In the time since Liv's birth and later Pima's adoption, Beruka had come to the conclusion she liked being around children. Whenever she had voiced the thought of having one herself to a family member or a friend, they had agreed she would be a good mother and encouraged her. The problem was that she had never once felt any feeling of romantic love and so could have no husband or wife to conceive or adopt with. As part of her role with Camilla's charity Shelter, she had the opportunity to meet a considerable amount of new people when vetting security staff and inspecting premises, but the supposed spark of attraction had still never occurred.
While everyone assured her love will come eventually, she began to conclude that, of all the emotions that had returned to her, attraction was not and could never be one of them. When talking through this with Camilla, she confessed to never having felt even slightly attracted to anyone physically or romantically and her liege suggested she may be asexual. To Beruka, that seemed to fit and she began to fear should would never be a mother as adoption agencies she made enquiries to always asked for the spouse. That was the case, until the solution literally came up to her in the street.
She was stopped by a woman in town and asked if she had ever considering becoming a foster parent. After telling her she was single, the woman assured they were happy to work with singles and then found herself being pressed for all the information she could give. Loaded with all the facts and a couple of pamphlets, Beruka quickly finished her shopping and returned home. Having gathered Camilla, Jenny, Severa, Velouria, Selkie and the recently appointed head maid Sarah, she asked their opinions on her fostering children and them staying at the mansion. None had seen Beruka this excited before and all were immediately for it. With approval, Beruka went back into town to find the woman and hand back her application.
A few days later, the process began with an inspector coming out to check up on her and the environment the children would be taken into. He was a little surprised at first to find he was greeting a princess but after recovering from that shock, he was happy with what he found. That there were two young and clearly well-loved children in the household was a good sign and he assured Beruka she was now on the list and would be contacted about any children they wished her to take.
It was over a month later when she got her first letter asking her to take on a child. It was for a six-year-old boy whose mother had just died and his father was unable to cope with raising a child and his grief. It would hopefully only be short term while the father sought help, but this would be the proof to herself about whether she was capable of this. With a little help from her family, she was.
Nearly six weeks later, the boy went back to his father and Beruka found it strange not to have a child she was responsible for. To vent her motherly love, she doted on her two, two-year-old nieces until the next request from the agency came through.
Three years on and Beruka had established a reputation for herself within her agency. Due to her infinite patience, her calm demeanour and her ability to be incredibly menacing when called for, she had found she was very good with handling problem children and had an incredible record on helping them overcome the issues fuelling such behaviour. She didn't do anything in particular to aid them, she was just herself, tanking every outburst, letting them vent and, sometimes with advice from the other parents in the house, talking them through it.
It had been nearly a month since her last child had gone on to be adopted and she had made use of the time travelling around Shelter's existing location to follow up on checks of their security measures and the staff competencies. As part of that exercise, she'd visited their location in Cyrkensia to check up on Amy, the newest member of security staff there, who had moved to the city with Maria who was now with an opera company there. She enjoyed catching up with the two women and was glad to hear they were both coping well with being away from their homes, though home wasn't too far away across the border.
Having managed to spend two days there with her friends and going with Amy to see the show Maria was in, she moved on with her inspection tour, knowing the Cyrkensia location was up to her standards and had an excellent new guard. From there she moved along the south coast of the continent, inspecting locations in Valla and Hoshido before turning north-west and flying home. She'd never been away from her family for this long before and was looking forward to seeing them all again.
A couple of weeks after returning, she received a letter from her fostering agency. The girl they were asking her to take was eleven years old, an orphan who lost her parents and younger brother in a fire over two years ago. What surprised her was that they went into detail in the letter telling her of the girl's very violent and intimidating behaviour towards her previous foster families that had caused all of them to send her back. That she was now suspected of having become involved with a gang in the city was why they were asking her to take the girl, not only due to her record with problem children, but her location was far removed from the city with Camilla's mansion being on the outskirts of a small town.
This was by far the most problematic child she'd heard of and given that the girl had physically attacked some of her previous hosts, she convened the entire household, both family and staff, to ask their thoughts on having her stay with them. Camilla spoke first urging everyone to give this girl a chance as she believed Beruka would be able to help her, something she clearly needed. By the time all had spoken, it had been decided. She replied that she will gladly take the girl but specified that if she could be a threat to her five-year-old nieces, she would have to return her.
A couple of weeks later, with all the paperwork in place, the girl was being escorted on the coach to what would be her temporary home. Beruka was waiting at the coach-park fifteen minutes early and, to those who knew her, she was looking nervous. As the coach pulled in, she quietened her mind and readied her act. Given the girls extreme behaviour, she and all those in the household, excluding Liv and Pima, had decided on a plan that they hoped would help break through the girl's angry defences.
As passengers began alighting, she saw a very annoyed and tired looking woman exited clutching a girl's arm. The girl looked like she was approaching five feet in height, a little taller than average for eleven and only a few inched shorter than herself, with a slender build and shoulder length black hair. Her cheap looking tunic had short sleeves which exposed bruises on her arms and, as they approached, she saw bruises on her knuckles as well. The look of anger on her face gave her no doubt this girl was her charge.
"Beruka?" asked the agent for confirmation.
"I am."
"Thank goodness," she said with clear relief. "This is Rebecca, Rebecca, this is your new caretaker Beruka. She has her possessions and here's the remainder of her paperwork. Good luck."
Taking the paperwork, Beruka then watched in surprise as the woman strode off to the adjacent inn.
"Bitch," sneered Rebecca to the woman's back.
"I would appreciate it if you did not use such language," requested Beruka, turning back to the source of the woman's stress who was now glaring at her.
"I'll talk how I like," stated Rebecca but found her anger begin to evaporate as the woman who was now in charge of her simply stared back, her expression empty of any emotion. The longer she looked the more her anger turned to unease.
Beruka gave it a few seconds until the girl's anger had faded. "Still, I would appreciate it if you did not use such language," she reiterated with the exact same tone. "This way," she said and stepped aside to gesture to the hitching rails at side of the yard where her wyvern was sitting untethered, minding his own business, while all the horses tried to stay as far away as possible. She gave a short whistle and he looked up at her.
"That thing?" questioned Rebecca with clear fear.
Beruka gave a hand signal for Marron to look threatening and he went down low and flared his wings with a growl as if about to charge at them. "No need to worry," she assured as she walked up to him and scratched his head. "It's a five-minute flight or a fifty-minute walk," she said as Rebecca still held her distance.
"Fine," snapped the girl, annoyed again but looking kind of cute with her nose scrunched up.
"Climb on behind me," ordered Beruka as she mounted, "and hold tight to my waist." She watched as Rebecca took a wide arc to avoid going near his head and then climbed on behind her, rather inelegantly. She sat motionless for a few seconds to make it clear they wouldn't be moving until the girl held on. When she eventually did, she gave a light kick and her wyvern leapt into the sky accompanied by his powerful wingbeats and a muffled yelp from Rebecca. With her charge now clinging very tightly to her and burying her face into her back, they turned for home.
Five minutes later, as promised, Rebecca's home for the foreseeable future was beneath them. "We're here," called Beruka to encourage the get the girl to look somewhere other than her back.
"It's fucking huge!" shouted Rebecca at the massive house surrounded by gardens and a huge lake beyond it.
