After Heroism

Heya all. My attempt at doing another Christmas story somehow turned into finishing a Legend-of-Korra-inspired story. While it’s loosely based on the characters (and where they ended up), in a slightly parallel universe with different names and event ordering, watching the show isn't necessary, it was just used as inspiration for people and relationships.

There's a few pictures which might help build the story, though I'm not quite sure where I sourced them all, and have my main computer in pieces after a move. I'm going to check them in about 24 hours, but if anybody notices any from sites like CushyPen which haven't been part of their public releases, feel free to let me know and I'll take them down.

---

Kara fell to her knees. Around her, soldiers rushed to put out fires, while followers of the enemy general surrendered.

There, it was done. She’d prevented a war, though had exhausted most of her power to do so.

Footsteps drew closer, and she recognized the stylish boots of Esammi, once a romantic rival, but now an instrumental help during the recent months.

It was at least somebody who she could trust. Kara let herself collapse. She was unable to give any more today, and just hoped that her depleted power would return.

---

Kara sat on her bed, staring out the window.

On a whim, she lifted a hand and tried to cause a disturbance in the air.

Nothing.

Her powers were gone. She was entirely average.

Her life had been about preparing for her destiny as a generational hero, and yet now she was finished. She’d never even imagined that that there was an ‘after’ for being a hero, but the depletion of her power seemed final. All the experts agreed.

She turned to the opening door. Esammi entered, carrying a tray of steaming tea.

“How are you feeling today Kara?”

Kara managed a weak smile. Esammi had done so much, and had been there for her for everything lately. It felt wrong not to at least try to match the older girl’s enthusiasm.

“Still the greatest power in the land, deep down.”

“Oh I’m sure,” Esammi purred, though it seem kind of like she was indulging a child. “And your bed? Do we have a mattress that needs checking?”

Kara blushed and glanced away.

“It was only one time Esammi.”

The mattress suddenly sunk as the taller girl sat beside her, and Kara blinked when she realized that Esammi had begun stroking her hair.

“There there,” she purred, “You had a big destiny, and now you’ve done it. It’s okay to be a bit… worn out.”

Kara nodded slowly, letting herself be stiffly pulled into a cuddle. She still hadn’t worked out exactly what ‘this’ was between her and Esammi. Hadn’t they once been rivals over the same guy? Could Esammi have actually been more... bisexually inclined... all that time? Kara lay against the older girl’s chest with an awkward stiffness, not knowing what to do. She wasn’t really, er, like that herself, but had come to depend on Esammi’s help and care recently, before and after the big battle.

“I um-”

“Shh. Just a poor worn out thing, all exhausted. And look, it seems the mattress is a bit damp.”

Kara blinked, and looked down. She hadn’t felt-

Oh, dear, when had that happened? It felt like it was spreading beneath her just now, but she hadn’t even-

“Roll away for me dear, let’s not dampen those nice blue pants.”

Kara found herself rolled towards the window, wishing that she could move herself more. But it was odd, if she’d wet then shouldn’t the pants themselves already be more soaked than- She suddenly gasped and jumped as a sponge was pressed on her backside, and began dabbing. Oh my, Esammi really was pushing this caretaker role.

“There. Kara is all better.”

She found herself being rolled back into another hug, landing on a crinkling sheet which hadn’t been there before. Had Esammi had that already...?

“Why don’t we work on responding to favours, Kara, now that you’re on regular level?”

“I, um-”

“Just basic thank yous and pleases, I mean, so that I know that you’re learning how to navigate the regular word. I just want what’s best for you.”

Kara blushed, finding herself pinned against the older girl’s chest, staring out blankly over looming cleavage.

“Um, thank you Esammi.”

“My pleasure dear. We just need to work on your manners, since when you were all-powerful you never quite made time for them. But it’s what’s best.”

