A warm sensation grazed through the threads of my hair, a cold yet peaceful wind passes by, bumping into the weak skin of mine as a beautiful melody of peace echoed around me. I laid on a soft and mysterious object that brought security, an object that was filled with the warmth of a person.

I was confused over what the object was, opening my right eye as a beautiful brown-haired woman’s face came to sight. The woman wore a blue kimono, her eyes were crystal blue as she whistled down a melody with a voice that was comparable to a piano.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star… How I wonder what you are,” she sang while combing my hair as the beautiful sunset suddenly turned into the night, a starry sky with a single large moon.

“Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky…” she continued once more, reaching her hand up towards the sky as fireflies and butterflies appeared out of nowhere, filling up the fields with a beautiful river of light.

Her voice was calming to the mind, almost like an orchestra but of one person; a lullaby for a child or a song meant to keep tranquility over the place.

The lady suddenly looked at me as she smiled while singing in a beautiful tone, “Till the sun is in the sky, as your bright and tiny spark lights the traveler in the dark, though I know not what you are, twinkle, twinkle, little star…”

An orchestra of emotions struck my heart upon the sight of the lady, her milk-white skin and tiny nose, her beautiful unique eyes, and her hairstyle. A tear fell from my right eye as nostalgia and longing filled my heart, a suffocating sensation as the lady looked at me, closing her eyes as she smiled even more.

“It has been a long time, my cute daughter…”

Tears fell from my eyes non-stop as the two of us stared at each other, the temptation to hug her as tight as I could overwhelm my body as she kissed my forehead with a bright smile as I looked at her dead into the eye before calling to her with a hoarse voice.

“Mom…”

She continued combing my hair, turning her attention towards the skies as her eyes turned moist. Her mouth moved several times as if she were enduring, forcing herself to not cry. It felt heavy to my chest, the person who once held me in her arms, carried me towards the world of happiness even with her weak body… was before me.

The person who hugged me even on her last breath, someone who never gave up amidst the cruel world… she was here before me, the person who I wished to see once more.

“How have you been, Ayumi?” she rubbed her eyes several times before looking at me as I hugged her waist tightly, snuggling onto her as she patted my back with her soft hand.

“Mom… why did you leave?! I missed you so much… I suffered alone… why did you leave me alone…?” I cried, tightening my hug as her breath touched my ears. Her heartbeat could be heard from miles away as she swallowed her saliva.

I looked at her who kept looking at the stars before a single tear fell from her eye as she looked at me with a wry smile, one that showed suffering and endurance. Her mouth slowly opened as a weak, yet calm voice entered my ear.

“Mom didn’t want to leave at all… Mom wanted to spend more time with you, my cute daughter but the laws of the world didn’t answer my wishes,” she said before turning back towards the skies as she continued.

“You know, I always watched over you… from the time when you left school to the time when you made headlines as someone successful… I always watched over you in this tiny world of mine, staring at my daughter who proved to the world… who showed the world that she was someone strong.”

“I’ve looked at you as she found someone to love, found someone to care for and to live for… from how you met that beautiful child to how you arrived here, I’ve always been watching… praying and enduring over how I wish to come down and stand beside you…” she said, looking at me as she smiled.

An indescribable feeling rose inside me as the two of us stared at each other, someone who I admired and looked up to the most was always beside me from the start… even if it was not physically, I felt happy… proud and all other kinds of emotions.

“Mom, did I do right…?” I asked before she nodded.

“You did well alone, my proud child…. You were able to grow even without me, succeed and find happiness… I felt super proud despite only looking from afar, the child I looked after with my remaining lifespan grew to someone who could be relied on…” her eyes softened as her voice turned into that of a proud parent.

All of a sudden, two sudden hands pinched both my cheeks as she looked at me with a gigantic pout on her cheeks, “But… I am still not happy, to be exact, I am not happy over how you relied too much on your system!”

“Ouchhh— I didn’t rel—”

“What do you mean? I have watched you for a long time now and have always seen you rely too much on that system of yours… do you want to grow as someone who can protect their loved ones or someone who will always be protected?!” she scolded with an angry voice before resting me on the floor as she stood up with a bright pout on her cheeks.

“I don’t want my only daughter to bring embarrassment to the family, therefore, this mother of yours shall teach you from the ground up over how to become someone reliable even without any third-party assistance!” she said with pride.

“But… can you even fight?” I asked before out of the blue the tree behind me fell down as a single wooden dagger could be seen on her hand, shivers ran up to my spine as she looked at me with her lips curved upwards.

“You aren’t the only person who was reincarnated, my cute little daughter… this mother of yours was reincarnated decades before but was sealed away in this tiny dimension here,” she answered, puffing up her tiny chest.

“I will teach you how to become someone who can protect and not just be protected, someone who could fight to save her loved ones, to protect her loved ones and bring security to them… someone who could fight with raw strength, knowledge, and ability!” her voice echoed before fragments of the hellish training from Aurora relapsed into me, causing the sweat on my forehead to evaporate.