A Mother's Love

Synopsis: This is just a tribute to Mother's Day (even though it's a day late), so I hope you enjoy this little one-shot and give thanks to your mothers on the special occasion.

Now onto the story

Rifana's POV:

It was a great afternoon and I just played with Auntie Keel, along with the other kids. We all decided to play tag for a while. I was gonna win, until Auntie Keel got serious...She's always so fast and it's not fair! Mommy did tell me about how Auntie Keel had so much energy whenever she played games when they were also kids. As soon as we all got tired, I went to mommy under the tree, but there was something wrong with her. She looked sad…

"Mommy..? What's wrong?" I asked her then she looked over me with a smile on her face.

"It's nothing sweetie. I was just deep in thought…" She told me. She might have a smile on her face, but something was off about it. She still looked sad…

As we went back home while holding hands, upon opening the door we didn't see where daddy was. We tried to look for him, until we heard a weird screamy sound from the kitchen.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

Me and mommy ran to the kitchen and then we saw daddy scratching his hair up while sitting on the kitchen table.

"W-what's wrong Naofumi?!" Mommy said as she looked worried while still holding my hand. I was also worried about Daddy until he looked at us with a forced smile on his face.

"I-It's nothing Raphtalia. I-I was just thinking about something.." He forced the words out of his mouth. I don't understand why, but why did Daddy say it like that?

"A-are you really sure Naofumi..? Remember that you can always tell me about it.." Mommy told Daddy. She was always worried when daddy was having problems. Whenever I see Daddy is looking sad, I always ran up to him and gave him hugs. And I did.

Daddy was laughing for a bit and lifted me up as he put me down on his lap and gave me a head pat. I always did like it whenever Daddy gave me head pats. Ehehe~

Mommy smiled a bit and proceeded to give both of us a hug and kisses on the cheeks. Mommy is always the best~!

"I'm just going to change my clothes for a bit Naofumi." Mommy told Daddy and then she left the room and headed to the bedroom.

"Why did you scream Daddy?" I started asking about it. I know that Daddy was still feeling a bit distressed now. He sighed for a bit and looked at me.

"You see, Rifana… In Daddy's world, there's a holiday called 'Mother's Day'. I nearly forgot about it since the holiday is tomorrow and that I didn't have a plan for it..." Daddy explained to me.

"Mother's Day? Is it Mommy's birthday already?" I was confused as I asked. Birthdays are always the best, and whenever I have my birthday, I always love spending it with everyone here.

But Daddy giggled for a bit and then explained it further. "No it's not Mommy's Birthday tomorrow. You see, Mother's Day is a day to celebrate your mommy for being the best in the world."

I was surprised and I felt excited! "Wow! Should I go and tell mommy now? Oohh I wanna tell her now!" I tried to run to Mommy as fast as I could, but Daddy held onto my arm.

"N-not yet honey. For now, this will be our little secret. It's gonna be a big surprise for Mommy okay?" Daddy told me. I nodded for a bit before Mommy finally appeared again in the kitchen in her dress.

"Do you guys want to go for a walk on the beach?" Mommy asked us and me and Daddy looked at each other and gave Mommy a big grin.

"Let's go!" we both said at the same time. We went out again and took a nice and long walk on the beach as we also enjoyed the water. Mommy really is the best~!

Naofumi's POV:

I looked over at Raphtalia as we enjoyed the water for a bit. She really did look serene whenever she looked happy. I blushed at the thought as we enjoyed the rest of the day in peace and happiness with Rifana. We headed home after Rifana felt sleepy, so I had to carry her home for a bit as I held onto Raphtalia's hand.

I was still deep in thought about how I would surprise her for tomorrow. It's been a lot of years since Rifana was born, but I hated myself a bit for not telling her about Mother's Day. Luckily Ren gave me a quick reminder about it after I saw him yesterday in the marketplace buying a bouquet of flowers.

"Why are you buying a bouquet? Is it for Wyndia?" I asked him as I had a hint of teasing in my voice. He just chuckled for a bit and felt rather...blue.

"No...It's for my mother…" He told me in a sincere voice.

"What happened to her?" I got curious as I asked.

"Follow me and I'll tell you about it." He asked me and I just agreed. It felt like he needed to get this off his chest. I can't understand much about how it feels since my parents did give up on me, but he really did need someone to tell it to.

