Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"And this is your room, Wolf," Song said, opening the wooden door that led into an average sized bedroom.

The house had just been built by the Timbercats, so there were no furniture except for the queen sized bed that was placed in a corner by the window across the room. Two pillows were placed by the headrest, and the rest of the bed was covered in a thick, fluffy blanket.

"If you need anything, just come and get me," Song offered with a gentle smile.

Wolf just nodded, not coming up with a good answer as she inspected the room where she would stay, hopefully forever. The door behind her closed as Song exited the room, leaving Wolf with only her thoughts to keep her company.

It felt weird to have her own bed to sleep in after years of sleeping on the ground or furniture. In her old home in Deathstalker Territory, she had used a bunch of inflatable guitars as a mattress. Now, she had her own bed and her own room. She had privacy again, something that she hadn't had since she met Kipo. Wolf and her friends had always slept close to each other before Lio and Song decided to adopt all of them, but now she would have to sleep all alone in her very own bed. She had let herself get used to other's company. A weird feeling settled in her stomach. She had gotten weak.

Wolf walked up to the bed, wanting to know how it felt to sit on it. Although it was hers, she didn't yet have the courage to actually cuddle into it like Kipo would have done. The young girl sat down on the edge of the bed, crossing her legs as she settled on watching the colorless wall in front of her. She grew bored pretty quickly.

Wolf sighed, she had never been bored before. She had always been too busy to focus on not dying that she never had the time to get bored. But now, when Las Vistas was a safe and friendly place again, the young survivor had no idea what to do anymore. She usually kept herself busy by hunting for food or running from predators.

Kipo and Benson was doing their own things.  Benson was with Troy, like usual, listening to their favorite DJ, whatever his name was. Wolf couldn't remember. Kipo was fixing things around the city. Now when she had taken charge as the saviour if Las Vistas, mutes and humans were constantly asking her for help or advice. Everyone had something to do, except for Wolf.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Can I come in?" Lio asked for permission to enter from the other side of the door.

"Sure," Wolf permitted before her adoptive dad opened the door to her room and stepped inside.

"I wanted to introduce you to some of Kipo's old books that I found, if you're interested in checking then out," Lio explained, gesturing to the pile of books in his arms.

Wolf nodded. She had never really been into books, but she would give them a try if it made Lio happy. The older man sat down beside her on the bed, going through the books that he thought would interest Wolf. "Alice in Wonderland", "Cinderella", "Snow White", and more.

At first, Wolf thought that they were too childish for her, but when Lio briefly summarized the books, she decided to give them a chance. She collected the books that the wanted and put them on her bed until she found a more fitting place for them.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, do you want to join me and Song downstairs?" Lio offered with a warm smile.

It was a soft and mushy smile, like how she imagined a mole person to smile. Wolf wasn't used to that, and it made her feel slightly sick. She was used to cursing, yelling and violence. She had always been treated like any other human, but Lio treated her like a child.

The child she had been trying so hard not to be.

"Um... In a minute, I need to do something really quick..." Wolf answered, not meeting Lio's gaze.

"That's alright, just come down when you're ready." Lio replied, putting a hand on Wolf's shoulder for a second before he stood up and left the room, closing the door after himself.

Wolf watched the spot where he'd sat just a few seconds ago. She caught herself hyperventilating and slowly sank down onto the floor, curling up into a fetal position as she placed her shaking hand where her heart was, feeling as if it would bang out if her chest any second with how fast it was beating. She had to calm herself down immediately, the Deathstalkers could see her!

Wolf shook her head at the thought. She wasn't in Deathstalkers Territory anymore. She didn't need to worry about them. Wolf took slow, shaky breaths as she tried to focus on calming back down.

She didn't understand what was wrong with her. She had never acted like this before and she didn't have a reason to. Lio's gentle smile and the way he always looked at her, reminded her of someone, but she couldn't figure out who.

As Wolf's heart slowest down together with her breathing, something clicked inside her head.

The wolves. The mother of her old wolf-pack had always looked at her with the same eyes. She had looked at Wolf as if she was something valuable that was to be protected. A mix of pity and love - in her case, false love. Lio looked at her like one would to a traumatized little kid who needed someone to love them. Sure, Wolf hadn't had the best life, but she didn't want anyone to look at her with pity. She didn't want anyone to feel sorry for how she turned out. She didn't want to be reminded of... Them...

Wolf shook her head. She didn't need them anymore. None of them were important in her life. She had to forget about them.

But it was easier said than done.

She could remember it all so clearly. The way her foster mom had walked up to her with that gentle smile. The way she had placed her hands on Wolf's shoulders as a gesture to her to go with her. The way her claws had gripped her skin harder as she revealed their hidden intentions.

"But so is your pray."

Wolf let her head rest against her knees as she hugged her legs tighter to the rest of her body. Everything was so confusing to her. She trusted Kipo, Benson, Dave and Mandu, and she wanted to trust Lio and Song too, but it was hard. How could she be sure that they only wanted her best? That they had no hidden intentions for her? She didn't know that, and the unknown scared her, although she didn't want to admit it.

Wolf sighed as she stood up on shaky legs. She couldn't keep letting herself spiral like this. She needed a distraction. She walked up to her door and opened it, leaving the safety of her room before she closed the door and walked down the stairs slowly. She could hear Lio and Song talking in the kitchen. They were laughing and joking about something. Wolf didn't want to interrupt. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, watching Lio and Song's conversation silently. They were different than her wolf-parents, that was for sure. Her wolf-parents had been very strict about etiquette and manners. Everything had to be properly done. Lio and Song were the opposite, Wolf liked that about them. She never had to worry about doing something wrong, because the Oak's would just shrug and keep going.

Song was the one to notice Wolf first. The child looked like a deer caught in a headlight as she and Song made eye contact. Song felt symphathy for the young girl. She wasn't like Kipo, open and forward to everything and everyone. Wolf was careful, quiet and withdrawn. She was the one to hide in a corner during a party. Song understood her, it wasn't easy to just change her way of living and fit in with a new family. Song wanted to do her best to not make the child feel like she didn't belong, because she did!

"Hi, honey! Come sit," Song called over to Wolf, patting the seat next to her. 

Wolf tensed up and gulped as she slowly made her way to the dinner table, deciding to sit as far away from the adults as possible. 

Lio had noticed how Wolf's mood instantly would change around him and Song, comparing to how she was with Kipo and her friends. He wished that Wolf would be more comfortable around him and Song, but he knew that he would only have to give her a little more time to fully settle in their growing family. So many things had changed in just a few months and it was only natural for Wolf to be more withdrawn than normal as she got used to her new way of living.

"Are you hungry yet, sweetie?" Song asked, briefly looking at Wolf before she returned to focusing on her cooking.

"I guess?" Wolf answered, though it was more like a question.

She didn't feel anything at all, which was unusual since she used to be hungry constantly. That was another thing that had changed since Las Vistas turned into a peaceful city. Although she was sure that she wasn't hungry, she didn't want to be rude by saying no.

After a few minutes of silence, Kipo and Benson burst through the door to the house, laughing like maniacs. Wolf couldn't help but flinch at the sudden loudness - they were ringing the dinnerbell!

"Wolf!" Kipo called out to her younger sister, moving over to her just to fall on her bottom on the floor from laughing so much.

Wolf frowned at her older sister. She looked like she couldn't breathe properly with the way her arms were hugging her waist.

"You should have been there; Troy dropped his pancake right on his face when he dried to turn it mid-air!" Kipo tried to explain between giggles before she burst into laughter once again.

Wolf couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of her. She loved seeing her friends happy and peaceful, and she felt calm by knowing that they were all safe now, and she didn't have to worry about any of them dying the second she looked away from them. The only problem was, she wished that she could join them, but it felt like she couldn't. She wasn't like them, she was a survivor and she had never really been anything else. Kipo had taught Wolf how to relax once in a while to have fun, but Wolf had no idea how to have fun without Kipo's help. She was different from her friends, and that made her feel slightly distant from them.

After Kipo's and Benson's laughter died down, the Oak family sat down around the dinner table to eat. Lio had already set the table, and Song was serving her wonderful noodle soup with veggies. Kipo was talking with Benson and Song was talking with Lio. Wolf picked at her food, barely even looking at the rest of her family. She wanted to fit in with them, but she was still different from all of them. She didn't know what she had in common with the Oaks', she was a surface girl and they were burrow people.

Wolf was so deep in her own thoughts that she didn't even hear her family call her name until a pink hand waved in front of her face.

"Wolf? Are you okay?" Kipo asked, frowning worriedly at her little sister.

Wolf blinked twice before she looked up to meet Kipo's gaze.

"Wh-what?" Wolf asked, looking around the table just to see everyone staring at her.

"You weren't answering me," Kipo clarified. "Are you okay? You've barely even touched your food."

