The Bright Hero, Cobalt
Chapter Twenty-three
A/N: Thanks for all the love, my dudes, dudettes, and every gender in between! I hope you all continue enjoying this! Also, double upload today, because I'm in a really good mood! Just got done writing a chapter I've been looking forward to for a while!
"Normal speech."
"Buff Might/AI/SHOOOOOTOOOO/Kacchanese speech."
"Telepathic speech."
'Thinking speech.'
'Sign language.'
The Next Day, Around Midday
The students of 1-A and 1-B were all hard at work, training to enhance the power of their quirks. As it turns out, the Wild Wild Pussycats made excellent trainers, their quirks allowing them to aid each of the students very well. Each of the students and staff had been given some of Izuku's green aura, "Just in case some wild animal attacks you and your quirk is tired out," Ragdoll had said.
Izuku was training with Himiko and Toshinori, near to where Ochako was doing the same. The girl was orbiting around several stone spires, occasionally switching between them, with rocks of various sizes orbiting around her like tiny moons. The verdette, however…
"Huh?! You're kidding!"
"Nope. Your armor is basically a crutch, meant to help you learn how to do what it does without it. I can do a lot of that stuff, too. See?" Himiko replied with a grin, before opening a palm as a rod of red aura formed, looking eerily like a lightsaber blade, or Xemnas's weapon of choice from Kingdom Hearts. More like the latter, now that Izuku had a moment to think.
"So, I can make lasers form even without Unit 0?" the boy asked with a hint of wonder.
His half-sister nodded. "Yeah, among other things. You can basically do like Green Lantern and make whatever construct you want. You've just gotta practice. Now, try forming a rod like what I've got. Doesn't matter where it comes from. The more creative the point of emergence, the better," the blond said with a grin. She really hoped he'd think outside of the box upon hearing that last bit.
Izuku reached out with his powers, feeling for the desired point of emergence. He had an idea of something that would impress his sister, and he wanted to make her proud, so with a grin, he envisioned the rod of green emerging…
"Nice! Now I'm dual-wielding! Good job, Izuku-kun. That's right, the point of emergence doesn't even have to be on your body. Hell, it doesn't even have to be on a solid object! You could fire off funnel attacks without the funnels, if you wanted!" the eldest of the test tube siblings said with pride.
The verdette blushed at the praise. "Thanks, Neechan. So...wanna spar?" he asked with a hopeful smile, pulling the green rod away from her and into his hand instead.
The cat-eyed girl held up a hand. "Hold your horses, baby brother. First, I need to help you figure some things out, and help you know how to retain that. Yagi-san? Could you call your friend Shield-san and ask him to tell you if he sees a flash of blue of some kind in the next few minutes? Don't wanna scare him with what Izuku-kun's gonna do in a minute," Marida asked the disguised pro before sitting down and patting the spot next to her.
Izuku sat next to the woman with a look of curiosity. "So, you remember what you sensed the first day your powers awoke? How you felt what everyone felt, for a minute?" the girl once called Aureck asked. The freckled powerhouse nodded. "That's your range. You could summon one of those green rods on the other side of the planet if you wanted. I...cannot. Do you know why your range is so vast, and mine is actually very limited?"
Cobalt furrowed his brows in thought. "Normally, I'd think it's because better...technology...went into making me, but something in me is saying that that's not true," the teen responded softly.
Himiko smiled at her brother. "You're right. Part of it is that, but honestly...more of it has to do with what you've got in here," the small woman said softly as she poked her little brother in the chest, right over his heart. "Your love towards people in general, your desire to see the best in everyone, and your need to help others. The positivity in you is what gives you such might.
"Ao-chan said once that your power could move a continent. He wasn't exaggerating. Hell, if your self-confidence managed to get somewhere healthier without you losing that love, you could move the planet. You wouldn't, though, since that'd kill us all, but the fact of the matter is that, if not for the fact that it'd do more harm than good, you could save everybody the way All Might wants to."
Izuku gaped like a fish. "Th-there's no way! I'm not that powerful! No way!" he exclaimed in a panic.
Himiko let out a bark of laughter, then began speaking like a small green Jedi Master. "Believe me, you do not? Judge me by my size, do you? You do not. And you should not! For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is!" the happy woman said, then pinched her baby brother's arm. "Luminous beings are we! Not this crude matter!"