As we went to the village, there was an open clearing in a part of the forest with a small gravestone. I didn't even know this part existed. He must've taken care of this himself since not many monsters appeared in these parts. As we walked closer to the grave, he knelt down and grabbed the flower jar near the gravestone.

"Hey Mom...How have you been? How's the afterlife?" He proceeded to speak to the grave as I watched in silence. He closed his eyes for a bit, he must be praying for her. I began to kneel down as well besides him as I looked over the gravestone. He proceeded to pour the dirty water inside the jar besides the stump where the grave was leaning on, pulled out his canteen and replaced it with the clean water.

Carefully, he arranged the bouquet into the jar and after doing so he began to pray again in silence. I just kept quiet as I looked over him.

"She died of Stage 4 Terminal Brain Cancer before I got transported to this world…" he began to speak. I was surprised for a bit.

"How did it begin?" I proceeded to ask him about it.

"About 2 years ago before I became 15. It was just a normal evening, until she fainted on the doorway of the kitchen. Dad contacted the paramedics and then we went straight to the hospital to learn about her condition. The doctors said that it was due to her genetics...and that she only had a year and a half to live…" He began to slowly break down as he was explaining everything.

This kind of topic would always hurt anyone. The helplessness a child feels when they know they're going to lose their mother...It's a painful experience that can leave a massive pain in their heart…The loss of a parent will always be a heavy burden for the child to bear.

I said nothing and I just patted his back for a bit. He began to regain his composure and kept talking. "After she passed and the funeral was set, that's when my friend was attacked and how I saved her life at that moment…"

He did refer to how he got transferred here when he rubbed his side for a bit. Said that he got stabbed on the side by a knife as he tried to rescue his friend.

"Now i'm just worried about Dad...He's all alone in the world now…If only I could tell him that i'm still alive and i'm doing fine…" He told me with a hint of guilt in his voice. I began to pat his shoulder again.

"We don't know what the future holds for us, but I can assure you that your mother would be proud of you for becoming a man." I reassured him. Hopefully it helped him a little.

He gave me a sincere smile and proceeded to speak again "How about you Naofumi? Aren't you going to surprise Raphtalia for tomorrow?"

"Wait...It's tomorrow?! Holy shi-! AAAAAAAAAAA! I have not prepared her anything at all! Damn it!"

He chuckled for a bit "Well you better come up with something fast. But wouldn't you have remembered that when your kid was born?"

Damn it, he's right! It totally slipped my mind! I needed to surprise her tomorrow!

That was how I became hectic a few hours ago. It was finally time for bed and I proceeded to put my hands behind my head. Raphtalia began to shuffle closer to me and I just held her shoulder as she laid on my arm. I kissed her forehead and she wistfully slept in my arms. Meanwhile, I was still deep in thought about how I'm supposed to surprise her tomorrow.

"You know what. Maybe i'll just do something simple yet special for her." I thought to myself as I closed my eyes for a bit and began to sleep.

Raphtalia's POV

I woke up when the light from the sun greeted my face and I groggily sat up and stretched my arms for a bit. I looked over a bit on the other side of the bed, only to find that Naofumi wasn't there. Where did he go?

As I walked downstairs into the kitchen to find him, I saw something else. A breakfast plate on the table? There was also a cup of coffee next to it and a single rose. I even noticed a folded paper underneath the plate.

"Did Naofumi do this?" I asked myself as I grabbed the note underneath the plate and began to read it.

'Hey beautiful. Eat this and just take a break in the morning for now. Me and Rifana will be back for a bit.'

I read it and it made me blush. God, why is he so cheesy?! I sighed longingly as I proceeded to sit down and enjoy the breakfast. Even after we got married and after Rifana was born, He always did know how to make me feel special like it was the first time we've ever dated, I'm not gonna lie…I did love it whenever he's like that.

