"Umm, Cless? There's only one bed."
"Oh! I wasn't… I wouldn't… I was just gonna sleep on the floor."
- Cless and Mint, Tales of Phantasia
"Don't worry. I know lots of stuff."
- Junko Iwao in My Otome
"According to historian Ian Mortimer, a 14th century English lady would be considered lewd if she: 1, Left her ankles uncovered. 2, Left her arms uncovered. 3, Wore her hair down anywhere other than her own bedroom (some minor braiding was basically required in public). So like, Tales of Phantasia's Mint Adenade? Total slut by actual Medieval European standards."
- unknown Reddit post that definitely has nothing to do with this story
Guess who else had a little worm curled up in her herb pouch? Mint sat under the snowy awning of Arlee Inn with Cless beside her. They both wore leather cloaks over their battle gear to protect themselves from the cold. The sky was stark black and faint flakes were falling around them—a weather anomaly caused by the village's close proximity to the Demon King's floating castle.
The adventurers stayed outside like this for the better part of an hour. They reminisced over everything that had happened between them over the past few months. How they helped each other escape certain death the moment they met, how they had gained and lost friends in their quest to save the planet from Dhaos. Cless finally found the courage to return Mint's missing unicorn earring, revealing he had known her mother's tragic fate this whole time but kept it from her out of fear the truth would crush her. Mint ended up thanking him, but also revealed she figured it out a long time ago and came to terms on her own. They continued talking for some time, returning to a more lighthearted mood as they joked about the rest of their party and considered how they would spend the time once their planet was safe.
But speaking of mothers…
"Cless?" Mint shuffled under her cloak as she turned her head. A hint of anxiety was lingering in her eyes.
"Hm?" Cless murmured with a calm shrug.
"Did you figure out how I was able to talk to the unicorn yet?"
Tiny puffs of white steam floated around the pair's mouths every time they exhaled. Their cheeks were turning bright pink as the cold air touched their faces. Cless returned Mint's concerned glances in a well-intentioned but oblivious teenage swordsman kind of way.
"Isn't it obvious? Legends say the unicorn will only meet a pure maiden. You're the kindest, most compassionate girl I know. You always try to find the most peaceful way around things. If it was going to lend its power to anyone in this world, why wouldn't it be you?"
Mint lowered her head slightly, almost like she was going to hide her face in her cloak.
"That's not the 'purity' the unicorn honors. I haven't been that kind of 'pure' since after we left Belladam."
Her quickly shifted the other way. Cless was starting to catch on that she wasn't just anxious. She was hiding something.
"It's like Arche said," Mint continued explaining, still being shy with her wording. "She talked about her old boyfriend when she said the unicorn would never let her wield its power. I wouldn't have been able to, either… because of you."
The mage sighed all of her apprehension away. If a eucalyptus tree could purr, that was the sound she was making.
"I'm not the maiden it reached out to. The real maiden is right here."
She laid a single hand over her flat stomach.
Cless instantly leaned closer to his healer's side. What he was feeling wasn't shock. How could he be really shocked at this point? His reaction was one of curiosity, laced with a gradually increasing urge to protect what was sitting beside him.
"You're… ? Did you just find out?" he half-stammered his response.
"It's been a while." Mint was shaking her head while her fingers delicately pet her waist. "Remember the boat trip out of Venezia?"
Cless chuckled warmly before he answered.
"You were miserable from being seasick the first morning we were sailing. You and everyone else were totally hung over."
Mint nodded timidly.
"You were the only one in any shape to break Meia free from Dhaos's control. Do you remember anything else about me?"
"Yeah. You were the only one of us not drinking yourself silly on ale in the ship's lounge the night before. You just kept to yourself and wouldn't touch a drop."
A thought started to cross Cless's mind.
"Oh. Wait a minute…"
"It wasn't sea sickness," Mint quietly confirmed. She gently rolled her head back against the inn's brick wall as she closed her eyes and sighed again.
