All In All

Kirito blushed a bit himself at Junko's words, but smiled and held out his hand to Junko. "I'm Kirito Hama, it's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I just transferred to the school, and we literally bumped into each other." He looked toward Samara, raising a brow, but didn't seem bothered in the slightest by the apparently animated doll. Samara seemed to want to rush to Naoki's side, but was clearly unsure whether it was safe to go near Kirito. He simply smiled at her, and she moved closer.

"Um... I'm Samara... nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. Naoki told me about you already. Don't worry, I don't think you're strange. My adopted daughter is an AI, her name is Yui. I'll need to introduce her to all of you when I get a chance. She's kind of stuck in the computer right now. Working on getting her a body, but until then..." He shrugged.

Junko was pleased at that, Kirito didn't seem the judgmental type, otherwise she would of had to kick him out of if he had been antagonistic towards Samara. The other words caught her off guard. Adopted daughter? Kirito couldn't be that much older then her little Naoki. "You have a adopted daughter? That's a lot of responsbility for someone so young, and a AI at that. Funny how we haven't gotten that done, yet we have Realm Travel down to a exact science where more advanced places don't." She shrugged at that, going to the kitchen to dig into the fridge.

In the mean time, Naoki motioned for Samara to come closer so she could hug her little sister. Samara was her little sister, in Naoki's mind which meant she had to look after both her siblings. "I'm glad you don't have a problem with Samara Kirito, some others are unsure or even scared of her."

"Are you hungry Kirito?" Junko called straightening out the fridge for the groceries.

Kirito smiled. "I'd be a hypocrite if I did. And I'm fine, ma'am. And yes ma'am, thank you. As for Yui... well, I had to take a lot of responsibility on real fast. Yui was just one more thing, but I wouldn't have it any other way, honestly. Besides that, she's incredibly smart, so she can handle herself fairly well."

"Please, just call me Junko. Ma'am makes me feel like a old maid." Junko was getting a few things out of the fridge to prepare for Kirito and Naoki as far as something to eat went.

Naoki went to the couch that was nearby the kitchen due to the living room being where you could walk through. She had gently picked up her little brother. "What have you been doing?" Tatsuya just made inaudible sound, reaching for Naoki's hair which made her giggle. "I guess you're still the same."

She turned to Kirito. "I want to intoduce you to the rest of my friends, but seems like they were mostly out today. Then again, two of them did find out family they were looking for is in the same town so that probably has to do with it."