Unable to contain himself, Izuku burst into peals of laughter, blue aura flying off of him and filling the area they sat in. Toshinori gave Himiko a thumbs up and a grin. "He's ready whenever you are," the emaciated man relayed, then gazed at his student in anticipation.
Himiko nodded, then turned to the broccoli-haired boy. "Now, Izuku-kun. Focus on Yagi-san's bond to Shield-san, then make some blue aura, or a blue aura construct, emerge near him. I know you can do this," the cyber newtype hero said encouragingly.
Izuku looked at his sister, the bright star at the center of her being glowing with pride and anticipation, then looked to his mentor, a bit of nervousness, excitement, and pride glowing in his core. He turned to look over his friends, the feelings in their hearts all bared out for him to see, then he focused on Ochako, who had stopped what she was doing to look at him. Neither had line of sight on the other, but he could feel her thumbs up and her grin, before she went back to her training.
"Okay. Here goes nothing…" the boy said, and he felt, seeking the other side of All Might's bond with David Shield. He...sensed the man's surroundings, the man's anticipation, his desire to record whatever he was about to witness, and Izuku willed a...shield, honestly, to appear. He felt the man's sudden excitement and joy, and Izuku experimented a bit, moving the shield around a bit, then let it go, frowning. "This isn't some kind of prank, right?" the boy asked his sister sadly.
With a roar, Himiko's hand flew. "BRIGHT SLAP!" she exclaimed, then pulled her brother into a hug. "I'm not pranking you! Yagi-san, have Shield-san send whatever recording he's got of my baby brother's power, pronto!"
Cobalt simply allowed his elder sister to hold him. 'It can't be true. There's gotta be some mistake,' he thought. Minutes later, however, he had video evidence to the contrary.
"Toshi! I don't know how, but it's working! Whatever's doing this is incredible! Is this one of your students' quirks?!" the voice of David Shield spoke excitedly from the recording in English before the shield vanished. "Oh, it's gone. Did they run out of juice or something? Regardless, this is incredible! Such a long-range ability! You must tell me what was doing this later, bud!"
Izuku Midoriya blinked, his eyes unfocused, before he turned to his sister. The girl grinned at him. "That power is something only you have. Neither Ao-chan nor I can do that. Do you understand?" Marida asked softly. The verdette nodded, before slumping over slightly. "Ah, yeah. I figured this would happen. You probably feel like you just got done with a whole day of training, don't you? Just sleep for now. I'll keep an eye on you."
And sleep Izuku did, under the watchful, proud eyes of his sister and All Might.
That Evening
"WHERE THE FUCK IS THE HOT SAUCE?!" an irate Katsuki Bakugou roared over the din of everybody trying to make their own meal. Kacchan, being surprisingly good in the kitchen, was doing his damndest to help, in his own explosive way.
Neito Monoma, the poor soul, brought a plate over for a taste test. It went...predictably poorly. "This curry is so fucking mild, it just politely apologized for offending me! TRY AGAIN, XEROX!" the ash-blond erupted.
Kota, who had tried his best to remain out of sight, had his plate taken by the erupting teen. "Hmm, this smells absolutely delicious, kid. Mind if I try a bite?" he asked, a hungry grin on his face. The child of Water Hose nodded numbly, and the human hand grenade grabbed a clean fork and took a bite. "THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF! YOU DUMBASSES! WHY CAN'T YOU BE LIKE LIL' NUTCRACKER OVER HERE?!" he roared before patting the kid's head and returning his plate.
1-A laughed good-naturedly, knowing he wasn't as mad as he was acting. 1-B was less used to the tough love of Kacchan, but they were quickly learning his ways. Kacchan himself, though, saw Kota making his way elsewhere, and decided to follow. "Cobalt! You're in charge! Use your crazy voodoo magic force powers and get these morons fed!" he called out before he left.
Several Minutes Later, At Kota's Secret Base
The hydromancer scowled as he fired off a blast of water at the one spot he'd been practicing with for the past few months. 'Stupid heroes. Stupid hero students. Stupid, stupid…!'
"There you are, you little badass. Nice dent!"
Kota whirled to spot the red-eyed explosion user, then turned back to his practicing. Katsuki took a seat and watched for a bit. Eventually, he started talking. "So, you're Water Hoses' kid? You sure as fuck inherited their quirks, didn't ya, Nutcracker?"