Kipo remembered Wolf's third rule of the surface; never pass up a meal. If Wolf wasn't eating, something was definitely troubling her.

"I'm fine." Wolf answered quickly, taking a few bites of her food just to provet a point, although that didn't convince Kipo, though she decided not to push it.

She was sure that Wolf would reveal whatever was troubling her eventually.

"Um, okay... What do you think about your room?" Kipo changed the subject, wanting for Wolf to socialize a bit more.

"It's great. Thank you for letting me have it!" Wolf answered with a tiny smile, looking over at Song who just smiled gently back at her.

"No problem, honey. You're an Oak now!" Song said before she stood up with her plate to clean her dishes.

Wolf took a few more bites before she left her plate by the sink and moved back up to her room. Song's words kept repeating in her head. Was she really an Oak now? A part of the family? For real? She had never been part of a family, not like this at least. She never got to use the wolves' last name when she lived with them. They had always used her first name, something that she had repressed to forget them. But this time, they actually treated her as if she was their real child, and not just some random kid who their daughter befriended.

Later that night, when Wolf had changed her clothes and gotten dressed into Kipo's old, purple pajamas - that was slightly too big for her - she once again replayed Song's words in her head.

Maybe it was worth giving it a shot? She couldn't be sure that they would never hurt her, but she was willing to try. She wanted to have a family. She didn't want to be alone and have to take care of herself anymore. Although she knew that it would take some time for Wolf to see Song and Lio as her real parents, she was willing to stay for her friends' sake. She didn't want to leave them, and she knew that Kipo always did her best to make Wolf feel welcome. Trusting a new family, especially after what happened last time, was scary for her, but she wanted to try. She wanted to trust people again. 

Wrapping her blanket around herself instead of her wolf-pelt, Wolf felt her eyelids drop as she slowly fell asleep with a smile on her face. She came to accept her new name.

Wolf Oak.

Chapter Text

"Bye, dad!" Kipo smiled, hugging her father quickly before she rushed out the door to keep up with Benson and Song who were already waiting for her outside.

It was the last day of school. It had taken the entire autumn and winter to start the Hugo Oak Academy, named after Lio's eldest but deceased son who sacrificed himself to save his sister and the rest of Las Vistas from Dr. Emilia. School had only just started two months before it was time for summer break once again, and everyone was thankful for the short term that had eased everyone into the idea of school, especially for the children who didn't know what it was.

Lio waved to the rest of his family until they were nowhere in sight, before he closed the door and moved to the livingroom where Wolf was patiently waiting for him. His youngest daughter was yet not ready to start school, as she had never even opened a math book in her entire life. She was only 5 years old when she had to survive in her own, and therefore, nobody had been able to reach her the necessities of school.

Benson was able to leave, since he had a slight knowledge of the different subjects and would be able to catch up with the rest of his classmates quickly, especially with Troy's help. Wolf wouldn't be able to pass a single class in two months without knowing the basics of each subjects, except for PE which she was already great at. Lio had worked as a teacher in the Clover burrow, so he had decided to homeschool Wolf until she was ready to go to the academy with the rest of her siblings.

Lio grabbed a few different math books to try and figure out what level of math that Wolf had to start on. He placed the different books in front of the young girl before he sat beside her.

"Alright, kiddo, let the learning begin!" Lio joked with a silly voice, making Wolf smirk as a tiny blush appeared on her cheeks at the nickname.

She would never get used to that.

"We'll start off easy, do you know what plus and minus are?" Lio asked and Wolf nodded.

"Plus is adding and minus is removing," she answered and Lio nodded with a smile as he continued.

"Good! So, if I have 50 apples and we remove 15, how many apples do I have left?" Lio asked, trying to out how Wolf would try to solve the math problem.

"Woah, where did you get so many apples?" Wolf chuckled at her own joke, although Lio just rolled his eyes.

"It was just an example. Focus now, Wolf," Lio answered, waiting for Wolf to try and figure out the answer to his math problem.

"Why are you asking me when you're the teacher?" Wolf continued and Lio sighed in annoyance, reminding himself that Wolf hadn't grown up with any discipline and couldn't know when she had to focus on her task.

"Just try and answer as good as you can," Lio tried, not answering her question to keep her from asking anything else.

He repeated the question and Wolf paused to think, using her fingers to count.

"Uhhh... 35?" Wolf guessed after a while and Lio praised her before he continued.

It was obvious that nobody had taught Wolf about the basics of math. The second he switched to higher numbers, she started to struggle. After an hour or so of studying math, Lio had figured that Wolf's math level was the one if an eight year old. It wasn't very suprising, so Lio decided that he would just have to study a bit with Wolf during the summer break to not let her forget about everything she learned.

He let Wolf take a waterbreak for about tne minutes before they continued right on with a spelling test. Lio was aware that Wolf could read and sound out letters, but he didn't know how well her vocabulary and spelling was. Therefore, he handed her a paper with random questions, like how old she was and who she lived with etc. Wolf answered all of the questions and gave the paper back to Lio. Her vocabulary was good, but she did make several spelling mistakes that he helped her correct. Her handwriting was also a bit hard to read, but he would help her fix it during their lessons together in the future.

With that, Lio decided that Wolf had worked hard enough for the day. It was almost 11AM, so he walked to the kitchen to make lunch for the both of them. Wolf sat on the edge of the table, talking about Lio while he cooked pasta and veggies for the two of them. Lio got to tell Wolf about a few things about himself, and Wolf got to do the same. The young girl enjoyed his company and listening to him talk about his old life at the Clover burrow with Kipo.

Lio was grateful for the alone time with his youngest. It was great to know that she felt safe enough around him to reveal a few things about her life as a survivor, things that could have been used to his advantage if he'd been like her old pack. He vowed to never let her doubt him, and that he would be there for her as long as he could. Only a year ago, he never would have guessed that he'd gain a new daughter, but here he was. He loved the kid to the moon and back and he hoped for their father-daughter relationship to continue to grow, like with him and Kipo. Even though they weren't connected by blood, Wolf would always be his real daughter and he would always be her real father.

The two ate together, joking about anything that came to mind. He loved making his youngest laugh, it was one of the sweetest sounds he knew. It was only an hour or so after that Song came back with the rest of the kids. They all shared their days with each other, and Lio took the change to tell everyone how great Wolf was at school. She did have a long way to go, but he was proud of her either way.

They decided to sit down in the livingroom and watch a movie together to celebrate the first day of summer break. Benson managed to escape to his room with Dave to blast some music by his favorite DJ while texting Troy on his brand new phone. Electricity had just been invented, although everyone knew not to use them too much to not make the sake mistakes that the old world made.

Wolf sat especially close to Lio while they watched the movie, his arm wrapped around her shoulders softly. The young girl went to bed early that night, smiling at her recent memories with her adoptive dad. Her life had taken a drastic turn to the better, and she wished that it would stay that way. 

Chapter Text

The small form of a young human girl, dressed in an old school uniform, dashed through the trees as she panted heavily. The low branches hit her bare face, leaving scars and bruises that burned from the salty tears that ran down from her cheeks. Her legs were already hurting from running, but she didn't dare stopping, not even for one second. She could hear the close howls from the wolves chasing after her. If she stopped, she'd be on the top of the menu tonight.

As she continued to run, she dared turning her head back to see how much distance she had made between herself and the wolves. She wanted to know if she was just imagining the hunt. Unfortunately, the young child was met with sharp fangs, claw and pink eyes chasing after her through the dark. They weren't very far behind her. She needed to find a way to get rid of them, or at least some place to hide.

Since she wasn't keeping an eye on what was in front of her, she ran right into a log, resting on the edge of a small ledge, stumbling over it and through the bushes before she fell of the ledge and onto the ground below. She sat up, feeling her knee pulse after hitting it against a rock on the way down. She sobbed as she stood up on shaky legs, examining her ripped clothing.

The howls got even closer.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the girl started to take off, away from the forest and the place that had already caused her so much pain. She was faced with two of her brothers, standing on all fours as they growled at her. They barred their sharp teeth, ready to pounce in case she tried to escape. In case their prey tried to escape.

She turned around to see if she could go in another direction, but instead, she was faced with the rest of her pack. The ones she'd for so long believe were her family. Her mother were watching with her arms in their usual position behind her back, watching her former foster daughter with hatred. Her father was in a similar position as his sons, standing on all fours as he glared at the little girl with barred teeth and a growl. The boys had created a circle around the human child leaving her with no place to go. Margot stayed close to her mother, watching her former sister with an unreadable expression.

Tears ran down the little human girl's cheeks as she looked up at her family with fear and confusion. She had believed that they loved her and cared for her like their own, while in reality, they had been a part of some silly play, lulling her into a false sense of security while they in secret were plotting her downfall. She held back sobs as she opened her mouth and spoke.

"But... You said we were a pack..." she confronted them, looking over at Margot, disbelief evident in her voice.

