*Anis*

[The next day- Tetsuya's place]

"Got you!" Layla said as she tackled her brother Nate.

"Wahh," Nate said, grumbling.

Layla giggled. "Now you're it, Nat!"

My sister laughed as she watched her kids play.

"Aren't you worried about Alex and Amun?" I asked.

Rene sighed. "Nate said that he talked to them. They made it safely back home. And here I thought that Hideo and Kiara were the wanderers of the family."

I snickered as I remembered the trouble my old rugrats got into. Like that one time when Tetsu went missing during his birthday. Taku and Tere were worried about their brother, but Shi easily found him sleeping in the lavender field.

"Look who's here," a cheerful voice called out.

I turned left and gasped. A black haired, purple-eyed man in a black coat and plain white shirt made his way toward us.

A girl who resembled me walked alongside him.

"Big bro, Jun," Rene said.

Jun frowned. "Shouldn't it be big sister?"

I laughed. "Rene reserves that for me."

Jun sighed. "Yeah, but I'm her older sister too."

Sorrel patted her shoulder. "It's hard to be the middle girl, huh?"

"Auntie Jun! Uncle Sor!" Dossie yelled as she ran toward us.

"Auntie and Uncle won't protect you!'" Nat said as he closed the gap between them.

Dossie closed her eyes and did a big u-turn.

"Come back here!"

Layla blinked as she stood still. "Why is he chasing only Dossie?

"Dossie seems to be an easier target," Sorreal said, snickering.

"Meanie, Nate! Chasing the slower damsel is what villains do!" Dossie cried as she continued to run.

Nate jumped and turned around.

Layla gasped as Nate quickly closed the distance with her.

My pink-haired niece turned around and ran for it.

Jun giggled. "Seeing them reminds me of us."

"We used to chase each other like a dog chases its tail," Sorreal said, chuckling at he turned to look at Jun.

I sighed. Wished I could've experienced it firsthand. Could only sit and watch like now.

"What brings you two here?" I asked as I tried to push myself up. My legs froze up, forcing me to sit back down.

"You alright?" Rene asked, grabbing my arm.

I smiled slightly. "It seems that I've been sitting for too long that my legs fell asleep."

"Hope it's just that," Rene said.

"Yeah, it could be similar to what happened to mom when she was having Rene," Jun said.

Mom's disease made it hard for her to walk around the time she was expecting our baby sister. After she gave birth, she couldn't walk for long periods. Even when walking on her own two feet, she needed the assistance of a cane.

At the time, I remembered thinking it was better than my state. I'd couldn't get out of bed when that happened.

In hindsight, my mother had it tough. Her oldest being too sick to move much, and her losing the ability to move around. As such, she could no longer attend to me as she often did. Instead, she needed assistance to look after me.

Father often did so in her place or brought her up to my room. I eventually had my room relocated to the first floor to make it easier on Mom.

With Shi gone, I had no one like that. Well, I did have the kids, but they had their own dreams. I couldn't have them give those up to care for me.

"You don't want to have to be constrained to a wheelchair, do you?" Rene asked me, staring into my eyes. "I'm sure your kids would happily take care of you if that were to happen. You did give up your dream of being a teacher to raise them and keep this farm afloat."

I gasped. "H-how did you know? D-did you read my mind?"

Sorreal laughed. "Mom did always say that Rene had some kind of psychic ability."

Jun stepped back. "She can read out minds?"

Rene smiled at her. "Not exactly." She pressed her hands against her chest. "It's a rather odd thing. Something that appears to me in dreams. One of the reasons I decided to stay with Anis was because I saw her moping by herself about not wanting to depend on anybody."

Jun chuckled. "Well, you got one thing wrong. She isn't alone."

"Yeah, she has us, the three musketeers," Sorreal said, grinning as he pointed at himself with his thumb.

"Shouldn't Anis be one of them as the oldest?" Rene asked. "I'm the fourth member."

I laughed. "Thanks for coming, you three."

"It's nothing," Sorreal said. He glanced over his shoulder. "Plus, someone else wished to speak to you."

I gasped as a more muscular, stoic-looking version of Sorreal made his way toward us. He pushed the wheelchair of a woman with strawberry blond hair.

"Dad, Mom" I said. Once again, I tried to stand but my leg cramps stopped me.

"Anis!" Mom said, holding her arms out to me. She jumped out of her chair as soon as she was close enough and tackled me.

"Mom," I said, laughing. She was like a dog. Dad meanwhile was like a cat. Maybe that's why I liked cats since I was little.

"Rose. You're going to hurt yourself doing that," Father said, sighing.

Mom rolled her eyes. "I'm not as frail as you might think, Saffron."

"Mom, you sound like sis," my brother said, swinging his arms behind his head.

I giggled. Had to get from somewhere. Dad wasn't much different, either in that department. He simply didn't whine unlike me.

"Is something the matter?" Father asked. His violet eyes dug into me, probing my every movement.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

He rubbed his ear. "I might have heard something."

I sighed. Those ears of his were as deadly as his eyes. If not for Taku being an elephant abysmal, I would say his hearing came from his grandfather.

"Where are my grandkids?" Mom asked, looking around.

"Grandma!" Nate yelled, running over to her.

Layla and Dossie followed after him.

"Aww, if it isn't my little Nate! You've grown so big since I last saw you!"

