It had been about an hour since I woke up with memories of my past life. I wasn’t sure how to describe it - had I become Maria Campbell? Or had Miss Campbell become Maria Danville? Perhaps it was more of a blend? In the end, the only thing I knew for sure was that I was still Maria. And being Maria meant falling for Katarina, at least in my mind. As such, I’d wanted to prepare immediately for my future meeting with the duke’s daughter. It was with that thought in mind that I had sprung from the bed… only to promptly fall to the floor, and skin my knee upon the concrete.

Of course, it would have been strange for a five year old not to cry out after skinning her knee… I didn’t want to cause suspicion, which is why I immediately started to outright bawl, hands clutching at my leg as I rolled upon on the floor. It was definitely just me trying to act like a five year old, okay? It’s not like I’m actually a crybaby. Though, really, even with extra memories, I still had the underdeveloped brain of a five year old… Crying over a skinned knee wouldn’t be at all unusual, I don’t think.

The thing is, once I started crying, I couldn’t seem to stop. My mother and father knelt down beside me with worried looks on their faces. Mother in particular opened her arms for me, but I made no move to go to her. I just laid there, crying, until she took the initiative to scoop me into her lap.

Then Father looked at my knee, with a faint smile on his face, and said “It’s only a scratch. Would you like your mommy to kiss it better?”

Mother barely waited for my nod, lowering her mouth to place a quick peck upon my knee. As she did so, a soothing feeling came over me, and I found myself smiling a little as the tears stopped. Embarrassment? What’s that? Five year olds are allowed little things like this.

“Thank you, Mother,” I whispered, softly, aiming a small smile at my parents. For some reason, however, my mother’s mouth opened in a little “o” of surprise, and even Father looked taken aback. I wasn’t sure what had caused it, until Mother finally spoke.

“Mother?” she asked. “Since when did my daughter become so formal?” there was a teasing tone to her voice, but I could see the worry in her eyes. Come to think of it, my memories of this world were all of calling Mother mommy…

...No way I could do that, huh? Even if I said that I was five, I was still a teenager on the inside. There was no way I could put up with something so embarrassing as calling my mother mommy! But insisting on calling her mother would only create suspicion… In that case, would “mom” do? I decided to give it a try. 

“Five is too old for mommy!” I declared, puffing out my cheeks and doing my best to look grown up. “I’m going to call you Mom from now on!”

“...Is that so?” Mother’s eyes still held a faint glimmer of wariness as she looked me over, but after a moment it faded and a small smile came over her face. She probably thought that it was just me acting out. Nothing to worry about. I hoped.

“I’m still Daddy, though, right Maria?” That came from Father, of course. His brow was creased with worry as he looked at me. Was he worried about losing his precious place in his daughter’s heart…? If I rejected him, would it serve to speed us along the route where he left Mother and me behind, thinking of us as some made up noble’s problem? There was no way I could risk that…

Thus, after only a moment’s thought, I resigned myself to being a Daddy’s girl; at least for the time being. “Daddy is daddy! Mom is mom! As long as we’re a family, that’s how it’ll be!” 

Father looked immediately relieved, and even Mother cracked a small smile. She probably just thought I was a child, trying to act grown up. If only she knew the truth…

“Mom. Daddy. Can I go out and play?” I looked up between them with my most innocent expression. One where I bit my lip ever so slightly, while opening my eyes as wide as they could go. I was sure no one could resist the pure innocence of this look, but for some reason my parents looked hesitant.

“Maria, dear…” Mother whispered at last. “Are you sure you want to be out by yourself? You did just wake up from a fever…”

My father nodded. “You should rest for a day or two. Take it easy for a bit.”

That was not at all what I wanted to hear!. If my parents were keeping a constant eye on me, they’d surely notice changes in my behavior. If they realized I wasn’t the little girl they knew, would they stop caring for me? I didn’t think I could survive if they abandoned me. Even with sixteen plus five years of memories and powerful light magic, I was still in the body of a five year old… More than that, the idea of my parents discarding me was somewhat painful to consider.

It was at this moment that a knock came at our front door. Mother and Father exchanged glances, obviously curious who it was, but it was only Father who rose to investigate.

The moment he left the room, my mother’s arms slipped their way around my waist and pulled me into a hug. Embraced by her, I felt safe and comfortable. At ease. As a result, I almost missed seeing the concerned expression on her face. Mother must have been pretty worried about me, huh? First my fall, then my fever. And then the formal way I spoke to her, right after… It was no wonder she was looking at me with worry. I met her look with a smile, trying to put her heart at ease. “I’m fine, Mom. Promise.”

“I’m glad…” Mother whispered back, squeezing even tighter for a moment, before releasing me altogether. “I don’t know what your daddy and I would do if we lost you.”

“You won’t lose me,” I promised her. At the same time, I made a promise to the five year old Maria who had become a part of me: that I would protect her parents’ happiness, and cherish the love for her that I had inherited. At the same time, I renewed my determination to protect my parents’ marriage. There was no way I could let such cute and loving parents split over a misunderstanding!

