Project Motherhood: Emilia and Rem

by Gamer95

Subaru never came to Lugunica. Instead, the ones transported to another world were Emilia, Rem, Beatrice and Puck. Shortly after arrival, they find themselves learning the story of the Boy Who Lived, and discovering he lives right next door to their gracious host. Upon realizing he is harshly treated, Emilia and Rem take it upon themselves to raise him. Co-writer: francoslama2005

3. Chapter 3

Rem didn't sleep too terribly long, a mere couple of hours. It was still mid-day, after all, and she needed to make dinner. She was used to working on little sleep. She rose from the bed, yawned just once, then looked down to see Harry was cuddled up close to Emilia, both sleeping soundly, their snores echoing through the room. Rem smiled at the sight and gently stroked Harry's hair, then looked back to Emilia. 'She looks very peaceful when she sleeps.' She thought to herself fondly. She truthfully felt slight envy towards the half-elf for being able to sleep so soundly. She still suffered from the nightmares of her village's destruction all these years later...

'No." She thought, shaking her head. "I shouldn't think about that now.' She walked over to the window of the room, sighing as she observed what little she could from the closed curtains. 'The past is the past.' She thought. 'I shouldn't dwell on what's over, and what's likely never happen again. Those times in my life are over.'

She looked over at the pair still snuggled in the bed, their faces set in expressions of peace and bliss. 'I should focus on the now. If I think about those things, it will only ruin their happiness. That's the last thing I want for them.'

She smiled softly and approached them, leaning down and giving Harry a gentle kiss on his temple, causing him to coo cutely and squirm slightly in his sleep, which in turn caused Emilia to stir slightly before her eyes fluttered open and she let out a yawn. She blinked tiredly before looking around, then remembered where she was and smile. "Oh... Hi, Rem..." She murmured softly, giving Harry a gentle squeeze. "I didn't sleep too long, did I? I know we were just taking a short nap..." She murmured.

Rem shook her head. "No, you're all right, Emilia... We both had a very busy day, far more so than you're used to." She looked down at Harry and nodded. "And Harry needs someone to hold him as he sleeps to keep his nightmares at bay."

"Mmm...right." Nodded the half-elf, her eyes tiredly trying to adjust to the light.

Rem gently pushed her head back down on the pillow. "Don't. You've been through a lot today. Rest more. I've had my sleep. I'm gonna go clean up whatever little mess was left by the pixies. You sleep a while longer."

"Mmmmmm...alright..." Emilia yawned as she closed her eyes again. Soon, her breathing slowed down, and she fell asleep again. Rem gave her hair a few more strokes before getting up and approaching the door. She grabbed the knob and sighed.

"Right. Time to see if those pests left any other nasty surprises behind." She stepped outside the room and exhaled through her nostrils. She knew that if there was anything left over from those damned pixies, she was likely to take the brunt of it, but at the very least she would prevent the rest of the family from being the victim, Harry most especially. She walked down to see what was going on in the living room, expecting to see Beatrice still reading. She ended up finding Puck still sleeping with Tabitha, Pumpkin playing with a piece of string he found... And Beatrice plowed headfirst into the wall, her legs and butt sticking out, pressing against it with her legs to try and pull herself free, her muffled rage audible through the wall.

Rem sighed. "Ah. So it seems they DID leave a few things behind for us to deal with after all." She said simply. Beatrice's yelling became louder, and Rem decided to help, lest the spirit end up waking Harry and Emilia. Walking over, she grabbed Beatrice's waist, and with a firm yank and a *pop!*, Beatrice squeaked as she was pulled out of her trap.

"Gah!" She grunted. "What in the name of Flügel was this?!"

"Are you injured, Beatrice?" Asked the maid. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know, I suppose!" She said. "All I remember is walking down the hall to find something to eat, and all of a sudden a loose floorboard suddenly slams itself into my face. I staggered back and found myself stuck in the wall, my head ringing from the impact." She huffed and crossed her arms, pouting. "I was there for an hour, I suppose..." She grumbled.

"I see. I'm sorry about that, Beatrice. I was about to make dinner, as soon as I made sure there were no more of these traps, so why don't you sit down and regain your bearings? I'll be sure to make something nice, okay?" She assured the little spirit gently. Beatrice huffed softly but nodded her head nonetheless.

Rem nodded. "Now, where was this loose floorboard-" She received her answer when she took a single step forward and it sprung up and hit her in the face. Rem stood in place, the board smacked against her, for several seconds, before sighing in exasperation. "I found it..." Gently pushing it back down, Rem used her magic to freeze the floorboard shut, preventing it from springing back up again. "There. That should do it until we find a more permanent solution."

"Thankfully your ice is as sturdy as it is lasting. It takes about...3 days to fully melt, correct?"

Rem nodded. "Correct. It should be enough until I go to the store to buy something to weld it down with more solidly." She then scratched her head sheepishly. "I just hope that Emilia or Harry won't accidentally slip."

"Bah. Nonsense." Beatrice waved it off. "Harry is smart enough to see it, and even that half-elf isn't stupid enough to-" Beatrice walked over to the board...and promptly slipped on it with the very first step. She landed headfirst in a potted plant, her head getting buried in the dirt, and she let out a muffled groan before pulling her head out, the dirt clumped on the top of her head with the plant within sitting snugly within. Rem put a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter, and Beatrice simply pouted.

"Hmph... I don't need to take this mockery, I suppose!" She declared, pointing at the oni. Rem sighed and looked at the spot.

"Perhaps I could put some carpet over it for the time being..." She murmured. "You may want to clean yourself, Beatrice, we can't have you tracking dirt through the house after all."

Beatrice pouted and stuck her nose up. "Fine, I suppose..." She grumbled. And with that, Rem set to investigating the house for further leftover traps. And sadly, her fears came true. Searching through the house, she wound up finding several traps, some of which were potentially dangerous. Mainly for Harry.

'If I ever catch a single pixie in this house, I'm gonna make them suffer through their own traps.' She thought bitterly, a soft yet sharp edge on her mental voice. "Hmm, yah!" She grunted as she threw out the dismantled remains of the last trap she found onto the massive pile of traps she has collected. She let out a huff as she glared at the remains of the pixie's torment. Then she turned and walked away from the discared traps, stopping to put out the fire that was growing on the back of her clothing. Of course she had triggered every single one of the traps...

She shook her head and made her way to the kitchen to make dinner like she had promised Beatrice. She began to look through the pantries, and was pleased to see they were properly stocked up. Dumbledore had made well on his promise it seemed. Now what would she make... She noticed a bag of pasta on the shelf and tilted her head.

"Mushroom pasta..." She said, a finger on her chin. Mushrooms were soft enough for Harry, and Beatrice is more likely to enjoy the meal (surprisingly, the little spirit loves mushrooms) more than usual. "It's settled then." She said, grabbing the bag of pasta, before closing the drawer and pulling out a pot out of another.

Beatrice, having cleaned herself up, huffed as she walked into the kitchen. "Stupid soil, sticking to my hair like a pest, I suppose..." She grumbled.

Rem turned around and spotted her. "Ah, Beatrice. I see you're clean now."

The spirit nodded. "Indeed I am. I'm assuming you're cooking dinner now?"

Rem nodded her head in affirmation. "Correct. And you shouldn't have to worry about any more of those awful traps, they've been disposed of." Satisfied with that, Beatrice decided to take a seat at the dining room table with one of her books. Pumpkin decided to join her, jumping up on one of the chairs and struggling to pull himself up for a few seconds before hopping on top of the table and padding his way over to Beatrice, who looked up to notice him. "Beatrice, please get him off the table..." Rem groaned.

Beatrice huffed and grabbed the orange furred kitten. "Hmph. I'll have you know Pumpkin is VERY clean, I suppose." Rem rolled her eyes.

"I simply don't want anyone, human or animal, climbing on the table we eat on."

"The food is on plates in fact, and is therefore not even touching the table, so it doesn't matter if Pumpkin has been on it." Beatrice replied confidently.

Rem stared flatly at her. "You fail to understand the point, Beatrice. Just get him off the table."

"Oh very well." Beatrice grabbed Pumpkin in her hand, causing him to meow, and set him on her lap.

"That's...*sigh*" Rem attempted fo tell Beatrice that the cat is still too close to the table, and she won't be able to eat properly with it in her lap, but decided against it, simply returning to her cooking. The spirit was nigh impossible to convince when it came to cats. Beatrice huffed triumphantly, sticking her nose up as she cuddled the purring kitten close and nuzzled him with her cheek. It was nice to have her very own bubbies... Puck was Emilia's, and Pumpkin was hers. She decided to say Tabitha was Harry's since Rem was a filthy heathen who didn't love cats like the rest of them did.

Rem's nose scrunched up. "Why do I get the feeling that you're insulting me in your head?"

"Hmph. I have no idea what you're talking about I suppose."

Rem then gained a mischievous smile. "Then I suppose you won't mind if I throw away these mushrooms I've been planning to add to the dinner, would you?"

Beatrice suddenly froze at that and gave the maid a narrow glare. "You...you wouldn't..." Rem's answer? She whistled a tune as she absentmindedly gathered the mushrooms on the cutting board and moved to the trash bin.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Beatrice cried out, tears forming in her eyes as she reached her hand out. "I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHIIIING!" Rem sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, I suppose you didn't, fine..." She relented, putting the mushrooms back on the board. "Just show more respect."

"Very well... You're not a heathen..." Beatrice grumped.

"...You were thinking of me as a heathen because I don't care for cats?"

"Only heathens dislike adorable little bubbies."

"...There's an inherent flaw with that mindset."

"Hmph." Was the only response Beatrice gave. Rem decided not to push the issue any further.

"Now, please be more quiet." She pleaded. "Harry and Emilia are still asleep. I'd hate to wake them up." Beatrice nodded. Even with her opinions, she didn't want to disturb Harry while he had his peaceful sleep. And also Emilia she guessed. Mostly Harry though.

Rem hummed as she neatly chopped the mushrooms into smaller pieces, taking great care to keep them smooth and straight. She then took the board and slid the mushrooms into the pot, before pouring in water. Turning on the stove, she began to stir the food gently, occasionally sipping the water to see if anything should be added. A few spices later, and she was satisfied with what she had concocted. Smiling softly, she stirred it, quietly humming a tune while Beatrice played with Pumpkin. At that point, Tabitha padded her way into the room, carrying Puck by the scruff of the neck as he looked around grumpily. "Ugh... Heeeeelp... This is sooooo degrading..." He moaned, clearly unhappy with his current situation.

"Tabitha. Drop him." Rem ordered sternly. Tabitha simply stared at her like she was the dumbest creature she had ever seen in her entire life. "Tabitha. Drop." She tried again, and got the same result. Rem facepalmed and reached down to try and take Puck back. Tabitha leaped back, back arched, fur and tail standing on end in warning. "...Beatrice, control your cat." Rem groaned, not wanting to be bothered with this right now.

"Tabitha, come over." Beatrice called, tapping her leg to call the cat over to the couch. It worked, and Tabitha soon jumped onto the couch, tapping a spot for herself with her paws, before laying down and letting go of Puck.

"Ah! Thank you, Beatrice." Puck exhaled in relief. "My nape was getting sore!"

"Aww, don't be angry at her like that, Bubby." She said, giving him pets. "She just sees you as a kitten, and wants to take care of you. That's all."

Puck huffed and crossed his arms. "Well I'm not a kitten to be babysat. I'm a thousand-year old spirit! I don't need to be babied." Tabitha promptly started to clean him. "Ugh... Stoooop..." Puck groaned in frustration, trying to push her away with his paw but not quite being strong enough physically to do so. Tabitha let out a long, whining meow and batted at him to chide him before going back to what she was doing. "...Okay, I like the orange one better." Puck declared. Pumpkin looked at him and meowed before standing up and lightly batting at him with his paws in a playful manner. "See, he's just trying to play, I'm not being treated like-GAH!" Pumpkin lightly tackled Puck, and they both fell to the floor. "Oh, that's how it's gonna be, is it? Okay then, bring it on!" Puck threw himself against Pumpkin with all the force his small body could muster. Which wasn't very much at all.

Pumpkin easily overwhelmed him and pinned him to the ground, lightly nomming on his head in a playful manner, and Puck responded by striking him on the nose with his squishy little paws, catching him off guard and allowing him to break free and lightly ram Pumpkin from the side. Pumpkin played along and flopped over. "Haha! Gotcha!" Puck laughed triumphantly, standing atop Pumpkin... who promptly shot up and used his front paws to pin Puck to the ground. Puck laughed as he wrestled with Pumpkin, grateful not to be treated like a kitten, as Tabitha hovered nearby fretfully, meowing in concern.

Beatrice placed a reassuring hand on her back, causing her to look at the spirit. "It's okay, Tabitha. They're just playfighting, I suppose." While she was convinced, she still decided to intervene should it get out of hand.

