Nadia finally pulled back, her hands lingering on Mika’s shoulders as if she was afraid he might disappear if she let go completely.
She wanted to say sothing—wanted to tell him how happy she was that he was finally ho, how much it ant to her that he was standing here on this doorstep.
Because this wasn’t just any house.
This was ’the’ house where everyone had lived before they went their separate ways.
Before the distances grew, before the walls went up, before the family scattered like leaves in the wind.
Now only she and Astrid remained here, rattling around in a space that had once been so full of life and laughter.
But even they barely spoke. Even they existed as ghosts in the sa halls.
So to see Mika standing here, carrying his sleeping sister on his back, looking at her with those familiar eyes—
It made her happier than she could ever express.
But before she could say any of that, sothing else caught her attention.
Astrid.
Her daughter was sleeping peacefully on Mika’s back, her face soft and relaxed in a way Nadia hadn’t seen in years.
But sothing was different. Her clothes.
Astrid always wore her uniform. The crisp, formal attire of the Anti-Demi-Human Alliance’s commander.
She took pride in it, wore it like armor, used it as another layer of protection between herself and the world. She practically lived in it.
But right now, she was wearing the academy’s track suit. Casual. Comfortable. Unguarded.
Nadia’s brow furrowed slightly.
"Mika...why is Astrid wearing that? Her uniform—she never takes it off. What happened?"
Mika’s expression flickered. Sothing awkward crossed his face—a hesitation, a quick calculation of how much to say.
"Oh, that." He said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "She had a bit of an accident back at the academy. Spilled sothing on her clothes. So drink, I think."
"So she had to change out of them. That’s why she’s wearing the track suit."
She studied him for a mont longer, but he seed sincere enough. She let it go.
"And why is she sleeping on your back?"
She gestured at Astrid’s peaceful face, her soft breathing.
"It’s usually her who always wants to give you piggy back rides as a older sister, I’m surprised she let you do with how stubborn she can be."
Mika smiled—a warm, genuine smile that made sothing in Nadia’s chest loosen.
"She’s tired. Not just from work, though she’s been working hard. But we also spent so really good quality ti together. Just talking. Catching up. The way we used to."
He glanced at Astrid’s sleeping face.
"We talked so much that she ended up falling asleep halfway through. I didn’t have the heart to wake her, so I just carried her back here."
Nadia’s lips curled upward. Just slightly.
The faintest hint of a smile, but for her, it was practically beaming.
"That’s...That’s wonderful, Mika. You have no idea how wonderful that is."
Her voice was soft, almost reverent.
"Astrid never tells anything, but I know how she’s been feeling. She’s been so lonely without you. She’s been especially distant this past year. Avoiding contact. Pulling further and further away."
She looked at her daughter with a gaze so full of love it hurt to see.
"I think she’s been suffering more than she would ever admit. But tonight..."
Her voice caught.
"Tonight, I’m sure she had the best ti she’s had in a very long ti."
She stood there for a mont, just looking at her sleeping child, drinking in the rare sight of Astrid’s peaceful face.
Then she blinked, as if suddenly rembering sothing.
"Oh! Look at , keeping you standing out here like a stranger."
She stepped back, gesturing inside with an almost childlike eagerness.
"Co in, Mika! Co in already. I was so worried about Astrid that I haven’t even cooked anything yet, but give a few minutes—I can make sothing. Anything you want!"
"And we can talk. Or play board gas! All the old gas we used to play are still here. I kept them all."
She was talking faster now, the words tumbling out in a rush she couldn’t control.
"And video gas too! We have all the consoles we bought when you were small. They’re still set up by the television, waiting for soone to play them."
"I never really understood how to work them, but I could watch you. I always liked watching you play. You used to get so focused, your little tongue sticking out when you were concentrating..."
She trailed off, her eyes bright with anticipation.
But Mika held up his hand.
"Nadia—"
His voice was gentle, but there was sothing apologetic in it. Sothing that made her heart sink before he even said the words.
"I’m sorry. I can’t stay tonight."
Her anticipation flickered. The light in her eyes dimd just slightly.
"I really wish I could. I want to. But I’m quite busy right now, and I just ca over to drop Astrid off. I have to get going."
He wasn’t lying, exactly. He was busy. Just not in the way he was implying.
The truth was, Nadia wasn’t the only one who had been trying to reach him. Fauna and Yelena had been bombarding his phone with ssages all evening.
And not just ssages. Photos. Lewd, half-naked photos that made his face burn just thinking about them.
Yelena had been particularly bold—texting him provocative images, tempting him with promises he couldn’t repeat.
And Fauna? Fauna kept insisting that he "needed more treatnt." that she "needed to drink his milk." that she couldn’t wait another mont.
He had to manage both of them, so he had to go back.
But he couldn’t tell Nadia that.
So he just smiled apologetically and said nothing more.
Nadia’s face fell. Not dramatically—it never did with her.
But the light that had been building behind her eyes, the fragile hope that had been blooming, dimd and faded.
"Oh." She said quietly. "I see."
Her voice was flat again. But there was sothing underneath it—sothing that sounded almost like grief.
