Alright, everyone, here's where we're gonna start looking more into Maria's mother. Right now, we're gonna a "summarized" version of how her and Striker met to what happened to her afterwards.


The next morning, Striker awoke with a strong, throbbing headache. His body felt so stiff he almost couldn't move, but he still managed to sit up in bed. Also, for some reason, his throat had a sort of scratchy feeling in it. The strangest part was he couldn't remember why or how he was feeling this way.

"Hi, daddy." He saw Maria standing at his side with a small smile. It was as if she'd been waiting for him to wake up. "How are you feeling?"

"Awful... my head's poundin'..." Striker brought a hand to his head. "Wh-What happened?"

"Millie said you and Moxxie got thrown into those barrel drink things yesterday and you drank something in them. You both started talking funny."

"Drink things? What are you-?" Suddenly, it started to come back to him: Yesterday's job, the beer barrels, everything. Striker's eyes widened in shock when he realized it. "Oh my God! Oh, baby girl, I'm so sorry! I don't know what got into me, I was just-"

Just then, the bitter taste of vomit came up to his mouth and he shot up out of bed and ran straight for the bathroom to throw up.

"Daddy! Are you okay?"

Striker took a moment to catch his breath, his throat still scratchy. "Yeah, I'll be fine, sugarplum. Don't worry about me."

Maria didn't look convinced. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure. Believe me, this isn't the first hangover I've ever had." He almost threw up again, but luckily, he managed to stop himself for a little bit. "Although, I suppose I could use your help with some stuff when I'm done here."

Maria watched and waited as Striker finally finished throwing up a couple more times then washed his face at the sink. Sweet Satan, he looked like shit in the mirror; his hair and moustache looked ratty and his vision blurred slightly. Right now wasn't the best time to worry about his looks though, so after drying his face off with a towel, he and his daughter headed down to the kitchen.

"Daddy, what is a hangover?"

Striker chuckled a little, sometimes Maria could be a little too curious for her own good. "You know that feeling you get when you're sick? It's almost the same thing, except it happens after you drink a little too much alcohol."

"Is it normal to feel like that? When it happens, I mean?"

"Usually, yes." He gave her a stern frown. "But don't get any ideas on doin' it yourself, got it, missy?"

Maria quickly nodded; having seen how it affected her dad and Moxxie, she'd rather not do the same.

"Good. Say, how about you fix me up something to eat while I make some tea?"

"How about this?" Maria held up a can of chicken soup. "It's what you feed me when I get sick."

"That'll work, sweetheart. Just lemme know if you need any help."

Luckily, Maria didn't have too much trouble with fixing the soup. It seemed easy enough, plus it helped that she learned how to cook with her dad and Ms. Lin when she was very little. All she had to do was cook the soup in a pot, stirring it until it was nice and hot enough to eat.

While his daughter was working on that, Striker started boiling a kettle of water for his tea. He couldn't help but notice however that Maria had a sad look on her face as if something was on her mind. After a while, though, the whistle of the kettle alerted him and he managed to pour the hot water into a cup with the teabag in it.

He then went into the living room and sat back in the couch sipping his tea. It left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth, but he felt a warm sensation in his body as took small sips. The nausea in his stomach and the pounding headache diminished and he felt much calmer than earlier.

"All finished!" Only a few moments later, Maria brought a bowl of soup to him. "How's it look?"

The soup was steaming slightly and it smelled appetizing, perfect to help his hangover.

"Looks good, baby girl." Striker smiled, petting her head before he started to eat. "Mmm, tastes great too."

"How do you feel? Any better?"

"A little. I'm still feeling a bit tired and sore, but I'm not nauseous anymore."

Maria sat beside him. "How long do you think it'll last?"

"I'd say about a day or so, it usually depends on how much alcohol you consume." Striker finished up the soup and was actually starting to feel much better than before. "In fact, I should be doing alright by tomorrow."

Maria smiled, pleased that she'd be able to help. While her dad resumed sipping his tea, she couldn't help but think about yesterday.

Why do you all keep defending her?! She's always in everybody's way! I bet that's why she doesn't even have a mom, she probably died cause she was sick of her!

Loona's words had been ringing in her head ever since that day at the human beach. What if she was right? Was her mom gone because of her? She'd been wandering for a long time about what her mom was like and what happened to her, but she was afraid to ask her dad about it. He'd told her about his own mother and father before, even his siblings. She may have mentioned "mommy" in the past, but every time it happened, daddy had a sad look on his face. She couldn't bring herself to ask because of that before, how could she now?

"Maria?" The impling nearly jumped at her father's voice.

"Huh?"

"Are you alright, sugarplum? You've been awful quiet today."

"Oh! Yeah, I'm okay." Maria blushed, looking slightly embarrassed and ashamed. "Just... thinking about... stuff..."

But Striker could tell she was not okay; in fact, she looked as if she was about to cry. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "What's on your mind, sweetheart?"

"Umm, daddy..." Maria gulped. "...what was mommy like?"

