Chapter 32

A few hours later, Melyssa finally gave up and slid out of bed, smelling something fantastic coming from downstairs. Her eyes shut and she relished the smell – Mom's home cooking. It'd been over a year since she smelled it and her stomach rumbled with life since she didn't eat dinner the previous night. She'd been too upset and crying always put a damper on her appetite. Walking down the stairs, Melyssa could hear her mother in the kitchen and pushed open the door, watching the older woman jump slightly.

"Sorry Mom, I didn't mean to scare you." She looked around the kitchen, familiarizing herself with it, and remembered the countless baking sessions they had in here together. "Do you want some help?"

Miranda bit her tongue, almost asking if Melyssa remembered how to cook. It would have been her teasing, but it felt wrong, especially after yesterday and the sad news she had to break to her daughter. "No, I'm nearly done." She nodded her head at the table. "The Ashen Chevalier has been up for a while, he set the table." Having Him setting her table… she clicked her tongue, knowing such work was beneath a man like that, but at the same time, it showed that he was still humble. "Here." Miranda turned, wiping her hands off on the apron around her waist before reaching for a freshly baked biscuit, turning to hold it out. "I've changed the recipe a bit, what do you think?" If someone would have told her, after a year of nothing, she'd be discussing biscuits with her daughter, as if nothing had happened, she'd have whacked them with a fish.

Carefully, Melyssa took a bite out of it and shut her eyes, relishing the flavor and the taste of it. "You haven't lost your touch, Mom. It's delicious." She devoured the entire thing and then hugged her mother, fresh tears stinging her eyes. "I missed you, Mom. I'm sorry about the way I treated you yesterday. I know it was a shock to you to see me after all this time and…"

"Quiet, Mely." Miranda soothed, hugging her daughter back and tears of her own began sliding down her cheeks. "I'm just…so glad you're safe and alive. We were all worried about you when you ran away and we didn't know what happened to you. None of that matters anymore though, you're here safe and sound in my arms again. I love you so much, my girl."

"I love you too, Mom." Melyssa slowly pulled out of the hug, wiping her mother's tears away and Miranda did the same to her. "And I promise you, we're going to find Dad and bring him back. I know he's still alive, I can feel it."

Miranda nodded with a small smile. "I can feel it too. Are you absolutely sure this is the path you want to follow in life, Melyssa? You don't have to do this because of Crow…"

"It's not just about Crow anymore. I love swordsmanship, Mom. I love battling and honing my skills. It may have started out because of him, but I've evolved past that and I managed to get into Thors Branch School based on my talents." There was no way she could tell Miranda the other big reason for being accepted. "I know you don't like what I'm doing, but I hope you can accept it and respect my choice."

Miranda sighed resignedly, seeing her daughter's mind was made up and there would be no changing it. "All right then, I support you. I should have done that from the beginning." She touched Melyssa's face tenderly with her hand, kissing her forehead. "Just promise me you won't run away again and you'll come to visit, once everything is settled."

"I promise." Melyssa hugged her mother again, this time a little tighter. "Thanks, Mom."

That was the scene Rean walked in on, having gone outside bright and early to check out any damage to the house from last night's storm. It was clear and beautiful out, he could hardly believe that there HAD been a storm and a fierce one at that. Miranda had done everyone's laundry bright and early, he had woken up to clean clothes on the end of the bed. He had slept like a log, after spending an hour trying to get comfortable in the dead man's bed.

"Morning, Melyssa." He greeted her, wearing his pants and shoes, no shirt yet. He had been gathering up branches and debris and putting them into a pile for Miranda. "No damage, ma'am, the roof is solid as well." She must have had a good luck charm last night because he had seen some serious damage to her neighbor's property. Given everything that had happened to this family, thank the Goddess for small mercies.

Shirtless. Again.

"Thank you, Mr. Schwarzer. I appreciate all your help this morning."

"Morning." Melyssa wasn't sure if she should call him Rean or Instructor, so she just stuck with the standard greeting. She was still in her sleep attire, shorts, and a tank top, deciding to change after breakfast and a shower. "I'll go wake everyone else up since breakfast is almost done." Unable to resist, her eyes slid over Rean's shirtless chest on her way out of the kitchen, heading for the stairs. He needs to stop being shirtless around me, she thought on her way up and decided to see if Juna and Kurt were awake yet first. She tapped on the door, heard cursing through it, and blinked, deciding to back up. "Breakfast is ready, you guys."

