"It's good to see you're well, Little Lion," Logos Altan smiled at his daughter as the door to the meeting room closed. Then a small concerned frown danced across his face, "You are actually doing well, right? You're not just putting on a brave face?"
"I am doing well father, mother," Arslan reassured her parents. "Though our circumstances are unprecedented I'm doing well, Petra is doing well, and our path forward is unclouded. That being said I'm extremely glad the two of you are here; your advice will keep me grounded and away from rash action."
"What do you mean by rash action?" Barsara asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Yesterday," Petra answered before Arslan could, "When everyone was panicking we were war bringers instead of peacemakers."
"Were you now?" Barsara's voice held no judgment. "Does this have to do with why you're not wearing your sash of mastery or the family prayer beads?"
"Yes," Arslan confirmed with shame coloring her words. "Instead of thinking the situation through I sought out my rival and instigated a fight. If I had given the situation the thought it deserved I would have realized I was putting peoples lives at risk by doing that. If the time travel had been operating under
Get Back To The Present rules I could have killed my husband's children..."
Tears started to flow down Arslan's face as the full force of regret returned, and Petra's tears soon joined her's. The mother and daughter pair leaned against each other as their tears threatened to grow into full blown sobbing.
Barsara strode forward and embraced the two of them, forcing herself to relax as she rested her forehead against theirs.
A comforting rumbling sound emanated from the retired actress' throat, and the two anguished young women leaned into the elder woman's purring. Logos gently pulled the trio towards the couch along one of the room's walls and once they were sat down he sat down sandwiching his daughter and granddaughter between himself and his wife,
who's rumbling purr was soon accompanied with his own. So situated between their loving elders Arslan and Petra physically relaxed allowing
their own purring to rumble fourth. The four of them sat there purring until the tears ran dry and Arslan and Petra were ready to talk again.
"So you're seeking to make amends?" Barsara gently prodded as she rubbed her daughter's shoulders.
"Yes," Arslan nodded, "I gave Jaune my sash, Pyrrha the prayer beads, and I gave the other mothers items of similar personal value to me."
"And what else are you doing?" Logos wondered with a curious gaze.
"Reese is going to help us prepare a surprise dinner for everyone ether tonight or tomorrow," Arslan supplied. "Basically as soon as we figure out everyone's preferred meals we can put together an apology feast."
"Then it sounds like you're off to a good start," Logos sagely nodded, "It's difficult to hold hard feelings towards someone who does a good job feeding you."
"You said you're worried about rash action," Barsara circled back to the beginning of the conversation. "What are you afraid of doing?"
"I don't know," Arslan admitted with a shake in her voice, "This is completely uncharted territory for me. I know who my husband is, yet he doesn't know I'm his wife because this isn't happening organically in any way shape or form. On top of that I'm in competition with people who
have had the chance to develop an organic relationship with him. This is a recipe for desperation and desperation leads to terrible mistakes."
"I see," Logos hmm'd in thought. "This is a tricky situation, and I understand why you're worried. Have you done anything before we got here?"
"As far as grand romantic gestures go? Nothing unless you count organizing a trip to church as a romantic gesture," Arslan sighed. She looked to her father and pressed on, "As far as simple moment to moment actions go? I've tried to remain in close proximity to Jaune while doing my best to not contribute to the drama surrounding him, and I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a moment where I can be helpful to him. Beyond that? I've been trusting that God has a hand in this that will see me through."
"Staying close and not contributing to the drama is actually a very good move on your part," Barsara noted as she pulled slightly away from her embrace to show her daughter her approving look. "You're not accustomed to the social power games women play to assert their place in the pecking order, so you would be at a disadvantage if you tried to play those games. Yet even if you were an expert in those kinds of games there are plenty of situations where the winning move is not to play, and I'd say this is one of them."
"How so?" Arslan asked while Petra also sent an inquiring look Barsara's way.
"Get a large enough group of women together and you'll almost inevitably have a bossy diva doing her best to push everyone who isn't a fellow diva around," The retired actress explained with reminiscing eyes. "Get more than one diva into the group and they'll clash over who's the true queen bee. This is where the winning move is not to play any of the social power games: by being a true neutral the divas will ignore you in favor of clashing with the other divas. If you find a way to be helpful to everyone while remaining neutral than all the girls in the group who aren't divas will eventually come to realize that you won't backstab them and that you're the most trustworthy person to confide in. Once that happens you are effectively the queen bee calling all the shots, and it's fifty fifty whether the divas notice or not."
Arslan considered her mother's words for a moment. It made enough sense, however; "I don't think it matters if they're divas or not. Everyone's going to try and be the queen bee."
"Well, that brings us to the other reason not playing the game is a good thing here," Barsara elaborated. "You're all competing for the affections of a man, and most men only have so much patience for
pointless drama. If you don't contribute to the
pointless drama you'll inevitably stand above those that do, especially if you can help him deal with any fallout caused by the
pointless drama." She smiled encouragingly, "You have a shot here Little Lion, and if you need us to help steady your aim we'll be glad to help."
"Thank you," Arslan sighed in relief.
Logos turned his attention to his time displaced granddaughter, "Since our daughter's our Little Lion, does that make you our Littlest Lion?"
"I'm not a
little lion I'm a
BIG cat!" Petra protested before she blushed at her reflexive response.
The grandparents chuckled for a moment before Logos asked, "Alright then Big Cat, what can you tell us about yourself?"
"I, I have a lot to live up to," Petra began as her embarrassment died down. "Mother and Father saved the world, so a lot of strangers expect me to live up to their legacy do things just as great. That really isn't fair because there's no way I can defeat an immortal witch; Mother and Father took care of the only one! As the eldest I also had a pretty busy childhood helping out with all my younger siblings, which was a tall task since Mother and Father never really stopped having more. My favorite stories growing up were the
Tales of Saint Reepicheep and the
Parables of Puddleglum. When people ask if I decided to become a warrior-nun to be like my parents I tell them I wanted to be like Grandpa Nick; because Mother and Father are Mother and Father to me, not modern legends."
"And your Grandpa Nick is a modern legend?" Barsara asked with genuine curiosity in her voice.
"Mother," Arslan began with stars in her eyes, "He's
Nicholas Arc of
Team AARN; the first team in a century to slay a Grimm Hydra! He's the last student of
Ser Jaune Saint George, and was practically Saint George's adopted son! He became a fully initiated Paladin of the Church at the same time he graduated from Beacon! He helped restore the rightful rulers of the Kingdom of Pandu! He's THAT Nicholas Arc and if anyone deserves to be called a modern legend it's him!"
"And he's going to be your father in law," Logos observed.
"Yes, he's going to be-" Arslan stopped as if someone jammed a rod into the gears of her thoughts. Her starry eyed look became distant as her voice jumped an octave; "Jaune Arc is my husband. Jaune Arc is the son of Nick Arc. Nicholas Arc is Jaune's father. Jaune Arc is my husband. I'm related to Nicholas Arc through marriage."
The warrior nun was already sitting down, so she didn't fall to the floor when she fainted.
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