She hoped that they weren't actually going to kill her. That it was some sick joke to test her skills. But deep in her mind, she knew that they didn't actually loved her. No one did. Margot had said it herself, that she was a part of their pack, that they were sisters. Sisters didn't do this to each other. Families were supposed to stay together forever.

Margot looked up at her mother, asking for guidance. The older woman silently gestured over to the human girl and Margot got the hint. They were sisters no more. She looked back at the human, narrowing her eyes as she spoke up.

"We're wolves. You're a... Human." Margot said with a growl, getting into the same position as the rest of her family.

The human girl felt something break inside of her as her shoulders slumped. Margot had turned against her. She was a monster just as the rest of her family. She had tricked her! Her sad face turned into something else, like a volcano getting ready to errupt. And errupt it did. With a yell out of anger, the human girl rak towards her former parents and sibling, getting ready to kill them all for hurting her. Her two former brothers attacked her from behind, and she suddenly found herself being pressed into the ledge that she had fallen from. Her eyes were forced shut as she hissed from the pain in her back, feeling sharp rocks pressing into her skin from behind.

When she opened her eyes back up, she found herself face to face with Margot. The human girl barely recognized her friend.

"Margot! You don't need to do this, I know you don't want to, ple-" the little girl's pleading was interrupted when Margot growled loudly and attacked the girl's neck, her fangs stabbing into her skin as she drew blood.

