Chapter Ten
When you were standing directly in front of the headmaster of Beacon Academy, there wasn't really any appropriate reaction you could make other than a wide-eyed stare and a slack jaw. Especially when you've just tangoed with a Beowolf and nearly died in the process.
And, if you were to consider said headmaster's assistant beside him, the very person who'd just saved your butt, it was also a miracle to not have melted into a puddle of embarrassment by now. Such was Lune's current status, and she could easily imagine her past self sighing and shaking her head while wondering what Ozpin himself was doing in this neck of the woods.
Woods which were also, by the way, on the far, far west of Vale when Beacon Academy was situated on the east.
"Well, y'see…" the faunus finally managed to say, remembering that she still had a question to answer. She winced slightly as she accidentally rubbed the arm that still bore the bite marks of the Beowolf earlier. Ouch. Aura did quicken the body's healing process, but its speed also depended on the severity of the wound. Getting bitten wasn't exactly something you could describe as just a scratch. "I was making my way back home to check up on my parents." She explained. Then, after a pause, she added, "And I'm not in need of medical help, before you ask. It's stopped bleeding."
Lune went to grab a roll of bandage for her arm, anyway, going through the process of neatly wrapping the thing around her arm so all she had to worry about was a bunch of bite marks, nothing worse. She had one all packed up on her bag—that she almost forgot existed—and, yes, she was stupid to have missed packing a knife or any small weapon when she managed to bring with her first-aid stuff.
"I see. I take it this is your usual route, going home?" Ozpin asked next.
Lune swallowed as she finished up her bandaging, not answering at once. The man wasn't intimidating by any means, being more along the lines of affable and a bit stoic, but maybe it was what Lune remembered of him that made her feel uncomfortable. Made her subtly shift her weight from one foot to another while trying to maintain a calm and collected expression.
At least, the most calm and collected expression she could muster after one rough fight. She was definitely being the polar opposite of how Ruby would feel when she would finally meet him sometime after she turned fifteen. Like, man, wouldn't it be awesome if she could just see Ozpin and company as superstars instead of people she was wary of?
After all, here was a person who was a whole lot more than meets the eye. Here was a person who held secrets close to his chest and merely shared it with a select few. A person who wasn't simply in a certain location for no reason at all. A total unknown when you stripped away his current position as headmaster of Beacon. Other than what Lune remembered of him, Ozpin was still a mystery overall.
"Yes," she said. It was her best response after being "busy" from dealing with her healing wound. Seeing as this was an opportunity to make a subtle inquiry of her own, she added, "I only usually see Huntsmen or the occasional traveler walking around here, though. Not headmasters and their assistants."
"So you know who I am."
Lune gave a small smile. A safe enough question to answer without gaining suspicion (like, oh, she didn't know, she'd technically met them before, maybe?). That, and she swore she'd heard that same line before. "Sir, I'm not doing a good job as a warrior-in-training if I keep living under a rock."
Ozpin's lips curled into a smile of his own while Glynda seemed to regard Lune a little differently now. It wasn't easy to tell since the woman still had that stern expression on her face and her arms were still crossed, but she didn't seem as frigid as she did earlier. At least she hoped she wasn't imagining the way Glynda relaxed ever-so-slightly.
Still, that didn't stop the scolding the woman had been wanting to give Lune since her rescue earlier. "And if you were to ask me, you still have a great deal of learning to do, young lady. What were you thinking, confronting a Beowolf like that? While it can be admirable that you managed to wear it down, it's too early for someone of your skill level to do anything so dangerous."
Lune's smile vanished. The rabbit ears lopping along the sides of her head, if it were possible, drooped even more. She could only guiltily rub the back of her neck while she smiled apologetically and struggled to maintain eye contact, head slightly bowed.
While Glynda wasn't exactly one of the nicest people around, she was no liar. Lune did have a truckload of things her mind and body still needed to absorb.
And, yeah, okay, she got the message: she was stupid and suffered the consequences. Her arm's bite marks were going to be a scar, for sure, reminding her about it every day. It was lesson enough.
She didn't appreciate getting reminded of that, but what person would anyway? She could only take it and make sure it stuck.
"Now, Glynda, it appears the girl is already aware of the error of her ways. She'll certainly remember this in the future; you learn the most when you make mistakes, after all," Ozpin said, his tone of voice never changing. "That being said, you know who I am, but I certainly don't know who I am speaking to."