As the party's healer, Mint was skilled in ways that went well beyond just knowing how to cultivate and combine garden herbs for medicinal purposes. She knew the body's internal chemistry better than anyone else, and with ease she could manipulate her blood elevation or various organ functions for the benefit of herself and the child she was carrying. Nothing perplexed her. She always knew which symptom was something she should be concerned about, and which symptom was a completely natural occurrence. She could even recognize small changes in her mood as indicators toward what she should be eating.
Right now she just had a drowsy feeling. This drowsiness wasn't any sort of hypothermic reaction to the weather. It was a nice drowsiness, a light drowsiness that meant she was in perfect physiological peace. Had this been the ideal fairy tale world, she would have devoted three-quarters of an entire year in total tranquility and meditation as she prepared for the arrival of her baby. But if this child had to be the daughter of a battle cleric constantly on the move and exposed to endless threats of weaponry, dark magic, and demon wars, at least she'd picked the best possible place growing inside Mint.
"We should go back inside. Isn't it too cold for the baby?" Cless looked around to determine the shortest path toward the inn's front door. He spoke with a concerned fatherly tone he was lacking a moment earlier.
"She's somewhere where it's always warm and safe," Mint said reassuringly. She pulled her cloak around herself as she leaned closer into Cless's shoulder. "And I'll be safe as long as I have you guarding me."
"Are you sure? We've been out for a while." Cless wrapped his arm over her so his cloak provided her a second layer.
"It's not like we're sleeping out here all night, Cless." A tiny steamy giggle escaped the center of Mint's lips. "I just wanted somewhere quiet so we could talk about everything. A little cold isn't going to hurt her. She's been through worse."
"How much worse?" Cless gulped.
"I've been casting Barrier on her all the time as a precaution. She's still small enough that she made it through two trips through time with me and it hasn't bothered her at all."
"How do you know?"
"Every time I cast Cure on myself, I can pick up her heartbeat. Mother taught me everything I should know about this as soon as I was an apprentice." The healer's words trailed off as she coyly glanced away. "I don't think she was expecting me to use that knowledge on myself, though."
"Still. Should you really be coming with us?" Cless asked with hesitation. "You could stay in Arlee for an extra day. We'll just come back to get you when we're ready go home."
Mint shook her head slowly and resolutely.
"I could be sending all of you to your deaths if I did that. We'll end this fight with Dhaos tomorrow. Then I'll be relieved knowing our baby can be born in a safe world."
Cless was starting to see traits in Mint he never noticed before. There was a certain look of confidence in her crystal blue eyes, a constant assurance everything was going to turn out fine. Her hair sparkled against the dull brown of her cloak. Her skin seemed to softly glow under the light from the street lamps. Maybe he was imagining it, but the medic cross covering her chest seemed to be more full than usual. If there was one woman in existence who represented the planet's future, it had to be her.
The swordsman ambivalently stared at the snow gathering in front of his feet. He wanted to say his was relieved, but he had so many new thoughts filling his mind.
"I thought rebuilding Toltus was going to be the hardest thing I'd have to worry about."
"Sounds like it will be nice to start a family there." Mint brushed her shoulder against his to give him more encouragement. Her voice lowered slightly as she coped with her own sadness. "Mars massacred most of the priestesses at the monastery when he was looking for my pendant. I could have ended up carrying someone else's baby if you hadn't saved me from his prison. I don't have a home to go back to when this is finally over."
Despite the tragedy they faced, Mint was still optimistic. They had saved Nancy's and Elwin's company after helping them get together, and even got to meet their great-great-grandchildren in the future. How much harder could rebuilding a village be?
Cless sighed before he turned toward her again.
"I was never counting on being a dad. I don't even know what we should call our kid."
"I can think of plenty of plant names," Mint cheerfully smiled.
Author's note: Is my motif getting too weird? I mean, obviously stuff like Tousaka Trashers is SUPPOSED to be weird, but in this fic I was trying to go for a more wholesome family feeling. Am I weirding you out?
This also kinda works as an alternate version of that scene in the final Eva Rebuild movie where Hikari is an agricultural village worker in her late 20s and she teaches Rei about being a mom.