Just as Mika and Anya pulled back from their kiss, still caught in the quiet warmth of that shared moment, a familiar voice came echoing through the halls.
"Anya, dear, where are you? Are you in the library?"
Faunaâs voice called, bright and musical as always.
"Is Mika there with you? He ran off somewhere and I canât find him! That little rabbit! Hopping away without telling me!"
Both Mika and Anya stiffened. For half a heartbeat they just stared at each otherâthen broke into quiet laughter, shoulders shaking.
"Yes, Mom." Anya finally called out, composing herself and slipping back her clothes. "Iâm right here, in the library. And yes, Mikaâs with me."
A flurry of footsteps followed, and within seconds Faunaâs head popped around the door.
"Anya baby, your mommyâs home!"
She said cheerfullyâonly for her words to catch midair when she took in the state of the library.
"What the...What in the worldâ!"
She stepped inside, nearly tripping over a pile of books.
"What is this absolute disaster zone?" She exclaimed, staring around in disbelief. "There are papers everywhere, andâoh good heavens, are those eyes?"
As one of the disembodied eyes turned to look at her, she let out a small shriek, clutching her chest.
"I swear, even as a doctor, seeing dismembered hands and floating eyes is not something Iâll ever get used to!"
Mika chuckled under his breath, while Anya simply sighed as if used to this.
Ignoring the chaos, Fauna stepped carefully between books and jars until she stood beside Mika, immediately grabbing his hand.
"Anyway! Leaving all that asideâlook who I brought home!" She said proudly, puffing her chest. "I dragged him here just for you! I knew how much youâd love to see him, so I made sure he came along. Isnât your mommy amazing?"
She gave Anya a big, expectant grin.
"Come on, praise me! Tell me Iâm the best mom in the world! Go on, Iâll wait!"
Anyaâs expression softened into a small, gentle smileânot the dazzling, confident one she always wore, but something quieter, warmer.
"Yes, Mom...You really are the best mom in the world."
Fauna practically sparkled with joy.
"I know, right? Youâre such a good girl, Anya!" She said proudly, giving her daughter a playful twirl of affection.
But then Anyaâs smile faded into a dry, flat line.
"...However." She said evenly, her tone shifting. "I do have some complaints."
Hearing her duaghters change in tone, her cheer drained from Faunaâs face in an instant.
"...Complaints?"
"Yes." Anya said, her expression calm but her voice carrying that quiet authority that made even generals nervous.
"Yes. For startersâwhen I came home earlier today, the entire living room was full of birds."
"B-Birds?" Fauna blinked.
"Exotic birds." Anya clarified, her tone cooling even further. "On the sofa. On the chandelier. On the television. I even found one in the toilet." Her gaze sharpened. "And apparently, someone..." She looked directly at her mother. "...decided it was a good idea to open all the balcony doors and invite them in."
Fauna avoided her gaze, whistling softly.
"I-I donât know what youâre talking about. Maybe...someone else did it?"
"Mom."
The single word carried enough weight to make Fauna wince.
"Okay, okay!" She admitted quickly, raising her hands. "It was me! Alright? But you donât have to look so scary about it!"
Anya pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing.
"Mom, can you explain why did something like that?"
"Because..." Fauna puffed her cheeks slightly, muttering defensively. "I was out on the deck this morning, and there were so many beautiful, colorful birds flying around. I called out to them, but none of them came. So...I may have baited them with bird feed. And...they came in!"
She brightened immediately, her eyes sparkling.
"It was wonderful! I had my morning tea surrounded by themâit felt like I was in a magical forest!"
Anya rolled her eyes before exhaled slowly and saying,
"Mom, you literally have wings on your back. Wings that are more beautiful than any birdâs. If you wanted to see them, you couldâve just looked in a mirrorâor better yet, flown up and joined them."
"No, no! Thatâs not the same!" Fauna shook her head rapidly, waving her hands. "If I go to them, it doesnât feel special. But if they come to me, it feels like Iâm the queen of nature!"