Kara nodded dumbly. If Esammi said so. She didn’t really have anything else going for her right now, and had become so dependent on her former rival since that big day. At least it wasn’t just her alone with the doctors and nurses in this cramped half-collapsed hospital. Though Esammi had paid big bucks, ensuring that she had the very best care.

“Now, I want you back in bed,” Esammi cooed, lowering Kara back onto the mattress, “And all rested up. We have a big trip soon.”

Kara squirmed for a moment on the plastic sheet, knowing that she wouldn’t get back up again easily now.

“We do?”

“Yes. I thought some time in the mountain retreats might be good for you. Nobody lives down there anymore, and the high altitude could help. Just us. Won’t that be nice?”

Kara nodded slowly, not sure what to think. At least there’d be nobody else to witness these embarrassing exchanges between her and Esammi, and she could keep them to herself until she recovered. But what if… what if she had actually read Esammi right, and the former rival really was interested in her as… more than friends? Kara had always been so action-oriented, so hyper focused on battle, she’d never entertained many thoughts about other girls in general, let alone in that sense. If Esammi really was asking her… on a date, she’d be rather trapped. She shivered, wondering why she didn’t object more.

“That sounds good, Esammi.”

The tall raven-haired beauty beamed down, stroking some of Kara’s own hair from her face.

“Getting so polite already. We’ll make a civilized girl out of you yet.”

With that, she suddenly leaned down and planted a kiss on Kara’s forehead, her warmth becoming close and oppressive for a moment. The former hero blushed and squirmed, but told herself it was nothing to worry about. Esammi was into boys, it was probably all just platonic care.

--

“Yes, just her and I,” Esammi smiled, directing the airship captain to turn towards the great mountain retreat on their right. “It’s going to be a very special time.”

Kara blushed in her wheelchair, sitting on the flight deck behind the standing captain and wealthy heiress. At least Esammi hadn’t been saying this kind of stuff to anybody else on the way - only this hired captain from the last port, who didn’t even know who they were. The last thing she needed was some notion getting out that she was a… lesbian. She’d already had to fend off advances by women as well as the men, being the hero of destiny tended to draw the full spectrum of attention.

“Well, you two have fun,” the captain said, with far too much implication, bringing the airship down beside the mansion.

“Thank-you!” Esammi beamed, then turned to take her customary position behind the wheelchair handles. “The rest of our things have already been delivered.”

The captain gave an impressed whistle, seeming to realize just how rich Esammi was to have arranged all this. Perhaps he’d worked out who she was, though that didn’t mean that he’d realize who Kara was too. The world wasn’t looking for her sitting uselessly in a wheelchair, doted over by a wealthy young heiress.

Kara’s spinning thoughts were interrupted as the chair jerked to life, aiming down the ramp for the ancient monastery sitting atop the flat mountain. She winced, realizing that this place really wasn’t made for wheelchairs, at least not in the sense that she’d be able to do much by herself. A large chunk of it had been turned into a private estate, which sat beautifully among the clouds. She could see why Esammi would be drawn to it. The girl liked her beautiful things.

They passed by a reflective metal post used for anchoring, and Kara saw her own reflection, looking slumped and worn out in the wheelchair. Did Esammi see something beautiful there too?

The reflection pulled away as Esammi turned them to watch the departing airship. It rose, then dropped into the lower layers of clouds. They continued staring for a moment, Kara’s heart beating faster, when suddenly Esammi giggled.

“In we go!”

Kara squirmed slightly, only being stilled as Esammi reached down to take her hand once again, raising it to hold at her shoulder. There seemed to be a lot of such hand-holding recently... Maybe she should have thought a bit more about what it all meant and what she wante-

“Now Kara,”

“Yes? Esammi?”

Kara felt a small squeeze, and could almost see Esammi beaming behind her. Perhaps she hadn’t lost all her powers, just the most useful ones.

“There’ll be no more nurses here. No more doctors.”

“That would be good.”

“Indeed. I thought you could use something different. You’ve tried so hard and I’m so so proud of you.”