"Right," Lune said and let her hand fall to her side. She straightened herself up, suddenly reminded that whatever she thought of Ozpin personally, she needed to behave better. She offered her hand. "I'm Lune. Lune Beryl. I'd, um, say it's a pleasure to meet you if circumstances were otherwise."
"Beryl, you say." Ozpin said. He eyed Lune's proffered hand with mild amusement before giving it a firm shake.
Well, other than realizing a handshake must've looked pretty silly if a kid was doing it, Lune wondered just exactly what he knew. There was something about the way those words escaped his lips. Something knowing, like he was waiting for her to discover it. But on the other hand, he hadn't made any comments about her unnatural Aura, either. Either he knew and he was just rolling with it, or he thought it polite not to make any mention of it. Or something else entirely—she wasn't that good at reading people like him.
"I don't suppose you're related to a certain River Beryl, then?" He asked next.
Never mind. That was probably it. But then…
He knew my mom? Lune thought. It was, like, the only question ringing on her mind now. But despite that, she managed to maintain a more-or-less polite face and bobbed her head up and down, mentally telling herself that this was probably another one of those things that her mom wasn't all too keen on mentioning. As for what reason… she didn't know. There were lots of things her mom didn't like talking about. Dad was the more open one between the two of them.
Standard protocol, then. Roll with it.
"She's my mom," Lune answered anyway. Then she smiled the dry smile that proved she resembled the woman. Although, honestly… her reaction was more of making sure she had that on her face instead of a puzzled frown. "There isn't really a lot of faunus around here."
The briefest exchange of glances between Ozpin and Glynda made her mind think of even more questions. It happened so fast, she almost didn't catch it.
"Ah, but of course," Ozpin said smoothly, like nothing happened. "There is quite the resemblance between the two of you. Your mother had briefly attended Beacon, you see."
Well, that explains.
Lune had kind of gathered that from the little bits of information her mom had told her from time to time. Still, that didn't stop her from blinking hard; her mom didn't just attend a combat school—she attended Beacon Academy. Lune respected her mom's wishes of keeping some skeletons hidden safely in their closets, just as she'd told her, but it did make her heart sink a millimeter that she had to learn this from someone who was technically a stranger if she didn't know who Ozpin was.
Roll with it, she reminded herself again.
"Oh," was the most eloquent reply Lune could come up with. Deciding that maybe this situation might be taking a strange turn because she might not know what to do if Ozpin revealed more, she eyed the road ahead before returning her gaze to both headmaster and assistant. "Um. Right. Okay. In any case, I'd probably wasted your time enough. Headmasters have a lot of important stuff to deal with, last I checked—and uh, sorry, that probably sounded rude—so I think I've wasted your time enough." Lune said, making fast gestures with her hand. "I should… probably be heading home. I don't hear any Beowolves anymore so that last one was probably a straggler, and my home should be close by now."
The gray-haired man was ever-so-polite as he nodded his head, the smile never leaving his face. "You're certain you don't need to be escorted home? It's for your own safety, after all."
Lune shook her head, careful not to do it too quickly. She wasn't rude. And other than the fact that she'd never live this down because she made Beacon's headmaster feel obligated to walk her home, the very thought of this kind of scenario happening was too embarrassing. And awkward. Especially if Ozpin—and Glynda—were to be witness to her mother going mother hen on her daughter the moment she noticed the bandage on her arm.
It wasn't exactly dignifying. Not the kind of impression she'd want to have before she even stepped foot into Beacon.
"No, seriously. I'll be fine, sir. I can always holler if something comes up." Lune said. She probably hadn't sounded too convincing when she realized her tone of voice might have been a pitch higher, but whatever.
"Very well, then. If you insist." Ozpin said. He seemed to have thought of turning around and gesturing for Glynda to follow him, having noticed the way he'd almost moved from his spot, but at the end he remained where he stood. "Oh, but I have one last question, Miss Beryl."
"…Yes?"
"Has your mother told you any fairy tales, growing up?"
Another set of blinks. And a head tilt for good measure. It was the only appropriate reaction to a question that came out of the blue.
In fact, the question became all the weirder when she noticed Glynda's eyes widening ever so slightly as she looked at Ozpin, as if realizing that a certain red line was threatening to be crossed. The blonde, bespectacled woman hadn't done anything, however, merely remaining where she stood and deciding to let her colleague take the lead.
