"Miss…?" A frankly middle aged woman with gray hair nervously asked the woman in front of her,

"Miss Ryghts, I told you, you can call me Histoire" She explained, offering up a gentle smile, "Now… what did she do this time" She sighed as she looked at the child seated beside the woman, her fists balled to her sides as she forced down tears in her system, sniffling slightly as she clenched her purple eyes shut,

"I'm sorry for calling you in again… but Neptune here caused a fight with another student" the teacher explained, as the shortish blonde gasped, before glaring daggers at her child,

"Neptune!" She yelled, as she kept her eyes firmly locked with the young girl, who tried her best to keep herself from crumbling,

"But… but… they we're making fun of Noire…" She explained between sobs, as Histoire let out another sigh, understanding full well that Neptune's friend was often the victim of teasing, and that Neptune had taken it upon herself to defend her friend

"Neptune. How many times have we been over this! If you think kids are being mean to your friend; go tell Miss Ryghts! You don't get to take it upon yourself to dish out punishment!" Histoire lectured, as Neptune shrunk more and more,

"Miss Histoire"

"Histoire will do" The woman corrected,

"Yes… Miss Histoire, I really don't want to have to do this, but this is the third time your daughter has caused an incident, if it happens again, I will have no choice but to take further action" The elementary teacher gravely explained, as the blonde looked back indifferently, bowing as she offered,

"Yes. I understand, I am sorry for the trouble she has caused. Now. Neptune." Histoire's icy words ran down the young girl's spine as she shot to attention, "Let's go" Was all she finished with as she grabbed her hand, yanking her as she left the school, and as they walked to their car, there was dead silence until the door shut. And immediately, "Neptune!" Histoire yelled,

"Eep!" Neptune would have jumped back had she not been belted to her chair,

"Do you want to get kicked out of school? Huh? Is that it!?" She lectured, at her wit's end with the girl. This was indeed the 3rd time this year that her daughter had caused a fight in her 1st grade class.

Where did it all go wrong? That day when Histoire was sent as a representative of the firm she worked at in order to check on the well being and finances of a local orphanage, she expected there to be nothing but business. That's all it was, that's all it had to be, that's all she ever did. She was known as one of the most relentlessly efficient workers the firm had, and everyone and anyone shuddered when they heard Histoire's name.

So why was it she left that day with 2 purple haired sisters in tow?

Was it that she was enamored with their story, their perseverance. Was it the way Neptune protected her younger sister, even if she herself was in desperate need of someone to protect her? Was it the way they looked at her, that melted her heart?

When was it anyway that Histoire grew a heart?

Imagine the look on Histoire's boss', a particularly perplexing woman named Uranus, face when she had to explain that she had actually adopted two small girls and would need some time off to adjust to caring for them. The day being the first of the fourth month certainly didn't make matters easier…

"N-no… Histy… I'm sorry…" Neptune sobbed, as Histoire shook her head, letting out a sigh as she started her car,

"Neptune. I know. I know you just want to protect Noire, and Neptune, I think it's really sweet you look after your friend like that, but you can't take it out on other kids" Really Histoire knew better than anyone, the way Neptune acted was a defense mechanism she had developed to make herself believe she was strong and tough to protect Nepgear. "But Neptune. You can't keep acting like this. I can't keep making excuses for you. You hear me?" and despite asking a question, Histoire received no response from the young girl. And as Histoire drove down to the local daycare, still then was Neptune silent,

"Hello, Miss IF, Miss Compa" Histoire greeted with a bow, as she always did, to the couple that ran one of the cities many daycares,

"Hello Miss Histoire" The strawberry haired woman greeted, "GeGe is right over there" She pointed out, as Histoire smiled, walking over as she gently tapped the toddler on the shoulder,

"It's time to go Nepgear"

"Nooo me and Wuni are pwaying a game!" The girl protested, the black haired toddler next to her also looking as if she was on the verge of tears herself,

