A birthday story for Lantern Power. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy and Happy Birthday! :)

Mega Man belongs to Capcom. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Mythology belongs to its respective owners. Jocu and Lauhin belong to guestsurprise. I only own Rachel.

Family Is The Ones Who Love You

Bubble smiled as he saw Rachel was getting together some Easter baskets and he decided to see if perhaps he could help. He had just finished visiting Mega Man, who told him that his brothers were doing well and Dr. Wily had been quiet lately. Even Pharaoh was doing well, as was the rest of his family.

Teleporting to the mansion, the robot-turned-Lauhinian went up to Rachel, who turned in surprise, but smiled when she saw him. "Bubble! What a nice surprise!" She said. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Miss Rachel," he said. "I saw you making Easter baskets. Can I help?"

"Sure," she said, still smiling.

Bubble watched as she began another basket and he mimicked her movements, carefully placing some toys and candy in the basket. "Do the little ones get excited about Easter here?" He asked her.

"Yes, they do," the young woman replied. "We all do, actually. It's a time of celebrating life and being grateful."

He liked that idea before he thought of something. "Miss Rachel, forgive me if this is a bit nosy, but...how come you don't have any of your birth family here besides your sister and uncles?"

Rachel paused in her work before sighing a little. "Well, there's a couple reasons for that," she said, her voice taking a sad note. "Mom passed away when my sister and I were very little."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Bubble said, not realizing he had brought up a sensitive subject.

"Thank you," she said softly before sniffling. "My birth father...isn't a good man and that's putting it mildly. He's controlling and he tries to get me and my sister to go see him, but we refuse. He's even tried to kidnap her children and my children too."

The sentient robot stiffened at that before recalling something. "Father mentioned how he dealt with a man that tried to kidnap a few of the children here," he said. "Were those...yours and Sasha's children?"

"The same ones," Rachel answered with a sigh. "He's thankfully left us alone for a bit now. Our adoptive dad, who was more of a father to us than our birth father, died quite a few years ago."

Bubble now felt bad that he had brought up painful memories for her. "I'm sorry, Miss Rachel. I didn't realize my question...would bring up sad memories," he said, not liking to see her sad.

She gave him a gentle smile. "You didn't know, Bubble," she said gently and forgivingly. "And while the memories are a little sad, the ones about my mom and adoptive dad are good memories and the memories of my birth father remind me that my sister and I have overcome a lot and are stronger for it, thanks to our family."

The robot nodded before looking curious. "Miss Rachel, what is your definition of family?" He asked.

She smiled. "Well," she said thoughtfully before smiling and sitting down. "Take a seat and let me tell you a few stories."

He sat down and she smiled as she began.

Sometime back...

Rachel was walking through the halls of the Grant Mansion, which was beginning to look more like a home now since she had found out about the Galactic Monsters and had met Big Chill, Goop, and Chromastone. She didn't know why she was so drawn to the group of aliens, but it was just something about them that made her feel closer to them. Chromastone came out of his room then and smiled.

"Hello, Rachel," he said. "How are you today?"

"I'm good, Chromo. Just thinking," she said, calling him by his nickname.

He nodded before placing a hand on her shoulder. "You know, I think we're all starting to become a family," he said.

She looked at him in surprise. "You do?" She asked.

He nodded. "We met you and you've given us a good home and you spend time with us," he said. "Honestly, I see you as a little sister."

Rachel was surprised to hear that and then Snare-Oh came out of his room. "I agree with Chromastone," he said. "You're like a sister to us, Rach."

"But...I'm not an alien like you guys," she said gently.

"You're an alien to us," Chromastone pointed out gently, tickling her sides to make her giggle. "But who says we can't be family just because we're of different races? I don't see any difference between us."

"Neither do I," Snare-Oh said.

Rachel thought about it and smiled. "You're right," she said. "Let's prove to the universe that it doesn't matter what race we are, we can be a family all the same."

The two nodded and hugged her, to which she returned the hugs happily, glad to know them and have them in her family.

Present time...

Rachel smiled. "They helped me see the situation in a different light," she said to Bubble, who was listening intently. "And when I met more aliens and gave them a home here, they joined the family and made it grow."

He smiled. "And you guys have made this into a wonderful home," he said. "What made you decide to open your home to kids and other humans who needed a home?"

She smiled again. "Because I knew what it was like to be abused and wanting a safe haven," she said. "One of the kids asked me that sometime ago."

Flashback...

Rachel was working on the laundry when a teenage girl walked in and looked at her. "Aunt Rachel, can I talk to you?" She asked.

"Sure, honey," the young woman said, smiling at her. "What's on your mind?"

