Chapter 5 Sad News and Moving On (Patreon)

「Hmmm~~ where? 」- Luna

When I woke up, I was greeted by unfamiliar-not… I know this place… no more like Luna is very familiar with this place. After all she, or I should say I now in this situation have stayed here a lot. This is Nicole’s… should I also call her Mom in this case? This is still kind of confusing to me who now lives as Luna.

Still confused, I scanned the place only to find a woman I recognized sleeping besides me holding my hand. Though I said sleeping beside me, she is sleeping at the side of the bed. She was definitely worried about me for her to end up sleeping like this. I wonder how long I was asleep…

*rustle *rustle

Probably noticing my movements, she also woke up.

「…Luna…!? Luna!!... *glomp」 - Nicole

After finally noticing that I was awake, she immediately hugged me. I was completely speechless. I could also felt her warmth, then soon enough I felt warm liquid dropping on my shoulders.

「Luna… ugh… you were safe… ugh… thank god… 」 - Nicole

Nicole was crying… I was confused for a moment, but then all of Luna’s pent up feelings mixed with mine exploded inside me. I hugged her back and cried, I continued crying as if the world would be drowned in tears. I let out all of my anxiety, fear, all the emotions that I’ve held locked inside me during that time in order to prevent the corruption from spreading. Yes, I am finally home is how I’ve felt. This time, both our souls finally felt as if they have turned into one. Yes I am now the one and only Luna.

After several minutes of crying, we both finally started to calm down, and then like an anxious mother Nicole checked me all over the place asking me if I’m hurt anywhere.

「I’m fine mom… the miasma inside my body was definitely painful, but I wasn’t injured or anything. 」 - Luna

「Luna… for some reason you seem to be more mature than usual though… after all something did happen…」 - Nicole

「About that…I 」 - Luna

Without any hesitation, I explained what happened from the time I was attacked by father and lost consciousness, about how a soul from my past life merged with the child Luna and now becoming the current Luna, about what happened in the forest and how I ended up getting corrupted, and then the time of my return.

Nicole listened carefully and was holding back her tears. She probably couldn’t swallow everything in one go, but still accepted everything that I’ve said. She then hugged me again probably wanting to comfort me from retelling all the bad things that happened.

「Sorry… I wasn’t there for you during your hardest times, and thank you for protecting Luna… no you are now Luna. Still… that man… to think that he would do that to you. 」 - Nicole

「…about that… what happened to father after that time? Did he come back safe? 」 - Luna

「Luna…」 - Nicole

Nicole hesitated for a moment, then sighed and told me about what happened on the morning after I disappeared. It seems like on the way back, my father was attacked by a stray blade deer and though he returned close to the village, he bled to death before anyone could notice him. The guards found his lifeless corpse in the morning when they were patrolling and that’s also the time when they noticed that I disappeared.

The villagers thought that I might have ran into the forest in the middle of the night and my father was looking for me but was attacked and returned dying from the attack without being able to find me. That was when they decided to check the forest and encountered me with miasma leaking out of my body.

「I see… se he ended up dead from an accident… though I hated what he had been to the previous Luna, I never really wished for him to die. 」 - Luna

「I did notice that he had been acting strange since he lost Aria even to the point of neglecting you, but I never would have thought that he would just suddenly do that, not to mention that he broke the one promise that Aria wished in her dying breath. If I had known that this would happen, I should have taken you away from him earlier… 」 - Nicole

「…」 - Luna

Silence covered the room after we talked about everything that happened. It was a really awkward atmosphere. But then

*Bang

The door of the house was smacked open causing a loud bang.

「Nicole, did she wake up already!!」 - Allan

Allan, Nicole’s husband rushed in without thinking about the current atmosphere completely breaking it. In Luna’s memories, Allan didn’t really give of that much of a father figure but more of a big brother. Though he sometimes acts like a stoic person, he also becomes too emotional when excited. Just like now.