Going back to the fairy stories question, Lune wasn't familiar with any. Mostly because River didn't tell any. Lune did know of one, but that was only because she'd learned of it in another life. In another world—and in a once-fictional show.
See, River Beryl, by default, wasn't one for those kind of stories.
Oh, she still told Lune bedtime stories a couple years ago, but they were mostly the kind that involved some sort of moral lesson at the end. Don't cheat. Don't lie. Be honest and obedient. Help anyone who needs it, whenever possible. Be kind to everyone, even the biggest of assholes. Don't do drugs—okay, she made that last one up. But! Basically, think fables and the like, the former which sounded really strange to hear now that she was a faunus.
"Sorry, kiddo," River used to say. "They're just not my kind of thing."
(Every time, there was a faraway expression in River's eyes as they seemingly glazed over for a split-second.)
"Not really," Lune answered with a rueful shake of her head. "She doesn't… really like them."
Somehow, that seemed like an answer enough to the man. The faunus could almost say it was a perfectly expected one, judging from the lack of surprise on Ozpin's face as he nodded slowly. Glynda's expression, on the other hand, was inscrutable. As per usual. When she wasn't bluntly criticizing a Beacon student, anyway.
"I see. Then we shall be on our way now." Ozpin said, nodding to Lune once. He smiled. "I do hope to see you at Beacon someday, Miss Beryl."
Lune couldn't help but grin at that one. "You can count on it."
Just like that, the duo turned away and took the path that Lune had taken previously. They separated ways, Ozpin and Glynda moving north and Lune moving south. And, soon enough, the faunus found herself alone once more. The trees and the noisy birds were once again her companions, the slowly sinking sun bathing her surroundings in a yellow-orange glow. It would be twilight sometime soon, she figured. By then, Ozpin and Glynda would probably be riding on some airship back to Beacon after concluding their business here and—
Lune immediately stopped, and it wasn't because her home was finally in sight. She felt her jaw grow slack. Her mouth opened into a surprised 'o' shape.
And then she slapped herself on the forehead. Ugh, I'm so dumb.
It never occurred to her to find out what Ozpin was doing in Patch.
The home stretch should have taken her less than ten minutes. It was a straightforward walk from where she'd been, and she would really have to try her hardest if she ever wanted to end getting up lost along the way. Instead, she managed to eat up fifteen. Considering that she had to get her scrambled thoughts nice and organized before she made her appearance, as well as making sure that she'd mentally rehearsed what she was going to say about her souvenir from the Grimm attack, she had a perfectly legit reason to delay things as much as possible. It wasn't like she was expected home, anyway.
She had her opening line memorized by the time she was really close. But the moment Lune was several steps away from standing on the mat laid out in front of the door, she immediately sensed that something was wrong. Very wrong, Lune decided, if the colorful flowers on the flower boxes right below the windows opposite sides of the door actually looked like they were sad, petaled heads drooping down.
She forgot her lines entirely. She could hear sounds—voices—from where she stood. But then, from what fragments of conversation she could hear from within the house, they weren't good ones. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably despite the feeling of relief that her dad was indeed at home with her mom.
"…hiding long enough. I get it. I'm not stupid. But…" That was her mom's voice. The faint, muffled footsteps Lune heard must've been from the woman's pacing around the room.
"I know what you mean." Dad. The sigh was near-inaudible even with Lune's faunus hearing. She almost missed his next words. "…has a point, though. The longer this goes on…"
"Don't finish that sentence. I already know, okay?" River said. More like yelled. The voice was accompanied by what sounded like a foot kicking one of the wooden furniture and Lune winced, clutching her ears. Plus side, said furniture didn't seem to break. No crashes or anything. "On the other hand, dropping and going just like that is not an option. It shouldn't be an option! This…" River's voice grew soft again. "…is not fair. This just had to happen."
There were many more things that Lune managed to catch. But at that point, she wasn't entirely certain she wanted to hear the entire conversation while she stood there. Obligations? Responsibility? Um, what?
Her heart was already starting to beat harder against her chest. She was even starting to wonder if she should have stayed in Signal instead and went through the day in blissful ignorance.
Maybe she was just jumping to conclusions right now. Maybe she wasn't. It was hard to tell. But either way, something was going on right under her nose. Something seemed to be showing her that what she knew of her family was far littler than she thought. That the normal—as normal as a life on Remnant could get, anyway—life she'd known all her life might just be an illusion instead. That things were breaking down, with an unknown percentage of being glued back together. Her parents wouldn't be talking in hushed voices if they had nothing to hide, right?
