DISCLAIMER: Same~ Y'all know what'll happen if ye try t' steal mah Iifa-chan~

Fragments of Memory

Young Iifa smiled as she looked up into the sunlight, sitting in her father's lap, her mother sitting on the soft grass beside them, birds singing in the distance.

Her father, the full-blooded Genome, his eyes hidden by the shadows behind his silver bangs, smiled down at his daughter.

Flash.

Iifa and her mother stood before a dead tree, bow and arrows in hand.

Both mother and daughter fired the sacred arrow, striking the tree.

Flash.

The black-haired halfling squinted against the rushing wind, while finding the sound of silver-white, red-tipped wings rather calming, sitting in front of her father, a breath-taking scene of blue mountains and green fields under them.

White light.

Iifa then awakened, eyes not yet open, and took time to think of what she had dreamt.

The same field, monochrome colors of red and pink, and both her parents walking away from her as she chased after them.

"Mother~! Father~!"

They both disappeared without paying not one bit of attention to their daughter.

Iifa remembered, her most recent dream being slightly different from the ones she normally had.

She then opened her eyes, the darkness surrounding her being not much different from the inside of her eyelids, and inhaled deeply and slowly.

"Mother... Father..."

Tears filled at the brim of her eyes, her chest feeling tight.

"Iifa~?"

The doorknob turned, making a squeaking sound, and a sleepy-eyed Milly entered the room, glass of water in hand.

"Are you okay~?"

Iifa made a sound of discomfort from within her throat, her silver-tipped, black tail tightening around her ankle, and blinked tears away from her eyes as Milly sat down at the chair beside the bed she lay in.

"...I had another dream."

"Oh, Iifa, I'm so sorry."

Iifa inhaled deeply once more, breath shakey.

"I don't know what happened to my parents..."

Milly felt her heart sink when she noticed moon-lit tears slideing down each side of the girl's round face.

"...What am I going to do if I find them... Them..."

"There, there. We'll find them, and they'll be alright, 'kay~?"

Milly then smiled, her cheerful expression makeing her look less tired.

"It's like my big little sister always said... 'Keep looking ahead with hope and a smile on your face'. Or was it what that blonde-haired boy told me~? 'You don't need a reason to help people'~?"

Iifa was quiet for a moment, and smiled back.

"...I think I know what you mean. Thank you."

Morning light shined brightly against Vashes' sunglasses as he sat on the porch, a serious look on his face, for he had heard Milly and Iifa's small conversation that night.

"Legato... What have you done~?"