"I’ve been using my magic to help her breathe properly for the time being," Maristella explained. Her expression remained calm, but Roxanna could still tell that she genuinely cared about Azura.
"But her body needs time to adjust. That’s why she’s going through a bit of shock right now. She’ll be fine after a while. You just need to calm her down," she added.
Roxanna gently rocked her daughter in her arms while softly stroking her hair. At first glance, it looked as though the little girl was struggling to breathe. But the truth was, Azura was simply afraid to take another breath because everything felt so different from what she was used to.
"You’ll be alright," Roxanna whispered gently. "Just breathe, my dear."
Her voice was warm and soothing, wrapping Azura in comfort and encouraging the little girl to keep trying.
Azura let out another shaky sob. Her tiny fingers clung tightly to Roxanna’s clothes as if she were afraid to let go.
"That’s it," Roxanna whispered, gently rubbing her daughter’s back. "You’re doing so well."
The little girl took a small, trembling breath, then another. Although each breath was uneven, it was steadier than before.
"She’s calming down," Maristella said quietly after watching her for a moment. "Her body is slowly getting used to it."
Roxanna let out a long sigh of relief. She hadn’t even realized she had been holding her own breath the entire time.
"Thank goodness..." she murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of Azura’s head.
Azura gave a soft whimper before taking another careful breath. This time, it came a little more naturally. Her crying slowly faded into soft sniffles, and the redness on her face began to lessen.
"She’ll still need some time," Maristella explained. "Don’t let her panic. If she becomes frightened again, she’ll forget to breathe properly."
Roxanna nodded immediately. "I understand."
She continued rocking Azura in her arms, humming a soft tune she remembered from her childhood. The simple melody echoed gently through their telepathy.
Before long, Azura’s tiny body finally began to relax. Her breathing was still slow, but it had become steady.
The little girl looked up at Roxanna with watery blue eyes before letting out a tiny yawn.
"It’s alright," Roxanna whispered gently. "You can go to sleep now. Mommy will stay here and watch over you."
She carefully sat down on the flat stone, continuing to rock Azura slowly in her arms. Not far away, Maristella silently watched the mother and daughter with a complicated look in her eyes.
Perhaps it was because she had never shared such a deep emotional bond with her own children, but seeing Roxanna comfort Azura with so much love stirred something inside her.
For the first time in a long while, Maristella found herself wondering what it would have been like if she had held her own children like that.
"You’re such a good mother," Maristella said softly. For the first time since Roxanna had met her, there was a hint of emotion in her eyes.
Roxanna looked up in surprise. "I don’t think I am," she replied with a small smile. "I’m just doing what any mother would do."
Maristella slowly shook her head. "No." Her gaze remained on the sleeping little girl. "Not every mother would."
Her words made Roxanna stopped moving for a while. On the other side, Maristella lowered her eyes and gently rested a hand on her own lap.
"When my children were born, I never held them like this." Her voice was calm, but unusually soft. "I believed that showing too much affection would only make them depend on me... and maybe make me depend on them."
After all, she had seen a vision where most of her children would lose their lives. More than that, to make sure the future unfolded as it was meant to, she believed Azul had to go through all of that suffering, no matter how painful it was for both of them.
"I convinced myself it was the right choice," she said in a low voice. "If I kept my distance, then losing them wouldn’t hurt as much."
A faint smile touched her lips, but it quickly faded. "I was wrong," she said quietly. "Losing your children is never easy. I told you that I have no regrets, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel bad for them."
She fell silent for a moment. "It just means..." She lowered her gaze. "Sometimes I wish I could turn back time and spend more time with them."
Roxanna looked at her in surprise because she had expected Maristella to stay calm forever and she had expected her to never admit something like this, but now, the woman standing before her didn’t look like the cold Sea Mother everyone respected and feared.
She simply looked like a mother who had lost her children.
Roxanna gently stroked Azura’s soft hair before speaking. "Unfortunately... we can never turn back time and change what we’ve already been through. Our regrets won’t simply disappear either, but..."
She paused for a moment, remembering the regrets she carried from her own past. "...but we can try to ease those regrets by doing the right thing from now on."
Roxanna slowly lifted her head and looked straight into Maristella’s eyes. "You’ve lost most of your children, and the fate of some of them is still unknown." Her voice softened. "But at least... there’s still one child you know is alive."
She gave Maristella a gentle smile. "Maybe you can’t change the past with him. But you can still choose what kind of future the two of you will have."
Maristella’s eyes trembled ever so slightly. "Azul..." she whispered, almost as if she had forgotten how to say her son’s name out loud.
Roxanna gave a small nod. "Yes."
Maristella lowered her gaze. "I don’t know if he’ll forgive me."
Roxanna gave a small shrug. "I’m not asking you to apologize to him because the fact that you chose to let him suffer can never be erased. That’s why I just want you to do right by him from now on."