Right?
She wasn't sure if she could also take that when she was already struggling with her occasional dreams. Dreams that kept proving how it was unfair she left her old life just like that—how she shouldn't have left everyone behind. Family, friends, her cat… Crazily enough, that included her old exes that made her want to file a restraining order against them.
So before anything else happened, Lune swallowed down the lump in her throat, and rapped her knuckles against the door. One, two, three.
The voices immediately hushed. She heard footsteps heading her way and, schooling her expression into that of a sheepish one, shaky at best, she waited for the door to be pulled open. Keep calm, and pretend that she'd overheard nothing. She'd managed to count to five when she heard the all-too-familiar click of the door's lock and the creak of its hinges as it swung open.
"Hi." Lune said, looking up and meeting her mother's eyes.
"Hey yourself, kiddo," Mom replied. The warmth of her voice was convincing enough that, if it weren't for what Lune had overheard earlier, she would have been none the wiser. Her voice wasn't even unusually high in pitch, remaining nice and even and ever-so-confident. Mom smiled—but then her eyes caught notice of Lune's bandaged arm. Now she was frowning.
Lune swallowed. She felt the urge to hide her arm despite knowing that it was a pointless endeavor. "I can explain—"
"Inside."
"…Right."
All the girl could do was zip her mouth shut, nod, and slip past the woman to make her way towards the small, but cozy and carpeted living room. Lune plopped down on the sofa, noticed her dad sitting on a chair across the small table between them, and gave an awkward wave. Dad's lips were previously set in a thin line; it now curled up into a small smile. And amused, he waved back. But then his eyes slid towards her arm, too, and now Lune felt twice as worse.
"Alright," Mom began, sitting beside her. The woman took a deep breath and exhaled. "Apparently, the day's not finished surprising me. Care to tell me why you've got a wound on your arm?"
She had to admit, the fact that her mother wasn't in full-on panic mode was pretty impressive. She kinda expected her to blow up like a volcano. Like, y'know, the same way she had when that shopkeeper from several years ago denied her service just because she was a faunus. River Beryl was, instead, waiting for her daughter to answer, an eyebrow raised.
"Um." Lune began ever-so-eloquently. "It was a Beowolf. A straggler. It kinda-sorta… bit me."
"It what?" On second thought, maybe her mom wasn't that calm after all. The tone of voice said it all. From Lune's periphery, she noticed her dad sit a bit straighter, the worry on his face clear as day.
Grace under pressure, Lune reminded herself. Amelie was an expert on this, and so should she be. She smoothed her skirt and leaned back on the sofa. "I got worried when Dad didn't come to teach today, so I decided to go home and check up on you guys." Lune explained. "I mean, okay, I should've taken Yang's dad's word for it, but I had to be sure." Her awkward chuckle sounded a lot more like a strangled cry. Oops. "I'll admit, maybe I didn't think things completely through."
"Well, sweetie, I'm sorry to say this, but you definitely didn't," Dad said. At least he hadn't been stern; he was being gentler about this than his wife. "I was alright. Just helping your mom with something. I was going to go back to teaching the next day."
"I'm glad, then." Lune said with a small smile. "Someone's gotta keep throwing all those balls at me."
Her dad laughed softly.
"And you managed to kill it? The Grimm?" Mom then asked. The girl might have been half-offended at her own mother's incredulous expression if it weren't for the current situation. Then again, the woman did know that Lune wasn't a combat expert just yet, let alone a Grimm exterminator. She'd, er, seen her report card once the mid-term mark had come and gone.
Lune shook her head. "I managed to stab it in the eye, but no, not exactly."
"Then what happened?"
"Well… I dunno if you'll actually believe me, but the Beacon Academy headmaster and his assistant was there. The lady with the riding crop made this huge ice spike and"—she gestured with her hand forward, as if she was holding said riding crop herself—"stabbed the Beowolf with it right in the middle."
And then, inwardly, she winced. Maybe referring to Glynda as "the woman with the riding crop" didn't sound so great and so ten-year-old-like as it did in her mind. It actually made her feel like she was pretending to be someone far younger. Oh well, better that she sounded more childish than mature, even though her parents had accepted it as fact that their darling daughter was actually acting older—and maybe more peculiar—than kids her age.
She never did wonder how they'd taken that in stride so easily.
"Glynda," her mom muttered, voice so low Lune almost didn't catch it. "Ozpin."