The human girl only managed to let out a short scream before the blood started to fill her airways. The last thing she heard was a chorus of howls before her world went black.

~~~

Wolf woke up from her nightmare, screaming and crying as her sweaty body squirmed frantically on her bed. She could feel someone's hands on her shoulders, holding her down and keeping her from getting up. The lack of space terried Wolf even more. She was convinced that she was still there. The night that was supposed to be her last. She could hear a voice speaking to her, but she couldn't recognize it, no matter how hard she tried. 

"Shhh, shhh. Calm down, honey, mom's here." the voice cooed soothingly.

A hand was brushing over Wolf hair and the ten year old girl started to try and focus on the warm sensation and the voice that was talking to her. As Wolf calmed down from her panic, she started to recognize the voice talking to her, her memories slowly coming back to her. Opening her eyes, she saw Song's face looking back at her with a worried expression. Wolf's screaming and crying turned into sobs and sniffles as finally came back from her nightmare. Or rather, memories.

Seeing Wolf remember where she was again, Song picked up the small child and laid her sideways over her lap, letting Wolf rest her head on Song's shoulder. She started to rock back and forth, bouncing Wolf slightly like a baby as she continued hushing the sobbing girl.

"Mom's here, Wolf. You don't have to be afraid anymore, I'll protect you." Song cooed with a soothing voice, her thumbs moving to rub Wolf's tear-covered cheeks in small circles as her other hand stroked Wolf's messy hair.

"Mom..." Wolf managed to sob out, her face pressed into Song's shoulder as small hands moved to grasp onto her mom's pajama shirt, feeling as if the older woman would disappear from her if she ever let go.

Song felt her heart break, hearing her youngest daughter call her mom for the first time without Kipo's influence. She vowed to be the mom that Wolf needed, she never wanted to let that child down. 

"Shhh, shhh. Everything's okay now." Song whispered, continuing to rock her daughter until she finally calmed down.

Wolf just wanted to be held for once, although she would never admit it. The need of someone else presence had never entered her mind, but now when it did, she was thankful that Song was there with her. She clung to the older woman with all of her strength, her breath hitchy and shaky. Song was content with just holding her daughter closely, knowing that she really needed it after the, obviously, terrifying nightmare that she'd had. Still, she needed to know what the nightmare was about. She needed to help Wolf heal. Wolf refused to even mention what her nightmare had been about, but Song didn't back down this time.

"Mom's her, okay? I just want to help you, but I can't do that if you don't tell me. You can trust me." Song promised, rubbing Wolf's back in circles with her palm as she waited for an answer.

It took a few minutes, but Wolf eventually managed to summarize her nightmare, at least enough for Song to get a brief picture of what had happened. She kissed Wolf's sweaty forehead, praising her for being so brave.

"Everything's okay now, baby. The wolves are gone and they'll never hurt you ever again. I won't let them." Song soothed.

"Promise?" Wolf asked, doubting that Song would keep her word if she risked to get hurt herself to save Wolf.

"I promise." Song promised, picking Wolf up swiftly, carrying Wolf downstairs to give the young girl a glass of milk, knowing that it always calmed Kipo down enough to get her to fall asleep.

Wolf refused to go back to her room and sleep alone, not wanting to risk having another nightmare, so Song permitted Wolf to sleep in hers and Lio's bed with them for the night. Lio was awake, waiting for his wife to come back. He had woken up when Song had been busy calming Wolf down, but eventually decided not to check on them since he didn't want to stress Wolf out by another person being there. It appeared that he wasn't needed, as Wolf was on the edge of falling asleep in Song's arms.

Song laid Wolf down between her and Lio, tucking her in under the blanket as she also got into the bed. Lio looked at hos wife with a raised eyebrow, wanting an explanation as to why Wolf didn't want to sleep in her own bed. She had never wanted to even enter their room, so this was a very big step in such a short amount of time. The tracks of tears on Wolf's cheeks proved that something had happened, and Lio wanted to know so that he could be there for his youngest if she needed him. Song mouthed 'later' as she busied herself with fussing over Wolf and making sure that the young girl was comfortable.

When Wolf fell asleep, Song kissed her cheeks and turned to Lio, explaining what had happened to her husband. Lio listened closely, regretting not being there for his daughter when she needed him. At least everything worked out. Song and Lio ended the conversation after discussing ways to avoid triggering Wolf's trauma that caused her nightmares. Song would maybe habee to get into contact with a child therapist if Wolf didn't get any better.

With the conversation ended, Song and Lio cuddled close with Wolf between them, giving her all the love she desperately needed in form of kisses and hugs. Eventually, the two fell asleep, holding Wolf closely as if to protect her in their sleep.

And Wolf didn't have any more nightmares.

Chapter Text

After Wolf's nightmare last night, Song wanted to do something special for her youngest daughter, just for the two of them. She was planning to get to know Wolf a bit more, and maybe find an activity that they could bond over. Therefore, she would try to fix Wolf's hair while Lio took the rest of the family to the Hugo Oak Cinema that just had been created close to the Newton Wolves' Laboratory.

"Bye, girls, we'll be back in a few hours," Lio smiled, hugging Wolf, who had come to accept some affection, and kissing his wife who just giggled at the action.

"Bye, Lio," Wolf answered with a wave, not ready to call him 'dad' just yet.

As the rest of the family went on their way to watch the movie, Song wrapped her arm around Wolf's shoulders gently and led the younger girl to the bathroom where they would fix her messy hair that surely hadn't been brushed or washed in quite some time.

Wolf was surprised that Song even cared about her hair, but since she was Kipo's mom, she supposed that it wasn't that questionable. She could barely run a hand through her hair anymore, without it getting stuck in the multiple knots that had formed during all those years that she had neglected her health and hygiene. It would be nice if someone cared for her hair for once, and she had been very happy when Song had suggested it.

Song had Wolf take a shower to wash her hair first, with the help of Song since Wolf had no idea how to wash her hair by herself. She kept a towel wrapped around her the entire time as Song got most of the dirt out of her hair.

When Wolf got out of the shower, Song added a conditioner to her hair to make it slightly more smooth and easier to brush.

"Alright, let's fix your hair, honey!" Song said cheerfully, grabbing a brush that was specifically made for Wolf's hair type.

She started brushing slowly, brushing from the top of her head, all the way to the tips. She expected Wolf to flinch at the slight pulling of her hair, but Wolf didn't even move a muscle. Kipo's hair had only a few knots in it during the mornings, and when Song tried to brush the 13-year-old's hair, she'd say 'ouch' every few seconds. Wolf's silence was slightly worrying to Song, as she knew how the girl had been raised. Feeling pain was a weakness.

"You know, Wolf? You're allowed to let me know if it hurts, I know that getting your hair fixed after all these years must hurt a lot," Song attempt ed to reassure her daughter, sectioning Wolf's hair on the sides to start braiding her hair when she'd finished brushing.

"It doesn't hurt," Wolf was quick to respond, refusing to answer to any of Song's attempts to get her to admit that it hurt when she pulled on the many knots that was getting untangled after several years of neglect.

Song tried to start a conversation with Wolf as she did her hair, but it was harder than she thought. The almost 11-year-old girl was not an open book and getting that child to talk about herself was an almost impossible task.

Wolf had slowly learned to accept that Lio and Song saw her as their daughter. Still, she had a hard time accepting them as her parents. Kipo didn't know about that yet. Wolf was still waiting for either adult to snap at her, decide that she was too much if a problem to handle and kick her out just like everybody else. While none of them showed signs of ever do that to a child, her old family had seemed innocent too. Until they weren't.

Wolf had noticed that on every formal paper where she was mentioned, she was referred to as Wolf Oak. She got to use their last name, as if she was really a part of their family, but she knew that she never would be. She wasn't born there, she was really just a random kid who Kipo had decided to take with her one day and Lio and Song were nice enough to not leave a child on their own.

Of course, Wolf felt welcomed in the house, Kipo always made sure of it. That still didn't mean that Wolf wasn't questioning if she really had gotten the role as the youngest child in the Oak family. Everything was confusing to her, but at least she knew how to protect herself until she was sure of her place in their family. 

Not to give away any information that could make her vulnerable in the future.

Wolf was lost in her thoughts and she barely noticed when Song finally finished with her new hairstyle.

"So, what do you think?" Song asked excitedly, bringing Wolf back to the present.

The young girl grabbed a mirror to get a good look on her hair, and the result impressed her. Her hair used to be a complete mess, but now she looked totally different. She didn't look like some dirty orphan anymore, she looked like a normal kid. Song had had to cut bits and pieces of the uneven parts of her hair, and it felt so much fresher and cleaner than before. Wolf was thankful that Song had taken her time to do something nice for her, especially if she wasn't going to stay later on.

"I... I like it," Wolf revealed, barely louder than a whisper as she tried to hold back a blush on her cheeks. "Thank you."

"No problem at all, honey!" Song answered, hugging Wolf briefly before she let her youngest child admire herself in one of the bigger mirrors in the hallway.

Her hair had been braided tightly, all the way to the back of her head where the hair had been collected into a ball of afro hair, no longer growing all over the place.

Hearing Song preparing the kitchen to make dinner, Wolf decided to offer to help her as a way to pay back to Song for doing her hair. Song accepted the offer and let Wolf set the table and cut the vegetables. It meant a lot to Wolf that Song trusted her with a knife, unlike Lio who for the most part treated her like a child and barely let her look at anything sharp in the house.

"Hey, Wolf?" Song spoke up as Wolf put the vegetables in a pan. 

"Hm?" she answered, putting away the knife. 

"What about we do something fun every weekend together, like mother-daughter bonding time?" Song suggested happily, wanting to spend more time with Wolf and get to know her.

Wolf paused briefly at the question. Mother-daughter time. Things were getting more real now. Song seemed to truly see her as her daughter. Wolf supposed that it wouldn't hurt to spend some time with her. She could play the role as their youngest daughter, someone innocent who did normal things like other ten year old, because that was surely what Song wanted from her. For her to just be normal. Wolf wasn't sure if she could do that, but she would at least try while she had the chance to.

"That would be nice," Wolf answered politely with a tiny smile on her lips.

Song smiled at Wofl in return before the two of them returned to cooking the food. When it was all finished, the two sat down by the dinner table, beside each other, and talked about what they would be doing every weekend. Song suggested buying icecream, going to the newly made Las Vistas Pool or go to the park together. Wolf didn't mind any of them, listening to Song's plans as she ate.

When they finished their dinner, they put the leftovers in the fridge for the rest of the family before they did the dishes.

"Hey, Wolf? I know that you've barely touched any of the stuff in your room. Can't we check them out together before the others comes home?" Song suggested and Wolf shrugged, not minding checking out her room.

Song helped Wolf go through her new books that Lio had gotten her, putting them up in the bookshelf om the opposite side of her bed. They sorted them all out and Song told Wolf what each of them was about. They didn't sound too bad.

It didn't take long before the rest of the family came back home from the movie. They all complimented Wolf for her new hairstyle, and Song for doing her hair. Wolf had to keep herself from blushing at the compliments since she was not used to all that affection.

They settled down in the sofa and Wolf listened as they talked about the movie they watched and what it was about.

"You should have come with us, it was so good!" Kipo said and Wolf answered with a shrug.

She didn't regret spending the day with Song. Both of them had a lot to catch up on regarding being a family. Song hadn't had her daughter for 13 years and Wolf hadn't had parents since she was five.

Later that night, Song tucked Wolf under her bedsheets. Wolf yawned tiredly as she relaxed under the warm covers.

"Would it be okay if I read you a story?" Song asked gently.

Wolf supposed that it wouldn't hurt if Song read her a story. While it was too childish for someone her age, she just wanted to be a normal kid for once. She was too tired to resist anyway.

"Fine," Wolf muttered tiredly and Song quickly walked up to the bookshelf to grab one of the unopened books that Wolf had yet to read.

She settled down on Snow White, figuring that Wolf would be asleep any minute anyway. Song sat down on the edge of the bed, opening the book as she began to read. It didn't take many minutes before Wolf fell asleep and Song stopped reading. She smiled at the young child in the bed. She looked a lot younger while she was asleep, no hurt, anger or fear visible in her soft features.

Song brushed away some of Wolf's loose hair from herself, leaning down to kiss her forehead softly before she left the room, barely closing the door after her.

While Wolf wasn't her daughter by blood, she would never regret bringing her to her home to be her daughter. She loved that child to bits and she couldn't wait for their bond to grow. She didn't want to change a thing. 

Chapter Text

Wolf was lying on her tummy on her bed, doing some of the homework that Lio had asked her to do earlier that day. She was finally getting better at math, now at the level of a nine year old. Before she moved in with the Oak's, she'd only known that math was about numbers.

A bowl of popcorn laid beside her and she grabben a handful every other minute to slowly snack on.

She was just about to move to the next page when her door opened and Kipo stepped inside. She had a bright smile on her face, just like usual.

"What's up?" Wolf asked, turning back to her math book.

Maybe she could impress her dad if she did one page all on her own...

"It's a sunny day and I'm not gonna waste it by staying in here. Let's have a sister day, only you and me!" Kipo said cheerfully, clapping her hands as she jumped in one spot.

"Let me just finish this..." Wolf mumbled, trying to figure out the answer to a math problem.

Kipo gently took the math book away from Wolf, recieving a raised eyebrow from her little sister.

"You can study later, let's go to the park and just have fun!" Kipo crossed her arms, seemingly already having planned the entire day for the two of them.

"Ugh, fine", Wolf rollen her eyes teasingly, trying to hold back a smirk as she let Kipo pull her out of bed and down the stairs to the hallway.

It was warm enough outside that they wouldn't need a jacket, so the two sisters quickly grabbed their own pair of shoes, something that Wolf was still getting used to after five years of walking barefoot, before they left the house.

"What do you wanna do in the park?" Kipo asked, recieving a shrug from Wolf.

She had never been there before, and she had no idea how it looked like. She prefered to go to the woods than to hang out in a park filled with mutes and humans. She liked the silence and peace of the woods.

"I might have an idea or two", Kipo winked, apparently not wanting to tell Wolf just yet.

She pushed Wolf from behind, wanting her to go faster. Wolf let out a giggle at her impatient sister, almost deciding to walk in slowmotion before she decided that it'd be too childish.

Eventually, they arrived at the park. Just like Wolf had expected, there were lots of people. Some of them were having picnics in the grass. Some were resting on the benches that were placed by the sidewalk. Some children, mutes and humans alike, were playing by the made up lake in the very middle of the park. Trees were planted here and there and flowers painted the ground into many different colors. It was beautiful.

"Let's go over there", Kipo pointed across the sandy road, where a bunch of flowers had been planted in their own big spot.

The two sisters sat down in the very middle of it, enjoying all the different colors that surrounded them. The smelled of flowers was strong, and Kipo's jaguar nose activated. The sense of all the flowers overwhelmed her sensitive nose, and she let out a sneeze. Wolf couldn't do anything but grin.

When Kipo looked back at her, her eyes had turned pink. Wolf looked deep into the pink eyes with a slight frown. Deja vu.

~~~

A little human girl with her wolf-friend were sitting by the bushes where daisies grew right outside the house. They were smiling, giggling.

"Am I pretty?" the human girl asked, looking at her mute friend.

She had put two daisies above her ears, which kept them in place.

"Yeah, what about me?" the mute wolf replied, putting two daisies on her eyes, which barely covered them.

She stuck her tongue out and the little human laughed. Her friend looked funny.

"You look silly!"

The two started laughing again, oblivious to the female adult wolf watching them from the kitchen window.

The human girl picked up one of the flowers on her ears, sniffing them.

"They smell good. Kinda like mom's perfume!" she commented.

"Mom says she doesn't use perfume, but I know she's lying. Everyday, one of my flowers disappear and the boys don't care about flower so it couldn't be any of them", the wolf child revealed with a smile.

"We'll have to keep an eye on her. We'll catch her!" the human planned with a smirk.

