Back in the early hours of the night, Baren stared in the darkness of the dining room. Her left hand rested on the edge of the box that held the wooden prosthetic arm. Taking a deep breath, she clenched her jaw. After heavy consideration, she slowly began to reach into the box but stopped as she heard a voice.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
Glancing over her shoulder, she narrowed her eyes. "Wuile."
With a scoff, the green haired soldier boy crossed his arms. "Yeah, that's my name. But I asked you what you were doing." He took a step forward. "Do you really think you deserve that?" He raised an eyebrow.
Slowly breathing in and out, she turned away from him. "It doesn't matter. Right now, people need me to have it. So I need it." Grabbing the arm with her left hand, she gripped it tight. After pulling it out of the box, she turned around and walked straight through the illusion.
Closing her eyes, Baren gritted her teeth and slid the wooden arm up her right sleeve. Wincing slightly, she shakily inhaled. After a moment, she slowly flexed the wooden fingers of her right hand. Exhaling, she quickly walked into the living room. Placing the prosthetic arm on the blonde in the living room, she knelt down. "Kitrinos." She gave her shoulder a soft squeeze.
Flinching, the young blonde softly whimpered as she pulled herself closer together and hid her face. "J-Just go away before-"
"Stop. And breathe." Reaching around, she slowly pulled her hands down and away from her face. "Breathe. I know you're afraid. I'm afraid. But you need to breathe. Succumbing to fear and panic has never done anything for anyone."
"B-But-" She tried to protest with trembling hands.
Placing a finger against her lips, the old warrior leaned in. "No." She pulled her hand away. "What street did you grow up on?"
With a confused look, Kit reached up to rub her eyes. She didn't believe her, but she was seriously asking the question. "S-Seventh..."
"House number?"
She swallowed slightly. "One-zero-zero-two."
"What color were the walls of your bedroom?"
"Light... light blue." She sniffles while rubbing her nose.
"Now repeat that." Patting her shoulder, Baren slowly got back up.
Still confused, Kit nodded a few times. "Seventh. One-zero-zero-two. Light blue." She took a few deep breaths.
"Good." She nodded back. "Better?" She held out a hand.
"I... guess." She mumbled quietly. After a moment, she reached out and grabbed her hand.
Feeling the house shake, Baren brought the little girl closer and held her with both arms. Tight. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. I promise you."
"But-"
"There are no buts." She ran her left hand through her golden hair. "You're a little survivor. You're going to be just fine. Everyone here will make sure of that." Hearing footsteps, she pulled away and looked over.
Still holding his butcher's knife, Aza waved it around a bit. "Is that thing getting closer?? Those rumbles are getting bigger!" Behind him, Kuro held tightly onto his mother's hand. The woman barely even seemed there.
"I'm not sure." Baren furrowed her brow in thought.
"Heeey, is that the arm you got in the mail?" Kuro flashed a smile as he leaned over. Despite being terrified, he still looked intrigued. "How does it work exactly? I mean I know how mechanical ones work but one like that?"
Blinking, she perked up slightly. "You're a technological genius. That's great." Sliding away from Kit, she grabbed his arm. "Can you help?" It was a very blunt and simple question.
Taking a moment, the dark haired boy took a few breaths. Glancing at his knife wielding father, he swallowed. "I guess... I could. But I can't fight."
"Fighting is only half the battle." She crossed her arms.
"Wait, what... What are you making him do?" Midori stepped in with a weak voice.
"I am making him do nothing." The old warrior quickly narrowed her eyes. "He's willingly going to help. Something you might want to consider."
"No... no!" Raising a hand, she moved closer while placing a finger against her former teacher's chest. "You've turned Kagami against me! And you've turned Gurin against me! You've convinced both of them that fighting will do something when all it's going to do is lead them to their deaths!" Her voice cracked.
Staring blankly at her, Baren exhaled. "You can believe that all you want, but the truth is your children are braver than you." She brushed her hand aside. "They're willing to put their own needs aside to give others hope. Think on that." She turned away. Reaching out, she grabbed Kit's hand.
"Wait, wait." Kuro quickly stepped over. "Where are we going?"
"You can help with getting the power back on. It's quite literally what you were born to do." She glanced at him.
"And... what about me?" Kit softly spoke up.
Looking down at her, the pinkette smiled softly. "You're going to stay with him. He'll protect you."
"Oi!" Aza pushed his way through while gripping his butcher's knife tighter. "You're forgetting someone!"
Blinking a few times, Baren then nodded. "The two of them will protect you."
"Wait... but... Aza! Kuro!" Midori held out a trembling hand.
Looking back at her, her son furrowed his brow a bit with a frown. Taking a deep breath, he looked away. "What are you going to do?"
"Find Hisato." Baren averted her gaze. "Make sure he's safe. And then take care of as many Grimm as I can."
Watching all four of them leave her, Midori fell to her knees. Alone and in the darkness of her home, she wrapped both her arms around her head and closed her eyes. "No... no, no, no!" She began to plead while shaking her head around.
After losing Cherry to a senseless war, her entire life had changed. There was no more pride in vanquishing Grimm. There was no more honor to be claimed while protecting the weak. There was no more glory to be won from battle. All of it was meaningless. Pride, honor and glory meant nothing to a warrior who no longer wished to fight.
She had rebuilt her life and though it started out rough at first, everything was perfect now. She had a job as did her husband. Her home was kept clean and nice. The island of Vytal was beautiful. She had a brilliant son and an outgoing daughter. And now, Kagami returned home. Everything was perfect. Even her old friends came to visit after so many years.
She couldn't ask for more.
She didn't want anything else.
All she wanted was right there.
But once again, just like before with her team, all of that was crumbling.
She couldn't handle losing everything again. She mentally couldn't. She would fall apart.
Letting out a wail, Midori curled her body close together. With tears streaming down her face, she shook her head. She bared her teeth while pressing her forehead into the floor. "You can't do this!" She shouted to no one. "You've already taken so much! You can't do this to me again! It's not fair!" Her breathing grew uneven. "It's... it's not..." She whimpered while growing quiet. "It's not fair... I never did anything wrong... but you still take everything from me..."
Silence fell over her as the nightmare outside continued. She felt every rumble, heard every roar and trembled at every charge of energy she felt build up in the air. She wanted it to stop. She wanted all of it to stop. She wanted the normal life she had built back.
She wanted her children back.
But one of them was running off with a mad woman and the other two were fighting in an unwinnable battle.
Her daughters were out there in hell right now. Both were just as terrified as she was. The realization started to sink in. Either of them could die at any second and she wouldn't even know till later. Quietly, she began to sob but after a few minutes, she stopped.
Midori did not want her fear of losing everything to be stronger than her love for her family.
Choking on the breath in her lungs, she took a second to steady her breathing. Once she did, she shakily pushed herself to her hands and knees. She struggled to stop herself from crying as she dried her eyes. Her eyes burned and her vision was still partially blurry. Heavily sniffling, she swallowed hard and slowly rose to her feet. Her entire body felt weak but she knew she had to move.
After some time, she took a step towards the door.