Meanwhile, Puck pushed with all his might at Pumpkin's paw that was on his face. "Nnnghh...c'mon...move it..." Deciding to comply, Pumpkin lifted his paw, letting Puck get up a breathe a sigh of relief. "Ah! Finally! Freedom!" He exclaimed, before turning to look at Pumpkin. "Oh, now you've done it." He said, rearing up, and launching himself at the bigger cat

As the cats rolled about on the floor, Rem focused on cooking, grateful that they weren't disturbing her or pestering each other at the moment, even if she knew it wasn't likely to last. Soon enough, the meal was simmering on the stovetop. After it was ten minutes to completion, she decided it was time to go and wake Harry and Emilia and bring them down to eat. She made her way upstairs to check in on them, and smiled when she saw they were both sleeping warmly and soundly. She hated to wake them, but the needed to eat, so she swallowed the urge to leave them to sleep and gently shook Emilia by the shoulder, causing her to stir slightly, blink her eyes open, and then sit up with a yawn. "Mmm... Hi Rem..." She murmured, cuddling a still sleeping Harry in her arms.

"Hi." She answered. "Have a good nap?"

"Mmm...yup..." Nodded Emilia, only to immediately regret it when her ears began ringing.

Rem chuckled. "Heh. Looks like your brain is still sleepy even if you aren't."

"Uuugh..." Groaned Emilia, hand on her forehead. "I shouldn't have...done thaaaat..." She said groggily. Suddenly, the tiny boy in her arms stirred. He let out a soft groan and shifted in Emilia's arms, burying his face in her chest. She sat up slowly and hugged him close to her bosom, gently patting his back with a small smile. "Okay, sweetie, it's time to wake up now..." She whispered softly.

Harry pulled away and rubbed at his eyes with his tiny fists, trying to get the sleep out of them. Emilia giggled into her free hand and held him out to Rem, who took him gently. "Sorry I had to wake you, I understand you're very tired, but supper is finished." She said gently.

"Oh... Mmkay..." Harry mumbled softly, still struggling to wake up.

"Oh, you poor thing..." Rem sighed softly. "You're exhausted... Don't worry, we'll make sure you catch up on your sleep..."

Emilia nodded. "Yup. This was just an afternoon nap." She said. "Tonight, you're gonna be even more comfortable."

"Mmm...okay..." He let out one past yawn, and stretched his tiny arms to wake up properly.

Rem got up. "Alright. I've prepared the dinner, and Beatrice is waiting for us down stairs. Let's not keep her waiting." 'Or else we'll never hear the end of it.' Went unsaid. Emilia nodded, and went to get up, before her legs suddenly stiffened, and she found herself unable to get up.

"Ah! I..can't get up!"

Rem placed a hand on her chin. "Hmmm. It seems as though your body still isn't awake well enough." She observed.

Emilia let out a displeased whine and grabbed at her legs with her hands,shaking them a bit in an effort to wake them up, but to no avail. "Aww..." She whined. Rem sighed, then set Harry down gently. "Sorry, sweetie, can you walk downstairs so I can help Emilia?"

Harry tilted his head, then nodded. "Mm-hmm." He said. Rem gave his head a gentle pat before she knelt down and gently placed her hands beneath the half-elf... then gently lifted her off the bed and into the air, picking her up in a bridal carry.

"Eek!" Gasped Emilia, her face turning crimson at the motion. "Wh-what are you doing?"

Rem looked away with an equally red face. "Believe me, this is embarrassing for me too."

"O-oh..." Emilia said, looking away as well. An awkward silence soon enveloped the room. Neither girl was willing to break it, too preoccupied in the current moment. "U-um..." Emilia then spoke up. "A-am I heavy?"

Rem blinked, then looked back at her with a tilted head. "No. Not at all. You're almost as light as Harry in fact." Emilia smiled brightly, then giggled softly into her hand.

"Aww, thank you, Rem, that's sweet..." She said softly. Rem sighed and shifted her hold on the half-elf slightly before carrying her down the stairs, smiling as she felt Harry clutching at the hem of her skirt as if he was trying to hold her hand, allowing her to lead him down to the kitchen. When Rem entered the room, Emilia and Puck turned to greet her and Emilia, only to give pause when they saw the way Rem was carrying the half-elf. "Hi everyone!" Emilia greeted chipperly with a wave.

"Hi." Harry said softly.

"Uuuuhh..." Beatrice said, for for once in her lifetime...she was at a loss for words.

"What...exactly did I miss here?" Asked Puck, ignoring the fact that Tabitha was holding him by the crook again.

"Ah...right." Emilia said with a blush.

"We can explain." Rem said, her face equally crimson.

"We're listening." Both spirits said in unison.

"Well, I guess I slept weird, because my legs are asleep right now, and Rem reeeeeally wanted me to come down to eat dinner with you all, so she decided to carry me down instead! That was nice of her, right?" Emilia chirped before giving a closed-eyed smile.

Beatrice and Puck looked at Rem and noticed that she was very visibly blushing as her eyes shifted away from the half-elf slightly. Beatrice was quick to catch on to the oni's mindset. 'Hmm. Seems the maid is developing a special attachment towards the brat, I suppose.' She thought.

Puck was of a similar mindset. 'Oh, she is gonna have to prove herself worthy of MY Lia!' He thought to himself overprotectively.

"R-right." Rem said, still looking away. Suddenly, a faint smell caught her attention, and she looked to find... ...the water in her pot slowly bubbling over.

"Ah! The dinner!" She exclaimed, having seemingly completely forgotten the embarrassing situation. She teleported next to the table, pulling out a chair and setting Emilia down in one swift motion, before zooming over and turning the stove off. The water settled down, and she quickly picked up a fork, taking a piece of mushroom and pasta and placing them in her mouth. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized that dinner hadn't been ruined, then turned to the cupboard and searched for something she could use to drain out the pasta safely. Her eyes widened when she saw a strainer, and she pulled it out with a wide smile. "This is PERFECT... Such an amazing invention... Why doesn't Lagunica have anything like this...?" She murmured softly to herself before carrying the strainer to the sink and grabbing the pot full of noodles, carefully pouring them out into the strainer.

The water flowed through easily, and she carefully picked the strainer up, jostling it lightly to try and dry off the noodles. When she was finished with that, she turned her attention to the cupboard again and grabbed plates to serve everyone up. Soon enough, everyone had a plate of food, even Pumpkin and Tabitha with their bowls of food on the floor on the other side of the room.

"Ooh! Shroomies!" Exclaimed Emilia, causing everyone to look at her weirdly.

"What?" She asked. "That's how mom called them."

Puck shook his head with a sigh. "Still so childish, despite the age."

"Alright alright. Ignoring Emilia's rather childish remark..."

"Hey!"

"I didn't make this food so it would go cold. So if you'd please, we can all now dig in. Enjoy!"

Beatrice was the first to eagerly dig into her food, happily chewing away. Emilia followed suit shortly after, followed by Puck. Rem looked at him. "Try not to let the cats see you, I don't want them getting the idea that they can come over here and-"

"Mew!"

She groaned out loud and looked down to see Tabitha sitting beside her chair, looking at her expectantly. "No." She said firmly. Tabitha meowed again. "No. You have your food, eat that." Tabitha let out a long, whining meow and looked at Puck. Rem got the message she was trying to send.

"Why does HE get to eat people food at the people table and I don't?!"

Having understood what the cat was asking, Rem's brows fell flat. "Puck at least knows how to have manners and not make a mess all over the table. Once you learn to do the same, I'll let you eat with us at the table too."

'Uhuh. As if.' went unsaid.

Tabitha let out an angry meow, before moving over to Beatrice and patting her dress with her paw. She meowed again, catching the spirit's attention. Beatrice winced, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, my little one. As much as I loathe the fact, the maid is right. Bubby simply has better manners.'

Tabitha let out a dramatic meow and flopped over onto her side, essentially proving to everyone present that she was an absolute diva. Rem rolled her eyes and shook her head. 'Pets...' She groaned internally. 'More trouble than they're worth...'

"Aww, poor Tabitha." Emilia said with a giggle. "Go on, go eat your food." Tabitha stood up again and padded over to her food bowl. She made a conscious effort to eat as messily as possible out of spite.

"I'm cleaning that." Beatrice spoke up just as Rem opened her mouth, causing it to snap shut with an audible click.

"Excuse me, what?" She asked. Was this a dream? Is it reality? Did Beatrice actually say that she will be doing the cleaning? Of her own volition?!

"Do stop gawking at me, I suppose." She spoke up, her brows lowering slightly. Rem continued to stare. "...Stop it!" Beatrice now whined, pouting and crossing her arms.

"You...are volunteering to clean up?" Rem was in shock.

"Of course, I suppose! They are the cats I chose to bring along, in fact!" Beatrice huffed in response, sticking her nose up.

" So responsible!" Emilia patted Beatrice's head, and Beatrice moved out of the way with a glare.

"Don't talk down to me, I suppose!"

"I...I...I, wow, I...I mean, I'm surprised." Rem stuttered out an answer. "You NEVER voluntarily choose to do chores. Oftentimes we have to make you do them."

"An act I certainly do NOT appreciate, in fact." Beatrice added.

"Regardless..." Rem continued. "I'm pleasantly surprised. You are finally developing from an immature little girl into a young woman. I'm glad to see you grow, Beatrice."

Beatrice looked away with a slight blush. "Hmph. Could've done without the immature part, but thank you for the praise, I suppose." She looked back at Rem. "But yes. I did say I will not be a more responsible person. I intend to go through with that promise to the very end. No matter what."

She looked at Harry with a small smile. "I have to be a good influence on my brother after all..." Harry tilted his head at her and she simply nodded back before returning to her meal. Tabitha seemed to realize she wasn't getting any attention for her actions after she'd finished eating, and she laid down on the ground with a discontent meow. Pumpkin approached her and lightly nudged her with his nose and she lightly batted at him to try and ward him off. He responded by tackling her, resulting in the two cats play fighting around the kitchen... and also rolling around in the food Tabitha had gotten everywhere, spreading it all over the place.

Rem's eye twitched, and she nearly slammed her head on the table, stopping herself just before she accidentally made a mess of her own. "As a maid, seeing a mess while being unable to clean it immediately is living torture." She groaned, Emilia giving her a compassionate look and stroking her head. "There, there." She whispered.

"Um...Miss Rem looks really sad." Harry spoke up. "I can clean up the mess if you want."

"Absolutely not." Beatrice suddenly said. "You wil NOT do any of that at any point. I brought the cats, I will clean after them." She gave Harry a pat on the head. "Your job is to sit back and play."

Harry tilted his head to the side. He wasn't sure how to feel about any of this... He had known nothing but work all his life... He had played a little bit at the park the day prior, but he'd had Beatrice acting as his guide the entire time he was there. What was he supposed to do if he wasn't working...? He looked back and forth between Emilia, Rem, Beatrice, and even Puck, hoping for some answers, and each one of them noticed his confusion, but only Beatrice truly understood. "You can simply find something you enjoy doing. That is all it means to play, I suppose. Just as long as it's safe and you won't wind up badly injured from it, in fact." The little spirit explained to her brother.

"Um...okay..." He looked over at Puck.

"Ca-can I play with you, Mr. Puck?"

The spirit in question chuckled. He had a feeling the kid would ask that. "Sure! We're gonna have so much fun together." He pointed at Emilia. "This little twerp is too old for me to play with her like we used to, so it's gonna be nice to play with you for a change."

Emilia stuttered indignantly. "Ha-whah? What do you mean I'm too old?! I'm barely 19! And what do you mean "twerp?!"

"Oh, honestly, do you think it's appropriate to call Emilia names in front of the little one?" Rem scolded. Puck stuck out his tongue and bonked himself on the head.

"How could you say mean things about me?! I thought we were closer than this! Well you know what, Puck? I like Pumpkin and Tabitha better! They're not mean to me, and they don't call me names and they're not sassy!" She stuck her nose up in the air.

"Um... D-Don't say mean stuff about Miss Emilia... She's not a... Not a what you just said, she's really nice, I think you should tell her you're sorry." Harry said innocently.

Puck blinked, before shrugging. "Eh, might as well." He turned to look at Emilia, plopping his ears down and putting on his cutest eyes. "Please, Emilia, will you forgive little old meeeee?" He asked in his cutest voice that he could muster.

Emilia's response? "Hmph." She grunted, looking away with her nose up in the air. Puck promptly broke.

"Ha-whah?!" He stuttered. "That always works!"

"Not anymore. Because I'm replacing you with Pumpkin and Tabitha, they're better than you." Puck crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

"Okay, fine! If that's how you're gonna be, then I'm just gonna replace you with Harry!" He declared, floating over to sit on top of Harry's head, puffing his chest up and looking smugly at the ceiling. "So you can have fun with your little furballs and me and Harry will have WAY more fun, how's that sound, huh?"