Kirito smiled. "Well, that does sound kind of important."

~~~~~

Apprehension. That was the word of the day, really. Mami and Kyouko stood, holding hands, behind their parents. Kyouko looked decidedly uncomfortable and nervous, and Mami just gave her hand a squeeze, as their father, Alexander, knocked on the door. He kept a hand on his wife, Synia's shoulder, to keep her from just jumping on the poor boy. He had to remind her often; he likely didn't recognize him, and there was no telling if he even wanted to see them. Being separated from him was not their choice, but Adell didn't know that.

Before too long, the door opened revealing a rather pretty young woman who looked at the group confused at first then blinked. It was Monica.. "You must be Adell's family. Emanulle told me about what happened yesterday. My name is Monica Kenzy I'm a friend of his..anyway."

She stepped aside. "Please come in. Adell was told you'd be coming sooner or later so it won't come to a surprise to him. Can I get your names?"

Synia was clearly anxious, but Alexander cleared his throat. "Ah, well, I'm Alexander Telford, and this is my wife, Synia. These are youngest daughter Kyouko, and her older sister Mami... though both would be Adell's younger sisters... h-"

"How is he? Did he... does he actually want to see us, or is he...?" Synia was terrified that her son would want nothing to do with her. She couldn't blame him if he didn't, but still...

Monica shook her head. "He was against it at first, actually. But then I pointed out it wasn't fair or smart to judge before getting to know the why and he agreed. Adell is my family too, I want to see him happy. Be right back, I'll get him."

She left the room, and about a minute or so later Adell came back with Monica. "..So you're my family?"

Synia was again restrained as she tried to rush to hug Adell, eyes watering. "Synia, stop... give him space..." Alexander took a deep breath. "Adell... we are your biological family, yes. Whether or not you actually regard us as your family is up to you. I don't know what kind of life you've led, or what sort of hardships you might have been through. We have no right to simply walk into your life and expect you to accept us. All I... we, ask, is that you give us a chance to explain everything. But more than that, no matter what you think of Synia and myself, don't hold it against your sisters. If that is okay with you, Adell, can we sit and talk?"

Mami and Kyouko were still holding back, Kyouko chewing her lip and Mami trying to comfort her and remain strong herself.

That actually made Adell feel bad, he didn't want to come off as the bad guy or anything. "Um, that's fine. I just want to hear your side of things before anything. And I wouldn't hold things against people for something they can't help."

Alexander sighed, smiling. "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that. So, we should sit, we have a lot to talk about. First though... I'm Alexander Telford, and this is Synia. She's usually a bit calmer than this, but I'm having to restrain her from hugging you to death... and this..." He turned, ushering Kyouko and Mami forward. "These are your sisters, Kyouko and Mami. Mami is adopted, but that doesn't really matter at all." Mami pulled Kyouko forward, and released her just long enough to pull Adell into a hug.

"I've really wanted to meet you, Adell... and please, give mom and dad a chance. They didn't abandon you, you'll see once you talk to them... Kyouko, come on." Kyouko stepped forward, glancing off to the side.

"...Hey, Adell..." She was clearly nervous.

Adell scratched the back of his head. "..Hey. Just relax, I'm kind of nervous too. I really don't know what to say either." He motioned for them to come in the living room so they could sit and talk, he found a seat and sat down.

Once everyone was seated, Alexander launched into explanation. "Adell... there isn't a lot of detail to go into. The best way to sum everything up... is that we failed. We set out to do something important, for your sake and the sake of others. In that respect we succeeded, but we failed to return to you. And for that, we can never forgive ourselves..." Here, Synia finally spoke up.

"We, along with several others, set out to deal with a being known as Overlord Baal. I'm sure you've heard of him, and how he was so strong that we couldn't kill him, only seal him. That's how we 'succeeded'. In the process, though, a lot of things went wrong. Some people died, and some ended up trapped in other worlds and realms. That's what happened to Alex and I. We ended up here, in this world. We didn't even realize until later that I was pregnant at the time, and Kyouko was born shortly after. We met Mami about six years ago, and adopted her shortly after. We spent time trying to find a way back, and when that proved to be impossible..." She seemed to struggle with that thought; that she would have never seen him again. Alex squeezed her shoulder, and continued for her.

"When we heard about all the incoming refugees... we knew it was foolish to hope that you would be among them, let alone that we'd be able to find you, but we had to try. When Mami told us what that man Emanulle had said..."

"Adell... I know it seemed like we abandoned you, but I swear, not one day has gone by that I haven't wished deeply just to be able to see you one more time... I know it's probably too late for you to ever see me as your mother, but you will always, always be my son... and I will never leave you again, if you'll please just give me that chance..." Synia seemed on the verge of breaking down. Her son, who she hadn't seen in fourteen years, who she hadn't even known if he'd been alive, was sitting right in front of her.

Adell was silent once the exchange finished. So now he knew why they had been gone and unable to take care of him. Knowing that, Adell really couldn't in good concious find fault in that, if he was in the same shoes he would have done the same since he wouldn't bring any children in on a dangerous life and death fight.

After another moment of nothing, Adell without a word gave his mother a hug. "My other mom raised me not to hold a grudge unless there's a reason too."

Synia couldn't take it. The instant Adell did that, she was hugging him tightly with all her might, sobbing into his shoulder. Alex came over as well, and it wasn't long before Kyouko and Mami rushed over. Adell's acceptance was the one thing they had really, truly needed.

Monica smiled softly at the scene but said nothing, she didn't have anything to say. She was really just here to support and be there for Adell, so she was glad things were turning out okay.

Finally, Adell pulled away. "We'll, to be fair I guess I should talk a bit about how we ended up here in the first place if you're ready to hear. It's long though."

Alex smiled. "I was just going to ask. We really wanted to know what kind of life you had."

Adell nodded a bit, sighing. "Okay. I'll start off with the beginning. For the most part for a time I had a pretty normal child hood, my adopted mother Samantha raised me the best she could by herself. I didn't even know what I was for the longest time. Monica is a half-Arkon but she was sealed away because..we'll Perene isn't the most friendly place never mind earth. The hunters and everything are out of control, but you guys probably know that already."