“-ria?”

I blinked, pulled from my thoughts by my father’s voice. He was standing over me with a patient look in his eyes. I wondered if he’d been back long? “Maria,” he repeated. “Are you with us?”

“Sorry, Daddy. I’m here.” I gave him a happy smile to make up for the fact that I’d been ignoring him, and the look he gave back was full of kindness and understanding. A five year old wasn’t expected to have a long attention span, in the end.

“Maria,” he repeated. “You have a visitor.”

“A visitor?” I tilted my head in confusion. From my memories of the books, Maria lived a fairly isolated life, with no real friendships. Of course, that was largely a result of her light magic triggering, so perhaps that wasn’t the case yet… But even my memories of this world didn’t contain any real friends... I had a few playmates, of course, but such outings were always prepared by our respective parents. I wasn’t particularly close with any of the other children, and I’d certainly never had anyone visit the house just for me.

Rather than answering me, my father made a gesture for me to come forward, and I slipped out of my mother’s lap and onto my feet. My gait was a little shaky as I took my first real steps as an awoken Maria, but once my muscle memory took over I was able to make it to my father’s side without incident. 

Standing in the main room of the house, fidgeting faintly in front of our front door, was a girl. She had soft brown hair, cut at the nape of herneck, and bright green eyes that darted all about, before finally focusing on me. Our eyes met only for a moment, but in that moment her pretty face shifted from nervous to sullen. She obviously didn’t want to be here. “...Sorry.”

“Sorry..?” I asked, confusion painted across my face. I wasn’t sure what the girl was apologizing for, so I prompted her for more information. This only seemed to make her more sullen, however, and her eyes darkened with anger as she focused her harsh green gaze upon me.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “For kicking you. You just startled me, is all. With your magic.”

Ah. So this was the playmate I healed? If I remembered correctly, her name was Rachel. I thought she was perhaps a year older than me, and we’d been paired up once or twice before the incident. Although i wouldn’t call us friends, I’d never had trouble with her before. In that case, was her ire simply the result of having to apologize to me? Perhaps it would be best to simply forgive her and end this entire matter. That’s what the old Maria would have done. I, however, had a better idea.

“If you’re really sorry, you should make it up to me.”

Rachel's mouth opened slightly in surprise, and then her jaw clamped down in anger. “Why should I have to make it up to you!?” she demanded, glaring at me. “You’re the one who used magic on me without asking…”

“That was an accident,” I answered promptly. “I couldn’t have known I had light magic, right? And all I did was heal you, anyway. I, on the other hand, was in bed for three days! With a fever! My parents called a doctor and everything.” I sighed, dramatically, and let my eyes fall to the floor. It was important that I drove home the suffering I had experienced because of this kick. Not that I actually minded it; if anything, I was grateful for the chance to recover my memories of a past life.

Still. She had kicked me. Hard. Even if I wasn’t particularly bothered by it, I couldn’t help but think she should be. So why was she looking at me with such anger in her eyes? With her jaw set, it didn’t look like she wanted to give me anything at all. Still! I had to push onward. If I let this chance slip by, there was no telling when the next would come.

With that thought at the forefront of my mind, I gave her a bright smile and tried to harden my own gaze. “You’ll listen to me, won’t you? I promise not to ask much!”

The girl continued to glare at me, for several moments. I glared back, in kind, confident in my victory here. Even if she saw me as a five year old, I had the superior mental fortitude of a teen! The moment she allowed it to become a staring contest, I had already won! 

Eventually, she looked away, and let her shoulders slump in resignation. “What do you want?”

“I want you to take me outside.” I glanced back at my parents, who were standing behind me. “That’s fine, right? If I have someone watching me, I can go outside. Right?” I gave them a bright smile. They in turn looked at me in shock, as if I had grown a second head. ...Come to think of it, the original Maria Campbell had never really pushed like this for anything, had she? She was much more of a people-pleaser than me, and would work hard for those around her without asking for anything herself.

Well. Screw that. There was something in this life that I wanted, and I was willing to be a little pushy if it meant getting it. I’d still work hard to make those around me happy, so I hoped it could be forgiven.

In any case, my parents recovered after a moment, and gave a reluctant nod of assent. I then turned to face my six year old nemesis with a smug smile that declared my victory. “Well?” I asked. “You’re the one who injured me, so the least you can do is keep an eye on me while I go outside. I haven’t been out in three days, you know…”

Rachel nodded, albeit reluctantly, and I had to fight the urge to make a small fistpump of victory. I was the older person here, deep down, so it wouldn’t hurt me to show a little consideration for the defeated party. It wasn’t like I actually intended to drag her about, in any case. I just needed her to get my parent’s agreement so I could get out the door. And maybe a little bit of guidance on where to go, after.

“Come on, then! You can show me the best place for climbing trees!”