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Chapter Text

Guess who's back with yet another brainrot, that's been driving them mad for months? :D

I apologize for the lack of updates on "Papa Bear and his Cubs"/Hamilton fic, everyone, who's been waiting for it, but the cookie obsession brought me to this... 

This story is highly inspired by MLP darkfic, "Pattycakes" by Pegacorn Ondacob! Got this idea after requesting Forced Babying one-shot between Pure Vanilla and Shadow Milk in this fic ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/68491981/chapters/177300086#workskin ) please, go read them, they're amazing! 

In this fic, Pure Vanilla takes role of unhinged Caregiver, who decided that people around him could use a bit more... fatherly attention. 

And so, I decided to go ahead and write this fic, as my main Forced Babying CRK fic is pushed back until Silent Salt officially comes out (because I'm paranoid of getting them wrong and they're major character in it).

Meanwhile, enjoy this... monstrosity. First couple of chapters will be written by me, but after that, feel free to request any of your favorite cookies to be babied in this! My only request is that don't ask for anything in sexual nature, with children characters or Shadow Milk! (Last one because I have my own plans for him)

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla was a simple man, really. Despite being a hero, a king and a notable historical figure, he still would find joy in small things. Just like this day, when most people would frown at the sight from outside, he still found himself enjoying himself.

Rain was pouring behind the window, clouds making everything as far as you could see dark and wet. A perfect weather to stay in, snuggle in warm blanket with a good book.

And this where he was right now. And yet, it wasn't just any adventure or even romance book... it was book of magic plants, one he got from his dear friend, White Lily. And for last few months, he was putting this book in good use, given his extended period of free time these days.

It's been four years since he had met the excitable and kind kids, Gingerbrave and his friends were. Ones, who had helped him awaken from the sleep as Healer and restoration of Vanilla Kingdom. Those, who helped him reunite with his friends... those, who helped him free White Lily and defeat Dark Enchantress once and for all.

In time of past years, the life returned it's peaceful flow that was seemingly lost in Dark Cinders War. The Legion of Darkness has been disbanded and its former members returned to be respectful members of society. And in last years, even the recently resurfaced Fallen Heroes (The Virtues of Old, as he came to call them) seemed to find their peace and live among them too.

And Pure Vanilla could not be happier. Everything was finally going well, without a hiccups. As it should be.

He had kept his promise and resigned from his position as the King, but was still in high position as political figure and symbol of hope to his people.

And yet, these days, he would spend more and more time in books and papers. All with one single goal in mind. To fulfill the desire he had since long before the Dark Cinders War.

To be a father.

Pure Vanilla was always fond of children. Just something about the way they acted and talked felt so endearing to him. When Royalberry was born, Vanilla was all over the infant. Gently cradling and cooing at him, like if nothing, but that tiny baby mattered in this whole wide world. It really took to the point where Hollyberry had to nearly fight him to get her son back.

The situation would only repeat ten years later, when Dark Cacao welcomed his little Choco into the world. But this time, Vanilla would realize the reason of his feeling when holding the newborn.

The realization that he wanted one of his own.

Yes, he liked his part of being the loving, dotting uncle to his friends' children... but something in his very soul screamed to his want... his DESIRE to be a part of this.

And it only rooted further after meeting the young founders of Cookie Kingdom and recovering his memories.

It was no secret he got attached to Gingerbrave and his friends. All of the Ancients were, if he was being honest. All five had unofficially adopted the young children (and Chili Pepper, despite she was almost of age, when they first met) and making sure they all were safe and healthy for last four years since their initial meeting.

But it was also no secret that Vanilla did most. At least, given the fact he lived the closest to the Cookie Kingdom. On top of their constant correspondence (once the kids taught him and his friends to use newer technologies), he visited at least once a month.

He loved them (more than others, at least). He cared for them like a father would. He watched them grow. He watched them learn. He watched them flourish.

With Chili turning twenty last month, he saw the changes. While still having her kleptomanic episodes, the young woman turned a new leaf in her new home. Who knew a former petty thief would be so good in finances?

The rest of the team were still kids, they were just as amazing with their recent achievements.

Gingerbrave was now training as official Knight, defender of their kingdom, with great help of Dark Cacao and Hollyberry. No beast would ever dare to stand in his way with how the young boy handled the sword.

Strawberry, while quieter, gentler one of the five, loved exploring nature. With kind heart and curious outlook on the world around her, she wasn't scared of getting her hands dirty like she was merely four years ago. This reminded Vanilla so much of White Lily during her younger years...

Little Wizard, the magic prodigy, once managed to master complex spells at age of twelve, was more powerful than never. With unlimited access to the books of Vanilla Kingdom, this power was only destined to grow. And, no matter how his beastly counterpart tried to deny it, Vanilla knew Shadow Milk had grown a soft spot for the child.

And Custard... the little baby of this team, lovingly nicknamed "Mini Vanilla" by his friends, was also, not same little boy, he was just four years prior. He was still dead set on being the king of their kingdom, but now the wisdom he gathered on their quest already shined through the child-like excitement. Despite being only twelve, he had already swore to be kind and fair ruler one day.

They were growing up.

After everything they've been through, they always stood back up and came back stronger than ever before. And Pure Vanilla's whole being trembled with pride and joy every time, he saw them.

They were growing up...

And this was the problem...

They were growing up. Becoming independent...

Pure Vanilla always wondered, why couldn't something just stay the way it was? Him and his friends were the same people, they were thousands of years ago. Yet everything around them changed.

He watched generations switch one another. He saw old die and young born.

While he knew physically, people couldn't stay the same way forever. Vanilla and other Ancients were granted immortality by their creators for their deeds... the Virtues were only ones, who were that way too, with only difference they were born like it.

Perhaps this was why he was so fascinated with children? His own immortality drove him so far from concept of aging, he found himself attracted to the first formative years. Everyone had this opportunity to grow and explore at one point, that many adults just... lost growing up. And it honestly pained him to know that not every child was able to enjoy themselves in most tender years of their life. Forced to live in fear and loss, while the precious moments were slipping through their hands.

'If only there was a way to make it last...' He thought one day. 'If only it could be repeated...'

Little did he know those two sentences would haunt his mind for a long time. 

Chapter Text

They were growing up. It was the problem.

'If only there was a way to make it last...' He thought one day. 'If only it could be repeated...'

Growing up. Aging. Such curious concept in itself... not to mention it was natural for everything in this world...

Natural for everyone.

Everyone... except for Pure Vanilla.

At his own time, he came to realize that it were actions to be what spoke volumes, rather than the number of years, one spent on Earth. Just like children could act mature, so adults could act childishly. At some points, they were even more immature than the kids themselves. (The consuls at Republic were sure to be example of it.)

And yet, just as children would beam and pride themselves in their more collected and thoughtful acts, an adult would be insulted at the very idea of being accused of their immaturity.

The decades of being told off when they dares to show any kind of simpler emotions, as if it was something shameful.

If only there was a way to block those thoughts. To return it to state when it didn't matter...

"Is something on your mind, Pure Vanilla?"

Pure Vanilla snapped from his thoughts, as he looked at the woman next of him. White Lily, his closest friend in his life, one from even pre-Soul Gem times and late teens. And this, by default, made her one of few people, who knew exactly what he thought about, no matter what they were doing at the moment.

The two of them were on a private conference with head researcher of Cream Laboratory at Republic. The scientist, a woman in her late 40's, and two Ancients were discussing to allow their scientists to have a few plants, local to their respective kingdoms. As silly it sounded, she was basically asking permission to pick up flowers, White Lily supposed it made sense, given Faerie and Vanilla Kingdoms were unreachable for general public for many years until recently.

But the fact it was happening really pushed Pure Vanilla down into his thoughts. He had no problem with providing them a couple of plants (he could even help them pick good ones, given his expertise in the field), but it was just still the fact she was asking for permission to do it. It the fact she even needed it in the first place.

Like a little girl, asking her parents for something, she couldn't get on her own.

This could only mix well with his on-going dilemma of the problematic maturity of their world.

And of course, his dear White Lily noticed that. Of course, she would.

"Ah..." He sighed lightly, before smiling again. "It's nothing, White Lily, I apologize if it worried you."

The woman still watched him with same worried expression, before it softened. "You weren't listening, Nilly..." She said again, sitting next to the man. "Even when you answered, it was still not focused. As if you weren't there..."

For a second, there was silence between them, as White Lily's hand reached for his face, cradling his cheek, like she had done many times before. He leaned into her warm touch.

"What is that you're thinking so much about?" She asked once more, looking into his mismatched eyes. "Because, if it was nothing, you wouldn't be so distracted, no matter how silly you find the situation."

Huffing softly, Pure Vanilla smiled at her. "So insightful, as always, my flower." He then looked away, sighing lightly. "You might have a good idea of what is it on my mind..."

He kept his eyes off his beloved partner. Just by the way her hand tightened around his, he knew he didn't have to look at her to know she understood what he meant.

"Nilly..." Her ever-soft voice sighed, as she laid her head against his shoulder. "...you know, my suggestion is still open. I seriously wouldn't mind to..."

"I know..." He breathed out again, before finally turning to look at her. "But I don't want to make you carry the baby, just because I want one. I know, both of us are stable, but you're still figuring things out with Faerie Kingdom and aftermath of... her."

His eyes softened, as he reached for her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

"Yes, I want a baby... but I also want you to also feel you're ready too."

White Lily sighed once more, looking into distance. Unknowingly, she let her hand go to her stomach, just above where her womb would be. "A child is a big step..."

Silence once again returned between them. It wasn't uncommon to happen between the two, to just sit by each other's side, without a word. After over two thousand years together, the comfort they'd find in the other's presence extended far beyond conversations.

And yet, a single question plagued Vanilla's head. One, he felt like he had to share with his lover.

"White Lily..." He started. "There's something, I need to tell you... do you remember this?"

The woman looked up at her partner, who fished out a book from his satchel, turning to her.

She smiled lightly. "Goodness, I haven't seen this one in years!" She exclaimed, reaching out for the tome. Vanilla gladly passed it over, as she started to go through it. "Surprised you still have it..."

It was a book, they sneaked to steal from forbidden section of Blueberry Yogurt Academy... all the way back when the two of them were just pair of headstrong students. Well, it wasn't the copy of the book from the library... no. It was most likely a newer version. For once, it sure smelled like a new book would.

But nevertheless, it was quite a throwback to the simpler times for the two. Before the Soul Gems. Before The Night. Before Dark Enchantress... back, when the most important thing was getting an A on a test...

"Actually, I got it from the Doc..." Ah, that explained it. "We talked a bit before the meeting... as in what kind of plants samples she needed. While our kingdoms have most of them... there's this one specific plant, they're currently working for..." Pure Vanilla reached over, flipping the pages. "Here, I marked it..."

White Lily's eyes followed his, before they finally stopped on the needed page. On it, there was an illustration of a flower. She didn't recognize it very good, but perhaps she didn't pay much attention to it in past?

The picture showed the flower of few stages of life, from buds to wilting. The flower itself in full bloom was bright red, but the poking out petals of buds were bright pastel pink and wilting ones were closer to grayer red scale. The top petal reminded somewhat of a heart, while other surrounding were more of typical drop shaped ones. The stems were long, if a bit fragile looking, with long leaves, forming a figure of a half circle on both sides.

What surprised her the most, was the fact that the plant itself, apparently, was growing from the snow.

"Saeloun Salm..." White Lily read the name. "Native to Beast-Yeast and North edges of Crispin. Beautiful, yet persistent, this flower can survive even the harshest environments. Due to it's rejuvenating qualities on both, mind and body, was often used in medicine... however, with recent years, the plant quantity begun to decline due to prolonged use of humans."

"The biologist and medical part of lab wants to restore the plantations of them... but first, they needed to fund a wild growing ones to get the seeds." Pure Vanilla explained. "But also, the scientists were curious about the... rejuvenating qualities."

White Lily raised eyebrow. "Explain?"

"Like... how far a person go, if given the mixture of flower? Is effect on mind stronger than one on body?" He started, before reaching down into his bag once again. "What it would do..."

He took out another book, a magic book, and opened on a page...

"...if mixed correctly with other flowers?"

It had a recipe of Saeloun based mixture... one that could temporarily regress one's mind to one of a child or an infant. 

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla never knew how he got so lucky.

When he revealed his plans to White Lily, she didn't judge. Not a single bit. On contrary, she agreed to help. Maybe even playing role of a "mother", when he would finally have the baby, he wished for so much...

"You forgive me after everything, I caused... helping you out is the least I can do..." She said, while they devided the plan of gathering the essentials for the new... interest of theirs.

"Not to mention..." A sly smirk played on the woman's face as she leaned closer to him. "How can I say no to my favorite Freaky Vanilla~?"

"Ah, I didn't think I'd ever hear that nickname again" He chuckled lightly, as he leaned to her for the kiss.

His entire soul screamed how lucky he was to have her...

White Lily agreed to get the things to set up the little domestic layout in left side of the Vanilla castle (as it was barely ever used, he supposed it would do great for his little "family".) While Pure Vanilla himself decided to gather the ingredients for the mixture. And, hopefully, in upcoming few days, he thought his work would bear fruit.

The list of needed flowers were simple. Daisies were all over the place in nearby meadow and the castle was drowning in lilies. And he had ordered some buttercups as in excuse to further the floral diversity (but really, he had alternate motivations in getting them).

That left Saeloun Salm being the hardest ingredient in list to get...

While he could just go to colder parts of Crispia, he knew his best bet of finding better amount of flowers was visiting Beast-Yeast. It was also good that, after their redemption, the Virtues helped to establish safer traveling routes through their continent. This was another win in his book.

Now, as he stood on shore of previously unwelcoming land of Beast-Yeast, he was faced with probably the hardest part of his quest. Finding the flowers.

While the book said it could grow in harsh weather, it also said it didn't have preferred conditions either, so, as long as it had enough water and sunlight, it could grow anywhere.