"Language," chastised Beruka.
"Who are you?" demanded her ward.
"In due time," was all she was getting as Beruka circled down to the stables. As soon as they landed, Rebecca hoped off and moved away.
"Welcome back," called the stable hand.
"Rebecca, this is Melinda, our stable hand here."
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss," said Melinda with a little bow.
Rebecca just stared at the girl. She looked about fourteen or so, kind of boyish with short brown hair and wearing well-worn dungarees. She had no idea what to do with some stranger being friendly towards her.
"Well, hope you enjoy your time here," continued Melinda as no reply seemed to be coming. "If you want to hang out sometime, come find me," she added with a smile before taking charge of Marron and giving him a big, two-handed scratch under his chin.
"Come," ordered Beruka and Rebecca, craning round and staring at the girl getting so close to the monster, followed on without a thought. "She has a natural affinity with animals."
"Who are you?" asked Rebecca again but with more suspicion.
"I am merely another employee of the owner of this house."
"So who owns the house?" asked Rebecca, getting annoyed at having to keep asking.
"This belongs to the royal family," explained Beruka, glad the girl was still asking. "Currently, Princess Camilla, her family and staff reside here. I am one of her retainers."
"What? Like the actual princess of the whole country?"
"Yes, the second in line to the throne of Nohr. You will address her as Lady Camilla or milady."
"Like hell," sneered Rebecca.
Beruka felt no need to respond as she knew how this would play out. She led the girl round to the main entrance to give the full impact of the house as they entered and was pleased to see what may have been awe on her face. Once Rebecca realised she was being observed, however, she purposely put a frown on.
As they made their way through the grand looking halls of this place, Rebecca realised the maids they met were bowing to her new foster carer. That must mean Beruka outranks them which may mean she now outranks them too. Any more they met, she made sure to look threatening and disdainful so they knew who was in charge. What she didn't know was that this was exactly what was expected of her. Too busy scowling at a maid, she nearly walked into Beruka who had stopped and knocked on a door.
"Enter," came a seductive voice from within. It was the kind of voice Rebecca knew from the older girls in the gang when they were seducing someone to get something. The princess must be a slut.
"Rebecca, this is Camilla," introduced Beruka.
Rebecca's pre-prepared sneer for some spoiled princess fell away as a giantess advanced on her. Her height was phenomenal, her tits even more so and she was clearly muscular. Aside from the physical impact, it was her smile, somehow both friendly and scary simultaneously, that ripped away her defiance.
"P-pleased to meet you, La-L… Milady," she managed to get out, deviating from even using her name.
"Welcome to the family, Dear One," said Camilla with a stroke of the scared girl's hair. "I trust our time together will be pleasant.
"Mm hm," was all Rebecca could manage. The seductive tone was still there and even it now seemed threatening.
"And this is my other retainer, Severa," introduced Camilla, turning to gesture to her.
"Welcome," echoed Severa with a glare. Her part in all this came very naturally. "Just don't cause any trouble, alright?" The girl just stared at her and she could see her eyes darting down to her sword.
"Severa, Dear, don't scare our newest family member. Just ignore her, she's always a little prickly," she assured as she bent down to nearer Rebecca's eye level and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now, while you're in my house, treat it as your own. If you need anything, any of my girls will be happy to help."
"R-right," she acknowledged.
"Good," smiled Camilla. "Now, I shall leave you to your mother to finish giving you the tour and we'll catch up later."
"This way," ordered her temporary mother.
She gladly left the room in a bit of a hurry. Beruka was unnerving enough but now there was three of them. Still, Lady Camilla had made it clear she could command the maids so there was still fun to be had there.
As she gave the tour, Beruka was glad the two controlling threats had been well received but now it was time for the biggest test as to whether they could allow her to stay.
"This is the family bedrooms," she said a little louder than usual to trigger the test and out popped the little pink-haired half of it who was wearing a painting apron.
"Aunt Beruka!" shouted Liv as she half ran, half bounced down the hallway and then bounced to a stop in front her aunt and her new cousin. "Hi, I'm Liv, Beruka's my aunt and this is my sister, Pima," said Liv turning to grab her sister as she caught up and present her to their cousin.
"Hello," said Pima, trying to wriggle free of her sister's grip as she was being held too close to the stranger.
Rebecca stared at the two young girls who had taken her totally by surprise. Liv, with her shoulder length pink hair and talking so fast was one thing, but the other girl with the golden-brown hair had giant triangular ears on the top of her head and a furry tail which was curling around her left leg.
"We're painting each other," continued Liv, "but I drew Pima's ears too big so I hard to start again. I really like painting but it's hard. D'you wanna come paint with us?"
This was the test. How would Rebecca react to them. They were both five-years old, the same age her brother had been at the time of the fire, and this could either trigger a loving sister response or remind her of what she'd lost and trigger anger. Beruka paid very close attention to her but a little smile formed which made the former the likely option.
"Yeah, I'd love to."
"Before you do," Beruka cut in, "may I finish giving her the tour?"
"Of course, yeah. We'll be in the playroom. It's the one with 'playroom' written on the door," she said helpfully with a big smile. "It's got loads of toys and games and paints and dressing up clothes. It's the best room in the whole house. Come play!" At that, Liv grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her back to their paintings.
"Who are they?" asked Rebecca.
Beruka, glad to see the reaction she'd hoped and that she still had a little smile after meeting them, could now relax a little. Everyone would have to stay on their guard until they were sure, but it now seemed Rebecca posed no threat to the little ones.
"Liv is Severa's youngest," she explained. "Her husband is Lord Xander's retainer so he spends most of his time in Windmire but you'll meet him soon. Pima is Camilla's granddaughter."
"And what is she?"
"She's a kitsune. A species that lives within Hoshido, similar to the wolfskin of Nohr."
"They're the people that turn into wolves?"
"Correct. Camilla's daughter is half-wolfskin and her wife is half-kitsune. They adopted Pima a few years ago. They're not here but I will introduce you to them when they return."
"So you're not related to them at all?" she questioned, given Liv had called her aunt.
"Not by blood," conceded Beruka, "but family can be far more than shared blood. They share no blood but grew up together and see the other as their sister. To me, they are my nieces and I adore them. That is that."
Rebecca saw Beruka's face with something other than that creepy, blank expression. It was clear she did love them.
"So, can Pima turn into a wolf?"
"Kitsune transform into large fox-like creatures. She is old enough now to be allowed to try but her mothers are being overprotective and holding off from doing so. There's not much still to show you so we'll be back with them shortly," assured Beruka as she carried on.
"Fine," grunted Rebecca, realising she'd been having a conversation.
Beruka finished up the tour of the main house before heading back to the ground floor and the final stop. "That was the main house, this is our house," she said as she opened the door into a little living room.
"What?" barked Rebecca. "You mean we don't live in the big fancy house?"
"No. You will have the run of the main house and gardens during the day, some evenings will be spent with the others but some will be here by ourselves. I decided it would be best to keep a normal home environment with my foster children," explained Beruka. "Camilla agreed and we had a section renovated as a self-contained living area."
"No maids?" demanded Rebecca who'd been looking forward to messing with them.