Striker's eyes widened in surprise, unsure how to respond. In hindsight, he should've expected this to happen. It's not like he didn't want to tell Maria about her mother, he really did. He just couldn't bring himself to say anything about the woman who captured his heart, the woman he'd come to love so dearly. After all, how could he explain it to his six-year-old anyway? As much as he hoped this moment didn't come so soon, it looks like there's no going back now.

"I guess you were bound to find out eventually." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You remember when I told you about my old assassin days?"

"Uh-huh." Maria nodded, sitting up.

"Well, you see, it was somewhere around that time when I first met her. It turned out the both of us were after same target, but I wouldn't find out till later we had different reasons behind it. Anyway, she'd been using her sweet talk to try and draw me away from my job, but I could see right through her and tried to the same trick against her. You can imagine the look on her face when she realized that after I pulled the trigger. She was so damn pissed, she leapt right at me."

Maria burst out laughing, "She kicked your ass?"

"That she did, sweetheart." Striker laughed along with her. "She swore to get even with me the next time we met and it didn't take long either. About a couple days later, I was about to take down another target, only to find them already dead and your mother giving me a pretty smug look. From that day on, it wound up becoming a routine for the both of us: one day, she'd beat me, the next, I beat her right back."

"What changed?"

"Well, on one particular heist, I saw her fighting a gang of imps and while she did manage to handle them herself for a while, I could tell they were about to get the upper hand any second. And next thing I know, I jumped right in the middle of the fight and beat the ever-living shit out of them till they ran with their tails between their legs." Maria laughed again for a bit. "Yer momma was really amazed, even after I offered to tend to her wounds. She then told me all about her situation and asked if I could help her."

"...Did you?"

"How could I not? She clearly needed it, whether she wanted to admit it or not. Anyway, ever since then, the two of us became quite a duo. We became probably the roughest, toughest killin' team in the seven rings, always had each other's backs through the good and bad times. As time went on, we also started to open up more about ourselves. That's when we realized we loved each other. Soon, we spent a lot of our off time together. And then one day, the most incredible thing happened." She giggled when he tickled her belly. "Our little girl was born."

Maria looked hesitant, but the question wouldn't leave her alone. "What happened to her?"

Striker took a deep breath, it's now or never. "Yer momma started to feel sick, had trouble breathing. It didn't seem bad at first, but it slowly got to the point where she couldn't get out of bed." Maria started to look sad as he kept talking. "She and I weren't even married when we had you and I'd been planning to propose to her when she recovered... but I never got the chance..."

"Baby girl, not a day goes by that I don't think about her. A lot of times, when things were tough, I wish she was here with me, with both of us." He started to think about all the times they'd spent together when she was pregnant; just seeing her smile down at her stomach as if she knew her unborn child was listening felt wonderful. "She was brave, tough, independent, and stubborn as hell, but very sweet and gentle at the same time."

Striker's eyes welled up with tears, but he didn't care at this point. "Serenity... that was her name... my darlin' Serenity..."

He sat in silence for a while as a lone tear streamed down his face. Oh, how he missed her. How he wished she could be here right now and see how far he'd come. He could almost picture the bright look of joy on her face, telling him how proud she was of him. The thought only lasted for a moment once he heard his daughter sniffling. Striker turned and saw Maria had curled into a ball crying and hugging her legs to her.

"Oh, sweetie, c'mere." Striker gently pulled her close, cradling her in his arms, just like when she was a baby. "Shh, don't cry. It's okay. I gotcha."

"Daddy... I'm so sorry..."

"No, baby doll. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"But... she died because of me."

Striker's face dropped in horror. This was the biggest reason he was worried to tell her before. But he knew damn well that it wasn't true. And now that it was out, he had to make sure she knew. He didn't want her to feel this way, not ever.

"Maria, listen to me. What happened to your mother is not your fault, you were just a baby. But let me tell you, she fought her hardest to stay with you." Striker smiled a bit as he wiped his daughter's tears. "When she passed away, I made a promise to her that I'd protect you and take care of you. And I'm gonna keep my word because she'd want you to be happy, okay?"

"...Okay."

"Good girl. Now tell me, who put those nasty things in your head?"

"...Loona."

Striker made a soft growl. One of these days, that hellhound was gonna go too far. "When we get back to work, I'm gonna have a talk with her. What she said was wrong and I never wanna hear you blame yourself again, you hear me?"

Maria sniffled and nodded, snuggling deeper in her dad's arms. "I wish I could've met her."

"Me too, baby girl. She would've loved you very much. And it won't be long till you get to join us in killin'. I bet she'd be very proud of you. I know I am."

"Daddy?"

"Hmm?"

"...I love you."

"I love you too, princess." Striker kissed her forehead. Father and daughter stayed holding onto each other for some time, enjoying their moment together. Of course, it didn't take too long for Striker to realize a certain somebody was video recording the whole thing...


Aww c'mon, you can't tell me Blitz wasn't gonna come in on this moment! XD

Anyway, in case you're wondering, we may learn more about Serenity in the future, who knows when though.