"Totally!" the wolf answered, and the two looked at each other with a smile.

~~~

The smile of the mute wolf blended into Kipo's face. This time though, her face had returned into human.

"Is everything okay? You seemed to zone out for a bit", Kipo asked, worry in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine", Wolf quickly replied.

She couldn't let Kipo know that she was experiencing flashbacks again. She didn't want her to worry or to tell their mom and dad. If she pretended like it didn't exist, maybe it would disappear on its' own.

"I know what might cheer you up!" Kipo spoke up after a minute of silence, "flower bracelets! We can use any flower we want and show mom and dad when we get back home!"

Kipo looked downwards to her sister, expecting her to smile at Kipo's reaction. Instead, she saw Wolf with her eyes clamped shut, her breathing picking up as she started to shake. She realized her mistake. She had triggered one one of Wolf's memories from her time with the wolves. Kipo felt so stupid. How could she have forgotten. She frowned, trying to wrap an arm around her sister to comfort her. She was met with a flinch as Wolf tried to get up to run away. She didn't seem to realize where she was or what was going on. It was as if Wolf wasn't really there.

"Don't touch me!" Wolf hissed when Kipo grabbed her arm to keep her from running away.

"Wolf, it's okay, you're safe. You're with me, remember? Kipo, your sister?" Kipo tried to pull Wolf back to sit beside her, but Wolf took it as an attack and tried to shield herself.

"N-no, sisters hurt me... M-Margot hurt me..." Wolf mumbled, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall and failed.

The younger Oak let out a sob as she opened her eyes to meet Kipo's. She seemed to come back to the present, recognizing Kipo instead of Margot. Wolf fell to her knees, breaking down into sobs as Kipo quickly wrapped her arms around her little sister, holding her close as she pulled her into her lap. 

"Everything will be okay, you're safe", Kipo promised, rocking them from side to side, just like her dad used to do whenever she got stressed up.

It seemed to have the same calming effect on Wolf as on herself, and the younger girl's sobs soon turned into soft sniffles.

Kipo just sat in the dirt, feeling her arms and legs cramp up slowly by the weight on her lap. Wolf had managed to gain some weight since she moved in with the Oak's, which was a very good sign. She let her younger sister cling to her however long she needed. After a while, Wolf pulled away. There was a wet spot on Kipo's shirt from all the tears, but she didn't mind as long as she could make her little sister feel good.

Wolf was quiet for a while, but eventually spoke up.

"I'm sorry for ruining sister day..." Wolf mumbled out, guilt evident in her voice.

"No, no, no, Wolf! You didn't ruin anything at all! I made a mistake, and I apologize for triggering you", Kipo quickly reassured her sister, who didn't really believe her but decided not to dwell on it.

Instead, Wolf merely nodded, not meeting Kipo's eyes. She wiped her wet cheeks with her wrist. 

"Hey, do you wanna talk about what happened?" Kipo asked softly.

"I-... I just... I don't know if I can do this while sister thing, it just reminds me of...her..." Wolf revealed.

Everything had been easier when they were just best friends. The first time Kipo had pronounced them as sisters, Wolf had reacted negatively. Margot had been her sister, and she had hurt her. Deep inside, Wolf knew that Kipo would never do what Margot did to her, but she still had a hard time letting go of the past. It was easy to not get hurt if she never trusted anyone.

"You know that I would never hurt you, right?" Kipo confirmed Wolf's thoughts and Wolf nodded as a reply.

"I know... It's just stupid..." Wolf sighed.

"No it's not. What you had to go through was horrible, and while I want you to trust me, I know it will take time. We're going at your pace, Wolf, not anyone elses."

"It's just... I thought I had gotten over it! I threw away my cape! I became friends with mutes and I don't mind them anymore. I thought I was fixed!" Wolf vented, tears growing in her eyes again.

She just felt broken.

"Trauma doesn't heal over one night. It will always be a part of you, you've just got to find better ways to cope with it."

Wolf didn't say anything more.

"You know what? I think it'd be a good idea if you started therapy", Kipo suggested, quickly getting a reaction out of Wolf.

The younger girl sat up, looking at Kipo with horror in her eyes. She didn't want to go to therapy. She could deal with everything herself. Therapy was for stupid people who couldn't handle their own problems. Wolf didn't need help. She didn't need anyone to tell her how to live her life. And worst of all, she didn't want to reveal her trauma to someone else. A therapist had power over her. She didn't like that.

"No, I don't need it! I'm fine!" Wolf tried to convince her older sister, but her mind was already made up.

"You need it Wolf, whether you like it or not. You'll feel much better talking to someone who understands you and knows how to help you", Kipo explained, but Wolf wouldn't listen.

"Bu-" she started but was interrupted.

"Alright, how about this; you try it once, and if you don't like it, we'll stop. I just want what's best for you", Kipo suggested and Wolf finally nodded with a sigh.

Wolf leaned onto Kipo's shoulder, closing her eyes for a minute. She was exhausted already. The two sisters sat there for a few minutes before they got up and made their back home. Kipo hoped that everything would be alright.

Chapter Text

Wolf? Are you awake?" Kipo whispered, nudging her little sister gently.

Wolf groaned sleepily, turning her back on her sister to go back to sleep. She curled up tighter and hid her face in her pillow.

"Wolf, do you know what day it is today?" Kipo continued.

Wolf knew full well what day it was. Therapy day. It had been two weeks since Wolf had a panic attack during her and Kipo's sister day. As soon as they had made it back home, Kipo had told their mom about what happened. Song and Lio decided that Wolf would have to start therapy, which Wolf wasn't happy about. She tried to make them change their minds, but it had been impossible. Song had went to the local child therapist, Laura Hawk, and scheduled a session for Wolf two weeks from then.

Wolf had anxiously counted down the days, hoping for it to be cancelled so she could stop worrying. Unfortunately for her, the universe seemed to be against her. No appointments had been cancelled. Laura had even made sure to get the earliest session possible to make sure that Wolf would get the help she deserved.

Groaning in agony, Wolf tried to pull the blanket back over her head to hide. Maybe if she ignored Kipo long enough, she would decide that she wasn't worth all the trouble for one therapy session. Sadly, Kipo was prepared for Wolf's reluctance. She forced the warm blanket off of her younger sister, throwing it onto the floor just out of reach in case Wolf would try grabbing it again.

"Come on, let's get ready. We don't have all day", Kipo said, determined to get Wolf the help she needed to get over her trauma.

"I don't want to", Wolf mumbled into her pillow.

She didn't want to reveal her entire life story to some stranger. She didn't need it. Going to a therapist would just feel weird. She was fine, but going to therapy would prove otherwise. That she was not fine. That despite knowing that Margot would never get close to hurting her again, she couldn't stop seeing her in her nightmares. Going to therapy would only prove that there was something wrong with her. Something that needed to be fixed. Wolf didn't want to get into all that. If she acted like it didn't exist, it couldn't bother her. That was how she always had dealt with things.

"I know you don't want to, but you need it. I've already told you that you only need to go once if you completely hate it after one session", Kipo tried to reassure Wolf, who still wouldn't get out of bed.

Both of them were very stubborn about this.

Wolf just groaned even louder, realizing that she wouldn't get to slip out of the situation no matter how much she begged. Sitting up, moving her braided hair out of her face, she glared at Kipo one last time before asking her to leave so she could get dressed. Kipo smiled victoriously before leaving the room, closing the door after her. Walking up to her almost empty wardrobe, Wolf pulled out a red hoodie and a pair of grey sweatpants that Song bought her the first time she forced Wolf to go shopping with her. After one hour of looking at ugly dresses and crop tops that other kids wore around her age, she had blatantly refused to try anything on except those two pieces of clothing.

Figuring that they would do for a therapy session, Wolf got out of her pajamas and got dressed before dragging her feet to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Lio and Song were very determined to keep Wolf's teeth healthy, especially after the five years of neglect they had to endure.

Exiting the bathroom, Wolf walked downstairs to find Kipo in the hallway, already wearing her shoes.

"What about breakfast?" Wolf asked, hoping to slow down the process of going to therapy by adding more streps to her routine.

"We'll get some breakfast sandwiches on the way. Chop chop, get your shoes on!" Kipo hurried.

Rolling her eyes, Wolf put her sneakers on. Neither Lio or Song were home as they were both out running errands, which was why Kipo had to be the one to take her sister to therapy for the first time. Wolf liked the normality that Kipo brought as they walked to the shop that sold breakfast sandwiches at the market. Kipo talked about everything and everyone, which calmed Wolf's nerves just a little bit since she was able to focus on anything but the therapy session. If Lio had been the one to take her, he would have awkwardly tired to convince her not to be nervous. Song would have listed all the good things about going to therapy and why it was good for her. While Wolf would always appreciate her parents' effort at trying to calm her, their way of calming her was not what she needed.

Wolf barely noticed that she held a sandwich in her hand, too deep in her own thoughts to notice that the therapy building was just around the corner. Kipo gently reminded Wolf to start eating, which pulled her back to the present. She started to get slightly nervous, forcing herself to eat while feeling as if her tummy was going to spill all of its' insides out because of nervousness. She stopped reacting to anything that Kipo said, merely replying with 'mhm' after every few questions. Kipo eventually stopped talking, sensing Wolf's stress.

