After showering and putting on the clothing Elizabeth laid out for her, Martha took a moment to take in a deep breath and slowly exhaled as she relaxed her shoulders. Her eyes scanned her room for a moment before landing on her plant. It had been a while since she had given it some water, so she gave her small cactus a drink. She loved her spiky little friend. It was simple and easy to manage. When she and Elizabeth would go on missions, she didn't have to worry about it dying on her. It was simply the best responsibility she had.
Martha let out a relaxed breath as she was happy to be back home. Her attention then moved towards her window. Since she had been gone for a while, the sweet air-scented fragrance that gave her room its pleasant smell had gone out and caused her room to develop an odor. So, she decided to open a window to allow her room to breathe until she got another fragrance in.
When Martha's eyes met with the yard, she paused for a moment taking in the view. She saw the massive yards of grass that stayed low to the ground until it slowly touched the tree line of their perimeter. She remembered the days of training with Elizabeth and Amay. The hard work, pain, and struggle she went through to become the person she was now. Even after Amay, when it was just her mother and her, a lot had happened in this field. While the tides had turned and she became a sister and somewhat like a teacher, she did long for those days again.
"Martha," Elizabeth's calming voice reached out to her daughter and broke her trance.
Her mother's voice caused her to double blink as she realized she was still staring out of the window at nothing. She turned her head towards the door as to make sure she did hear her mother's voice. Martha got up without saying a word and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. She entered the kitchen to see Elizabeth cutting lemons in a light pink nightgown with fuzzy rabbit slippers on her feet. Her mother's hair was a mess, and she didn't even have make-up on. Even changing to her gray form. Martha assumed she finally made herself comfortable since her son and Amay were finally out of the house.
"How did it go, sweetie?" Elizabeth asked while cutting a lemon in half. She looked back at Martha with a smile as her daughter was in the sunflower printed dress she got her. "I hope the dress isn't too big or small. I know how you don't like to wear none solid colors, but I saw this dress and immediately thought of you."
"Thank you, momma," Martha said in her monotoned voice. She didn't mind Elizabeth picking out clothes for her and enjoy the dresses she could wear. "I like this one," Martha said, showing some emotion in her voice.
"I'm glad you like it," Elizabeth said as this warmed her heart. She continued to slice the lemon into halves before placing them in a pitcher of lemonade. Using the small towel next to her, she washed her hands before placing the knife down. She then turned to face her daughter fully. "What would you like to do for the day since it's mostly going to be us for a while? Would you like to spare a few rounds?"
"No. I will pass on sparing. However,-" Martha said before pausing for a moment. Her face slowly began to turn red as she was embarrassed about what she was about to ask it. "C-can you...read to me?"
Elizabeth stopped mixing the lemonade and paused to look at her daughter. Her mouth dropped before a soft smile formed across Elizabeth's mouth as she could feel her eyes go misty. "Of course, sweetie. I would be more than happy to do that. Just let me finish this and do your check-up, then we can read together. " Elizabeth said, washing her hands while tears were starting to form in her eyes.
Martha's face lit up with excitement at her mom saying yes. She lowered her head, trying to hide her excitement and joy. She then felt Elizabeth's warm hand on her face and followed to look at her face. She looked into her mother's yellowish-orange eyes and could see it in her mother's tired eyes, but hearing her say it made her feel 10 times better.
"You don't have to hide your emotions. You have always been allowed to express yourself around me, my daughter. " Elizabeth told Martha with a soft smile. She watched as tears filled her eyes. Before she knew it, Martha had hugged her tightly. Elizabeth sometimes would be caught off guard when she was hugged, but she let out a soft sigh as she returned her hug and rubbed her daughters head. "You're always my wild daughter."
After sharing that tender moment, Elizabeth and Martha made their way to the living room, where Elizabeth began to do a check-up on her. As she examined the symbols and seals, she noticed that a good majority had come undone from her quest and not doing them daily. She didn't say anything, but Martha could see it in her face.
"Are you upset?" Martha shyly asked and could feel her heart become heavy.
"No. Just didn't expect you to take so long nor expected you to use a lot of your powers," Elizabeth explained. She wasn't too worried, but it would have become a problem if she hadn't got it under control. "I'm just glad we caught it in time."
"My apologies. Those creatures make it hard to locate, and this one was playing around with me. When I finally found him, he tried to fight me." Martha told Elizabeth. She then showed her the visible bruise on her shoulder that stretched down to her forearm.
"Oh?" Elizabeth curiously let out. "Did they put up a good fight? Did you win?" She asked, wanting to know more.
"He was weak. With all that strength, he couldn't back it up. It was over before he even knew it." Martha coldly said as she remembered the fear in the creature's eyes. "So I beat him down and told him what you wanted me to say and took his finger as a reminder."
"Ouch. Well, it was to be expected. Not many could match your raw strength and skill. Although, I think taking his finger was a bit unnecessary. Breaking it would have been fine enough." Elizabeth said in a proud tone. She wasn't upset nor scared of her daughter's coldness. It was her giving her own input.
"He wasted my time playing games," Martha said coldly. "I would have just broken his arm, but he wanted to play games. He can get it back when he completes his part."
"Very well then. You did complete your mission, so that's what mainly counts." Elizabeth said, rubbing her daughter's head with a soft giggle. She then turned her focus back to her daughter's arms as she still had some work to do.
After 30 more minutes, Elizabeth let out a sigh as she finished her last symbol on Martha's arm. She immediately stood up and stretched her arms and legs as she could feel her body become stiff. Martha could feel the spells beginning to restrict her raw power, yet she followed in Elizabeth's footsteps and stretched as well.
"Alrighty. Which story were we reading again?" Elizabeth said as her yellowish-orange pupils looked at Martha curiously. She could see Martha's eyes become bigger as she realized they were still going to read together.
"The one about the three orphans." Martha excitedly said.
"I thought we finished that one," Elizabeth questioned while fixing her gown and hair.
"We finished the first 3 books, but there is still more," Martha said, speaking up.
"Really?" She asked, turning around to Martha, actually surprised. She saw Martha nod her head. "Huh. Let me see if I have it on my shelf then." Elizabeth said as she walked past her daughter to check her bookshelf.
Martha sat on the couch, tapping her leg anxiously as she wasn't sure if her mother had it. She knew Elizabeth liked to collect books to constantly have something to read outside of taking notes on certain Demi-Humans and their specialty. She remembered Elizabeth telling her that it was just something she liked to do.
Elizabeth then walked back into the room, holding the tan-colored book with blue text on it.
"Look what I have," Elizabeth said in a sing-song tone. She then plopped back down on the couch next to Martha and sighed. "Turns out I do have the entire series in my collection. Are you ready?"
Martha nodded her head excitedly and quickly went to lay her head on Elizabeth's lap like she used to do when she was younger. She felt Elizabeth's warm hand stroke her hair a little as she could hear her opened the book to the fresh chapter page.
Elizabeth's smile never left her face as she looked down at her grown child laying her head on her lap. She remembered the days of a younger Martha doing the same thing and realized how much she hasn't changed at all since then. She rubbed her daughter's soft and messy hair one more time before clearing her throat.
"You will always be my big baby no matter what," Elizabeth told her with a soft giggle.
"I love you, mom," Martha told Elizabeth as she could feel herself starting to relax.
"I love you more," Elizabeth said, smiling down at her child as she removed her hand away from Martha's head and onto the book. She then began to read the first chapter out loud to her daughter.