"We will have our washing done with the rest of the household but we will often cook for ourselves and clean our own home."
"What kind of shit idea is that? Why wouldn't you use the slaves?"
"Servants," corrected Beruka, "and language," she warned. "I wish to give you as normal a life as I can. Now, you can sort your possessions out in your bedroom, or we can go back the playroom."
"Playroom," she decided but tried to make it sound like she didn't want either.
With Rebecca now likely safe to be allowed near Liv and Pima, they returned to find both girls painting the other. Given their age, the paintings were far from accurate but you need to give praise all the same. Beruka stayed for a little but could tell Rebecca wasn't going to let her guard down with her there so eventually made her excuses and left the three alone. She went next door and listened in, just in case her assessment was wrong. Thankfully, Rebecca was nothing but nice to them.
From there, it was now a case of working towards the goal of letting Rebecca grow comfortable with her new surroundings before trying to quell her anger. To that end, Beruka ensured she had plenty free time to roam the house on her first day while keeping her unaware that everyone in the house was observing her and reporting back to her carer. As they expected, she was bullying the maids at having been given the power to command them, testing how far she could go with them in terms of physical and verbal jabs. This was all part of Beruka's plan to break through the girls anger and the maids were all playing their roles well, save for two who were enjoying their roles as helpless damsels and overacting. While Rebecca had been in a gang, however briefly, an eleven-year old is no threat to highly trained combatants.
As evening fell, Beruka rounded up her charge and, with some resistance, brought her back to their own living area to cook dinner together. While Rebecca was of no help, she did wolf down what was made for her and, when basic manners were asked for, she begrudgingly said thank you. After dinner, she went to her new room and didn't come back down. The windows for their self-contained house didn't open far enough for someone to get out so Beruka knew there wasn't a flight risk.
The following day, she and Severa took the three kids into town to show Rebecca around. While Liv and Pima were there, she was quite cooperative but after they split up, with the youngsters going to the playpark with Severa, she returned to her usual bristling. It was also clear to Beruka, a skilled assassin who would thoroughly scout any location, that Rebecca was doing the same. This could mean she was planning an escape and looking for useful locations to find money or food. That she seemed interested in the pawn shop gave away some of a potential plan.
After circling back to regroup at the playpark, the five then went to the bakery for a mid-morning treat. As they sat in the square to eat, Beruka couldn't help smiling at her adorable nieces, Liv getting icing from her slice of cake over her face and Pima looking so cute holding her big cookie in two hands and nibbling away as her tail wagged side-to-side. She was aware of Rebecca observing her and was glad that girl was interested in her enough to watch her few displays of emotions. She clearly wasn't a lost cause and it was just time that was needed to set her up to break through that wall of anger that came out against anyone but Liv and Pima.
On arrival back home, Rebecca wandered around the house as Beruka informed all the maids that she may be planning to steal something to pawn. This was a royal residence, so there was plenty to steal that could fund an escape. As they day went on it was clear from the maids' reports that she had scouted the house and had been back to the guest bedrooms several times so must be going after the silver candlesticks that were on the mantelpieces in each room. She and the staff were on high alert for her move but it didn't come that day.
The following day had her acting as normal, being nice to Liv and Pima, afraid of the princess and her retainers and getting more confident in her bullying of the maids. Come mid-afternoon, with many busy and fewer maids about the house, she decided to act and grabbed four candlesticks and immediately left to go into town to pawn them. What she wasn't aware of was that Beruka had been watching her all day and had gone to saddle up Marron a she'd left the house.
Believing she'd been successful in her theft she walked into town and had no problem pawning them for a significant amount of money. She was tempted to just run now but having seen how much she could get she thought she would be better stealing some more from such easy prey before making her way home to her gang. Sneaking back in to the tiny room in the massive mansion that was hers to hide her money, she saw four silver candlesticks on her bed. Before she could do anything a hand grabbed her arm from behind.
"Aah! What the fuck!" she screamed as she turned to see Beruka holding onto her with a slight frown.
"I'll take that," she said as she took the coin pouch.
"How the fuck did you know?"
"I followed you all day," answered Beruka in her monotone to further scare the girl. "I followed you into town, I was in the pawn shop with you." This certainly had the desired effect as Rebecca now looked terrified and wasn't even trying to escape her grasp. With the initial fight or flight having been skipped, she let her go.
"How were you following me all day and I didn't know?" asked the girl as some of her fear began to ignite in to anger.
"I'm an assassin," explained Beruka for the first time. "The only time people know I'm there is when I want them to."
"You're… really?" question the girl. Beruka wasn't sure but there was almost a flicker of interest in amongst the fear and anger. "You going to kill me for stealing your crap?" she demanded as anger took control again.
"Of course not."
"Then get out of my fucking way," Rebecca demanded as she made to push Beruka out of the doorway but, given the assassin's steady stance, only pushed herself backwards into the room. She then just barged into her with her shoulder to squeeze past and out.
"Don't do it again," said Beruka after her.
After that incident, Rebecca's treatment of the maids worsened but, thankfully, Liv and Pima seemed to dissolve her anger when she was around them so they were still safe. Velouria and Selkie had also returned from interviewing candidates for roles in a new Shelter location in Hoshido so they could now spend time with the girls and better ensure their safety. The plan seemed to be working but they would have to bring it to a conclusion soon. The new school year begins in a month and Beruka hoped to have thing resolved and Rebecca in a better state of mind to return to school, having been truant for most of the last year and half.
To that end, she was given more perceived freedom by Beruka very obviously going elsewhere so she would start acting up with the maids who were now purposely getting in her way to prompt outbursts. This worked well as the verbal abuse and shoving was now getting more serious with her pushing them to the ground and kicking. Of course, a trained combatant can deflect and brace for such blows so there was little risk and all exposed to her were happy to go along with the charade for Beruka's plan.
After almost two weeks of letting Rebecca act how she wished, letting her grow comfortable in her position of power, it was now time to pull the world from below her. Beruka had informed the live-in maids that tomorrow, they were to defend themselves and show Rebecca that she had never been a threat to them. She made sure they knew how far they could go in hurting her, bruises and cuts were fine but there was to be no risk of bone or organ damage, and that they were to inform all the other staff as they reported to work the following day.
Come the morning, Liv and Pima had been taken away early for a day out by Velouria and Selkie to ensure the only people in the house were those who could deal with the planned rage. Rebecca was given total, unobserved freedom by Beruka which she knew would be all that was needed.
She stayed in her own little living room for the morning reading a book on poisons she'd picked up in Ylisse on her last visit there. It was interesting reading about what other realms had to offer in terms of exotic poisons from plants and animals that weren't known in Nohr and wondering if Miriel or Tharja would be able to supply her with any when she was next there. She got a lot further into the book than expected as it wasn't until after ten o'clock that the door burst open and Rebecca, bruised, bleeding and enraged stood glaring at her.
"What the fuck is going on!" she yelled.
"What do you mean?" she asked calmly.
"I mean those fucking maids," snarled Rebecca as she slammed the door behind her and stood over her still seated foster carer.
"I told them to stop letting you bully them." There was first a pause as Rebecca took in the meaning of that and then a snarl of pure fury.
"You what!" screamed the girl right at her.