After a few more minutes of walking, they stopped right outside the small building where Laura had her therapy sessions. Patting Wolf's back reassuringly, Kipo looked down at her.

"Do you want me to join you, or do you want to talk to her all by yourself?" she asked, wanting to make Wolf feel comfortable.

Wolf merely shrugged, not knowing what to answer. While she didn't feel safe being alone with a complete stranger, she also didn't want Kipo to be there in case she had to show vulnerability.

"I think I'll just wait for you outside. If you need me, you can always ask Laura to get me", Kipo decided after realizing that Wolf was not going to answer verbally.

The two sisters entered the building, walking up to the female receptionist to check Wolf in. Wolf hid behind Kipo, trying to make herself as invisible as possible.

"Hello, Wolf Oak's here for her 9AM appointment", Kipo informed the receptionist, gesturing for Wolf, much to her dismay, who looked like she would have rather been anywhere else but right there.

"I'll inform Laura that you're here. Feel free to take a seat in the waiting room until she comes to get you", the receptionist answered formally, leaving to tell Laura.

The waitinroom was empty besides for a male snake with a little boy snake reading a newspaper that had seen its' best days. Wolf sat down in a corner, staring into the colorful wall until a woman with brown, straight hair and glasses entered the room.

"Wolf Oak?" she called out and Wolf just wanted to disappear, maybe tell her that there was nobody in the room by that name.

Instead, Kipo gave Wolf a nudge to stand up which she did. She looked back at her sister who gave her a smile, which she didn't return, and a thumbs up.

"You're gonna do great! I'll wait here for you until you're done", Kipo promised, and with that, Wolf walked up to Laura who led her to a nearby room.

It didn't look like how Wolf had expected it. It was colorful and childish, clearly meant to cheer up whatever child who had to go to therapy. There were books on child psychology in a bookshelf on the wall beside the door and there were several different types of toys, some meant for children younger than Wolf and some meant for children of her own age. Laura sat down on an armchair, picking up a notepad and a pen as Wolf sat down on the large sofa beside a window that led outside where she would much rather be.

"Hello, Wolf. My name's Dr. Hawk. We're going to be seeing each other every once in a while to try and find ways to make you feel better. You're free to talk about anything with me. Since this is our first time meeting, we'll only be focusing on getting to know each other and make you feel comfortable. How does that sound?" Laura spoke and all Wolf could do was nod.

She had expected her to ask sensitive questions as soon as the door closed, but this felt a lot better.

"Good. What I usually do when I meet a new patient, is to draw family portraits. Would that be okay with you?" Laura asked, and after a minute of thinking, Wolf nodded silently.

Drawing wouldn't reveal anything vulnerable. Plus, she didn't want to get in trouble on her first session.

Laura put two papers on the big, round table between them, one for herself and one for Wolf. A box of crayons laid between them and Wolf grabbed her first crayon. She had never been good at drawing. It was never an important skill to know how to draw when she had to focus on surviving all the time. Her drawing skills were that of a five year old. She drew Kipo, Benson, Song, Lio, Dave and Mandu. Glancing on Laura's drawing, which was way better than hers, there were only two people covering the white piece of paper. An adult man with a beard and a blonde little girl with a ponytail.

"Are you done?" Laura asked after noticing that Wolf's right hand had stopped moving.

"Mhm", Wolf answered, glancing at the clock.

"Can I see it?" Laura asked and Wolf pushed the paper towards the older woman, letting her take the paper.

She smiled at the childish drawing of Wolf's weird little family. Her drawing skills were clearly not developmentally good for her age. Laura figured that Wolf had dealt with a lot of trauma at a very young age, based off of her drawing.

"Who's all these people?" Laura asked, handing the drawing back to Wolf.

"That's Kipo, my sister", Wolf pointed to the pink figure, holding a blue chunk that Laura believed looked like a pig, besides the one that was supposed to resemble Wolf herself. "That's mom and dad", Wolf continued, pointing at the two larger figures that seemed to be holding hands, placed on Kipo's right side.

On the other side of Wolf's figure was a tall looking boy, holding hands with a green and purple oval blob.

"That's Benson and Dave. Dave's a bug", Wolf clarified before putting the drawing down.

"That's a very nice family that you have!" Laura complimented.

Inspecting the drawing, Laura noticed that Kipo seemed to be the one closest with Wolf. She was right beside her in the drawing, and she had went with her to the session. Their parents were on Kipo's side, indicating that they would be closer to Kipo than the rest of the family. Benson and Dave had been drawn slightly further away from Wolf than Kipo. Laura figured that Wolf wasn't as clsoe with her brother as with her sister. 

"What about yours?" Wolf asked, speaking up by herself for the first time during the entire session which Laura was very proud of.

She smiled at her own painting, lifting it up for Wolf to see.

"That's my husband, Mars and my daughter Sasha. She's slightly younger than you", Laura answered, letting Wolf stare at the drawing for a while before she put it down.

Laura suggested for Wolf to make another drawing, whatever she wanted this time. Laura asked her about her routine at home, what she liked to do on her spare time and what she was excited for in the future. Wolf ended up drawing a purple flower, although it looked slightly weird because of her lack of experience in drawing flowers, and drawing overall.

Laura checked the clock, realizing that their session was over.

"Wolf, you know what? It's 9:30, which means that we have to start wrapping up. How did you feel about your first session?" Laura asked.

"Good", Wolf answered shyly, realizing that the session has gone by faster than she would have liked.

"I'm glad to hear that. Let's go back to Kipo. I'll schedule a new appointment if you'd like to come back. I'll have a chat with your mom about it in the evening", Laura offered and Wolf nodded, picking up her drawings to bring home with her.

Laura took her back out to the waiting room where Kipo was reading one of the children's books. She smiled when she saw Wolf walk into the room, seemingly a lot more relaxed than when she first entered the building. Kipo rushed up to Wolf to give her a hug, telling her that she had been very brave for going to her first therapy session.

"How did it go?" Kipo asked Laura who was watching the sisters with a smile on her face.

"It went very well. I believe I'll be seeing Wolf again in a few weeks", Laura answered and Kipo beemed happily.

After exchanging their goodbyes, Kipo and Wolf made their way back home. Kipo asked Wolf what they did and Wolf showed her the drawings that she had made. Kipo complimented her for her cute drawings, especially the family portrait.

Wolf just smiled in return. She knew that Song would schedule another appointment for a few weeks from then, and Wolf didn't feel panicked or anxious about it anymore.

Maybe therapy wasn't that bad.

Chapter Text

Wolf woke up in the middle of the night, having the feeling that something was wrong, although she couldn't put her finger on it.

After sitting up in the bed, she soon realized what was wrong. Her bed was wet. And so was her pajamas. She recognized the smell of urine soon after. To her horror, she had wet herself in her sleep.

She had no idea what to do next. She supposed that the smartest thing would be to go to the bathroom with everything that was wet and get it cleaned up, but she had no idea how the washing machine worked. She'd never used one before.

On the surface, smelling like anything but nature would get you caught. Whenever she had gotten dirty, she would either just live with it, or get a new piece of clothing that wasn't completely ruined already.

Taking a deep breath to pull herself together, Wolf dragged herself out of bed and balled the sheets up into her arms before making her way to the bathroom. She would just have to figure it all out herself.

She barely took notice of the sounds she made as she walked to the bathroom with a bunch of wet sheets in her face. The tapping of her feet as she walked managed to wake Kipo up.

The young teen was way too tired to get out of bed and check who was wandering in the halls, figuring that who ever it was had only gotten up to go to the bathroom. However, when she didn't hear any flush, water, or steps of the person returning to her room, she grew concerned. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to check, Kipo got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom.

She found Wolf standing there with a pile of sheets in her arms, seemingly not knowing what to do with it. She seemed confused and scared, which worried Kipo.

"Wolf? What are you doing with your sheets?" Kipo's sudden voice had Wolf flinch as she turned around quickly, dropping the sheets on the floor in the process.

Kipo's jaguar nose picked up the scent of urine, and she quickly put the pieces together.

"Did you... Wet the bed?" Kipo asked, no judgement evident in her voice.

However, that's not what Wolf registered. Her face was red in embarrassment and she wished for the ground to swallow her whole. Tears gathered in her eyes as she thought about what Lio and Song would say. Who would want a daughter who peed herself and made a mess? She'd hoped to be able to clean up her own mess before anyone would he noticed, but it was too late. She could imagine Kipo being completely disgusted, and Wolf felt bad for losing control over her body, despite being asleep when it happened. When Kipo saw the tears in Wolf's eyes, she immediately pulled her little sister into a hug.

"No, please don't cry, Wolf. I'm not mad at you, I promise!" Kipo tried to convince her sister, who tried her hardest to keep the tears at bay.

Kipo picked up the pile of sheets on the floor and put them in the washing machine before turning it on. She had Wolf go back to her room to grab new underwear and pajamas before she let her use the bathroom to get dressed. Kipo made sure that the rest of the bed wasn't wet before she put new sheets on it and a new blanket.

Wolf laid down in her bed and Kipo tucked her in, staying by her side until she fell asleep. Kipo whispered her 'goodbye' before she left the room, closing the door after her before she went back to sleep.

