anything and everything

What they told their sisters

As you know both Cherry and Ahri have a little sister with no parents to speak of at the moment. Here is what they told Lilly and Mocha.

MissAvarice

Lilly's excuse came recently as her parents only left after Cherry's coronation. 

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Cherry looked up from her work as she heard her office door open. She knew it wasn't Maelle or any of her staff as they would always knock. However it was also rare for Faris to interrupt her work as well.  She knew who was there as soon as she got a glance at the flaming red hair matching her own. 

"What's up Lil?" Cherry asked her little sister, pushing out from behind her desk so Lilly could come over to join her. Lilly climbed up into Cherry's lap, one of her favorite places ever since she was a little girl.

"Where are mom and dad?" Lilly asked Cherry, gazing up at her. 

Cherry had known that Lilly would eventually come to ask this question but she'd never come up with the right excuse. In truth, Cherry didn't know where her own parents went. A day after her wedding they packed up and left. Cherry had been so busy with Faris and his friends' sudden arrival that she hadn't noticed them leaving until they didn't show up for dinner that night. Maelle had been the one to tell her they left, though even Maelle had no idea where they went. 

"Remember when you were four and a half? We went to a big house by the ocean for a week. That was a lot of fun, wasn't it?" Cherry asked her sister, reminding her of a vacation they took a few years back. Well, to Lilly it had been a vacation. To Cherry and her parents it had been a lot more than that. They had needed a place to discuss the future where they knew no ears could hear them, not even the servants. 

Lilly grinned and nodded. "I remember! We saw a big turtle and a starfish and a plant with lots of fingers." 

"Anemone." Cherry nodded. "There were lots of them in the tide pools that formed when the ocean was low."

"And we went out to play one day. Nolan climbed a REALLY big rock!" Lilly exclaimed, making a large gesture with her hands as if pointing all the way up to where Nolan had stood.

"But then a big wave knocked him off." Cherry finished the story, unable to help but laugh along with Lilly at the memory. Nolan was always so gutsy, he got right back up after the wave knocked him down. 

"Did mom and dad go back to the ocean?" Lilly asked.

"No but they're taking another vacation like that. Just the two of them." Cherry answered. That's what she guessed her parents were doing, anyways. 

"Why can't I go?" Lilly asked. "I want to have fun too."

Cherry looked down at her sister and grinned. "Because they're giving each other cooties."

"How?" Lilly asked.

"They're probably kissing." Cherry answered, making big kissy lips and leaning down towards Lilly.

"Eww!" Lilly squealed, squirming out of Cherry's lap and to the other side of the desk where she was safe. "Your cooties are for Faris!"

Cherry couldn't help but laugh at her claim. "I don't have cooties." She disagreed, getting to her feet to go chase Lilly. Lilly ran around the desk but Cherry caught her and picked her up. "Com'ere you crazy girl." 

Lilly shrieked with laughter as Cherry tickled her and tried to escape her big sister but was only set free after a moment when Cherry was done with her. She set Lilly up on her shoulders where she knew she loved to ride and moved to leave her office, being careful not to let Lilly hit her head.

"Want to go down the riding trails?"  

"Can I ride Peaches?" Lilly asked.

Cherry nodded. "Alright, you can ride Peaches but be nice to my horse. She's gentle."

"I know. I'll ask Elyse for a carrot to feed her after." Lilly loved riding Cherry's horse, Peaches. She loved spending time with her big sister and Cherry would always try her best to be there for her. They didn't need their parents to be happy, Lilly had Nolan and Cherry to look after her. Cherry would always be there for Nolan and Lilly. 

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Mocha was six when she first asked Ahri about their parents. 

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It was a full moon out that night. Hybrids and kitsune were most in tune with their instincts on full moons so Ahri had decided to take Mocha out of a run so they could enjoy the summer night and gaze at the stars. Ahri had felt that something was bothering Mocha lately. She seemed to be trying to figure out something but hadn't yet asked Ahri about it. Ahri hoped she would open up tonight. 

When they got to a good resting spot Ahri shifted back into her human form and took a seat in the grass before laying back to look at the stars. Mocha shifted into her human form and sat beside her. 

"What did you learn in lessons today?" Ahri asked her.

"Misty told me about soulmates and how kitsune all have someone made to be your other half." Mocha answered. "Where is your soulmate?"

"I haven't found him yet but Im sure I will. Im still young, you know." Ahri said with a soft sigh. She was 21, she could have met him any time in these past three years and never known without  being able to smell their scent. 

"She said that after you find your soulmate you can have a baby, that our parents were soulmates." Mocha continued. Ahri had never mentioned their parents to Mocha. She pulled her shirt collar a little higher as if hiding her burns could push away the memories. 

"Where are our parents? Who are they?" Mocha asked. 

Ahri didn't have anything to tell Mocha. She had hoped this day wouldn't come until much later, when Mocha would be ready to hear the truth. She wasn't old enough, though, so Ahri decided it would be better to make up a story on the spot.

"Our father is an amazing hunter but he is also very kind. He saw that some people were hungry because they couldn't hunt or they didn't have any prey. Dad decided he wanted to feed all of them so he decided to hunt the biggest buck he could find." Ahri said. 

"Did he find one?"

"Yes. He found one that was bigger than the palace and he chased after it because that one buck could have fed everyone until they were too fat to move. It was fast but so was he and he chased it all the way up into the sky. That's where he met mom."

"Mom is in the sky?" Mocha asked, looking up to the stars.

"Mom lived among the stars. When dad saw her he had to look away because she shone brighter than the sun. They were soul mates so we were born after they met. Mom can't come out of the sky because stars cant come to the earth. Dad was from the earth so we had to live here. Dad is still up there too, chasing that buck to feed the world. I know it's a little lonely without them now but some day, when we're older, we can join them up in the stars. That's when we will be a family together." Some day Mocha would understand. Some day Ahri would tell her the truth but Ahri struggled to acknowledge what had happened herself without breaking down. This story was easier to tell and easier to accept.  "They're watching us, though, and they love us very much."

"Do they love us as much as I love you?" Mocha asked.

Ahri sat up and pulled her sister into a hug. "Even more. They love us as much as I love you."