"Hmph. Do as you wish!" Emilia said, looking away haughtily. Harry looked back and forth between the two, before taking Puck in his arms and holding him out towards Emilia.

"Miss Emilia and Mr. Puck shouldn't fight. They're friends." He said innocently. "Mr. Puck, can you please apologise to Miss Emilia again?"

"Huh? And why would I do that when she doesn't wanna forgive me?" Puck asked.

"But...but Miss Emilia is your friend. And...friends shouldn't fight. Right?" Emilia bit her lip. She WANTED to be mad at Puck, she really, REEEEAAALLY wanted to be mad at Puck, but she also couldn't bring herself to say no to Harry. She took a deep breath, swallowed the thick lump of pride that was welling up in her throat, and turned to look at Puck.

"All right, I guess I'll forgive you. However! How! Ev! Er!" Emilia wagged her finger in Puck's face with the first two syllables before poking him on the nose with the final one. "You have to be nice to me from now on and not call me mean names!"

Puck laughed softly. "Aww, c'mon, Lia, it's all in good fun, you know I don't really mean it!"

"You need to be a good influence on Harry and not say stuff like that in front of him, I don't want him thinking it's acceptable!"

Puck shut up at that. "Ok, yeah. That makes sense." He nodded. "I promise I won't tease you around Harry, and only when you're alone."

Emilia smiled triumphantly. "Great! That's-wait, hey!" Puck giggled, sticking his tounge out. Emilia's face went red, and she snatched Puck and began to roughly rub his head with her fingers. "Raaah! You little tick! Take that!" She said mock angrily. Puck tried to bat her fingers away.

"Ah! Stop it Emilia! That hurts! I'm sorry!" Puck said, refusing to admit that he secretly found this amusing.

Rem let out a sigh and shook her head. 'For two people claiming to be father and daughter, their relationship is very strange...' She thought to herself. Still, it was a delightful interaction to watch regardless, it was clear that the two of them were extremely close if they could rib each other like this. Hmm... Is this the kind of relationship she should have with her sister? It seemed rather than playfully taunting each other, they dedicated their energy to playfully taunting those around them instead. She looked over at Harry with a tilted head. Would this be the kind of relationship they should strive for with him? ...No. No, absolutely not, he was far too sweet and adorable to tease like that and she would never even humor the possibility.

'Are...are we even good enough for him?' Thought Rem. She never had any experience dealing with kids. Neither did Emilia, and especially not Beatrice. So... So...are they really deserving of even being Harry's caretakers? They have no idea how to take care of a child. What if they say or do something that hurts him? What if they accidentally awoke his trauma again? What if they end up losing him to someone even worse? What if...what if...

What if... What if...they're just not good enough for him? What if she failed someone she cared for again...?

Emilia noticed Rem's expression and tilted her head. "Rem?" The maid looked up at her concerned face. "Is everything okay, Rem?" Emilia asked softly.

"Oh... Um... Yes. It's all okay, Emilia, don't worry."

"...I don't believe you." The half-elf murmured softly. "...Would you rather talk about it in private?"

Rem bit her lip, and nodded reluctantly. "Yes." She whispered. "But when dinner is over and everyone's in bed. Then we can talk." Emilia nodded, and the family returned to their dinner. Thankfully the cats didn't bother them anymore, and the dinner was spent in relative silence, which was only broken when someone asked for seconds. Or even thirds.

Before long, the meal was over. Rem diligently collected the dishes and placed them in the sink. Her current thoughts just took away all of her spirit, and she just wanted to go to bed. She can wash the dishes tomorrow anyway. She did make sure to properly soak them first, however, just so that the food wouldn't crust onto them and make them more difficult to wash. She looked over and saw that Harry was already sleepy once again. Emilia noticed as well, and she gently picked the boy up and hugged him against her shoulder, running her fingers through his hair. "Hmm... Seems playing with Puck will have to wait until tomorrow..."

"Yeah, I could tell by looking at his magic reserves that the little guy's seriously overtaxed. I don't think he'll have the energy for too much play for at least a week or two." Puck agreed, nodding his head in affirmation. Rem looked over with a sad frown and bit her lip. Oh how she wished Harry hadn't suffered so much, she hoped he regained his youthful spirit soon...

"Come on, let's get him to bed." Emilia spoke. Rem and Puck fully agreed, and Rem followed Emilia back up the stairs, while Puck attempted to dissappear, only to suddenly get snatched by the neck by Tabitha. He tried to protest, but yawned and figured he can let himself sleep like a kitten. Just this once. Meanwhile, Emilia slid under the covers along with Rem, both having changed into sleepwear, with Harry snuggled between them, already fast asleep. "There. All comfy." Emilia whispered.

She leaned down and gave the boy a gentle kiss on his forehead, giggling softly as he cooed in his sleep. "He's so cute, Rem, just look at him, he looks so sweet and innocent when he's sleeping..." She said softly. Rem nodded in silent agreement, lips curving into a soft smile. The two girls looked at each other, then made to join Harry beneath the covers. However, neither one laid their heads to rest. No, they both knew they needed to have a talk. "...Rem... I want you to tell me what's on your mind, okay?" Emilia said softly.

"...I...I'm worried. I'm worried I'm not suitable for Harry. ...I failed my sister, what if I fail Harry as well?"

"Rem, we've talked about this... Ram's horns weren't something you could control..."

"Yes, but I smiled, Emilia... I watched my sister lose a part of her, and it made me smile... That was my greatest failing as a sister..."

"You aren't completely pure, Rem." She said. "I...I often felt jealous towards the other royal candidates. I sometimes found myself wanting nothing more than to encase ice and leave them to get a cold." Her face went sour. "Especially that Priscilla woman. Even I have limits, and she didn't cross them. She made one of her servants wipe them away and then continued forward."

Rem nodded. "Indeed. I can agree with that sentiment. That woman gets on my nerves. But...I didn't know you can be jealous, Emilia. I didn't even think that you ever did feel jealous if you could."

Emilia hugged herself. "But how could I not be? I mean, they're all so beautiful, and I look like the witch of Envy... People hate me on sight, and have nothing but praise and respect to give to all of them... Oh, look at me, it's so ironic, I look like the witch of envy and all I feel is envy towards others, I'm so sinful..."

Rem looked at Emilia with a small frown. "Honestly, Emilia? I think you're far more beautiful than any of them could ever be." She said softly and sincerely. Emilia gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth and blushing beet red before looking away.

"I...But...But I look like what you hate, Rem...!" Emilia breathed out. Rem shook her head.

"You already taught me that looking like the witch of envy doesn't mean anything... You're not Satella, you're Emilia... I understand you're frustrated with how you're treated and want to prove yourself, but at the end of the day... Well... if you do look like the witch of envy, then she must have been truly beautiful despite everything." Emilia's eyes widened. For Rem, REM, the most devoted hater of the Witch Cult, the Witch of Envy, and everything she represents, to compliment her looks, while knowing full well that she's actually talking about the half-elf beg her... Ahe couldn't hold it back anymore.

"Eeeeeeeeeeek!" A squeal escaped her lips as her face began to steam with how red it was. She turned away and covered it with her hands, flustered beyond belief.

"Ah! Careful! You'll wake up Harry!"

"I'm sorry I'm sorry this is just so sudden I wasn't expecting it you think I'm beautiful you really think I'm beautiful I don't even know what to think I feel all heated I..." Rem clapped a hand over Emilia's mouth and smiled softly at the half-elf.

"It's okay, Emilia... It is." She said sincerely. "You have something that the witch of envy could never have. Inner beauty. You are beautiful inside and out." She said softly and sincerely, so much so that Emilia began to tear up slightly.

"Oh Rem..." She said softly before throwing her arms around the oni and burying her face into her neck. "I...I never realized just how much I needed to hear somebody say that to me... Thank you..." She whimpered. Rem felt tears leaking onto her shoulder from Emilia's eyes. Rem simply returned the embrace and let Emilia cry into her shoulder. She knew full well no one has ever told her these words. To hear them must've warmed her heart to no end. Rem knew it did for her.

And for some reason, she was glad to be the first to tell the half-elf this. After a moment or so, Emilia eventually separated from her, brushing back her hair with a sniffle. "I-I'm sorry. I made your nightgown all wet.

"No no no." Rem waved it off. "It's nothing. You needed to vent, and I was here. It'll dry off overnight. No big deal."

Emilia gave her a teary smile. "Thank you, Rem... It really does mean a lot to hear those words coming from you of all people..." Rem winced and looked away. Emilia blinked. "Oh, no, Rem, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything!"

"No... No, it's just... I'm remembering how... I treated you when you first came to live as the Roswaal Manor..." Rem said softly, looking down at the floor. "I can't understand why you ever wanted to be friends with me when I was so cold and callous..."

Emilia tilted her head. "Oh... Right... I remember it now..." Memories of her first few months with Roswaal and his maids flashed into her mind.

(Years before)

A young Rem sighed as she walked through the gardens of the Roswaal mansion. She always did this whenever she was...not in a stellar mood. The smell of flowers brought her mind at ease. Made her relax. Made her forget. She knelt down and smelled a particularly red rose, humming in satisfaction at the sweet smell.

"Do you like them? I put a loooot of work in them."

Rem tensed up at the unfamiliar voice, and then she remembered what she had been informed of by Master Roswaal. He was sponsoring one of the royal candidates. And this royal candidate in question just so happened to be the one that looked like the witch that had indirectly ruined her life. She didn't look in the direction of the voice, she just turned and walked away at a brisk pace, not wanting to look at the face that had caused the cult to take everything barring her last remaining family from her. The candidate was undettered, and was following along, still trying to talk with her.

"So, how's your morning going along?" She asked, strutting along with her side-by-side. Rem pointedly ignored her and sped up her walk, attempting to create distance between them. Sadly, it did not work, because her "companion" sped up her own walk and returned to her side.

"Ooh! Is this a new game? Are we racing?" She said with excitement. Rem grit her teeth and sped up her pace some more. But no matter how fast she walked, Emilia always seemed to match her pace perfectly, continuing to talk in her [as far as she was concerned] annoying voice. She ignored her every word, not paying the slightest bit of attention, until finally she reached the next room she had to clean. She hurriedly entered, slammed the door shut [taking some satisfaction out of the sound of the half-elf crying out slightly as an idication that the door had hit her in the face], and then locked it as she set to work on cleaning up the room.

Her mood was more or less ruined now. She was sharing the same living space as a living, breathing reminder of what had caused her life to go wrong, and now that living, breathing reminder had made the decision that she was a friend of hers. "Hey! Hey, why'd you lock the door?" The pest called from outside the room. "Hey! Lemme in! I wanna see you clean! I've never seen you do it before!" Rem decided to do her best to ignore the annoying girl as she set out to work on the room.

First, she neatly folded the sheets on the bed, careful to even out any and all creases she could find, before fixing the entire thing in an orderly manner. "So, what's your favorite game you like to play? Mine's hopscotch." She then went to dust off the shelves. Taking the feathered duster, she hummed as she collected the dust off the wooden furniture, making sure to not miss a single speck.

She then moved on to-

"Hey! Are you okay in there? You're not saying anything!"

She couldn't take it anymore.

She threw the door open and glared at the girl, who seemed to wither slightly under her gaze. "I am TRYING to work. I need you to be QUIET." She hissed angrily before slamming the door once again, leaving the young half-elf standing alone.

"...Oh. Um... Okay, sorry, could have been less... um... harsh about it..." She said softly, twirling her finger around her silver hair as she walked away from the door.

Rem snorted at those words. Less harsh... As if she deserved kind treatment being what she was...The door opened, and Rem turned to snap, only to see her sister walk in. "Rem... We talked about this." Ram said gently but sternly.

"Sister, she looks just like her!"

"I know. But she isn't. And it's our job to work for her sake as well as Lord Roswaal's now, so you need to try and be a little bit more tolerant."

Rem huffed. "She was pestering me."

"I know. I'll talk to her about not bothering you while you're working. But at least try to act civil towards her."

Rem narrowed her eyes. "...I promise to try. And ONLY to try."

Ram nodded. "That is all I could ask." The pink haired maid left the room, leaving Rem to her task.

Back in the present day, Emilia rubbed her arm. "So you were a little harsh that day... But that's okay! You weren't the first or the last one to treat me like that, and you WERE one of the few that got better about it."

"Emilia, I literally almost broke your nose when I slammed that door in your face. Sorry about that by the way."

"Eh. It's all in the past." Emilia waved it off.

"But you nearly got injured because of my ignorance and hatred. I still can't forgive myself for doing that to you."

Emilia put a hand on Rem's shoulder. "Hey, hey. None of that. Like I said, you got better about it. The past isn't important anymore." She then gave Rem a flick on the forehead and a boop on the nose. "So I better not see you wallowing like that again. Got it, Missy?"

