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"Elnora? Are you there?"
The figure approached very carefully. She knew that any sudden movement could frighten Elnora and that was the last thing she wanted. Her residence was the most spacious in the entire complex, as befitted her position. According to her pager, Elnora would have to be in the living room, in the private section of the residence. She quickly crossed the hallway that separated the office section from the private section and opened the door. There was Elnora. Or rather, Elnora was asleep in the arms of a person sitting on the couch.
Miorine Rembran, Director of the Benerit Group and the Asticassia School of Technology, member of the United Government Senate and the most powerful woman in the Solar System, crossed the room, quietly approached her wife and daughter, and kissed Suletta Mercury, Benerit Group's chief test pilot and Mobile Suits tactics teacher. It was a slow, loving and sincere kiss.
"Mmmmm. You don't know how much I've missed you both," Suletta whispered with a broad smile on her face.
"When did you get back?" Miorine sat down next to Suletta and rested her head on her shoulder. "Martin hasn't told me anything."
Martin Upmont, former head of Earth House, had become Miorine's secretary. Hiring him had been one of the best decisions the Director had made. The once nervous and indecisive boy had become an excellent administrator.
"Martin told me you were in a very important meeting to discuss the expansion of student places for next term, so I told him not to disturb you," Suletta slipped her left arm behind Miorine's shoulders, while keeping Elnora cradled with her right. "You've worked hard to get more students to come to Asticassia. It was best that you had no distractions."
"And our little tomato? I had left her at the nursery."
"She heard someone say that I was coming in the ship that was landing and she went crazy with joy. Luckily, Lilique had some free time and took her to the landing area to greet Aerial and me. She didn't want to leave until she saw her Aunt's new configuration!"
Lilique Kadoka Lipati was now the School's Director of Operations, in charge of managing the faculty and any needs that arose regarding the School of Technology.
Miorine held back her laughter. In that respect, Elnora had taken after Suletta. She was fascinated by everything about her Aunt Aerial. Being two months away from one of her mothers had been hard on Elnora, even though Suletta had called them every day. Knowing it was so that her Aunt Aerial would receive the modifications her Aunt Nika had designed had put the child's mind at ease quite a bit.
"Aunt Nika is going to make Aunt Aerial prettier!" had said Elnora to Miorine.
Nika Nanaura, Aunt Nika, was the Chief Designer of the Mobile Suit Division of the Benerit Group. Hers had been the designs for the Mobile Suits used in the reconstruction of Earth and the colonies damaged during the Fall of the Corporations, the brief and bloody war that 20 years ago had ended the hegemony of the large corporate groups, and had led to the liberation of Earth and the colonies, and the creation of the United Government. The Benerit Group had been among the few that had survived, after Miorine had taken control of it and joined the insurgents in their fight for freedom. Even so, the Group had been completely restructured and, under the new leadership, its main objective was to maintain the Asticassia School of Technology as a center open to the entire Solar System and to collaborate with the United Government in maintaining an egalitarian and democratic system for all citizens of the Solar System.
"When I think of all that happened because of people like my father. The lives lost, the pain caused, the wasted possibilities to move forward.... And all because of selfishness, greed, and the desire for power." Miorine clenched her fists in anger.
"You are not your father, Miorine Rembran. Do not bear his sins." Suleta kissed her wife on the forehead. "You are his antithesis and every day you prove it a thousand times over. You tear down everything he would want to be his legacy and on its ruins you help rebuild worlds in peace, in hope."
"I know you're right, but it makes my blood boil. Everything we had to fight for and pay for in blood," Miorine sighed and turned to their daughter. "Then I look at her and think that it was worth it. That people like Delling Rembran are worth fighting against. Elnora and her generation will have a better future."
As if she had heard her name, Elnora Mercury-Rembran opened her eyes.
" Mommies..." said Elnora half-asleep and stretched her little arms toward Miorine and Suletta.
Suletta withdrew her left arm from behind Miorine's shoulders and offered her hand to their daughter, while Miorine held out her right hand towards her.
Elnora grabbed each one's little finger, gave them a smile and went back to sleep without letting go of their fingers.
Suletta carefully kissed Elnora on the forehead and turned to Miorine.
"Yes, it was worth it," Suletta said.
Sitting in the company of the woman she loved, had loved for so many years and would never stop loving, Miorine looked silently at their daughter and felt at peace.