It was early in the morning. Avuri and I hadn’t really slept very much the night before, simply because these days we didn’t really need to. We had instead opted to get our day rolling early. Avuri had hopped straight out our window to go do some of the more farming related chores while I lightly stepped downstairs to get breakfast cooking.

I had barely gotten enough eggs cracked for the crowd we had living with us at this point when Cierra wobbled down the stairs. She had clearly just woken up as she wiped her bleary eyes and wandered toward the kitchen.

“Morning…” She said, her voice scratchy and still unused for the day.

I smiled, leaving the rest of the eggs for now. I stashed what I had already cracked in the cold Array to keep it all fresh while I turned around to talk to Cierra. “Morning, Cici. Did you sleep alright? It’s still pretty early.”

“...Yeah.” She yawned. “I think so.”

“Did I wake you up when I started cooking?” I asked. She shook her head. “Okay, well, go ahead and sit down then. Would you like some eggs?”

Cierra nodded as she shifted into a seat and leaned on the table. She folded her arms on the table and sat her chin on them. “Mom?” She said, still sounding a little sleepy.

“Yes?”

“Can you teach me how to fight? Like, for real?”

I took a seat across from her and took up a similar position to hers, leaning on the table with our eyes about level. Cierra may have looked somewhat sleepy still, she was clearly thinking seriously about this. There was an intense look in her eyes. “And what brought this on?” I asked, pretty sure I already knew the answer.

“I don’t…” She trailed off, trying to gather the right words. “I don’t want to get hurt again. Next time, I want to stop the bad guy from hitting me.” Cierra resolutely stared at me from across the table.

I smiled at her, and reached over to tousle her hair. “I had always planned to teach you eventually.” I said. “Avuri agreed too. You and Stena both; we’re going to make sure that when you grow up, you can defend yourselves.” I slid my hand down to her cheek and pinched it. “For now, you’ll have to deal with your moms protecting you. But yes, we’ll teach you.”

Cierra smiled back at me. “Okay. Good.”

“You know we’ve already been having you do some basics like stretching and meditating. If you think you’re ready to learn already, we can start having you do real work. You’ll need to work hard to grow up strong, okay.”

Cierra nodded. “I know. I can do it.”

I nodded firmly. “Very well. We can start today, if you want to.” As I moved to stand and return to making breakfast while we talked, the solemn, reserved look on Cierra’s face tore at my heart. She had been a little more withdrawn than usual the last few days, but generally cheerful still. Avuri and I had both thought there must be something bothering her after the incident with Leon, but we weren’t sure what.

If his transgression had made Cierra consider whether she wanted to learn to fight, and that was what she had been thinking about all week, I supposed that was alright. I hadn’t lied when I said I was planning to teach her how to fight. And Avuri backed me up on that.

But we had both balked when it came to making the first move to teach them for real. There was something about that first step that stopped us from pushing them forward first. Whether it was a nagging feeling about not wanting to force our kids down a path or worry for their safety, I wasn’t sure. But that initial push was daunting.

Cierra coming to me and asking for lessons herself gave me the push I needed to really get her started. And I was sure that Stena wouldn’t be far behind.

I had some small doubts about starting Stena when she was perhaps five years old at most. It was early, but not unheard of, for a child that young to start with the very basics of Cultivation. I was firm in the belief that they would do best together, though, so we would train them together. Stena was almost guaranteed to be a little behind Cierra for a while, but having the two of them train together would benefit both of them in the long run.

I took a deep breath before I returned to my meal prep. Cierra lazed on the table, drifting between what appeared to be deep thought and napping for a while. It wasn’t until almost an hour later that Talya finally appeared to assist with the cooking. She took one look at the napping Cierra draped over the table and quietly moved beside me to help without a word.

Twenty minutes after that the others began to shuffle in. Demi and Ieji showed up first, having gone for a morning run together. They, too, were cognizant of Cierra’s snoozing at the table and sat down for some quiet conversation. They were remarkably quiet, using their Cultivation-enhanced ears to hear each other.

And then Rylie bounced up the stairs from the ground level, her feet tromping loudly on the stairs as she took them several at a time. That didn’t wake Cierra up immediately, but her bright shouting that followed certainly did.

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“Morning everyone!” She greeted the room sounding particularly chipper.

She got a lightning fast chorus of ‘Shh’s, but Cierra still sat bolt upright and looked around frantically. Rylie was by the girl's side in no time at all, rubbing her shoulders. “Sorry, Cierra.” She said, crouching down beside the girl. “I didn’t realize you were sleeping.” To her credit, she did sound genuinely apologetic.

Cierra, for her part, wiped the bit of drool from her chin and shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t be sleeping at the table, anyway.”