It made me feel like everything I did for him got paid back in full. I giggled a bit and began to enjoy the breakfast. It wasn't anything fancy, just a plate of bacon and eggs, toasted bread on the side and even handmade jam next to the coffee cup. Everything tasted wonderful and finishing it off with the coffee made it even more amazing. Back then, I didn't even like the taste of coffee since it was bitter. It really is an acquired taste, like they say…

As I finished up on breakfast, I placed it on the sink and began to wash them clean. It wasn't a special morning or anything, but it felt rather nice. Then I headed to the living room and just enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of this house. Our home…

I giggled at the thought, but I was still happy about it. The struggles we went through felt like it was just yesterday. From the moment I met him, that's when everything had changed for me and my life at that point. Back then, I thought I was better off dead…

After becoming his Sword and gaining his trust, I felt like I had another reason to live once again. Then everything just got better for us along the way. There were more trials than rewards, but every single thing we had endured together had led up to this moment in our lives. A peaceful time and a life together.

After a few hours of being alone with my thoughts, I heard the door swinging wide open. Who could it be at this morning?

"Hi Mommy! Wanna go somewhere with me today?" I looked at the door and saw Rifana waving at me as she said those words. I was confused for a bit.

"Hi sweetie. Aren't you supposed to be with Daddy?" I asked her and she answered back with a big smile on her face.

"Daddy had something else to do and told me to ask you out on a date!" She replied and I giggled for a bit. It was always adorable whenever Rifana has so much energy. I wonder where she got that from though?

"Sure sweetie. Just let me change into something else for now." I told her and she just sat in the chair of the living room and waited on me while feeling a bit giddy. Was she hiding something from me?

I tried my best to ignore the question and I went to our room to change into my sweater dress and boots. This really did feel nostalgic, even though the vassal weapon I have is just resting on the back of my hips. As I was finished getting dressed and headed to the living room, Rifana had already stood up and ran to me and gave me a hug. I giggled and gave her a hug in return.

"You look pretty Mommy!" She told me with a smile on her face as her little tail was wagging happily. For a moment, she really did remind me of myself back then… Ahaha.

I patted her head and gave her a smile. "Thank you sweetie. So where are we headed today?" I asked her.

She giggled for a bit and just smiled. "We're going anywhere we want Mommy!" She raised her hands as she said that. I held onto her hand and smiled as we began to head out for the entire day.

We just walked around the streets of Melromarc, went to the beach near Lurolona, ventured out into the forest. A few mobs did show up and Rifana got scared for a bit whenever they showed up, but I cut them all down. A few did try to get close to Rifana, but they all met the edge of my katana for trying to harm my precious child.

"Mommy is really strong yet scary…" Rifana whispered to herself.

"What was that sweetie?" I asked her curiously and she looked away for a bit and looked nervously to the side. I was still gripping on the balloon trying to bite her with my hands.

The day went by relatively peacefully until it was finally sundown. I was still wondering where Naofumi had gone the entire day. Was he in another town or village?

But until we went home, we saw the note in front of the door.

Naofumi's POV

I heard the door open up. Looks like she read the note. Luckily I had already set up the surprise dinner I planned out for her, plus the gift I had to go from other towns to do so. Seriously, I had to find the dressmaker for Filo, which was weirdly difficult. I just didn't know she also went to Shieldfreeden and that I had to ask for Gaelion for a ride.

Surprisingly enough, I didn't expect to get back here so quickly in the afternoon. Kudos to Rifana for distracting Raphtalia for this long.

"Happy Mother's Day, Raphtalia!" I surprised both of them as I said it. She did get surprised, but she gave me a puzzled look.

"Mother's Day? What's that Naofumi?" She asked me. I figured none of them knew about the holiday, I guess.

But it looks like Rifana beat me to the punch. "It's a day for Mommy to enjoy!" she explained proudly and happily.

"A day for me?" She asked.

"It's a holiday to show appreciation for mothers in my world. I'm not sure if the holiday also existed in this world as well." I explained.

She giggled and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Looks like she somewhat read my mind that I was rushing to prepare everything.

Even after all these years, I still can't figure out the trick that lets her read my mind. I am seriously questioning if it was magic or not at this point in our marriage.

Looks like she did it again. She gave me a mischievous grin and glared at me. "Were you thinking of something rude again, Naofumi-sama~?"

I chuckled for a bit and led her to the dinner table by hand. Then Rifana joined us for dinner since she did say that she was hungry. I laughed for a bit and we enjoyed the meal I had cooked up. It's nothing fancy and all, but at least every single day we spend together is always the greatest moments in our lives.

"Hey Raphtalia. Do you wanna go somewhere after this?" I asked her as she was eating.

"Sure Naofumi. Where are we going?" She asked me while having a skeptical look.