To keep himself unnoticed, Pure Vanilla separated from the tourist group and moved into the depths of the land.

While keeping his mind on his goal, he couldn't help, but also take a moment to appreciate the sights. When he was visiting this place last time, it was because him and other Ancients were first discovering this land, that also lead them meeting with Virtues for the first time... through, back then, they were their exact opposites... they used to call themselves the Beasts.

But that was four years ago.

A smile once again crawled onto the man's face. Four years... just a blink of an eye for them, but the difference was astonishing. Now, that they were free from the Silver Tree. Now, that they were discovering themselves further than just as they were created to do.

In these days, Burning Spice was helping Golden Cheese to restore her kingdom and bring her people back. And she was showing him the beauty of life, teaching him of the simple joys of small daily things, he was forced to miss out on during his time as Harold of Change.

White Lily? Her and Silent Salt were best friends now. The quiet, but strong bond, nobody dared to break. Pure Vanilla could say the same thing about himself and Shadow Milk. Who knew that all Beasts of Deceit and Solitude needed was just a bit of kindness and understanding?

Mystic Flour and Eternal Sugar were in loving relationships with their respective opposites.

Mystic Flour, just like Burning Spice, was getting used to easier, stress-free life outside of what it was like in her early years, all while helping Dark Cacao restore his relationship with his son. Not without hiccups, but it wasn't as bad as people expected to to be.

Eternal Sugar, on turn, was working on herself, trying to let go of her old ways, to free and release everyone, she previously trapped inside her garden. Hollyberry was huge support in that, helping her stay on right track. And just like that, Eternal Sugar was also helping. Hollyberry desperately needed a healthier coping mechanism and more help controlling her alcohol intake...

What started off as bloodshed and hatred, was now a bliss of that big, happy family coming together to make path to a clear, bright future.

And all that happened in just a matter of four years.

Vanilla breathed out, his memories drifting off to the events of past years, when something caught his eye.

He turned his head to right, when he saw it.

"Found you..."

A full flowerbed of Saeloun Salm flowers.








Picking the flowers and getting them home was no trouble (he had to thank Eternal Sugar for it). And soon enough, he was sitting on the table in one of set rooms of the new "family" wing of castle.

Him and White Lily set it to resemble a simple house, with kitchen, living room, bathroom, parental room, few children's rooms (they had the furniture custom made, so it would also fit to it's future occupants). Everything was set up for the roleplay of family to be a realistic as possible.

And yet, one room was set aside...

A little laboratory, where they'd make the most important thing in this whole arrangement. The formula, that would finally give him a way to experience parenthood.

The recipe called for an alchemy set. Luckily, they were able to get one at Alchemist's garage sale last week and put it together in this room (White Lily commented it reminded her of their academy years once again).

And now, it was all about mixing the ingredients together.

The book was laid under natural sun under the window, as Vanilla started to gather the flowers. Mush of daisies, leaves and petals of lilies and pollen of buttercups were already put together and just waited for the main ingredient.

The flower of Saeloun Salm.

Another glance at the book, he continued to read.

"While able to rejuvenate on it's own, the effect will be different from the stage the flower was picked at." He hummed. "The bloomed flowers are usually used in medicine, but extended research shows that stilll closed buds have the strongest effect."

He looked at the flowers. It's been few days, since he brought them home. Almost all of them were in full bloom. Some were already starting to wilt even.

And still, one single bud remained. It was so small, he didn't even notice it until he dug it up and brought it home.

His eyes were glued to it.

It was closed, hasn't bloomed yet. According to the book, this one had the strongest essence within it.

A bit unsure, Pure Vanilla reached out to pick the bud from the steam.

He wondered, how far this one will go.

With swift motion, he dropped the bud into mortar to ground it. After that, it was put away to set for a couple minutes. While waiting, Vanilla found himself smiling, as it started to give out a soft, somewhat sugary scent.

And eventually, the book said, it was finally time to mix.

The alchemy set came in handy here, as it helped him measure the correct amount of each component.

At first, it was not much to look at, just bunch of flower juices with mixed up pollen and petals. Greenish with bits of white. But when the sugary flower came into the mix, the magic begun.

On slow fire, Pure Vanilla watched the flowers react to one another. It started in the middle, when small white spot appeared, as it started to spread through the liquid. When the entire thing was white, Pure Vanilla added the suggested grounded powder of levander petals, before mixing it together once more.

When the mixture started to clear up, now being almost fully clear with just a tiny bit of light pink tint, he knew it was done.

Pouring the final product into a small, clear bottle, he turned to the book again.

"When the mixture is done, it should be odorless and tasteless." Reading out loud, he smiled. First was a check, the previous sugary scent was gone... he didn't want trying to taste it, as he didn't want to regress himself, even if it had to be done to know, I'd he did everything right.

But... he was alone at it. Sadly, White Lily had to go, as something came up back in Faerie Kingdom, so Pure Vanilla was on his own for now.

And this also meant he'd have to wait until her return to try the formula out.

The recipe said the effects were temporary, couple of days maximum, but they wanted to stay safe in trying it, so White Lily volunteered to be the first to test it.

The man sighed, marking the bottle with small strip of "0. TBT" and set aside to cool down. To be tested... that would take another week to a few, before he could do so.

Goddesses above, he is SO close to finally getting what he so desperately wished for so long, and yet, he couldn't do that.

He had to needed for White Lily to try this one.

He sighed, stepping out of the "family home" back to the familiar castle halls, walking to the main space. The few castle staff, visitors and just people in need of help were filling the halls like any other day in the Vanilla Kingdom. He even ran into more than a few people back from the village, where he lived as Healer for so long...

He was happy, they were doing so much better. Even with his healing magic, the proper care and easy access to food made all the difference. Those, who were weak and, most likely, wouldn't survive back in village, were now happy and healthy once more, brightly smiling and facing the new day, standing strong.

Running into many familiar faces, he allowed himself to smile again. Well, if he couldn't have a baby just yet, he supposed he still had enough people, who needed his care.

Waving once again to Black Raisin, who was now a loyal knight to the kingdom, he walked deeper, when he heard the familiar voice ahead.

"Consul Clotted Cream?" Pure Vanilla asked, now facing the man and Financier in the main room. "What do I owe you for a visit?"

"Mr. Pure Vanilla!" The younger man smiled lightly, walking towards the former monarch, pulling out the papers from his bag. "We are here to finalize few details on the botanical research."

For a second, Vanilla's eyes widened, before he nodded. "Ah, of course." He breathed out. "I apologize, with my latest passion project of mine, I completely lost the track of time. I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long."

"No, not at all, sir. We had a lovely time strolling through this fine city" Clotted Cream then cleared his throat. "Now, if you could-"

Whatever he said afterwards, Pure Vanilla didn't hear anymore. His eyes were now glued to the blonde man infront of him and his mind was in completely different place.

Consul Clotted Cream of Republic, son of Elder Custard and Light Cream. A good young man, overall, if a bit full of himself. Maybe a bit manipulative, but tries to do the right thing. Has very tense relationship with his father.

Tense relationship with his father...

A light smile crossed Pure Vanilla's face, as he reached his hand out.

"Why don't we take it somewhere more private?" He asked lightly. "There's usually so many people during the day, it can be a bit hard to hear what somebody tries to say to you."

"Yes, that would be nice." Clotted Cream agreed, before turning to his bodyguard.

As Clotted Cream spoke to Financier, Vanilla dared not take his eyes off the man.

Perhaps, he didn't have to wait for White Lily to return..?

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla felt like his heart would jump out of his chest right here and now, as he stood, watching Clotted Cream sleep without a care in the world.

This day was... eventful, to say the least.

Getting him to the private room was easy, given he hasn't been to Vanilla Kingdom yet, so just an explanation of having more domestic setting was more comfortable and stress reducing. Not even half-lie, but it seemed to satisfy Cream. After suggesting drinks, Vanilla sneaked into kitchen to add a very special ingredient into Cream's...

The mixture of Saeloun Salm.

Coming back with to the political figure, he handed him the cup. The book said it would take the whole thing to get the effect going... so it would take awhile. So, in meantime, they discussed the necessary procedures, they needed to do.

As Pure Vanilla was signing up the papers, he still eyed the man, trying to think of the ways to keep him inside the "family home". If Cream gets out and then regress, everyone would get suspicious... and it was the last thing, Pure Vanilla needed.

But again, this time, luck seemed to be on his side, as he could see Clotted Cream grabbing onto his head.

"Is something wrong, Consul?" He asked, looking up from the papers.

The younger man sighed, slowly shaking his head. "Nothing bad... just... a bit of headache..."

Pure Vanilla watched him for a second, before leaving papers to walk over Cream.

"You don't look well..." He said softly, helping Cream off the chair and into his arms. He tried to hide the smile as he felt Cream lay his head against him. "Maybe you should lay down? We've got more than enough beds in here..."

Clotted Cream just shook his head once more. "No..." He managed to push out, but his body said otherwise. "I just... need down..."

Pure Vanilla nodded lightly, kneeling down and placing Cream's head on his laps. As he continued to brush man's hair off his face, Clotted Cream groaned once more. His head was killing him. The pain was unbearable. It hurt so much he couldn't even think!

Normally, he'd go to lay down, maybe take a pill to calm it down... but now, he couldn't even begin to concentrate because of the amount of pain and discomfort, he was experiencing. Just why was it hurting so much!?

And then, a light, barely audible hissing sound filled the room. It seemed to break something.

"Oh dear..." The ancient said, a note of amusement in his voice not escaping Cream's ear.

Clotted Cream felt his head finally liberated from the pain... but the feeling of discomfort went to different place. And it wasn't same as one in his head, with sharp, pounding... this was warm, growing... and wet.

"W... wha..?"

"Shh..." Vanilla leaned closer, gently placing a light kiss on top of Cream's head. "No need to be scared, my love... just let this happen..."

Clotted Cream looked back at the man above him. He tried to form complete train of thought to ask, what was happening, but words were mixing together in his mind. Only single sounds were leaving his mouth, not a single real word. And worse, he felt his mind itself being covered in weird, fuzzy fog.

What then finally left his throat could only be described as an infantile cry.

But as the consul laid down, wailing in puddle of his own doing... Pure Vanilla couldn't be more overjoyed.

He did it.

He had successfully regressed Clotted Cream.

He had a baby.

His baby.

Vanilla wasted no time to lift the crying man, cradling him in his arms, as light giggle escaped him.

"Oh, Creamy..." The ancient cooed, bouncing the blonde in his arms, rubbing his back in attempt to calm him down. "It's okay, darling, it was just a little accident, no need for tears!" Another giggle escaped him. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up, hm? I bet soggy pants are no fun..."

Vanilla made his way to one of few nurseries, him and White Lily had put together, where he put Clotted Cream on top of changing table, starting to work on undoing his clothes. Those were definitely will need a wash now... and his own too, he supposed.

But that could wait...

He still had work to do.

Opening the drawer to the table, he pulled out a white pacifier, gently popping it inside Cream's mouth, that slowly quieted down his cries, as he seemed to now concentrate on suckling on the rubber nipple.

"There we are..." Vanilla crooned over him once more, lightly tickling regressed man's tummy, that got him little giggles in return. "Sometimes, all little boys need is their binky, don't they?" He hummed, reaching out to wipe away the leftover of tears.

With the cries out of the way, Vanilla got out the next thing, he needed to get done. A big, white diaper, covered with prints of little teddy bears. Unfolding the padding, the ancient slipped it underneath Cream, before starting to apply baby powder.

All while, Clotted Cream stayed still, not caring of being manhandled as he was in his current state. And yet, a small portion of his brain was still working to understand what was going on. It tried to call out to the main body to scream, to fight off the former king, to stop whatever was happening to him!

And yet, all of that remained in far back corner of Cream's mind, covered by layers of fluff, drug's fog and characteristics of a little baby, as the thick padding was taped securely between his legs.

"Here."

Vanilla smiled, admiring his handwork. He was planning on getting something of the outfits, him and White Lily had picked, but he decided that he liked how cute Cream looked in just in his diaper.

"Given how warm it is today, why don't we keep you like that, hm?" He lifted the younger man back into his arms. "I think it's time to play a little bit, we're going to have a nice bottle and a nap."

The play part wasn't necessary, but it could help Vanilla determine how young Clotted Cream had regressed. He was very calm and stayed still, not fussing onw bit after being given the pacifier... so it could be anywhere around one to way under.

Laying Clotted Cream in the sift carpet, Vanilla sat nearby, giving him a light smile. He reached over for a rattle in toy basket, shaking it over Cream's head, attracting his attention.

"Creamy~. Look what we've got here!" The man said cheerfully. "Isn't it pretty? Can little Creamy reach for the rattle?"

Cream just laid still on his back, looking up at the toy with curious eyes, blinking, as if not understanding what it was. But... he liked the little noises, it made. A small squeal left him, as he wriggled his feet, slightly lifting his hands up. Not whole lot, but just enough to reach for it.

Vanilla chuckled once more, pretending to let go of the rattle, but still held really. Just in case Cream had bad grip on it.

Allowing the regressed man to lower the rattle down, Vanilla watched him interact with it. The unsure, easy to break grip, the cooing noises and just the way he tried to "play" with it... all pointed to a single conclusion. One, that Vanilla could not be happier about.

An infant.

He had regressed Clotted Cream to a small, little newborn.

He had a little newborn baby for today. 

Vanilla felt his heart swell at it, as he leaned closer to his "baby", nuzzling to his face. The "baby" in turn let out soft baby noises, reaching up for his caregiver. The smaller, the better, Vanilla supposed. Less chance of wandering off and getting caught...

"Just look at you, Creamy~" Vanilla cooed, once again leaning against regressed man to nuzzle their noses together, getting the babyish giggle. "What a good boy we've got here~. Are you a good baby? Are you a good baby for Daddy?"

