{THIRD PERSON POV}
Dinner had started 20 minutes ago... where were her two other children?
Neither Mordred nor Jaune was one to miss out on dinner: Mordred because she actually liked eating, and Jaune because, even though he never said it, it was clear that he enjoyed the company of his family while eating.
Luna was seriously worried now because they had been gone for close to 11 hours. She was debating with herself about whether she needed to tell Miles to start a search party for her two missing kids.
She knew that Mordred was strong enough to defend herself, and no one in town would dare harm those two, courtesy of Jaune's kindness... but still... if they played in the woods, they could get ambushed by Grimm....
But just as she was about to open her mouth to tell Miles to create a search party, she heard the front doors opening.
"Is that Jaune?" Saphron asked her, and Luna nodded as she looked toward the kitchen entrance.
"I hope..." She really did hope it was them, because Oum knows what she was going to do if it wasn't. She would probably cry... but after that? Well... she might be called the Saint of Orleans, but that didn't mean she couldn't throw hands. She was a Huntress, for fuck's sake...
After hearing the sound of footsteps, Jaune and Mordred walked through the entrance, and Luna breathed out a sigh of relief.
'Thank God...'
Luna looked at her children and saw Mordred completely fine, but Jaune was a little pale and a little sweaty.
"Are you okay, Jaune? Did you catch a cold?" Luna tried to stand up, but Jaune quickly shook his head before he followed Mordred and took their seats next to each other.
"It's okay, Mom... Mordred and I just raced each other here, so I'm just kinda tired from running, and I think I need to drink some water...." He let out a tired chuckle.
Running? Racing? She knew she should be happy her children got along well, but wasn't this unfair for Jaune?
Jaune was a normal 12-year-old boy, while Mordred was only a couple of years away from joining a Huntsman Academy... and unlike Mordred, who had unlocked her Aura, Jaune hadn't....
She needed to have a talk with her daughter because, at this point, Mordred needed to understand that her brother wasn't as strong as she was. 'I thought Miles had drilled it into her about just how different she is compared to a person with no Aura... I also need to talk with Miles because clearly, his teachings didn't stick...'
She discreetly pinched Miles's thigh, just enough to make him flinch.
'We'll have a talk later,' her eyes communicated to him. He replied with his eyes too. 'What did I do? I was just eating. I'm minding my own business.'
She pinched harder. 'That's exactly the problem.'
Luna stopped and looked at Mordred, giving her a smile that made her shiver with fear and confusion about why her mother looked like she was about to give her the biggest grounding of her entire life.
"Mordred... we'll have a talk later, okay...?" Luna looked so serious that even the others thought it was them their mother was mad at.
'What the fuck did I do!?' Mordred's thoughts were as easy to read as an open book because they were plastered all over her face.
"Come on, Mordred... let's eat..." Just as Jaune was about to plate his food, Mordred took over and plated his food instead, which greatly confused Luna because maybe the others didn't notice it, but she did.
It was usually the other way around: Jaune plating Mordred's food rather than Mordred plating his. This was weird. Maybe Mordred felt guilty for challenging Jaune to something he could never win...
'Maybe I shouldn't ground her for an entire week... now that I think about it, it'll be bad for Jaune too, considering that if I do that, Jaune would feel alone. He could maybe invite the others, but it would still feel different to him, considering that Mordred is his favorite.' She let out a quiet sigh. 'Maybe punishing her by making her mow the lawn would be better...'
"So, Jaune... how was your day?" She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard her sweet daughter, Jeanne, ask Jaune.
"It was.... great...." Luna listened closely, and considering how tired Jaune looked, he seemed like he had had a lot of fun with Mordred.
She should go with them sometime, now that she thought about it. She never really went with them whenever they went out, and she should remedy that.
<=======]==¤
Now Miles had to make an important decision: should he ask Mordred now while they were eating, or should he ask Mordred later in private after they were done?
On one hand, he risked Mordred starting a fight with him because she would get angry at him for asking her what places Jaune liked to go to, and she would be right to. He had failed his duty as a father to the point that he had to ask one of his children how to know more about one of his children. His own father would have beaten him black and blue for this, because Miles knew that his father would have known all of his grandchildren's favorites, from places to food.
Shit... he didn't even know Jaune's favorite foods. That was bad. What about Jaune's favorite drinks? Maybe he liked apple juice more than orange juice, or maybe he liked grape juice above all else. Double shit...
Yeah... he really needed to be a better father, because the more he thought about it, the more he felt like shit. He had failed, and he had failed badly, at being a father to Jaune. No wonder Mordred loved picking fights with him.
How could he blame her? He deserved it.
The voices of his children pulled him out of his thoughts, especially when Mordred and Jaune stood up. Shit. He had lost his first option.
