"She can see me?" I gasped. "But how could this be possible? Didn't all of this already happen in the past?"
Aruma stood in front of me, covering his wife and daughter behind him.
"Who are you?" He asked. "What do you want from us?"
I gulped, and then, as I was about to speak, a burst of plum blossoms came inside, passing right through me.
"Don't come any closer," Aruma shouted, trying to blow them away with his robe.
But the petals were too many and too fast to be avoided. They passed by him and circled Hana.
It was only then that I realized the couple wasn't looking at me but at the petals behind me.
"If you dare hurt my wife or daughter, I swear I will incinerate your very soul," Aruma shouted as his body started to transform.
"Wait, dear husband," Hana commanded.
Aruma stopped his transformation and asked, "Why are you stopping me?"
The petals slowly began to gather in front of Hana as she held Ume in her arms.
Ume giggled, moving her hands and legs in excitement, and the petals also started to sway with every movement of her limbs.
"Yeah, she is definitely Gumiho," I said, folding my arms.
After a brief moment, she got tired and slipped into sleep, and all the petals also fell lifeless around her.
"Aruma, I'm worried about Ume's future," Hana gasped. "I think she is going to bring a storm into Vyoman."
Similar to what happened in Jambavan's memories, the view suddenly distorted, the sound grew distant, and before I knew it, time had skipped.
The countless holes in the roof of the cottage were now fixed, and there was more furniture inside—a small stone table and a carpet in front of the window, two bedsheets folded neatly in the corner, and a stone furnace with a chimney against one of the walls.
At the center, Aruma and Hana were sitting, and in front of them, Gumiho stood—barely.
"Come to papa, Ume."
"No, Ume, come to mama."
The couple gushed with their arms open.
Gumiho, who had turned into a toddler now, raised her tiny foot and took her first wobbly step.
She was wearing a spotless yet color-faded skirt, her hair at her ears tied into two small braids, while the rest of her hair was left loose. Her small fox ears twitched with every call from her parents, while her twin tails moved with every unsteady step, keeping her body from falling.
"Pa...pa..." Gumiho babbled in her baby voice.
"Did-did you just hear that, my wife?" Aruma exclaimed. "She just called me papa."
"I heard it clearly. I also have ears," Hana pouted.
"Are you jealous, my wife?" Aruma boasted with a smirk.
"Aren't you getting too bold, dear husband?" Hana hissed, pulling Aruma's ear.
"Ma...ma..." Gumiho babbled again, raising her little arms as she reached closer to her parents.
"You heard that right? Right? She has called me mama too," Hana gasped, lifted Gumiho, and embraced her softly.
"This is not fair, my wife," Aruma complained. "She was coming to me, but you picked her up."
"Hmph, keep dreaming," Hana responded. "You were coming to mama, right, Ume?"
"Mama...mama," Gumiho murmured, touching Hana's cheeks and smiling brightly.
Aruma lay back with a soft, sad smile, staring at the mother-daughter duo.
"There, go to papa, Ume," Hana said, putting Gumiho down.
"Papa...papa..." she murmured before reaching Aruma with unsteady steps.
Aruma hugged her softly and started crying.
"You are keeping something to yourself, dear husband," Hana said. "Tell me, what are you hiding?"
"You always see right through me," Aruma sniffled. "The ancestor sent the summoning letter last week. The war against the human kingdom is close to the zenith, so they are even calling back the retired warriors."
"Can't you avoid it?" Hana asked. "You have already spent more than half of your life on the battlefield."
"It's unavoidable."
"When will you leave?"
"Tomorrow."
"When will you return?"
"I don't know."
"Aruma, listen," Hana pleaded, tightly holding Aruma's robe. "Let's-let's run away. You don't have to risk your life for some useless war."
"Don't spout nonsense, Hana," Aruma shouted. "You want me to become a runaway traitor of the fox-clan?"
"I only want Ume to grow up with a father," Hana shouted back before running outside crying.
Aruma was about to call her, but she had already left.
"Pa... pa," Gumiho murmured, her face carrying a slightly worried expression.
"Papa is bad, Ume. Papa won't be there when you grow up," Aruma said, picking up Ume. "Will you forgive Papa?"
Gumiho, with her tiny hands, touched Aruma's tears, trying to wipe them.
"What's going on here?" I muttered, totally confused.
In Jambavan and Vyaghra's memories, they were clearly at war against some strange monsters, but here, Aruma mentioned fighting against humans?
And one more thing—why was I being shown memories from Gumiho's childhood? How could these be important memories?
While I was brainstorming, the vision distorted, and time skipped again.
"Ume, return before it gets dark," Hana said, braiding Gumiho's hair.
"And never—"
"Never show your other tail to anyone," Gumiho said, finishing her sentence. "I have heard it countless times, mother."
"Don't be impertinent," Hana scolded, and then, lightly hitting Gumiho's butt, said, "Go."
This time, they were outside, sitting at the entrance of a stone house.
The house was surrounded by numerous plum blossom trees, each branch blooming to its fullest potential.
Gumiho had grown; she seemed to be five or six years old.
Hana had aged as well. Her face now bore hints of wrinkles, and some of her hair had also turned grey.
"Aren't you coming, Ume?" A sharp voice of a kid came from between the trees.
Three kids of Gumiho's age were standing there, waiting for her.
"I'm coming," Gumiho shouted as she ran toward the group.
My body also involuntarily followed her into the forest.
While I was moving, I felt something breaking inside me.
I looked down and witnessed something bizarre.
I could see my core through my stomach. It had several cracks in it, and just now, one of the pieces split apart from the main core.