Of course there is nothing more precious than family. The question is, though; which family.

--Ghost Widow, in interview

***

I was still upset with Mother when I made it back to Valhalla. I needed something to yell at, a hot shower, a snack, and more than anything, a hug.

Sadly Katherine was still out, so I figured I'd have to settle for some of the other things on the list. I started with the snack, finding some breakfast chocolate cookies to munch on in the kitchen. It didn't quite live up to the chocolate I was getting used to, but it was still tasty and so distracted me from ruminating on how stupid and unreasonable and unreasonably stupid my mother was. I left the kitchen for my room and the shower, stomping my way there with my helmet under one arm, but ran into Val in the hallway outside our rooms. She took one look at me.

"That bad, huh?" She said with concern in her voice.

"Yeah." I said. I didn't trust myself to say much more without starting to rant.

"Come here." She said and spread her arms in invitation to a hug.

I squeezed her tight, but the stupid armour I was wearing made it feel all distant and wrong. Still, I stayed there for a while. A bad hug was much better than no hug at all, and it calmed me down some.

"Stay here for a moment, please?" I asked as I stepped back from the hug.

"Sure?" Val said, one eyebrow raised in question.

I quickly went into my room and pulled off my armour, throwing it to the floor. I then returned to the hallway and hugged Val again. Much better.

This time, I could feel Val stroking my back in soothing circles, and the residual frustration settled down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes please. But, after I've had a shower, if that's okay." I mumbled into her.

"I'll go prepare some tea, then. I was just about to start preparing dinner. Do you want to help?"

"Yeah. Thank you." I said. "I'll be right down."

"Take your time, Sylvi."

I nodded, then let go of her and took a deep breath, before heading into my room. I eyed the discarded armour on the floor. It looked like two halves of a person, lying like that.

Eyon, how am I going to store that? It won't fit in my drawers.

[Assembling it and leaving it standing is the easiest way.]

I clicked the two halve together, then pulled it up on it's feet.

[A mental command can lock it in place. Like so.]

With a slight hiss the armour shrank a bit and became rigid. Now it looked like a headless woman was standing in my room. I fetched the helmet from the dresser I'd placed it on and put it in its place on top of the armour, then lifted up the armour and moved it over to a corner, out of the way. That'd do.

I then made my way towards the bathroom, and a hot shower.

***

By the time I made it down to the kitchen, Val had brewed up a pot of tea and was preparing the raw ingredients for something.

"So, what are we making?" I asked as I stepped up next to her.

"Potato and leek soup. I figured we'd make something simple and filling." She said while peeling potatoes.

"Sounds good to me." I grabbed myself a cup and poured myself a cup of tea, then took a sip and delighted in the feeling of warmth. I stood there, cup in my hands, breathing in the minty scent of it. I took another sip, put down the cup, picked up a leek and started to rinse it out. "So, how much are we making?"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Just a small batch. Terry and Rian are back, but I don't expect anyone else. Now, what did your mother do?" She asked, turning to me.

"It's a bit complicated... But basically she demanded I support her more fully as a Valkyrie, which I refused, and then I ended up yelling at her." I said, then fell silent for a bit.

"I'm sure she deserved it." Val said as she peeled another potato

"Maybe. It all just boiled over in the moment." I put down the leek and leaned on the counter. I took a deep breath. "It started when this man who I think was a citizen journalist came up to me and started asking me questions about Mother's policies. I don't know a lot about those, and told him so. He then asked me whether I supported her, and I answered evasively. I think he took that to mean I didn't, and immediately went to confront Mother about it. She didn't handle the situation super well. After the event, Mother accused me of casting her aside now that I am a Valkyrie. She said she thought she had raised me better than that, which really pissed me off, because if anyone raised me, it was Dad. So I yelled that at her and left." I wiped at my eyes which were starting to tear up.

"Am I a t-terrible daughter?" I asked, head down.

