Tatsu was happy that his daughter Yomi was back in their lives, but Shizen was even more grateful that her daughter was back. For tonight, the celestial kitsune and the Harris family would enjoy a meal with Yomi, before inviting the rest of the family.
They now sat at the dinner table as Mika was catching Yomi up on the lives of her children when they were all young ranging from the adorable moments, like the kids putting on a play of 'Robin Hood' with Haley in the lead role, while Mason played sheriff and struggled to remember some of his lines.
"Oh my kids were all adorable when they were little, why right in the palace, they all put a little play together all by themselves of the 'Robin Hood' story." Mika explained.
"I played Robin Hood aunt Yomi, because I've always been the most athletic out of my siblings, I even beat Aaron in a track race during middle school P.E.." Haley said confidently stretching her arms behind her head.
"Ugh, your school record," Mika said shaking her head.
"Was she a bad student?" Yomi asked.
"No," Mika said. "Yes," Claudia said at the same time.
"Well, yes," Mika now said. "Well, no," And Claudia said at the same time.
"So....which is it?" Yomi asked slightly chuckling.
"Well let's just say that Haley left a....reputation behind at all of the schools she attended." Kari now said.
"Hey now, you know they weren't always about getting into fights, sometimes she was doing it defend one of you. Remember middle school?" Claudia reminded Kari who nodded.
"Yes mom." Kari sighed getting back to her food.
Tatsu looked over to see Aaron and Mason were unusually quiet at the dinner table and moved closer to the boys to speak with them.
"Boys, what's the matter? Don't you want to know your aunt a little better? I know it would make your grandmother happy." Tatsu said to Aaron and Mason.
"I'm sorry grandpa, I'm just....I'm just a little wary of her because of what my mom said earlier." Aaron explained.
Tatsu looked over at Claudia who was giving a solemn little smile at Yomi.
"What did Claudia tell you?" Tatsu asked.
"She said....well, she said aunt Yomi tried to kill her when she was around Aaron's age." Mason cautiously answered not wanting to upset his grandfather.
"It's alright. I know it can be a little bit scary to talk to a relative you've never talked to before. But....I seem to remember not that long ago, a young grandson of mine was hesitant to speak to his uncle, and now that same uncle has gone to great lengths to keep you safe." Tatsu said smiling at Mason who gave his grandfather a little smile.
Aaron looked over to see how lively Haley was being with Yomi who was enjoying her niece's enthusiasm.
"It will probably take some time for me to want to talk with her directly." Aaron said.
Eventually everyone finished with their meal and proceeded to show Yomi around the palace. Yomi was amazed at how different the palace looked now.
"This doesn't even seem like the same palace I grew up in." Yomi commented looking around.
"Oh yes, we've had many things changed and updated. A lot of events happened after you....after you....." Shizen couldn't finish the sentence and almost shed a tear.
"While she was away mother," Mika said as she put a reassuring hand on Shizen's shoulder. "While she was away is what you were trying to say." Mika said as Shizen wiped her tears away and patted her hand on Mika's as a thank you.
"Boy, I'll say you missed a lot. There was a whole civil war that happened where most of the country was divided for a while, blood was everywhere, it was kitsune against kitsune, brother against brother, sister against sister, cats against the dogs, it was mass hysteria!" Haley exclaimed while explaining.
"Cats against dogs?" Yomi questioned.
"It's something from a movie, don't worry about it." Mika quickly explained to Yomi.
"Me, Kari, and Mason were all involved in the war and helped end it. The battles were wild out there on the field. It almost didn't seem like it would ever end. Mason also found our family dog Fenrir, and the two of them can fuse into a super cool wolf warrior with a magic sword he found from a tree in a backyard." Haley explained on as Yomi now looked at Mason.
"I'd like to see all that sometime, wait, what about your twin? Aaron wasn't it? Why wasn't he involved in the war as well?" Yomi asked pointing towards Aaron.
"Oh no, he was kind of sick. Love sick to be precise. He's actually dating one of the princesses of the vampire realm." Haley chuckled.
"A...a vampire princess?!" Yomi asked surprised.
"Yeah, see Aaron's part of a group of demon hunters that protect the world from those who are doing bad stuff in the supernatural, and Aaron's best friend turned out to secretly be dating one of the vampire princesses, and Aaron went with his friend to the vampire realm and fell in love with and began dating the other vampire princess secretly. You would not believe how my moms reacted when they found out Aaron snuck away to the vampire realm to see his girlfriend." Haley laughed.
"How did you react?" Yomi asked Mika and Claudia.
"Don't ask." Was Mika and Claudia's only reply.
As Haley went on, Kari happened to notice Claudia was carefully watching Yomi every other second.
"Mom, could I uh....talk to you for a moment? You guys go on, we'll catch up." Kari said as the others walked on ahead.
"Mom, what's going on? Aunt Yomi doesn't seem so bad." Kari said.
"It's just....well, you know...." Claudia sighed.
"No, I don't. Is it what you said earlier? Mother said she only really ever tried to hurt anybody once, and she only did it unintentionally. She seems nice." Kari said.
"I know honey, it's just.....after everything that just happened, I don't want to think this will lead to anything bad. I just....I just want to keep you all safe." Claudia sighed.
Kari gave her mother a loving soft hug. If there was anything she loved the most about her daughter, it was that Kari had the most gentle and loving hugs.
"I know mom, and I love you for that." Kari said kissing her mother on the cheek.
Kari and Claudia now walked ahead to catch up with the rest of the group.
"Oh yeah, and wait until you meet my boyfriend, I think you'll really like him. He practices this thing called 'Kata', which contrary to what I first thought, doesn't actually help you summon cats." Haley said as Yomi, Shizen, Mika, Kari, and even Claudia all laughed at.