Yaaaay an update! :P Sorry not updating much, the finals were horrible and visiting ith family and all, though I hope the ending of this chap makes up for it as a kinda early Christmas present . Let it snow8D

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Elma smiled brightly, cooing the infant as he shuffled around on his hands and knees. Crawling already! He wasn't even a year yet! My humans grew fast…how much longer until he was walking, she wondered? Would it be long at all?

The child shuffled around, his tuft of red hair already shaggy and wild, bouncing as he crawled around.

"Now now, come here sweetie." She smiled, holding her arms out to him as she knelt on the ground. "Come on, come to Mommy…"

Kratos stopped at the sound of her voice, trying to find her. Elma chuckled and walked over in front of him, scooping him up into her arms. Baby Kratos gurgled, snuggling up to his mother as she smiled at him.

"Such a big boy…" she cooed, bouncing him a bit. "Time for din-din-"

It was then she heard the door slam open. She whipped her head around, instinctively holding her child closer as her mother stormed in, fuming, her father following behind with an exhausted look on his face.

"She's SHAMED us!" her mother screeched.

"Dear…calm yourself, being angry will not-"

"How could she do this to us! How could she possibly become with child to a- a human-!"

Kratos began to wail in Elma's arms, alerting her parents that she was there. The maiden flinched and tried to calm her child, cooing him as she glanced up at them.

"…Father?" she asked softly. "What are you…?"

"Not you, my child." The old elf smiled weakly. "..It's just..your sister...Ariya-"

"Ariya is with child!" her mother snapped.

Elma stared. Ariya was her elder sibling by a century or so, and had taken charge of running the inn that had been built in the village for the emissaries and scholars from the human cities. As such, while unmarried she lived on her own- but- with child?

"She is?" Elma stared. "She-I didn't know she had a boyfriend-"

"A human!" her mother snapped. "Ariya bedded a human! One of the scholars from Tethe'alla! She's pregnant with a- a- "

"Halfling," her father finished simply, rubbing his face.

Elma stared. Her sister…had made love to a human? Was going to have a half human child? Halflings were not unheard of, of course…there were in fact a couple that did live in their village, but the public outlook on them was not very fair. They grew too fast, they grew like humans, learned like humans, but when they were mature they stayed youthful and lived long, like they themselves did.

"And she isn't- she isn't even ashamed! You should have heard her! Already thinking of names for it! 'Martel if it's a girl', she says! It's disgraceful-!"

Kratos began to cry again, Elma hushing him, cradling and rocking the babe in her arms. She heard her parents silence and she frowned, looking at the child. He was a human..and he was her son. She loved him, and he was human…was it..bad? Sure he wasn't biologically her child, but she had cared for him, found him, and Origin had entrusted him to her. She loved him, so…was it really that strange to think that her sister had loved a human like a mate, like she loves a human for offspring? She bit her lip, listening to her mother gripe as her father tried to calm her. Kratos began to cry louder.

"I'm taking him outside," she said finally, frowning at her parents. "He's scared."

She noticed for just a moment, the dark look her mother gave her child. Elma frowned, going to return a glare when she had already looked away, focusing on her father again. The maiden sighed, cradling Kratos in her arms and walking outside in the cooling night. It wouldn't be wise to stay out long, she knew…she didn't want him to get ill, after all. Still…this news unsettled her a bit. Was it…wrong, to love a human-? No. No she was sure it wasn't, she thought, looking down at Kratos as she tried to calm him. If it was wrong, then why would Origin let her love this one? Humans were…different yes, and strange a bit… Still, was that any reason to reject them?

"Hush, Kratos…shhhh…." She cooed.

He sniffled, cuddling up against her. He was probably hungry, she knew, but she didn't want to go back inside to feed him, not until her mother calmed. Kratos continued to cry and she sighed softly, beginning to hum to him. Slowly she picked up, singing softly to him as she danced around the patio. Kratos sniffled, quieting as she held him close. In time she quieted as he did, his little mouth suckling on the air as he slept. A weak smile cracked her lips and she looked toward the house, hear ears perked for any sound of her mother's rants. Nothing. Good..it was okay to go in now then, she figured.

"Come on, sweetie," she cooed, walking back into the house with him.

She crept into her room silently, sitting herself on her bed and pressing the infant to her so that he could nurse.

"…You're going to have a cousin," she said softly, cracking a smile. "Isn't that going to be nice, Kratos? You'll get a cousin to play with…"

Humans and half-elves matured at the same rate, to a certain point. Granted she had several nephews and nieces, but they were already nearing adolescence, and would still be so when Kratos was already fully grown. So..maybe it wouldn't be so bad, for him to have a half-elven cousin, someone to grow up with…so he wouldn't grow up totally alone, as she had been concerned…

Yes. This was a good thing.

She told herself that, at the time, but she began to wonder herself later. It wasn't that she thought her sister was in the wrong, in fact, she and the human were to be married. That didn't seem to help though, as there was only further outrage. She was certain, had her sister not been the elder's daughter that she would have been attacked at some point, it was complete madness… Still, Ariya managed to privately marry, and her child began to grow inside her womb. Elma secretly thanked the spirits she had not had to deal with pregnancy for Kratos to have been delivered to her, but did not hesitate to show her sister her support.

Besides...it's not like she was looked at fairly either.

Whenever she would walk through the village, Kratos in one arm and a basket in the other, she noticed their eyes. They were not..hostile, at least most of them were not, they were merely…wary. People eyed her, and the child she carried, and murmurs were always heard. They knew, as had decreed her father, that Origin had given her the child, but of course some did not believe that. Some even doubted her father entirely, saying he had lied because his daughter had a soft spot for some foundling child. After all, they said, it was obvious his daughters had 'unnatural' affection for humans. Still...no one was cruel to her, which was more than could be said for her poor sister…

Still, there was happier things on her mind to occupy herself with. She amused herself caring for her child, pampering him, cuddling him when he was in his waking hours. The boy continued to gain her affection, and she could almost see the intelligence blooming in his russet eyes. Yes, he'd be a smart boy, a wise man in time. A smile graced her lips, cradling the sleepy child as he began to drift into his dreams. Oh little one…how she loved him.