That got her a tight hug from both sides as Rylie and Demi squeezed her tight.

“How did you manage to get such a well behaved little girl?” Rylie asked, loud enough for me to hear her clearly in the kitchen. Talya and I rounded the corner from the kitchen’s door, the first few plates of breakfast in hand, now that there were enough people to eat it.

“I’d say luck, mostly?” I said, placing the platters of eggs and veggies on the table.

“I’m not so sure about that.” Talya said, then addressed our other siblings. “You all may not have been here very long, but surely you’ve all noticed Emery is a good mother.”

Kota, who had been coming up the stairs behind Rylie, nodded as he moved toward a chair. “I can still barely believe it. I was sure we’d all be unanimously shit parents.” He shot a smirk my way as he added, “And that Emery would be the worst of us.”

“Hey!”

“He’s right though.” Demi said.

“I’m a good mom!” I said indignantly. I even looked at Cierra for back up, and she nodded in agreement. “See?” I said, pointing toward her.

“I’m not saying you’re a bad mother.” Kota clarified. “I’m saying I thought you would be.”

“As if that’s better.” I muttered as I turned back toward the kitchen to grab the other few plates we had ready.

“Can you really blame us?” Demi said. “You were easily the most difficult out of all of us for Dad to keep under control. And that’s saying something, given I’m including Ieji.” Demi immediately looked at them and added, “No offense meant, Ieji.”

“None taken.” They intoned, voice as even as ever. “I was an absolute emotional mess as a child. I’m aware.”

Demi's eyes narrowed on them, trying to tell how much of what they said should be taken at face value.

Rylie spoke up again before Demi could though. “You were an absolute monster as a kid, Emery.” Her eyes followed me as I re-entered the room and put more food on the table. “How in the world did you end up so…” She trailed off, motioning at me with her hands while trying to find the right words.

I raised an eyebrow in question at her, as I looked down at myself. I was wearing an old, stained apron over some light robes that I had put on after I woke up. They were plain, but comfortable, and were clean. We had several similar sets of clothing for wear around the house and training in because they were simple, lightweight things. I chuckled.

“Domestic?” Demi offered, and Rylie snapped her fingers and pointed at her.

“Good word, that. How’d you end up so domestic?”

“My fault, I’m afraid.” Avuri said, as she climbed the stairs. “You should’ve seen her when I first met her - covered in blood immediately after a big fight. Now she at least wears aprons before getting blood all over herself.”

“Sit your ass down and eat.” I said. With a quick flex of Qi, a spoon went flying off the table at Avuri. As connected as we were, there was little hope of actually hitting her with it, and once she leaned to the side enough for it to pass, it hung in the air before flying back to the table.

“Yes, dear.” Avuri said with a small bow of her head. She quickly slid into her usual seat beside Cierra while I slid into the seat on the girl’s other side. “I have a few dozen eggs to put away after we eat. Don’t let me forget.”

“Okay.” I nodded and began spooning food onto plates.

“By the way, where’s Stena?” Avuri asked, aiming her question equally at me and Cierra. Cierra was the one to answer, though.

“She was still in bed when I came down. But I was early today.”

“Oh? And why were you early today?” Avuri asked.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Cierra said simply. She picked up a spoon as I set her plate down before her. “I wanted to ask you and Mom to teach me to fight.”

Avuri glanced at me then back to Cierra. “You already asked Mom, then?”

Cierra nodded. “Mhm. She said she would. And that you’d help.”

Avuri ruffled the girl’s hair affectionately. “Of course I will. But,” she said, pointing at Cierra’s still mostly full plate, “if you're going to learn how to fight and train with us, you need to eat.”

“She's absolutely right.” Kota chuckled. “You need all the energy from a good breakfast so you'll make it through the day.”

Cierra looked up at Avuri, then Kota, then to her plate. She diligently picked up her fork and got to work, shoveling the eggs and veggies into her mouth.

Avuri smiled, doing the same. "Good girl.”

A sleepy Stena slowly made her way down the stairs then, a stuffed rabbit clutched against her in her right arm. It was a gift that Rylie had gotten for her from the city a few days prior, and it had barely left her side since.

I smiled, watching as she made her way to the table. She usually sat in one of our laps, and had chosen me as her seat today. I shuffled my chair out from the table a little bit to give her room, and pulled her up onto my lap and gave her a little hug. “Morning, sleepyhead.” I said, and kissed the top of her head.

She just mumbled a good morning while rubbing her eyes. Stena had barely even noticed or acknowledged anyone else around the table when Cierra pushed a smaller plate of breakfast over to her.

“She needs to eat, too, right?”