The light started dying the sky with its color, the cold light of dawn shone upon the world.

  To a certain family in an isolated glade, this day is the day they always dreamed of for sixteen years. The day when they all walk home together.

  "Sigh! It has been years." Jonrad said while walking beside me.

  "Don’t get all sentimental on me, old man."

  "Hehe! Your cold attitude is making it easier not to be sentimental."

  "You should thank me then!"

  "Indeed, I need to thank you…… for a lot of things." He said.

  "Don’t mention it!" I said.

  "Your mother looks younger now!" He said.

  "You guys look like people in their twenties, how younger do you want her to look like?"

  "Well, when you live as long as I did, you will notice these small details."

  I looked at Hilda who was smiling brightly while walking with Nurina and Jullanar in the front. She was smiling and waving her hands all around, telling some tale about her journeys.

  Hehe! I hope life treats you guys kindly from now on. I know the world will fall into chaos four years from now but at least let’s make them have four peaceful years.

  My father and mother must have been through a lot.

  A Great War no one could imagine how it looked like, a struggle in Hammerfell’s desert against the tyranny of the Aldmeri Dominion, a chase through Cryodiil, High Rock, and Skyrim, an emotional struggle and desire for vengeance. And finally, when they returned to each other, they didn’t recognize one another anymore. A crack was formed between them that only their son can fell.

  I guess I should at least do them that much. I may not have a strong attachment to the Firemanes but I actually like them, I don’t feel any hostility from any one of them and they treat me really nice.

  "Sigh!" I think I should also relax in this peaceful place, I have built up a lot of anxiety lately.

  "Hehe! You are sighing like your old man." Hilda heard me sighing and turned around to add that unnecessary comment.

  "I don’t care anymore! Where is Nefertiti?" I asked.

  "Here!" It seems that Jull was carrying her.

  "Give her to me! I want to heal for a bit." I took Nefertiti who was sleeping in Jull’s arms.

  Holding her like this makes all the trouble in the world feel like nothing.

  "What’s with you and that cat anyway? I have never seen a Firemane so attached to cats!" Jonrad asked.

  "Because all Firemanes are puppy loving heathens. They should be electrified on a chair for their denial of the cat supremacy."

  "…… This kid is a lost cause." Nurina said.

  "Humph!" I snorted.

  "Hmmm! Since when do you have a cat anyway? Last year Nurina said nothing about it." Hilda said.

  "Have? A cat? No no no nohohoho! No one can own a cat. Cats own people."

  "…… huh?" Hilda and Jonrad got confused.

  "Here he goes again!" Nurina held her head.

  "Cats are the noblest beings in existence! No one can own a cat as it is the other way around. Cats don’t own just people, cats actually own the world……" I started educating the puppy loving heathens.

  "Cats? Own the world?" Jonrad was overwhelmed.

  "If they do, why aren’t they taking over already?" Hilda asked with a smile.

  "Good question! Cats are not taking over because they are just too lazy to do so."

  "……"

  These heathens should be enlightened about the faith of the Great Cat Goddess.

  "Listen up, poor souls! The Cats are th……"

  "Give me a break already!" Nurina said and covered her ears.

  Anyway! I kept preaching for the holy word of the Great Cat Goddess all the way.

  ***

  It wasn’t too long but I feel that their souls have been cleansed already. Jullanar who is one of the fanatics of the holy cat creed was listening carefully, the others who had lesser faith had their eyes all white and held their heads. This is the effect of the puppyism going away. Must be tough!

  "This is not natural, something is very wrong." Hilda was finally seeing the light.

  "I know, you were lucky since you avoided this far." Nurina said.

  "How can this be? All that was too much." Jonrad said. For a big heathen like himself, it surely should be too much.

  "You just feel like that the first few times. Once the light of the holy cat illuminates your soul, you will be free forever." Jullanar as a senior fanatic said but her eyes looked a bit unnatural, maybe my imagination.

  "Well, we are home!" Hilda said as she became refreshed for the fact.

  I looked around and saw a house at the side of the mountain. I raised my brows in admiration.

  "Not bad! Not bad at all."

  The house in front of me is a one-story wide building. It has a small garden beside it that has a lot of herbs and mushrooms. There are some trees around and a small barn.

  It looked like a forest retreat for vacations with all the snow and the faint greenery around it.

  "Jonhild, like the place?" Hilda asked.

  "Mhm! Looks great!"

  "Haha! I built it on my own after all, took me two months." Jonrad was acting cocky again.

  "Jonhild has a beautiful house too. It is like nothing you can do, don’t be too proud." Hilda retaliated for me.

  "He has?"

  "Yes, his place has a basement and an attic. I told you we needed a basement but you kept saying no one makes them anymore."

  "It is true……"

  And they started arguing about their preferences.

  But I think the place looks nice, it has its calmness, unlike my ’Sea Mist Manor that tends to be the place where all my business partners come to visit me. Also, the basement is the place of the training area, the vault, and the bathtub.

  This place doesn’t need all that complications. It is a place where one should just relax.

  "I think I like the place!" I said.

  "……"

  "Haha! Take that, Hilda!" Jonrad was making a victory pose.

  "You’re not out of the woods yet, the place really needs an attic. Even a small one with a big circular window and……" I participated in the debate of house designing too.

  The argument continued until we got in.

  The place looked simple and cozy from the inside even with the snow of the outside, the cold weather was barely felt here.

  Jonrad kept his act and lit the place with his magic, he used flame magic in a very skillful way that made Nurina nod in approval.

  "So our things has arrived here." Jull took notice of some crates. They were ours.

  "I made sure everything gets done smoothly, now let me show you where you will stay!" Hilda said and started showing Nurina and Jullanar to their rooms.

  She then gestured for me to follow, after I followed she showed me to a room.

  "This is yours, Jonhild. We always kept cleaning it."

  I looked inside and couldn’t help but smile. It looked a bit small compared to my normal standard but it felt as it should be, a room of a son in his parents’ house.

  "It is nice!" I said.

  "I know, right! Look, here you can put your books, here is the……" she kept talking about the things she did in the room. I noticed that Jonrad also came behind me and was smiling at what he was seeing.

  Hilda, the captain of a big from yesterday who made a hundred man shudder from her glare, is acting all motherly now.

  In unison, Jonrad and I started giggling while watching her. She looked at us as if betrayed.

  "You know what? You two are just the worst, out of my way." She said and walked outside.

  It was hard not to laugh but once she got out, Jonrad and I made stiff faces to each other.

  "Get out, old man! I want to change."

  "Tch! Jerk!"

  "Heard it!"

  "Meant it!"

  Seems like things get like that when one is more handsome than his old man.

  ***

  No one slept after we got home.

  I thought I will sleep for sure but it was day already and Nurina sat in front of the fireplace to make some coffee. As a follower of the same faith, I joined her with an empty mug and high expectations.

  "After all these years! You are now home." She said.

  "Heh Heh! It is still too early to start regretting it." I said.

  "Haha! Brat, I know you the best, there is no way I regret it."

  True! To me, Nurina is an irreplaceable person. The part that yearns for Hilda as a mother is not the same part that sees Nurina as a mother. The two different people within me have their own mother-preferences too.

  "Anyway, it seems you covered the problem between Hilda and Jonrad really well."

  "Yeah! It would break my heart if after all these years they couldn’t make it." I said.

  "Speaking of which!" Nurina said and smiled at me, it was a wide smile that had a lot of naughtiness. She made a spell that I understood what it is.

  "Oh! You are horrible! I am not eavesdropping."

  "A brother or a sister?"

  "Shut up!"

  _____________________________

  A/N: Sorry for the late publish.