The Earth After Rebirth

Freya spent a lot of her time with Kiyoko. She was grieving, she needed more than just Isao to remind her that everything will be okay. Despite being a new mum, she was pushing herself.

Something Sekani scolded her about frequently. She was in the clear with the doctor, but he didn't want her falling back into the routine of breaking her body and pushing it to its limits.

To ensure that she didn't push herself, he asked Vada to accompany her every time she went over to the Misakis. He'd be left with Angelina taking care of the four newborns and occasionally Alora and Isao too.

"I think Sir Waynworth is right, you're pushing yourself way too hard madam." Vada was coming out of her shell the more she spent time with them.

"Oh I know. But can you imagine it? This woman lost her husband. It feels like she lost him twice, and I feel so devasted for her." Freya answered her taking long strides between the snow that came back over night.

Vada was doing her best to keep up, she wasn't coddled by any means growing up but Freya was tougher. She was also a bit taller, so Vada had to almost run to match up with her fast walking speed.

"You're still so young Vada, why did you choose to work as a maid?" Experience tales at empire

"I couldn't finish school, I had siblings I needed to take care of. That's why I quit, to find a job that could accept a dropout like me, to ensure my siblings succeeded where I had failed."

Freya could feel the sadness and hurt in her voice. She didn't want to ask further but she thought knowing her well would be better. She wasn't like Angelina and Wilfred, those two were already old. She on the other hand had great potential to turn her life around.

"What happened to your siblings?"

She chuckled, "abandoned me once they got better jobs. It's funny what money can do to people. I'm surprised you and Sir Waynworth are very humble. I've worked for many cruel people."

Freya didn't realised she had stopped on her tracks hearing such a sad story. She couldn't imagine the betrayal she must've felt, the hurt and maybe the regret too.

"I'm so sorry. That's very horrible." She said grabbing her hands, attempting to comfort her. "You know, you could still finish school? Some academies accept online learning."

She looked more devasted, she obviously thought of this before. "Online learning is even more expensive than going to the academy physically."

Freya thought it was a very dumb rule, a way to weed out old people from attending. They didn't specifically say that there was an age limit but they made online classes ridiculously expensive knowingly that old people would choose not enroll by physically going to classes.

"I have a good idea about that, don't worry." She winked and continued to walk.

The plan was to get Waynworth Enterprise to give out scholarships for underprivileged and excellent students. That way, Vada could apply or be chosen for one.

Vada didn't know what her plan was, but her hopeful and confident smile made her not doubt her for a second. She was sure she could finish her studies. She hoped the money could make her siblings see her differently.

They stopped in front of a huge door, she rapped her knuckles on the door gently. It would be a while before she was used to pressing the doorbell, it was there but old habits died hard.

The door opened, revealing a woman in her late thirties.

"Come on in, she's been getting ready." Annie ushered them in.

Annie was the maid the Misaki's chose. They originally thought just one would suffice, but realising how big the house was, Kiyoko consulted Hiro and they were working on hiring another one and a driver too.

Even though Freya explicitly told Kiyoko that coming to them was no problem at all if they wanted a ride somewhere, it still felt wrong burdening her with all that.

"This way, I'll make tea while you wait." Annie said joyfully, she'd seen how depressed her madam was when Freya wasn't around. They weren't used to each other just yet, so she didn't know how to make her better.

Vada offered to help but she was shooed away. Annie was a nice woman, but she didn't like sharing her kitchen with anyone else. Something even Kiyoko had to get used to.

"She's so territorial, it's insane." She commented plumping herself on the couch.

Freya smiled. It would be a while before she had a daughter as old as Vada. She tried to imagine what will Alora be like then, she was already a sassy little princess.

"Sorry to have made you wait, I'm ready." She smiled nervously. "I couldn't decide what to wear, ended up resorting to this black dress."

"Madam, it's too cold." Annie came in with a tray and scones.

"I'll wear a winter coat, don't you worry about me. Let's drink and eat, then we can go." Kiyoko took a seat.

"If you're ready, don't worry about little old me, you can be on your way."

"We aren't going to let your hard work go to waste Annie. Join us for this, the officials can wait fifteen minutes." She could be hard headed sometimes.

Annie did as she was told. It was awkward at first but she learned to relax after a while.

Kiyoko is overjoyed his son became friends with Kiro thereby bringing her a friend in Freya. She didn't know what she would've done the last couple of days without her.

Today was the hardest yet, it was the day when she had to go register Jin as dead. Part of her was still very much in denial, finding the love of your life in this world wasn't easy.

When you did, you could only hope to grow old and grey together but her time with Jin was cut very short. They hadn't even reached their 40s yet when he was abruptly yanked from their lives coming back a year later as nothing but a corpse.

'I'll take care of our kids darling, rest easy.' She promised.