Kara nodded.

“Though it will mean some complications.”

Kara froze, except for an involuntary bump over a pebble, and only able to hold Esammi’s hand.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, they don’t have handi-accessible toilets here.”

“They… don’t?”

“No, this isn’t a hospital. But don’t worry, I’ve had some things delivered, and we won’t be having to constantly rush you off to bathrooms, especially during the night. Though I would like you to sleep near me so I can check on you anyway.”

Kara breathed a small sigh of relief. Esammi was a top inventor, and probably had some clever spring ramp solution for the lack of accessible toilets. Though she felt her stomach clench at the talk of sleeping close. How close? Like, did Esammi mean ‘together?’ Was Kara’s imagination just on overdrive? Why did she keep thinking about this, did she even perhaps kind of want it, in an unexpected way? After all, Esammi was very beautiful. Maybe she could see a reality where-

Kara shook her head clear of the thoughts. It was all nonsense.

They approached huge wooden doors, which opened for Esammi with some kind of key command. It dawned on Kara that this place was a fortress, though nobody could reach it anyway, barely anybody even really knew it existed. It would just be Esammi, and whichever horde of business assistants she surely had informed, who would be arranging delivery supplies and checkups for them no doubt.

They rolled into the massive mansion, Esammi’s heels clipping neatly on the tiles, Karra’s wheelchair creaked slightly.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

“I suppose.”

“Oh Kara.” She felt a squeeze on her hand. “We’ll teach you to remember beautiful things, if you even ever knew.”

Kara nodded slightly, kind of wishing that she could have her hand back without seeming rude. Her imagination was probably still on overdrive. There was no way that Esammi would-

“Now, how about a bath.”

Kara blinked.

“What?”

“You’ve been so cooped up in that hospital, and now our travel cabin. I think it’s time that you get to unwind, and get clean.”

“Oh, I, for a second I thought you meant-”

“And I’ll get in with you. To make sure you’re okay. We can do that here, without anybody knowing. Just us, remember?”

Kara blinked. Speechless. Okay, surely Esammi just meant that they’d wear swimmers.

They approached a bubbling round bath in the stone floor, placed near a breathtaking open-cut view over the cloudy mountains.

“See, already warm,” Esammi beamed, nodding towards the ever-pool. It might have been technology, or perhaps some kind of magic.

Kara stared at it for a moment, thinking it could be a kind of beautiful spot to relax, maybe even romantically if somebody had that in mind, then realized that she really should check about her swimwear hope, whether Esammi had packed-

A bare female leg brushed passed Kara’s cheek, and she blinked. It took her a moment to realize that Esammi had ditched her black-and-red industrialist travelling outfit, and had stripped down to stylish red underwear and a short high corset.

“Now, let’s get my little hero undressed.”

Kara gaped, finding dainty feminine hands with big painted nails working on the buttons on her top.

“Oh Esammi I-”

“Shh. I don’t want you to have to worry about a thing from now on. It’s time to let somebody be your hero, for what you truly want.”

Kara blushed harder and glanced out over the beautiful clouds. She felt her top opened, and her breasts bounce free. It had been so difficult to button that up herself, and then Esammi had been able to just go and undo it in an instant...

“Oh. Looks like somebody has some little erect nipples. Are you cold?”

Kara turned to Esammi with a deep blush, opened her mouth, then paused when she saw the grinning tease. Oh dear, it was rhetorical. Esammi was going to read this one way, and, embarrassingly, Kara wasn’t sure herself anymore. But how could she have such a side of herself? Had she really been so focused on boys that-

“Pants now too.”

“Oh Essami! Maybe-”

“Shh. You can’t wear them in the bath, as much as you might be getting used to them being wet by now.”

Kara blushed and glanced away. It had only been three times, and cleaning up after had been such torture that she had committed to making sure it never happened again.