Rem let out a sigh. "...You know that wasn't the only thing I did to you, right?" Emilia tilted her head to the side with a frown. "...Do you remember that one day, when you were outside in the snow, clearing your mind after all those studies, and you kept finding patches of ice...?"

Emilia blinked before wincing. "Aaaaah... So uh... you were the one making me slip and fall all those times, huh?" Rem closed her eyes and nodded solemntly. Emilia sighed. "That was a reeeeally embarrassing day, I admit... But uh... I remember it was also kinda fun...?"

Rem stared at the half elf. "Fun? You found fun in what I put you through that day?" Emilia giggled softly into her hand.

"Oh, it was only about three pranks you played on me, I can take a joke!"

"Emilia, I wasn't joking, that was me venting frustrations."

"Well... we were young, so it's okay, you grew and matured!"

"...I still remember it so clearly..." Rem sighed.

Flashback...

"And now...this..." Young Rem stuck out her tounge as she took great care to sweep off the last patches of dust on the cupboard in Master Roswaal's room.

She put the vase back down, setting it back to it's original position, before walking to the door and observing the entire room.

She sighed with relief. "Finally. The last room is done. Now I can finally take a break." She looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Hmmm...have I scrubbed the ceiling clean yet?"

Before she can continue this train of thought, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze landed on a window on the right side of the room.

It was the half-elf. She was prancing around outside in the snow like she didn't have a care in the world. Rem's eye twitched slightly. 'Leave it alone, Rem, just focus on your work...' She thought to herself. But then... a little...prank wouldn't hurt, right?

It's not like anyone would trace it back to her or anything... She could make it look like a simple accident... She smiled mischievously, deciding to take a little bit of vengeance on the one that resembled the witch of envy, and then pointed at the spot Emilia was about to walk.

A patch of ice formed underneath the snow, out of Emilia's view. Now she just needed to wait and see what happened with it.

Speaking of, the half-elf in question hummed a peppy tune as she strolled through the cold, foamy mess covering the backyard.

"Hmmm...I wonder if the roses are okay. I don't want them to freeze to death." She murmured as the snow crunched under her shoes.

Unfortunately, she was so deep in worry for her beloved flowers that she failed to notice Rem's patch of ice under her feet. This caused her to slip and yelp and she suddenly found herself lying in the snow. Her eyes blinked in surprise and she pushed herself up, grimacing at the pain on her behind.

"Aww..." She groaned. "That was dumb..." She stood up again, and ended up stepping on another patch of ice that Rem created, causing her to fall facefirst into a snowdrift. She pushed herself up, blinking owlishly as her face was caked in snow.

She shook the snow off, then rose back to her feet. "Hmph! I guess the snow's not deep enough to keep the ice covered... Oh well..." She took another step forward... and another patch of ice caused her to slip and end up with her upper torso buried in the snow.

Rem meanwhile observed with giggles as the witch lookalike kept slipping on the ice she created.

"Look at you." She spoke with contempt. "Look like the legendary devil that nearly destroyed humanity, and yet you can't even stay upright on slippery ice." She concentrated her magic on the newest patch of ice Emilia stepped on.

"Weren't you the one who destroyed my village!?"

Suddenly, the patch tilted, causing Emilia to stumble backwards with a yelp. Unfortunately, she stumbled back onto the previous patch, causing her to slip again and end up with her head buried in the snow.

Rem took a moment of triumph... but paused when she noticed something. The half-elf was...crying? She had tears in her eyes as she struggled to stand up. She didn't seem truly heartbroken or anything, but she did seem frustrated and upset by what was happening to her. ...She'd... never expected to see someone with the Witch of Envy's looks shed tears...

"Rem." She heard her sister's voice and winced. "You're not accomplishing anything by tormenting her. This is not vengeance. She had nothing to do with any of it. You've just harrassed and bullied an innocent girl to tears." Rem looked down at her sister's stern words.

"S-Sister...I..."

"No. Don't. Just stop it." Ram said firmly. "The girl is important, and whether you like it or not, we are bound to take care of her, not harm her. You are to stop hurting her immediately, do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Rem nodded her head slowly and looked back out the window, where she saw the half-elf being tended to by her spirit.

Present...

"Oh. Okay, yeah, I had a feeling that was probably you, it all seemed so...convenient..." Emilia said softly.

"...And yet you still wanted to befriend me..." Rem said softly.

"Well of course. We live together, and...I wanted so badly to be close to the people I was living with... But Roswaal kind of made me uneasy, Ram was always around him and didn't seem to care for anyone that wasn't one of you two, and Beatrice never left her library... I just really wanted someone besides Puck to be my friend, and... well... I dunno, I guess you just seemed like the best choice..."

Rem bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Emilia... For what I did to you that day... It was so cruel and hurtful and thoughtless..."

She was stopped by another boop on the nose. "Hey! What did I just say a few minutes ago? No wallowing like that! Or the boops will become the flicks." Rem rolled her eyes. This girl...she was so childish, even in something that should be serious.

She supposed that just gave Emilia her charm. She could be funny and relaxing to be around, even when the situation isn't as lighthearted as the half-elf herself. "Alright, alright. Sorry." Rem apologised. "But seriously, I made you *cry*, Emilia. CRY."

Emilia smiled sadly. "You weren't the first one..." Rem winced.

"That makes it even worse. I contributed to your suffering and still you wanted to be my friend..."

"Yes. I did. And I still do." Emilia grabbed Rem's hands and smiled, making direct eye contact with her. "I won you over eventually... And I still remember it so clearly..."

Rem smiled. "Yes... Me as well..." She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. It was two small, hand-knitted dolls that looked like her and her sister.

"You kept them!"

"Of course I did, it was a gift from a friend... How could I not give you a chance when you put so much time and effort into lovingly crafting these...?"

She remembered the day so clearly...

The dishes clinked as Rem set them down into the sink. She let out a sigh and wiped her forehead with her arm. Then, her nose picked up the smell of the dirty dishes. And she cringed. "Ugh. I shouldn't have cooked fish today." She grimaced. Not only was the fish so hard to scrub off, but the smell just made her want to throw up every time she caught it.

Sighing, she decided to bear with it and start cleaning. She was a maid after all. It's her job. Sadly, not even this would be a peaceful chore, as much as she wished it would be. She heard the sound of the half-elf sneaking around behind her, and she huffed silently. Seemed she finally realized she didn't want anything to do with her. Good. Even if she couldn't harm her anymore, it seemed saying only the bare minimum of what was necessary to her was all it took.

Hmm. It seemed that she was hiding something behind her back. "...What do you have, half elf?" She asked suspiciously. Emilia tensed up. "Oh... Um... Just a... a surprise... That's all..."

"A surprise." Rem said flatly. "I see." She wanted so badly to stop her, but she wasn't allowed to interfere with the royal candidate. She looked at the half-elf with an unreadable expression as she backed out of the room, smiling nervously and still looking directly at her. She sighed and returned to her chores. This was the last one of the day...

When she finished, she returned to her living chambers with a sigh. The door was slightly ajar. ...She hadn't left it open. Did her sister go inside? No, that couldn't be it... Lord Roswaal wasn't the type to go into her room either... ...Was the half-elf in her room? She scowled at the mere thought and threw the door open. What she saw was two hand-knitted dolls of herself and her sister, with a note. Rem froze up at the door. That...

When did...

Did the half-elf make those?

She walked over to the bed, never removing her eyes off the dolls. She stopped, before reaching down and picking up the doll that resembled her. Her eyes ran over every stitch, every thread, every detail about the toy. Her fingers slid over the surface of it. She couldn't find any creases, any overused strings. The doll was clearly made with great care.

The half elf had given her a gift...? Why? What reason did she have for such a thing?! She wasn't her friend, she made it no secret that she only tolerated her mere presence, so why did she make the decision to take the time to make these for her?! She looked them over. The half elf had admittedly gotten a few details very slightly off, the hair was a bit shorter, the skirt was too long, and the eyes were the wrong shade of blue. But these were such minor things, and frankly, she was impressed she knew any details considering how often she avoided her. ...Why...? Why did she make these...?

"Um...D-Do you like them...? R-Ram taught me how to sew, and... I wanted to... to give you a surprise to say that I'm sorry for what I did to make you hate me..." The half-elf's voice sounded from the turned around and her eyes flew to the door. She didn't spot it at first, but she soon caught a small glimpse of the half-elf's face. The girl in question squeaked before quickly moving back to not be seen. Rem blinked a few times, before approaching the door slowly. She reached out towards the door, before her hand hesitated.

'What...what should I do?' She asked herself in her mind. This entire situation confused her greatly. Why would the half-elf do this? Leave her toys, attempt to apologise, even befriend her? When she hasn't shown any interest in either of those last two? Her thoughts were so deep, her hand unconsciously moved, and before long, her mind was interrupted when she came face-to-face with the half-elf.

Emilia tensed up with a light squeak and then looked away shyly. "Um... Hi Rem... Sorry... I just... I'm sorry I came in your room without asking, I just didn't think you'd take them if I tried to give them to you, and... I just... thought it'd be better if I gave you them as a surprise..."

"...Why...? Why would you give these to me? Why would you take time out of your day to make me a gift? I don't understand. It doesn't make any sense to me." Rem said with a deep frown. Emilia closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

"Because... Because I reaaally wanna be friends with you... I don't want you to hate me... I'm trying so hard to make up for looking like her... I'm sorry me being around upsets you, I just wanna try and help you feel more comfortable..."

Rem's entire world shattered. "I...I...I can't...what..." After everything she's done. After all the "pranks" she pulled. After all the things she did to hurt her, just because she looked like the thing that ruined her life.

This girl. This ignorant little half-elf, who has gone through so much suffering because of her own hatred. She still wanted to be her friend. She still wanted to make her feel comfortable around her. She still wanted to be close to her. And she was APOLOGISING.

Rem turned away from Emilia and clutched the two dolls close. Her shoulders began to shake slightly. Emilia put a hand to her mouth. "I-I'm sorry, I...I'll leave, I didn't mean to-"

"No... Stay..." Emilia was taken aback by those words.

"S-Stay...? You...You WANT me here...? Really, Rem?!"

"Yes... I...I'm..."

She had to say it, but the words kept dying in her throat.

"I'm s... I'm so s...I'm... I'm... I'M SORRY!" She finally got out.

Emilia took a step back in surprise at the outburst. "S-sorry?" Emilia asked. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"For everything!" Rem said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I'm the one who hurt you so much."

Emilia tilted her head. "What are you talking about, Rem? What did you do?"

"I...I made you slip on ice a week ago. I hit you in the nose with a door. I...ignored you and broke your heart...I'm...I'm sorry-"

"To be honest, I kinda already knew."

Rem winced and closed her eyes. "And you still wanted to be friends with me? Your... Your bully?" Emilia let out a soft sigh and smiled warmly at the oni.

"Yeah... I do... Because... well... I'm tired of being alone with just me and Puck... I want more friends so badly... Being all alone is the worst... Especially since Puck can't be with me too much or he gets sleepy..." She took a step towards Rem. "So... Do you think maybe we can start over, and... maybe be friends?"

Rem looked down at the floor and clutched at her apron before she let out a soft sigh. "Yes. Yes, let's... Let's start over... And be friends." She agreed. Emilia gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Really?! Oh yes! Yes!" The half-elf tackled the oni in a hug. Rem blinked twice, then smiled softly at Emilia and allowed it. She closed her eyes. She was a half-elf... But she was good hearted. She wasn't like the witch of envy after all...

Present...

"...Are you certain you admitted you knew it was me? I feel like tonight was the first time I ever told you..."

Emilia blinked. "Um... Well... Maybe...? It WAS a long time ago... I might have just been thinking it."

"That would make more sense, yeah." Rem nodded with mischief in her voice. "You do tend to pretend a lot when you don't know anything."

"Heeeey!" Emilia exclaimed with a red face. "That's not true! I'll have you know my behavior is 100% real the entire time! Hmph!"

Rem giggled at the immature little claim. "Sure, sure. You definitely knew what I was talking about last week when I was teaching you customs and traditions."

"You can't blame me for that one. That was soooooo boring. I almost fell asleep on the spot."

Rem laughed softly into her had. "You DID fall asleep on the spot. I had to wake you several times." Emilia fidgeted and clasped her hands together. Rem let out a sigh. "There's much about the world you must understand, and not all of it is fun and exciting."

"I know..." Emilia sighed. "I did remember everything... Despite how boring it was, it did stick with me, all thanks to your teaching." Rem beamed with pride.

"You think I'm a good teacher, do you?"

"Oh yes, Rem, you're an amazing teacher! Remember all the things you've taught me?"

Flashback...

