I apologize for my lateness, major bullshit happened and my muse decided to abandon this story in favour of another. Thankfully, I wrestled that bitch back here.

I know I got a massive, dopey grin right now. Mom's and Roswaal are smiling broadly and Ram's almost fucking vibrating with joy. Puck's vanished though. Wonder where he went. We all stand there for a few seconds before we hear Lia. "I think we need to find Takara. I wish to thank her."

My eyes widen. I quickly look to the others. "Hide."

Rushing as quietly as possible to the next room, we get inside just as Lia's door opens. Me, Ram and Mom are trying not to laugh as I lean against the door. Roswaal looks like he's thouroughly enjoying this, to my mild surprise. This is completely different to what he'd normally do though. I hold a finger up as Lia and Rem start to walk past. Rem's talking "Would you like to… go out sometime?"

"I would."

I swear I can hear Rems grin. They keep chatting as they walk off. As soon as I think they're out of earshot, I release the breath I didn't know I was holding. "Alright, I think it's…"

The door suddenly opens and I fall flat onto my back, Rem staring down at me with an eyebrow raised. Lia's behind her grinning. Then Rem looks into the room, seeing everyone else. "I would suppose you all heard?"

I can't see the others but I can guess we all look like we've just been caught 'hand in the cookie jar' style. I just nod. She drops the stare and smiles, stepping back. "I am glad I do not have to fight nerves to tell you all."

There's a collective sigh of relief as Lia helps me to my feet. I smile. "Congrats. And about fucking time."

She looks at Rem with a soft smile. "Thank you, Takara. If you had not done that then I doubt we would ever have gotten this far."

"Just doing what I do, y'know." I turn to Rem. "How did you know we were in there?"

The bluehead grins. "Have you forgotten how strong our senses are? I could smell you all as soon as I opened the door."

Shoulda thought of that. Ram walks over and hugs her as Lia properly notices Roswaal and goes pale. "R-Roswaal-sama, I-I…"

He smiles. "You have no need to fret. I am quite happy for you both."

The look of relief on her face is hilarious! As he walks to them both I move to Mom, who's still got a gigantic smile. "Told you they look super cute together."

"They do. Whole lotta love going on, makes me almost jealous."

I smile softly at that. She's already told me she hasn't even tried for a relationship since Dad and, as much as it'll make me feel weird, I want her to. "Why don't you put yourself out there?"

Mom looks down at her ring. "… I don't know. I know that Sal would want me to move on but I just… It's never felt like the right thing to do. Plus, I'm fifty four. Ain't gonna be many guys looking for a woman my age."

I nod, thinking. Downside is, she's probably right. Hmm. "Never know til you try, right?"

She grins. "Tell you what, I'll think about it. No promises."

My grin returns. "Awesome! Now go talk to the happy couple. I'm heading to the ballroom, get some practice in."

She goes over to them and I start to the ballroom. I really do hope she takes the plunge, it'd be good for her. Whatever she decides to do, I'll stand by her. Although, if she does and we find a way back to our world, what would she choose? I'm still very torn on if I'd go back. Thinking about it, I realised there's one thing I really miss about technology. I miss electricity. What people say is true, you don't realise how much you depend on something til it's gone. I felt that when Dad died, I felt it when Mom came here. Now I'm feeling it because of harnessed lightning! I've found myself reaching for a wall switch on a few occasions, and I really want a goddamn electric oven. Apart from that, I'm still kinda astounded by how little I miss. Maybe it's Dad's side of me. Hmm. "Takara!"

Trying to stifle the yelp I spin, a hand at a dagger. I relax instantly when I see Ram. I take a deep breath. "Gotta admit, you scared the shit outta me."

Ram lowers her head a touch. "I am sorry."

Wrapping my arms round her, I smile. "You don't have to apologize. Was just thinking about my world. Coming to watch me practice?"

She nods into my chest after a couple seconds. "Roswaal-sama has given Rem and I the rest of the day off so I thought I would, if that is fine."

I pull back, still smiling. "Totally. I think Mom'll be with us soon, too."

She takes my hand and we continue on. As soon as we reach the ballroom I move to my babies, checking them over. Mom is probably going to want to play the electric first, considering it was Dads. Already though, I spot a minor problem. I only have thin picks. "I'm gonna quickly run to my room. Need my case."