The girl blinked at the flash of irritation on River's face. Something did happen earlier, she thought.
"Oh, so you know them," Lune said anyway. It wasn't like her mom wouldn't expect her not to hear that anyway, not when two out of three family members had extremely good hearing. River's was better than the average human, but it didn't hold a candle to those whose animal appendages were in the form of ears.
"Ugh, you can say that," Mom said. There was a strange look on her face then, something that couldn't decide whether it wanted to civil or otherwise. It was as if she was recalling something, honestly. Something recent. But then she shook her head. "Let me guess, he's told you about how I spent my time at Beacon and etcetera, etcetera."
"He did. But before he and Glynda left, he asked me about fairy tales." Lune said. She shrugged. "I don't even know why. Is he always… that weird, Mom?"
It was just the briefest of moments, right after the word fairy tales escaped Lune's lips. Fast enough to completely go unnoticed if one was unfocused, but slow enough if one was otherwise. Lune happened to be the latter; that River stiffened just like that, like a deer caught in headlights, was something that the younger faunus definitely didn't miss. It only happened for, like, a split second, but she was definitely going to remember that for a long, long time.
"Yep. Weird as hell. But he means well," Mom said, like she hadn't just shut down earlier. "Usually. Anyway. Sweetie, your arm? Let me see."
Just like that, her mother steered the subject back to the original one. Without subtlety, without much fanfare. It was questionable bordering on suspicious, alright, but Lune nodded all the same and went through the slow process of unwrapping her bandage. As she let her mom hold her forearm, the sight of the bite marks shaped in a convex immediately greeted the woman.
Mom took in a sharp breath as she let her fingers gently graze over the wound. Lune felt it sting—no, felt it ache worse than that. It definitely wasn't completely healed yet.
"Kid, I know this isn't exactly what you'll want to hear, but…" Her blue eyes met Lune's green ones. "If it weren't for your Aura, that would have torn your arm into two. Don't get me wrong; I can't put into words just how relieved I am to see you safe. But I'm not gonna lie, you had one hell of a narrow escape."
A narrow escape. She could feel the word repeat itself inside her mind, over and over like a broken record. She'd known that, deep down. But after hearing her own mother say it, the consequences of her actions became even more real, more weighty. Lune could feel a chill go down her spine.
Was she going to have nightmares about this? She wasn't really sure. The Beowolf had been a nasty piece of work and she'll never forget the effect it had on her, but… she couldn't let a Grimm encounter knock her down. Not when she still had quite a bit to climb. Certainly, though, she wasn't keen on having this happen again. She'd very much like all her limbs attached to her body, thank you very much, and she still had a great deal of living to do before she ever decided it was high time to kick the bucket.
"I'm sorry," Lune said. This time, she meant it completely. No trace of her usual, lazy drawl, just a genuine tone that denoted complete regret. "I won't do that again, I promise."
Her mother stared at her for a second, gauging the sincerity in her daughter's tone of voice and the genuineness of her expression. She then nodded after seemingly confirming that Lune was sorry.
"Good. You've got plenty more years ahead of you, sweetie, so let's not see them cut short." Her mom's expression then shifted into a gentler, kinder one. "…Does it still hurt?"
Like hell. "Yeah."
"Then let's see if I can ease that pain a bit."
Lune gave a nod. Her mom smiled at her one more time before fixing her expression into a serious, more focused one as she hovered her free hand over the healing wound. Lune felt her mom's warm fingertips then rest on her skin and…
And…
River Beryl's hand glowed.
"But what…" Lune trailed off, suddenly feeling strangely soothed as her arm felt nice and warm all over. The soft, white light covering her mother's hand had spread to her wound, and it just occurred to the younger faunus that she was being healed. Right in front of her eyes. Almost like magic.
There weren't enough words in her current vocabulary to sufficiently describe how the whole process was like. But maybe she could just liken it to getting high from a drug—then again, she'd never done that stuff and will never attempt to. Ever. So instead, maybe she could say that it was like having a nice, cold shower on the hottest summer day. It was nice and refreshing. That worked.
Still, whichever simile worked the best here, the end result was the same. Lune felt good, and it was almost euphoric.