Vanilla couldn't help the smile at the title. Daddy. Dad. A father.

Finally. Even if the means weren't the usual to achieve this goal... he still did it.

He was a father now.

And it was all, that mattered to him...

Humming, another idea came into his head, that made him chuckle lightly.

"Alright, darling." He smiled down at his "son". "Papa needs to get something real quick. Stay right here!" He gently taped the tip of Cream's nose.

It was silly he was saying that really. It wasn't like baby Cream needed an order to stay put. He was way too small right now...

In few minutes, Vanilla came back with two things in his hands. A baby bottle, that he set on top of drawer. He would give Cream in just a second... but first... something had to be done.

Quickly putting it together, Vanilla turned to Clotted Cream, still laying on his back, still where his "Papa" left him. The only difference was that he doozing off, barely able to stay awake. It made Vanilla smile once more. It was nap time.

"Awh, sweetie..." He cooed, lifting Cream into his arms. Cream looked up at him with glassy eyes, yawning slightly. He then laid his head against Vanilla's chest. "Looks like Papa's little baby is sleepy, hm? Let's get your bottle, sweet boy..."

When he made his way to rocking chair, Vanilla put Cream into a comfortable position on his lap, the "baby's" head on crook of his hand, before bringing the bottle to his face. Cream accepted the nipple with zero fuss, starting to suckle on pure instinct, his tired eyes focused on his caregiver's face.

"Good boy..." Vanilla whispered quietly, pecking Cream's forehead yet again. "Goodness, you make an adorable baby... I think Dark Cacao would also like you like this more..." He chuckled, before sighing lightly. "But sadly, I can't keep you like that... you've got your own life to get back to... and it's a real shame White Lily has to miss out on being your Mommy... she has very important job to do, so you get to be Daddy's little boy tonight."

What Vanilla didn't say was that, while White Lily couldn't be here to be a part of this first experiment... she would still be able to see it.

The video camera would make sure of it...






The evening carried out quietly. A couple times, Vanilla had to go out, to deal with mess in the kingdom (Strawberry Crepe still needed to get a better control of their robots) and basic outings. As much as he disliked to deceive people around him, Vanilla had to lie to Financier about Clotted Cream. She was informed that he had fallen ill, but wished to be left alone for now.

He thought about bringing her in, maybe regressing her too (White Lily and him went all out with getting cute little dresses, Vanilla thought Financier would look absolutely precious in)... but he decided he wanted to keep little Creamy to be the only child for today. Maybe on later date, they'd be able to be siblings together, but for today, she was told he was very sick and wanted some peace and quiet at the moment.

And, through reluctant, Financier agreed to let Vanilla handle Clotted Cream and his health. That could not make the ancient happy, as he slipped back into the private space of left wing.

Today just could not get any better.

He had finished all his duties early, promised to let to deal with what he needed to on his own... and he had his baby.

And speaking of the baby... Clotted Cream was, to put it simply, adorable. Perfect. The mixture of Saeloun Salm did it's job wonderfully! He was fully and completely dependent on Vanilla, as on his father. Vanilla enjoyed it all the way, even the dirty diapers, he had to change ever so often. Not that he minded that, it was part of caring for another infant. Also, playing and the absolute sweetness of how his "baby" acted fully made up for it and more.

The videos and pictures, he had taken of Clotted Cream, would forever be treasured by Vanilla (and, no doubt, White Lily, once she would see it) inside this little home. And it would also mark this day as a beginning of something.

The day, Vanilla had first diapered and regressed somebody.

The day, he had opened the Pandora's box.

Eventually, Vanilla had dressed Clotted Cream into nice, warm light yellow footed pajamas and gave him the last bottle for the day, before laying him down into the crib for the night. A light, soft nightlight of little stars was filling the room, just in case being regressed back to a baby made Cream scared of the dark.

And still, long after hours, Vanilla still found himself in the nursery again, leaning against the crib railings, to look down at Cream.

The blonde was laying on his side, curled up into a fetal position. His pacifier long since fell out of his mouth, now laying next to him, now being replaced with his thumb. His other hand was wrapped around a white bunny, holding it close to himself.

A light smile crossed Vanilla's face as he watched Cream sleep peacefully, without a care in the world. Precious. Perfect. Absolutely everything, he had ever wanted in his child. He didn't even care that this "child" was physically a grown man.

And still, with a heavy heart, Vanilla decided to do what he came for.

"I don't know, how much you'll remember of this day or experience, but I have to thank you, Clotted Cream... you have no idea how long I wished to be a father... and today, you let me have this..." He said softly, reaching down to stroke his hair once more. "I apologize Elder Custard was not nice to you at this age, but I hope I could do something to give you the experience of being a happy baby with a good daddy."

And yet, a smile yet again crossed his face, as he looked down at Cream.

"I hope we'll be able to repeat this some day..."

Chapter Text

August 22, ####

Dear diary. This is Pure Vanilla once again. It's been a week and a half since my first test of Saeloun Salm mixture (will need to bring it up to White Lily to workshop on the name...).

First test was successful. Wonderful. After regressing Consul Clotted Cream, it was as smooth as butter. Who would've known one of most influential political figures of Republic could make such an adorable baby?

A side effect of withdrawal of the mixture, the amnesia of what had happened during the time, in which the baby was regressed. Lucky for me, as thus dialog would be awkward. I was able to get by with the same story, I told Financier... as much as I dislike turning to lies, perhaps there is something about them in covering up my less... pure endeavors? (Don't tell Shadow Milk I said that)

As of now, I haven't had another baby yet... but I made another batch of flower mixture... a few in fact. As cute and sweet as newborns are, I know that both, White Lily and myself, would also adore to have a little one, who'd engage with us more. And, if my calculations are correct, the older the flower is, the less regressive effects should be...

Next batch, I'm going to use, will be with flower that's just bloomed. And I have just the candidate for it...

After all... we need to thank Alchemist for giving us this opportunity to have a family~

Pure Vanilla stood on the entrance to the castle, watering flowers, when he heard rapid breathing approach himself. He turned around, when a smile crossed his face.

"Alchemist!" He said cheerfully, walking up to the young woman. "Goodness, you were in a hurry..."

"I... I know." Alchemist huffed, holding onto her heart, trying to catch her breath. "I apologize... I forgot you wanted to see me today... so I had to run..."

"Oh, honey..." Pure Vanilla chided, shaking his head lightly. "It's barely noon, my love. I thought I mentioned there's no specific time, I'd be expecting you..."

"Yoy did." She nodded, finally standing up. "But I wanted to be professional. It's not every day, you're being summoned by a King, after all!"

"Oh, please!" Pure Vanilla chuckled, placing a hand around the woman. "I gave up that title long time ago, my friend. Please, just Pure Vanilla will do..."

"Oh..." Alchemist looked at him, a bit embarrassed, but still smiled, that he returned. "Right."

"Now, I get it you must be thirsty and tired after all that running, right?" Pure Vanilla looked down, getting a nod from Alchemist. "Why don't we go in? I've got just a thing to help you..."

A light conversation carried between the two as Pure Vanilla took the longer route to the left wing. Sure, it was long, but it was also less occupied in this time of day, so nobody would spot him... or the "crime" he would be committing.

Eventually, they reached the needed door and Pure Vanilla let Alchemist in.

"Please, take a seat on the couch. I'll get you something to drink in a second..." Pure Vanilla explained, quietly locking the door after them. No need for interruptions... or give the baby a chance get too curious~.

"So..." The young woman said, as she watched Pure Vanilla walk back in. "You said this visit was about something, you and White Lily were researching... may I ask about it?"

"Yes, of course!" Pure Vanilla nodded, sitting across from Alchemist. "You know, this is mainly for us and Virtues... as you may know, all ten of us thousands years of age... and keeping up with everything that has changed since Dark Cinders War can be overwhelming at times..."

Alchemist nodded, sighing. "Oh, tell me about it. I mean, I'm in my late 20's, yet I can feel all 60 at times..." She crossed her arms. "Some times, I have to dumb it down to my own brother, if you can believe it!"

"The difference between physical and metal age is quite a trouble, isn't it?" Pure Vanilla agreed. "So this is what White Lily and I have been looking into..." He stood up, walking into the kitchen... before he returned back with a glass of pastel colored liquid.

Alchemist raised her eyebrow. "What is it?"

"On it's own... just strawberry milk." Pure Vanilla explained. "But now, it's also mixed with a special mixture, both of us have been working on... when taken, it should help one feel younger. I had tried it last week and the results surpassed my expectations... so now, given that you gave us a chance to make this... I thought it would also be a fitting thank you."

Alchemist eyed the glass. "You want me to drink it?" She asked, before turning to Pure Vanilla. "And I'll feel younger?"

"For some time, yes. But afterwards, you will return to normal." He smiled again. "I assure you, it's completely safe and you will feel like a whole new person again. There is headache side effect at the beginning, though."

Alchemist looked at Pure Vanilla and glass for a second, considering it. As a scientist herself, she knew, it wasn't a good idea to try something, she didn't know full extent effects of and wasn't there to see being made...

And yet, Pure Vanilla had taken it and he was fine. She knew it was dumb to just trust somebody's words... but again. It was Pure Vanilla. The holder of Light of Truth. He was never one to lie.

So she supposed it was safe to do.

"So... I just need to drink that?" She asked, taking the glass in her hands.

Pure Vanilla nodded, watching her with a smile. "All at once. For better effect."

And so she did. In under thirty seconds, the glass was empty and back on the table. As she wiped away the "milk mustache", Alchemist didn't seem to notice the excited glint in Vanilla's eyes.

"Hm..." Alchemist looked at the glass again. "Should I have felt anything? Because, I will be honest with you... this was no different from any other strawberry milk I have ever had..."

"Actually, it is supposed to be like that." Vanilla nodded, offering Alchemist a light smile. "The book, I was following for the recipe, said that final product shouldn't have smell or taste at all."

"Well, that's a plus for you. That one part is done well." Alchemist smiled back. "What about now? How long does it take?"

Vanilla paused for a second. Clotted Cream took his time to finish his tea, so effect took a few minutes to set in... but Alchemist drank the whole thing in one go. How fast it'll do for her?

"Hm... not sure..." He said, walking up to the woman. "Though... come here." He reached his hand out to her. "When the pain begins, it'll be easier to pass if you lay down on hard surface, from what I gathered."

Alchemist huffed lightly, smiling. "Don't worry, I think I'll be fine." She said, waving it off. "I spend more than enough time around chemicals, so I can handle a bit of headache."

Vanilla stood by her side, frowning lightly. This girl was known for her experiments (it was in her name, after all), but having being told she constantly experienced headache? God, this kid needed more restrictions.

He sighed. "Alright then. I'll be here, if you need any-"

Vanilla was cut mid word, when Alchemist raised her hand.

"I think it starts..." She said, placing hand on her head. "God... this is... intense..."

With another smile, he decided to take her hand and sit her down on the floor.

"Here. That will pass in a second..." He said softly, strocking her long hair. "You're doing well, sweet girl."

A light blush covered her face, as she leaned against Vanilla. "How long... was it for you?" She asked quietly, as if struggling with words. "I can't... think..."

"Shh..." Vanilla laid his head on top of Alchemist's. She continued to whine lightly, that couldn't not make him smile. Any second now...

As Alchemist tried to make sense out of her situation, she felt weird warmth spread from between her feet. That was when the pain started to leave... but not without the complex thoughts following right after.

She then pulled away, looking down at herself in confusion. Vanilla watched her close, trying to see familiar reaction. However, Alchemist didn't cry, like Clotted Cream did... but the wide eyed look on her face and how she was feeling her soiled dress told him everything.

It worked. He once again had a child to coo and care for. But this time, it was a girl. Not much of difference.... except maybe for the fact he could go nuts with dressing her into cute little dresses and tying ribbons and bows into her hair.

But first things first...

"Well, my little girl, looks like somebody's had a little accident, hm?" Vanilla asked, getting a confused look from Alchemist as he lifted her up. "How about we take a quick bath?"

Alchemist looked at him, blinking in confusion.

"Baf?"

That stopped Vanilla in his tracks. For a second, he just stood stunned, looking at the child in confusion. Alchemist could talk. Was he right? Did mental age really depend on age of the flower? Further experiments would need to be done... but first, he had a task on hand.

"Yes, sweetheart, a bath." Vanilla nodded, walking inside the bathroom, as he settled his "child" down. "You had quite an adventure today! A warm bath would make you feel all nice and fresh."

But it seemed that just let aater flow from the facet was all it took for hell to break lose.

"Noooo!" Alchemist whined, kicking her feet at the sight of water. "No baf! Noooo!"

Vanilla looked at the girl while the water was filling up the space. Then, an idea came into his head, as he reached down to basket next to the tub to get a rubber duck.

"Well, hello there~" Vanilla leaned over with a silly voice, getting the duck closer to his "daughter".

Alchemist looked at it, tilting her head, but still frowned. Probably unaware of that action, she stuck her thumb in her mouth, starting to suckle in it. No doubt to handle with all the distress that was currently surrounding her.

"My, my! Looks like we've got one grumpy visitor here!" Vanilla continued, chuckling himself at the sight infront of him. She was truly regressed. "I'm Sr. Duckworth the 2nd of the Sugar Pound! Who are you might be?"

Alchemist looked at the toy. One side of her didn't want to speak. It was telling her this was weird and that she shouldn't be letting this happen. But other side was curious about the duck. It had funny voice that made it want to giggle and she was taught it wasn't very nice to not answer questions.

But she also didn't if she could say her name. It was very big. Would part of it work for Duck?

"A... Ally!" She managed to say, a bit muffled due to her thumb, but still understandable enough.

"Ally?" "The duck" asked, Vanilla smiled from the behind. "What a pretty name for a pretty little girl!" The smile grew when the girl giggled lightly. "Now, Miss. Ally, what brings you to my humble abode today?"