~~~

At the end of breakfast the next morning, after Benson and Dave had left the table, Kipo decided to inform their parents about what had happened during the night. She was bracing herself for a sour reaction from Wolf who was sitting across from her.

"Mom, dad?" Kipo spoke up, immediately gaining their attention, "last night, Wolf wet the bed."

Wolf looked up from her unfinished food, staring at Kipo as if she was crazy. She tried to gesture for her to stop talking, but Kipo desperately wanted to help her.

"I helped her wash everything up and got her back into bed," Kipo continued and Wolf looked about ready to tear up again.

She couldn't believe that Kipo would bail on her like that. She was sure that Song and Lio would be disgusted with her.

"Oh, really?" Song asked and Kipo nodded.

Song sat down on the hair beside Wolf, noticing the way her youngest child tensed up, expecting to be yelled at. She placed a comforting hand on Wolf's shoulder, sending her a comforting smile.

"It's okay, honey. Don't worry about it. I'm sure it's just a one-time thing. We're not mad at you!" Song reassured and Wolf merely nodded, still feeling hurt at the fact that Kipo told on her.

"Plus, everyone does it once in a while, even adults. You don't need to be embarrassed", Lio added, remembering all of the times he'd woken up in a wet bed because he'd forgotten to use the bathroom before going to bed.

"Okay..." Wolf mumbled, going back to picking at her food.

~~~

The next night, Wolf woke up once again. She was once again lying in a pool of her own urine. Tearing up, Wolf got out of bed and piled her wet sheets together into a ball. She had to waddle to Kipo's bedroom, uncomfortable with the wet pants rubbing against her skin. She knocked on Kipo's door, hoping that her big sister would help her like the previous night.

Soon enough, Kipo opened the door. She was met with a tear-eyed ten year old with a pile of sheets in her arms, silently begging for help.

"It's okay, let's get everything cleaned up," Kipo soothed, leading Wolf to the bathroom.

While Kipo got the sheets and Wolf's wet clothing into the washing machine, Wolf went to her room to put on a new pajamas. She was lucky that she had several options of pajamas.

When Wolf was dressed, she let Kipo back into her room to help her get new sheets on the bed. Afterwards, Wolf got back into her bed, quickly falling back asleep with Kipo on her side. When Kipo was sure that Wolf was deeply asleep, she left her bedroom and went to her parents' bedroom to wake them up.

"K-Kipo? Is everything okay?" Lio yawned as he was woken up in the middle of the night.

"Not really. Wolf wet the bed again. I already helped her and she's back asleep. I just wanted to let you know," Kipo explained and Lio gave Song a look.

If it'd happened twice, there was a good chance that Wolf's bedwetting would become a regular thing. Neither of them knew why, but they would hopefully find out sooner or later. Until then, they would have to buy some sort of protection for the bed.

"Thanks for letting us know. We'll put something together in the morning," Song answered and Kipo nodded, returning to her bedroom.

Lio sighed as he laid back down on the bed, his wife doing the same. He just hoped that whatever was wrong with Wolf could be fixed. He didn't want his child to suffer.

~~~

"Wolf, we're going to get covers for your bed, just in case you keep wetting the bed during the night. We might as well call Laura and see if she knows what's going on," Song informed her youngest the next day after breakfast.

Wolf was clearly uncomfortable with the subject. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She had been doing good, and suddenly she was wetting the bed in her sleep like a toddler. She was embarrassed with herself and she wanted everything to fix itself.

This was hell. 

Chapter Text

After yet another night of Wolf wetting the bed, Song decided the following morning that she'd take her daughter to their local child therapist, Laura, for an appointment. Luckily, Laura had an open spot for Wolf the same afternoon, and so, mother and daughter made their way to the child therapist.

Wolf didn't utter a word during the entire walk the building, and neither did Song. She figured that Wolf needed some quiet time to just mentally get ready for the appointment and for what she was about to talk about.

When they finally arrived, they didn't bother to wait in the waitingroom, instead standing by the reception until Laura came to get them.

"Hello again, Wolf. Follow me," Laura greeted, leading Wolf to her office like the first time Wolf was there.

Both of them sat down on their usual seats before Laura began the conversation.

"Your mom told me that you've been having some issues lately. Do you want to talk about that?" Laura asked, getting right into it from the beginning.

"I... I've started to wet the bed..." Wolf answered shyly, her cheeks slightly tinted in pink as she admitted her troubles.

"I understand. Is this completely unfamiliar to you?" Laura continued and Wolf nodded.

"I don't understand what's going on with me..." Wolf admitted.

"Well, you're in a new environment where everything's different than what you're used too. These new changes will take a toll on your body, and this might be your body's way to react to everything," Laura suggested, adding a few notes to her notepad.

"But I've been living with my family for weeks now! Why's it starting now and not before?" Wolf asked, already sure that there was something wrong with her.

"Your body's the most relaxed when you're sleeping. You told me in our first appointment that you're still getting used to living with your new family. During the day, you're tense and unrelaxed. Your body's exhausted from being in a flight or fight mode for so long. By learning to cope with your anxiety, I bet you'll get rid of your bedtime problems," Laura explained, watching Wolf draw on a paper as a distraction.

This time, she was drawing scribbles.

"That still doesn't explain why it's happening now and not before," Wolf commented and Laura hummed in return.

"You've been living with your family for a few weeks now. By getting used to their new way of living, your body needs to somehow cope with all the new changes it's experiencing. Some people stop eating or binge eat, some people stop sleeping, some people develop abnormal habits to cope with the changes. Your way of coping might be wetting the bed. Now when you're more comfortable, your body feels safe enough to do just that."

Wolf believed that what Laura said made sense. She was feeling more comfortable living with the Oak's now. Maybe she was just getting too comfortable...

Either way, she had to find a way to stop it. She couldn't let herself keep wetting the bed at night. It was just way too embarrassing!

She and Laura keot talking for the next half an hour. Laura suggested going to the bathroom and drinking less before bed, which Wolf promised to try. She also suggested to put extra thick covers on the bed, which Lio and Song already had done the day before.

In the end, Wolf had recieved lots of tips from Laura, and she was really thankful that she had a therapist who listened to her and actually wanted to help her.

Now, she just had to get rid of her bedtime problems.

~~~

While Song and Wolf were talking to Laura, Kipo had decided that she'd go to the Newton Wolf Library to try and find solutions for Wolf's bedtime problems. She knew that Laura could help Wolf by herself, but there was nothing wrong in helping.

After arriving at the library, Kipo walked up to the receptionist to ask for help. To her surprise, the female Newton wolf did have a few suggestions on books of Kipo's interest.

After taking her time to find all the books, Kipo sat down in a quiet corner to read them. Most of the books referred to young children, not older than five years old, claiming that it wasn't unusual for them to still wet the bed occassionally. Unfortunately, Kipo wasn't interested in reading about toddlers and potty training.

Kipo almost lost hope in finding anything that could help her sister, when she came across a book that she hadn't noticed before. On the cover, it stated 'Childhood Trauma'. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to take a look, Kipo picked up the book and started to read.

Surprisingly, the book was very accurate to Wolf's personality. It explained how children with traumatic childhoods were affected when they got older. Lack of trust, troubles with regulating emotions, not being able to adapt well to changes, being either too independent or dependent on others, night terrors, eating problems and do much more. Kipo came across a page talking about age regression.

People who experienced trauma from a young age, could have the tendency to unvolunteeringly start acting like children as a coping mechanism. Examples of symptoms of age regression could be thumb-sucking, tantrums, troubles with regulating emotions, child-like talking and even bed-wetting.

Kipo was shocked at the accuracy. While Wolf didn't suck her thumb or talk like a little kid, she did have trouble with regulating her emotions. At times when Wolf would get mad, she would give everyone the silent treatment and act like a grumpy toddler. Kipo had even seen her pout more than once.

The book suggested to observe the person who was showing signs of age regression, to find out in what age category their regression fell in. By doing that, it would be easier to help the victim heal from their trauma. Deciding that it was worth giving it a shot, Kipo closed the book and went back to the receptionist to borrow the book.

She already had an idea of how she would start testing the age regression theory...

~~~

Kipo had made sure to talk with her parents before she made any rash decision. Both of them seemed uncertain about her idea, but they were willing to try if it was going to help Wolf heal.

