Back at the stadium, soon after Muku left.....
"What!?". Layla's voice resounded as she looked in the direction Jade pointed in. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. There in the terrace, a pretty lady in her early thirties with a pale and sickly face could be seen. She was also looking at Layla with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Mother...". Layla's voice sounded out again, this time, her words shocking her friends. They had suspected it, but hearing her confirm it was still shocking.
As soon as she finished speaking, Layla practically flew towards the woman in the terrace. The weakness she felt from the battle before seemed to disappear as she ran forward. Of course it was only her adrenaline pushing her forward.
Seeing this little girl who was definitely with that monster from before running their way in an unnatural speed. The people on the terrace who were still there quickly got up and ran away. They thought that they might have offended her by looking and she was going to beat them up for it. And who would wait to get beaten up. In less than a minute, only Layla's mother was left there standing, everyone else had cleared away from the area.
"Mother!"
"Layla!"
The mother and daughter called out to each other as soon as Layla got close enough to her. They quickly fell into each other's embrace and both started bawling, overwhelmed by happiness from finding each other alive in such uncertain times.
Everyone who saw this managed to quickly realise what was going on, as long as they had a properly functioning brain. She did literally shout mom at the end after all. Quite a number of people started shedding tears of their own even, they are the ones who hadn't seen their loved ones ever since the apocalypse began. They couldn't help but wonder if they will have such a blessed reunion or they will never meet again in their remaining lifetime.
Even the girls were teary eyed and filled with emotion when they saw this scene. They were all happy for Layla to be reunited by her mother. Emily and Jade were now looking forward to seeing their family members even more. Chloe was just happy for a friend and only thought of her estranged father for a split second before suppressing the thought.
Hope on the other hand, was again rocked by feelings of sadness along with the happiness for Layla. Although she was trying to stay positive, at the back of her head she knew that the chance of her parents being dead was a lot hinger than being alive at that point. She wondered if the morning hug she got from her parents on the morning the apocalypse began was really the last, and the loving smile she got from her father the same morning was also the last. Her heart felt like it was about to break into a million pieces. Her throat hurt, she wanted to cry but held herself back as it was Layla's joyous occasion and didn't want to ruin it.
Then she suddenly felt three hands on her shoulders. She turned around and before she could react, she was in the combined embrace of three people. Chloe, Emily and Jade had noticed from Hope's erratic mana that something was wrong with her. When they put two and two together they got four and quickly embraced her hoping it will make her feel even a little better. Being embraced like that, she could no longer hold her tears back and started bawling in sadness.
"Let it out, and don't forget that you're not alone. We'll always be there for you". Chloe said as she and the other two hugged Hope even closer to prove her words right. In the time they had known each other, they had grown so close that they practically saw each other as sisters. And Hope being the emotional youngest sister got a little bit more love and care from the rest, so seeing her cry like this also made them sad.
As for Dom, well he just stood on the side feeling awkward, not knowing what to do. He could understand Layla's case easy enough, but the the case with the four completely confused him. One moment they were smiling with teary eyes then the next they were crying in sadness in a group hug, like wtf was he supposed to do in this situation?. He even wondered if he should get in on the hug as he felt left out....but remembering Muku's smile he quickly got rid of that idea. He for some reason felt that if he did something like that, his fate might be the same as human ball he took away. And he wasn't wrong, unbeknownst to all, Muku himself included, he was developing an overbearing overprotectiveness for the girls and there was a super high chance any man who got too close would find himself in the stomach of a beast by the next day.
After a while, the four girls let go of the hug as Hope had calmed down for now. She was now looking at them with gratitude and a little bit of embarrassment for losing herself like that.
On the terrace, Layla and her mother also let go of each other's embrace. Then they realised something. This was actually the first time they had ever hugged each other and now were both left in an awkward position not knowing what to do next.
"So Layla, this your mom huh?, aren't you going to introduce us?". As if knowing that this was going to happen, the four girls had come up as well and Jade spoke.
"Uh, yes, this is Audrey Knight, my mother and mother these are my schoolmates and friends Jade, Emily, Chloe and Hope". Layla quickly spoke and introduced them, while looking at Jade with gratitude as she really didn't know what to do next since she and her mother weren't close before.
"Nice to meet you Ms Knight". The four girls melodiously said at the same time.
(A/N: She isn't married so I can't say "Mrs" hence "Ms". In fact, she's actually a 30 year old virgin.....Not that there's going to be some oyakodon or anything...just keeping the options open tis all ^_^)
"Uh, yes, nice to meet you too girls. And thank you for looking after Layla for me". Audrey said with a gentle motherly smile on her face. Which made all the girls think of their mothers and before Audrey realised it, she was in the embrace of the four girls who had jumped on her at the same time. Layla on the side was stunned at first then a look of realisation appeared on her face and she just looked on with a faint smile.
"There there, you've all worked hard. I'm proud of you all". Audrey said in a soft voice as she held them close, a gentle look in her eyes.
Audrey was also surprised by the sudden hug attack but quickly realised what was happening. The girls just missed their parents and seeing her and hearing the way she talked, they couldn't hold back and hugged her. At the end of the day they were still little girls of only sixteen and even fifteen in Hope's case so they still had a high level of dependency on their parents, especially their mothers. Even Chloe who has lost her mother when she was still a little child couldn't help but jump into the hug as she also vaguely remembered her mother.
Anyway, hearing Audrey's praise was exactly what they needed in the moment. Muku couldn't substitute a mother's sense of comfort to these girls, no matter what he might try, though he wouldn't try to in the first place. The best he could do was being like a dependable older brother, which he could do without even trying.
"Umm, girls, Mr Dom is waiting, why don't we continue this later?". Layla called out to the girls. Hearing her, they came back to reality and quickly jumped away from Audrey's embrace with red faces from the embarrassment they felt.
"We're sorry!". The all called out while bowing to Audrey a bit, not daring to look her in the eyes. They were afraid they might have angered her by with their sudden actions.
"Oh no, it's okay, I quite liked it too actually. In fact, anytime you need a hug, I'm here for you. So no need to feel bad okay". Audrey replied with a smile. This made them want to jump on her again but they held back.
After thank her again for being tolerant of them, the group walked toward Dom, with the addition of Audrey as Layla was holding her hand and dragging her along. Audrey tried to break free but realised that she couldn't do anything to get out of Layla's vice like grip that held her hand tight enough so she won't escape but loose enough as to not hurt her. From this Audrey guessed that Layla must already be quite a strong evolver, and remembering what one needs to do to evolve, her heart couldn't help but clench in pain thinking of the struggles her daughter must have faced.
They were led to a large room that seemed to be an office before, it had a few chairs and one large sofa along with a desk. It was actually the best room in the stadium....a stadium wouldn't have residential rooms after all. Dom left after showing them the room. They then unpacked their things from their backpacks. Took out some food and had some with Audrey who tried to refuse at first but could only give up under their combined insistence.
After a bit of silence after they finished their meal. Layla looked at Audrey with clear eyes and spoke.
"Do you really have Leukemia?"