Second occasionally took Michio and Mieru to see Yuma. It was always funny to her because despite her telling them that he was there uncle, Vector had told them he was actually their grandpa and they took to calling him that, much to his displeasure.

"Grandpa, grandpa!" both kids said when Yuma opened the front door. He cringed a little but then hugged them.

"I told you I'm not that old," he said said with a slight laugh.

"But that's what dad said you are," Michio said.

"Of course he did." Yuma sighed but then smiled again. "Oh well, I guess I can't stop you."

Second laughed a little and then pulled him aside. "Hey, I need to ask Astral something, can you call him out for me?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, one second."

Astral then appeared next to him. "Hm? Oh, well Second," he said. "What do you need?"

She started talking to him when she noticed that Mieru was looking at them.

"Who are you talking to, mom?" she asked.

Second looked at her, eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

"That guy right there," she said, pointing at Astral.

"You can see him?"

"Yes? Should I not?"

"No no, I just didn't think you could."

"Oh, well I can." She walked closer to him. "Hello!"

"Hello there," he said. "So, you can hear me too?"

She nodded.

"This is Astral," Second said. "He's technically your other grandpa," she added, knowing there was no point in hiding that fact.

"Another grandpa?" Her eyes lit up. "So cool! So wait, does that mean me and Michio have two grandmas too?"

"Well not really, dear."

"Aw, well two grandpas is still nice." She got close to Astral, looking right into his eyes with awe. "I'm Mieru! I'm seven! Why do you look so weird, grandpa Astral?"

Second laughed a little, unsure how to react to her daughter.

Michio noticed her talking to someone and walked over.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Grandpa Astral."

"What do you mean? There's no one there."

"Yes there is, he's right there." She pointed.

Michio narrowed his eyes. "No, there isn't. Why are you lying?"

"I'm not lying! He's right there!" She pointed again, this time actually putting her finger through Astral.

"No there isn't, you're lying. Mom! Tell Mieru to stop lying about seeing people!" he yelled.

"But I'm not! Mom sees him too!" she said, her eyes getting teary. She grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. "Right there, right there!"

Then Michio's eyes seemed to widen as if he saw a ghost.

"Who—who is that?" he said looking at Second.

"You can see him now too?"

He just nodded, too shocked to even speak. He let go of Mieru's hand and then saw Astral disappear. So he grabbed her hand again, and he could see him again.

"Wow. Yes, I can see him. Is he our other grandpa?"

She nodded. "That's Astral."

"Hi Astral." He waved.

After about an hour of the kids bombarding Astral with questions, Second finally managed to get them to leave.

"Why did you never tell us about him?" both children asked as they walked home.

"Well, because of him not really being visible, I figured it would be better to just not say anything."

"Oh, okay." Mieru then smiled. "I'm happy I can see him."

"I'm glad. And I'm glad Michio can see him too with your help," she said smiling at her daughter.

When they got home they instantly went to Vector.

"Dad, we got to see our other grandpa today!" Mieru and Michio said excitedly.

"Oh really?" He said looking at both of them.

"Yeah! I'm special, so I can see him!" Mieru said. "And Michio can see him too if I hold his hand." She grinned.

"Amazing, dear," he said patting her head.

Michio sat next to him. "Hey dad, how come we've never seen grandparents from you?" he asked.

"Um...it's a long story," he said, looking away. "They...aren't here right now."

"So they might come here one day?" Mieru asked, not really understanding what he meant.

"No, sorry dear, that's that how it works."

"Oh." She looked frowned in disappointed.

That night though, Second noticed that Vector had been unusually quiet. "Something wrong dear?"

"No, just...thinking."

"Oh that's not good," she said jokingly.

He shrugged off her comment. "Just...what the kids said got me thinking about some things."

"Like your past?"

"Yeah. Like I don't even remember my parents' names. I remember my father was horrible, but...that's it." He sighed a heavy sigh.

"Maybe you should go back to your ruins some time. That might bring back some memories."

"Yeah, but, it's still annoying that I don't remember at all." he said in an unusually quiet tone.

"Well, Don Thousand did take a lot from you, and I don't see why memories wouldn't be off limits to him."

He lied back down next to her, cradling into her side. "Don't remind me."

"I've never seen you like this," she said, leaning over him and kissing his cheek. "I know it's sad, but you can't think too much on it, dear. Maybe you'll learn a few new things if you go back there."

