Protector
“E-eh? What? I-I, uh...!” stammered the portly, blond raen, midway through getting clothed that she might don her uniform armour. Having just joined the Crystarium guard not a month or two ago, not a year after their fated arrival in Lakeland in a world wholly unfamiliar to them, Asashio no Haruhi, or “Holly Morningtide”, as she’d begun calling herself in an effort not to have undue attention drawn, had been reporting for regular training exercises.
Of course, there was but a single delay of late - or, more accurately a pair of them - in that, following a peculiar series of events, Dahlia, having gone by the moniker “Odellia Morningtide” in the Crystarium, her wife for nearly two years by then, had borne not just one child, but a pair of twins: Suisei Soleil and Ryūsei Lunette - or, translated from their Hingan first and Ishgardian middle names, Comet Sun and Meteor Moon - or simply “Siana” and “Rhiannon” to those in the Crystarium.
“I said,” the dark-haired witchling sighed, looking somewhat impatient, her Ishgardian accent still somewhat strong, “I need to change Suisei. Ryuu is done, but I need you to keep an eye on her. Here, take the baby.” Once more, Dahlia offered forth the infant, the beginnings of platinum-blonde wisps starting to show in number, uneven scales and tiny nubs of horns having grown in just enough, and curious violet eyes wide open peering around as she burbled idly.
“I-, um, a-alright,” Hali said softly, looking between her tired wife and the two half-auri children, one of whom, with nearly a full head of short, dark hair and dark brown eyes, her own scales and horns starting to grow in just enough to be noticeable, as well, lying atop a pad set down for changing the two.
“It won’t kill you, stars,” Dahlia quipped with a smirk, Hali gingerly accepting Ryūsei into her arms, carefully cradling her, “Besides. I think you’ve died to worse, non? You’re not allowed to leave for good, now, if you could.”
This got a snort and a roll of the eyes out of the self-proclaimed “immortal,” the noise seeming to amuse Ryuu, who began laughing and grabbing at the raen’s long blond-and-silver locks, causing her to wince. Her retort forgotten, all she could do was let out a string of, “Ow, ow, ow...!” This, of course, only served to amuse the baby in her arms all the more, causing her to swing her arms, and, by extension, the hand yanking Hali’s hair.
“Have fun~,” Dahlia cooed tauntingly in response, clearly enjoying not being the only one to be taking care of the girls, for once.
The time spent humouring just one of the twins was an experience far too foreign for Hali, having never really dealt with a child in all her adult life. She generally harboured fears and anxieties that caused her to avoid them whenever she could, always worried that she’d do something wrong and, in so doing, face the wrath of the child’s caregiver(s). Now, however, she was one of those caregivers. Worse, Dahlia - the one woman in all of the world who she feared to cross more than any, mostly for fear of losing her love, though she wouldn’t often say so aloud to any other - was the other. Now, holding a child of her own, she found herself unable to really flee the situation, instead trying her best to embrace the situation, though as cautiously as she did the baby herself.
“W-what do I do...?” she asked the witchling as she sat on one of the nearby chairs in their apartment, the blinds drawn just enough so that the horrible, eternal light of the world outside did as little harm as possible. Ryūsei gave her hair another giggly yank. “Ow.”
“How should I know?” was Dahlia’s response. Preoccupied with changing a dirty diaper on the other girl, all she could do was roll her eyes, hair tied back into a tight ponytail to keep it from her face, especially as she gagged a little. It had been taking some getting used to, to be certain, but the reaction was not quite as bad after a few months of it. “You seem to be doing a fine enough job. If she’s happy, she’s happy.”
“Isn’t there - ow - something - ow! - I can do besides let her - ow, ow! - scalp me barehanded?”
“Ugh. Fine, fine. You picked up a couple toys from the neighbours, non? Find one of those.”
Rising with Ryūsei in her arms, Hali, “ow”-ing the whole way across the room, carefully shifted the little girl into one arm while grabbing for a small rubber rings with various nubs on it, rattling the bits and bobs inside to draw attention.
“How about this, sweetie?” she asked Ryuu with a pained smile, her tone as sweet as she could make it, sounding almost obnoxious were she not talking to a baby, “Try waving this around instead - nnnngh, ow ow - i-instead of momma’s hair, huh?”
This, thankfully, grabbed Ryuu’s attention, and violet eyes immediately diverted their gleeful gaze to stare at the little toy in her mother’s hand. No soon did she sees and hear it that she decided that it must be hers, and, releasing Hali’s hair, began making grabby hands, cooing incoherent baby-speak in what could only be a demand for the thing.
“You know,” Dahlia spoke up, sounding amused, “You’re better with them thank you think. I don’t know why you’re so nervous about it. After all, your parents were wonderful, quite unlike mine own. Ah, there. Much better.” With a small incantation, she lifted the diaper, only to have it immediately sucked through a dark tear in reality, opening by the woman’s magic, summarily sucking the dirty diaper into the void.
Strange, they had both thought, how doing so never seemed to attract voidsent. At first, it had been done as an experiment once Dahlia was capable of safely casting again. When nothing occurred, time and time again, the witchling had seen fit to start tossing their garbage into it, as if to continue their insults to the very world of nothingness itself as a replacement for killing its invasive, ravenous denizens.
Handing the toy to Ryuu, who immediately began bludgeoning her poor mother in the horn with it, Hali took on a brief dazed look before angling her head to that it was impacting her cheek instead and muttered, “Really? She’s really trying to kill me, I-I’m, uh... pretty sure.” At that, the toy impacted her glasses, knocking them clear of her face and sending Dahlia into a fit of laughter, then Suisei, seeing her mother laughing, as well. After a moment, Hali could only laugh, as well, a softening smile on her face as Ryuu began, instead, chewing on what was until moments ago her weapon of choice.
“...all the things we’ve faced,” Hali muttered, laughing dying down to a soft sniff of amusement, Dahlia walking out from the small bed loft to regard her warmly, “And this is... probably going to be the, uh... s-strangest. And most difficult. Heh.”
“You’re telling me,” was the brunette’s only reply, though it was hardly resentful, the look on her face speaking of a happiness that served to melt just a little more of Hali’s apprehension, “But we’ll make it through this, as with all else. I have faith, mes etoiles. You’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted and more. We will face this together. No matter where or when or how.”
With a deep breath, the erstwhile shinobi could only look down at the little girl in her arms and smile, saying, “...you’re right. It’d be, ah... awful of me to shirk any of it now. And... a-and I wouldn’t dream of it. Not now. Not ever.”
Looking at the beaming woman and the two tiny children that had been brought into the strange, apocalyptic world in which they’d found themselves, Hali could only feel that apprehension further melting away, little by little, and she cast her gaze out toward the light-bathed landscape outside. She couldn’t be the hunter, the killer, she was any longer. Her honour, she was taught, was to her duty, and to those who depended on her. Now, not only did Dahlia rely on her, despite her considerable power and magicks, but they had two daughters - their daughters, of their flesh and blood and aether - that had to, beyond all else, be assured of a life that could be safe, secure, and, above all... happy.
A new duty called for a new role, and, hers was, above all, as a protector.
(( This short was done as a response to @renataturner‘s post in the Ala Mhigan Born from Blood Discord server! Thanks for the prompt and good luck to everyone else writing their own responses to enter the contest!
Also, of course, featuring @umbralhearts‘s Dahlia! ♥))