"Be right there!" Juna squawked, cursing more. "Where are they?!"

Whatever they were doing, Melyssa did NOT want to know and she went to the next room. Altina was already awake and headed downstairs, walking past her with a nod of her head. Finally, it was time to knock on Crow and Ash's door and Melyssa did, waiting to see if she heard anything.

"Stop… cuddling me…"

Crow was awake all right. One bed, a large bed, but Ash was all up in his business. Crow was a cuddler by nature, Melyssa had found that out the hard way, literally, his hard-on had been pressed up into her. He was learning he did not like being on the receiving end of that.

"You're so warm," Ash muttered, his eyes closed, and sighed. Then he frowned, cracking one eye open. "Oh man…" He was cuddling Crow… then he shrugged and closed his eyes again, yawning.

Yawning right against the back of Crow's neck. He shuddered and wrenched free. "We're coming, Lyssa."

Once again, whatever THEY were doing, Melyssa did not want to know and turned as a red-faced Juna and Kurt came out of their own room. "Good morning." She greeted, walking past them to head downstairs with Juna mumbling under her breath the entire time.

Obviously, Melyssa had interrupted something between them. At the table, Rean sat still shirtless and Melyssa decided to help her mother set the rest of the food on the table. When she returned, all the chairs were taken beside the one across from him, which coincidentally was 'her' chair from when she lived here. Great.

"I call shower first when we're done eating." She announced, setting the platter on the table and sat down beside Crow, her mother at the front.

"Fair enough, beautiful." Ash winked at her, happy as a clam and hungry, not fazed in the slightest he had spooned another man.

"After everyone is fed and ready to go, we need to discuss what we're doing today. I have some ideas in mind, but let's eat first." Rean informed his students before everyone began digging in.

Rean had already showered, so he had no problem in letting her call dibs. He noticed everyone was eating heartily, including Melyssa, which was good. What was not good was how she was very determined to stare directly into her bowl and not even look up, that puzzled him and he kept glancing up at her throughout the meal.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Brackett."

Ash was charming Miranda, foregoing the vulgar jokes because one, this was Melyssa's Mom. Two, she was grieving and her husband was missing. Three, she looked like she would bean him with a cast-iron skillet if he mouthed off to her or something.

"The bed was very comfortable."

Crow nearly choked on a biscuit, shooting his friend a dark look.

Ash simply winked one pink eye at him.

"You're welcome and please, call me Miranda. No need for formalities, Ash." Miranda smiled back at him, sipping her tea, and continued eating, glancing at her daughter. "Mely, slow down before you engulf your plate too, dear."

"Sorry…"

Melyssa was famished and the fact this was her mother's cooking just made her want to ingest as much as she could. Also, there was a very damn good reason why she wasn't looking up at SHIRTLESS Rean. The man was lean, chiseled out of stone and Melyssa did not need to give off any inclination she thought of him as more than her friend and Instructor. Whenever she did look up, it was always at someone else.

"Juna and Kurt, how did YOU guys sleep last night?"

Juna and Kurt both lowered their heads and turned red, making everyone raise curious brows. "Very well, thank you." She was going to KILL Melyssa when they were alone, wondering if she'd overheard anything.

"Yes, quite." Kurt cleared his throat and sipped some water.

"They must have been practicing because I heard a lot of noise from their room last night." Altina chimed in at the perfect time, that same robotic angelic voice sounding almost innocent.

"Oh REALLY now?" Ash was intrigued, his focus on the couple. "And what pray tell were you two 'practicing'?"

"NOTHING!" Juna and Kurt both shouted out at the same time.

"Sparring." Crow added without missing a beat, giving them a smug smirk and knew, if not for the fact that they were guests in Miranda's house, Kurt would have probably tossed a piece of sausage at him.

Rean was shaking his head, clearing his throat to let his students know it was time to knock it off. They were guests in this house and he prayed they HADN'T been doing what everyone was assuming. Miranda was eventually going to strip that bed and she'd probably smell something… he inwardly groaned.

"Eat." He ordered, winking at Melyssa when she finally glanced his way.