The string on her pants was pulled free. Practical, loose, long blue leggings, easy for quick movement, not exactly feminine and revealing…

“Down we go! And do you have underwear on today Kara?”

Kara blushed. “Of course I do! I-”

She paused with embarrassment. Oh, maybe Esammi was asking so that she could know whether to not drop the pants, perhaps not intending for Kara to go without some covering in the p-

“Those will have to come down too then.”

Kara shivered, watching Esammi crouching between her thighs, working on her pants. The other girl smiled at her in such a teasing way, as if knowing something which Kara didn’t want to accept. Kara couldn’t help feel that her former rival was right.

The pants began down over her thighs, pulled by two delicate, yet strong, hands. Her stylish black underwear went a moment later, and Kara blushed, wondering what Esammi would think of her secret obsession with expensive feminine underwear. Hell, she couldn’t stop glancing at what Esammi had on, a beautiful red corset cradling her cleavage, and a tall narrow red thong running down smoothly between her legs. It wasn’t a look of jealousy, Kara was struggling with confused breathless intoxication and flitting eyes.

Kara suddenly realized that she was nude, sitting there in her wheelchair, and glanced away with scarlet cheeks. Esammi seemed to think nothing of it, except for the excited devious smile that she wore.

“Oh, somebody has a cute little triangle down there.”

Kara blushed.

“I… I don’t normally shave, or trim. But after the... accidents... A nurse left some scissors and suggested it....”

Kara looked anywhere but down, biting her lip and not wanting to see how ridiculous and prissy she looked down below, with her tiny little trim. It was hardly suited to the strong brash hero that she’d been seen as until recently.

“I think it’s cute.”

Kara glanced back, breathing heavily, her nude breasts heaving.

“Really?”

Esammi smiled.

“Now, let’s get you into the pool!”

Kara nodded quickly. At least she’d be covered again there, though it didn’t matter much now. Esammi had seen everything, and seemed fairly excited by what she saw… Could Kara really still read this as platonic? Did she want to?

She was wheeled over to pool, then two hands with long nails slipped under her armpits, slightly chilling her. Esammi proved stronger than expected, and had no trouble lowering Kara into the waiting water. Kara supposed that she was kind of short, even if muscled and recently powerful.

The spa hit her like a warm hug. She sighed in sudden relief, almost forgetting all the embarrassment for a moment, until she suddenly opened her eyes and saw a nude Esammi strolling past her side. Kara gaped in frozen shock, then had to look away immediately. She’d never seen a sight like it, but it was burned into her mind… Essami was so… soft and feminine, in ways that Karra had never really considered.

Esammi was so elegant, beautiful, and had not an inch of lack of confidence about her body. She held herself with such poise, and lowered herself into the bath. Kara saw a matching trimmed bush, a little more than her own, and glanced away then, overwhelmed. Gods, that was a woman she was looking at. It was gross. Or at least meant to be in theory. She peeked back, seeing Esammi dip into the water with a smile, her perfect breasts floating to the surface of the water and seeming to tease Kara with their distracting bobbing.

The heiress smiled, then began to swim across the small pool, paddling in a way that sent her assets bouncing even quicker. Her eyes were locked deeply onto Kara’s, and for once the hero found herself frozen, staring back.

“Isn’t this nice?” the heiress whispered, getting close and producing a sponge from beneath the surface.

Kara nodded in dumb silence. They were just friends… This wasn’t...

“And look at that view,” Esammi purred, edging closer to Kara with all her stunning nakedness.

Kara was glad to have an excuse to look away, it was like looking at the sun.

The view through the window was indeed nice, and-

She gasped, feeling the sponge touch her inner thigh. As she whirled back, she found Esammi looking at her, biting her lower lip and with lowered eyes.

