I do not own Mushoku Tensei, only the characters Asher, Ruby, and Paula.

Aisha's Perspective:

After Paula's meltdown had settled, questions and anxiety had swelled up inside me. On one hand, questions about Paula's condition began festering.

"What's going on?"

"What's wrong with my baby?"

"Is she ill?"

"Is this temporary?"

"Is this permanent?"

"Can you save her?"

"Is she dying?"

"Am I gonna lose my baby girl? "

Questions after questions kept popping in my head. Yet, I couldn't say any one of them. I felt paralized, I couldn't move my mouth.

On the other hand, anxiety was building up in my body. It was anxiety formed by the question of whether or not my child would die. My heart was racing, it felt like it was bursting out. I was scared, terrified, livid. I was angry at myself for not knowing what to do. I thought I knew all the answers. But I couldn't figure out this situation.

Parents are supposed to be there for their children. Adults are supposed to have everything together. They're the ones with all the answers right? They're the ones who are supposed to fix things, and make everything ok again. So why couldn't I be that for my daughter? Why could I only tell her "everything is going to be ok" even though I had no idea if that was true or not. She was suffering, and all I could do was spout some useless words. My mind continued down this line of thought falling deeper into a downward spiral…

But then I felt a firm hand on my shoulder, supportive, and understanding. Rudi…

"Aisha, she's breathing. Our daughter is breathing, and she looks so peaceful. I can see it. You're blaming yourself aren't you? But I don't think Paula would want that, and besides we're only capable of what we're capable of. We're just people. That's why we rely on others when we feel lacking. Like that doctor there." laugh* "That's something I had to be retaught by Sylph, and the rest of you."

Hearing Rudi's words eased my worries for a bit, but the anxiety continued to linger. I felt more hopeful than doubtful though, so that was a win in my book. As we settled, we looked at the doctor, his face had one of confusion and curiosity. As if he was pondering for an answer.

"Doctor, please tell us what's wrong with our daughter. What's causing these outbursts? Is it magic related, or a sickness perhaps?", Rudi asked.

The doctor then finished whatever thought he had and walked to the opposite side of the bed. He then began to examine Paula from her head, to her legs. When he was done examining her, he looked towards us. "From what I could see, her body is in perfectly good shape. As for any magical related issues, there seems to be none. At the very least, I sense no abnormalities from her. So, the only problem I can think of, must be in her state of mind."

"State of mind? What do you mean? Like world views? Or do you mean something physical, like something to do with her brain?"

"Well, honestly, It could be both. I would need more data. If it was the brain, I'd have to run tests first, but for now, I think a bit of therapy would do her good. Why? Is there a special disease that runs in your family? Or do you have some of your own thoughts about what it could be? "

"Well… Umm," Rudy, and I stood back for a second trying to figure out what to say. There's a stigma attached to incestual relationships such as ours, and people had warned us in the past about the possible consequences it could bring.

At a certain noble's party- Stillbirths madame, they happen you know. Chatting with a street vendor- I knew this guy who was born with only three fingers, and his brother had this caved in head like a shovel had struck it. Talking with business partners- Oh dear, those are some terrible things you're chancing there, what if you invite some evil spirits? And the worst example given by a teacher- Sometimes the child seems healthy at first, but as they grow up, you notice certain things. She's a bit slower than the other kids, mind wise. Or maybe she ends up developing a dry cough that seems to never disappear. There's even cases of psychopathy, Everything isn't right in the head you know? Crazy things happen.

We continued on finally making up our minds on telling the doctor "You see… Me, and my husband here… Well, we're half-siblings. Our other children turned out fine, and we thought- Well… I guess not. But we don't regret bringing Paula into this world. We love her so much. But maybe that's a contributing factor. Us being half siblings that is."

The doctor stared at us with a shocked expression, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even the nurse was at a loss of words. We both expected a reaction like this, but to see it up close still kinda hurts to look at. This isn't the first time we were given this look. Close friends of ours gave us these stares when we announced our marriage to each other.

Zanoba-sama and Julie gave us blank expressions. Well, it was mostly Zanoba-sama that did that. Julie didn't really understand the problem. She was mostly confused with how Zanoba-sama was acting. After a while, he eventually gave his condolences for any trouble we would meet in the future, but most importantly he also gave us his congratulations.

Cliff-sama was very… open with his views about our new found relationship. He called Rudi a "sex mongering beast that sleeps with everything that moves, especially his own sister." He wouldn't speak with us for a while. Elinalise-sama was a bit shocked of course, but it wasn't as bad as Cliff-sama was. She supported it, and later made incest jokes about it.

There are others who were more unsure about us, but that's for another time. Right now, Paula's condition is all that matters.

"Tell us doc. Will everything be alright with her? Is this something you can fix, or..." I didn't want to think about the alternative " Please tell us she can live a normal life."

"Madame, Sir… I wish I could say there is nothing wrong with her, but as of yet... I just don't know enough. And… This, fact of incest… well, I will have to explore that further."

Hearing that was devastating.

"But for now, I can assure you two that I shall do everything in my power to find out how I can help her. And we'll all work together to make things… Work."

That last part worried me. It sounds as if there isn't anything that would work. But for now at least, we had to rely on the doctor.

"As of now, why don't you leave your daughter in our care for a while. I assure you, she'll be looked after to the best of our abilities. Also it'll be easier to monitor and observe her condition."

When the doctor said that, I was unsure about whether to leave Paula here. I didn't want to leave her alone, and make her think we abandoned her.

"I don't think it's a good idea to leave her alone. Waking up in a place where you've never been before, and seeing no one you recognize around… I'm pretty sure it'll scare her."

The doctor thought for a moment, "well, one of you is welcome to stay here for a while. We do have patients who have families that stay with them while they recover. You share the same room as your daughter but you are responsible for bringing in some belongings of your own. Only the essential stuff, like toothbrushes or some spare clothes."

Rudy, and I talked it over for some time, but eventually we agreed with the doctor's proposal, and I decided to stay with our daughter during her time at the clinic.

It felt like this whole thing would be a long journey, but I was hopeful that things would turn out ok in the end. Sometimes that's all you can do. Do what you can in the moment, and prepare for the worst, but hope of the best, and keep things progressing along.

"Don't worry you two. This arrangement won't be permanent. Once we've made enough progress, we can send the two of you home, and we'll switch to regular check ups instead."

And so began a new chapter in all our lives.