"Yeah maybe." He turned over and kissed her back. "And I have good memories now, so I can't be overly upset." He laughed a little.

"Well I'm glad for that, dear." She hugged him tightly.


That weekend Vector decided he wanted go out on a bit of an adventure.

"Second, I'm taking the kids to the park," he said as they got their shoes on.

She laughed a little. "Oh, what a surprise. But all right, have fun then," she said waving to them.

"Yeah, bye," he said ducking away. But instead of going to the front door he went to a side closet. He made a 'sh' sigh to the kids to quieten them and and put his hand on the door before opening it. On the other side was the sea and what looked like a castle. He pushed the kids though the door and then put a rock in the doorway so the door wouldn't close all the way.

Mieru and Michio looked around in wonder.

"What is this place, dad?" Michio asked when they were away from the door.

"This is—well was —my home. Many, many years ago," he said walking through an archway.

"You lived in a castle?" Mieru said in shock. "So were you a king?"

"A prince, but it doesn't really mean anything now," he said with a sigh.

"Oh...so what happened? Are you still a prince?"

"No dear, I'm not. And what happened is a long, long story. Maybe one day I'll tell it to you." He forced open the front door and pulled out a light. "Today I'll tell you something else."

He took the kids up a staircase. Mieru clung to him, afraid of the abandoned castle. There were paintings on the wall that Vector shined his light on.

"Remember how you guys asked why you never saw my parents?"

They both nodded.

They made it to a landing and the sun was shining bright enough that his light wasn't needed.

"Well, I thought I should show you them today," he said, looking up at the wall. On it was a mural with a man and woman, and the woman seemed to be holding a baby. The man seemed to stare down at them with an angry glare, while the woman seemed happy, or at least tried act like it.

"He was my father." Vector pointed up at the painting. "And that was my mother."

"That man is scary," Mieru said in a small voice.

"He was. He was a very mean man. But he isn't here anymore, so you don't have to be scared," he said.

"Who's the baby your mom's holding?" Michio pointed.

"That was me...or at least I think it is."

"Oh." Michio smiled. "It's you as a baby." He giggled.

"That it is."

"What were their names?" Mieru asked.

"I...don't know. I don't remember then. And I can't find them or read anything about them."

"How sad." Mieru walked closer to the wall. "Your mom is pretty."

"Yeah, she was."

"What was she like?"

"She was very nice, and she cared a lot about me. She'd do anything to make sure I was safe." He said. For a second, he remember the last thing ever did for him. He shook his head, hating the fact that one of the few things he could remember was her death.

"She sounds just like mom."

"You're right." He smiled a little. "Maybe because that's what most moms would do for their children."

Mieru was quiet for a second and then looked at him.

"Dad, remember when I first used my crystal?"

"Oh yes I do," he said.

"Was I seeing this version of you?" she asked seriously.

He sighed. "Yes, it was. One day I'll tell you the whole story to that."

After awhile they left the castle and the kids were playing in the water on a small beach. Vector noticed something in the corner of his eye, and saw that Second was there.

"How did you—"

"It's hard to miss a door that's open to the ocean," she said. "Some of those birds are loud, one almost got in the house." She shook her head with a quiet laugh.

"Sorry."

"No need to be sorry," she said with a smile. "So, you decided to show them then?"

"Yeah, no point in hiding it."

"Very true. Honestly considering they can see Astral and are okay with him, I'm sure what you showed them was nothing out-of-the-ordinary."

"That's true." He looked down. "I wonder what she'd think of me now..."

"What do you mean?" Second asked.

"I mean, my mom—I just wonder what she'd think of me...after everything I did."

"Well what you did before is in the past, and I'm sure she forgave you for all of it."

"Do you really think so?"

"Well, everyone else has pretty much forgiven you. Why wouldn't she?"

Vector's voice grew quiet. "Just...let me think."

She walked around him and hugged him. He closed his eyes, and for a moment saw his own mother in her place. He hugged her tightly without thinking.

"I'm sure if she was here now she'd be happy to see who you've become: overcoming what Don Thousand did to you, regaining your humanity, and becoming a good father."

"You really think that?"

"Of course I do." She kissed his cheek. "Would I lie to you?"

"No, no you wouldn't," He said, patting her arm. "I guess you're right. I hope she's smiling down at me."