"Oh Sylvi. Of course you aren't." She said while giving me a side hug. "It just sounds like you have a terrible mother. One who clearly doesn't deserve you."

"But aren't family supposed to care for one another?" I asked in a small voice.

"Supposed to, yes. But love is a two way street. You have no obligation to love unconditionally, and it sounds to me like your mother isn't holding up her end of the bargain."

"She just makes me so angry sometimes, the way she always puts herself first. I thought I wasn't allowed to be angry at her."

"Don't be silly, you're always allowed to feel your feelings. Listen, some people like to romanticise family. They'll tell your biological family is the most important thing, the tightest bond of all. But to me, the bond defines the family, not the other way around. My family is the people I care for, and while that does include some of my relations, it certainly isn't all of them. For the rest, you could say I have found my family, rather than being born into it."

"You can... do that?"

"Didn't you say you lived in a communal dwelling? Surely this concept can't be entirely new to you."

I thought about my relationships, who I'd turned to when I was younger and had problems. Most often it had been Dad, but it had also been the other adults I had lived with, certainly way before I had turned to the few aunts and uncles I had. The communal adults had been more readily available, sure, but they also felt closer. Felt more like family.

"I can see you have some thinking to do." Val said with a smile. "Mind taking a step to your left, though?"

I blinked at her, then did so.

"Thank you." She said, then moved in front of the sink I had blocked and rinsed off the potatoes. She handed me my cup, then placed the pot of potatoes where my cup had been next to the sink.

"Val... are we..." I hesitated. Val looked up at me, expectantly. "Never mind." I said and looked away.

Val stepped over to me and laid a hand on my shoulder. It was wet from the potatoes, although I didn't care right now. "Sylvi, what did you want to ask? It's okay."

"I just wanted to know if we were... You know. F-family."

She scooped me into a crushing hug that almost had me spilling my tea.

I laughed in relief. "I take it that is a yes?"

"Of course we are. I'd love to." She said, choking up a bit.

I put down my tea and hugged her back for a long time.

***

After dinner with Terry and Rian, the four of us played a board game, a cooperative one about managing resources on a small island to ensure collective thriving, while sharing a plate of chocolate. Both Terry and Rian were frighteningly good at the game, while Val kept making what even I could tell were suboptimal choices. I guess she wasn't used to having limited goods. Afterwards I excused myself, and ended the day early.

***

The next day I had just put my clothes on when someone knocked on my door.

"Yes? Come in." I called out.

"Are you dressed?" I heard Katherine say from the other side of the door.

Bemused I stepped over to the door and pulled it open.

"Ah. Good. Good morning." She said with a smile.

I smiled right back at her, then took a step forward and gave her a hug.

"Welcome back." I said. "Missed you."

"Missed you, too." She said and hugged me back.

I delighted in the smell of her, her strong arms around me. I'd really missed this.

"How was your mission?" I finally asked, after the hug ended.

"It was miserable." She grumbled. "It rained all the time, and I had a rough time finding the Antithesis. The Hive was really well hidden, and the stupid plants blended in with the trees in the rain. That was why it took so long. It was much easier when you were there to point out where everything is."

"I did offer coming along." I said with a smirk.

"You did. And I might just take you up on that next time."

"Into a rainy forest. You sure know how to show a girl a good time." I laughed.

"Only the best for you." She said with a serious expression, then cracked into a smile. "Listen, I'd love to tell you more, and to hear about what you've been up to, but can we do so in the gym?"

"Of course." I went to head there, but stopped at Katherine's confused expression.

"You're not going to get changed?" She asked.

"I won't be working out much, anyway." I said dismissively.

"But then why are you coming to the gym?"

"Don't be silly. To spend time with you, of course."

She looked shocked for a moment, then the biggest, goofiest grin spread across her face.

When she just stood there, I grabbed her hand and started pulling her along. "Come on already." I said with a smile.

She followed along willingly enough, grin still on her face.