Mother’s PoV

Turning over in bed, I reach my hand up from under the covers to touch the side of my neck and as I do, I feel another hand lay over mine, accompanied by my husband's voice, “Honey? You've been touching your neck while looking at Kitten since dinner and while she might have been too preoccupied with Rin to notice, I wasn’t. You still haven’t told me what happened at the training grounds today, so if you can’t sleep anyways, feel like sharing?”

Lightly grabbing my husband's hand, I sit myself up in the bed and he does the same. Firmly looking him in the eyes I start to talk about what has been bothering me, “Sorry, it’s just, I’ve been thinking about how Rin’s going to have to leave for Specialist Academy City soon and the thought of how she is going to handle it has been worrying me.”

“I’m sure it will be fine, while she may act like she does, our Rin is quite self sufficient. But, now that you’ve said it, separating her from Kitten might be slightly difficult. You have seen them together more than I have, but from what I have seen Rin seems to have grown strongly attached, so I understand why you might be worried about her,” as he tries to placate my worries, it’s clear to me that my dear husband has misunderstood what I was trying to convey.

Squeezing his hand a bit tighter I quietly correct my husband's misunderstanding, “I am not worried about Rin, she might be sad at first, but the thought that she will make friends her age, not even mentioning, the promise that her sister will join her when she is old enough will placate her.”

With a look of realization, my husband looks at me and slowly says, “If you aren’t talking about Rin then that means… are you possibly worried about Kitten?”

Receiving a silent nod from me, my husband continues his talk, “From what I have seen, Kitten doesn’t seem like she will be too shook up. It might be a little hard to see her new sister leave after only a month of being together, but the feeling she has given me so far is that Kitten isn’t very emotional. Other than that initial reaction to me, in the past two days from what I have seen she hasn’t shown much other than curiosity.”

Raising an eyebrow I look at my husband and give a slightly mischievous smile while saying, “I see, so that’s why you excused yourself so rapidly after those two finished their breakfast and left. If that really is the case, I am surprised that you didn’t play witness to what happened on the training field.”

Quickly defending himself my husband says, “I just wanted to make sure the two of them didn’t get into any trouble, that’s all. When they went into Rin’s room I decided to get some work done after they had been in there for a while and I ended up losing them when they went outside. Because of that, I have no idea what happened between you and Kitten.”

As he stops talking, my husband brushes his free hand against my cheek and gives me a soft look before continuing, “So if you are willing to tell me, I want to try to help, what happened with Kitten that has you so worried about her?”

Conceding, I tell my husband about how our daughters came down to the training grounds and how Rin asked me to train Kitten. I tell him about the match Kitten had against the female soldier and already he seems surprised with just that. Finally, I tell him about how I had Kitten fight against me.

“...not only was I soundly defeated, but she didn’t even look to be the least bit serious. The entire time, I was giving it all I had and she seemed to be trying to figure out how much power to exert to win without hurting me,” finishing my story, I look towards my husband and wait for his response.

After taking some time to digest the information he just received, my husband finally looks back into my eyes and while giving me a firm look says, “While it is surprising to learn just how strong our new daughter is, you have yet to tell me what has you so worried. Kitten wouldn’t be the first person you’ve lost to, while she might be the youngest, the world is wide and we both know that very well. There will always be someone stronger than us, so I can’t imagine simply losing has you this worried.”

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Like always, I can only think that my husband is incredibly on point when it comes to me. How can he be so clueless about what anyone else is thinking, but take notice immediately when I’m worried about something.

Shaking my head, I quietly continue, “You’re right, I am not worried about my loss. What has me worried is the feelings behind Kitten's last strike. If she hadn’t stopped it, I would have lost my head, wooden sword or not. But even that isn’t what worried me, I am no stranger to the feeling others give off when attacking to kill. No, what makes this time different is that there was nothing. It was clear throughout the rest of the fight that she was being careful, but it was almost like that last moment was based on reactionary instincts alone. I don’t know how she was raised, but based on that strike alone that girl has seen some terrible things.”

I stop to take some time to sort my thoughts and my husband quietly waits for me to continue, so I do once I know what I want to say, “But, what happened after Kitten realized her actions also really worries me. She had a breakdown, the same girl that hasn’t shown anything other than calm complacency since she woke up had an emotional breakdown? So I decided to skim the surface, what I saw there, was the worry about how I would react to her actions, but going a little deeper I saw what she was really worried about.

Only her conscious thoughts were about me, subconsciously all her thoughts were about Rin. Kitten herself might not realize it, but that subconscious side of her has already become dependent on the affection that Rin gives her. This dependency probably stems from the environment she was raised, but it worries me to think about what Kitten would do if someone ever hurt Rin in front of her.”

While still keeping his gaze completely focused on me, my husband unhesitantly says, “I may not have any idea how I can help, but if you decided to use that power again this must be important to you. So, whatever you need of me, you simply have to ask.”

Listening to him answering my worries in the only way I could imagine him to, I give a soft laugh and rest my head against my husband's chest.

Sitting like that for a while, listening to the sound of his heart, I finally talk again, “And I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. From now on all we can do is try to show Kitten that not all the places in this world are like the place where she grew up. That not everyone will treat her like those that raised her, that she is our beloved daughter, and she will always be in a safe place around us. But, when Rin leaves for school we may have to redouble our efforts, there is a possibility of nipping that dependency after they separate.”

Wrapping his arms around my waist my husband asks me a question, “Well now I understand the goal a bit better, but what exactly can we do to achieve that?”

Since my husband now understands the situation I decide to share with him my plans for tomorrow, “For your part just keep being yourself, you’re already a big loveable person, so if you try too hard you might scare her instead. But, tomorrow, I was planning on having Sophia guide Rin and Kitten into the city so that they can visit the explorers guild. We did promise Rin before leaving for the prince's birthday celebration, that she would finally be able to visit the city as a birthday present.

It’s also a good opportunity to help both of them understand what being an explorer really means. Rin only has our old stories to go off of and Kitten seems to simply want to follow along with Rin. Seeing the guild and learning where their current choice might lead directly from the source would be a good experience for both of them.”

Shaking his head my husband smiles and says, “If you think that’s what’s best then I have no reason to argue, but to simply be myself, those are rather vague instructions.”

Hearing his comment about my instructions being too vague, I reach up, wrapping my arms around my husband's neck, and kiss him, before moving to whisper into his ear, “Well if it’s more precise instructions you are looking for, how about I instruct you to help me, ‘keep warm’ tonight.”