"Remember, the knife has to move slowly, but you also have to make sure you put in enough strength, so the peel is a long, continued string, instead of bits and pieces."

"Oh, so like this?" Emilia asked, gently placing her knife on the (po)tato, before slowly sliding it over the surface as she began to peel the skin off.

At the same time, Rem observed from the side, her eye studying every detail. "Carefully. There's a small part that's rotten. You can't peel over that, so you need to slice it off."

"Ah. Okay." Emilia nodded, before setting the (po)tato down on the chopping board, and lifting her arm up.

"No no no. Do not swing the knife down like you're about to execute it." Rem shook her head, grabbing Emilia's wrist gently, before helping her adjust her arm properly.

"Here..." She held her arm above the rotted part. "All you have to do is lightly saw away the piece of tato..." Emilia obeyed, and the rotted portion fell onto the cutting board. She beamed and clapped her hands together. "Yay, I did it!"

Rem smiled and nodded. "Now, this will be the last one you peel for the day. Then you need to get back to your studies." Emilia nodded her head and saluted.

"I won't disappoint!"

Three hours later, Emilia was sitting down, staring at the book, feeling like her brain was on fire. But she couldn't stop trying to understand it. She HAD to get it right!

"The...royal Palace has...three times...the..." She could feel her head getting lighter. She felt sleepy. She... She could just... It...wouldn't hurt, right? To...take a...a little rest... Yeah...just a short na-

"NO!" She suddenly screamed out. "I don't need sleep! I need answers!" She said, biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself awake. She narrowed her eyes, hunched over, and stared at the page until her eyes began to hurt. Ugh... Why was life so complicated? She heard a light knock outside her bedroom door, and she was so focused on her studying that the small noise startled her into falling backwards, out of her chair and onto the floor. "Ow! Aww..." She whined as she sat up and rubbed her aching head. "Um... Who is it...?"

"It's me, Rem. May I come in please?" Emilia quickly hopped to her feet and pulled the door open. There stood Rem, calmly holding a tray containing some tea and several sandwiches. "I assumed you must have been getting hungry by now. Is your studying going all right?"

"Oh, um... yes, yes, absolutely! I really understand how the...things work with the...stuff and...all that..." Emilia said sheepishly.

Rem tilted her head. "There's no shame if you're struggling to understand a few things, Emilia."

"No! Nononononono! I assure you Rem, I'm fine!" She said, and looked around the room for any kind of excuse. "Umm..." She saw the pile of books next to her. "Look! All these books are the ones I managed to study through! I know what I'm doing!"

Rem's brows flattened. "Emilia-sama, those are fairy tales. You removed them off the shelf to get to the important books."

Emilia's eyes twitched, and she sighed as her head fell. "Yeah...I have no idea what I'm doing. But..." She looked up at Rem again. "But I'm not allowed to be like that. I am a royal candidate, Rem. I'm supposed to know everything."

Rem closed her eyes and shook her head. "It doesn't work that way, Emilia. NONE of the other royal candidates know everything, why would you be expected to?" Emilia looked away and rubbed her arm, looking deeply ashamed of herself.

"I mean... I'm supposed to know all the things they know... And I don't know all the things they know, and... I just... I dunno... I feel kinda stupid..." She admitted softly. "Like I'm worse than they are... I... I already look like what they all hate, and I can't even get these basic facts right... Do... Do I even deserve to be here...?"

"You absolutely do." Rem interrupted her train of thought, causing her to look up at her. "Listen, Emilia." She began. "I am nothing more than a lowly maid. It isn't my right to question the will of the Great Dragon, so I can't say anything about the matter of your ownership of the throne. But what I do know, is that knowledge cannot be simply had on a whim. It needs to be earned." She pointed at the pant in the pot on the table near the window. "Take for example this plant. It was a seed but a few months or years ago, and yet, with proper watering and placement in the sunlight, it grew into a beautiful decoration for your room. You're no different than the plant."

"Are you saying I can sprout leaves and flowers from my body?" Emilia asked with a tilted head. "I never knew I could do that."

Rem stared blankly at the half elf for several seconds, trying to process what she had just said, before shaking her head. "N-No. I'm saying that, like this plant, you can grow to be so much more than you are currently. At the moment, you understand little, but with enough help and hard work, the seed of knowledge will sprout inside your mind, and you will master your studies."

Emilia blinked before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, I get it, you're saying that I'll grow like the plant! The plant got bigger and I'll get smarter and then I'll pass everything with flying colors! Um... That IS what you're saying, right? I'll feel foolish if I'm wrong..."

Rem laughed softly into her hand. "Yes, Emilia. That is what I'm saying. Now then... I've finished my work for the day, so why don't I help you with your studies a little bit before it's time for us to go to sleep?"

Emilia scratched her cheek. "Uuum...Rem..." She began. "Are...are you sure this is something you can help me with?"

Rem tilted her head. "Hm? I fail to see why not. Is there something wrong?"

"N-no, not really." Emilia shook her head. "I'm actually really grateful that you want to help me. Really, thank you for that. But..."

"But?" Rem asked with one brow raised.

"I don't think you'll understand this stuff though." Emilia said. "Like, you've never been taught about these kinds of things. I don't wanna bother you with what you don't know."

Rem tilted her head. "I work under a man of very high profile, and I have ever since I was just a young girl. I've picked up more than a few things during my time here. Now then... Why don't you tell me what you're working on so that I can help you?"

"A-are you sure?" Emilia asked, still uncertain. "I reeeally don't wanna be a burden to you."

"You aren't." Rem interrupted swiftly. "I am more than happy to help."

"But you must have some chores to do!"

"I already did all of them?"

"But...wait, all of them? Already?!"

Rem gave a wink. "Heh. Never underestimate the power of a maid. We can be monsters when we want to." She sat down next to Emilia at the desk. "Now then... Let's get to work, shall we?" Emilia quickly found that Rem was much, MUCH wiser than she could ever hope to be, and she was a big help on her studies. She knew most of the material, and when she didn't know it, she caught onto it very, VERY fast. And she was patient and knew just what to say to help her understand everything.

By the end of their session, Emilia felt like she knew so much more than she had going into it. She stretched her limbs with a sigh. "Thank you, Rem... I never would have gotten this without your help. D-Do you think maybe you could tutor me again someday...?"

Rem smiled. "Any time you need me, I'll be happy to help, Emilia."

"A-any time!?" Emilia asked, surprised. "But...don't you have work to do?"

"I'll see with master Roswaal about letting me tutor you." The maid said, giving a little smirk. "Heh. I bet he'll do anything to get you off his neck."

"Hey!" Emilia exclaimed, pouting.

"But it's true." Rem continued. "You've been pestering him for help for the past three weeks. I'm surprised he hasn't snapped already, to be honest." She said. "So getting me to tutor you should be no problem for him."

Emilia's cheeks puffed out a bit, but she let out a soft sigh. "Okay. Thank you, Rem." She said sincerely. Rem nodded her head.

"It's my pleasure, Emilia."

Present...

Emilia sighed softly. "Well... It's all kinda useless now, isn't it? We're really far away from our world, we don't know how to get back... I guess I'm just... not in the royal selection at this point... And yet... Honestly...I'm...kind of okay with that... Because... I can have a fresh start, I don't need to prove anything here because there's no prejudice against me..." She looked at Rem. "...Um... I'm sorry, that was selfish of me to say, I know you still have your sister back home, you must miss her terribly..." Rem's fists clenched, and she bit her lip, looking at the pillow sadly. Emilia gasped quietly. "Ah! Sorry! Didn't wanna make you sad. I am so sorry-"

"No no. It's...it's fine. You didn't mean it."

"But I still hurt you. I...I know how much you are hurting because you're worried for Ram. I didn't watch what I was saying, so I accidentally reminded you of that fear. So...sorry."

Rem sighed. "See? This is why you deserve to be a queen more than any other candidate. You're actually considerate of your people's feelings."

Emilia blinked twice. "Y-You... You really mean that...?"

Rem smiled softly. "Yes, Emilia... I do. I remember that one time, when you accompanied me on an errand run, and we wound up stopping multiple times to help just about everyone we came across, even if it was detrimental to you..."

Emilia thought back on it and smiled softly. "Oh... Yes... It didn't always go the best, but their gratitude made it all worth it..."

[Flashback begin]

The soft crunch of the soil as Emilia and Rem walked through the city was a refreshing change from the flat floors of the mansion. The two girls breathed in the freshness of the air as they walked through the streets at a leisure pace. "Ooh, this is my first time grocery shopping!" Emilia said in excitement. "I can't thank you enough for taking me out with you today, Rem."

Rem sweatdropped. "I...really don't think it's that interesting, Emilia-sama. It's just grocery shopping. Nothing interested about it."

Emilia clasped her hands together, stars in her eyes. "But it is, Rem, I never get to go to town for... um... obvious reasons..." She pointed at a spot on her clothes where someone had thrown a tomato at her. Rem's eye twitched before they narrowed.

"Who?" She asked firmly.

"Rem, it's not a big deal-"

"Who was it? I wish to speak with them."

"No, Rem, it's fine, really, I didn't even see who actually did it!'

Rem closed her eyes and sighed. "I don't want anyone hurting you."

Emilia waved it off bashfully. "Aww, that's just so sweet of you, Rem." She cooed. "But I'm serious. No one is hurting me. At most it's just insults and rotten fruit. Nothing more."

Rem's brows fell flat. "That still hurts your self esteem. That's basically the same thing."

"No it isn't!" Emilia kept on stubbornly. "It doesn't hurt as much as an actual injury! Besides, no one has hurt me nearly as much as before. Now I return to the mansion with only three scratches instead of the usual six! That's an improvement!"

Rem stopped in her tracks and turned to look back at Emilia with wide eyes. "...Emilia..." She took a step forward and grabbed her hands. "If anyone is hurting you, I want you to tell me exactly who they are so that I can make it entirely clear to them that I WILL not tolerate ANY kind of abuse towards you."

Emilia looked away. "But Rem, that's not a good look for me... I can't have the maid that works under my sponsor go around beating people up for every little thing-"

"They caused VISIBLE MARKS, Emilia. That is not a LITTLE THING. They HURT you, and they can't be allowed to get away with it." Rem said firmly.

"It...It wasn't so bad, honest, it was just... a prank that went too far, they just tripped me up is all, it's no big deal!"

"It is to me. I care about your safety. You are important, Emilia. I won't just sit by quietly and allow you to be harmed. I was sworn to protect you the moment you set foot in that mansion, and while I did a poor job initially, I intend to rectify that. You can trust me, Emilia. I am your friend. And your protector."

Emilia sighed. "If...If it happens again... I'll tell you... Okay...?"

"That is all I could ever ask. Now come, let's..." They stopped when they heard what sounded like...sobbing. The two girls exchanged a look, before moving to see who was causing the sound. They entered a rather narrow alleyway, where they spotted a child, likely a boy, sitting on the ground against the wall and crying.

Emilia gasped. "Ah! Oh dear!" She said, running over to the tiny boy, Rem following more slowly. She knelt down, placing her hands on his shoulders gently. The boy looked up at the two women. The white one gave him a concerned look, same as the blue one. Neither were his mom.

He flinched and looked away. "Um...Um... I'm...I'm not supposed to talk to strangers..." He said softly. Emilia smiled softly.

"That's a very good lesson for your mother to teach you. My name is Emilia, and this is Rem. So I guess that doesn't make us strangers anymore! Now... Are you lost, sweetie?" The boy sniffled and nodded his head. "You poor thing... Don't be afraid. Rem and I will help you find your mommy, okay?"

The boy looked uncertain. "R-Really...?"

"Of course!"

"Y-You won't kidnap me, right?"

"I pinkie promise you I will not kidnap you." Emilia replied with a warm boy hesitated nonetheless, but accepted. You don't break a pinky promise after all. Having made the promise, Emilia scooped the boy up in her arms, letting him lean his head on her shoulder. "There. Now, can you tell us where you last saw your mommy?"

"U-um..." The boy began. The trio exited the alleyway, and he pointed towards the way Emilia and Rem came from. "Th-three houses from here. She...she disappeared all of a sudden, and I can't find her anywhere."

Emilia nodded her head. "Was there a big crowd? She probably lost you in it. Don't worry! We'll find her! I bet she's looking all over the place trying to find you, we're bound to bump into her eventually!" Emilia turned to Rem with a tilted head. "Is it all right with you, Rem? I know we came to shop..."

"It's perfectly fine, Emilia. It is important to help your future subjects after all." Rem replied with a shrug.

"Subjects...?" The boy asked softly.

"Ah. Um... I'm kind of a royal candidate, but it's not that important right now!" Emilia chirped.

"A...royal candidate?" The boy's eyes widened. "So you're gonna be queen someday?"

"N-not really." Emilia said. "I still have to beat the other candidates."