Beruka placed her bookmark and set the book down before standing up and getting right into Rebecca's face. "I told them to beat you to the ground so you would see your place," she said, purposely putting contempt into her voice.
"This whole thing was an act?" questioned Rebecca, moving back away from the suddenly scarier than normal assassin. "You did all this to make a fool of me?"
"You dislike it here?"
"I hate it here," snarled Rebecca but then recoiled as Beruka drew a knife.
"Here," she said, grasping the blade between her fingers to hand the handle to angry girl. "If you land one blow on me, you may leave. I will not chase you nor inform anyone you have absconded."
Rebecca snatched the knife but moved back, fearing a trick from this demon.
"One blow," reiterated Beruka as she moved into the open space between them. "Or are you too weak?"
With a snarl, Rebecca lunged forward which was easily sidestepped and gave the opening to push her from behind to have her run into the wall. With more furious screaming she came again, slashing instead of stabbing which impressed Beruka that she had immediately changed tactics after one move was shown not to work. This was still easily dodged or, as Beruka only ever wears her armour, taken by her gauntlets. After letting Rebecca have a few seconds of franticly flailing the knife, she grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her forward and turning to flick her round, causing her to drop the knife, and wrenching that arm around to her back as she tripped her feet and pushed the girl down into the carpeted floor, sitting atop her to pin her down. As Rebecca flailed beneath her, she picked up the knife and held it high overhead, looking like she was ready to strike. The trapped girl's flailing gave her enough movement to turn her head and she managed to look up to see what was coming.
"Do it!" she screamed, now flailing to move up towards the knife. "Just kill me."
And with that sentence, Rebecca's anger had flamed out and Beruka could see what had been fuelling it: survivor's guilt. She'd gone wild because she hated herself for living while the rest of her family had died. The look in her eyes made it clear she wanted to die.
"I would never want to harm you," said Beruka with genuine sorrow in her voice that Rebecca believed she would. She placed the knife by Rebecca's head and moved to sit cross-legged facing the confused girl. "Please, sit."
Rebecca glanced at the knife bur realised there was no point so did as she was told, sitting cross-legged with the knife between them.
Beruka could see the anger had, for now, burned out and was not in danger of reigniting. Finally, they could talk. "Why are you angry at the world?" she asked gently.
"Because my family died," answered Rebecca, feeling herself beginning to tear up for the first time in a long time. "They died and no one cared, no one cared about them or me."
"You were alone, with no home and no one could handle your anger at you're a loss," added Beruka and got a nod. Rebecca wasn't looking at her and judging by her breathing she was trying very hard not to cry just now. "I will never give up on you," she stated firmly, with the conviction of the oaths she had sworn to Liv and Pima, "I will never send you away. This is your home for as long as you want it to be."
"Why?" gasped Rebecca, so close to losing it. No one had cared about her before and she just didn't want to believe in someone again only to be hurt.
"Kindness," replied Beruka and saw tears start to fall from the girl's hidden face. "I'm an orphan too. I was raised to be an assassin, my life was only ever the job until Camilla. She took me in and her kindness helped me heal, helped me to feel human again. That's why I foster, to pass on that kindness." There was a big sniff from her foster daughter as she went to wipe her eyes.
"What do you want of me?" she asked, still not looking up.
"I want you to grieve," said Beruka, simply.
"And how do I do that?" questioned Rebecca, looking up in shock with tears again running down her cheeks.
"I don't know. Grief is different for everyone but whatever it is you need, be it space or comfort, I will do all I can to help you through it."
At that moment, Rebecca knew exactly what she wanted. With her lip quivering as she was already breaking down into sobs, she tossed the knife aside and threw herself at Beruka who held her close. She'd never let anyone hug her since her family's deaths and she'd forgotten how warm other people could feel.
Several minutes passed before she realised she'd now cried herself out but was still being hugged so she pushed out of Beruka's arms. "Sorry."
"There's no need to apologise for wanting a hug," assured Beruka as she reached to touch the girls arm for comfort. Not just for Rebecca, but herself too. The first hug with each of her children was special to her. "I want you to have a normal life," she continued, "which includes going to school."
"Okay," nodded Rebecca.
"I've arranged with the school for you to go into the year below where you would normally be given your truancy."
"That's fair," accepted Rebecca. Having skipped most of a year and a half of school, she knew that would be the only way to go.
"I would also like to teach you to fight."
"What?" question the shocked girl.
"As well as the advantages of self-defence, to fight well requires self-discipline and self-control, two attributes you severely lack."
She couldn't exactly argue there.
"I hope that training you to fight will help you harness and control your anger, which I accept is a part of you and your grief, for now." She didn't mention the additional reason that she expected Rebecca to get into fights at school and wanted her to know how to finish them quickly with minimal lasting damage to all parties.
"Okay," agreed Rebecca.
"Training will be daily and involve fitness training as well as combat training. If you wish to stop, I will of course accept your wish but I will not allow you to skip days when you don't feel like it. All or nothing."
"You're making this sound hard," snarked Rebecca and was surprised Beruka smiled at her.
"It will be, but I believe you're strong and I want to bring that strength out."
"Alright," she accepted. Whatever Beruka wanted of her right now, she would accept. She now believed her foster mother truly wanted what was best for her.
"Excellent," said Beruka with a bigger smile, "we'll focus initially on fitness and a few basic moves and strike points for unarmed combat." For someone so young and undisciplined she would have preferred to wait longer before moving to combat and focus on fitness but she needed to know the safe and effective strike points before school started in two weeks.
"I've never seen you smile like that," observed Rebecca.
"This is a big moment," confessed Beruka, "I'm bonding with my foster daughter and I've always wanted to teach my child to fight. For self-defence," she clarified as she feared for a moment it sounded like she wanted to train Rebecca for the same horrible reason she was trained. "There is one last thing I will ask of you."
"Which is?"
"Apologise to the maids for your behaviour." She saw Rebecca curl up a little at that, though whether it was shame of what she'd done or embarrassment of what she had to do, she couldn't tell.
"Fine," grunted Rebecca, again avoiding eye contact.
"They all understand what you've been through and why you were acting that way. I assure you none of them hold any grudge against you."
"You planned this all from that start, didn't you?"
"We did."
"I should be mad at you but… thank you. Can I hug you again?" As Beruka opened her arms, she shuffled forward and again felt the warm embrace of someone who truly cared for her.
After that hug, Beruka took her on around to apologise. She'd suggested doing all of them at once but Rebecca felt that would be harder than saying sorry to each individually. She was initially surprised just how accepting they all were. Beruka had said there would be no grudge but everyone just seemed happy for her and her breakthrough and offered her their full support, some even wanting to help train her. After all the maids currently within the house, it was on to Camilla and Severa to apologise for causing such disruption. Both, of course, immediately assured her there had never been any problem and that they were there for her if she ever wanted them.
With her apologies done, the foster mother and daughter spent some time together before going into town to have a treat for lunch. They also went to find Velouria, Selkie, Liv and Pima to let the adults know everything was alright and for Rebecca to play with her little cousins.
Come the afternoon, however, the hard work started. Beruka took her running laps of the large gardens to test her speed and stamina and they both ran until their legs started to fail. Beruka, usually on a wyvern for combat and operating by stealth for assassination, was not particularly good with long distance running but was still surprised by the untrained eleven-year-old's ability to keep up with her. With Rebecca pleased at her performance, Beruka showed her the correct cooldown regime and the pair took it easy for the rest of the day.