The dark-haired boy whirled at his unwanted guest and fired off his quirk at him, only for the ash-blond to dodge. "Are you gonna tell me my parents died well, too?" Kota asked venomously.
Katsuki frowned. "Fuck no. I might not seem like it, but I know exactly how that feels. My dad was a hero once, too, you know. Sit down with me, and I'll tell you a story," the aggressively friendly teen said, patting a spot next to his new spot as he sat back down. "You ever hear about Fireflight? He's my dad. Used to be a pro, with a very unique form of pyromancy. He got captured by villains, and for months, we all thought he was dead.
"Now, my dad had a rule. He would only use his quirk on people to get fires off of them. He swore that if he ever broke that rule, he'd end his career. Damn villains tortured him for months, and only when they threatened somebody else to try to make him talk, did he unleash fucking hell. Fireflight died in that building, and Bakugou Masaru emerged.
"During those months, though, they kept telling me how proud I should be, that he died in the line of duty. I fucking hated it, and I bet you do, too. My dad came home, and I'm lucky that that happened, but your parents won't be coming back. That sucks, and you shouldn't be afraid to tell people that that's how you feel, got it? Keep it bottled up, and bad shit will happen."
Kota stood up, his eyes watering, and he glared at the ash blond. "I hate that Mom and Dad are gone," he said softly.
"Louder."
"I hate that Mom and Dad are gone!'
"DID I STUTTER? LOUDER, KID!"
"I HATE THAT MOM AND DAD ARE GONE! I MISS THEM!"
"I HATE THAT FIREFLIGHT IS GONE! HE WAS A FUCKING BADASS!"
The two children reared their heads back and screamed into the sky together, unleashing their quirks as they did so. A moment later, they stopped, panting for breath. Katsuki turned to his new friend. "Come back to camp. Let's show those fuckers how to make some real fucking curry."
Kota nodded, scowl still on his face as he followed the nitroglycerine-sweating teen back to the rest of their fellows.
Midday, The Next Day
The students and Kota were gathered in an underground room large enough to house a small town. "We're sorry for bringing you all down here, but the League of Villains has been spotted in the area. Put on your costumes, which are in the back, and stay in here. If Yagi-san here fails to protect you, then, and only then, may you fight," Eraserhead said sternly, then turned to All Might, hidden in his civilian form, and gave him a stern look. "Don't let it come to that. If they get down here, make them pay for every. Fucking. Inch."
Toshinori smacked his fist against his chest. "The kids will be safe, I promise you, Eraserhead," Small Might said with finality. Each student suited up, Cobalt entering his armor, but keeping his helmet off and leaving his hands bare as he held his girlfriend's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Kota stood near Kacchan, the blast hero grinning at the kid as The Friendly Ghost stood nearby, an encouraging smile on her bright face.
If all went according to plan, they'd all be back to training within the next twenty-four hours.
With The Vanguard Action Squad
Dabi smirked at his...ally. Yeah, let's go with ally. "You're in a good mood, Twice. Find something good on your patrol?"
"Nothing that big. Just a gaping hole in the enemy's defenses. Let's flank those dumb bastards!" the masked man said with glee.
The stapled-together man's eyes widened in amusement. "Oh-ho! Do tell, friend!" he exclaimed, the others gathering around to hear the new intel.
Behind his mask, Twice grinned. "You're not gonna believe this, but that big old exploitable hole..IS RIGHT HERE!" he exclaimed as a beam of red emerged from his palm, the man leaping in a spin attack that sent several of the nearby villains flying. Small puddles flew off of the man, revealing a naked Himiko, who gave her opponents a predatory smirk as Kshatriya landed with a thud behind her, the childlike heroine floating back to enter the power armor.
Behind his mask, Mustard growled. "Damnit. Guess Twice won't be coming back from his patrol. I liked that guy," the school uniform-clad villain lamented.
From behind the treeline, a familiar voice shouted, "The feeling was not mutual! You were my favorite villain, Mustard-kun!" Jin Bubaigawara, AKA Twice, emerged from hiding, along with all the pros in the area. "You done goofed! Good luck next time!"