"I'm sorry. But it's time to go, say goodbye, you'll see her tomorrow don't worry"

"MMmm k… byw Wuni!" She eventually grumbled as she took Histoire's hand, walking out to the car, as Histoire strapped her into her car seat, Neptune making sure to make a noted effort to avoid eye contact with her,

As the night went by, and Histoire did her normal nightly duty of scrambling to prepare dinner for not just herself and her flatmate, who always got off later than her, anymore, now there were two more mouths to feed. Two more mouths that always seemed to be getting into some type of ruckus,

"Alright you two, dinner is ready" Histoire peaked into the main room, as the two girls perked up before making their way to the dinner table to eat today's offering, a simple spaghetti recipe that Histoire had learned a long time ago, and as the family ate in a peaceful silence, they eventually heard the front door open, which meant that their last member had gotten back from work,

"Good evening, Crorie, you plate is in the fridge"

"Sweet!" The other blonde smiled as she threw her work stuff on the couch quickly grabbing a plate before making small talk with her old friend, with the girls quickly finishing their plates, with Neptune quickly jumping down, face already a mess from the pasta's sauce, and as she rushed over to the sink, she briefly stumbled as her porcelain plate came crashing down as she thudded across the floor,

"Ha!" Crorie laughed out, as Histoire felt her forehead vein twitch,

"Goddess damnit Neptune!" already stressed out from the day, Histoire yelled, before closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath. "Neptune. Go wait in the bathroom for me to clean this up and run you a bath" She calmly explained, as Neptune gravely nodded doing as she was ordered, "Nepgear, you too" She followed, as the younger girl quickly followed, and as soon as she was sure they were out of ear shot, Histoire slammed her face into the table,

"I'm at my wit's end" he complained, as her long time friend shrugged, slurping a noodle,

"You're the one who went n' got the bastards"

"..." Histoire didn't have a response to that, none that she wanted to say at least, so in silence she cleaned the broken plate, and made her way to the bathroom,

Except… there was one small girl who hadn't done exactly what she was ordered, and was stayed back to peep slightly, holding back the tears from what she was told as she made her way to the bathroom, and as they had their bodies washed, she remained silent, dido for the rest of the night, and as she was trudged down to her bedroom, and tucked in, as she was every night, only then, as Histoire walked away did she gingerly reach out her arm, tugging on her sleeve,

"Neptune?" She asked, as Neptune couldn't even meet her gaze,

"Are you taking us back…? Am I a bad girl…?" her voice was barely above a whisper. This caused Histoire to immediately whip her head around,

"Neptune. What are you asking?"

"Are you gonna… take us back to the bad place…" Histoire could feel her soul breaking as her eyes widened to the size of dish plates, her spirit falling lower and lower as the small girl flung herself around the blonde, "Please… Histy… I'm s-s-sorrrry!" Neptune bawled, "I'm- I'm- I'm sorry I've been nothing but a pain for you!"

Histoire had to bite her lip to keep herself from joining in on the bawling, as she gripped her daughter to her as hard as she could, grabbing Nepgear from her bottom bunk as she simply held them for a moment, composing herself. Before taking a deep breath, "Neptune. I will never take you back there ever again. Ok. You are here, and you are here to stay. Because I love you. I love you so so much. I only want the best for you, I want everyone else to see what I saw in you. And I'm so, so sorry if I made it at any point feel as though that wasn't the case" She calmly explained, as she ran her hand through her purple hair.

And as the family shared their hug, eventually Histoire broke off as she turned to leave, only to once more feel a small hand tug on her sleeve,

"Histy? Can you… sleep here tonight…?" Neptune bashfully asked, as Histoire felt a subtle smile form on her face,

"Ok" She yielded, as she brought one of her daughters in each arm as she gently tucked them all into bed for the night…

Even if that meant Crorie would forever be waiting for her friend, and the 'special game' she had planned for them…