From then, they focused on fitness for the remainder of the week with Rebecca showing some great determination to both impress her foster mother and improve for herself. The second week introduced the basics of unarmed combat including a balanced stance, breathing control, where to hit to quickly and safely disable an opponent and how to hit so as not to hurt yourself. Some of the maids who'd wanted to help offered themselves as living targets to let her see the effect these strikes could have. While she was never going to master it in a week, she picked it up quick enough that Beruka felt she would be able to use some of what she'd learned when she got into fights at school.
Speaking of, school always seems to come around so fast at the end of the summer holidays. Uniforms, bags and books had been purchased for the three girls and, come Monday morning, the three were ready for their first day. Rebecca felt awkward in a uniform, though it was only a black skirt with a white shirt and a blazer, and was very apprehensive of her first day at a new school, as well as it being her first day attending for about eight months. Next to her, Liv and Pima, in their identical but smaller uniforms with Pima's skirt tailored for her tail, were excited to start their second year of school and see all their friends that they'd only seen occasionally all summer.
The four parents, Laslow having taken leave to enjoy his daughter's last few days off, and one foster parent walked their children into town and joined the flock heading to the school. There was plenty excitement amongst the younger children as they saw their friends and classmates but Rebecca's nerves grew at seeing more and more people she might be forced to interact with. She stuck close to Beruka and tried not to look at people to avoid conversation. On arrival at the school gates, Liv and Pima got hugs from their parents before running off to play before the bell.
"You'll be fine," assured Beruka, placing a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Y-yeah," she replied, clearly not convinced.
"Just remember to breath and that no matter what happens, I'll be here for you at the end of the day."
Rebecca took a deep breath to steady herself. "Okay, I can do this."
"Hug?"
"Hug," she pleaded as she spun round and clasped herself around her foster mother.
"You know what classroom you're in?"
"Six B," confirmed Rebecca as they parted.
"Have fun," called Beruka as her nervous foster daughter headed in for her first day.
"You think it's going to go well?" asked Severa once the girl was out of earshot.
"There will be problems," accept Beruka, "but she'll be fine."
"Are you going to stay around and watch her?" asked Velouria.
"No. I trust her."
School was terrifying. Rebecca made her way through dense crowds of loud, happy children until she found her classroom and found her seat according to the chart that had been pinned to the wall. She was, thankfully, near the back so hopefully wouldn't draw attention from her classmates or her teacher. As she had done on the commute, she kept her head down and hoped to avoid any conversation. It worked, everyone must have been busy catching up with their friends so no one approached her.
From that good start it all went downhill. As their first lesson of the year began, it became painfully clear that missing so much school meant Rebecca had no idea about anything, even having been held back a year. Their first lesson was English and she was glad she could still read as the teacher had them taking turns reading from the book they were going to finish over the first few weeks. After they finished the first chapter, they were tasked with writing a summary of it and the simple act of writing was straining her after that skill being unused for so long. She was sure she was last to finish and as she struggled through it, she could feel herself getting angry, not at the world this time, but at herself.
At morning break, she darted out of the room and sought somewhere isolated to try and calm herself down with the breathing exercises she'd been shown. While it helped a little, just thinking back to her failings that morning set some more sparks to the fuel. She just had to hold on until the end of the day, she just had to keep it in for a few more hours.
After break was maths which went even worse for her. She still knew her numbers but even basic addition was beyond her without counting on her fingers and that doesn't help for double digit numbers. Multiplication and division were just impossible and as she looked up to see most of the others working through the problems they'd been given, her anger spiked and she slashed her pencil across and though her problem sheet, getting her some looks from the kids either side of her. For the remainder of the lesson, she bit the inside of her cheek or stabbed herself in the hand with her pencil to try stop herself acting out. She really didn't want to draw any attention to her worthless self.
She managed to hold on 'till lunch time and also managed to find an empty table as she really didn't want to talk to others now as she would only snap at them. She sat glaring at her food, hoping that would keep people away but two pairs of legs appeared at the top of her vision.
"Why are you by yourself?" asked Liv.
"I just want to be," she answered, not looking up.
"That's no fun. Food's better when you're with your friends," she said as she and Pima put their trays down and sat opposite her.
"So why aren't you with them?" she asked, now looking up to the cuteness.
"You are our friend," insisted Liv.
"Ah-huh," added Pima. "It's not nice being alone."
"Do you like the food?" asked Liv. "The cook's pretty good here and they do lots of nice meals. Not as good as at home though. She's the best cook ever, Grandma said she mmm mm mumah-"
"Don't talk with your mouth full," chastised Pima to her sister.
Rebecca couldn't help but chuckle at little Pima acting like a mother. "Thanks for sitting with me." Just as she looked at Pima, she caught others staring at the little kitsune in her peripheral vision. She wondered if Pima ever had trouble because of her species. Her big ears and fluffy tail certainly stood out.
"You're welcome," said Liv having swallowed her mouthful.
"Are you seated near each other?" asked Rebecca for conversation.
"Liv's two seats in front of me," said Pima before her sister spoke with another mouthful. "I get put at the back because my ears can make it hard for people to see the blackboard. My eyes are really good so I can see fine from there."
"What've you learned today?" she asked, hoping to keep them talking about their day to both calm herself down and save her having to recount her inability at everything.
By the time the two had been through everything that had happened today, the three had finished their lunches and Rebecca was invited to play in the yard with them and their friends, which she declined and instead went to the quiet spot she had found to stay calm before the remainder of today's lessons.
At home time, as is common at any school, children flooded out of the doors, glad of their freedom, and off to the gate sand waiting parents. For five standing together, the first of their charges out the door was Pima, with Liv trailing a few lengths behind her.
"Mama," she cried as she leapt into Selkie's arm, the closest of her mothers.
"Mama missed you, Kitten," cried Selkie as she nuzzled her baby girl. Her pet name for her daughter caused some confusion given it's the wrong species, but it was just a natural extension of 'kit' that had stuck.
"Mom, Dad!" shouted Liv as she met both her parents for a hug.
"Mom!" continued Pima as she switched to hugging her other mother. "D'you miss me too?"
"Of course I missed you, Dear. The house was so quiet without you."
"So how was your first day back?" asked Laslow of the pair.
As the two reeled off everything, the sullen figure of Rebecca appeared from the swarm of children.
"Are you alright?" asked Beruka, meeting her before she got to the group.
"I… couldn't do anything," admitted Rebecca in a very small voice.
"Come," ordered her mother and spun her round to head back in.
They made their way through the fast-flowing river bodies which petered out as they reached door and gave easier movement back to her classroom.
"Miss Winters," called Beruka as she gave a knock on the open door.
"Beruka, Rebecca, how may I help?"
Beruka looked to her foster daughter, hoping she would explain.
Rebecca looked up at her teacher, trying to muster the courage to admit her failing. "I couldn't do anything."
"I had noticed you were struggling. I'd hoped to catch you before break and lunch but you darted out too soon. I felt it best not to ask you to stay in front of the whole class," she explained. She knew of Rebecca's situation and her problems and felt that calling any attention to them in class would be detrimental to her.