Alchemist frowned again, shaking her head. "No baf. No wanna!" She kicked her feet again.

"Ah, that's it, hm?" Vanilla made the duck chuckle at the response. "You remind me of my own little girl, Princess Duckie..." He hummed, as he slightly lowered the duck. "Well, I don't know, if I should, but you seem just like a girl, who'd keep secrets... between you and I... do know what Princess Duckie likes to do when she doesn't feel like bathing?"

Alchemist blinked, pouting ever-so-slightly lifted. "What?"

"I take her to our special pound. It has most beautiful bubbles and best smell of flowers and sweets, you can imagine!" Vanilla moved slightly to back to stop the water, but not rushing to break the illusion.

But it seemed like Alchemist didn't register it, her eyes widened in the cute, excited way. "Bubbles?"

"Why, yes, Miss. Ally!" Vanilla chuckled once more. "All of green, pink, blue and so much more! Do you want to go there? Wanna see the special pound?"

"Yes!" Alchemist sat up on her knees. "Can we go? P'ease, Sw. Duckwof?"

God, her lisp-!

Vanilla smiled lightly at the girl once more. "Of course, but I need to tell everyone we'll be having a very special guest today, so you'll need to stay here for a bit! Could you be a good girl for your Daddy in meantime for me?"

'Daddy?' Alchemist thought. The word stuck in her regressed brain. She knew what it was. Daddies were big and strong, protecting their little girls from hurts and mean people. Did... did she have a Daddy?

Her eyes followed off the duck, up to face Vanilla. She tilted her head. She knew he wouldn't hurt her. He was very warm and nice. She also knew he was protecting her from... something. Something mean and that would hurt her and many others.

But she didn't know, what she should call him... she knew she knew his name... but why couldn't she remember it? No doubt it was something simple, but fitting to him.

She frowned.

Could he be Daddy?

The name was fitting him, with what she knew of him.

"Dada?" She asked quietly, as if she tried to confirm it.

Vanilla smiled at the girl. "Yes, my dear. I'm your Dada. Will you be a good girl for me while we get to Sr. Duckworth's special pound?"

The girl giggled again, nodding. The past fussiness gone as if never existed in first place. "Yes, Dada!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

With putting the duck away, Vanilla truend to gently undress his "daughter", keeping the outside gentle and caring, as she babbled about meeting a duck king, that was going to take her on adventure. This continued even after Vanilla had set her into the warm water, allowing her to play with the toys and bubbles. (He had to make the silly duck voices once again, but he didn't mind... anything for his little girl...)

But Vanilal himself? Oh, he was beaming at the inside, even if he didn't show it. He was officially being called a dad. While, sure, he had been calling himself "Daddy" and "Papa" to Clotted Cream in his regression, but Creamy was too little to say it out loud, even with all the babbling, he had access to.

Alchemist, on the other hand, was older. (About 12 to 18 months, perhaps? She was way more active and clear of speech than a 1 year old.) She could speak. She was very vocal about what she wanted and not.

After a quick bath, Alchemist was sitting on Vanilla's knees, as he dried her off. With the content look on her face, he assumed she was feeling very comfortable, wrapped in the fluffy towel.

Diaper was a bit more fuss, but he managed coaxed her into letting him put it on. Through, with Alchemist being a woman, he couldn't do same thing as Cream and keep her just in her diaper, so he had picked out a cute dress for her to wear. She had obediently raised her hands to let him dress her, before being lifted off the table onto the floor, as he started to brush her long hair.

Alchemist looked over her new outfit, as she giggled. "Pony!"

Vanilla smiled down at her again. "Yes, sweetheart, a pretty little pony! Who's my clever girl?"

Alchemist giggled at her. Goddesses, she was so cute... 

Just like first time, Vanilla had no trouble with getting Alchemist to engage in babyish activities. Having her play with dolls and stuffed toys, dress her into cutest little outfits, feeding her was not an issue at slightest. She was a baby (or early toddler, if anything) through and through. And an absolutely adorable one!

Vanilla made sure to take as many pictures and little videos of her as he could. He had to mention that to White Lily... they could make a scrapbook or family album for when they have more babies!

However, unlike Clotted Cream, he needed to directly ask her about the effects the mixture left on her, when she comes out of her regressed state. And, unlike Clotted Cream, Alchemist wouldn't use it against him or other Ancients, if that got out. Not to mention that she also knew some portion of what he was doing.

So he knew he could ask her and be safe with it.

Alchemist started to come back to her senses next day, around afternoon. Good 24 hours in. Twice the time, Clotted Cream was regressed (but, to be fair, Vanilla did give her twice the dose, he gave Clotted Cream). When she was starting to show sighs of lucidity, he took it as a sign to clean her up and change her back into her normal clothes. He left her hair untied, so she pulled get it done as she wished.

When she started to turn over in her sleep, Vanilla stood over her, watching like a hawk.

Eventually, she slowly opened her eyes... blinking a few times, she seemed to come to her senses and lef out a groan.

"Mmm..." She sat up, rubbing her head. "Pure Vanilla..? What... happened..?"

"Well..." Vanilla stood to side for a second, before sighing handing her a glass of water, which she accepted and downed in single go. "First, I need to ask... What do you remember?"

"What... I remember..?" She looked away, putting her hand to her face. "Well... I remember you wrote me... asking me to come over, try something, you made... you said it had something to do with your and other Ancients' immortality?" She frowned, sighing. "But after that... it's all blurry."

Vanilla hummed. She remembered more, than he thought she would. And, given that, he decided to stay true to his element... but just half. He wasn't going to tell her his internal motivation of calling her.

"Yes." He nodded. "I called you over, because I wanted to thank you for giving White Lily and myself that alchemy set last month. I used it to make a mixture, that was supposed to be used to make one feel younger again." He explained, before looking down at her, trying to act sheepishly.

"But... it worked too well on you..." He said. "It regressed you all the way back into a baby."

"A baby!?" Alchemist looked at him in fear, her cheeks bruned at the word. "Oh... God..." She covered her mouth. "Pure Vanilla, I'm so so-..!"

"No need to apologize, Alchemist." Vanilla shook his head, placing hand on her hand in reassurance. "You had no idea, this would happen. And I ripped the consequences of my sewing by taking care of you."

Alchemist looked at him, still horrified and embarrassed about the idea that the World's hero... her own hero... having to deal with her like she was an infant.

"Does... anyone..?"

"I kept you here the whole time." Vanilla said, shaking his head. "I asked to leave me alone, so nobody walked in. Nobody knows, I assure you. This..." He showed around himself. "...will stay just between us."

Alchemist looked at him for a second, before finally sighing.

"O... okay..." She breathed out, smiling lightly. "T... thank you, Pure Vanilla..."

He smiled, opening his arms for a hug. "Just to make sure we're... 'cool', as you kids say..." He chuckled.

Alchemist covered her face, but a smile crossed her face. "Please, don't say that again... modern slang doesn't work with you..."

She still hugged him. Vanilla chuckled.

"Of course, Alchemist..."

Anything for you... My little baby girl...

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla looked out the window with a light smile. The warm, sunny weather outside could not make him happier. He always loved days like this, ever since his childhood as a shepherd.

And yet, today he wasn't going to just head out to play... no. Today was special. So special, that he couldn't let anything go any less than perfect.

As he ran around the "family" apartment, making sure everything was in it's place and clean. His schedule was free, he made sure of it,

For today, was fhe day, he wished to come for last few weeks. Long, ever dragging weeks...

For today, he had a very special guest coming. Even more special than the two "babies", he had in last weeks. Far more special.

Today... His beloved White Lily was arriving...





"May I ask, why did you wish to tag along with me?" Pure Vanilla asked, smiling lightly at Black Raisin, as she walked beside him.

"Ah, well..." The woman blushed lightly, looking away. "Just to make sure it'll go smoothly, you know..?"

Pure Vanilla chuckled lightly. "Well, if you insist..."

Upon finally arriving on the station, black-haired woman walked behind her friend, looking around for the head of white hair with the lily flower. It also was nice to see how very excited Pure Vanilla was about her return... from what Black Raisin noticed, he seemed a bit down for last couple of days.

Black Raisin sighed, as she looked up, watching the clouds go by. Relaxed, she let herself to smile. To think that just a couple years ago, not even once she would've thought she'd be sitting here, like that. Calm and at peace...

It was sure a nice day to be alive.

And then, suddenly, a sound of excited yell pulled her out of her thoughts, as she looked up, a bit startled, but then she found herself to smile at the sight infront of her.

Pure Vanilla ran forward to the Faerie Guardian, their arms wrapped around one another, before the blonde lifted up White Lily, spinning them both around with joyful laughter. Then, he put her back down on her feet, as they looked at each other's face with such longing, as if they were apart for years rather than a single month.

"White Lily~" Pure Vanilla breathed put, placing their heads together, to which the woman giggled and returned.

"Vanilla~" She breathed out, laying her head on his chest.

Black Raisin smiled, crossing her arms at the sight. "The power duo" She walked up to the two with soft and slight amused expression. Pure Vanilla chuckled lightly, as White Lily returned the smile.

"Black Raisin!" The older woman said, going for a hug with the former, that she obliged to. "Oh, it's so good to see you again, dear. How are you doing?"

"Like usual, your Majesty. Was the situation in Faerie Kingdom resolved?" Black Raisin continued to ask, going to take White Lily's bag.

White Lily shook her head, before grabbing her luggage herself. "I can do that, no need to worry." She assured, before answering the question. "And yes. Everything went smoothly, all thanks to Silverbell and the Faerie Knights..." She then sighed with a relieved smile. "...what would I do without them?"

"You're doing great." Pure Vanilla said, placing a hand around his lover' shoulders. "Becoming a Queen and getting used to it takes time. If anything, you have all the Faeries, other Ancients and myself to help you out."

White Lily looked at him, before smiling again. "I know... and I'm eternally grateful for that..."

The way back to the Vanilla castle was long, but nice. Just a quiet scroll through the streets, before they reached the familiar halls. The moment they stepped inside, Black Raisin departed, deciding to go, look for people of her old village. She had accompanied her friend to meet his lover, so her work here was done.

But it wasn't because she thought he couldn't handle meeting White Lily on his own, that Black Raisin insisted on coming with Pure Vanilla. Nor it wasn't that she didn't trust White Lily either. Ever since defeat of Dark Enchantress, White Lily was now truly back as the kind, loving woman, Pure Vanilla always described her to Raisin, when the topic of other Ancient Heroes came up.

No, she wanted to come along because it was beginning of mating season for her beloved crows... and she learned it the hard way that you should be as far away as possible during that time.

With the younger woman out of the way, Pure Vanilla lead White Lily into their secret house, locking the door after them. But this time, not to prevent White Lily to get out... it was to make sure nobody would walk in.

"Alone at last~" He said eventually, walking to White Lily, who smiled back and laid her head against his shoulder.

"So..." She sighed, deciding to cut to the chase. "In your last letter, you mentioned that you had your first experiments with the Saeloun mixture... I know, you couldn't tell me about them like that, but could you do so now?" She smiled, looking at him with expecting eyes.

Vanilla smiled, sighing. "Nothing can escape you, hm, my flower?" He chuckled, lifting his hand to her face. "Yes. I had two first test subjects. Everything went down splendidly!"

White Lily looked at him closer, as if a bit upset, but the smirk still shined on her face. "Does that mean you don't me to try it now?"

"White Lily..." Vanilla gasped, shaking his head. "No, we can still absolutely try it out with you! In fact..." He smiled lightly. "I was specifically waiting for your return... the mixture has different effect, that depends on age of the flower, it was made out of!"

"Really?" White Lily gasped. "Tell me more!"

Vanilla chuckled, before taking White Lily's hand, gesturing her to stand up. 

"Why don't I just show you instead?"







"YOU REGRESSED CONSUL CLOTTED CREAM!?"

Vanilla covered his ears at the sound of White Lily's shriek, before looking back at her. The two of them were in the laboratory room, sitting on floor to watch the pictures and videos Vanilla took of his "babies".

First was Alchemist. The amount of pictures and videos were probably too much for tind of just 24 hours, but Vanilla wanted to be sure he had lots of same person, as he didn't want to risk it with repeating it too soon. During the watch of videos, White Lily couldn't help the smile over the every cute thing the regressed woman did. As as Vanilla expected, she expressed the tiny bit of sorrow of not being able to be there as a part of it.

But it went down the hill, when he got to his first baby.

"He was the first one, I came across that day." Vanilla tried to excuse himself, but White Lily continued.

"You know how high risk of that was!? You know, how lucky you got with the amnesia after effect!" She asked once more. "I know, we're on neutral terms with the Créme Republic, but what if somebody saw it and it got out?! This would be a disaster!"

Okay, she had a point. Vanilla sighed.

"I know..." He covered his face. "I know I risked it, but I needed to know it. I was ready to take that blow, if something happened." He said, before looking at the screen. "You can't make an omelet, if you don't break eggs first. And this one made itself worth it."

White Lily looked at him, before sighing again, sitting back down.

"I know... I apologize." She said, laying her head against him once more. "I love you, Pure Vanilla. I really do... and I want to make sure, you're safe, so we don't have another Dark Enchantress disaster again."

Vanilla smiled lightly, leaning closer to kiss side of White Lily's head, that made her squeal.

"And I appreciate you looking out for me..." He whispered into her ear, pulling her closer to himself.

White Lily sat there for a second, but then leaned into the touch. She looked back at the screen, showing an image of Clotted Cream laying on his stomach as Vanilla spoke with him from the other side. And just like with previous recordings of Alchemist, she couldn't help the smile.

"...you know? I agree with you." She breathed out. "He is really cute... though I do wish I could've been here for it..."

Vanilla chuckled lightly. In a second, he stood up, walking over a small fridge in room to get something out of it.

"You know..."

He than returned to White Lily, kneeling down to how, showing what he held in his hand.

"You can as well be here for this one..."