The boy tilted his head. "So...you're gonna beat up people to become queen? I thought the queen was supposed to be nice."

"No no, she isn't beating anyone up." Rem said. "Emilia-sama is one of the five royal candidates. She needs to show everyone that she can be a better queen than the other girls, so that she herself becomes queen."

"Oh. Um... None of the other candates came to try and help me find my mama, so I think you're the best one!" The boy chirped. Emilia blinked, then smiled widely as he eyes began to glisten with tears.

"Oh, thank you, I'm so happy you think that you sweet thing!" She gave the boy a gentle squeeze and he giggled softly.

"What does your mother look like, little one?" Rem asked.

"Oh, she's got long black hair and she's wearing green! It's a long green dress, and she also has a shopping bag in her hand, and she has...um... I think her eyes are green, but they might be brown too, I don't know, I keep getting them mixed up..."

"Okay! So...wearing green..." Emilia hummed as her eyes began to wander over the crowd, searching for the green wearing woman. Suddenly, she spotted a piece of green in the crowd. "Ah! There she is!" She exclaimed, before running towards where she last saw the colour, Rem following suit.

She and Rem moved deftly through the massive group of people, wearing through them without bumping into anyone. 'I've gotten better at avoiding bumping into people.' Emilia thought. "Come on." She said to Rem. "I saw the green right he-" She was interrupted when she crashed into something and fell, thankfully shielding the boy from the impact with the ground.

"Oof..." She groaned, looking up and finding herself face to face with a large, noble looking man in...green. A man whose face immediately became disgusted when he realized who he was looking at. Emilia shrunk back under his harsh gaze and looked away. "Um... I'm...I'm so sorry, I was just...trying to help this little one find his mommy and I thought you were her, and you're not her and you look really really mad, so I'm just gonna go..."

"Tch. You'd best, you disgusting waste." The man scoffed angrily, causing Emilia to flinch. He turned to walk away, only to feel something grab onto his arm, rather harshly at that. He turned to see the maid that was with the half devil looking at him with an unreadable expression. "What do you think you're doing?! Unhand me!"

"Apologize." Was Rem's response.

"What?! I will do no such thing, what gives you the right to make such a ridiculous demanAAAAND!" He cried out as Rem's grip tightened ever so slightly.

"APOLOGIZE." She reiterated a bit more firmly.

"Y-you...let go...you moronic...I'll have you executed!"

"Not before I have your wrist executed you won't." She said, increasing the grip on the man's hand. The man was screaming so loudly at this point that the commotion had gathered up a crowd. Emilia gulped. This audience...it made her feel uncomfortable.

"Ah! Alright, alright! I'm sorry! Please! I don't wanna hand! Please let goOOOOO!" He continued to scream when Rem crushed it with even more force.

"Like you mean it." She hissed out.

"Rem." The onie felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at Emilia, who was frowning softly. "Please let him go. It's okay.

"Emilia... He was saying such awful things to you..."

"I know. But two wrongs don't make a right. Let go of his wrist. It's okay." Rem hesitated, but she couldn't bring herself to refuse. And so she released her grip on the man, who ran away cradling his injured hand, snivelling and whimpering. Emilia looked around at the crowd and nervously squeezed the small boy in her arms. "Um... Is this child's mother among you, by any chance...?" She asked with a small, sheepish smile, shrinking in on herself slightly from the stares she was receiving.

Rem sensed her discomfort and stepped in front of her. "We've been trying to help the child find his mother. He's lost. If she is amongst this crowd, please come forth, your son misses you."

"Sweetie!" A woman suddenly yelled out. "I'm here! Mommy's here!" She yelled.

"Mommy!" The boy jumped out of Emilia's arms, and ran over to his mother. The two embraced immediately, crying tears of joy in unison.

"I'm sorry, mama." The boy cried. "I-I didn't mean to lose you."

"It's okay, honey." The mother assured him. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have let you go. I am so sorry."

"Awwww." Emilia said, clasping her hands. "They're so sweet together."

Rem smiled and nodded her head. The child was now pointing at Emilia with a wide beaming smile. "The pretty nice ladies helped me look for you!" He chirped innocently, causing Emilia's eyes to widen before glistening with tears.

"P-Pretty...nice lady... Rem, he called me pretty, he thinks I'm pretty, Rem, he doesn't think I'm a gross evil freak of nature, he likes me!" Emilia was so overwhelmed by emotion that she latched onto the maid and cried into her shoulder comedically loud.

"Oh, there there, Emilia, it's all right." Rem assured her friend, gently patting her back. The mother seemed to be approaching, and Rem tensed up instincitvely, ready to leap to Emilia's defense should the woman prove to be ungrateful.

"Thank you." The woman said, tears streaming down her eyes. "I cannot express my gratitude to you enough if you hadn't taken him with you, I...I shudder to imagine what would've happened to my boy, all alone." Emilia's eyes subtly widened. Was this what gratitude looked like?! She...she liked it. She liked it a lot!

"Th...thank you. I...um..."

The woman bowed her head in gratitude again and thanked her once more. And then, she and her son left, the boy waving back to Emilia, who smiled and returned the gesture. Emilia turned to Rem with a wide, beaming smile. "Did you see that, Rem?! She was happy! She didn't hate me!"

Rem smiled. "Well of course. You helped her. You gave her a reason to like you. Doing the right thing will lead to desireable results."

Emilia beamed. "I'm gonna help everyone I can from now on! I'm gonna prove to them all that I'm nothing LIKE her! Just you wait!"

Rem nodded her head. "Well... Perhaps we'll find someone else in need as we do our rounds."

"Mhm!" Emilia nodded. "Onwards! Let's help people! Banzai!"

"Banzai." Rem said emotionlessly.

Emilia sweatdropped. 'So cold.'

And so, the pair continued on their little trio through the city. Rem allowed Emilia to look around for people to help, while she stayed off to the side and did her original job, that being collecting groceries. "Hmmm...these (po)tatoes seem fresh, judging by the-" Suddenly, she felt something grab her wrist, and before she could think, she was yanked backwards.

"Come on Rem! I just found someone else who needs help!"

"Oh, okay, but can it wait until I've...Oh, all right..." Rem simply tossed the coins needed to make her purchase to the merchant and took the tatoes she was holding with her as she allowed herself to be dragged along. "So what seems to be the problem?"

"Oh, a little girl's cat got stuck in a tree, and I need someone on the ground in case the poor thing falls out while I'm trying to grab it. If it falls, you can catch it!" Emilia explained. Rem nodded her head in understanding.

"I see, I see. ...I hope the cat is friendly, I know they can be absolutely nasty towards people they're not familiar with."

Emilia tilted her head. "Oh, it'll be okay! I know how to win the cute little thing over! Just let it sniff my fingers a bit and it'll be putty in my hands!" She declared confidently.

"...Well, maybe, maybe not..." Rem murmured.

"Oh, there it is!" Emilia ran to the little girl. "It's okay, sweetie, I found my friend and now I can get the kitty down!"

"A-alright." The girl nodded. "B-but please be careful! Tubby can be a bit prickly."

"Aww, don't you worry about us." Emilia assured her as she ruffled her hair. "I'm sure Tubby will like us. He will be alright in a jiffy." Having said that, Emilia moved to climb on the tree. Having done so quite a lot in her childhood, she was practically an expert. Rem however didn't know that.

'How did she climb up so fast!' She exclaimed in her head. 'She was on the bottom a few seconds ago, and now she's almost at the top! In a few seconds!'

Emilia clambered onto the branch the cat was on, and he promptly puffed up and let out a low warning growl. "It's okay, kitty, I'm just here to help you!" She assured the cat gently, reaching her hand out to it. "C'mere, just let me help you-"

The second her hand came near the cat, all hell broke loose as the feline immediately latched onto her and started scratching her face relentlessly, causing her to cry out in surprise and pain. "AGH! NO! BAD KITTY, STOP, I JUST WANNA HELP, GET OFF ME!"

"Tubby! Bad! No! Leave the nice lady alone!" The little girl called out. Sadly (for Emilia), the cat didn't listen to it's master. It continued to violently scratch at the half-elf, who was screeched loudly as her face was mauled by the feline.

"GAAAAAAGH! STOP IT! BAD KITTY! BAD KITT-OWOWOWOWOW GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GWT IT OOOOOFFFFFF!" She screamed, the cat's assault forcing her to step back. Right over the edge of the branch. "Ah! AH AAAAAH!" She cried, the cat hissing with her as they both plummeted towards the ground.

Now, at this moment, Emilia expect several things. Hitting the ground in a painful way. Smacking branches along her fall. Getting buried in the soil to observe the cool bug she just found.

She didn't expect to land in a pair of arms. Bridal style.

She opened her eyes slowly to see that Rem was cradling her in her arms as the cat lay perched safely atop her head, still growling before it hopped off and landed in the little girl's arms, much to her delight and relief. Rem was looking down at the half-elf with great concern. "Emilia, are you all right?"

Emilia found her face feeling very warm all of a sudden. 'Rem has...really nice eyes, they're so...blue and clear and pretty, and...oh, she's really worried about me, and... why...why's my heart beating so fast right now? I...I must still be reeling from the fall, that must be it...'

"Emilia?"

"Um... Yes! I'm...I'm okay! I'm perfectly fine, thank you, Rem, you saved me, and you also saved the cat!"

"Yeah, she caught you and then moved her head so that Tubby would land on it, it was so cool! Thanks for saving Tubby! Sorry he scratched you up like that..." The little girl said softly.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all, it's just a few scratches, they'll heal before you know it!" Emilia assured the girl with a smile.

"Okay! Thank you, pretty lady!" The girl hugged her purring kitty close, happy to have her friend back safe and sound, and went back into her house with him.

Rem looked down at Emilia with a concerned frown. "I had a feeling you would get hurt... Here..." She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket, and gently dabbed at Emilia's face with it.

"EEP! That STINGS...!" Emilia hissed.

"I know, I'm sorry, just bear it, it'll help the scratches heal faster..." Emilia allowed Rem to dab at her face, doing her best not to flinch, until she was finished. Rem set Emilia back down on her feet and let out a sigh. "Honestly, I really do need to keep an eye on you."

"I-I'm sorry..." Emilia murmured softly, looking down.

"It's perfectly fine, Emilia, I'm just a little bit concerned, you seem to get yourself into less than favorable situations frequently."

"I know..."

"Well... I suppose it doesn't matter for now. We still have more shopping to do, come along." As they walked, Emilia questioned herself. Her heart was still beating pretty quickly. Surely she would had to have calmed down from the adrenaline by now? And why did it only get faster when she looked at Rem?

'Hmmm, don't focus on that now! People need help!' And so, Emilia forced herself to push the weird feelings back, even if they did pop up on a few occasions. Her eyes diligently scanned the streets around her, looking for anyone who might need their help. And because of that, she would end up missing a few things. Like, say, the box just under her feet.

"K-ah!" Emilia squeaked as she suddenly fell forward, having tripped over the wooden box. She hit the ground face-first, with birds flying around her head.

"Oi! Watch your step! Those are my new porcelain vases!"

"Oh, sorry, so sorry, I didn't break any did I?!" She asked frantically. Rem sighed at the half-elf.

"You sure are accident prone today..." Emilia pouted and crossed her arms.

"Well... Sometimes it's just like that, okay?" She huffed.

"I see. Well... we're just about finished with the shopping..."

"Rem, look... That merchant looks like he's struggling a bit." Rem tilted her head, then looked to see a man, rail thin, seeming malnourished, that seemed to be desperately trying to get the disinterested crowd to buy some of his wares. It seemed he was selling quash, and from the looks of it, it wasn't in the best condition.

"Oh dear. It seems the conditions to grow his crops were not favorable." Rem murmured.

"Please, I know they're not great, but I can give you a discount, my son is starving, just buy one, that's all I ask! Half off! Just ONE coin!" The man was pleading with passersby.

Emilia frowned, opened her satchel to see how much she had from her own allowance, and then stepped forward. Rem tilted her head. "Is she going to...?"

Emilia placed her money down on the stand. "How many will this get me?"

'She really is!' Rem exclaimed in her mind in surprise. She seriously underestimated just how generous and kind Emilia really is. That only made the fact that she treated her so harshly before sting even harder. With Emilia, the merchant spotted the half-elf and the money she carried. He looked over and gasped.

"Th...this..." He looked at Emilia.

"M-may I ask for a name?"

Emilia tilted her head. "Ummm...Emilia."

"Miss Emilia..." The merchant began. "This...this could buy you the entire stock!"

Emilia perked up. "Okay then! I'll take it all! Um... I'm... not sure how I'm gonna carry it, but..."