"I didn’t think about that. Of course you have things to do. I shouldn’t have assud that you were free now."
She looked down at her hands, and Mika felt like the worst person in the world.
"Co on."
He said quickly, trying to salvage the mont.
"Don’t pout like that. Even if I can’t stay tonight, I’ll be with you tomorrow, rember? You’re the one who booked for the whole day."
Her head snapped up.
"Tomorrow?"
"You said you needed for sothing, rember? Sent the address and everything. I’ll be here. All day. We’ll have plenty of ti to talk then."
Nadia’s face sohow managed to brighten. Her eyes regained their light. Her posture relaxed.
"Besides, if I stayed tonight, you wouldn’t let leave."
Mika added with a knowing gaze.
"You’d keep up talking until sunrise, and then you’d have no energy left for whatever you have planned for tomorrow."
"So, this way is better. We’ll both be fresh for whatever you have prepared tomorrow."
He then looked past her, into the warm glow of the house.
"Now, tell —is Astrid’s room still the sa? Or did she finally move to a bigger one?"
"I rember she used to complain all the ti about her room being too small. ’I’m the oldest sister!’ she’d say. ’I deserve the biggest room!’"
Nadia’s lips twitched. The ghost of a smile returned.
"Actually...she changed rooms."
"Oh?"
"She moved into yours."
Mika blinked. "Mine?"
Nadia nodded, and there was sothing soft in her voice when she spoke. She started walking into the house, gesturing for him to follow.
"She said it was because of the size. That your room was bigger, so it made more sense for her to take it...But I knew the real reason."
She looked at Astrid’s sleeping face.
"She missed you, Mika. Being in her own room brought back too many mories—good ones, but painful ones too. So she moved into."
"She redecorated it, of course. Made it her own."
Nadia added proudly before saying with nostalgia in her gaze.
"But she kept so of your things. Your old books are still on the shelf. Your gaming posters are still on the wall. She said it made her feel like you were still here sohow."
Mika followed her inside, shaking his head with a laugh.
"That’s so like her. Too stubborn to admit she misses anyone, but she’ll move into their room and surround herself with their things."
He glanced at Astrid’s sleeping face.
"You really are sothing else, you know that?"
Astrid, of course, didn’t respond. She just snuggled deeper into his back, her breath warm against his neck.
Mika headed for the stairs, ready to carry her up to her room and tuck her in, when—
"Wait, Mika."
He stopped and turned around.
Nadia was standing at the bottom of the stairs, her hand on the railing.
Her face was doing sothing strange—sothing that, if he didn’t know her better, he might have called hesitation. Embarrassnt, even. There was a faint glimr in her eyes that he rarely saw.
"Wait just a mont." She said softly. "Before you take her upstairs—"
She trailed off, looking at Astrid’s tails. The seven fluffy appendages that swayed gently with Mika’s movent, completely relaxed in sleep.
"I know this is...I know it’s strange to ask. But—"
She hesitated, her voice dropping to almost a whisper.
"—can I pet her tails? Just for a mont? Before you take her upstairs?"
Mika’s eyebrows rose.
Nadia hurried to explain, her words coming faster than usual.
"I know it’s foolish. I know she’d be angry if she knew. But I haven’t touched her tails in so long."
"I used to brush them every night when she was small. She would sit in my lap and I would brush each tail until it was smooth, and she would purr like a kitten, and she was so happy, Mika. She was so happy."
Her voice was growing thicker, more strained.
"But now she won’t let near her. She won’t talk to . She won’t even look at . And I understand. I do. I failed her. I chose the wrong side. I made her feel abandoned. But—"
She looked at Astrid’s tails again, her hands twitching at her sides as if she could already feel the fur beneath her fingers.
"I just want to feel her tails again. Just once. Just for a second. I want to know they’re still soft. I want to rember what it was like before everything went wrong."
She looked up at Mika, and her eyes were pleading.
"So, please, Mika. Just a few seconds. I won’t hold you up. I promise."
Mika looked at her. Athis woman who was begging her own son for permission to touch her daughter’s tails.
A daughter she had given birth to, raised, loved. A daughter she had taught to walk, to talk, to be proud of who she was.
And now she couldn’t even touch her without asking permission.
Without the fear of rejection making her hesitate.
Mika’s heart absolutely broke.
He wanted to help her. He wanted to let her pour out all the love she had been holding inside for years and let it wash over her daughter like it should have been doing all along.
But he couldn’t just let her pet a tail and call it a day.
She deserved more than that.
So, he looked at the clock on the wall, pretending to check the ti. Then he turned back to Nadia with an apologetic expression.
"I’m sorry, Nadia. I really don’t have much ti. I have to get going soon, so I can’t really stand here and let you pet her tail."
Nadia’s face fell.
The light in her eyes dimd. Her shoulders sagged just slightly—just enough for Mika to see how much his words had hurt her.
She opened her mouth to say it was alright, that she understood, that it didn’t matter—
"But..."
Mika said, a smile tugging at his lips.
"I think I can do sothing better than just letting you touch her tail."
User Comments
0 comments from readers