It was a windy and sunny morning. The birds sang as they greeted in the day, followed by the chant of a young rabbit girl as both she and her mother headed to her school. Vanilla thoroughly enjoyed this atmosphere, always encouraging the girl to exercise her talent. Sometimes she thought the birds were answering her singing, but that was probably just her imagination. The forest was not too far away from a big city, full of tall buildings and technology, but the adult rabbit thought this was a much better place to raise her child, away from the troubles and distractions of a huge metropolis.

As they arrived at the school, they were greeted by a nice female fox, who was responsible for taking care of and receiving the students. Cream had a great relationship with her, and jumped to hugging the fox as soon as she saw her. Vanilla smiled and greeted the fox before she once again turned to her child, giving her the usual instruction to behave well and pay attention to class. After giving her a light kiss on the forehead, the young rabbit rushed in and Vanilla greeted the fox goodbye before heading back home.

Those were great mornings which made her happy as a mother, but waking up early when you had spent the night awake was beginning to take its toll on her. Though she did not live in the big city, she always went there at least two or three times a week, usually late at night, when everyone else would be sleeping. The truth was that, being a unsuspicious rabbit mother, the woman turned that into her favor to lead a secret life of combating crime. In a completely black suit as dark as the night, Vanilla became the 'Rabbit In Black'.

The rabbit arrived home, closing the door behind her. As she was really tired, she closed the curtains on the windows and allowed herself to pass out on the sofa for at least a few more hours. There were a few things to take care off, but they would have to wait, at least a little bit...

-

"Too bad, bunny! You can try and catch me next time!"

Vanilla gritted her teeth as she shot awake, her hand having closed onto a fist as she was ready to punch that purple lynx thief as soon as she managed to free herself from that sticky trap. However, she was lying at her sofa, and there were no traps or lynxes to punch at all. She sighed as she realized it had just been a dream, though it had been incredibly realistic. Somehow it felt like, despite her strength, she was always getting stuck to things, with that girl always managing to escape. She managed to dodge several of her attacks but that one trap was a bit difficult to get away from, for she could end up with a missing limb if she was not too careful. The enemy was simply not playing around.

Ah, but the next time she met with her, that girl would see.

As soon as she took care of her growling stomach, that was. With some reluctance, Vanilla got up.

-

In order to be able to sustain her night time job, her diet needed a bit of an upgrade comparing to most stay-home mothers in the village. Three slices of whole wheat bread with some fruit jam? Those were rookie numbers. Vanilla would have at least ten of those with some good four to six boiled eggs to compensate all the carbs with protein, but today she was not in the mood for many solid things at all, so she opted for a milkshake instead. A protein rich one, that was. She aimed to have all nutrients balanced in it, carbs and protein, but because of all the oat and soy, and some extra powdered stuff that she would add, the meal would lean a little more towards the protein side. Nevertheless, it was what she needed for her health and performance in fights, and she surely was satisfied with what she saw every day in the mirror.

While she waited for her stomach to digest the food, it was a good time for her to check on her finances. It was a bit difficult for her to be serious about any nine to five day job and still keep her nightly work, but doing a bit of sewing for the people in the village proved to be quite a successful method of living. It was amazing how many people needed her services every day, and as a result she was able to have the flexibility she wanted without sacrificing the income she needed. The side job worked really well to help hide her secret heroine identity, after all, who would suspect a calm mother who sews clothing for a living? Her strategy was satisfying in all ways, something which always brought a smile to her face.

Having a healthy - and ripped - physique though is not just about eating, but the workout as well. When she was done with her accountancy work, it was just the time for that. After a change of clothing and some stretching, the rabbit woman began her rounds of exercise. Ah, those dumbbells needed replacement a long time ago, and it looked like she still had not done it. She could hold them both with one hand, but that was just a workaround and not a solution, so she resorted to doing push ups instead - with just one hand. After some squats for her legs and jumping some rope, the rabbit was finished with her morning routine.

-

Though most of the people in need of some sewing work would come to her place at the morning, it was not uncommon for her to have had people come around in the afternoon as well. The thing was that she would usually take that time to go buy groceries, when she was not tidying up her place or doing some other housework, so she would not be around. This caused her to have to put a sign outside, and graciously inform her customers she would likely not be available at those hours, to avoid making them miss their trip. Everything turned out fine and people made an effort to come at the morning, but that did not stop the eventual near last minute requests before she would leave to pick her daughter at school. They did not study all day, but the school also offered extracurricular activities the students could participate on, mostly playing on the school grounds, a differential from this school that served her well to be able to focus on her work as she was the sole provider of the house. However, as soon as the day was over, the parents were expected to come and pick their children as the school would close. It seemed fair enough, and Vanilla had no trouble with it.

Sometimes during her day, the rabbit woman pondered about her life. It was not like Cream would be a child forever, or that she would be able to keep this secret from her for too long. In fact, even if she did managed to do so, should she? How would the little girl react to know her mother was in fact secretly a heroine? It could be both good or bad, and once she wanted to test that. Vanilla recalled the time she told her daughter a story, which in the end was about herself; had she been too daring? The girl was good at remembering things, her little brain was always so active, which probably explained her difficulty to sleep except if she was entertained and or calmed down. It was not like the new heroine on the block would be kept from the television for too long either, in fact it surprised her a bit that it still had not happened, but now it was a question of time before something did show up on the news. If Cream did happen to see it, would she remember the little story she told her and link things up?

It was not like anything she did was ever bad, for people who would make it their business to harm others needed to know that they were in for it. That purple lynx, mostly because she liked wearing purple, was a notorious jewel thief, having caused problems for several shops in the city already. There had to come a time when she managed to catch that girl, like with the other thieves she managed to deal with. She already knew pretty much all of her patterns of attack, and had a good idea of where she would be striking next, so she would be having a chance really soon. That would bring her, and everyone else, the much needed peace that they needed.

-

The hours were flying fast, and afternoon was already long gone. On the way back from grocery shopping, Vanilla realized the blue sky they had had all day was not going to remain that way until night time, as they winds and dark clouds on the horizon announced it would rain soon. It was nearing four, too, but she figured arriving some good thirty minutes later would not be that bad of an idea. Having done all the things she needed to do at home, the rabbit left to pick up her child.

Perhaps even more so than bringing her girl to school every day, she loved to go at the end of the day and pick her up so they could go home. With the rain threatening in the horizon, many parents were already there to leave with their children, and the school was hurrying to ready them with their bags to return them to their parents. When the young rabbit saw her mother again, she came running towards her to give a hug she much appreciated receiving, and also replying. The fox responsible for taking care of the students would always smile as she observed their interaction. Vanilla had great respect for her and the others in that school, always thanking them for the work that they did, to which the fox would smile and praise the child for her well behavior. They would talk for at least a few minutes, but since the rain was approaching, they waved goodbye, and left to their homes.

It was thanks to the work of many that those things were still able to occur. Seeing the others happy with their children, holding firmly the hand of her own child, she knew those night jobs were beyond important, and she would diligently continue to do her part too.