In his hand, he was holding a small glass bottle, fillied with clear, slightly tinted with pink liquid. The white indicator on the glass said "SS flowers. Age when picked : 5 days after blooming. Regresses to : TBT".

Chapter Text

White Lily woke up the next day, rubbing her eyes. A bit disoriented from the amount of soft, pastel colors surrounding her, she started to think what happened the day before. However, for some reason, most of it was a blur. It felt warm and comfortable, constantly filled with soft, gentle voice and touch. She couldn't remember the things, it said, but it was nice... so familiar.

Then, her mind came to last memory before the blur and all fell into place. Of course. She agreed to be a test subject to mixture, Pure Vanilla made. One to make a person regress down to a child... so it meant this was gentle, warm presence in her mind was definitely him.

Her eyes then scanned her surroundings once more. The room was set for an older toddler and she was also not surrounded by crib bars, to note. Her clothes were also seemed to be for slightly older child, rather than a little baby. Light mint pajamas with one big white flower print on chest and many little ones on sleeves. What she was also more surprised about was the lack of padding between her feet.

'Huh...' She hummed. 'Looks like I was older than we both expected. Alchemist genuinely needed diapers, according to Vanilla...'

And as soon as she mentioned, the door opened and the former Vanillian king stepped inside. His eyes were focused on the woman, the smile still gentle. He was holding a sippy cup in his hand.

"Good morning, White Lily." He said, sitting next to her, reading out to get her hair off her face. She leaned into the touch. "Feeling well? Did you wake up fully?"

"Yeah..." She nodded, returning the smile. "Goodness, this feels like the best sleep, I had in my life... but my head hurts a bit..."

"Figures..." Pure Vanilla shrugged. "Alchemist and Clotted Cream also said they had light headaches after their doses wore off." He then handed her the cup. "Here. Have some water, love, feel free to take the lid off. This should help."

White Lily did as he suggested and took the drink. Perhaps she was still not fully out of the mixture's grasp, but she decided to keep the lid on.

"So... how it went down?" She asked, after going halfway through her drink. "Judging by the room, I was older too?"

"Yes. I'd say you around three years old, maybe a bit older." Pure Vanilla nodded, obviously happy of the results of previous day. "I took pictures and some videos, I can show! You were absolutely the cutest thing!"

White Lily couldn't help the giggle as Vanilla poked her in the nose. While her cheeks flushed up a bit with embarrassment, she didn't have the heart to stop him. He practically beamed! She decided to allow him to continue this... for a bit more~.

The two cuddled together, as Vanilla continued the retelling of the day before, his smile nor the joy in his voice not even once faltered. When he brought out the photos, White Lily started to look them over, while her partner told her what happened on it.

It was soft and cozy in the room. The only sounds inside were the lovers' hushed voices. White Lily stayed leaned against Vanilla's shoulder, listening to his tone, before he stopped suddenly.

"White Lily?" He asked hesitantly, as if unsure of the words, he was about to say. "...how... do you feel about this experience?"

"Huh?" She looked at him with confusion in her eyes. Then, she thought about it. "Well... I do feel relaxed a bit... and some part of me still wants to hold onto you... but otherwise... nothing out of ordinary... again, I barely remember anything after taking that mixture..." She then faced him once more. "Why do you ask?"

Vanilla looked at her with a light sigh. "I'm just... not sure, if I want to repeat it." He said softly, a bit sadly. "Not as in not doing it at all again, but just... not with regressing you, specifically."

"Oh."

There was another moment of silence, before Vanilla spoke again, with same gentle, careful tone. "And before you think of it, none of that is your fault. I love you more than words can describe...." He was quick to reassure her. "...and that's the problem. It's just... we're partners. A couple. I just don't feel it would be a good idea for me to make you act like my daughter so much."

White Lily looked at him, slightly in surprise, but then smiled lightly. Well, that made sense on why he wouldn't want to repeat this. While they were willing to explore more dynamics to their relationship... this was definitely not an appropriate one.

"Well... then we don't have to do that again." She said, laying her head against his shoulder. "I can always be a mother, if you'd let me be."

And she had to be honest with herself too. While it was a sweet and precious time for Vanilla and it was interesting for her to see herself as that carefree and innocent little girl... this just didn't feel right.

Maybe it was the part of her thar thought she didn't deserve to be viewed as such.

Maybe it was the part that still felt the blame behind creation of Dark Enchantress and the pain she inflicted on everyone.

Maybe she just felt uncomfortable with it.

Vanilla smiled at her. "Goodness, how did I get so lucky to have you?"

White Lily chuckled to kiss him. He instantly returned it.

But the fact still stood. Neither of them had interest of playing the "child" in that relationship.

But it was no problem! There were so many people for this role out there~.

And they had the perfect solution that would help them~.









"We need to set rules."

"Pardon?"

The two were sitting back in the kitchen with some tea and the pictures scattered all over the table. Vanilla set his mind on making scrapbook of the memories of his children (their children, he had to remind himself) and White Lily also loved the idea.

They were currently picking up good pictures for first three entries, those being of White Lily and of Vanilla's first two victims. While Vanilla did say this would happen to her, her eyes were still on the those, that weren't let in on the true nature of theur visit to Vanilla.

"Pure Vanilla... just, look." She showed at the pictures. "I know I consented to be regressed, but I highly doubt either Clotted Cream or Alchemist did." She explained. "While I more than anyone understand the need to know, we need to be careful about how we act about it."

Vanilla looked at the pictures once more. His mind once more went to how he regressed them.

Yes, White Lily knew how this would go down and said she would let him regress herself even before he had the Saeloun flowers.

Sure, he gave Alchemist some context of what would happen to her and she took the mixture on her own accord, but she was still unaware of his true intentions.

And Clotted Cream? Oh, the boy was drugged into it against his will. (Vanilla didn't like to refer to the mixture as a "drug", but he knew well what it was.)

Yes. This mixture was giving him what he wanted and did it's job very well and more. It was very empowering. But at the same time, this kind of power was so easy to abuse.

What White Lily said wasn't a suggestion. It was a call out that needed to happen to prevent this issue from breaking free.

"I know. You're right..." He nodded, sighing. "I go first. No using mixture on actual children." He was quick. "Not that we would do something inappropriate to them, just... the kids would he harder, given there's always somebody, who's looking out for them. If children will go missing and turn up next day, saying they were with us, I think it would attract attention, we don't want."

White Lily agreed. "Good thinking." She smiled. "Two. Don't go overboard with people. Again, they go missing and return too often, it would raise alarm. And saying they were with us? Same reason, we don't need that attention."

Vanilla smiled with a nod. This made sense. "Maybe once or twice a month? Would that be a good interval?"

"I was going to suggest once a week... but we can work on that." White Lily nodded. "We just need to stay low..."

"And from same category." Vanilla picked his tea, taking a sip from the cup. "Don't go for same person more than once in a row. Maybe, after awhile, but not at not too close to first time."

"Exactly." White Lily nodded, before she hummed. "Though... how would we decide on this? I mean, on who we will be regressing next?"

Vanilla thought about it, before smiling, as he put the cup down.

"I think I have an idea..."








The two were in storage room of the castle. The room, where Vanilla kept the things, they had, but didn't have the use for and didn't have the heart to throw out.

"You sure it's here?" White Lily asked, looking around the dusty books, before coughing. "What are you looking for anyway?"

"Something that will help us..." Vanilla grunted, moving more boxes, before letting out a happy "Aha!" and taking out a big box.

White Lily walked over, raising eyebrow as she saw the label. "Bingo?"

"Just think about it!" Vanilla started. "This game..." He patted the box. "...is all about chances. A random. There are seventy-five balls in total, all in their numbers and letters. So this way, we just need to make a list of people and put the numbers and letters of balls to them..." He then smiled "...and when time comes..."

"We pull the level and, whoever number comes up... we call that person over!" White Lily finished for him, as Vanilla nodded to her. "Huh, this is better plan than mine! I was going to suggest pulling a name out of a hat." She chuckled, coming to Vanilla, holding him. "This is a very good idea~. Let's get it back to family home and make the list..."

There was no trouble in getting the bingo set into the laboratory room and setting it up. While White Lily was counting the balls, Vanilla sat down to make the list.

"Well, if we want to, we can add more balls as we go..." She said, holding a red ball in her hand.

Vanilla nodded to her, as he hummed. "...do you think we should add Royalberry or Dark Choco? The boys definitely need some quiet time, but I don't know, if it's a good idea."

White Lily stopped for a second before thinking. Her nephews. She remembered them as the little boys and they were so sweet, so it would be nice to see them back to that time again...

But at the same time, Dark Cacao and Hollyberry were very protective of their sons and, in extention, of their families. While the eldest two Ancients knew, their friends would never let harm come to their children, it would still be a bad idea of going after them right away.

"Hm." White Lily hummed. "We would need to get to their parents first and then, and only if they know it would be safe for their children, I think we could. Maybe inviting them to join in too? They'd want their babies back, don't you think?"

Vanilla chuckled. "Alright. I'll just write somebody else there and, if we get the permission for it, we can add Royalberry and Dark Choco when we get another batch of balls."

"Good idea." White Lily nodded, as Vanilla wrote down two last names and stood up next to her.

"And now, with thar out of the way... shall we do a test run? Just to see, how it works."

The woman smiled lightly, allowing her partner to do the honors of the first pull. The sound of balls hitting one another instantly filled the small room, before a single ball finally was caught in the slot, allowing White Lily easy access to it.

"I 17." She read.

Vanilla looked back to his book, before chuckling lightly. "Oh dear!"

White Lily raised eyebrow at that reaction. "Who is that?"

She walked over to look into the number. Then, her face turned in amusement as she saw that the number was right next to Vanilla's own name. She laughed as well.

"Dear goodness, Vanilla!" She exclaimed with note of pretend anger in her voice.

"It was just a test to see, how it goes." He waved his hand. "And now, we know it's random."

After calming down from the fit of laughter, Vanilla pulled the level once more. This one, it was for the real. The number of the ball would lead to the final test of Saeloun Salm and they'd finally begin the "family" life.

A ball was finally caught in slot once again. Vanilla pulled it out this time.

"B 12." He looked into the notebook once more. He frowned slightly. "Hm... White Lily... do you still have that potion, that gives you a boost of strength?"

"I mean, can always ask Prune Juice for more, as long as I provide the ingredients..." She said, before walking closer to Vanilla. "Did we get somebody big?"

"Well..." Vanilla sighed, showing her the line. "You could say so..."

B 12. Dark Cacao. 

Chapter Text

The quiet evening hummed through the halls of Citadel. The only sounds from behind the door were just footsteps of the last servants, retreating for the night. And even those were few and far in-between now.

King Dark Cacao hummed to himself. Good. It meant everything was going smoothly. Just like any other day.

However, he was still expecting the Watchers to come to him to discuss plans for upcoming next days... the few days, he was going to be absent for.

He was going to Vanilla Kingdom to a meeting with the Queen of Faerie Kingdom, to officially establish peace and form an alliance between them. No, he wasn't worried about that. After all, the Queen was no one other than White Lily, one of his closest friends and allies for over two millenia at this point. This procedure was purely to make it official.

Plus, this would be a way to speak to both her and Pure Vanilla about their letter, he received a week prior. There was something, they wanted to show him. This would be a chance to catch up with both of them.

While reading that letter, Mystic Flour had also chimed in. Given it would be on same week, she would be leaving to visit the other reformed Beasts in Hollyberry Kingdom, his wife had mentioned this would be a good opportunity for Dark Choco to try himself as a temporary ruler.

Sure, this caused an argument between them, but eventually, Dark Cacao agreed to it. Sure, they were immortal, but he had to admit, eventually, his son would have to inheir the throne one day. And the sooner he would start getting used to idea of being the king the better.

Dark Cacao only agreed to it after Mystic Flour showed him a vision of everything going smoothly in their absence.

With a heavy heart, he had to do it. Logically, he knew his son was more more qualified for this role by now. Dark Choco wasn't a defenseless child anymore. He was grown man, skilled with more than one weapon. Plus, it wasn't like he was going to be alone... there were going to be people by his side.

But deep inside, Dark Cacao was still berating himself for not being there for his son enough in his childhood. The very reason, they drifted away so badly...

The very reason his boy seeked out That Cursed Sword...

'No.' Dark Cacao stopped himself. 'Don't go there. You and Dark Choco had more than enough conversations about this. He's more than properly prepared to take the throne.'

But Dark Cacao wondered if he was prepared for this himself.









"Is something troubling you, my friend?"

Dark Cacao looked up to see the worried faces of Pure Vanilla and White Lily, who sat across the table from him.

He had arrived safely to the Vanilla Kingdom (that worked as a "middle ground" of the meeting between him and White Lily) late in the day, so the two suggested to leave the political business for later in the week and just decided to have time for themselves.

He sighed. "Not at all, Pure Vanilla. I'm just a bit worried about something going wrong back at home."

'With Dark Choco', he wanted to add, but held it in.

The noon of their departure arrived sooner than expected. Dark Choco held himself well, promising to look after the kingdom and Licorice Sea while his father and stepmother were gone. Mystic Flour gave the basic instructions of "be good" and "look after Little Hetae", while Dark Cacao went more deliberate. He almost washed he hadn't let himself being talked out of making that list of reminders for his son.

"I can understand that." Pure Vanilla replied softly. "If I recall right... it's the first time you leave for trip without him since he returned... since he was a child, even. I don't blame you." He shook his head, smiling lightly. "Your son has always been one of most important things to you."

Dark Cacao looked away, before he let out a tired sigh.

"It's just I'm worried, that's all. Part of me says to go back, check on him. That he's not ready yet for leading people, he's not stable enough to even stay on his own right now! That I need-" The older man forced himself to stop, trying to ignore the looks on his friends' faces.

The monarch covered his face, sitting back down.

"See what I'm talking about? I'm acting ridiculous, as if Choco is nothing more than an infant, who needs constant care..."