Ram stands from the seat she set up. "Allow me."

I nod and she heads off. Almost instantly she's replaced by Mom, Lia and Rem, who grab chairs. Mom walks over with a soft smile as she looks at the electric. "I didn't think you'd have this. However, I don't remember a trem arm."

I know my grin's a little sheepish. "Yeah, I kinda added that. Also changed the pickups and had to replace the bridge."

Still smiling, she picks it up. "I was going to ask if you'd flipped the headstock but you string it backwards. Neat."

"Well, yeah. No matter how much I try, I can't play right handed. Unlike a certain mother of mine, I ain't ambidexterous. I didn't want to change the look too much."

She grins at me, setting it down and picking up my acoustic. "Nice. How much this set you back?"

"Couple hundred. Plays like a dream. Feel free."

She grabs her chair and starts to improvise a little on A major as I step over to Rem and Lia, holding hands. I can't help the smile as I reach them. "I know I said it, like, five minutes ago but congrats. I definitely overstepped my mark, considering how long I've known you both, but it kinda had to happen."

Rem smiles broadly with a light blush. "You did not. As Emilia said earlier, I doubt we would have gotten this far without some outside help."

Lia mirrors her smile. "It is true. I had no real idea how to approach the subject. Again, I thank you."

I nod. "I should thank the both of you. It's rare that I see such a cute couple. Glad it's two people I respect."

They both go beet red and I chuckle, moving back to the stage as Ram retuns with my case. I take and open it, grabbing a couple of thicker picks, passing one to Mom. She hands me the acoustic and picks up the electric again. "You mind?"

I shake my head. "Knock yourself out." I look back to the others, Puck having joined. "This is gonna be roughly the same as the last time I practiced but with some faster and more aggressive stuff thrown in."

The second I finish the sentence, Mom slips into the Smoke on the Water solo. My grin is automatic. It's been her warmup for as long as I can remember. At first the girls jump a little due to the volume of the amp. Makes me realise how much I've missed watching Mom play. When I was little I'd sit, watch, then tell her I'd be that good one day. Kinda saddening that she never got to see me really progress. Least I can make up for it now. She finishes and turns the amp down a touch as the others clap. Mom smiles and passes the guitar to me, thanking them. I riff for a minute before playing the Stairway solo, Mom almost groaning at me. As I finish that I run straight into the main line of Mr Crowley, mostly just for fun. I talk to the others as I go. "I'm in the mood to play fast. You guys wanna hear that?"

There's a chorus of nods and Mom grins. "What you thinking?"

"Either I prove a point or Eruption."

She raises a brow. "The point being…?"

My turn to grin. "Malmsteen."

Mom chuckles. "Do it."

I pull my phone out and find Arpeggios from Hell, hitting play. As it begins I take a breath and focus. Thinking about it, I forced myself to learn this because of a guy I used to jam with. He always said I'd never be able to play it properly because of my small hands. The look on his face was fucking beautiful. Just over two minutes crawl by as I concentrate intensely. Even though I've known the track for a few years it's still a bitch to play, my fretting hand not liking the stretches. I hit the final note and smirk at Mom. "Told ya!"

Mom grins. "I owe you money. Know anything I do?"

I nod. "Found your notepad, working my way through it. I know most of the tracks in it."

"Glad to know it's being used. Wanna play together?"

My smile softens. "I do. Wanted to for years. However, I have something I'd like to play first."

She nods and I turn to the girls. "This is the first time I've played this in front of… well… anybody. It's a song that means a lot to me and I know my voice won't do it justice." I move to my amp and adjust the dials, turn off the overdrive and lower the volume a touch. Before I start I relax and take a deep breath. I cannot fuck this up. I close my eyes and start to play Melodies of Life.

For ten years I've loved and hated this song. Loved because it let me remember the good times. Hated because it reminded me of my loss. Now I'm finally playing it for the only person I ever really wanted to, I love it again. There's still a light touch of sadness because, as with Mom, it reminds me of Dad but that's overshadowed. That does make me remember the picture in my wallet. It's of the three of us in Tokyo, taken only about a month before Dad died. It was the only picture I could find with all three of us. Had a wallet sized copy made and I have the original next to my bed in Boston. I think I'll give it to Mom later.