By the time he stood, Mordred and Jaune were already on the stairs, and he had to jog a little to catch up.
"Mordred, wait..." he called, trying to keep his voice calm even though he had been panicking a second ago.
Mordred looked back and positioned herself between him and Jaune. It hurt him, but once again, he deserved this kind of treatment from her.
"What do you want?"
Mordred's words cut deep, but he was confused that she hadn't started shouting yet. It was like she was holding herself back. He wasn't going to question it; he would take whatever mercy he could get.
"...Can... can we talk? Just the two of us?" Shit. He didn't know how to say it any better. He wasn't good at this, or talking in general.
"Talk? Whatever you want to say to me, you can say to Jaune too." Mordred glared harder at him.
"Mordred.... please...." He hoped she would understand, but he might have used the wrong word.
"Please? Please!? PLEASE!?" She stepped right up to him and jabbed a finger into his chest. "Please!? Is that all you have to say!? Did Jaune say please when you stopped his training!?" she shouted in his face, and he felt spit hit his skin.
"Fuck no, he didn't say please!" She shoved his chest. "You fucking coward. Don't you dare say please to me, you fucker!"
Her voice was loud enough that Luna and the others came over to see what was going on.
"Miles! What the fuck is going on!"
"I was just tryi-" Miles started, but Mordred cut him off before he could finish.
"This fucker wanted to pull me away so he can talk to me about something. Why the fuck would I want to talk with him!? I've got better shit to do than listen to whatever bullshit he's going to say!"
"Miles..." Now it was his wife's turn to glare at him.
"Wait... let me explain..." Miles tried again, but Mordred cut him off again.
"Explain what? Explain that you want to ask me something, but you don't want Jaune to hear it too!?" She tried to shove him again, but stopped when Jaune put his hand on her shoulder.
"Mordred...." Jaune called softly. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, and whatever he said worked because it calmed Mordred down.
Miles thought he finally had a chance to ask Mordred about what Jaune liked.
Mordred decided otherwise.
She grabbed Jaune by the arm and dragged him upstairs. "Don't fucking talk to me or my brother!"
When they went out of view, everyone downstairs heard a door slam shut.
Miles swallowed. He felt Luna's hand on his shoulder, and regret hit him too late.
<=======]==¤
'Shit, shit, shit, shit.' That was all Mordred could think as she dragged Jaune up the stairs. As soon as they were out of sight, she scooped him up in a princess carry and moved as steadily as she could while carrying him.
'Shit. I should've ignored him and kept walking. Why the fuck didn't I ignore him? Now look at this.' She looked at Jaune, who was breathing softly, but his face was much paler than before.
When she was about to literally throw hands with her father, Jaune had whispered that his chest hurt again, and fuck Miles. She was going to prioritize Jaune before any fight with their father.
She didn't know how, but she had a really fucking suspicious feeling that their father only worsened Jaune's condition.
Before they went inside, they had taken a 10-to-20-minute break outside so Jaune could feel better.
But as soon as Jaune entered the house and reached the kitchen, his face turned pale. He hadn't been pale before. Whatever this was, it had to have something to do with their father.
When she reached Jaune's door, she opened it and got inside quickly, then kicked the door closed. She noticed she'd unconsciously used her Aura to kick it, and she was relieved it didn't break or fly off its hinges.
"Mordred..." Jaune called out again.
She gently laid him on his bed before answering. "Yeah?"
"Sorry."
Jaune and his stupid face had to say sorry again. What the fuck was wrong with this kid? He didn't ask to have a heart problem like this, and he didn't ask to have such an asshole of a father.
She would gladly lay the blame at their father's feet because she didn't know how, but she knew their father had a hand in this.
Was it logical? No. Did she care that it didn't make sense, considering their father wasn't even around most of the time? Also fuck no.
"Why the fuck are you saying sorry for, Jaune? You didn't do shit, okay?" Mordred was genuinely getting tired of Jaune saying sorry, because why? He didn't do shit.
"Just.... sorry... you had to waste your time taking care of me...."
It gave her a headache.
"Jaune, listen to me. We've had this conversation fucking hundreds of times by now. I help you because I want to, okay? And also because you're my little brother. There's no other reason than that." She needed her words to get through to him, because his guilt complex was getting old.
"It... it looks like Dad... was.... trying.... to talk.... to you.... I ruined it...." he said between deep breaths, forcing air into his lungs like it took effort.
"Hey, you didn't ruin shit. If whatever he wants to say can't be said around you, then I don't want to hear it. Either he says it with you there, or he doesn't say anything at all, okay?"
"Okay.... It just looks like he was trying to say something important."
It made her want to pull her hair out.