"It's not unusual. A heart of a parent is never a calm one." White Lily walked over to him, gently placing hand on his shoulder. "But your boy is a capable young man, he'll be just fine." She gave him a reassuring smile, to which the older man returned. "And you definitely need to relax... more than how you did since your awakening..."

The two shared the look, before White Lily nodded and Pure Vanilla left to next room, leaving the other two alone. Dark Cacao raised eyebrow at the younger woman. 

"What is Pure Vanilla getting?" He asked, a bit cautiously, but still interested. "What do you mean?"

White Lily hesitated, before deciding to go for it.

"Dark Cacao..." She started, before looking away. "Before I explain it, I need to say that what is about to follow... is personal for both, Pure Vanilla and I. So I need you to be understanding."

Another beat of silence, but then he nodded.

"Alright. Here we go..." She sighed once again. "We want a child. Not right now, but... one day." She stated, simply and clear. "For now, we're just practicing at babysitting, to know what to expect. Especially in early years."

Dark Cacao hummed, nodding once more. That makes sense. He remembered how both of two of them reacted to Royalberry and to his own son later. It felt logical they'd want a baby, if he was being honest. And also that was logical that they'd take it seriously to practice, before jumping head first into parenting.

"Good thinking from both of you. Practice makes progress, after all." He smiled at the younger woman, who returned it.

Despite being only ten years older than both of them, Dark Cacao couldn't help the feeling of responsibility and need protect the two of the possible harm they'd encounter in their lives. They were very dear to him and the thought of something suffering more than they already had upset him to his core. The last thing, he wished for the two younger Ancients, is to experience the heartbreak of losing the child or messing up how Hollyberry and himself did.

No, little Vanilla and Lily should be happy with their family, whenever that comes.

"Yes, that's what you always say..." Pure Vanilla returned, smiling at his partner and friend, as White Lily's eyes fell back down at her hands.

"...but here's the thing. We... took a slightly different route in getting the children..." She spoke up, feeling Pure Vanilla's hand on her own.

Silence hanged once again, before she finally decided to speak it.

"Pure Vanilla found a way to temporarily revert one back to a child." She said quickly. "We're using that for our parenting practice."

Another beat.

Then, there was a hm from the older man. "...I see." Dark Cacao nodded. "And how long have you been doing that?"

The two looked at him in slight surprise. Well, maybe this was going to be better than expected? Still picking their words carefully, the two continued.

"We're still in testing. So far, we had three." Pure Vanilla explained. "I carried out first two tests on my own, while White Lily was away. Both times it went well, both my test subjects are now back out and about, as if nothing happened."

Dark Cacao listened to younger male, nodding. "And third time?"

"It was me." White Lily joined in. "I was the third and, currently, last test subject. And, as you can see, it went well. No lasting aftereffects." She smiled, chuckling lightly. "The feeling afterwards is actually quite nice. You feel very relaxed and warm."

At the sound of White Lily's soft voice, Dark Cacao smiled lightly. But still, something in her words didn't feel right. "Well, I'm glad you were able to find a way that helps you out with your desire for a family, but why are you describing it to me like that?" He asked again.

And there it was. The question, they dreaded. The couple looked at one another, before nodding. Then, they turned back to the older man.

"Dark Cacao, we were wondering..." Pure Vanilla sighed. "...would you mind to take part in our final test?"

Silence.

"Pardon?" Dark Cacao raised eyebrow.

Pure Vanilla tensed up.

"The mixture, we will be using." He continued. "There are four stages, we're trying out. As we told you, we had already done three of them. While it is helpful and all... we're not sure how prolonged exposure will effect one's mind."

As Pure Vanilla explained, he handed Dark Cacao a small, clear bottle. The older man started to inspect it. Inside was a clear liquid with pinkish tint. On side, there was a label saying "SS flowers. Age when picked : wilting petals. Regresses to : TBT".

All while the older man looked at the bottle, White Lily took over the explained. "We don't want risking harming others for something, we want, so that's why calling our first subjects back for this. And I'm most recent person to try it, while neither of us feels comfortable with Pure Vanilla using it on himself, because we're a couple. So for final one, we need somebody, we haven't tried it with yet."

Well, that made sense. But still... "Why me?" Dark Cacao asked once more.

"You're so tense." Pure Vanilla said. "I know, you, Hollyberry and Golden Cheese see White Lily and I as the youngest Ancients... but we also notice when you're hurting. And, just like you're looking out for us, it's also our job, as your friends, to make sure you're okay. So we thought you could use some... simple time to relax a bit?"

Dark Cacao looked at the bottle again.

Something in his gut was saying that he shouldn't do that, or else it'll end up badly for himself or somebody else. He had already been deceived in past by too many to blindly trust in whatever is put in his hands.

And yet, at the same time... these were White Lily and Pure Vanilla. The man, who was and still is ready to sacrifice his life to save him and those dear to him. The woman, who had fought herself in more than one way to restore peace on Earth.

Those were his friends. His allies. They've been together for two thousand years. If anyone, he should be able to trust them. He heard the sincerity and concern in their words.

Pretty much like everyone else around him in last couple of days...

Maybe... just maybe... his friends were right about it? Maybe this would be the thing, he needs right now?

With a frown, he had made his mind.

"How much of it do I take?"

The surprise and joy on their faces did not miss him.









The room was quiet, as Vanilla circled around, muttering something under his breath. Lily was sitting on the couch, smiling lightly at her partner, her hand driven deep into Dark Cacao's hair, who was laying on her lap.

Lily chuckled lightly, watching her lover. He stopped at the sound, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Goodness, Nilly... calm down." She chided, shaking her head lightly. "You're going to ruin the floors, if you keep walking in circles like that!"

Vanilla stopped at this, before breathing out. "Right... I apologize." He then went to sit next to her. "I'm just... excited."

He then looked down at their resting friend. The dried flowers worked the weakest, as expected, but still did job wonderfully, given Dark Cacao was down to a quiet, shy 6 year old. He was also very clingy, liking the close contact with both Vanilla and Lily, despite being taller than both of his "parents".

A gentle, fatherly smile replaced the previous unhinged excited one on Vanilla's, as he reached to also stroke the sleeping "child's" hair. Dark Cacao didn't stir one bit and just learned into the touch.

"I know, you're feeling same as I do..." He said softly, turning to face Lily. "We are doing our final test! We know how all flowers effect person, we set rules AND the way, we'll be having our children!"

The same excitement came back onto his face, causing Lily to laugh once again. "Yes, I know..." She breathed out, laying her head against his shoulder. Then, her eyes went down to Dark Cacao. "And I think we should get this one to bed... it's getting late."

With no arguments, Vanilla leaned to kiss his "son" on forehead, before Lily took him to one of the "children's" rooms. It was good she managed to get that strength boost potion when she did... otherwise, she'd have to wake Cacao and, with how peaceful he looked, it was the last thing she wanted. It was also good they talked him into getting dressed for bed earlier, while they were playing in pillow fort.

While getting the "child" tucked in for the night, light mumbling started to leave him, he slightly opened his one eye.

"...mama?"

Lily felt her heart skip a beat at the word. Goodness, she was still getting used to hearing that word even hours after receiving the title. Mama. She was a mother. She still couldn't get that dumb smile off her face whenever it was used to her.

But she had a task on hand.

"Yes, Coco, it's me, love..." She said softly, moving the loose strand of Cacao's hair from his face. "It's sleepy time now, dear. Are you comfy? Warm enough? Do you think you need your nightlight?"

The "boy" just shook his head, yawning lightly. "Notta baby, Mama..." He whispered. "S'eep with no lits on..."

A soft chuckle left the woman as she continued to stroke her "son's" hair. "Of course, sweetheart. You're a big boy now..." She leaned closer to kiss his forehead. "Remember, Papa and I are next door, whatever you might need. Alright?"

"Yes..." Dark Cacao hummed softly, closing his eyes again. "Goodnight, Mama..."

Lily smiled softly at him. "Goodnight, baby. Love you..."

After making sure he was fully asleep, Lily made her way out of the room, but kept it a bit opened. Just so they could hear him, if something happened.

Once she reached the living room again, she was met with Vanilla waiting for her. As soon as he saw her, his face changed from just happy to a knowing one.

"So, how does it feel?" He was quick, jumping straight to the point, just as she expected.

"It's... nice. No, not just nice. It's..." She looked at her face, that crazy dumb smile crossed her face. She then let out a small squeal, like a teenage girl. "Oh, Nilly!"

The man chuckled and caught her in his arms, as two of them fell onto the couch, hugging close.

"Told you, it's better than words can describe~" Vanilla leaned, touching foreheads with his lover, who giggled again. "But I gotta say, you're holding it together WAY better than me, when I had Creamy~."

Lily chuckled lightly. "Probably because Coco is six." She sighed, laying her head against his chest. "Oh, how I wish I could've been here for the baby age!"

"You will be next time, I promise." Vanilla smiled, kissing her head. "It's a strong one. This family is all, we'll need. You will be mother. I will be father... and we will have our precious little bundle of joy to love and care for."

Lily looked at him, her eyes and insides filled with nothing, but love and happiness. Perhaps not the type of love a person would normally feel in this situation... but it just felt right to her.

Natural.

"Oh, Vanilla~" She breathed out, closing her eyes once more. "How lucky did I have to be to get you~?"








"So, how did your meeting with Faerie Queen go?"

Dark Cacao looked at his wife with surprised look. But then he smiled. "The meeting went just fine, as we expected." He said. "It was also nice seeing both of them."

The political matters were dealt with in a single day, that they then left to spend time by catching up.

After joining his friends' research, the rest of trip went quickly. Despite waking up in quite embarrassing position, cuddled in between two of them, the relaxed, clear mindset afterwards did make it feel like exacly what he needed.

On request of seeing pictures of their previous tests, White Lily and Pure Vanilla happily obliged to show him. That did earn Pure Vanilla another scolding of acting recklessly by regressing Consul Clotted Cream.

But still, even with this little hiccup, he did get curious about this.

"I'm sure it was!" A slightly rougher voice came from his side, as a pair of red eyes set on him. "I'm glad Aunt Lily and Uncle Nilla managed to get your mind at ease..."

Dark Cacao looked up to face his son, who was sitting next to him.

Since he came out from the haze of the mixture and while seeing the pictures, Pure Vanilla didn't stop gushing from what a gift this was. A miracle, sent to them by Gods, to help those in need. To give people a second chance of experiencing the joy of innocence and happiness of the simple, tender years of life.

A miracle.

A second chance.

A light huff left him, as he gently cupped Choco's face in his arms, putting their heads together, getting a light chuckle and embarrassed "Appa..." from his boy.

"And so do I, Aegi..."

A chance for a do-over.

"So do I..."

And Dark Choco didn't pull away.

Chapter Text

Hello, everyone! I'm sorry, it's not an update yet, but next chapter is close! I just wanted to quickly address two things!

1. I am very happy and grateful for all the support you showed me in writing this story! I seriously can't thank you enough for sticking with me on this journey! 

2. So. As you can see on the chapter count, we're just two chapters away from this fic's completion... HOWEVER! This is not the end of either Vanilla's Not-So-Pure Secret nor Saeloun Salm shenanigans!

I'm currently working on a spin off series of other characters experience the joy, the magical flower gives as well as the others being unlucky enough to get dragged into it. I think my brain is set on fact that will NOT calm down until it makes all of Ancients freak caregivers in some way... (P.S. could somebody give me ideas for Hollyberry? She's the only one without a story of her own and she keeps escaping me!)

For those, click on next story for "Saeloun Salm Verse"

And also, this will not be the end to Vanilla and White Lily's experiments as I did promise to give them more "babies" to care for! So first story, I'll be making, is a request book for all of your favorite cookies to be babied and second of them is something indulgent for myself and the plan, I had since starting this series! I hope I'll see you there!

For those, click on next story for "Vanilla's Not-So-Pure Secret"

I hope I'll see you all there! 

Until then, take care and have fun! ;)

Chapter Text

Night time was definitely Vanilla's favorite time and the day. While he did enjoy the warmth of the sun and bright colors it provided, the quiet moments of gathering together with your family was exactly where it's at. Especially, for his family.

Vanilla was sitting in the nursery, brushing Black Raisin's hair after her bath, while White Lily kept their "daughter" distracted by playing with her. Their little girl was 3 years old and more active than their younger babies. Something always carried over in their personality from their adult self to the baby one.

Even after two years of doing this... it was still exciting to see what would stay in their little one's character and what would be locked behind the influence of their trusty mixture, they long since decided to call simply by The Baby Formula.

"Alright, darling... and here we go!" With final strock of the brush, Vanilla had finished untangling his "daughter's" long black hair. "Such a good girl you were~. Staying all still~."

Black Raisin giggled, rasing her hands up to her "father" to be picked up, which he gladly obliged. Despite saying she loved both of them in her little space, it was very clear Raisin was a Daddy's girl. Not that Lily complained, Black Raisin knew Vanilla as Healer since she was a child, so they were bound to be deeply connected. Not to mention there were many among of their "children", who were obvious Mama's babies.

Plus, this was plain adorable~.

"Oh, Nilly~" She chuckled lightly, wrapping her hands around her partner, who smiled lightly at her. "You're spoiling her~."

Vanilla left out a small laugh at the sound of their "daughter's" own little giggle when his beloved leaned to kiss her head.

Yes. Life was great. Everything was going smoothly and they had a big family of to call their own.

He was a father. His Lily was a mother. And together, they had many children. It didn't matter if their children didn't know that~.

"Now, honey..." Lily spoke softly. "Papa is going to be out tomorrow, so you and I will have a Mommy and Daughter day, doesn't that sound fun?"

Black Raisin stilled for a second, before her wide eyes looked at Vanilla with slight surprise and worry. "Papa go?"

Vanilla could feel his heart break at the sound of her voice. He truly hated being away during the family time, but this meeting? It had to be done.