The child grew with her as her sister's own child grew within her in turn. The months passed quickly, as they always did for elves and it was seemed all too soon that Ariya had given birth to a little halfling girl, whom she named Martel. News of it wasn't long to Elma's ears, as her mother fumed about it when she had heard the elf woman had gone into labor, and refused to go to her side. Elma had frowned, peeking out the door as Kratos tottered about, making his usual gaggle of garbled words. He was walking easily now, though he'd occasionally trip if she didn't pay close attention to him-

A thud made her flinch.

Like that for instance. Elma turned, hurrying to her son's side as he began to cry for her, holding out his arms to plead that he be picked up.

"Shhh…shhh…quiet down…" she bid the child, bouncing him in her arms. "Calm down…"

Another screech from her mother made her flinch and the tot cry louder. Elma silently cursed her mother's fits, attempting to calm Kratos with a soft song. The child stilled and as she sang, her thoughts began to run. Her sister was having her baby, alone. No midwife would go to her, surely, and her other siblings were just as ashamed of her as their mother. She wanted to go to her herself, but then who would watch Kratos while she assisted with delivery-? She didn't even know anything of delivering a child, she hadn't even delivered her own. Her ears drooped, green eyes flicking down to the sniffling Kratos.

Still…there had to be something she could do for her, right? At the very least, she would go to her sister when the child was born and visit with them…seeing as no one else would.

He stared out the window, his eyes shimmering, bright russet orbs locked on the fluttering crystals as they piled up outside, dancing in the night air.

"Kratos, get away from the window, you'll catch a cold."

"Mommy!" the toddler beamed, not moving from his perch as he looked up at her. "It's pretty!"

Elma blinked, glancing outside into the swirling snow, then back at her two year old child. It amazed her how he could be so..simple, about things. Not that he was 'simple' in an intellectual approach, the child was very intelligent. He just never…wasted words. He used what was necessary, she supposed, while still sounding proper. That had to be a degree of intelligence showing, she thought, given how she knew many adults that still had not mastered that…

"Yes, it is pretty." She smiled softly, unable to help her amusement at his excitement. "It's snow."

"S'no." Kratos repeated, his chubby hands splayed on the glass pane.

"Snooowww," she said again, slower.

"Snow."

Elma smiled again, slipping her hands under his arms and lifting him up into her own. Kratos pouted, looking back at the window as she carried him away.

"Mommy, I want see," he said, his little lip stuck out in a huff.

"You can see the snow tomorrow, it's time for bed."

Kratos said nothing but that didn't mean he didn't protest. The child wriggled in her arms, huffing a little.

"Now now, none of that," she tsked, sitting him on his bed. "Now hold still while Mommy gets you into your pajamas."

The child huffed, crossing his little arms over his chest. Elma raised an eyebrow and the toddler faltered slightly.

"Kratos are you being bad for Mommy?" she frowned, a slight scold to her tone.

"…No," he said quietly, lowering his head and dropping his arms to his sides.

"Good boy." She patted his head. "Now let's get you ready for bed, hm? You'll be nice and warm and cozy."

He gave her no trouble, but his eyes continued to gaze out through the window, watching the snow swirl in the moonlight. Elma noted his gaze and glanced back, frowning a bit to herself. What did he find so remarkable about it? Yes children were always curious about things, that was how they learned, but shouldn't he have been content when she told him what it was? Then again, he was a human. Humans were naturally more curious than her kind, she had to remember, so it was only natural that a human child would be even moreso…

"Can I touch the snow Mommy?" he asked no sooner as she had finished dressing him.

"No, Kratos, it's cold," she said, pulling back the covers so he could lay down.

"Why?"

"Because snow is cold."

"Why?"

"…"

Come to think of it, she had never thought about that. Why was snow cold? It was just…cold, it was ice, and ice was cold- wait, why was ice cold? She had never really thought about it, it never seemed very important…

"Mommy? Can we play in it?" he asked, looking up at her with big russet eyes.

Play in it? …Well, she didn't see anything wrong with that, she had enjoyed playing in the snow in her youth as well. She would just have to make sure he was bundled up, so he kept warm…

"Yes," she said with a nod. "Tomorrow, you and I will go play in the snow, when the sun is up, okay?"

That seemed to satisfy the child, as he grinned brightly, bouncing in place.

"Mommy gonna play in snow!" he said.

A weak smile cracked her face again and she nodded.

"Yes, but first you have to go to sleep."

Kratos pouted.

"The faster you go to sleep the faster it'll be tomorrow and the faster we will play in the snow."

The boy twitched and buried himself into the mattress, snuggling his head into the pillow. Elma laughed, pulling the covers up around him and tucking them neatly into his sides. She smiled and gently kissed his forehead, then made her way over to her own bed in preparation for the cold night. Kratos snuggled into his mattress, his eyes shut tightly, trying to force himself to sleep. He couldn't wait to play in the snow. It looked so pretty! And Mommy was going to play with him too! What more could he want? Snow was pretty, pretty like Mommy…though Mommy wasn't cold like she said snow was. Mommy was warm, like the blankies. He smiled at the thought, snuggling more as he heard his mother blow out the light.

"Good night, sweetie," she said. "I love you."

Mommy loved him. That made him even more warm.

AWWWW TODDLR KRATOS IS SKLEEEEEEE

Hope you liked n.n Merry Christmas n.n