296 Understanding Parents
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Aquarina and her parents had gone off the carriage as well, working the same way Ninhursag and Zack, watching over the surroundings from the large carriage so nothing bad could happen. The two quickly noticed how their daughter was intensively looking at Sylphy being with her two parents and her uncle. She was happy with the three of them, but as she thought about what happened with Zack, she was growing more and more concerned that she might lose her or something. Once more, she was being overly childish, just as childish as her own age, as she was a child and not a grown adult, she was prone to commit many mistakes and misunderstand many things.
It was part of being a parent to help guide their children through such misunderstandings and feelings that made her feel so conflicted with herself, which also created this rivalry against Zack. Therefore, her parents had to point it out because they had felt like it for a while. It was pretty obvious by this point that Aquarina was in love with Sylphy even though Sylphy was of her same gender. They would be lying if they said they didn’t found it slightly odd at first, but as they saw their daughter being more and more clingy with Sylphy, it became rather obvious at the end.
“W-What are you talking about?” She cried, feeling embarrassed by finally having been found out.
“Dear it was as obvious for a long time... Years by now.” Sighed her mother. “Calm down, we don’t find it bad. Loving someone of your same gender is not rare, even amongst our tribe.”
“Indeed. Don’t feel bad about it.” Said her father. “We support you.”
“E-Ehh... I-I think you’re misunderstanding, I only love her as my sister... friend!” Said Aquarina.
She was near her eight years of age and the concept of love was very similar to fairy tales for her, realistic romance and other sort of things were too far away from her scope, even more things regarding sexuality. Nonetheless, she still felt a romantic attraction and a need for her attention, warmth, and praises. Not even Aquarina herself had come into terms with her own feelings mostly due to her age.
“Haha... Okay, I am sorry.” Said her mother. “We won’t bother you about it.”
.....
“Y-Yeah, perhaps we stepped too far?” Sighed her father. “She’s too young still.”
“S-Shut up...” Said Aquarina timidly, raising her voice against her parents for the first time.
“Geez dear, don’t get so embarrassed, it is fine.” Said her mother. “You’re with your parents, you should trust us more than anything!”
“Ugh! S-Shut up!” Cried Aquarina, growing as red as a tomato as she began to smack her mother’s head with her tiny arms. Of course, her mother was as resilient as a mountain so she didn’t felt any of her hits.
“Ahahaha! Come on, don’t be like this! you shouldn’t be hitting your own mother, little girl!” Laughed Nepheline, finding her daughter embarrassment as adorable, and ending up teasing her a bit more.
Shade quickly grabbed Aquarina’s hands and stopped her.
“That’s enough, Aquarina... Calm down.” He said.
“Muh...!” Aquarina crossed her arms and looked elsewhere, completely angered at her father and mother.
“She got really mad...” Sighed Shade.
“Ah... We... maybe we overdid it there.” Sighed Nepheline.
They were young parents after all, they couldn’t be the perfect parents that didn’t committed mistakes. Even though they were doing their best to make their girl happy and comprehend her better, they ended making her feel very embarrassed after they said those things, and also angered, as Aquarina felt like her own sense of privacy such as her feelings she had been trying to keep a secret from everybody were suddenly revealed.
“W-Well, the thing is, maybe you should take it easy, dear.” Said Nepheline. “Trying to compete with Zack will only lead to a worse relationship with him. aren’t you two becoming good friends at long last?” Sighed Nepheline as she looked at Aquarina.
“I-I... Zack is my friend... I was just surprised he brought a big monster... I also want to gift something to Sylphy... I don’t see anything wrong with it!” Said Aquarina, adamant about not changing her decision.
“Oh well... There’s a nearby dungeon though, so I suppose we can go there for you to get the monster you want. We can help out in crafting something for her! How about it?” Asked her father.
“Really papa?” Asked Aquarina happily.
“Yeah.” Said Shade with a gentle smile.
“Okay!” Said Aquarina, smiling happily. Shade and Nepheline looked at one another as they sighed. It was impressive that their daughter only got happier when it involved making a gift for Sylph... But that’s how she had always been.
The two heroes smiled as they looked into the vast skies and the beautiful grasslands and forests surrounding the fiefdom they were moving into. They slightly recalled the past, the wars, and the battles, and slightly smiled as they realized how far they had come. With a daughter with them and their friends and children, they were slowly moving towards a better future, or so they hoped.
But even in the peaceful and carefree-looking Fiefdom, the darkness of human society was being reflected in the back alleys and districts farther away from the eyes of the commoners. Blood, pain, and hunger were a daily occurrence, as people and even children fought and stole food to live another day.
Near the streets where most of the people walked through, a little girl stood carrying a small wooden pot. Her face was as pale as porcelain, and smooth, and she had long white hair like snow. Anybody would be surprised that such a beautiful girl wasn’t the daughter of a noble... but she had something different than the many humans, few elves, and beast-kin walking across the streets. Two black horns were growing at each side of her head... She was certainly not part of “humanity”. However, due to her human-like complexion, many didn’t seem to notice until somebody finally approached.
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