"Yes, baby, I have to" He said gently, before strocking her head. "It's just for a couple of days and Mama will be here with you the whole time... Papa will be back before you know it~."

It was true, this meeting was just going to last for a day, but he will be out of Kingdom for nearly a week. And it saddened him that he would be back when Black Raisin would be well and out of her baby mode. Meaning he'd be met with his right hand, rather than his daughter.

Black Raisin looked away, before nodding. "Promise?" She held her hand up to him, that made his heart melt.

"Promise..."







Next morning came quicker than expected and Vanilla was getting ready for his departure. Black Raisin had already gotten her goodbye hug and kiss from her "father" and they were now waiting for Lily to calm down.

"Got all you need? You sure you don't want me to come with?" Lily ran around Vanilla, checking him over as he shook his head fondly. Goodness, they weren't even engaged yet and she was already fussing over him as if she was his wife.

"Yes, White Lily, I've got everything in my bag." He said, taking her hands in his. "And yes, I would love to have you with me, but we need to have somebody to watch this little lady." He looked down, petting their "daughter's" hair, as she giggled again. "I promise, I will be back soon, alright?"

Lily looked at him, before sighing lightly and giving him small smile. "...alright."

With sharing a kiss with her and hugging Black Raisin once more, he departed out of the "family home" again locking the door after himself, before the little one decided to run out behind him. Yes, he was sad to leave them, but his and White Lily's family business was going to remain a secret. They did so for two years already, and he was determined to keep it hidden.

Upon arriving on the airship station, he prepared himself the long journey to the Créme Republic. He quickly briefed himself on what he was about to do.

He was going to have a meeting with Doctor Pamelo, the head of Cream Laboratory. The same woman, him and White Lily were helping with conducting the botanical research two years ago.

And the very woman, who brought up the magical flower of Saeloun Salm to his attention.

The small bit of excitement and anticipation was running through his veins with his blood. While overall relationship between the Republic and most older Kigdoms remained neutral at best, Pure Vanilla had became a pen pal with the doctor, exchanging letters every so often, so they kept each other updated with their respective experiments with flowers.

But of course, they had to keep the exact reason of their researches to themselves...

But not today. Now, they could officially meet to discuss everything they had learned and share details of their findings...

Vanilla smiled to himself, placing hand on his back, inside of which was exacly what he wanted to share the most...







He arrived to the Republic closer to the evening and was lead to the hotel, he was going to stay for the duration of his visit. The next day rolled in rather quickly and sooner than he expected, Pure Vanilla was already exchanging greetings with doctor Pamelo and taken inside the lab for the discussion.

Like expected, the building was bustling with life. Scientists were running through the halls, talking among themselves, apparently not noticing the presence of unfamiliar face. That was good, Pure Vanilla supposed. The less fuss is caused about his visit the better.

Soon enough, the two reached doctor's private room and sat down.

"I am so glad you managed to find a minute to visit us." Pamelo spoke, sitting on chair. "Now, I know it's not your first time visiting the Republic, but I do recall you ever visiting our lab in past..." She hummed. "So I hope it wasn't too hard finding it."

Pure Vanilla returned the smile, nodding. "Don't worry, it was easy."

The woman just smiled once again, before pulling out a folder. "Well, now that we're alone... I suppose we can drop the pretend..." She chuckled. "After all... we both know neither of us is here for simply any flowers, are we?"

Vanilla let out a soft laugh, covering his mouth slightly. "Oh, that you're correct, doctor..." He nodded, leaning inside his bag and took out a folder of his own.

A folder, filled to brim with pictures of his and White Lily's babies.

The fore lit up in Pamelo's eyes, as she readjusted her glassed. And so, they begun. Vanilla insited to go first, putting the photos on table, as he showed every single one with happiness and pride. All while Pamelo's interest of her business partner's journey grew bigger and bigger.

"I say, this flower gives a wonderful results..." Doctor Pamelo said eventually, looking between the pictures with bright smile. "I mean, Consul Clotted Cream? Being breastfed and not caring about it?"

Vanilla let out another laugh. "Oh, my White Lily was ecstatic when she found that spell back in Faerie Kingdom..." He breathed out. "I'm very happy we got to have this... this really brings the whole thing together, you know?"

"And, as a mother myself, I must also mention that maternal milk is the best for baby in early stages of life..." Doctor nodded in agreement, smiling in encouragement. "But let's not forget about madam Financier! Oh, look at her in that adorable dress~." She cooed with a soft chuckle. "Never thought I'd see either of them like that!"

"Oh, they were quite adorable together, I'm glad we were able to have them again~" Vanilla smiled at the memory. The fight to get Financier in diaper before her regression was worth it in the end. "Speaking of your own experience... in your last letter, you mentioned your son caught something. Is the little one alright now?" He asked in concerned voice.

Pamelo sighed softly. "Not exacly fully recovered yet, but is better than when I wrote you." She shook her head. "Speaking of which, it's about time I go and check on him... would you like to join?"

Vanilla's eyes lit up. Soon after their meeting, doctor Pamelo had reunited with her son, who she often mentioned in her letters... and she also mentioned that they started to use a modified version of Saeloun serum... which the boy had signed up to test now.

And for so long, Vanilla wished to see this child. So it was easy question to answer.

They made their way through surprisingly quiet and empty hall, that went from doctor's office.

"This hall has been privated for some time now." Pamelo explained, taking a note of Vanilla's expression. "My child got into an... accident, when he was little, so he's afraid of scientists and hospital halls in general..." She sighed. "This being quiet space helps his anxiety a bit."

Vanilla looked at her for a second, before he nodded. "Ah, I see..." He said, smiling lightly. "You're a good mother."

Silence.

"...thank you."

Soon enough, they reached one of the doors and Pamelo stopped before it.

"That's his room." She said simply, before, with slight hesitation, she reached for a hand on lock, to undo it.

"This prevents them from wandering off." Vanilla nodded in understanding. "No need to be scared, my friend. White Lily and I do exact same thing with ours... as beautiful as this gift is..."

"...not everyone is able to see how it benefits us." Pamelo sighed out. "I know, you wrote a lot about it. Thank you..." She smiled, now confidently opening the door and letting both of them in.

Inside, like expected, was a nursery. White one with prints of rainbows and sift carpet on the floor. Many toys were scattered around the floor, ready for the child to play with them. And, unlike the rest of the laboratory, this room smelled with the familiar sweet scent of levander.

And in the middle of the room was the boy, Vanilla assumed was doctor's son. A blonde man with bright yellow eyes, staring at them both with surprised, but also slightly sheepish smile, as he stood by the opened crib. He was wearing a white baby pajamas and his hair were a bit ruffled. A little copy of his mother, just without glasses and in his 20's.

Pamelo looked at the scene, before sighing with slightly tired, but gentle smile. "Hey there, my little lemondrop." She said softly, placing a kiss on her son's face.

"Hi, Mama..." He still averted her gaze, blushing lightly.

"How did you get out of your crib now, baby? Do we need to get back to mittens, hm?" Pamelo brought her son into her arms.

"I can't sleep, Mama, you know..." Lemon sighed. "I tried, but I couldn't... and you told me to leave my cube out, so I just wanted to get it and get back in, I promise."

Pamelo looked at her son for a second, studying his face, before she reached down to, presumably, check his diaper. Vanilla, who was still standing by the door, took a notice of Lemon's reaction (or rather lack of one) at his diaper being checked, despite not being regressed.

"You are a bit wet, love... maybe that's why you can't get rest..." She hummed. "Come now... let's get you cleaned up and some milk afterwards, hm? That should help you fall asleep."

Lemon let out a small noise, but let his mother take him to changing table and help him up. Pamelo did a quick job to take off his pajamas. Looking away from what she was doing, Lemon turned his way in direction of the door, where he finally noticed Vanilla. His eyes widened.

"M... mama..?" The younger man said quietly. "Who is that..?" He whispered, as if suddenly snapping out of the routine, he was used to.

But before Pamelo was able to put a word in, Vanilla smiled softly, walking in to him.

"Hello, little one... Lemon was it, right?" He said softly. "My name is Pure Vanilla, I'm your Mommy's friend."

Lemon tilted his head, frowning lightly. "You're Mama's friend?" He wasn't aware she had any.

Vanilla chuckled lightly. "Yes, we are, little one. So no need to be shy, I have babies just like yourself back at home!"

Lemon looked at him for a second, before his eyes softened a bit. "...oh." He looked away, just when his mother finished changing his diaper.

"Alright, little man, let's get your jammies back on, shall we?"

Pamelo helped Lemon off the table get get steady on his feet, before dressing him back into the pajamas and zipping it back up.

"There. All done!" She kissed his face again, turning to Vanilla. "Pure Vanilla, can I ask you for a small favor? Could you watch him for a second, while I get his bottle ready?"

But before Vanilla could reply, Lemon spoke first. "My bottle?"

Pamelo stood a bit stunned, before a soft smile crossed her face. "Oh, Lemondrop..." She sighed slightly, turning to her son, gently putting her hands to his face. "I know, Mama loves our little time, but we've got guests today, so a bottle will have to do this once, okay?"

Ah, he was probably curious why he was getting the bottle, rather than having his mother feeding him.

"I mean, I can always step out." Vanilla said reassuringly. "Nor that I'd mind, my lover also breastfeeds our little ones."

Lemon's face flushed up slightly at the fact, that made his mother laugh softly.

"Well, I'm going to get the bottle right now, but if this little one..." She reached over to muzzle to her son's face, as he yelped lightly. "...is still hungry afterwards, we can do that too."

The woman stepped out and two were left alone.

Vanilla looked at the boy, who just turned down, sitting on the ground, starting to fidget with a bright yellow Rubic's cube. Either it had very similar shades of yellow that made solving it trickier or the cube was specifically made in one shade that meant it would always stay solved.

And still, Vanilla thought it would be a better idea to have the two of them spend time together.

"Lemon, come on, kiddo, put that down... your Mommy-"

"Careful." Lemon cut him off, scooting away from the older man. "You'll get zapped."

Vanilla blinked. "...pardon?"

"I can control electricity. I was born with it..." He shrugged. "If the static gets too high, I can electrocute somebody. This cube helps keeping that in check."

Huh. That's quite nifty. Why Pamelo never mentioned this in her letters?

"I see... but how about we play with your other blocks and you keep this one on your lap?" Vanilla continued. "Maybe that can work too?"

Lemon looked at him for a second, before breathing out and nodding. "...alright."

And so, the two started. While Vanilla encouraged the play, Lemon did it all absent-mindedly. He was more curious about Vanilla, keeping an eye on him the whole time. He knew he knew him from somewhere, but he couldn't remembwr where. And it was driving him nuts. So studying him, trying to put him to a memory was his best bet. Frowning and trying to figure out, where he knew the older man from.

"Is something wrong, little love?" Vanilla asked eventually.

Lemon nearly jumped at the voice, nearly knocking the block tower down. "Ah... I'm sorry." He blushed, looking away. "I just... I think I know you from some..." and then it clicked. Lemon's eyes widened. "You're one of the Ancient Heroes!" He gasped.

Vanilla looked at him in slight surprise, before chuckling. "Well, that would be me!" He smiled. "Surprised to see, you know about us."

"Mama would tell me stories when I was little." Lemon said, before looking at Vanilla with curious eyes. "How did you end up here?"

Vanilla smiled. "Oh, your Mommy needed some special flowers from where I'm from, so I landed her some help..." He explained. "And, in turn, she helped me."

Lemon raised eyebrow. "Mama helped you?" Je asked once again.

"Indeed she did!" Vanilla exclaimed. "You know, if it wasn't for your Mommy, White Lily and I wouldn't have had our children!"

Lemon looked at Vanilla for another minute, before looking down at the blocks next to himself.

"...cool."

And he didn't say anything else until his mother returned.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on him, Pure Vanilla." Pamelo spoke softly, feeling her son sleeping peacefully against her bare chest. "Was he good?"

"Just beautiful." Vanilla breathed out, watching the two of them with same soft expression he always looked at his own "babies" while they were fed by his beloved White Lily. "But I must say, it was a bit weird to actually hold a conversation with a baby. I thought you were also using the Saeloun flowers?"

"And so we do." Pamelo nodded, standing up to walk to her son's crib to lay him inside. "But like I mentioned, ours is a bit modified... it only shows the effects on body..." She then turned to Vanilla, putting her finger to her head. "The mind stays the same..."

"Hm..." Vanilla looked between the two of them, sitting down. "I can see that, but why did you do that? You said you wanted to reunite with your son and use this to do so... why not go full way?"

"Originally... we weren't planning on keeping him for long... just a month or two, before we get results, after which we could let him go... but then, I realized I wanted him." She explained, sighing as she switched her son's thumb with pacifier. "That when I started using that formula more... deliberately."

"Back then, I did want to ask you for book or the recipe, you use for your personal experiments... but then, I realized while it was useful, I had no chance of knowing it would be foolproof." Pamelo continued, running her hand through her son's hair. "If I did use it, yes, I'd have him the way, I want him to... but Lemon is a smart boy... he can trick me, if I put too much trust into a drug, I don't have a hundred percent guarantee of working..."

"...so you keep him aware." Vanilla finished for her. "Keep him knowing how much he depends on you."

"Precisely." A weird glint shone in doctor's eyes as she watched her son's sleeping form. "This way, he knows he's mine. At this point, it's just a fact of his life, even in his adult mind." She chuckled.

"And I don't joke when I say he knows this... few nights ago, I forgot to lock his door... and he ran for me. He could've escaped... but he didn't." Pamelo smiled with her own deranged motherly way. "He came to me, like a scared child, to his parents!"

Vanilla looked at her, before smiling. "He knows he's your baby." He said, sighing wistfully. "He knows he only needs you, his mother, in his life."

"Indeed he does." She nodded, raising the bars and locking them in place.

After a quick kiss, two left the nursery. Pamelo locked the door after them.