After a rather uncomfortable and amusing breakfast, Melyssa helped her mother clean up the table, alongside Juna and Altina. Then, she headed upstairs to grab her belongings she would need for her shower. Crow and Kurt were still being heckled by Ash and Rean had finally put a shirt on, thankfully, when she came back downstairs where the shower was located. Starting the water, Melyssa shut the door and undressed before stepping under the sprays, letting the heated water wash away everything from the past couple of days. There were a few people they could talk to still that may give them a clue as to where her father was being held. Melyssa would have to talk to Rean about it unless he'd already questioned the people she had in mind. One way or another, today they had to make some progress because she was not leaving Jurai until her father was back home safe and sound.

Given the circumstances they had arrived to find, Rean had already sent word that Class VII would likely be extending their trip to Jurai. With the delay they had experienced, they were already behind schedule and the current political climate, the murder, and kidnapping… they couldn't, in good conscience, leave after only a few days. They were going to have to see this thing out and ensure the safety of Jurai's citizens, as well as ensure that this did not spread outside of Jurai and into the rest of the Empire. If possible, Rean was hoping to prevent another civil war right here and now.

After her shower, and some more soul-searching, Melyssa asked if she could speak to Crow outside for a minute alone. "I think we should try to Combat Link again." She blurted out, not meaning to do it so…bluntly, but time was not on their side and she was more connected to him now. "I think my problem was the memory loss and now that you're getting them back, little by little, we may be able to link up finally. I don't want to give up on us or avoid each other just because there's a bump in the road." The kiss came to mind. "I'm not saying we go out there on the battlefield or investigation and try to experiment." Rean wouldn't go for it. "But maybe tonight after dinner, we can go to the woods and try, like I did with Ash in Leeves. We need to be a well-oiled machine going against Ouroboros and whoever else is behind the scenes. What do you think?"

Here she was, extending him an olive branch. Crow just stared down at Melyssa for a moment, taking her in. She looked better than she had yesterday, more at peace with herself and the situation around them. He wished he had been able to do that all those years ago. But wishing wasn't going to get them anywhere and he nodded.

"You're right. We can do that." It would definitely have to be done in whatever 'spare' time they had because Rean would need all hands on deck for this investigation. "So… are we good, Lyssa?" He asked quietly, knowing he couldn't take back ruining her first kiss or that moment, but he could try to make amends for it.

Tilting her head, Melyssa was confused by his question at first and then it dawned on her what he was referring to. The kiss. The rejection. Why didn't that bother her now? Was it because Crow was regaining his memories? It felt so good hearing him call her Lyssa again and seeing actual recognition in his eyes when he looked at her instead of a blank slate.

"Of course we are, Crow." She reached up to smooth away some of the silver hair hanging in his eyes and cupped his face tenderly. "Don't worry about what happened, let's just move on from it, okay? Please?"

Don't worry about it, easier said than done. Now that his memories were starting to return, it seemed stupid that he had forgotten her birthday and equally stupid that he had spazzed so hard. Though, now he was also wondering if maybe deep down he had panicked because he had known her as kids. Maybe he felt he was doing something that he probably shouldn't with the girl who had been raised practically as his sister.

"I'm trying, Lyssa." He smiled, a hand moving up to cover hers. "I really did make an ass of myself though, didn't I?" He grinned when the look on her face changed into something amused and definitely agreeing with his statement.

"Yeah, you did, but…it's okay. It was in the heat of the moment and everybody makes mistakes. I am glad you were my first kiss, though. At least it wasn't with a complete stranger." Then again, she wouldn't have minded if Rean had been her first kiss and she immediately dismissed that train of thought. HE'S YOUR INSTRUCTOR, STOP IT, she screamed at herself internally, pulling her hand away from Crow's face and kept the smile on her face. Melyssa really needed to get a hold of herself when it came to these developing feelings for Rean because she still had feelings for Crow as well. "Feel better now? Because I sure do."

Melyssa was glad that he had been her first kiss, even if he had royally mucked it up with his panic attack and thorough humiliation of her right afterward. Crow's eyes lit up and he felt his heart beating just a little bit faster as he let her words wash through him. "I do." He said quietly, letting his own hands drop down to take hers, lacing his fingers through hers and squeezed gently even as he moved to fill the space between them. "I'd like a do-over on the kiss, Lyssa." He admitted, feeling a bit vulnerable because she could very easily shoot him down. She didn't immediately pull away, however, so he took that as a tentative invitation, leaning down slowly until his nose was almost brushing hers. "May I kiss you?"