She wanted to grab his head and shout until he understood that she didn't care how important it was. Their father could tell her she could go to Beacon tomorrow and she wouldn't give a flying fuck about it. Jaune mattered more.
But she couldn't yell at Jaune like that right now. He was still in pain, and the last thing she wanted was to make it worse.
"Jaune... whatever he wants to say, no matter how important it is..." She poked a finger softly to his chest. "It will never be as important as you to me, okay? Please, for the love of all that's holy, get that through your head."
Jaune managed a small chuckle.
"Now shut your mouth and go to sleep. I don't want to hear you waste oxygen again."
Jaune shifted to the side to make room for her. Mordred chuckled, then slid in beside him and pulled the blanket over them.
"Thank you, Mordred..."
"No need to thank me, dumbass."
A few minutes passed in silence. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard Jaune speak one last time before he drifted off.
"I love you...."
She waited until she was sure he was asleep before replying.
"I love you too, Jaune...."
<=======]==¤
"Miles... tell me what the fuck you did."
Luna grilled her husband inside their bedroom. She was pissed, and if Jaune hadn't been there, Mordred would have fought her father again.
She had thought she could trust Miles when he got up from his seat and went after Jaune and Mordred, but she should have known he would fuck it up somehow. Miles was never good with his words, and whatever he said was enough to set Mordred off.
"I... I just wanted to ask her something...." Miles said, and Luna knew damn well that wasn't all that happened.
Luna gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. "...And tell me: what exactly did you tell them?"
"Well... I told Mordred that I wanted to talk with her alone...." Miles explained.
Talk with Mordred alone. Luna forced herself to stay calm before she hit this stupid buffoon in the face.
"And what did she reply with?"
Miles scratched the back of his head and looked away. "Well... she told me that if I wanted to say something to her, then whatever it was, I could say it in front of Jaune too."
Of course she did. Luna didn't know why he expected anything else.
But Luna also knew that wasn't enough to make Mordred as angry as she'd been.
"And then? What did you tell her after that?"
"...Well... I said her name... and said please...."
Please. Luna wanted to slap him.
"I don't think I did anything wrong. I asked her calmly and clearly. I didn't antagonize her, and I-" Miles started.
SMACK
Miles's head snapped to the side as his Aura flared reflexively. It shielded him from injury, but it didn't do anything to lessen the sting of the slap.
"Luna...."
"You didn't antagonize her? The fuck do you mean by that!?" Luna grabbed him by his collar and pulled him down. "You antagonized her the moment you tried to exclude Jaune in front of her!"
What the fuck was he thinking, doing that to Jaune in front of Mordred? He should know Mordred wouldn't let anyone treat her little brother like that.
"I thought you knew by now. Mordred won't ever let you dismiss Jaune like that!" Luna let go and shoved him back, then started pacing.
"Luna...."
"You promised me you would be a better father to them, Miles! What the fuck are you doing!"
"Luna...."
"You promised me, Miles.... you promised...." Her eyes started to wet with tears, because it hurt. It always hurt whenever Mordred and Miles fought.
Years ago, before Miles stopped Jaune's training, Mordred and Miles were close in a way she rarely saw between a parent and child. Even with Miles's quiet nature, Mordred had once chased his approval.
Now Mordred could barely stand being in the same room as her father unless Jaune was there, acting like an anchor and the voice of reason.
Luna stopped when she felt Miles's arms wrap around her.
"Luna... I really tried...." Miles said.
"Well, you didn't try hard enough!" She cried into his chest.
"I did try, Luna. I was trying to have a one-on-one talk with Mordred because I wanted to ask her about Jaune...."
That made Luna stop crying long enough to look up at him.
"Explain, or I'm going to bite you."
Miles spoke faster. "I wanted to ask her what Jaune's favorite food is, what places he likes, everything Jaune likes...."
"Why?" Luna asked. It was good he wanted to know more about Jaune, but why not just ask Jaune himself?
"Well... I planned to go out with Jaune tomorrow and have some father-and-son time...." Miles explained.
Luna's expression softened, despite herself. That was good. Miles really had tried, even if he was clumsy about it.
"You do know you could just ask me those questions, right?" Luna said. "I could've asked Jaune or Mordred myself, and they wouldn't get suspicious."
She rested her head against his chest and continued, "And Mordred would probably be a lot more cooperative if I told her I was planning an outing for Jaune. All I'd have to do is not mention you, and she'd spill everything."
"That... I... yeah.... I didn't think of that...." Miles admitted.
Luna exhaled slowly. "You are going to need to do better, because this cannot keep happening."
She then give Miles shoulder a light punch. "You're lucky i didn't marry you for your brains..."
"...so for my charms?"
"....you wish."
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