Muscular grinned menacingly. "Awesome! I really wanted to kill you, you noisy fuck!" he roared as he charged the maker of doppelgangers, only for Marida to appear in his path, backhanding the overpowered villain away with one of Kshatriya's quad arms. The man quickly found himself wrapped in capture tape and knocked out, courtesy of Eraserhead. Mustard was quickly knocked out by Vlad King, the teen's mask shattered in the short exchange, and Mister Compress, Magne, and Dabi found themselves up to their necks in earth, the very ground beneath them swallowing them up. Moonfish...would need dental surgery after what Tora did to him.
"NOMU! KILL THE PROS! RIP THEM LIMB FROM LIMB!" Dabi roared, enraged. The creature appeared, and did its damndest to follow its orders.
Next to one another, Himiko's hand bared itself to Jin, who pulled off his own glove. "SYNCHRONIZE!" they shouted as one, both of them glowing with red aura as they flew at the creature of pain and suffering, and tore it asunder in less than ten seconds, Marida destroying the remains with her chest cannon, not risking allowing it to regenerate.
Dabi scowled at his foes. "You'll regret this…" he said ominously.
Back At The Bunker
Izuku grinned. He couldn't help himself. His sister was so happy to be with her partner. The villains had been dealt a swift defeat, and all their caution was going to be for nothing. The freckled empath freely produced his blue aura, allowing the others in the room to know all was well.
Ochako grinned at her boyfriend, who emerged from his armor to hug her. "Looks like we were worried for nothing, huh, Izuku-kun?" the brunette giggled.
Izuku nodded, only to give a look of concern when the gravity manipulator began coughing uncontrollably. Suddenly, a silver liquid emerged from her mouth and began swallowing her up. Toshinori buffed up, startling some of the students, and rushed to their aid, but it was all for naught. Even though Izuku had his arms around her, Ochako had been taken.
"NOOOOOOOO!" both carriers of One for All roared in anguish, one in Japanese and the other in English.
Izuku looked through the eyes of Uravity, finding that Ragdoll had suffered a similar fate. Listening through her ears, he heard his foe speak.
"Creation of Scalpel. Come to me, or the girl dies," All for One said with a menacing grin.
Izuku didn't need to be told twice. His armor folded around himself, and he turned to All Might, then to his friends. "I love you guys. If I don't come back, tell my mom I'm sorry, and that I love her," he said softly. Toshinori tried to stop the boy, as the blue aura still in the room coalesced into his form, and Izuku reached to the Bond, the line of light calling to him.
He grasped it without a second thought.
Atop A Building In Kamino Ward
All for One grinned gleefully behind his mask as he flung the suddenly appearing Cobalt away from the unconscious Ochako and Ragdoll, laughing uproariously. "It is good to finally meet you, Project Zeta! You've gained something that belongs to me! So, I suggest an exchange. You give One for All to me, and I will return your dear friend to you. Oh, and the cat as well, of course," the villain of villains offered deceitfully.
Cobalt scowled behind his helmet. "And give you free reign to take Force Manipulation and Search? No, if I do that, you'll kill us all. We both know that," the hero in training snarled, beginning to glow Red as his rage filled him.
The villain laughed with unrestrained joy. "Their deaths will be on your head, then, hero!" he exclaimed as he stomped a foot, and the part of the building the two unconscious heroes rested on slid away, tumbling down to the ground below.
Izuku MOVED. In two seconds, he'd caught Uravity and Ragdoll and dropped them off on the roof of a neighboring building, and five seconds later, he'd stopped the pieces of building, forming several red barriers, the first few breaking. 'Thank goodness I made redundant barriers,' the boy thought to himself before he stood before AfO once more.
Cybernetic-looking blades emerged from the man's hand as he chortled and swung at his opponent, the boy forming a beam of red aura as his armor flew straight into enhanced aura mode. The two opponents clashed, sounds like thunder and shockwaves of power emanating from where their attacks met. In the end, though, Izuku was sent falling to the streets below, his armor carving a line through the pavement. He looked up at his foe, and gasped in dismay behind his mask.
Ochako had snuck up on the ancient villain, and had gone for an attack, but found her head in the man's clutches. Izuku could feel his partner's anguish as her quirk was being drained. With a roar, his shield bits flew, and sliced the man's hand off. However, now…
Uravity was falling. And her quirk…
Cobalt couldn't think of that now. He caught his dear friend tenderly, resting her against the ground. Several heroes had appeared, and Izuku could sense All Might and Marida, along with Twice, heading their way, but they wouldn't make it in time.