「Allan… you, what would you do if Luna was still asleep, entering so noisily like that. 」 - Nicole

The atmosphere completely changed and now Nicole was staring at Allan with a cold piercing glare. But Allan completely ignored it as if it was normal. Thinking about it, the compatibility of these two have been the worst in the memories of Luna that I have recalled, however they still ended up together, what a mystery this couple is. They also have 3 children, 2 girls and 1 boy. Luna treats them like siblings and would always play and take a nap with them.

「Ahahaha… well I could hear you talking from the otherside when I returned, so I just thought maybe she already woke up. Sorry about that. 」 - Allan

「Jeez, you could have at least slowly opened the door and entered normally. So, why are you here now? Don’t you still have work? 」 - Nicole

「Ah, well I asked the commander this morning that I would take a day off today since it’s been two days that you have been nursing Luna since returned. 」 - Allan

「Eh, it’s already been two days that I was unconscious!? It only felt like a few hours to me though… 」 - Luna

I couldn’t help but react in surprise after hearing their conversation.

「Sigh, well you might have felt alright, but your body needed to adapt to the changes so it was not that surprising. I’ve heard about people sleeping for over a month after having a similar situation to you. 」 - Nicole

「Ah right, now that I think about it, I never really thought about what changed in me. I do know that my skin and hair changed though…」 - Luna

「Indeed, well miasma corruption is not that rare because many adventurers have suffered from similar situations, especially those that have higher ranks. That’s why we didn’t really worry much after confirming that you have properly fought and erased the miasma. Though we were also prepared to wait for a while as to when you would wake up. And even though I know you were safe, I am still worried. 」 - Nicole

「That’s why I told you to take it easy, I trusted Luna to be able to recover soon you know? 」 - Allan

「Shut up Allan, a mother will always, always worry about their children no matter how safe they think the situation is… 」 - Nicole

The two continued bickering at each other which was also broken when children younger than me ran entering the room and surrounded me.

「Luna, you’re finally awake!!」 - Child 1

「Big sister Luna~ awake now~?」 - Child 2

「Big sis… worried…」 - Child 3

The three children were Nicole and Allan’s kids. The eldest one is a girl one year younger than me. Her name is Reine. The second one is two years younger than Reine, also a girl named Yumi. And the youngest who was 1 year younger than Yumi was a timid boy called Sean.

「Alright everyone, calm down for now, big sis Luna is still recovering so don’t bother her that much」 - Nicole

「「「Haiii~~」」」 - Children

「Come on kids, help your father do some work. 」 - Allan

「…」 - Nicole

Allan who finally realized the atmosphere immediately called the kids and led them out of the room. Now it’s just me and Nicole again.

「So Luna, what would you like to do from now on? 」 - Nicole

「I… *gyuuu~~」 - Luna

You idiot stomach, why now of all times, sigh. Embarrased by the sudden sound of my hunger, Nicole couldn’t help but laugh. 

「Fufufu, despite growing up inside, Luna will still be Luna… well let’s continue this conversation after a meal. There are still a lot of things to talk about. Can you stand up? 」 - Nicole

「Aha, ahaha… yes…」 - Luna

When I attempted to try and get up from the bed, I wobbled for a bit and almost lost my balance but Nicole easily caught me and helped me get back up.

「Thank you… Nico… Mom… 」 - Luna

「That’s right, even if you’ve grown up inside, you are still a child and yes don’t hesitate to call me Mom from now on too. After all I also promised Aria to take care of you until you grow up. 」 - Nicole

「Hai! Mom! 」 - Luna

「Fufufufu… Good child~ 」 - Nicole

After rustling my hair gently, she helped me walk towards the dining room and guided me to a seat. She then went to the kitchen to prepare a meal. I could also hear the sound of wood being chopped outside along with the giggles of the children.

「I’m finally home… but what should I do from now on though… Father is already dead, so it will only be me living in that house if I return there. It’s not like I couldn’t live on my own, but living alone after all that happened would definitely make me feel really lonely. 」 - Luna

「Why not live here with us then? 」 - Allan

「Ah…」 - Luna

Hearing me talking to myself, Allan gave me a choice. Certainly I could also live with them, but we might all be really close they are still different people. Is it really alright for me to accept it, to take advantage of the goodwill of these people? After thinking a bit for a while, I finally resolved myself.

「I…」 - Luna