They stared, and Kara’s breasts heaved in and out of the water, creating small ripples. Okay, it was just a very intimate kind of platonic clean, they weren’t-

The beauty leaned in to kiss the hero, and Kara froze as their lips connected. Of course her theories had been right all along, there had been clear implications, and she’d walked right into it, even perhaps welcomed it, on some unknown level. It was right to go along with it. Essami was sweet and rich and stunningly beautiful and doting and-

A tongue began exploring her mouth, and Kara found herself breathing heavier and heavier, her endowed chest rising and falling and beginning to rub against Esammi as the other girl got closer. It wasn’t a returned kiss, with Kara simply frozen in place as Esammi gave small delicate sucks around her mouth, but it was still a first kiss, and sent electric shocks through her body.

Kara moaned, realizing that she was finally feeling excitement. She might not have thought that she could before, but once their bodies touched...

Esammi’s naked and wet form pushed against her, and the hero felt her eyes flutter, rolling back until she was looking at the stone ceiling. Gods. What in the world was this? The last thing she’d have expected a year ago was ending up here.

Fingers edged closer to her as the kiss continued, and Kara surprised herself with a small squealing gasp. It was like nothing belonging to a powerful hero of destiny, but then, that wasn’t her now. She was just Kara, Esammi’s helpless ward...

Breasts and nude torsos pushed together, and a leg wrapped around hers.

The sponge crept to her crotch, and then two feminine fingers kept going, finding their way between her legs. The hero closed her eyes, and decided to let whatever happened, happen. It wasn’t technically gay if she didn’t do anything back, even if she had sort of accepted it and walked right into this situation, figuratively...

---

Kara lay in Esammi’s arms in the silky bed. The taller girl wore a costly pink slip, which was mostly transparent, and tied over cleavage which Kara stared into.

The hero considered pulling away. Taking the arms from her, and inching towards the other edge of the double bed. But it wasn’t right. She had sort of asked for this, to explore the possibility, by not objecting. And she at least just owed Esammi. Besides, it was too late to back out now - she was on this indefinite ‘date’ for however long she was trapped for. She hadn’t exactly done anything back herself (though Esammi had guided her hand and had it do plenty), but she’d done enough. She was at least half a lesbian now, maybe.

“Esammi?”

“Hrm?”

“I need to go to the bathroom.”

She could have sworn that she saw Esammi smile again beneath her dark hair, like her sixth sense was almost working.

“Well, I have a solution for that.”

The hands snaked out from around Kara, and she felt both relieved and lonely at the same time. The shame was gone, or reduced, but the beautiful hug had also gone with it. Surely that wasn’t… love? She’d never quite managed to miss her ex-boyfriend that way, who she and Esammi had fought over. Had they just been so alike that they’d ended up at the same place then? Well, some of their positions had reversed now, and Esammi was now the ‘powerful’ one, at least in the ways which remained relevant.

Esammi returned, and Kara supposed she should move over for the wheelchair. At least she could get out from the silky luxurious bed, and clear her thoughts about what had happened there after the pool. To try and make sense of a bit. Maybe even ask for some more clothes, beyond the skimpy little things Esammi had given her. Karra had never considered herself ‘cute’ or ‘feminine’ - at least not in any way that others could see - so the tight blue t-shirt ending above her bellybutton, and sky-blue panties which had her her name written across the backside in sparkles, were awkward to say the least.

She began rolling to the edge of the bed, when she felt Esammi roll her back.

“Esammi? I have to get to the wheelchair.”

“Hush hon. No. That’s not right for where you’ve been at, both physically and psychologically.”

Kara blinked in confusion, flopping back onto her rear and staring at the roof, trying to understand what Esammi meant.

“Where I’ve been at?”

She blushed as Esammi grabbed her ankles, and lifted them to reveal her bottom. At least in the bath, they hadn’t been able to see each other.

“Yes honey. Your whole identity; your whole purpose, everything you’ve been working towards since you were a toddler, and discovered your powers - it’s all gone, poof, completed and dust now, and you don’t know who you are, with a broken nervous system. The doctors and I think you’ve ‘grown down’, and want to start over. Have to, really, you had nothing else going for you.”