"Thank you."
"Was it something in general you were struggling with?"
"Everything," reiterated Rebecca, "I couldn't do anything at all. Please don't put me down another year," she pleaded. She could blend in with kids a year younger than her but she knew she would stand out in a class two years younger.
"Understandable," mused Miss Winter's as she interlaced her fingers, with her elbows on the desk, rested her chin on them, looking into the middle distance. "Alright. How about I write out some catch-up lessons for you to do at home? I know your mother and the others at home will certainly be capable of helping you through them. If you work through what I give in the evenings and do your best in class, I'm sure you'll catch up soon."
"That sounds good," agreed Beruka and looked to Rebecca.
"Okay."
"Having seen your work today, handwriting practise needs to be involved. I'll write up something tonight and leave it in your desk tomorrow. I'll work on getting you something ready each day and I'm sure you'll catch up in no time."
Seeing her teacher's bright smile, Rebecca could hardly believe that someone who had no relationship to her beyond a professional one would do so much just for her. "Thank you," she said but her voice cracked as her emotions spilled over.
"It's alright," reassured her teacher as Rebecca tried to hide her face. "I'd gladly do this for anyone wanting to better themselves." There was then a big sniff for her student who was then gathered up in her foster mother's arms. She had been worried when Beruka had came to her about the new girl she was taking in and how she would act in class but it seemed they had made some amazing progress.
"Thank you for this," said Beruka as Rebecca recovered a little.
"Any time," assured Miss Winters. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said to Rebecca. "Feel free to come to me during break or lunch f you need to talk about something.
"I will. Thank you."
The two left, unaware the extra lessons were already being planned before they were out of the building.
"Do you want to do tonight's training before or after dinner?" asked Beruka.
"Before. I just…" she wasn't really sure what she just, but she wanted to do it before dinner.
"Just need a distraction?" suggested her mother.
"Probably."
The two met up the others, with Liv on her dad's shoulders as the lookout for them, and headed home. The first day back is often the hardest but sometimes there's going to be more challenges.
Day two of school proceeded much the same as the first for Rebecca, she sat through loads of stuff she didn't know and tired to keep her head down and her anger contained. Miss Winters, now having been able to talk through this with her, was able to give her some more time and help guide her but there's only so much time she can give to one student out of many. For morning break, she stayed in the classroom while all the other kids went outside and got some more help and wrote down the tricks needed for maths that everyone else knew off by heart.
Lunch was a little different as while she still went and sat by herself and Liv and Pima appeared, today they had two of their friends in tow. She'd met one of them, a little redhead, the week before when she'd gone to the park with the girls and Pima's mothers but still felt awkward around young girls she didn't know. That didn't matter much as Liv the chatterbox kept everyone talking. On return to the classroom, she found her first booklet of catch-up exercise in her desk and flipped through it. There's seemed to be a lot of stuff in it and she wondered how long her teacher had spent on it last night. After school, she did some of her catch-up exercises before dinner and then her training later in the evening.
Day three proceeded much the same again until after lunch. She'd again eaten with the four younger girls but had split from them after finishing their meals as they went to play. As she was milling around at the edge of the playground, a group of four girls her own age were clearly heading for her. Pretending she hadn't seen them, she attempted to casually wander away.
"Oi, new girl," called a voice from behind her. It was clear they weren't going to leave her along.
"What?" she asked as turned to face them. As the group caught up, they proceeded to circle her.
"You dumb or something?" asked one. She was presumably the leader and given this seemed to be confrontation, Rebecca mad sure to assess her opponents. None looked especially threatening, they just looked like average girls, though the leader had a good number of cuts and bruises so may get into a lot fights.
"Not particularly," countered Rebecca trying to do as Beruka would by staying calm and keeping her emotions from her face.
"Not what I heard," jeered the leader. "I heard you're so dumb, you've been held back a year."
She didn't know how to answer that. Admitting she had would just give them more ammo for insults and there was no way she was explaining to these people why she had been. She knew too, that silence was confirmation and a sneering smile of triumph spread across the leader's face.
"Knew it," smirked the girl who was rapidly pouring fuel onto the fire of Rebecca's anger. "Dumb as a dog, I bet." This got laughs from the other three. "As dumb as that little freak you eat with."
"Don't call her that," snarled Rebecca. She knew reacting was a mistake.
"Ha, you care about the little freak," taunted the bitch. "No friends so you're eating with babies and fre-"
She didn't get to finish that word as Rebecca punched hard with her dominant right to the solar plexus, not that she knew its name, knocking the wind out of her before collapsing her right elbow to get in close and thrust upwards with the side of her hand to the throat. After the initial two blows, she'd grabbed her target's right shoulder with her left hand and pushed away, stepping around her target, she was now out of the circle and the leader fell to the ground, wheezing heavily. Surprise had taken one out but if the other three came for her, she'd have to turn and run. Thankfully, two backed away a little while the third, after a moment's hesitation, helped her downed friend to her feet.
"Heee," wheezed the leader but seemingly couldn't get any actual words out. Instead she just pointed threateningly and turned away.
As they left, Rebecca sagged, both from the relief it was over and from disappointment. She wasn't supposed to be fighting anymore and she was worried Beruka would be angry at her.
Come the end of the school day, Beruka and Selkie were there to pick up their kids with the two youngsters being out first and getting fussed over by their mama and aunt respectively while Beruka watched for her charge. Eventually she appeared but was looking quite sullen.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I got in a fight," admitted Rebecca. She'd debated about whether she should tell her foster mother but decided honesty would be best, especially if the girls became a recurring problem.
"Did you win?" asked Beruka seeing as she wasn't harmed.
"Yes," answered Rebecca, surprised that was where the conversation was going.
"Did you use what I've been teaching you?"
"Aren't you mad at me?"
"Of course not. I trust that you didn't start it and you're unharmed so I wish to know what attacks you used."
"Um, I punched in the middle of the chest and then a chop to the throat."
"Good choices. And that won you the fight?"
"Why aren't you mad at me?" questioned Rebecca feeling worse with each nice thing being said to her. "Aren't you at least disappointed in me?"
"Truthfully, Dear, I expected you to get into a fight on day one."
Rebecca's world seemed to fade a little at that. "You thought I'd fail on Monday?" she questioned, feeling herself tearing up at having such low expectations on her.
"You haven't failed," assured Beruka with a quick hug. "I know you're anger will be with you for a long time and in a new and stressful environment, I was prepared for it escape earlier. I'm proud of you for controlling it as well as you have."
Rebecca wiped her eyes with her blazer sleeve and tired to ignore Liv, Pima and Selkie watching the two of them.
"Let's head home," Beruka suggested to the crowd and the excitable three headed off first. "As I said, I trust you to know you didn't start it, so what did?"
"Four girls came up to me at lunch and were making fun of me for being held back a year and having lunch with kids. Then they called Pima a freak." That last word had barbs on it. "She went to say it a second time and I snapped."
"You were defending your little cousin's name. That's a good reason to fight," she assured. "Though it is still best if you can avoid coming to blows at all."
"I know."
"This situation is another reason I wanted to teach you to fight," admitted Beruka. "I wanted you to be able to take down bullies should you need to. It was inevitable you'd have trouble with some at some point."