The light then faded, her mom lifting her hand and revealing a healed arm… that was still bore the marks of the Beowolf that had bit Lune. Scars. That was what they were now; she didn't feel it ache when she moved it experimentally. She even poked a finger at the mostly-repaired skin and it revealed nothing at all, just the sensation of having a finger pushing against flesh.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
"Sorry, kiddo, I can't do anything about the scars. It's way out of my league," Mom then said sheepishly as she noticed her daughter inspecting her recently-finished work. She then wryly smiled at her husband, who really looked like he was one sudden movement away from springing into action. "And honey? You might want to look less worried and more relieved. I'm fine. We're fine."
That snapped Vert Beryl out of his trance. He shook his head and gave an awkward grin, relaxing back into his own chair.
"Right." Dad said.
"Was that a semblance, Mom?" Lune asked. She thought it made sense, since it wasn't abnormal for a person to have that as something which made them special. Even though she wasn't entirely sure how a woman like her own mother ended up being a healer of sorts when her personality was… well, not exactly of the smiling-nurse-at-the-hospital variety. Oh well. Semblances will be semblances.
"You can also say that," Mom said. Somehow, that sounded too automatic for Lune's liking. It didn't help that there was that smile on her face that leaned towards secretive rather than honest… and that River's tone of voice held some kind of finality to it.
"Oh. Okay." Lune said. She couldn't really dig deeper when her mother had that look in her eyes, too. One that pretty much told her to just accept that answer, please.
"In any case," Mom drew back and crossed her arms. "Now that that's happened and we definitely can't have you wandering back to Signal this late in the day, you better help out with serving dinner."
The rabbit girl gave a salute. "Aye-aye, cap'n. Anything else?"
River exchanged glances with Vert. The two of them nodded at each other, as if some silent message was exchanged between them, and both of them stared back at Lune. The rabbit girl suddenly wondered if she was going to be grounded or something.
"No," Mom said. "Just go on up to your room. There's still something your father and I still have to talk about—privately. I'll call you down when we're done."
Apparently not.
"Okay, then." Lune said. "Is…" She hesitated at first. "Everything okay between the two of you?"
There went the silent message exchange again, their eyes doing all the talking. But this time, something about their reaction made Lune feel like squirming from where she sat. This was definitely one of those moments when she wished she was just like any other kids her age, unaware of subtleties and just moving continuously forward.
"We're fine, kiddo. It's just stuff that we need to get out of the way," Dad said with a reassuring smile. Well, as reassuring as he could make it; he wasn't a good actor. "Seriously."
Her mom nodded in agreement, and Lune decided that, no, she didn't want to know at all.
"I know, I shouldn't pry. I'll go on then." Lune gave the two of them a small smile, turned away, and headed towards the wooden staircase. But several steps later, she paused. "Oh yeah, there was a reason why I wanted to go home. It slipped my mind earlier."
"Yeah?" Mom said.
Lune grinned. "I finally know what my semblance is. Water manipulation."
This time, River Beryl's smile was a genuine one. "Nice. You better show us later, you hear?"
"Gladly!" Lune said. "I'll go on up now."
"You do that."
Lune turned away again and set course for her next destination. Whatever hushed conversation she hear start up once she was gone, though, she chose not to overhear.
So that was it for now, the girl decided as she took one step up the staircase after another, gripping the railing as she did so. There were some things her mom and dad were hiding. Their peculiar actions today explained it all, and somehow… somehow, maybe it was connected to Ozpin and Glynda's appearance today.
It was all assumptions at this point—she had no concrete proof—but somehow the thought that the dynamic duo being in Patch made more sense if it involved her mother in some way. They probably visited her or something, exchanged words that made the usually confident and sharp-tongued River Beryl skittish and constantly looking for a way out. Lune could picture that happening without her bullshit-sensor suddenly going active.
But as she'd thought, until she finally saw it happen right before her two eyes, she could only make up stories and hope she guessed wrong.
Dinnertime had come and gone without much fanfare. Lune had helped her mom prepare dinner, as she'd agreed to do, and after that all three members of the Beryl family sat around the table and shared bits and pieces of how their day went. Lune's semblance had become the focus of their conversation, actually , and with a proud grin, the rabbit girl had made her glassful of water float in the air before letting it drop back down with a splash.
That basically improved her parents' moods. That was today's silver lining. River had told the girl that things would only get better from there, and Vert was all-too-willing to help Lune improve her semblance whenever he could.
Lune had merely nodded and smiled at that one, not trusting her mouth then. She didn't exactly have fond memories of her dad's training regimen.
