Naruto was, Irene decided, much more comfortable and relaxing than having her back propped against her sword.

He was sitting in Irene's lap as she held onto him like he was a teddy bear. He'd fallen asleep not too long ago, her arms around him and his ear over her heart as he had listened to it as well as a lullaby she'd hummed to him. Relaxed to where he was asleep like the she was feeling comfortable enough with him there to fall asleep.

She'd stopped teaching him how to speak. Ever since that odd event where she was deemed trustworthy enough to become his guardian in full, he'd suddenly been able to fluently speak her language as easily as if he'd been doing it his entire life, so there was no real need for them. She

that vision she'd had of his biological parents had something to do with it. Whatever had pulled her to meet them, it had scanned her mind, after all.

Irene was secretly pleased however, to learn that was the extent of what had been transferred: language. She still got to use the rest of his lessons as a bonding shook her head.

How that happened, she had no idea, but there was no denying it had for her. Somehow, she just knew it had been real rather than some dream or illusion.

We entrust you with our son...part of her wondered what the two had been thinking. Her? Care for a child? The idea was crazy. She could provide nothing that he needed. A human would have given him a roof over his head and a proper bed at least. Yet...as she sat there in front of their campfire under the stars, her back against the flat of her sword, arms around Naruto and one hand running through the sleeping child's hair, the other part of her felt...content, with the fact that they had.

For so long now, all she'd ever known was the fear and admiration her skills and reputation generated...all she'd known were the weight of her sword and the scent of blood.

That was no way to live. She knew that. Yet what could she do? For most of her life, it was all that had ever defined her as a person.

It was, she supposed, along with wanting to leave some testament to her existence, where of her desire to surpass and dethrone Teresa and claim the Number One-ranking came from.

But now now...now the situation had changed.

She smiled at the young boy with her, yes...the situation had definitely changed.

Here was someone that needed her...someone that depended on her. For the first time since becoming a hybrid, her life wasn't just her own.

It was an odd, yet comforting feeling.

She couldn't protect him forever, she knew that. And it put the taste of ashes in her mouth. Eventually she'd fall against an enemy, a warrior's life was a dangerous one, after all. And the idea of Naruto being left to fend for himself again made her blood boil and turn to bile in her veins.

She hoped that this alliance between the three Awakened, ex-Number Ones lasted as long as possible. Sure, she knew it was wrong to have such a wish, but as long as they were a unified front, they were priority. The Organization would deem their search for the Seraph...their hunt for Naruto...as being too risky unless they wanted the power she refused to tell them that Naruto held to fall into the hands of their enemies after the Organization itself led them to him.

Because of what she had told them to excuse his presence as well as well as what she'd suggested to her superiors about advising the Organization's Warriors to take up as human a level as possible as far as behavior and use things such as covert operations tactics until the Abyss Trinity disbanded, they'd leave him alone and wouldn't even spare him a glance. Assume he was part of the act. No reason for Rimuto or anyone else to suspect anything about Naruto.

As if roused by the thoughts he was the subject of, the boy's brilliant, electric sapphire blue eyes fluttered open and he looked up at her face.

"...Irene...?"

"Hmm?"

Naruto hesitated, something that caught her attention. Naruto nervous? Whatever he looked like he wanted to say must have been important. "What is it?"

"Irene...I was...I mean if it's alright...I was wondering...what I mean to say is..." he gulped and looked down, yet still spoke loudly and clearly,"Can I...Can I call you..."mom"?..." he asked then shut his eyes then winced and tensed up as if bracing himself for a blow.

Stunned beyond all belief, Irene raised his head so that their eyes met and she smiled kindly at him as her arms tightened around him and held him close, nuzzling her cheek against his own as her chin rested on his shoulder and in the crook of his neck.

"...I'd like that."

Naruto threw his arms around her neck and wept thick, fat, happy tear cascading down his face freely, an impossibly huge smile on his face and he felt like he could fly.

Teresa fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Clare,

'So I was the one she was comforting that day! She didn't cling to me because I saved her from that yoma, but because she knew we shared the same kind of pain. Everything she had was taken away from her, and she could sense that I had suffered in the same way. She sensed our kinship, even when I couldn't. She comforted me in a way that no one in the village would do for her. She gave me what she wanted so badly for herself Understanding...and unconditional love. The same love...that Clare has never known for herself.'

Teresa fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Clare, streams of water that she had forgotten she could do, running down her face. Suddenly finding her actions upon first meeting her abhorrent. 'I kicked this tiny girl over and over when all she wanted was to be held. She taught me something I thought I'd never learn. That even silver eyes like these can still shed tears.'

She'd heard the rumors that lad been floating around lately and that's when she realized something that she found bothered her all the more. 'To think, if it weren't for that being, whomever or whatever they are, arriving and Irene being sent to find them, I never would have met this wonderful little girl at all.'

At the thought, she held Clare tighter.

Seraph...thank you.

"...A child? One not even a Claymore?" Isely repeated. "Are you sure?"

Luciela nodded. "Do my injuries look like sword wounds?!"

Riful giggled. "Well this is interesting...and given that you mentioned our alliance to the current Number Two, then the Organization knows already."

"Since the Number Two was useless, they'd most likely have this child placed under the protection of the current Number One." Luciela said.

Isely paced, looking thoughtful at that, "The current Number One...that'd be Teresa of the Faint Smile."

At the mention of her name, all three of the Abyssal Ones shivered.

"Please...don't mention that one..." Riful said, rubbing her arms.

"I need to, we might have to fight both her and this so-called Seraph if we're to claim that power." Isely said.

Riful and Luciela shared a glance, it was impossible to tell which was paler.

"...The Seraph and The Warden?"

This would be tricky.

"We can't delay if that is the case...either we claim this Seraph's power or we kill them...either way, this means we need to go on the immediate offensive. And cut down any and all Claymore we encounter along the way!" Isely said, his power flaring and his eyes glowing an icy blue.

The other two nodded as they did the same, Luciela's eye shining from within and becoming amber while Riful's turned completely red.