When he opened his eyes, the first thing Aetron felt was the tiny, warm weight on his arm. Thera had curled up beside him just like last night, sleeping peacefully. Their shared mental sanctuary was quiet. Last night's storm had calmed, giving way to a peaceful sea.
"Good morning, love," Aetron whispered in his mind, with a slight smile on his face.
Null's voice came with its usual logic but with hidden warmth underneath. "Physiologically, we didn't sleep. We were together in the sanctuary all night. Why are you saying 'good morning'?"
Aetron's smile widened. "Because I want to. Maybe saying good morning to my love makes my day better."
He looked at his little sister Thera sleeping beside him. Having such a sweet sister... this was a completely new and beautiful feeling that wasn't in Epsilon's memories.
"Why does your love for her keep growing?" Null asked. Her voice was analytical but held pure curiosity. Null was trying to understand this consistent and increasing positivity in Aetron's biochemical data.
"Because that's what real love is, Null. It's unconditional. The more you love, the more you're loved, and the more you're loved, the more you love."
Just then, Thera woke up, blinking her eyes. When she saw her brother, a huge smile appeared on her face. "Good morning, brother."
"Good morning, little warrior," Aetron said. "Are you ready for today? We're going on an adventure in the forest."
Thera's sleepy eyes suddenly lit up. "We have a plan? What are we doing?"
"I'm going to make you something sweet," Aetron said, with a mysterious and playful tone in his voice.
"Something sweet?" Thera asked, her eyes growing even wider. "Like fruits?"
"When did you plan this?" Null asked.
"I'm going to do things that make a child happy. Besides, I like sweet things... like you," Aetron said, giving Null a light mental poke.
"Be serious," Null said, but Aetron could sense the amusement radiating from her mind.
"Come on, get up," Aetron said to Thera. "Wash your face, brush your teeth, get dressed, and come back here."
Thera shot out of bed like an arrow. A few minutes later when she returned, she had a wooden comb in her hand. "Brother, will you do my hair today?"
"How is someone as clumsy as you going to do that?" Null teased.
Ignoring her, Aetron took the comb and carefully, attentively combed through Thera's silky hair, braiding it in a simple but elegant way. His fingers moved as if they had done this movement thousands of times before.
"Wow," Thera said, touching her braid. "It came out even better than mom's. How can you do it so well?"
Aetron paused for a moment, noticing how his fingers had moved almost on their own, and smiled. "I don't know," he said honestly, looking at Thera. "I just... followed what came naturally, I guess."
As Thera played with her braid, satisfied with this answer, Aetron's mind drifted to the past. These movements... this skill...
"This feeling is so familiar, Null," he thought, a wave of sadness rising in his mind.
"When she was little, Delta's mother was sick. Little girls can't do their own hair. At night... I would do her hair," Aetron answered in a melancholic voice.
"You'd gather it to both sides," Null's voice said, completing Aetron's thought. In her voice was not an analytical tone, but a nostalgic whisper. "It suited her better that way."
Aetron froze. He had shared that memory, yes. But he didn't even remember this detail. Where had this information come from for Null? "How do you..." he turned to her in his mind to ask.
But just then, Thera tugged at his arm impatiently. "Brother, we're going to the forest, right? Come on! Let's find blackberries! You said you'd make sweet things!"
Thera's cheerful voice instantly scattered that melancholic moment and that confusing question about Null. Aetron came to himself and smiled at his sister. "Okay, okay, little warrior. We're going."
"Hey, aren't you spoiling her too much?" Null asked, seeming to change the subject, but Aetron could sense she was still questioning that memory in her mind too.
"Aren't children meant to be spoiled?" Aetron replied.
They walked together into the forest depths. Thera bounced from branch to branch like a butterfly, asking about every flower she saw, every bird sound she heard. They gathered bright red blackberries they'd never tasted before, small apples unique to this world filled with sweet juice, and various nuts. For each new fruit, Aetron would say in his mind, "Null, is this poisonous? Analyze it," while Thera spun around him with endless questions like "What's this? Why is this purple?"
When they returned to the clan tents, Niyara greeted them with worry. "Aetron, where did you go?"
Aetron showed the basket in his hand. "I'm going to try something new. We need something sweet."
Kadros came over to them. "Son, even in our empire's sweet-making days, these were hard to find. What are you going to do with what you have?"
"Watch and see," Aetron said, with a confident smile on his face.
By the fire, they washed and sorted the fruits with Niyara and Thera. When they started boiling the fruits in a large pot, a sweet steam enveloped the entire tent. When Aetron added a starch-like ingredient, the mixture gradually thickened.
"How are you going to dry this quickly now?" Null asked. "You don't have a drying oven. And you told Thera you'd eat it today."
"You calculate millions of possibilities per second, but your creativity in producing new solutions isn't quite at my level, love," Aetron teased. He felt that slightly annoyed grumble from Null's mind.
Aetron poured the hot fruit leather mixture into molds he'd made from leaves. Then he closed his eyes. Using his Resonance power, he targeted the water molecules in the fruit leather and gently vibrated them. The air around them rippled with an invisible heat wave. The water rapidly evaporated and the fruit leather solidified within seconds, becoming chewable.
He offered the first piece to Thera after making sure it had cooled. The little girl's eyes sparkled as she took it and popped it in her mouth. That pure happiness on her face brought a smile to everyone in the tent. Then Niyara and Kadros tasted it too.
"Wow," Null said, tasting through Aetron's senses. "This... this is really good. How did you learn to make something this good?"
"When you live alone for a long time and you love sweets like me, you look for alternatives to chocolate. These kinds of treats work really well."
Niyara and Kadros were amazed by this new flavor. "Son, you must teach this to our entire clan!" Kadros said proudly.
As he watched the happiness on everyone's faces, Aetron turned to Null in his mind. "You know what? Everything eaten with family tastes better. I hope we can experience these things together someday."
Null's voice, this time, wasn't sarcastic. It was just... warm. "I hope so, Aetron. I hope so."