"You really plan ahead," commented Rebecca. Seemingly everything Beruka had done since taking her in had been part of some longer plan.
"My goal for you is to be healthy and happy. Part of that is you being able to defend yourself and to be able to scare off bullies to give you a peaceful school life."
"Thank you." She really couldn't have imagined being placed with someone so perfect for her, who knew exactly how to help her.
"I'll always be here for you."
Feeling a lot better about herself than she had done leaving the building, the two caught up to the other three members of their family and headed for home. Rebecca wanted to do her catch-up exercises before dinner tonight so she and Beruka read through a chapter of a recommended book and then did the spelling test for words she had seen. It didn't go well but her at least handwriting was slowing improving with practise.
In the evening, Beruka ran her through the strike points again to make sure she her attacks were accurate and then began instructing her daughter on footwork. If it was a group of four that were causing her trouble, she'd need to combine moving and striking to avoid being overwhelmed. Training takes a long time to become instinct, of course, but if she was at least thinking of the basics it would give her a good start.
Day four of school was now beginning to feel more normal for Rebecca. While she still struggled in all her subjects, she could feel that she was improving with her writing being better and getting to grips with how maths worked again. She still felt frustrated at herself but that was all, it never felt like it would get as far as being angry. She did have an interaction with the four bullies at the start of morning break, but it was just some name calling from a distance which she easily ignored. What surprised her then was a random redheaded girl striding up to her in the playground.
"You're Rebecca, right?" demanded the stranger. She looked like they'd be the same age which would mean she was in the year above.
"Yes," she replied, feeling this was going to be hostile.
"Why are you having lunch with my sister?"
"Who's your sister?"
"Katie, looks like me but smaller," said the redhead, flicking out her shoulder length hair to emphasise the shared colour.
That was the little redhead's name so this did now seem like worried sister than someone looking for a fight. "I live with Liv and Pima," explained Rebecca.
"Ooooh, that makes sense," accepted the girl instantly, her mood completely changing. "She should've mentioned that. So is your mom or sister a new maid there or are you with Beruka?"
Given that she had mentioned her foster mother, it seemed the girl knew the household through her sister and presumably knew what Beruka does. "I'm Beruka's current foster daughter," she admitted, seeing no need to hide her situation from someone who would know.
"That's cool," assured the girl. "She's always been really nice whenever I've been there with Katie. A bit creepy, but really nice."
"She really is," agreed Rebecca on both accounts.
"I'm Kass," introduced the girl having realised she hadn't mentioned her name. "Kassandra, but call me Kass."
"Nice to meet you. Sorry if I made you worry about some weird eleven-year-old being friendly with you little sister."
"I shouldn't have judged. Katie should've mentioned that bit too. Are you doing anything?" she asked as Rebecca had been hanging around by herself.
"No but the bell'll be ringing soon."
"There's still a bit –" she began but was cut off by the bell in question. "Aw, back to class then."
"Kass, please don't tell anyone about me being a foster kid. I don't want people asking why."
"Promise," assured the redhead with a smile.
As she headed back to her class, Rebecca realised that was the first friendly conversation she'd had with someone around her own age. Her classmates had been scared by her constantly looking angry on the first few days and she hadn't found the courage to speak to any of them now she feeling a little more in control. Maybe if she could find an excuse to speak to her again, she could have a friend her own age.
She didn't need to try as Kass appeared with the four youngsters to have lunch with her. Afterwards, she was very insistent about Rebecca coming with her to play with her friends and with Liv and Pima telling to, she did. After some initial awkwardness on her part, she did loosen up and enjoyed the game. She even released she had found friends.
From then on, Rebecca's life began to settle. Her extra lessons soon allowed her to catch up to the expect level with maths proving to be her best subject. Numbers just made sense to her with their fixed rules and she soon began to actually enjoy those lessons. Her social life had also seen a great improvement, going from much older gangsters to a group of three girls her own age and she would soon consider Kass as her best friend. That their younger cousins and sister were friends meant there was a lot of interaction. Whenever the youngsters were going to visit the other household, they would go too with Kass now very happy to have someone her own age attending the kids' sleepovers.
Her training was also advancing well. Beruka was impressed by her determination and her growing fitness and skill, though she was never sure if that was genuine or just her mother being encouraging. She had become close with the maids now too and when her mother had to leave on business, either with Camilla as her retainer or as head of security for Shelter, they would help out to maintain her training.
There was one thing that took a long time to feel normal and that was her sudden connection to royalty. She'd only been with Beruka for nine weeks when she was told King Xander was coming to stay with them for a week. She knew this was a brother coming to see his sister, and Liv's dad coming to see his family, but the fact she was going to have to interact with the king of the entire country was terrifying. Of course, when they arrived, Xander, Charlotte, Siegbert and Peri, with her already knowing Laslow, were nothing but nice, normal people. Queen Charlotte actually seemed rather taken with her and spent time with her, even wanting to train with her to see what she could do. Camilla would later explain that Charlotte was trying to talk Xander into having another child as she wanted a daughter.
While the Nohrian royalty was there, some Hoshidan royalty visited for the first time with Soleil and Caeldori coming to have their whole family together. Rebecca was excited to see Liv's big sister and her wife as her little cousin had been going on about how amazing they were since they'd received the letter saying they were coming. She'd thought Liv may have been exaggerating but they were just as cute and beautiful as described and, when she saw them sparring, they looked just as strong as described too.
She was also present for the big announcement of the visit: Caeldori was pregnant. Neither she nor Liv and Pima were present for the details that the donation had came from her past life's husband as Caeldori's nature wasn't a topic for anyone so young. Severa immediately realised the child would be her full-blood brother or sister and that Soleil would be raising her own aunt or uncle. There was some laughter as Caeldori admitted she was bending her family tree to the point it may snap. Her reasoning for doing this was that her three children they'd had so far had turned out so well, though acknowledging Little Severa was only just a teenager and Leir had only recently turned three so there was still a lot of growing to do there.
As well as royalty coming to see her, on subsequent school holiday's Beruka flew her to the capitals of all three countries to introduce her to friends there and let her see more of the diverse world most children can only dream of. With these flights, she asked if she could learn to fly as well as fight but Beruka was insistent that she was too young for a wyvern.
For the young orphan who had once longed to die, life was good. As a foster child, however, that life was not a permanent one and everything could one day change.
One summer morning, Rebecca woke, excited for today as Pima and her mothers' had returned last night after being away for two weeks visiting the kitsune village. Pima had been exhausted by the flight so had just been put to bed when she got home last night meaning she and Liv hadn't got a chance to spend time with her. Hopefully with a well-rested Pima and Liv back to normal, as she'd been almost depressed without her sister by her side, today would be a lot of fun. She dressed and headed downstairs to find a big plate of pancakes with syrup and blueberries waiting for her.
"What's this for?" she asked Beruka.
"Have you forgotten?" asked her foster mother.
"Forgot what?" panicked Rebecca but got a laugh in return.
"Today is the one-year anniversary of you coming to live with me," reminded Beruka.
For Rebecca it didn't feel like it had been that long but, as she thought about it, it kind of felt like she'd been here forever too. A more pressing thought then came to mind. "I didn't get you anything."