Rem approached with an abandoned crate she found. "Put them inside." She instructed. Emilia beamed and began the process of placing the squash into the crate, the vendor helping as well, thanking Emilia profusely for her generous donation. Rem watched Emilia's bright, smiling face and she found herself smiling as well. It was kind of cute how happy she was to have helped this man when he needed money the most. And so, the pair of them were walking back home, Rem carrying the crate of squash while Emilia carried the other bags.

"...So um... I know we can't do much with that squash, but... I just couldn't let that man's son go hungry..." Emilia murmured.

"We can't do much with the squash?" Rem turned to Emilia with a tilted head. "Nonsense. I've already identified thirty six different dishes I could prepare with this. Even if it isn't in the greatest condition... a skilled cook can make anything taste delicious."

Emilia nearly dropped the bags she was carrying. "Th-th-thirty six?!" She half-stuttered half-screeched out. "You identified...that many dishes...in a few minutes...just from some SQUASH!?"

Rem tilted her head again. "I don't see what's the problem. It's pretty normal for a maid like me to be able to identify dishes from just one ingredient."

"Yeah, but THIRTY SIX! Thirty six different dishes for one, single, not even that fresh ingredient!"

"That's nothing. I already know of 2327 different and delicious dishes for the soon-to-be stale fish in our fridge."

Emilia stared at Rem in pure disbelief, and the maid giggled into her hand. "I'll make something with it tonight, to show you precisely how capable I really am." Emilia's shoulders drooped.

"Rem is...amazing... Just... incredible..."

"Why thank you, Emilia."

Present...

"...Rem... Can you help me to understand those feelings I had towards you that day...? They... They haven't left me ever since, and every time I ask Puck he gets weirdly pouty and says I'm just overthinking things."

Rem blushed. '...She...Could... Could Emilia be in...'

She shook her head, and then let out a soft sigh. "I may be able to shed some light on this, Emilia... Because... Because I've felt similar feelings when I look at you... For you, it began when I saved you from physical danger. For me... it began when you saved me from mental anguish while my sister wasn't available..."

Flashback...

Rem awoke within a flash.

Her eyes blinked open as her face scrunched up in disgust at the smell of something...burning?

"H-huh?" She groaned, her shpulder feeling oddly sore. "Where...am I?"

...

"Ah!

She looked around as her vision cleared, coming face-to-face with the sheer destruction of...well, *everything.*

"Wh-what?" She said fearfully. "Where is-ungh!"

Suddenly, the pain in her shoulder spiked up. She went to grab her shoulder, only to suddenly feel something...wooden.

She slowly turned her head to look, and her eyes widened when they landed on the broken body of an arrow.

One that was currently lodged in her shoulder.

Suddenly, Rem felt something inside her chest. Her hand went to touch her chest, when she suddenly spat out blood.

Turns out the arrow was lodged in her lung.

She fell to the floor, eyes wide, and mouth spewing a warm and red liquid. She grabbed her chest as she began to spasm.

"M...mom...dad...R...R... big sis...Ram..."

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. tears forming in her eyes as she trembled violently. She heard them... Their voices... They were laughing, they were speaking the word of the witch, they were killing everyone without an ounce of remorse!

She hated them... HATED them! She wanted to kill them, but she couldn't move, why couldn't she move, these were small wounds, she should be able to fight, WHY COULDN'T SHE MOVE!

Her parents. Screaming. Screaming... They stopped screaming. They were dead.

Eyes opened. Saw her sister... Her horns were severed... She fought. It didn't help. The smile... She smiled again... Why? Why?! WHY?! WHY WAS SHE SMILING?! She was a bad sister, she watched it a second time and she reacted the same way!

Bodies... Bodies everywhere... Make it stop...

"Rem!"

Make it STOP!

"Rem, please!"

MAKE IT STOP!

"Rem, please, wake up!"

Rem shot up with a sharp gasp, and ended up knocking heads with something. She looked around frantically, none too fazed by the sudden impact, and then she remembered where she was. The Roswaal Manor... Safe... It was just another dream...

She looked over... Usually her s*** would wake her, but she wasn't home, so who...

Emilia. She was sitting on the side of the bed. Looking at her with a weak smile. Nursing a small bruise on her forehead. The spot where she had accidentally headbutted her.

"Oh thank goodness, Rem. Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"E-Emilia, you...I'm...I'm SO SORRY, Emilia, I...I hurt you..."

"No, no, you didn't mean it, it's okay, it was an accident, I understand!" Emilia was quick to reassure her. "I'm WAY more worried about you, Rem... You... I heard you crying in your sleep, and... I had to come and help..." She scooted closer and pulled Rem into a hug, gently stroking her back. "That must have been such an awful dream to make one of the strongest people I know feel such fear... I'm so sorry you were scared, Rem..."

Before Emilia could continue, she was wrapped up in a tight embrace, the sheer strength making her cough a little. "P...please...don't apologise...it's my fault...it's all my fault...I'm a...a mon...ster..." Emilia returned the embrace with her own, slightly less but still quite tight hug. She began to rub circles into the maid's back, letting her sob into her shoulder."

"Hey. None of that." She said. "You're not a monster. Never were. And never will be."

"B...but I..."

"No buts! Those are for sitting." She said. "Rem, listen. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened back then. You were a child. You couldn't have-"

"Emilia, I smiled! I smiled when...when Ram...got her horn cut off. How could you not call me a monster for that?!"

Emilia blinked. "...You smiled... Why did you smile?"

"Because I envied her... I envied her so much, she was always better than me, and...for the briefest of moments, I thought... I could finally have a chance to be the superior sibling... How...How HORRIBLE is that, Emilia? My own sister was mutilated, and I was momentarily overjoyed, even as my village burned around me and I was surrounded by the corpses of my loved ones. I SMILED at my hurt sister..."

"And then you realized it was wrong." Rem looked at Emilia with wide, tear-stained eyes. Emilia continued. "You recognized that it wasn't right to be happy about it... You can't be a monster if you know right from wrong, now, can you? You're not bad, Rem. Yes, it was wrong of you to smile when Ram was hurt. But that doesn't change the fact that you very clearly love her, and the fact that you still feel bad about it to this day proves to me that you are NOT a monster. You've done EVERYTHING you can to make up for it, and Ram doesn't hold it against you."

As she said this, she held Rem close, keeping her head against her chest as she gently stroked her hair. Rem teared up slightly. Emilia was being so tender and gentle and loving in her gestures.

"...Rem... It's been hard... Hasn't it? You've been holding a lot of pain back... I know you have... I can see it in your eyes... Did...Did you ever cry for the loss of your village?"

"I...I wanted to be strong... Like...Like Ram..."

"You don't have to force yourself to hold back just to feel stronger. In fact, I think crying will make you stronger than ever. Please don't hold this pain inside you anymore... Please share it with me, and let it all out... I'll be right here with you the whole time..."

Each word Emilia spoke caused Rem's resolve to further falter.

"Are you..." She began, hesitant. "Will you...really...?

"Hm?" Emilia tilted her head.

"Will you...really...listen to me?"

"Yes." Emilia nodded. "Every last word, cry, outburst, whimper. All of it."

"And you...you're gonna...stay with me?"

"For as long as you want me to. And even if you don't, I'm staying anyway." At that, Rem's dam finally broke down. She latched onto the half-elf's nightgown and pressed her face as firmly into her chest as she could as she began to cry loudly, the sound muffled by Emilia's chest. The half-elf smiled sadly as she gently stroked the oni's back in a soothing manner.

"I...It was a-a-awful, they...they were all dying, all around me, couldn't do anything, couldn't save them, and...and..." Rem had to stop to cry some more. "And I miss mother and father! They...They loved me, and I always thought they liked Ram more, but it wasn't true, it was never true, they...they loved me just as much and I didn't appreciate it until they were gone!"

"Yes... I'm positive they loved you VERY much... Any parent has equal love for both children..." Emilia murmured into Rem's ear.

"And I... I... Rem can't do things like she used to anymore, she was hurt so bad, and... and she... she always stayed s-strong for...for me! She...She always loved a-a-and s-supported me and I d-didn't appreciate it until she g-t m-mutilated saving meeeee!" Rem didn't say anything else, she just cried into the half-elf's chest as she held her close. Emilia teared up as well, but she maintained her composure. Rem needed her to be a reassuring, comforting presence, she couldn't just burst into tears alongside her. Still... seeing the oni like this... it broke her heart...

"There there... It's all right... You're safe now... I'm here with you... You're an amazing person, one of the strongest and smartest I've ever met... That's it... Just keep letting it out... Get all the pain out of your system, you're doing amazing..." She felt Rem wrap her arms around her tightly as she continued to sob and she smiled softly.

It took thirty minutes before Rem was finally finished. She laid in Emilia's arms for a few more seconds, sniffling and taking deep, ragged breaths before pulling herself away. Her eyes were red and puffy, prompting Emilia to grab a tissue from the nightstand and hand it to her. She took it gratefully and dabbed at her eyes.

"Thank you... I'm...I'm so-"

"Nope."

"...What?"

"You were about to apologize. I don't want you to. I helped you because that's just what friends do for each other." Emilia insisted. Rem smiled softly and dabbed the tears away.

"...Thank you, Emilia... You're... You're a true friend..." Rem hugged the half-elf again. She closed her eyes as she felt Emilia return the embrace. ...She smelled...wonderful... Like a fresh garden of white roses... And she had a very soothing coolness to her... Her ice magic made her body temperature slightly lower than average... It was like embracing a nice spring breeze. And she felt Emilia's hands gently rubbing her back. She was so tender, so gentle and loving...

Rem realized her heart was pounding in her chest. She felt warm in spite of Emilia's cool body temperature. And all she could think of right now was...was the half-elf. She felt...warm feelings towards Emilia. Did...Did that mean she...

She had just fallen in love with Emilia...?

She pulled back from the hug, then saw Emilia's smiling face, and the warm feeling grew stronger, her heart began to beat faster, and she felt like she was in a volcano with how warm her face felt. Emilia tilted her head to the side. "Rem? Are you okay? Your face is so red!"

"Um... Yes, I'm...I'm fine, I...I..." She looked down. "I...need to get some more sleep..." Emilia sighed.

"Rem... If it's okay... Since you had such a bad nightmare... I wanna stay with you tonight." Rem somehow turned even more red.

"St-Stay with me...?"

"Yeah. It'll be like a sleepover! We'll sleep in the same bed and everything!" Emilia chirped innocently. Rem's heart felt like it might give out.

'Sleeping in the same bed with her?! That's...That's too much too soon, I-' She stopped when Emilia gently laid her head back down onto the pillow. Then, she carefully, delicately, gracefully slid into the covers next to her and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her close.

"There... I'll be right here for you... If you have another scary dream, I'll be right here to help you through it. Does that sound good?" She asked with a smile. Rem nodded stiffly. "Good. Good night, Rem." Emilia kissed Rem on the forehead.

The oni turned beet red at the kiss, a small, unheard gasp escaping her lips. She looked at Emilia, who was now patting her own pillow to prepare for sleep.

"There. All puffy and comfy." She remarked, before looking at Rem. "Do you want me to puff up yours too?"

"N-n-n-n-no, I-I-I'm fine." She stuttered out, still recovering from the kiss. "I-I don't like them too s-soft."

"Aww." Emilia pouted, before smiling again. "Alright then. To be honest I like 'em a bit solid too. Puffy is the best, but the other one is comfortable as well."

"R-right." Rem nodded with a sweatdrop. 'How did we move on from talking about trauma to pillow preferences?'

Emilia let out a sigh and laid down next to Rem, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her in close, resting their foreheads together. "Okay... I'm gonna get cuddled up nice and close... That way those scary dreams won't come for you. Does that sound good?"

"...Y-Yes... Yes, I...Yes..." Rem breathed out.

Emilia felt her heart beating uncontrollably just the same as Rem did, but she didn't recognize WHY it was beating, she merely assumed she was tired and needed rest. "Okay... G'night, Rem... Sweet dreams..." And with that, the half-elf closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber.

Rem stared at Emilia for a few seconds as she slept. Her face was at peace. She looked cute when she slept. ...Rem was internally debating with herself. WAS she in love with Emilia? ...She wouldn't deny that she was extremely beautiful. And she was the best friend anyone could ever ask for... She cared. She cared with all her heart, and she wanted to see her happy and safe... She did everything she could to befriend her, even when she had been awful to her. She was strong mentally. Naive... but such a sweet, loving person... One that was determined to earn the favour of those around her, and rarely held grudges against anyone...

She was there for her. No one aside from her sister had been there for her when she needed it... At least not since their parents died... Emilia...cared...

Rem smiled softly, and closed her eyes. She accepted the fact that she was in love with the half-elf... But she wasn't sure if she would ever admit it... For now... she enjoyed the cool, soothing presence of the half-elf as she cuddled up close to her. She slowly snaked her arms around her, and as she fell asleep, she cuddled as close to the half-elf as she dared. They slept soundly that night.

Present...