"One day, around the time Monica's seal began to break a Mystic by the name of Trisha came, and attacked Monica trying to hurt or kill her just get the the attention of another Mystic and draw him out. I was there but I was so useless. I couldn't even touch her. The only reason Monica is okay is because the other Mystic stepped in." He clinched his fist frustrated, while Monica went over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Calming down, he continued. "They vanished without a trace after that. Monica was attacked by Cedrick..and almost died. They left her for dead but Monica pulled through, and that's when she decided she was going to do something. Because of the shape that world was in, and people like Cedrick around she wanted to do her part, however small to make it better for people like her. So she began traveling, I went with her."

"On our trip we encounter ninja, the Chakra kind. They were part of a terrorist group named Atasuki I think it was..whatever don't care. Anyway the ring leader was named Rikimaru and one of their heavy hitters was named Shino. See..they had a plan. They were going to make a demonic tailed beast they could control..by gathering as many half-demons as they could. They would drain their powers, killing them and combine that energy into something. The ages were all over the place, some were as young as five or lower." Adell grimaced. "Even Monica's little brother who's only a year old was a potential target."

"Suffice to say..we failed. Hard. We didn't even beat any of the grunts and they managed not only to complete their goals but get away with it. They vanished and we never saw them for a while. Cedrick did die by Rikimaru, at least for a bit."

"Later on, a 'alternate' version of Cedrick came from another dimension named Anita. This one was raised better. At least we thought. As we got to know her though, it turned out she was untstable in her own way as well. One of the things she did was have Cedrick's spirit possessesed her, which caused her to kill a man. We didn't know that until later, just the spirit thing. Anita refused to get it fixed at a church because she didn't trust it."

Adell sighed. "A bit later, me, Monica, Ignis and a friend of ours raided this place called Tynol that was experimenting on people. We caught up to Anita, who nearly blew us up after saying to give up our life style.."

Then he explained more. About Jason and how he ended trying to talk them into meeting Anita again, Nestor and now here.

"..And here we are. Been here for a short while..I think two or three months? Give or take. I've been trying to get stronger since I came here. Odd thing is, I've been stronger then I've ever been even before training more when I came here. It was almost like something back there was holding me back. That's about it." Adell shifted uncomfortably after.

They were silent for a long time, but Synia drew Adell into a tighter hug. "You've been through so much... I wish I could have been there for you... you're right about something holding you back though. We noticed it too. When we arrived in this place, we were so much stronger than we'd ever been before..."

"And we've learned a great deal about the differences between this Multiverse, and Perene. Things are not perfect here, but they are far better. People can't just get away with things like that.. and I think you'll be happy to know that people like Cedrick are being hunted down by Nobus and other organizations, to the point where they have to stay in hiding."

Adell nodded slowly a bit to that. "..I see. What exactly is Nobus anyway? I've heard of it but not really sure what exactly they are."

"Afternoon. I take it you're Adell's family."

The voice came from a young man in his twenties, silver hair, and red eyes. They had a young look to them but something about the eyes made them seem far older. "My name is Mewtwo."

Monica looked at him sidways. "..Since when do you give your real name that easily in that form to people you don't know."

They shrugged. "Adell trust them enough to let them in at this point."

The Telfords introduced themselves, not seeming bothered at all by Mewtwo being a Pokemon; they treated him like any other person. After, Alex began explaining Nobus as best he could.

While everyone was talking and interacting Yulina had woken up and was sort of staying in the background unnoticed as she showed up a short time ago. For once she felt a bit timid and unsure, her big brother had his family here and sister. It didn't mean Adell was going to stop loving her, it was just more Yulina not sure of her new place with their family together, espeically her big brothers sisters.



Monica saw Yulina to the side and went over, gently pushing the suddenly shy girl forward. She was in front of Mami and Kyouko. "This is Yulina, she's normally not the shy type but she is right now."

"..Hi.."

*  *

 Emanulle had decided to take his time heading back since he had promised Michru to spend the day with her which meant going to places like the park and the like. Unfortunately, Michru was still painfully quite and shy and didn't like crowds. She was okay if someone she knew and trusted nearby but she hated being left to herself. He and others were trying to coax her out of this but it was a slow process. Still, she was better then before.

The fact she was mute hindered things a bit, but not too much. Michru was very intelligent and usually could express what she was trying to say through a mixture of body langauge and action. Sign language would be something for her to learn in the mean time that would help her in other areas of her life as well. It was a good thing Eldarians picked up things quickly, add the fact between their toddler years before they hit their pre-teens children absorbed information the most rapidly then any other stage of their life otherwise.

Currently, they were on a park bench. Emanulle having tried and failed to get her doing it a bit by herself with him watching her. "You sure you don't want to play with any of the children in the park?"

Michru shook her head.

"We'll, I can't force you but I think you would like meeting some friends your age." Michru said nothing, she couldn't away but she didn't give a non verbal cue of some sort like normal. Instead her gaze on a particular couple, man, woman and a child her age. For some reason she seemed sad but Emanulle caught it.

"You miss them don't you?" Michru just slowly nodded.

Emanulle sighed a bit."My parents aren't around either anymore. But, even though I still miss them I can remember the good times. I know its not the same as them exactly being there, and things are different now. But you have a family now. Me, and even Monica and everyone else now. We'll be here for when you need it, okay?"

Michru didn't move, at first. Then she inched closer to Emanulle and rested against him.

Mami and Kyouko seemed surprised, then Mami smiled. "Hello, Yulina. I'm Mami, it's nice to meet you."

"Uh... I'm Kyouko."