"I don't want any gifts, all I want is to know you're happy."
"I am," she confirmed. "Very happy."
"I'm glad. Now enjoy your breakfast."
The two sat down to eat with little conversation as Rebecca wolfed down one of her favourite foods
"So good," she groaned after swallowing her last, syrupy mouthful.
"Now, there is something I wish to discuss with you," began Beruka seriously. "Adoption."
Rebecca froze as her world shattered and fell away. She knew the point of being fostered was a temporary measure to give her a home as she waited on adoption, she knew someday it would likely happen, but she loved it here. She didn't ever want to leave. "S-someone wants to a-adopt me?" she stammered, trying to remain calm.
"I do," stated Beruka.
The world that had shattered away from her mere moments before burst back into existence even more beautiful than it had been. "Seriously!"
"Is that some-"
"Yes!" she shouted.
"You want to be my daughter?" asked Beruka for confirmation as she stood.
"Yes," confirmed Rebecca, standing so quickly she knocked her chair over. She darted around the table at the same moment as her mother and met for a very tight hug. "Can I call you Mom?" she asked. She'd accidentally called her that a few times over the year already.
"I don't believe there is anything in the world that could make me happier right now," confirmed Beruka, struggling not to cry with joy. She had grown so much since all the changes brought on by the war, but joy like this was a new emotion for her, one she hoped to feel every day with her daughter.
"I love you, Mom," said Rebecca softly, nuzzling into her mom.
"I love you too, Daughter." They had exchanged those words before, but now they carried so much more meaning. The eternal bond of family.
The hug carried on a good few seconds before they parted and saw tears in the other's eyes.
"Do I need to do anything to make this official?" asked Rebecca.
"No. I've already gone through the process with the agency for it. All I need to do is sign the paperwork."
"Sign it now," demanded her daughter.
"Come," chuckled Beruka as she headed upstairs to her little study. Her daughter bounded on ahead and stood holding the door open, waiting. She'd left the documents sitting ready on her desk and, with Rebecca hovering around her, she signed the various clauses in each copy.
"Is that it done?" asked Rebecca as her mom closed the second copy.
"We'll send them off by messenger today, they'll be signed at the agency's end before I receive one copy back and all your paperwork. Then, you're official mine." She got glomped again.
"Does anyone know? I imagine you told Camilla and Severa."
"Only them," assured Beruka. "You get to tell your little cousins you're staying forever." The gigantic smile that spread across her daughter's face was precious. "Go," she ordered and Rebecca shot off.
With the best news she'd ever had in her life, Rebecca ran downstairs, through the adjoining door to the main house and headed for the dining room, hoping the others would still be having breakfast. As she charged through the door, Liv and Pima were collecting the breakfast dishes. Pima may be royalty, but the girls still had to do chores for their allowances. "I've got big news," she announced to the room, getting a chuckle from Camilla, but bounced over to her cousins who were already infected with her excitement. "I'm going to be your cousin!"
"Aren't you already?" asked Liv, deflating at the lacklustre news and was then puzzled as her mother took the plates from her and Pima.
"No, well, kind of but, I mean Beruka's adopting me so I'll be her daughter forever, I'll be your cousin forever, I'll be here forever." Both girls were immediately reinjected with excitement and jumped at her.
"That's so good," squealed Liv.
"I'm glad you're staying," added Pima with less volume than her sister.
"Me too," agreed Rebecca as she held the adorable six-year-olds close.
"You should've done this half a year ago," Selkie said to Beruka as she entered.
"No," interjected Velouria. "You were her mother from the moment her anger first flared out."
"Thank you," smiled Beruka as she was beckoned over by Camilla who had joined the kids' group hug.
"I'm so happy for you two," she said before stepping back and stooping down closer to her new granddaughter's eyelevel. "I know I said it before but now it's official, welcome to the family."
"Thank you, Grandma," replied Rebecca, calling Camilla that for the first time as she felt herself tearing up again.
"Just make sure you set a good example to those two," insisted Severa as she ruffled her new niece's hair.
Rebecca then found herself getting squished by a big group hug from her new extended family. It felt so good to be able to call them that. As her happiness threatened to overload her, she realised there was one thing that she had to do.
A few weeks later, the new mother and daughter were flying back to the latter's home city. She hadn't wanted to ruin their special day but she had asked for this as she felt it was something she must do. As they flew over the slums, Rebecca directed her mom to their destination and soon a field of what looked like dotted lines from the air was beneath them.
Landing at the gates to the graveyard, mother, daughter and wyvern walked in and Rebecca went to where she could vaguely remember having gone before. With her and Beruka walking up alternating rows, she eventually found it and called to her mom.
Standing before her family's headstone, with Beruka a pace behind, she didn't really know how to start.
"Hi," she began. "I'm… I'm sorry I haven't been since the funeral." There was just so much to say, so much to apologise for. "I don't really believe in an afterlife, but if you are somewhere and have been watching me… I'm sorry. I didn't cope well and I know I did a lot of bad things that would've made you worry. I just wanted to come and see you and tell you I'm alright now. I'm not alone anymore, I've found a new family," she said turning to her mom and extending her hand.
Taking the hand and stepping forward, Beruka looked at the stone slab with three names and one date engraved on it. While her daughter wasn't sure about an afterlife, Beruka was certain there wasn't one but she had to do this for her. "I swear on all I have, that I will do all I can to give your daughter a happy life. I know you were a loving family and I know that would be your only desire for her without you there." She got a little squeeze as thanks for her words.
"And it's not just a new mom I have, I've got aunts and a grandma and she's actual royalty. Like third in line to throne royalty. And I've two adorable little cousins the same age you, Garth. They're so cute, Liv's so pretty she's almost like a doll and Pima's just adorable and she's a kitsune so she has these super-cute ears and a tail." From there she talked through her entire new family, her friends, her school and her combat training. Eventually, her words began to falter and she fell silent. Sombrely, she let go of her mom's hand and stepped forward to kneel before the grave, running her fingers over each name and finally letting her tears fall.
"I miss you so much," she sobbed. "Please know that no matter how much I love my new family, they will never replace you in my memories. I will always love you." After a little time to let the tears fall, she stood up and stepped back, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "And I promise I'll come back and visit. I'll tell you everything that's been happening." She took one last look at the names in the stone. "I'll see you," she assured before turning away, desperately trying to keep herself together.
Beruka, knowing a hug would only set her off crying, simply took her hand and found Rebecca holding on tight.
Half way to the gate, Rebecca felt she'd be able to speak again without crying. "You know when I said you'd never replace the, I meant you're equal to them, right?"
"Of course," assured her mom. "I would never want to replace them. You loved them dearly and were loved equally in return. I hope you'll treasure the memories you have of them and the memories you'll make with me equally."
Rebecca giggled at the request. "That's the easiest thing you've ever asked of me."
...
And so closes off the arc of Beruka's growth from an unfeeling doll to an emotionally healthy human. From quite early on I intended her to end up with a child as the culmination of her growing love brought about by Liv and Pima and then Amy and Kate. It only seemed right she would save as many kids as she could. She may have adopted one, but she will keep on fostering.
If anyone was paying attention, Camilla was second in line to throne earlier on but stated as third at the end there. Seems Charlotte got her wish.