As Aiko finished the story, the group grew quiet. They'd relocated to Hikari's halfway through, and they had all made themselves comfortable. Hikari and Aiko sat on Hikari's bed, and the others were listening around on bean bags.
Hikari's arm wrapped around her mother. Listening to the story made her realize how much she missed Aiko. Of course, there was a part of her that wanted to know or see that she was different. That Aiko had noticed differences in her when she was a child. But those things came in second to being present.
Her mother's palm pressed against her head as she pet Hikari. "I've always loved and cared for you. I wished you'd have written to me at least. What have you been up to all of this time? And what kind of adventures did you go on? These were all questions I thought of. To think, you had been a goddess the whole time. But when I look at you like this, you seem like a regular girl to me."
