Above All

-Fifty-Two-

Dog barks to the sky

Friend from past breathing silent

Raining at the sea

Layton:

She still looked a lot like the photos I had seen of her. Although, I might say she did look a bit older. Her hair was no longer the curly waves that fell down to her back and touched her waist; the vibrant red that just seemed to pop out even unintentionally was cut short and rested just shy of her shoulders. It suited her more mature features and bright blue eyes; despite all of that, her skin was the same soft tan color like uncle Joran's and the two prominent dimples were there and flexed against her cheeks whenever she moved her mouth to speak... which was often.... our mother talked a lot.

She was older, but she sure gave off the impression of a young teen just starting out in life. When she noticed how shocked we all were being graced by her presence, she quickly took the remaining seat beside her brother and right next Amory whose mouth had just seemed to drop in complete shock.

"I didn't mean to scare any of you, I apologize for that." She clasped her hands together in a pleading manner, almost begging us for forgiveness. I licked my lips that have seemed to have gone dry at the moment.

When I envisioned us "finding" our mother, I always assumed we somehow had to track her down. That her "disappearance" was unintentional and out of necessity more than want; I wasn't sure what to think right now as I gazed at her tall figure at the dining table. She was dressed quite remarkably, nothing short of a woman who was raised in absolute wealth; she carried herself the same way, adorned with fine sapphires that embellished her ears, neck, and wrists.

This was our mother.

My real mother.

Not the icy cold frost Empress that always seemed to look at my brother and I in dismay, something I had absolutely no control over—a mistake my father had made....

No, a choice.

A choice was what he made.

But now I couldn't help but be angered that this woman has just strolled into the dining hall, oblivious to the conversation we were having with Joran on our entire lives. She was partially responsible for this, leaving us with our incompetent father to live out a lie that was now crumbling before our very eyes.

"Mukami... how long had you been listening in?" Uncle Joran sighed deeply as he looked over at his wide-eyed and curious sister who behaved as if she had done nothing wrong, she kind go reminded me like....

Well, me.

"Long enough to hear the story and all the suckish parts." Her plump cheeks rose with an intense color as if she were embarrassed. "I'm sorry you had to hear about your father and I's affair like that, it's not necessarily something I'm proud of. I was very young and impulsive in my youth although..." She looked at us with an adoring smile, "I don't regret any one of you." She finished.

This time I found myself speaking before thinking, "You don't?" I asked her.

She cocked her head to the side with complete fascination, "Absolutely not! You were made of purely love... all of you." Her full pink lips curved into a frown the more she spoke, "Your father on the hand.... promised me he would raise you all together as brothers before I was asked to leave. I see he's done everything but what I've asked of him." Her clear blue eyes seemed to have flickered with something dangerous in them, surfacing from a deep space within the core of her heart.