Nate giggled. "I'm five now."

"She knows, she was at your birthday party," Layla said, giggling.

"You're a lot bigger too, Layla."

My pink-haired niece smiled. "I'm a fast growing kitty."

"Are you even a kitty any more?" Nate asked.

Dossie raised her eyebrows. "Layla's a normal cat now?"

Layla went pale. "Wah? B-but I'm still a kid!"

Nate and Dossie giggled.

"Layla, don't be so gullible. They're playing around," Jun said, crossing her arms.

Layla grumbled. "Meanie kitties," she mumbled.

Mom hugged her. "It's alright, Lay. You're a kitty still."

The little girl beamed.

"Where are your children?" Father asked, glancing back at me. "I haven't seen them in years."

"They're in my place right now," Rene said.

"Huh? Why?" Jun asked.

"Actually, where are your other kids?" Sorreal asked, looking around. "I don't see the others." He dug into his coat. "That reminds me, I got some cards for Dan. They were selling them near where I'm stationed."

Rene averted her gaze. "I'm sorry."

"For what, dear?" Mom asked, putting her hands on her face. She gasped as her hands became damp. "Rene, why you crying."

Nate sniffed as tears streamed down his face. "D-Dan's gone."

Mom let go of Rene. "What do you mean he's gone?"

"Brother's possibly dead," Dossie whispered.

"Dead?" Jun exclaimed.

"Big brother gave up his life to defeat a evil guy called Satoru," Layla said, patting Nate on the back. "There is a tiny chance that he's alive in that dark world called Abyssia."

Jun gritted her teeth. "Why didn't you tell us, Rene? Why are you and Anis so quiet about everything? Can't you count on us? Or did we become strangers at some point?"

"T-that's not it," Rene said, looking to the side. "It was meant to be a small gathering. The only members outside of the family who attended the makeshift funeral were Hideo's fellow knights and some of their friends."

"Why didn't Hideo ask us to come?"

"I don't think he invited those who came to begin with. They likely came to support him."

Jun turned her back to us. "I see. If I had heard, I would've gone too."

"Sis, don't get mad at them. Rene probably was in too much pain to think straight. Likewise for Anis after she lost Shi," Sorreal said.

"Anis didn't have to push us away like she did. When we told her we were going to see her, she would tell us not to come. And the times we came over by surprise, she would put on a cheerful façade, despite it being obvious that things weren't going well. There were times when she looked famished, but wouldn't accept our offers to buy her food. Just for the kids." Tears streamed down Jun's face as she strode away.

"W-wait, Jun!" I yelled, trying to get up once again. I stopped as soon as the pain my lower body surged again.

"Anis, what's wrong?" Mom asked, staring at my legs. Her eyes widened. "You can't move, can you?"

Jun turned around. Her eyes were as big as saucers. "Wait, isn't this like what happened to you?"

"Huh?" Rene asked.

"When mom was pregnant with you, she lost her ability to walk. I was five at the time, but I still remember it clearly. At first, I thought there was an issue with the baby. Thankfully, that wasn't the case." She walked over to me and held out her hand. "Here. At least accept my help this once."

I grabbed her hand. With a single tug, I was back on my feet, though the pain continued to run up and down.

"Anis!" Rene said, getting up. She pushed me forward to keep me from falling back.

"Here, let me help too," Sorreal said, grabbing my hand.

"Us too!" Layla said. She and her siblings hugged me too.

I closed my eyes. If not for what Jun said, I would've told them I was fine, that I could stand on my own. Saying that now would only make my relationship with them worse. Juniper was right, I really couldn't accept help. That was the case even on the battlefield. At the end of the day, I wasn't much different from my cousins.

Mom pushed herself up. "Anis. Stop being so prideful, child. It's fine to accept help every once in a while. Doing so doesn't make you any less."

"Mom," I said, watching as her face became red from the strain of standing up without the aid of her cane.

She leaned forward and hugged me. "I'll be fine. It hurts, but I can take some pain if it's for my kids. Isn't that what you did for your three? You gave up on your dreams, and went without food to keep them fed. You didn't wish to 'bother' us with your problems, did you? That's why you kept quiet."

Tears streamed down my face. "Yeah. I didn't want to continue being a burden."

"Dear. I'll admit, it wasn't easy caring for you, but never did I see it as one. It's a mother and father's duty to care for their young. All I wanted was for you to be healthy and happy. I didn't say a thing as I knew how you were. Now, I sort of regret having not intervened earlier."

"I-it's alright, Mom. I made it past that. I'm strong, like you."

She patted my head. "Indeed, you are."

I opened my eyes and looked past Jun's shoulder.

Father had his his turned away. For the first time in a long time, his eyes were watery.

"Dad, aren't you going to join in?" I asked.

He ran a hand through his hair and walked over. "Move aside," he said.

Jun and Sorreal backed away while Rene helped Mom continue standing.

I gasped as Papa picked me up into his arms.

"D-dad! W-what are ya doin'? I'm not a little girl anymore!" I exclaimed, reverting back to my accent.

He huffed. "Ya certainly act like one at times. I'm takin' ya to your room so ya can rest."

I sighed. "Fine."

The hint of a smile plastered his face. Dad didn't smile often, but when he did, it was a beautiful sight.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^**