Emilia giggled softly. "Ah, I remember when Ram saw us the next morning, she said something to you that made your face so red. And Puck was kinda pouty the next morning, I dunno why that was..." She looked at Rem. "You said you felt the same thing I do sometimes when I look at you. The warm face, the beating heart... What does it mean, Rem?"

Rem closed her eyes and sighed softly. "It...It means you're in love, Emilia..."

"In...love?" Emilia asked.

Truth be told, she knew absolutely NOTHING about love. After all, she WAS frozen for several years in an ice block. Amd she was an inexperienced child when it happened too.

So, safe to say, she had no idea what love like that really was.

"Rem..." She began. "How does love work?"

Rem blinked at that question. "Uuuuhh...I'm afraid I don't understand."

"What I meant to say is...how does this love thing work? I often feel the same way when I look at Ram and Beatrice, and Harry. But...when I do it with you, I get this sort of feeling like...like it's special when I do it with you. Why is that?"

Rem closed her eyes. "Well... There is a very special kind of love that one only feels when they look at someone that they...see as their significant other. It's difficult to explain, Emilia... I suppose the best way I can put it is...when you have these feelings, it means you have a deep, powerful, burning connection with the person in question that makes you wish for nothing more than to spend the rest of your life by their side... That you...look at them, and you imagine...what it would be like if they were your other half... You...may feel the desire to... to marry...them..."

Emilia blinked. "Oh... Like...Like in the books I've read...? Where a man and a woman come together... And they slowly start to find themselves growing closer and closer, and then they have a special ceremony to truly establish that they're in love and intend to stay together forever?" Emilia paused, looking down at the bed. "But... But Rem... We're both girls... Is...Is it...okay for me to feel this way towards you...?"

Rem looked at the half-elf, finding herself beginning to tear up as she smiled softly. She gently grabbed Emilia's hands and gazed deeply into her eyes. "If so... then we're both wrong." She whispered softly. Emilia blinked.

"So it IS wrong...?"

Rem giggled softly and closed her eyes. Emilia's obliviousness was so endearing. "I don't think it is, Emilia... What I'm saying is that I feel the same way towards you... As soon as I learned just how loving, kind and compassionate you were, that night when you helped me when there was no one else to do so... Emilia... That was the night I fell in love with you..."

Emilia's face began to turn red. "I-I'm heating up again...! M-My heart... It's...It's out of control, Rem, I...I... Rem, I feel so warm, and...and so excited, and happy, and... and... I... Oh... Is... Is this what true love feels like...? This is the special love..."

"The love that you share only with that special person in your life... The one you wish to spend your whole life beside..." Rem said softly.

"I...I can't calm down, Rem, what should I do...?" Emilia breathed.

"...Remember when I told you how pregnancies happen, Emilia? You thought they were from kisses?" Emilia's entire body was beet red at this point.

"Eep! Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes...! W-We can't do that here, Rem, Harry's sleeping, it's soooo inappropriate!"

Rem blushed. "N-No! No, I meant... a kiss...is for very special occasions. Occasions like this." Emilia froze up on the spot.

"Uh...Um...Oh...I...Can we..."

Rem gave Emilia's hands a gentle squeeze, smiling softly into her eyes, and the look she was giving her caused Emilia to feel an overwhelming sense of relief and comfort. The oni slowly leaned forward, and the half-elf considered leaning back, but something compelled her to do the opposite and slowly move her head closer to the oni... Emilia closed her eyes in anticipation... And then, their lips made contact.

Then life exploded.

In their minds, their eyes snapped open. As if fireworks had gone off, showering the sky in colour, their senses were overloaded with emotion.

Rem's heart beat faster and faster. Her eyes closed as she enjoyed the sweetness of Emilia's lips. This...this was even more beautiful than when Ram would give her comfort during a nightmare.

Emilia was in a similar situation. Rem's lips felt cold, yet refreshing, as if she had just drank a glass of cold juice on a hot summer day. Unconsciously, her hand went to Rem's face, cupping her cheek and they enjoyed this new sensation.

The kiss lasted for several minutes. The two girls were so deep in their enjoyment, that they almost (almost) forgot about Harry. Only after feeling him shift slightly did they separate.

The girls gasped, taking in deep breaths to catch some air after the whole thing. Their faces were flushed, so much that if it weren't for their hair, they would have completely blended in with the dark.

"Wow..." Emilia breathed out.

"That...was..."

Rem needed a moment to catch her breath. Emilia finished her sentence for her, gently cupping her cheek and giving her a soft smile. "...Amazing...?" She asked softly.

"Yes... Yes...It...It was amazing..." Rem breathed.

"...I...I DO feel a lot better..." Emilia said softly. "...I...I love you, Rem..."

Rem began to tear up, smiling softly. "I love you too, Emilia..." The two women smiled at each other, tearing up, before they both leaned forward and rested their foreheads together.

"...So this means we're... y'know... a couple now..." Emilia said.

"Well of course it does..." Rem said softly.

"...What do couples do?"

"Hmm... Well... I imagine we would go out and do something fun... Just the two of us..." Rem said softly.

"And leave Harry and Beatrice behind?" Emilia asked.

"Oh, make no mistake, we'll still do family outings as well... But every couple needs some time just for themselves." Rem explained.

Emilia beamed. "It DOES sound kinda nice... I look forward to when we have our chance to spend time alone together."

Rem giggled into her hand. They leaned in and gave each other another kiss on the lips, this time only lasting a few seconds. "...I'm glad I won't get pregnant, because now I can kiss you whenever I want." Emilia said.

"Yes you can." Rem chuckled. Suddenly, the small bundle between them began to squirm around, whimpering and weakly sobbing.

"Help... Hurts... Miss milia...Miss rem... Make'em stop please..." Harry pleaded in his sleep.

"Ah! Harry!" Emilia exclaimed, her and Rem quickly adjusting themselves in the bed to give the boy some space.

Emilia gently began to shake Harry in an effort to wake him up. "Harry!? Wake up! It's okay, we're here!"

Harry's face scrunched up, before his eyes snapped wide open, with him now wide awake and breathing rapidly. He looked around in fear, only to realize where he is.

He looked up and found Emilia and Rem staring at him in worry.

Then, he broke down.

He buried his face into his hands and began to sob softly. Emilia and Rem were quick to converge in on him, Rem lifting him up and Emilia embracing her from the side so that they could both give the poor crying little boy a tight, warm embrace.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry..." Rem whispered softly. "It's all right... We're both right here for you..."

"Yes, that's right... It's okay... Miss Emilia and Miss Rem are gonna keep all the scary bad stuff far, far away from you, promise." Emilia agreed. Harry cried for a few minutes into Rem's nightgown before he finally managed to calm himself, still shaking in Rem's arms.

"I was back with them, I was alone with them again, and you weren't there and they told me you left me back there because you didn't want me anymore and that you hated me and that you didn't want to look at my face and that you thought I was ugly and...and...and..." Rem silenced him by gently putting her index finger over his lip.

"Hey. Listen to me, dear." She whispered, cupping his face in her hands. "We. Would NEVER. Leave you with them. Ever."

Harry sniffled. "I-I know...but...I'm still scared...do you think...I'm ugly?"

"No, Harry." Emilia spoke this time. "We do not think you're ugly. Someone as cute as you could NEVER be ugly."

"Anyone who does is getting a mace to the back of their head."

"Hey now. No need for jokes like that."

"I'm being serious." Rem answered coldly.

"..."

"Okay, well, the point is, we don't think you're ugly, Harry." Emilia continued. "You are the most precious little angel we've ever seen. We would never abandon you. You don't deserve any of that. You deserve to be happy, and be loved."

She pulled Rem, and by extension, Harry, in closer and leaned down to kiss him on the head. "Me and Rem love you, sweetie... And so does Beatrice, and Puck, and even Pumpkin and Tabitha. We're all here for you, and we are NEVER going to leave you behind... You're family, Harry. Family ALWAYS stays together, no one gets left behind or forgotten. You're going to be okay, because as long as you're a part of this family, you'll be protected."

"Yes... Yes, Emilia is absolutely right, sweetheart..." Rem agreed softly, giving the half-elf a soft smile. "I promise you, we will protect you with everything we have... No one will ever harm you like that again and get away with it. Not as long as I'm breathing."

Harry sniffled. "F-Family...? I'm... I'm family...?"

"Oh, of course you are, honey." Emilia cooed gently. "Me and Rem and Beatrice and Puck? We all come from completely different places, but we still consider each other family, and it's the same with you."

"B-But...if I'm f-family... and... and Beatrice is my big sister, then... Wh-What does that make you and Miss Rem...?" Harry asked softly.

"...Well... what would you like us to be?" Rem asked.

Harry thought about it. ...What did he want...? ...They... They acted like... He closed his eyes and thought. Miss Emilia and Miss Rem saved him. They took him into their home. They fed him. They cleaned him. They comforted him. They gave him a better life. So... He could only think of one thing...

He looked back and forth between them. "M-Mommy..." He said to Emilia, before turning to Rem and saying "M-Mama... Is... Is that... Is that okay? I'm sorry if it's not please don't hurt me..."

'He...he said it.' Emilia thought.

'He actually said it for real.' Rem spoke in her mind.

The two girls gave each other a look, nodding once, before they leaned down, planted a kiss on Harry's head each, and then wrapped him in their arms.

"Yes..." Emilia began

"We would love it." Rem said.

"From now on...we're your moms, Harry." They said in unison.

Harry began to tear up. He had parents... He... He actually had parents again... He looked back and forth between the two of them, and they both laid down with him held snugly between them, their arms wrapped around him from either side.

"It's okay now... Mommy and mama are here, and we always will be." Emilia cooed, giving the little boy a gentle boop on his nose.

"Yes... Just get your rest, dear, we'll be right here with you to keep you safe." Rem whispered softly.

"Th-Thank you, mama... Thank you, mommy... I love you..." Harry whispered softly as he tried his best to cuddle up to both of his new mothers at the same time, wanting both of their affection equally and being unable to pick between them.

"Just fall asleep and enjoy your dreams, Harry." Emilia said, pulling the covers slightly up. "We'll be by your side the entire time."

"Mmm..." Harry nodded, feeling his eyelids slowly weakening.

He knew there was nothing to be afraid of this time though.

After all, his new moms are with him.

Rem pulled him into a hug, snuggling him into her cheat. She then felt something wrap around her, and looked to find Emilia, completely red in the face, pulling both into her own hug.

The two women smiled softly at each other. "...Rem... We... We just...became...a traditional family, didn't we...? We're...We're in a romantic relationship, and we have our adopted son too..." Emilia murmured softly, beginning to tear up.

Rem closed her eyes and let out a soft giggle. "Yes... Yes, I suppose we are..." Harry heard them, and looked at Rem sleepily, and she simply kissed his forehead. "Shhh... Go to sleep, precious, we're here..." She stroked his back soothingly, and his soft snores filled the room.

"...I...I feel so happy, Rem..." Emilia said softly. "I'm so, SO happy... I feel so...complete..."

Rem nodded. "As if a void has been filled..."

"Yeah... Yeah, like... this was just... meant to be..."

"Perhaps it was... Perhaps this is what fate intended for us..."

"Fate...has been very kind."

Both women smiled at each other before they leaned forward, their lips connecting once more.

This kiss lasted a bit longer, this time with no interrupting. Which meant they had the time to fully immerse themselves in it.

Eventually, they had to separate to get some air, but their faces weren't flushed from a lack of it.

"Ah...much better this time." Emilia breathed out.

"Are you...*pah*...saying the last one was...lackluster?"

"N-no, not at all!" Emilia said. "It's just that it didn't get interrupted like the last one, so I got to..." She looked away, practically glowing.

"To...what?" Rem asked.

"To...to..." Emilia gulped. "To enjoy the taste more. You...have really sweet lips."

Rem blushed and laughed softly as she closed her eyes. "As do you, Emilia. They taste like fresh fruit." Emilia giggled and closed her eyes as she rested her forehead against Rem's. "...We became lovers and parents within the span of less than thirty minutes..."

"Yes... Things can happen very quickly, can't they? One moment you're living life as normal... And the next... everything just becomes... better..." Rem whispered.

"...I love you, Rem... It feels so good to say that... I never realized how badly I WANTED to say it..." Emilia said softly.

"...I knew how badly I wanted to say it for a year now, my love, and now I'm so happy that I'm free to share these feelings with you without anything holding me back... I love you too, Emilia... With all my heart..." The oni replied softly. The two women snuggled in closer to each other, making sure to keep Harry cuddled close, their noses touching together.

They stayed like that silently, basking in each other's affection. One, cold yet welcoming and friendly, the other strong, unwavering, yet soft and warm.

Their eyes were closed, and their mind soon became exhausted. Eventually, the small family fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

That night, they all dreamed the same thing.

A family of four.

Living in permanent peace.