She twirled in place dramatically, clasping her hands together.
"Like a princess of the skies!"
Anyaâs expression flattened, her teeth gritting faintly, while Mika had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing aloud.
Anya took a deep breath.
"It wasnât just that." She said dryly. "Earlier, a courier boy came up to me in complete panic. He handed me back an artifact that...apparently, you tipped him with it."
Fauna blinked. "Oh, that." She said casually.
"Yes, that." Anya replied flatly. "The boy said you gave him an S-class artifact, worth enough to buy an entire mansion."
"He didnât know it at the beginning and he thought it was some junk when you gave it. But it was only when he checked online did he realise what it was and was terrified because of that and came running back to return it."
Fauna tilted her head.
"Well, it was one of those deliveries that had to be handed directly to me, and the lifts were down, so he had to walk up so many stairs! Poor thing was exhausted! I just felt bad for him." She said innocently. "So I gave him a tip!"
"A tip." Anya repeated, unimpressed. "You couldâve given him money. Or a drink of water. Not an artifact that can make ordinary plants turn into soldiers."
"Well, itâs not like I was using it." Fauna shrugged, looking only slightly guilty.
Mika tried his best to hold back his laughter, but it was no use. His shoulders shook as he pressed a hand over his mouth, muffled chuckles escaping anyway.
The sight of Fauna fidgeting guiltily beside her stone-faced daughter was just too much.
Anya, however, was in no mood for amusement.
Her irritation only deepened as she continued, voice steady but sharp.
"That wasnât even the worst part of today." She said, crossing her arms. "The worst part was when I went to the pool this evening, thinking I could at least have a nice, relaxing swimâand what did I find?"
"...What?" Fauna tilted her head innocently.
"A bunch of purple crabs swimming around!" Anya exclaimed. "Not just any crabsâmassive Phoenician crabs from Sector 24! The same ones I bought and kept in containment cages for my research!"
"And what do I see? Theyâre floating lazily in the water as if theyâre on vacation!"
Fauna gasped, clasping her hands dramatically.
"Ohhh, those crabs! But they looked so pitiful, Anya!" She protested, whining like a child. "They were all cramped up in those little cages, staring at me with their tiny beady eyesâit was heartbreaking!"
"They looked like they wanted to swim so badly, so I just...let them!"
"Let them?" Anya repeated, incredulous. "Mom, they were for experiments! They werenât supposed to be fed or touched. I was going to end the trial todayâturn them into crab soup!"
Fauna gasped dramatically. "You were going to kill them?! Those poor little babies!"
"Theyâre not babies!" Anya snapped. "Theyâre venomous crustaceans from another realm that can regenerate limbs faster than a phoenixâs flame! Theyâre dangerous! And do you know what happened because of your âact of kindnessâ?"
"I had to spend my entire evening fishing them out of the pool! They move slow on land, but in water? Theyâre like underwater rockets! I wasted my entire break time because of you!"
That did it...Mika couldnât hold back any longer.
He burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
"Oh god, Fauna! You really are a gremlin! Yelena was correct about you!" He managed to say between fits of laughter.
Fauna on the other hand looked at him pitifully, her eyes wide and shimmering as she said,
"What? What did I do wrong? I just followed my heart!"
"Mom..." Anya said as she held back her seething frustration. "Never listen to your heart again. Itâs turning our home into a zoo. And Iâm always the one cleaning up after your âheartâs desires.â"
Fauna wilted under her daughterâs dry glare, looking for all the world like a scolded child. She fidgeted with her hands, eyes lowered, mumbling.
"I just wanted them to have a little fun..."
And Mika, still catching his breath from laughter, couldnât help but smile at the sight.
It was nostalgic. This was always how it went. Faunaâthe playful troublemaker, constantly causing small disastersâand Anya, the exasperated, responsible one cleaning up after her.
It was so adorably reversed, the mother being scolded by her own child and even when Anya was just a child, the dynamic had been the same.
And Mika couldnât help but think that this dynamic would never change even in the future.