"Since today is Mother's Day, we're going to visit a special place." I explained to her and she just agreed with a smile. But for a brief moment, I felt like she already understood where we were headed to end this day. Hopefully this wouldn't be a painful memory for her since…

After we had cleaned up the meal, we held on Rifana's hands and we went to her parent's graves. This will also be the first time we let Rifana meet her grandparents.

"Where are we going Daddy?" Rifana asked me, and Raphtalia proceeded to answer the question.

"Sweetie, we're going to visit your grandma and grandpa." She answered with a sincere smile and look on her face. Rifana had the happiest look on her face as her bushy tail was swinging as fast as it could. She was really excited.

"Really Mommy?! Yay! I'm gonna see them!" She leapt for joy while we were still holding onto her hands. We both chuckled for a bit as we finally headed to their gravestones.

Raphtalia's POV

Before we left, Naofumi had grabbed a few flowers in the forest and then in his hands was his canteen full of water. That must be for the flowers.

For a long time, I decided not to dwell so much on the past and tried looking forward, but...It's hard to do so since I couldn't even give a proper farewell to my parents, especially to my mother on this day…

I was about to cry, but then Naofumi held on my hand tightly after he gave the flowers to Rifana.

"It's alright. I'm here for you Raphtalia…" He told me as we were finally near their grave. It reassured me for a bit and helped me gain control of my emotions. When we got closer to the graves, Rifana pulled on my dress for a bit.

"Mommy...Where are they?" she asked me and I gave her a sad smile as I pointed to their graves.

"Oh…" she said with a sad tone to her voice and proceeded to give me a gentle hug. Then I knelt down and just hugged her back as I tried to hold back my tears. Then Naofumi held both our shoulders and gave us both a sincere smile.

"Let's go. We don't want to keep them waiting…" He said. I nodded a bit while Rifana wiped the tears from my eyes as I did the same for her as well. He held onto the jar of flowers as we knelt down again in front of their graves.

After Naofumi had filled the jar with water from the canteen as he placed the flowers inside once again, me and Rifana began to pray for them, then Naofumi joined us in prayer…

After I prayed silently over them, I began to cry…

"If only they know...If only I could tell them...How much I love them…" I stuttered as I kept sobbing. I didn't notice that Rifana had started crying. She really is my child…

Naofumi gave me an embrace that was full of sincerity and love...I just held onto him like a lifeline...I was just at a loss for that moment.

"I wished I could go back...and save them…" I just whispered these words with a lingering feeling of bitter regret in my voice. I wanted to…

"Sometimes, parents can be selfish when it comes to their children. For better or for worse…" Naofumi started to speak while still hugging me and Rifana.

"Even if they're gone. They'll always watch over you. Over us...They know how much you love them and how much you miss them."

It made me feel a little better after hearing that.

"Don't worry Mommy. Grandma and Grandpa will always be with us!" Rifana said as she was still hugging me. I giggled and patted her head as I looked to the night sky.

"If only they could see Rifana, they would've spoiled her rotten" I said to Naofumi as I giggled softly. He also gave out a chuckle as he rubbed his hair for a bit.

Dad...Thank you for protecting me and loving me on that day...Mom…

I love you and thank you for giving birth to me…

I quietly said to myself as we looked over the ocean and their graves.

"Happy Mother's Day, Mom…" I quietly said to myself as Naofumi held me close and Rifana hugged my leg for a bit as I had my hand on her head.

Bonus Scene:

From behind them, two apparition had shown up.

"I love you Raphtalia. I'm so proud of you…" a woman softly spoke as a man had his hand on her shoulder and held her close.

"We raised one hell of a beautiful and amazing daughter. If only we could let our grandchild know we see them!" The demi-human man had panicked for a bit as he scratched his hair in frustration.

The demi-human woman giggled for a bit. "She really does look like her though. I hope she also turns out as wonderful as Raphtalia."

The man chuckled a bit. "With her looks and energy, I think that would already be set in the future."

"Thank you for being born and continuing for us Raphtalia. I love you…"

The apparitions disappeared after the demi-human woman had said those words. Rifana looked behind her.

"Did someone say something?" She said to herself in confusion as her ears twitched for a bit.

Notes: Happy Mother's Day. Sorry if this one is a belated greeting. I did this after someone I know suggested this kind of fic. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.