Only a day had gone by after Yomi had been reunited with Kiko, Chisai, and Takeo, and shared a loving hug with Mika as well in the small study. Haley had wanted to do something fun with her new aunt to help her feel more welcome at home. Haley soon had the perfect idea for what that activity would be. She soon found her Yomi gazing out at the distance from one of the palace windows when Haley came up to her.
"Hi aunt Yomi, how would you like to go tree climbing with me?" Haley asked proudly.
"Tree climbing? I haven't done that in a very long time. I think I was a much younger kit the last time I ever climbed a tree." Yomi tried to recall from when she was much younger.
As the two of them were speaking Lady Odayakana came walking by with Ikuro at her side.
"I'll be fine now Ikuro, I'm meeting with Lady Ume not too long from now. Hello Haley, nice to see you again, who's this?" Lady Odayakana asked looking over at Yomi.
"Oh, this is my aunt Yomi, she was.....away for a while before returning home just recently. Aunt Yomi, this is a friend of mine, Lady Odayakana and my boyfriend, Ikuro." Haley explained not wanting to go into full detail about Yomi's situation.
"It's an honor to meet another daughter of Lord Tatsu and Lady Shizen, good day to you Lady Yomi, I am Lady Odayakana." Odayakana said bowing towards Yomi as did Ikuro.
"Pleased to meet you as well, it's an honor." Yomi replied as there was now a little silence between them all.
"Well, I should be going then. It was nice meeting you." Lady Odayakana said politely nodding and walking away.
"So what are you up to today Haley? Something relaxing, or something a little bit reckless?" Ikuro asked.
"Oh, you know me too well by now. It's actually something that's recklessly relaxing." Haley replied just as her mothers were walking by and Mika's ears perked up when she heard her daughter say the word 'reckless'.
"Haley, what are you about to do that's so reckless?" Mika asked putting her hands on her hips looking at her daughter.
"Nothing bad mommy, I just thought aunt Yomi and I could go tree climbing for a fun little aunt-niece activity." Haley said putting her arm around Yomi's shoulder with a gleeful smile. Yomi had a cautious smile on her face as she saw Mika's eyes widened at the activity Haley suggested.
"Something wrong Mika? Is she not a good climber or something like that?" Yomi asked.
"Oh no, she's an excellent climber, it's just....sometimes my girl has been.....too good a climber." Claudia replied as the two gave some examples from when Haley was younger.
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Mika was sitting in their living room at home reading a book when she suddenly heard some noise behind her and turned around to see her 7-year old daughter, Haley climbing to the top of their bookshelf.
"Haley Harris, you get down from there right now." Mika demanded stomping her feet.
"But mommy, I was being really careful." Little Haley retorted as Mika glared at her daughter who sighed as she climbed back down.
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Mika was sitting in the park with Claudia, a 11 year-old Kari, a 9 year-old Haley and Aaron, and a 4 year-old Mason. The family had gotten ice cream for a hot summer day at the park. Mason had just been given his ice cream by Mika when he began giggling.
"What's so funny Mason?" Mika sweetly asked her little boy.
"Hawey being funny, Hawey being funny." Little Mason giggled pointing behind Mika as the family looked to see Haley had climbed up onto a high tree branch at the park and was making faces at her little brother.
"Haley!" Mika and Claudia both shouted as they rushed over to the tree to get their daughter down.
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Mika was inside the house one day and all seemed quiet as she lay down on the couch for a nap. Aaron was at the Moreland house, while Kari was hanging out with some friends of hers. So it was just Haley and Mason home, and they were outside playing together.
"Mommy! Haley needs help." A 7 year-old Mason called to his mother from the backyard.
Mika sighed as she got up while Claudia was busy on her computer.
"Alright, Mason, where's your sister?" Mika sighed looking at her son as Mason pointed up.
Mika was confused and slowly turned around to see a ladder on the ground and then looked up to see her 12 year-old daughter sitting on the roof of their house.
"Hi mommy, look how high up I am!" Haley said enthusiastically.
Mika's mouth was agape looking up at the roof in shock and fear.
".......CLAUDIA!!!!" Mika shouted for her wife as she rushed out immediately to see the problem and get their wild daughter down from the roof.
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"I was still careful all of those days mommy." Haley said brushing off those incidents.
"Okay, but before you go remember to take a helmet, gloves, a rope, knee-pads, shoulder-pads, and maybe....." Mika looked over at Ikuro before whispering. ".....bring a cup."
"Mother!" Haley bemoaned while blushing red as Ikuro also blushed having heard Mika.