Anyway, the time slowly ticked by. And now, with the moon high up in the night sky, Lune was back in her room and ready for bed. All she wanted to do just then was to sleep the rest of the night away and move on to the next day. There were much for her to do back at Signal, such as her much-needed review for her approaching finals, and while the very thought of it made her wish she could stay in bed forever, she knew some responsibilities had to be dealt with. She needed to pass her exams, improve her overall school ranking, and get a shot at the tournament so she could join Yang or Vanilla.
But before the girl could tuck herself in, after sending her friends a quick message via scroll about how she'll be spending her night here, she heard a knock on the door.
"You know you can come in anytime, Mom," Lune said out loud. She needn't ask who i was. It was River who always knocked before entering.
"Right," said the woman. The doorknob was twisted, pushed, and River Beryl emerged into the room with a smile on her face. She then sat herself down at the foot of Lune's bed. "Nice night tonight."
"Lots of stars, yeah," Lune nodded.
"Like your ceiling's."
Silence then ensued, neither side knowing how to push beyond small talk. Eventually though, Mom must've had enough.
"You're probably wondering what's up with your father and I earlier, huh?" Mom asked, going straight to the point. She let her hands support her weight on the bed as she leaned back, crossing her legs.
"Yup," Lune answered. She stuffed her scroll under her pillow and fully faced her mom. "But you don't have to tell me why if you don't wanna."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"...You're a good kid, you know that? I swear, you're the best daughter a parent could ever ask for." River sighed. "Which is why I honestly feel bad about keeping you in the dark like this. That's not usually my style."
"I know."
And then, much to Lune's surprise, her mother suddenly looked vulnerable just then. Her smile was shaky at best, and somehow Lune had the feeling that the woman was just… struggling to keep herself together. The girl immediately felt bad and wondered if there was something she could do. Something to get the normal River Beryl back.
"Can you come over here and give me a hug?" Mom asked.
Lune was all too willing to comply. Nodding and not letting her mind ponder at the sudden request, she crawled over to her mom's spot and wrapped her arms around her body. The woman immediately hugged back, and god, there was just something about the way she did it that had Lune feeling twice as worried for her.
"Look, kiddo," Mom said as she kept holding onto her daughter. "You have no idea how many things I want to tell you right now. But it's just… I'm not ready for that, you know? I just want you to go through Signal without that weighing you down. It's pretty heavy stuff."
"It's okay, Mom. I understand," Lune said soothingly. But on the inside, her mind was brimming with questions. She stopped them at once.
"I know you do." The woman sighed again. "But whatever happens, just now that I love you and I never regretted having you, okay? We never know what can happen in the future, but that's why we make the most of the present."
"I hope you're not about to disappear on me," Lune decided to say jokingly, an attempt at lightening up the mood. It was poor at best, if she had to be honest with herself.
"Not if I can help it," came her mom's response. River then pulled away from Lune and patted the girl affectionately on the head. "Alright, enough of that. You've still got combat school tomorrow, so I'm going to go now and let you have your beauty sleep. That's all I wanted to say, really. I know you've been thrown off by all the strangeness earlier."
"You've practically pointed that out already," Lune said. That made her mother ruffle her hair, playfully this time.
River then stood up from the bed, flashing Lune one more smile. "Well, then, good night."
"Night."
After that, her mom stepped out of the room, gently closing the door behind her. Lune heard her footsteps fade away towards the room across hers, and after several seconds of ensuring that she was well and truly alone now… she frowned and dropped her facade.
So. Things really weren't as they seemed.
She knew there was one gigantic jigsaw puzzle out there for her, ready to be pieced together so she could get her answers. But right now, she thought that there was just too much on her plate that she'd rather focus on them than... this. It sounded like trouble. She wasn't fond of trouble.
Her mom was tough, anyway. She shouldn't worry too much. Let the adults fix whatever their problem was.
Yet…
Despite constantly telling herself that things will be alright, Lune couldn't help but think that whatever this was, it wasn't over. It might just be the beginning.
A/N: Aaaand that's a wrap! As per usual, I'm hoping it's good enough to make up for the wait. I get distracted a lot, so quality and etc is... questionable. So, things aren't apparently what they seem, and I'm honestly looking forward to where I could take this. Obviously, I won't be rushing to that point at once, but it's nice to finally have something to think about on my spare time. XD Not much stuff happening for this chapter, I guess, but I'm just glad this is completed.
Thanks, as usual, to all you folks who favorited, reviewed, or followed my story! I hope I can continue to write as well as I could.