Kipo opened the door to Wolf's bedroom. The younger girl had just gotten dressed into her pajamas and was about to get into bed. The sheet covers felt weird to lie on, but at least she didn't have to worry about changing her sheets every night.

"Hey, Kipo. What's up?" Wolf asked as she sat down on the edge of her bed, observing the way that Kipo was trying to hide something behind her back. 

Kipo smiled nervously. She begged in her mind for Wolf to not get too upset with her.

"I did some research, and I think I found a solution to your bedtime problems..." Kipo started to explain.

Wolf's eyes lit up with hope. While Laura had given her a suggestion as to why she was wetting the bed, she never recieved any suggestions of how to stop it.

"What solution?" Wolf asked, hoping to finally be able to sleep through the night without waking up in a puddle.

Kipo removed her hands from behind her back and held up the so called solution for Wolf to see. Wolf tensed up and her eyes were as big as saucers as she stared at the package of diapers.

"No! You can't be serious! There's no way I'm wearing those!" she immediately protested and Kipo sighed, having expected that reaction.

"Would you rather keep wetting the bed? We don't know what's going on with you, and until we find out, this is the best option for you!" Kipo tried to convince her sister to at least try the diapers.

"I'm not a baby! I don't need diapers. I shouldn't need them..." Wolf looked more sad than angry now.

She just felt so embarrassed. The fact that she was wetting the bed in the first place was embarrassing enough. The fact that Kipo was suggesting for her to wear diapers like a stupid baby felt like the worst betrayal in the world. Everything was just too much...

Kipo walked up to her sister and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know what you're thinking, but I just want to help you! Can't you just try them for tonight? If they're absolutely horrible and there no way you could wear them again, we'll stop. I just want what's best for you. All of us do," Kipo explained and Wolf sighed.

"Will you be mad if I choose not to wear them?" Wolf asked, knowing that she would most definitely wake up with wet pajamas for the unseeble future if she didn't accept Kipo's offer.

"Not at all! I just want you to be comfortable. Will you try them, for me?" Kipo assured and after a while of silence, Wolf finally nodded.

Cheering internally, Kipo helped her sister to open the package of diapers. Wolf went to the bathroom to put one on, following the instructions to make sure that she did it right. After putting on her pajama pants again, she looked herself in the mirror to make sure that the offending diaper wasn't visible. Luckily, it wasn't.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Kipo praised her for being so brave. The sisters exchanged their goodnights before walking to their respective bedrooms. 

Wolf hoped to, for once in her life, be able to sleep though the night without any troubles.

~~~

Kipo woke up earlier than usual the following morning. She decided to check up on Wolf before doing anything else, as she hadn't heard her little sister getting up during the night. When she entered Wolf's bedroom, she found Wolf sprawled out across the bed, half her blankets on the floor. Kipo smiled, it looked like Wolf was having the best sleep of her life.

She walked up to her sister and discretely checked the diaper, finding it wet just like she had expected. Kipo grinned, it had worked! If Wolf was age regessing as a coping mechanism, like the book was suggesting, her age space was clearly very young. Kipo was determined to help her sister heal, no matter what.

She nudged her sister gently to wake her up. It didn't take more than a minute or so before Wolf opened her eyes and yawned. She hadn't slept that good in ages!

"So, what did you think?" Kipo prompted and Wolf looked up at her in confusion. "You know, the diaper?"

Oh. She had completely forgotten that she was wearing one.

"It was okay..." Wolf mumbled, her cheeks tinted pink.

"Would you like to continue wearing diapers to bed?" Kipo continued.

"I-... Okay," Wolf decided after a while.

Wearing diapers had helped her sleep, and she didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night to change pajamas. Despite the fact that it was embarrassing, wearing a diaper had actually helped more than she would like to admit.

Kipo beamed at her sister, once again praising her for trusting her and doing something that was completely outside her comfort zone. Wolf let herself smile for once.

She felt lucky to have someone like Kipo as her sister.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since Wolf started wearing diapers to bed. She had finally started getting used to them, despite still being embarrassed by them. Luckily, she only needed them when she slept.

Kipo had taken the chance to speak with her parents about the new information that she'd recieved from her book from the library, as soon as Wolf had gone outside like she usually did during the day.

Lio and Song hadn't been too sure about her theory at first, but after listening to her reasoning, they realized that she could be right. Either way, it was worth a try.

They had to start by creating a safe environment for Wolf to slip and age regress, to see if she truly used it as a coping mechanism to deal with trauma.

Kipo wasn't too sure of how she would be able to do that.

She had to start small, to not create any suspicion on Wolf's part. The younger girl would quickly catch up on her if she treated her like a little kid. She had to make sure that Wolf made the first move. But how?

After a bit of thinking, Kipo decided that she'd buy Wolf a toy. Not something too obvious, like a doll. Just something that would let Wolf act like a kid. 

She didn't know what Wolf was interested in, but she was sure that she would come up with something at the toy store.

A few days later, after letting her parents know about her plan, she walked downstairs and let them know that she was going to the toy store before grabbing her shoes. It was warm enough during the summers that she didn't need a jacket. 

Wolf walked down the stairs, noticing that Kipo was leaving.

"Where are you going?" she asked curiously, since she was planning to go somewhere herself.

"Oh, uh-... Just the toy store!" Kipo decided to tell Wolf the truth, knowing that she would never get through with lying to her face.

"Why?"

"Just for fun. There might be a few nice toys there."

Wolf shrugged, figuring that it was a burrow-person thing to buy toys for children. Still, she liked the idea of getting to hang out with her sister, so she offered to join her.

"Sure thing! Grab your shoes and let's go!" Kipo said happily.

While she didn't want Wolf to figure out the real reason as to why she was going to the toy store, bringing her with her would make it easier to figure out what she wanted.

They left the house and made their way over to the toy store that was further away in the city. It wouldn't take too long to walk there. They talked about whatever came to mind, enjoying each other's company.

When they finally made their way over to the toy store, Kipo started to look around while Wolf followed her. She tried to get Wolf to find something for herself, but the younger girl was stubborn.

"Doesn't this look cool?" Kipo asked, pointing at a box with legos.

Wolf squinted her eyes at the sight of it, shrugging.

"What even is that?" she asked.

"Legos! You know, that you build with?"

"Hm."

They kept walking and looking around, but nothing seemed to satisfy Wolf. Everything was too childish for her, at least in her opinion. Kipo had almost given up hope when she came across a shelf with stuffed animals. She looked through them and gasped lightly when she saw a specific stuffie on the end of the shelf. A red scorpion stuffie. It looked exactly like a deathstalker!

It was the last one on the shelf, so Kipo quickly picked it up and brought it over to Wolf who was walking around in circles.

"Wolf, look at this!" Kipo announced.

Wolf's face expression when she saw what her sister was holding was priceless. Her jaw basically dropped. Every single animal stuffie had been changed to look like the mutants, instead of the old-world animals. The scorpion stuffie therefore looked exactly like a deathstalker.

"Isn't it cute?" Kipo asked, handing it over to Wolf who turned it around in her hands.

"I guess. It looks like a baby deathstalker", she commented, remembering seeing deathstalker babies when she was younger.

"I'll buy it for you, if you want", Kipo offered and Wolf shrugged, but still nodded at the offer.

A deathstalker stuffie was the only stuffie that she would ever accept.

"But then you have to buy one for yourself as well."

"Sure."

Kipo returned to the shelf with stuffies, picking up a jaguar stuffie. It was regularly colored, but it was too cute to not take home. They walked up to the counter, luckily not having to wait. Kipo paid for the stuffies and handed Wolf her deathstalker.

"If you cut off one of the stingers, you can have a mini Stalky?" she suggested and Wolf smiled at the idea, but eventually decided not to ruin the stuffie.

Plus, she would just get sad if she had to get reminded of her lost weapon - and best friend - every single time that she looked at the stuffie.

The two went back home, kicking off their shoes before returning to their rooms to put the new stuffies on their respective beds. For the rest of the day, they hung out with the rest of their family. It was summer break, and they wanted to spend it together.

They watched some random movie from the old world before eating lunch and dinner together. By the end of the day, they retreated to their rooms to get ready for bed. Kipo had just emerged from the bathroom when she passed by Wolf's room on the way to her own. She decided to check on her. 

She opened the door to Wolf's room and walked inside. Wolf was laid down under the covers, almost asleep. She opened her eyes and glanced over at Kipo before closing them again. Kipo smiled at her, noticing that one of her arms had curled around her deathstalker stuffie. She hadn't expected Wolf to accept it that fast, but she surely wasn't complaining.

It seemed like Wolf liked stuffies, so she was at least on the right track.

"Goodnight, Wolf", Kipo whispered before exiting the room, closing the door after her.

She got back into her own room and laid down on her bed, yawning. She was one step closer to find out if Wolf was age regressing. 

She just had to take one step at a time, and she was sure that she would figure it out.