Kara nodded dumbly, despite not really following along. The doctors had said something to a similar effect, that her body was physically fine, and that the problem was in her mind. That she was simply so depleted and worn out, that she refused to even lift her legs anymore. It didn’t help that she actually had lost her powers either.

“But I really do need to go to the bathro-”

“Hush, I said it would be fine.”

Kara paused, feeling a sharp slap on her raised backside.

“Ow! Essami-”

“You’ve returned to a state you never really passed Kara. At least not in general life. You’re really a toddler with where you’re at in general, and that means that, sometimes, when we’re not being lovers, I’m going to have to treat you how you deserve. Do you understand?”

Kara blinked, then wailed as she saw a clear adult-sized diaper whisked past her legs, then slipped underneath her.

“You’re going to treat me like a little girl??”

Esammi gave a soothing smile. “You are a little girl my precious sweetie. And it’s fine. Adorable even. You used to temper tantrum when you had your powers, scared heads of state and even yourself sometimes I think. But now you’re just back to where you stopped growing up the first time. In more ways than one. I’m sorry that I spanked you, but I do want you to learn.”

Kara blinked as Esammi climbed over and coaxed her head into a cuddle against her breasts.

This… this was hardly an aggression. What was going on? It seemed almost like ‘tough love’, but who could think that Kara deserved such a thing! She was a hero!

An unfortunately helpless hero, she realized, staring into Asami’s silky slip and her pressed breasts.

“There there. I know you’re confused. And sometimes I like when the adult in you shines through past the tantruming child. The one who I made love to. But I think that when you’re not aroused, you’re back to your childish self, and that’s when you’re going to be treated as it. Have to be. And you’ll need somebody who loves you. Who knows you. And can raise you right.”

A thousand memories flashed through Kara’s mind from the past year. Of Essami bringing her tea. Of Essami rubbing her arm and saying that it would all be okay. Of Essami deciding everything about her retreat holiday for her. The woman had… had seen herself as her ‘Mummy’ all this time! It wasn’t romantic or friendship, it was parenting.

Kara gave a little sniffle. She was helpless, and maybe what Esammi was saying even made some sense. She couldn’t believe how, despite how shocking the spanking was, even outrageous, it felt kind of right.

“Now...” Esammi said, releasing the cuddle on Kara’s head and edging back down the bed between her legs, “Are you going to be a good girl for Mummy? Do you want more rewards like we had in the bathtub, and maybe some colouring and toy time, if you keep working on your manners and let yourself be treated in the way you need?”

Kara sniffled, then stared blankly back down between her parted knees. What could she do? She’d play along, until she could get out of this. It couldn’t be long, she wouldn’t really become a child. Esammi seemed to be in no mood to broker disagreement. She found herself nodding, and against her expectations, despite intending to be faking, somewhat believed her own agreement.

“Good girl,” Esammi cooed, reaching down and giving a tantalizing pat on Karra’s fuzzy mound.

With that, she tugged the diaper up, working in her usual perfect way of getting it just right. A moment later, she added a noisy set of thick, stiff, rubber pants. Light blue ruffles rang along the backside of the transparent addition, and Karra put her hands over her eyes, deciding to just let be, be.

Esammi loved her, more than anybody, and was going to take complete power and control over her, that much was clear.

“Good girl,” Esammi cooed, even as Kara blushed and could only cover her eyes. She would just fake it, it might even just be a few days.

---

Master Trenton stepped off the airship, and breathed in the wonderful mountain air. He glanced at the nearby mansion then, and wondered if he should give one of his usual frowns. He supposed that the old monasteries were best preserved with these wealthy donors moving in and doing their conversions for their mansions. Still, it was a bit surprising to see a colourful plastic playground in the courtyard of this one, not to mention the large square sandpit, and the outside wooden rocking horse sitting beside the wall.