"I'm so happy we're past the running away phase, but I'd rather be safe." She said. "Lemon knows his place and only needs me. Soon enough, he will completely forget his life outside the lab..."

But I wish those meddlesome girls would forget about him as well...

"I'm sure it'll pass." Vanilla nodded, looking back at the nursery, his thoughts lingering.

Lemon was with his mother. And he would stay with her... a quiet loner, with few people, who knew of his existence outside of lab... now back to person, who was going to love and care for him forever...

He'd forever stay her baby.

Hm...

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla was a simple man, really. Despite being a hero, a king and a notable historical figure, he still would find joy in small things. Like the warmth of the sun, the feeling of gentle rain on his skin... or simply getting to see his dear friends.

He looked at the consul room, where the other four Ancients were with a smile on his face. They were accompanied by the five founders of Cookie Kingdom. Once, five brave young children, trying to find themselves a place in the world, and now bright adults (and a teen) and great heroes too.

Yesterday, they celebrated Custard's 15th birthday. Fifteen. Nobody of the five Ancients could believe that. It felt like just yesterday, they were so tiny and now, they were out in big world, facing it head-first and stronger than ever.

Just like always, Pure Vanilla felt his heart swell at the thought. As much as he still thought the rushed maturity was ridiculous... when the child grows up naturally and in loving environment, the results are astonishing.

A head of guards with heart of gold. A extraordinary magic-wielder of ever-growing curiosity. An inspiring game-developer of with such gentle and sweet nature. A sassy, but caring former criminal, who started a new in right environment. An upcoming king, with unyielding love to his subjects.

The more he watched them grow up, the feeling inside him grew... but with main happiness, there was something more. Something deeper, something... duller. Empty. What was it? Definitely not pride, as that felt warm and exciting. So what was that?

He shook his head he stepped out. No. He knew what it was.

It was the same desire he had for so many years. A desire to father a child. But he already had Baby Formula. It gave him a chance to have a baby, he wished for... he wanted it to have a baby, he could love and care for and for last three, nearly four, years he was satisfied.

So why was it back?

What was missing?

What he did need now?






The moon and stars were shining above the Vanilla Kingdom, giving the beautiful, serene atmosphere  as two lovers departed from their friends side by side. As soon as both were out of side, the three continued theur talk.

It was nice to finally go back to peace like this. It was just like the old times, before Dark Cinders War... no looming threat above them, so they were just bunch of good friends, finally taking a break and catching up with one another. Finally, with the Dark Enchantress being gone, the three Ancients could breathe out in peace.

And yet, a single question was bothering the Golden Sovereign, who kept looking over her shoulder in direction her friends had gone to.

"You sure it's safe we trust them with something this big?" She asked suddenly, getting attention of the other two.

Dark Cacao raised eyebrow at this. "What do you mean?"

"You know..." She put her hand up to her face. "Their whole age serum thing? Aren't you concerned?"

The older pair shared the look again, before turning back to Golden Cheese.

Hollyberry started. "I will be frank, I was at the beginning. I first learned when I walked onto them while Eternal Sugar was under it's influence, but then..." She sighed, covering her face. "I honestly did freak out. I still have no idea how they managed to hold me back from breaking out... I'm pretty sure I ended up upsetting Sugar by that."

"They told me they're using it for parental practice." Dark Cacao admitted. "While I admit, not exactly convenient way of doing it, but they are acting very wisely about it and very strict on the rules, they've set out."

"I know, I've seen that first hand myself!" Golden Cheese chimed in again. "But how can we be sure they'll always follow their rules? They're very secretive of it, yes, but they also talk about how many 'children' they have. How are we to know everyone is set free after a dose wears off?"

"You trust me, right?" Hollyberry asked, getting a nod from younger woman. "Yes, you do! And I trust Eternal Sugar. She explained me about of that flower, given she used to have it in her Garden. She asked Silent Salt to keep an eye on them through his and White Lily's Soul Gem. So far, they're staying on tract with their promise to follow their rules."

Golden Cheese looked at Hollyberry, trying to find other words, but not finding anything else to say, she just sighed. "Right... sorry. I'm just... worried." She crossed her arms. "Last time, White Lily dived into her curiosity, it ended up in nearly 25 years of war, that had taken... so many lives. And I'm not just talking about my Kingdom."

"Yes, we know." Hollyberry breathed out. "The Dark Cinders War has been a disaster we could've prevented, if we had helped White Lily to stay on the right path..." She covered her face. "And sadly, we can't change the past. But we can still move forward to a better future."

"I know you're concerned about both of them." Dark Cacao finally joined, looking down at his cup of coffee. "I will not lie, I was as well when I first learned. As far as I know, I was one of first people, who they tired it on. But I can assure you, when things come to this, I'm keeping a very close eye on them."

"Really?" Golden Cheese asked, her eyes widened slightly. "How? Did you put some spying device there? Is Light of Resolution keeping an eye on them through Freedom and Truth?"

Dark Cacao smiled lightly, reaching below the table, pulling out a small bottle. Golden Cheese looked at it curiously, watching the pinkisly-tinted liquid glisten in the moonlight.

"My family also does that." He said abruptly, making the woman snap out of her thoughts and at him.

"You... what?!" The Golden Sovereign asked, her eyes looking at the man with bewildered expression.

"This mixture..." Dark Cacao sighed, taking the bottle in his hand. "Is made from flowers of Saeloun Salm. Those were favorite of my late Milky Flower... I never knew it could regress one to point of childhood, but after Pure Vanilla and White Lily brought it to my attention... I got curious."

There was silence for a second, as he looked away.

"As you know, I wasn't there enough for my son while he was a child..."

The three of them went quiet. The familiar sour feeling all three of them experienced so much the years. Being all-powerful hero didn't mean they didn't make mistakes or didn't have regrets. And sadly, their biggest regrets came to their children and what they had to endure from them.

Dark Choco's relentless training with little-to-no encouragement at all from one person he needed it from.

The weeks, if not months of still young Royalberry witnessing his mother's alcoholism.

'Not being there when she needed you the most?' Golden Cheese looked down in her hand. An old, starched and aged blue hairpin of three little triangles forming a single big one. Her kingdom's symbol.

The silence hanged once again, before Dark Cacao cleared his throat again.

"And then... after helping Pure Vanilla and White Lily in their experiments... it got me thinking..." Dark Cacao continued. "What if I suggested it to Dark Choco? And if he agreed, would... could I make up for what he was denied of as a child? Could I still show my boy the love he always needed from me?" He looked away again and then at the bottle. "And so, after speaking with Mystic Flour, this was my solution. We spoke with Pure Vanilla and White Lily about this and they were more than happy to arrange it. And we carried it through... and now, it's part of our lives."

Golden Cheese hesitated again. "...and Dark Choco... okay with it? Being constantly thrown back to be that little child?"

Dark Cacao shook his head. "We're not doing that constantly." He admitted. "Only when we're away for family time and when he asks or needs to. But we never force that onto him or abuse that for our own gain. And I make sure that Pure Vanilla and White Lily also don't cross that line. Not to mention, we don't know if prolonged exposure to serum is harmful or not. I make sure to give it time to fully leave the system before doing that again."

Golden Cheese watched the older man, before smiling lightly. "Smart." She sighed.

At this, Hollyberry fiddled with her glass. "I watched them with Royalberry once like that."

Golden Cheese and Dark Cacao turned to her. "You too?" The king asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was just one time." Hollyberry chuckled. "He was about five years old when regressed and just like I remember him as a child, but..." She sighed fondly, shaking her head with a light smile. "I guess this was just not for us. He did bring it up to Jungleberry after that. They wanted to have a play date for the twins. I don't think they went through with it still, with Princess being constantly out and about and Tiger Lily being Queen of Jungle she is. It's hard to get both of them in same place, you know?"

"Huh..." Golden Cheese hummed, looking down at her hands. She smiled lightly then. "Well, I'm glad you're taking precautions about this. Wouldn't want anyone... unnecessary learning of it."

"That's for sure." Dark Cacao nodded in agreement, before pausing himself for a second. "What about you?"

Golden Cheese blinked. "Pardon?"

"Yes, you decided to bring that up, so you definitely know of this." Hollyberry said. "I wanted to ask, but didn't know if you had an opportunity in this yet. I really only learned by accident."

"Oh, well." The Radiant Queen hummed, looking above herself. "Well... I really don't remember anything. I was visiting for 'exposure therapy', Pure Vanilla suggested for White Lily and I... and next thing, I remember, is waking up against her." She blushed, before covering her face. "Goodness, I still don't know how he managed to hold me back from attacking her..."

"Perks of your height, I suppose..." Dark Cacao smiled lightly, with (an obviously offended) "Hey!" from the younger woman.

"Hah!" Hollyberry exclaimed. "Now that's the Golden Cheese, I know!"

The conversation carried on from that point, with the three Ancients laughing as they were before Golden Cheese said. Perhaps, Hollyberry and Dark Cacao were right. White Lily had learned what curiosity could lead to and wouldn't step anywhere near to what could cause another war... and her thoughts were even calmer, given Pure Vanilla was right there with her. If anyone, it would be him to be able to hold her back.






Joyous laughter rang through the Vanilla Kingdom's garden. Pure Vanilla and White Lily, hand-in-hand, ran through, before the woman pulled to herself, leading the two to fall on the ground. When the fit of joy had passed, the couple just laid in grass, smiling at the beautiful night sky.

"There are so many stars out tonight..." White Lily said, tightening her grip on her partner's hand. "It reminds me of time back in Academy..." She smiled lightly, laying her head to Pure Vanilla's shoulder. "Remember that?"

The man just hummed softly, nodding. "Exacly like back then..." He said wistfully. "Like it was just yesterday..."

White Lily looked at him and their eyes locked once again.

That night was just gorgeous. It was just two of them and the stars high above. The warm wind blew through the garden, wishing the silent "goodnight" to anyone, who could still be out. The soft twinkle of the stars in the sky gave almost mystical atmosphere to their surroundings... and it were just Pure Vanilla and White Lily, sitting in grass, hands intertwined. Both lost in the moment, like nothing else in this world mattered for them.

"I love you, Pure Vanilla..." White Lily whispered. Suddenly, but not uncalled for. "...I hope we can stay like this forever."

A light huff left her partner. "Me too, White Lily..."

And then, he stood up, gently pulling her up by hands. When she put her own on his shoulder, Pure Vanilla smiled, spinning her around, getting a light chuckle from the woman. She let him lead the dance as two of them hummed the very familiar tune throughout the garden.

Eventually, they came to one place, two of them shared and cherished the most. The White Lily garden of Vanilla castle.

In there, with the moonlight shining down both of them, Pure Vanilla steadied his gaze at his beloved. How beautiful she looked in that both weak and strong shine. How pretty her red eyes gleamed in it. The feeling so strong and old, yet so gentle and new all together.

Throughout all their hardships. Their tears and joy. Throughout the highs and lows, they always stood together, holding their hands if not in physical, but in metaphorical way.

No matter how much Shadow Milk tried to convince him back in his Beast days. No matter how much Pure Vanilla himself tired to deny it as that reckless teenager... he always felt she was his second half. His soulmate.

His true love.

And now, it was more obvious than ever that she was his.

"White Lily..." He said again, his smile adorning his face. "I... need to say something... I know, it's silly, given we've been together for two thousand, fifteen years..."

"And eight months." She added, that made him chuckle again.

"Yes." He nodded. "And all that time, you were my best friend. You're the most amazing person I've ever encountered in my entire life. My heart and soul. One, who got me through my darkest days, even in my time in Raisin Village, before I recovered my memories... you always lingered in my mind. And last seven years have been ones of the best of my life... and..."

He looked down, holding onto her hand, before sighing.

"I don't want it to end."

Pure Vanilla then reached inside his robe.

"White Lily..."

He then got down on one knee, showing a small box.

"Will you marry me?"

Inside was a beautiful silver ring, engraved with a lily flower and a red sapphire in the middle.

White Lily gasped at the sight, before looking back at Pure Vanilla. Next second, a single year escaped her eye and  a smile crossed her face once more.

"Yes."

In the silence of the night, in garden of even more silent lilies, roots of two flowers intertwined together even further.







Few days after Pure Vanilla's proposal, the two of them were once again in family house, in the laboratory. Lily was sitting on chair, going through their notebook of names and numbers, while Vanilla was looking at a small box, sorting the balls in it.

A common ritual, they did once in awhile. With their ever growing family, it was a must. After all, they couldn't have their babies getting mixed up~.

"I think this is good." Lily said, looking up from the paper and to her partner- fiancée, she had to remind herself. The dumb smile crossed her face again, as she once again starter to fiddle with her new engagement ring (they were engaged! For real! She still couldn't believe it!).

Vanilla smiled and nodded back, loading the balls back into the machine. His future wife joined him, as two of them looked at it.

"Remind me to thank Chili Pepper for the extra ball set." He said, before chuckling. "Oh, silly me! We already did~"

Lily giggled again, shaking her head. "My silly Vanilla~" She cooed, before looking at the machine.

Two of them exchanged looks. It was time to choose their next baby. And, of course, it was left up to their trusty bingo game.

"Shall we?" Lily asked, her eyes gleamed of excitement.

Vanilla nodded.

Their hands, still hodling together, came to the level and pulled it. The familiar sound of balls hitting one another filled the room as the many colors were jumping infront of their eyes, before a single ball got caught in mechanism, making it easy to get.

Lily hovered to the ball, while Vanilla went for the note book.

"Hm..." Lily read the ball, looking to her fiancée. "B 9."

Vanilla hummed, going to the note book. If his memories were correct, that number never came up before...

He scrolled through the names, before his eyes widened and a gasp left him. A small chuckle then left him. Lily, curious on who they got, walked over and looking at the list. She breathed out a small "Oh goodness!", before turning to Vanilla.

He was smiling at her.

"Shadow Milk."