~~~~~

Emanulle and Michru hadn't been there long, when a cat Emanulle would recognize walked past. It looked directly at him with a rather piercing gaze, before walking off toward a more secluded area, looking back at him over it's shoulder briefly.

Yulina paused, then smiled shyly. "Do you want to be friends?"

Adell did have something to say, but he'd let them talk for now. He turned to his parents. "So..I think its only fair. Since I talked a bit about myself, what exactly have you guys been doing all these years. I want to get to know you guys."

* *

Emanulle noticed the cat, but wasn't sure what to make of them. His hunch told him the cat was intelligent but he had no definite proof. It wouldn't be the first time he had ran into a intelligent animal if that really what they were, or just a shape shifted.

Michru liked cats. Animals in general really. She almost went to go follow but then lost her a bit nerve when the cat went further away. This lasted for a moment before she hopped down to go follow.

"Michru don't run off." Emanulle had to get up from his seat, to get her. Sweet as she was, Michru could be a stubborn thing if she made up her mind on something.

Synia smiled. "There isn't much to tell, honestly... we've kept to ourselves, aside from gathering information. Lived fairly uninteresting lives. I can probably think of a few little stories here and there though... let's see..."

While Synia and Alex started telling Adell what they could, Mami simply hugged Yulina. "More than friends, Yulina. If you're Adell's sister, that means you are our sister too." Kyouko just nodded, grinning a bit. It was nice, having even more family than before.

~~~~~

The cat seemed to be leading them away from other people, to an out of the way place, before finally stopping. It turned to face them, watching them.