Beside him, his wife Pera beamed around as if it were the greatest sight in the world.

“It looks like it really worked out,” she said with an excited buzz.

Treston nodded slowly. He suppose he understood. Kara really was done, had finished her destiny and wasn’t even moving by herself, at least all those months ago.

The elegant solution which Esammi Sarino had revealed to a select circle had surprised him, but the others seemed to be enthusiastically for it. Kara had always been a bit of a tantrumer. He’d often held out hope that she could be taught better, but it had never really played out. It seemed that her final semi-paralysis had even been a kind of tantrum in itself, an outrage over having lost her powers, as if the rest of the world didn’t get by without them. He supposed he could see now that Esammi was right, and why his wife was so excited by the idea. She’d raised four children - one now in college - and had always said that Kara was an example of bad raising, ever she’d come to stay with them in Capitol City.

They began across the courtyard, when the huge double doors opened. From the shadows, the tall elegant figure of Esammi Sarino appeared, pushing something in front of her. It took them a moment to realize that it was a large pram.

She walked with perfect confidence and poise as she crossed the courtyard, her heels clipping with precision each step of the way. The pram rolled along on greased wheels, and had a blue bonnet covering pulled most of the way across.

Trenton straightened, knowing that it was best to continue the world which Miss Sarino had built for herself and Kara here. His wife Pera looked absolutely excited by the approaching sight.

The pram’s curved roof began to reveal the inner carriage, and he could already see two big pigtails at the far end.

A rattle appeared, being shaken slowly in a feminine hand. At least, more than Treton remembered it. Ah, there was pink nail polish, and she wasn’t as muscled now.

A bobbing blue pacifier came next, quite large, though it made sense for the scale, he supposed.

He began to see a large curved white mound.

“Ah Master Trenton and Pera! How was your flight?”

“Quite lovely, thank you.”

Trenton watched his bouncing wife rush over, beginning to immediately beam at and play with the occupant of the pram.

He glanced at Esammi Sarino, beaming over the pram’s end along with Pera. It took him a moment, out of his loyalty to his wife, but were her boobs way bigger? Had she perhaps been lactating?

He cocked his head, then strode to join them.

He paused when he saw.

She.was.adorable.

Bare legs stuck out from a thick white diaper, which itself stuck out from a short light-blue baby-doll dress. Cute matching booties clad her feet, while light blue ribbons tied her hair into those big pigtails. The final touch seemed the light blue oversized pacifier, but then Trenton began noticing more subtle details, such as little blue stylish clips worked throughout her hair, and the glitter on her face.

She was… well, there was obviously the original intelligence there, given the blushing reluctant way which she looked up at them. But she continued to shake her rattle, and suck on her pacifier, holding a stuffed bison toy in one arm. After nearly a year with their new family-unit, Esammi had turned a broken hero into something wonderful. This powerful tantruming figure was now clearly a nervous and shy baby-woman, sucking on her pacifier and shaking a rattle, glancing between all the new faces peering in, but no longer saying anything snappish or demanding or threatening.

“Can you give a wave for Mummy’s guests sweetie?” Esammi asked, beaming with pride.

The oversized toddler woman hesitated, then managed to use her free hand to do a little one-handed finger clap, an adorable wave beyond what the guests expected. It melted Master Trenton’s stern heart. He immediately supported Esammi, despite having been the one with objections.

“Good girl!” the stylish woman said, reaching into a pocket and pressing some sort of remote button.

Kara suddenly twitched in her pram, and her eyes rolled back while her legs slightly parted, jerking and quivering slightly.

“If you’d like to come inside. We’ve had a lot of success here.”

“Oh no doubt,” Pera said, still beaming down into the pram. There seemed to be a buzz coming from inside.

“Unfortunately,” Trenton began, “We really must be on our way. We have an important trade session in the south, and were only racing through.”

“Oh, that’s no problem then. I hope it goes well. Besides, we have more than enough to entertain ourselves with here, don’t we Kara?”