"Honey, she'll be alright without too much gear on her." Claudia said reassuring her wife with a hand on her shoulder.
Mika didn't want to disagree with Claudia, but knew she was going a little overboard. Mika then looked over at Ikuro and came up with a solution.
"Alright, you can wear just a helmet, and Ikuro goes with you for safety." Mika suggested as Haley nodded at that idea.
"Good, now, have fun sweetie. Show your aunt Yomi a fun time." Mika said kissing her daughter on the cheek as Claudia patted Haley on the shoulder.
Yomi, Haley, and Ikuro soon all made their way out of the palace and into a forested area near the palace where the trees seemed to grow together as one big tree and there were branches that stretched out far in each one of them that they passed by.
Yomi stretched her arms out and took in a deep inhale of the air around them.
"Ah, the castle may have changed on the inside, but the air around me and the wind are still as comforting as they were when I was young." Yomi said with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, this is a really nice place. Grandma and grandpa sometimes used to take us all out for a picnic here when we were younger." Haley recalled.
"Oh yes, I would do that too with mother. We would come out here and sit out under a nice shade of trees on a cool spring day." Yomi remembered as they walked on.
Yomi noticed Haley holding onto Ikuro's arm as the three of them walked on and gave a little smile seeing that.
"So Haley, how long have you and Ikuro been engaged for?" Yomi asked.
Haley and Ikuro both blushed and chuckled with Haley rubbing the back of her neck in slight embarrassment.
"Uh....well aunt Yomi, we're actually just....just dating right now. But Ikuro has certainly been one dependable boyfriend. My moms like him and so do my siblings." Haley said.
"That's good to hear. What about you Ikuro, does your family approve of Haley?" Yomi asked the kitsune.
"I would hope so. My mother has been long gone, and my father.....passed some time ago in a civil war that has thankfully ended. But I think they would have approved of Haley Harris." Ikuro complimented.
"Ah, thanks." Haley thanked as she kissed Ikuro on the cheek.
Yomi found the situation sweet, but now looked ahead as they saw one of the largest trees in the forest that seemed to have endless branches stretching out from it. Haley and Ikuro were in great amazement at this.
"Ah, there it is. Many things have changed, but I knew this would have remained the same. Haley this is Ōsugi, it's the largest tree I know of here in the kitsune realm and the one I have many memories of. I came here on my good days, my bad days, and all the days in-between. Now come on, I want to show you the top, there's something really special I want to show you." Yomi said as she now headed towards the lowest branch and began to climb up.
"Wait for me aunt Yomi!" Haley excitedly shouted as she almost ran off, but was stopped short by Ikuro.
"Hey, come on, don't you want to run up there with her too?" Haley asked.
"I do, but I wouldn't be a good boyfriend if I didn't keep to your mother's promise that you wear a helmet." Ikuro said handing the helmet over to Haley.
"I should be a little mad that you're sticking to my mother's rule, but....I'm not." Haley said as she put her helmet on and gave Ikuro a kiss on the lips as a thank you.
"Wait up for us aunt Yomi!" Haley now called as she and Ikuro scaled the large branches following Yomi up the gigantic tree.
At one point Haley looked down to see how far the ground was and almost got a little dizzy seeing the ground so far from her. Haley shook off the dizzy feeling after a moment, Ikuro briefly checking to see if she were okay before they finally caught up with Yomi who was at the top of the highest branch.
"Alright, so what's so special here aunt Yomi?" Haley asked sitting next to her aunt as Yomi motioned her hand towards the direction opposite the castle.
Haley looked to see the beautiful kitsune country landscape where there were very few houses visible and nature seemed to rule in its own little section of the realm. Haley couldn't help but think the sight looked amazing.
"This was definitely worth the climb." Haley said nodding as Ikuro nodded in agreement.
"I would sometimes take Kiko, Takeo, or Chisai up here sometimes to make them feel better and they always felt better after they saw the true beauty of our home. My sister Hikari would also come, although she wasn't a fan of heights." Yomi described as Haley saw the land.
"Huh, sounds like Kari."
Yomi looked over at Haley and Ikuro and smirked.
"You know, this would also be a good spot to.....make a proposal to a beautiful young woman." Yomi said with a little chuckle.
"Aunt Yomi!" Haley said in embarrassment as she and Yomi shared in a little laugh before catching their breath.
The three of them stared out at the landscape and couldn't seem to take their eyes off of it.
"Did you want to do anything else right now Haley?" Yomi asked.
"Not really, this feels perfect." Haley said with a smile on her face sitting atop the branch.