Ochako reached her hand out, the pads on her fingertips noticeably smaller. "Izuku-kun...My quirk...I can barely…" she said weakly as her boyfriend grasped her hand tightly.
"I TOLD YOU, DIDN'T I, ARTIFICIAL HUMAN? THEIR DEATHS WILL BE ON YOUR HEAD!" All for One's voice boomed from above, the man tossing a stone up and down casually, before he threw it high into the air. "TELL ME IF YOU GET THIS REFERENCE, HEROES! CHIBAKU TENSEI!"
The stone the villain tossed began emanating a familiar pink light, and Cobalt roared, sending tendrils of Red turning Green as he focused on his desire to prevent the tragedy the monster in human flesh intended to cause. Grasping the villains hands with his aura and thanking any deity that might be listening that his other hand had regenerated already, Izuku made a familiar gesture with his own hands as he forced All for One to do the same. "Release!" he shouted, sensing that he'd just barely avoided letting the area be turned into a mini-moon.
The centuries-old menace scowled at the hero-in-training, before leaping away, Crust, of all heroes, having landed a drop kick where he'd once been. A squadron of small fighter jet-looking devices began firing lances of Red aura at All for One, keeping the man on the defensive. One transformed into a more humanoid form and landed next to Izuku and Ochako.
"Sorry about this, Midoriya-chan, but I can't have you or Ochako-chan dying to this guy. Override Code: Zorn. Run Hermit Crab dot E X E," Mei's voice spoke from the drone, and Izuku felt Unit 0 plugging into his back before he could do anything about it.
"Synchronizing...Synchronizing...Download of Ao-sama complete. The hermit crab has a new home," Unit 0 said mechanically before ejecting Izuku.
Unit 0...no, Ao, backhanded the automaton next to him. "Crazy genius bitch. I'll have to thank her later, even if I was enjoying my nap," his voice said through the armor's speakers. The armor glowed bright red and suddenly reappeared next to All for One, lopping an arm off of the villain with a blade of crimson.
Crust, who had barely been hanging on, fell back to where Izuku and Ochako were, as the verdette at his destination pulled Ragdoll's unconscious body over to them. The man formed a barrier with his quirk between the group and the fight, levelling a grin at the teenagers despite the circumstances. "That guy really packs a wallop! Thanks for sending your armor in to get him off of me, kid. More pros are almost here, so I think we'll be okay," the shield hero said confidently, even as Izuku worked to administer first aid, unable to do anything for his girlfriend at the moment.
As they rested, flashes of crimson and the thundering sounds of clashing attacks were heard on the other side of the shield. Izuku focused, feeling for his brother's consciousness, and found it. "Ao-niisan, let me back you up!" the boy called out.
"No."
Izuku flinched in sadness, before his elder brother's feelings started pouring through. "This body may be incapable of tasting, smelling, or feeling, but it is also indestructible through ordinary means. Focus on protecting yourself and the others. This fight won't take too much longer," the soul within a shell of armor said, even as he was sent flying by one of his opponents' attacks, quickly righting himself and re-entering the fray.
As Cobalt watched his brother fight, he was reminded of the state of his girlfriend when he felt the chill of fear pierce her heart. He turned to her with a concerned gaze as she did her best not to panic. "Izuku-kun...My quirk is almost gone...I might as well be quirkless...I...I don't want to go through that! I don't want to give up on being a hero!" the girl told him with tears forming in her eyes.
Shutting his eyes in concentration, Cobalt made some calculations. 'Is she strong enough? I have to be sure!' he thought to himself, before asking her, "How strong would you say you are physically?"
"A bit stronger than you were when we took the entrance exam. Why?" Uravity asked, her heart still laden with fear and sadness.
Izuku nodded, knowing what he had to do now. "I wasn't able to add much to it, but...I'll give you One for All. It should bring your original quirk back," the teen said softly, then added, "There's no way my hair is clean right now, so...may I kiss you?"
A particularly loud explosion was heard as Marida, Twice, and All Might arrived, adding themselves to the melee that now included many pros. Ochako's eyes shone in the flashes of light, her face turning bright red before she gulped and nodded. "O-okay...I wish we coulda done this more romantic-like, but…"
Izuku smiled sadly. "I wish we could have this happen more romantically, too. I'll think of something nice we can do when this is all over, though," he replied as the two nervously and clumsily inched closer to one another.
