get a new set of talismans," Aurore says waving the slip of paper in the air.
"Oh yeah" Marc stands up "They're just through there" he points at the small shrine that the sheep was almost crushing with his wool.
"Wait that's your shrine!" Nathanael exclaims
"So small no wonder the poor guy can't fit in!" Aurore says
"He hasn't fit since this morning so I told him it was time for a haircut much to his dismay" Marc recounted.
"Baaaaaaaaa!" The sheep begin to shake its head which causes him to fall more to the side the shrine beginning to crush under his weight.
"No stop your crushing the shrine!" Marc cries.
"Too bad it's not softer" Aurore comments.
"Leave this to me" Lila holds up her hand and a FoxfireFoxfire appears.
Marc's eyes widened "You can't burn him!"
Nathanael walks around and puts his hands on either side of the sheep head "All that fluff must be really heavy"
"Baaa"
"This new year is going to be all about you" He smiles "You should try to look your best for the occasion"
The sheep looks like he is thinking about what Nathanael said "…Baaa?"
"Well, if I had fur as incredible as you did then I would show it off, I'd strut my fluff so everyone could see"
The sheep looks to marc "Baaaaa!"
"Oh, so now I can shear you!"
Lila's eyes widen "Since when did you become a sheep whisperer?"
"Since now!" Nathanael laughs.
"You're incredible Nathanael!" Aurore gushes.
"I know right!" he smirks.
Lila rolls her eyes but finds herself smiling.
Now they stand inside the shrine as Marc sits on his cushion, the sheep tucked under his arm. "You have my gratitude land god" both he and the sheep bow their heads.
'How did it get so small?' Lila wonders, eyebrows furrowing.
"Here is next year's talisman" he holds out the talisman which Nathanael happily accepts.
"Thank you very much, Lord Year God"
"Oh and one more thing a present" Marc holds his hands up and a golden ball forms between them "I heard how you said after the fire you didn't have left so here" the gold subsides and a photo is left in its place. Marc hands it to Nathanael who stares down at it in shock. A smile appears on his face as his eye fills with tears.
"What is wrong, are you all right?" Lila asks.
"It's my mum," he says.
'I see, his memories have not vanished completely after all" Lila smiles.
Back at the shrine, they are all crowded around the living room coffee table as they watch Christmas movies and drink mugs of hot cocoa. Yeshua is sitting staring out the window in his humanoid form when he lets out a shout "Guys, it's snowing!"
Nathanael gasps in excitement scrambling up from the floor and rushing from the living, through the hallway and out the front door "Wow you're right!" he rushes outside "look it's already piling up! How cool"
He blinks as flashbacks from his lonely childhood flashes through his head then a familiar voice he can't quite place echoes in his mind.
"Only for the time being"
His forehead creased as he wonders who said that. He can make out a figure but they are cloaked by a shadow.
"In a few years, you will become the head of a household rowdier than you can imagine"
A small smile appears on his face as he looks over his shoulder at the very rowdy group inside. Aurore and Yeshua were currently fighting with the two spirits doing a bad job of stopping them.
'Strange, I can't remember who told me that' Nathanael thinks as he looks back up to the dark sky that is clouded with snowfall.
"Nathanael, can you peel this for me?"
He looks around to see Yeshua holding out an orange.
"I can't get it open"
"Sure" he smiles and takes the orange to peel.
Then grabs Yeshua by the head pushing him down "You can do it yourself you stinkin' brat!" she snarls.
"That's right!" Aurore fumes "Nathanael is not your dad so stop acting like a baby!"
"Calm down," Nathanael says as he continues to peel off the orange skin "I don't mind if Yeshua thinks of me as his dad for now"
Yeshua smiles.
"Here you go" he hands over the peeled orange.
Aurore folded her arms while frowning "Nathanael you aren't thinking of going off and getting married are you?"
Nathanael's eyes widened and he pauses before saying "I plan on staying single for a long time" Lila frowns. Nathanael glances at her then looks away smirking "Or not"
Lila's eyes go round and she can't help her face heating up. She ducks her head to hide the blush.
"Or not!?" Aurore's face pales.