Prologue Part 2
It didn't get much batter when they got back to the mansion. First, Sakuya had burnt the mistress's favorite dessert, then broke several dishes while cleaning, but things really escalated during Remilia's evening teatime.
"Ah! Mistress! I am so sorry!", Sakuya exclaimed as she grabbed a towel and desperately tried to wipe off off Remilia's dress.
"Sakuya, stop." ordered the mistress, as she grabbed the towel and began to dry herself off.
"Mistress, this is my fault, you shou-" Sakuya pleaded, but was interrupted by Remilia,
"Sakuya, I think it's very clear to both us that there's a problem," said Remilia as she gave the maid a stern look, "right now, you are not fit to serve as the head maid of the mansion."
"But Mistress, I-"
"No buts! As master of this mansion, I order you to take a vacation!"
"A vacation?" Sakuya replied with surprise in her voice, "But Mistress, I don't need a vacation! I'll overcome any hardship as long as I serve you!"
"And if you wish to continue serving, you will follow my every order, and right now my orders are that you take week long, relaxing vacation, as a matter of fact, you are banned from the mansion until the week is over!"
"M-mistress, is that really nec-"
"Would you disobey an order from your master?"
"N-no, of course not! I'll pick up Shiho from the library and head home immediately." Sakuya made her way to a nearby door and used her space manipulation ability to create a doorway to the library.
"And remember! I better not see you in the mansion for a whole week!" Remilia shouted as Sakuya walked through the door
It was surprising to Sakuya that Patchouli so easily accepted the proposition to be her child's caretaker, although she was responsible for Sakuya's education when she was a child herself, she didn't think that she could deal with a crying, hungry, pooping, baby for hours, yet not once has she complained about it, perhaps her magic made taking care of a baby mere child's play, or maybe she lumps all the work onto her familiar, Koakuma. To Sakuya though, it didn't really matter, as long as her baby was taken care of, she was happy.
"A whole week, huh?" replied Patchouli, without looking away from her book
"That's right, it seems that the mistress has been unsastisfied with my work lately, so she's forcing me to spend a week off."
"Is that a problem for you? If you ask me, you deserve it, since you were little you would spend all your time attending to Remi's needs, only resting in stopped time, and now that you insist on not using your time powers, it seems like you really need this."
"I know I do, I've just spent so long working for the mistress, I don't really know what I'd do with myself for a whole week besides taking care of Shiho and spending ... 'alone time' with my husband, I'd be dreadfully bored."
"Ah, speaking of, look who finally decided to wake up." Patchouli said, gesturing to a nearby cradle, Sakuya walked over to the cradle, placing her hand inside
"Ahh, look who's awake! Did you miss mama? I missed you!" Sakuya playfully said as she picked up the child.
"Baah... maa... ah!" Shiho cooed as Sakuya held her
"I still can't thank you enough for taking care of her, Patchouli."
"I already told you, it's no problem, just go home and get some rest."
"Will do!" Sakuya shouted as she walked out of the door.
"That girl... I really hope she takes care of herself."
Meiling had basically been like an older sister to Sakuya, she was the one who insisted that Remilia take her in when they first found her half dead in the forest, she was there for Sakuya was at her worst, she was Sakuya's maid of honor at her wedding, she even waited outside the delivery room with Sakuya's husband when she was giving birth. When the powergap between the two became increasingly clear, she still did whatever she could to support her 'little sister', even if it wasn't much help, and now she had the role of being little Shiho's 'aunt', supporting her the same way she had her mother.
"Sakuya? What are you leaving so early for?" Meiling asked while opening the gate for Sakuya
"The mistress decided that I was overexerting myself, so she ordered me to take the whole week off, even going as far as banning me from the mansion until the week is over."
"Wow, that's harsh, even for her, that does sound like you though, working so hard to the point of exhaustion, it doesn't help that you decided to stop using your powers, speaking of, is there any particular reason you decided to stop using them?"
"That's... it's a little too embarassing to say out loud..." Sakuya shyly said while averting her eyes.
"Come on, I'm your big sis Meiling, you can tell me anything and trust me to keep it a secret!", Sakuya contemplated for a bit, fidgeting around before finally speaking
"It's..." Sakuya blushed, "It's because I want to spend more time with my husband..." she said while looking away.
"Really? That's it? You have all the 'time' in the world while time is stopped, so how is spending time with him an issue." Meiling asked while tilting her head
"Before we got together, I would always use my powers whenever it was convenient, I would eat, sleep, and even relieve myself in stopped time, but when he and I got together, I realized something, I've spend hours, weeks, maybe even years in stopped time, and it wasn't until I noticed that no matter how hard I tried, he couldn't be there with me that I realized how alone I was in there..." Sakuya looked towards the setting sun before continuing, "after coming to that realization, I began to hate it there, I hated feeling so alone, so that's why I stopped... It wasn't an issue at first, but then Shiho was born, and I guess I became so overwhelmed, I thought I could do everything by myself, but despite everything, I'm still human..."
"I... never thought about it like that, I guess it was more personal than I thought... Take care of yourself, okay Sakuya?"
"Thank you, I'll make sure I get the rest I need." Sakuya left the mansion, and began to head towards her house, their house, the house that they built together.
Sakuya's husband is a soft spoken man, only speaking when he felt something needed to be said, nobody knows much about him other than the fact that he's an outsider that resembles the visitors who showed up to Japan's shores so long ago, even bearing their flag. He was taller than most of the men in the village, even towering above some youkai. Due to his size and quiet nature, some would assume that he was one of those 'slow giant' types, but he was a lot smarter than most people give him credit for, smart enough to notice that when his wife got home before he did, something was seriously wrong
"Rough day?" he asked, Sakuya place Shiho into her crib before crashing onto the bed before replying
"It was the worst day, I made so many mistakes, I don't think the mistress will ever respect me again after today." Sakuya began to recount the days events leading up to her being banned from the mansion, "I'm such a fool, thinking I could handle everything by myself." Sakuya covered her face in shame and turned away from her husband, there was a silence before she felt an arm wrap around her.
"Hey now, there's no need for that kind of talk, I'm sure she's understands your situation, after, she put up with me." Sakuya chuckled at his self deprecation, but it wasn't enough to ease her fears.
"That's different... she expected the worst and got the worst, she let you stay out of pity, and just before she decided to fire you, you exceeded her expectations." Sakuya teased, placing her hand on his
"Reminds me a lot of what's happening now, I worked myself to near exhaustion, just to keep up with you, and here's what I have to show for it, a family."
"You really know how to make a girl blush, don't you?" Sakuya turns around, going for a kiss, it lasts a while before a certain someone's cry interrupts them.
"Uh oh, looks like someone has a problem," Sakuya says as she climbs out of bed, "Now let's see, do you need a changing or are you hungry, ah, your daiper's still clean so you must be hungry, worry not, mama's here to feed you." Sakuya unbottons her clothes and turns away from her husband, placing Shiho close to her chest, "I'm still not used to this, it's still a but uncomfortable."
"Maybe this break will be the perfect opportunity for you to get used to it, We don't want her to spend more time with the librarian than her own mother."
"You're right, I've been so busy or exhausted that I never really got used to being a mother, that needs to change."
"And I'll be right there with you," He says as he walks up to his wife and plants a kiss on her cheek, "but for now, we need sleep."
"You go on ahead, I follow you when I'm done feeding her."
And so began Sakuya's love filled, fantastically strange and wonderful week of learning to be a mother!