When I finish I wipe the tears that are forming before my guitar's taken from me, Mom wrapping me in a hug. "Thank you."

I hug her back. "Not a problem."

As she lets go she kisses my forehead, a bright smile on her face. "Let's play something."

I grin. "I already have an idea." I look back at the girls. "Wanna hear Mom sing?"

As I say that the doors open again, Roswaal stepping through. "I apologiiiise for interrupting. A matter has arisen which will be taking my time after dinner so I thought, with your permission, thaaaaaat I would observe your practice."

I flick a quick glance to Mom, who nods. "Totally fine, we're gonna be playing some songs anyways. Might as well make it a little show. Pull up a seat."

He does and Mom grins. "So, what we playing?"

"Can you play the harpsicord for Black Diamond on piano? I know all the guitar lines."

Her grins grows. "Is William Shatner secretly Satan? Guessing I'm singing it too?"

Nodding, I smile. "My voice isn't great for power metal. I'll be joining on the dual parts though."

She flicks an eyebrow. "For the outro?"

I think for a second. "After the first pass, I'll join. One more pass then you solo out."

She almost runs to the piano, smiling. "Awesome!" As she sits, she addresses the others. "This is a song I really enjoy playing. As Kara mentioned, I'm taking vocals."

We set up quickly and she starts playing. I can't help my smile at her genuinely childlike enjoyment. I kick in and we slip into step like we'd been playing together for years. During the solo segments I notice that Roswaal hasn't taken his eyes off her. Honestly, even with my mental outburst earlier, if anything happened there I think I'd be… mostly fine with it. The rest of the song passes and we take a little bow at the applause from the small crowd.

After that we roll into a few more, playing together and solo. We close after about an hour and a half and eventually dinner comes, the twins and I jumping in to help, then the actual performance. I think Roswaals absence is sort of a good thing as everyone seems a little more lively and invested, which helps me because I can interact more with a good crowd. One of the highlights, for me at least, was playing A Tout le Monde, me deciding to translate the the French before we started. It may be a somber song but it's a damn good one and I rarely have the chance to play the original version. Thankfully Mom never learned the remake. I come really close to playing some Pantera but, with the exception of the twins and Lia, I'm not entirely sure the others could handle the extra aggression considering I ain't properly worked with many of them. We run on longer than we should have, having a lot of fun with it, until Mom reminds me that we'll probably be doing this again so we should hold some songs back.

Almost as soon as we're done, Lia and Rem disappear, more than like heading off to talk. I spend some more time with Mom, giving her the picture before I show her to a guest room, then I meet with Ram and head to her room. Well, our room now I guess. She's pretty quiet but it's been a surprisingly long day.

She shuts the door and leans against it, a question in her eyes. I raise a brow. "You ok?"

Her eyes flick to the floor for a moment before she looks me in the eye. "Where are you from?"

I frown. "Huh? I told you, I'm from a land…"

She cuts in quickly. "A different land or different world?"

Different world? How's she figured that out? She answers the question before I have chance to ask it. "You mentioned your world earlier."

Did I? Does this mean I can actually talk about that? Hell, I've avoided mentioning it in case the damn pain happens like when I try to tell people about this reviving power I have. Maybe I should talk to her about it. I mean, she's a smart woman, she should be able to understand it from an intellectual point of view. Hmm. I'm lost in thought about it when Ram sits next to me, putting a hand on my arm. "Takara, please. Be honest with me. Where are you from?"

I take a deep breath and her hand. "I'm from another world. I haven't told anybody 'cause I didn't think I could. Didn't want people thinking I was crazy."

She stares into my eyes, looking for a lie. After a few moments she sighs. "How much of what you have told us is true?"

"Apart from telling you I came from a different land, everything. I'm originally from a small eastern island called Japan. When Mom was brought here, I moved to my uncles, in a place called America far to the west."

Again the measured stare. "Tell me about the first place. Japan?"

I smile softly. "Yeah. We might wanna get undressed and comfortable first. This'll take a while."

As we do I start talking, continuing long into the night. Ram listens and asks questions as I explain things like cars, internet and television. I'm not entirely sure when I notice Ram asleep on my arm. As soon as I do I cover her up properly, joining her in sleep not long after.

We'll be getting back into actual plot next chapter :D Feedback, criticisms and suggestions welcome, as always. See y'all next time.