She gave a pram a small push, and Kara nodded quickly, seeming more distracted by the buzzing, her eyes rolled back. Perhaps she needed a diaper change, Trenton thought, given how she squirmed her hips and was apparently wearing them full-time now. Though he also suspected something a little more cleverer on Esammi’s part. They were effectively a couple now, right? Not that he’d ask. Well, it seemed almost more like a Mommy-Daughter relationship, but perhaps one where they switched into something more serious when adult-Kara had her moments - perhaps Esammi knew how to tease it out.

“You really have turned this around beautifully, Miss Sarino.”

Esammi beamed, and even Kara gave a small confused smile, before closing her eyes and beginning to pant.

“I just wish she had some playmates, I’m asking around.”

Trenton nodded mindlessly, but beside him, his wife cocked her head.

“You know,” Pera began, “Our oldest daughter has been very frustrating lately, seeming to think that she’s the universe’s gift to the planet since Kara left the spotlight, given that she is a new generation of practitioner of an ancient magic…”

Trenton raised his eyebrows. It was true, Jina had been quite a problem for them. He glanced at his wife. Jina’s arrogance and arguments were all quite serious, but what could they… Well, he looked back at Kara…

“Perhaps you’d like to stay here Pera, while I go to the trade meeting, and get to know Esammi and Kara’s situation a little better…

---

Pera glanced over her magazine, but saw that the daycare worker was just seeing to Jina, who appeared to have had another accident. Pera liked to watch in sometimes, it was fun to see how Jina had learned to play with Karra and then the other girls over the years.

Across the room, Kurina was playing alone, banging a xylophone and seeming to pout about her dirty diaper time out. To think, just two years ago she’d led a force across the continent, creating no small amount of drama. But she was just a young woman, who didn’t know how to express her frustration. Suya Befone, her former mentor and nearly foster mother, had taken to adopting her right. The previous rehabilitation method had been hardly paying off, and then she’d seen how Essami and Pera had done with Kara and Jina…

Suya’s other daughter, Jade, sat playing with the unicorn toys with Kara. She’d been caught playing around with a boy, long before her mother felt she was ready, and back she’d gone to diapers beside her ‘foster sister’. Their house really was a happy home. It was funny to think about the one who had introduced them to all this.

Pera glanced at the baby bouncer hanging at the far wall, which was being raised up and down by a mechanical whirling machine. Essami Sarino’s eyes fluttered, and she moaned against her pacifier at the indignity of bouncing in a messy diaper. But they’d found out how she’d been drugging Kara, when she’d offered to do the same for Jina to suppress her powers. Sure, it was effective, but they couldn’t let her get away with it. It was time she tasted her own medicine. Ironically, she’d created such baby-proof nursery inventions that even she couldn’t escape, and had done well over the past year.

Pera checked the clock on the wall. Essami still had half an hour, and she probably wouldn’t get any special time in Kara’s crib tonight. They’d be put next to each other, at most able to reach across the bars for some light toying. But only good girlfriends got rewards, and those two babies had been set off into some bad behaviour this week.

Pera glanced at the most recent newcomer, who seemed to have started it. Julee had been found guilty of assisting Kurina in her tantruming rampage. She had divorced and returned to Capitol City, not knowing what awaited. She went right into the daycare, and her initial tantrums had been quickly quelled as the reality of a bloated wet diaper and spanking arrived. It was just a pity how it had set off the other kids. But Essami and Kurina were almost better, and would probably soon be eating something more than strained prunes and breast milk from the wet nurse nannies, and getting diapers changed more than every thirty hours.

Pera smiled, and glanced back down at her magazine. Her second eldest daughter had been mentioned again. Izzi had nearly finished high school, and, oh dear, she’d created quite a stir on campus yet again. Well, it was one month until she turned eighteen and finished school. If she was still acting up then, well, Pera had the most perfect solution...