Thankfully, a hero was there to save their first kiss. "Hey, you two! I get that you're madly in love, but now's not the time!" Crust laughed loudly, startling the two. Izuku ended up spitting a little bit in surprise as Ochako ended up headbutting the boy. The two turned away from each other in embarrassment, where Uravity discreetly got the bit of saliva on her face into her mouth and swallowed.
"I...got your quirk, Izuku-kun...We can have our first kiss properly some other time," the brunette conveyed with a blush.
Izuku smiled, and sighed in relief. "Thanks, Crust. You're right, now's not the time," he said to the pro, who nodded with a grin and a thumbs up.
The three noticed something different, suddenly. It was quiet now. The sounds of powerful blows, and the flashes of light from incredible quirks, had stopped. A thud sounded near them as somebody landed. "Young Uraraka, young Midoriya. Are you two all right?" the symbol of peace asked hesitantly.
With a grin, Izuku nodded. "We're fine, Sensei," he said in relief.
Ochako giggled. "After all, you are here," the girl joked, before she and Izuku were both wrapped in the musclebound hero's arms.
"I'm so glad you're both okay!" the number one exclaimed tearfully as he held his students close. After a moment of just holding onto the two of them, All Might opened his eyes wide and let out a scream that sounded somewhat familiar for some reason. "You're the Shield Hero, Crust!" he exclaimed, before composing himself and changing the subject. "Thanks for looking out for my students. I'm in your debt."
The teens in the symbol of peace's arms laughed as they watched Crust and All Might try their hardest not to fanboy over one another. Izuku pulled one of his notebooks out of his costume and made his way over to the green-caped pro. "C-can I have your autograph, Crust? Oh, and copies for my friends Ochako and Toshinori-san, if you don't mind?"
Crust nodded, and after borrowing a pen from one of the police officers nearby, signed thrice, then grinned and produced a trio of shields with his quirk and asked, "Now, may I have your autographs?"
Cobalt and Uravity looked to their teacher with confused gazes. The ham of a man laughed. "Cobalt, Uravity, you have fans of your own now! Go ahead, it's part of the job, after all!" the number one hero exclaimed, having already signed one of the shields himself.
The two teens smiled at one another and gave out their first autographs. The Shield Hero proudly mounted the signed shields on his armor, intending to hang them in his home when the day was over.
Himiko, Ao, and Twice, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally made their way over as Crust was taken by the paramedics to be looked over. The spawner of doppelgangers abruptly wrapped Izuku in a hug. "I'm hugging the happy blue light! Suck it, Dabi! No hugs for you!" he exclaimed, confusing the teen a bit as Himiko pried her boyfriend off of him with a giggle.
Blue aura began floating off of Izuku for a while, until he sensed somebody feeling sad. Izuku turned to his brother, who had not yet really interacted with the group, other than to approach. "Ao-niisan? What's wrong?" the verdette asked hesitantly.
The suit of armor housing the boy's consciousness shook its head. "I'm just gonna miss this. I can't stay. All for One left a lot of loose ends, and I have to do something about it. Also, unlike you, I didn't have permission from a pro to use my powers in that fight. They changed the laws surrounding vigilantism recently, remember?" the boy said, before reaching out with green aura and pulling his brother and sister in for a hug. "Really would have been nice to be able to feel this, but this will have to do. I love you, little bro, Himiko-neechan. I'll...see you all again someday."
Izuku noted with a hint of concern that some police were approaching with restraints, before he felt a bit of smugness roll off of Ao. The blue aura that was still hanging around was pulled into him, and enhanced aura mode activated, the machine shining a brilliant azure. Unseen to any of them, Ao grasped one of his few bonds, the only one connected to somebody who wasn't currently there, and he Jumped, vanishing before everybody's eyes.
Elsewhere
Ao emerged from his jump near somebody he loved dearly. They jumped in surprise when he appeared, before the boy held out his arms for a hug.
"I'm home for an hour or so, Mom. Let's catch up," he said softly.
Inko gave a teary smile as she gave her baby boy a pull closer to her, the two embracing. "Welcome home, Ao-chan."