"Why did you take me in?" The young girl asked. "I mean...I'm not part of the family, but you still took me in and accepted me as your niece. Why?"

Rachel gently smiled. "Honey, I know what it's like to be in your shoes," she said. "My uncles and adoptive father helped me when I suffered abuse from a horrible man and they helped me to recover from it. That's why I can't ignore abuse when I see it. No one deserves it and while you may not be blood related to me, you were adopted into the family, which makes you my niece."

The young girl looked unsure. "You...don't care that I'm not blood related to you?" She asked.

"No," the young woman said. "Because love sees past that. It doesn't matter if you're born into a family or adopted into one, because love binds us all together all the same. Do you understand?"

The child thought for a moment and then nodded, smiling. "You're right, Aunt Rachel," she said. "And you're the best aunt ever."

Rachel smiled as the child hugged her and she returned the hug, the gesture expressing how much the child loved being in the family and how much the young woman loved the child as her niece.

Flashback end...

Bubble smiled again. "And then you met the royal family and Father accepted you and your sister as his daughters," he said.

"Ah, yes," Rachel said with a smile. "You and your brothers are like brothers to us, Bubble."

He nodded. "If you don't mind my asking, what made you and your sister decide that Father was like a second father to you?"

The young woman smiled again. "Well, it was a few days after Father's Day...,"

Flashback...

Rachel and her sister were doing some work when the brunette paused for a moment. "Rach, do you think...Dad would be okay with you and I calling another person 'Father', like how we did with our uncle many years ago?" She asked.

The blonde-haired girl looked up from her work, taking a moment to think on her sister's question before nodding. "Yeah," she said. "I think he would, because he knows we won't forget him, even if we see another person as a father figure." She looked curious. "Who were you thinking of?"

"King Lauhin," her sister said. "When we revealed that we wanted to give him something special for Father's Day, he not only loved that, but admitted that he saw us as his daughters. And well...he's been like a father to us, just like how Dad was and our uncle is."

Rachel nodded before smiling. "You know, he does," she said. "And I think I've begun to see him as a father too."

"Should we tell him?"

Thinking for a moment, the blonde-haired girl shook her head. "Not yet," she said. "Let's see how things go and maybe in a few months...we can ask him what he thinks of us calling him 'Father'."

Her sister nodded in agreement.

Flashback end...

Rachel smiled. "Little did we know that Lauhin had been listening in on us, but he waited until we had asked him about us calling him 'Father' that he revealed that he had known we saw him as a father figure and he was honored that we wanted to call him that. And the queen became our mom too."

Bubble smiled. "And now we're all a family," he said.

"Yes, because family is the ones who love you," the young woman said. "They can be blood related, like my sister and me and our uncles, or best friends just like us and the royal family and all the aliens that live here."

He nodded. "You're right," he said. "And love is the greatest of all."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, son," came Lauhin's voice and he and Jocu appeared before the two.

Rachel stood up and hugged the king. "Hello, Father," she said, nuzzling into his fur.

He chuckled and kissed her forehead in affection. "How are you, my daughter?" He asked.

"I'm good. I was just telling Bubble a few stories," she said.

Bubble smiled and looked to see there still some baskets that needed to be done. "I kind of interrupted her making Easter baskets," he admitted sheepishly, looking down a bit.

"It's okay, Bubble. I love telling stories," Rachel said.

"Why don't we all pitch in to help finish the baskets?" Jocu said.

"Yes," Lauhin said.

In no time at all, the Easter baskets were done and Rachel smiled. "The kids are going to love these," she said before looking at the king and princes. "Would you guys come over for Easter dinner?"

"Of course," Lauhin said with a smile. "Can we bring the dessert?"

"Sure," she said just as some of the children came into the kitchen. Seeing the king and princes, they cheered and ran up to them, hugging them, making the Lauhinians and robot-turned-Lauhinian laugh heartily as they hugged the children. Rachel smiled at seeing this before looking over to see a picture of herself, her parents, and her sister.

"Love you, Mom and Dad," she whispered softly. "Happy Easter."

A few tears escaped her eyes and she wiped them away. Bubble, noticing this, came over to her. "You okay?" He asked.

She nodded and smiled at him. "Yes," she said. "Just shedding a few tears from some memories."

He looked concerned, to which she smiled. "They're happy tears, Bubble," she said. "Because I was recalling how much Mom and Dad loved me and my sister, even when Mom was so sick and then Dad got sick, but they still loved me and my sister. We might not have had a lot back then, but we had plenty of love, and that was enough for us."

He smiled. "I bet they're both smiling down on this family right now," he said.

She smiled at him and he pulled her into a hug, which she returned before Lauhin and Jocu joined in along with the children, all of them happy to be a family.

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GoldGuardian2418