Remembrance

Chapter 5: Scandals

.~.~.~.

Emily rushed back and forth in their small house. "Joshua! Joshua, honey!" she shouted as she ran towards the living room. A couple of days had passed since they had received the letter from Ulquiorra's mother and today she was to arrive.

Suddenly, the door swung open and it revealed Ulquiorra with Joshua. The little child was crying in pain and Emily's eyes widened at the sight. "What happened?" she asked shocked as she rushed towards them.

Ulquiorra walked towards the kitchen and placed the crying child on one of the chairs. "He fell down," Ulquiorra explained as he got a wet towel to clean the cut on the boy's knee. Emily bent down to pat their crying child.

"Oh, sweetie, you should be more careful," she said softly as she helped Ulquiorra clean the blood. When the task was done she looked up at Joshua with a sweet smile.

"There, its all clean," she said as she embraced him. Joshua stopped crying and gave her a small smile. Ulquiorra then carried Joshua to go get him dressed. Emily stayed in the kitchen and began to clean some more.

When she was done with the kitchen she went into the living room to dust some of the furniture. She hadn't had much time to think, with all the preparations and commotion, but she was afraid on how his mother would react towards Jasmine. Would she believe her? She was already a handful since the beginning and there's no telling how she would react.

As she finished dusting around she turned towards Ulquiorra who now stood beside her. "Is everything alright?" she asked concerned about Joshua's injury. Ulquiorra gave her a small nod and then stared at her, trying to decipher her.

"Yes, but are you sure you're alright?" he asked concerned about her well-being. She looked at him surprised, but she knew better, for some odd reason Ulquiorra could always read through her. She gave him a false smile and fidgeted in answering, but finally decided to tell him the truth.

"I'm worried on how your mother will take the news about Jasmine," she admitted truthfully. He looked at her, now it was his turn to be unsure of his answer.

He embraced her softly, feeling her warm skin against him. "She'll be furious! But don't worry I'll make sure everything turns out okay," he said with a chuckle. She looked up at him, still in his arms. Her eyes widened a bit, but was happy that he was honest with her, she smiled a bit before burying her head in his chest.

"Oh, well," she said sighing, there was no way out of this problem, but through it. As they remained together the sound of wheels and horses on the ground could be heard. Ulquiorra gave Emily a soft tight hug before letting go.

"Its time," he said as he looked into her auburn eyes. She gave him a weak smile, the time had come, and there was nothing they could do about it, so all they had to do was get through, alive.

Ulquiorra and Emily walked to the door and slowly opened it, and there she was. The woman came out of the carriage wearing a fancy purple dress. Once she was on her two feet she looked up towards them and a small frown came from her face. "Oh, great there she is," she mumbled to herself.

Slowly she made her way towards the couple who stood before her. "Mother, I'm glad you arrived alright," Ulquiorra greeted politely. Emily gave a small smile towards his mother, despite the scowl on the lady's face.

"I'm glad you made it," Emily replied in the kindest tone she could, hoping that would soften the lady's mood. Ulquiorra's mother gave a small nod before speaking.

"Yes, well its only reasonable that a mother should visit her son after he's been gone for two years," Ulquiorra's mother replied rather harshly. She then walked into their house, one of her servant's close behind with all her luggage.

Ulquiorra looked at Emily and gave a small shy smile, "She's still mad at me for not visiting her first," he whispered so his mother wouldn't hear him. Emily gave a small smile, but she couldn't help but feel that his mother hated her because Ulquiorra preferred her over his own mother.

Ulquiorra's mother immediately made herself at home and walked around the room observing the small house. "And may I ask where my grandson is?" she asked demandingly.

Emily was about to answer, but thankfully Ulquiorra replied before her, "He's in the bedroom playing." Ulquiorra's mother made a small "oh" and let the subject drop to much of Emily's and Ulquiorra's relief.

His mother made her way into the kitchen and sat down on one of the wooden chairs. Emily and Ulquiorra followed her close behind. "Would you like some tea?" Emily asked politely. Ulquiorra's mother made a small nod, hardly looking at her and turned back to her son.

"So how are you?" she asked trying to seem concern for her son's well-being. Ulquiorra replied in a simple tone, feeling a bit cautious, for he knew his mother wasn't really concerned about that, but about something else.

"Fine," he responded waiting to hear the real question that his mother wanted to ask. He took a small sip out of the tea Emily had placed in front of him, while his mother simply looked at the tea and toyed with the teacup's handle.

Finally, she asked, "So how do you feel, being home again? What I mean, is are there any changes?" Ulquiorra and Emily looked at each other briefly unsure on whether or not to tell his mother about Jasmine, but unfortunately a small cry came from the bedroom, answering for both of them.

Ulquiorra's mother eyes widened and stood up, "what is that?!" she asked surprised to hear a baby crying. Emily was unsure on what to do, but quickly rushed to the bedroom where Joshua and Jasmine were. Ulquiorra and his mother remained standing unsure on how to respond.

She looked at Ulquiorra furiously and then stormed out the kitchen and into the bedroom where the cry had been heard. Before Ulquiorra could catch up she opened the bedroom's door and found Emily softly rocking a bundle while a small child held onto its mother's dress. "It wasn't my fault," the little boy said softly.

Emily softly rocked the bundle with one hand, and with the other one she patted Joshua's head, "Its alright, sweetie, don't worry," she replied softly. Ulquiorra finally entered the room and found his mother quite speechless.

"What is the meaning of this?" she almost yelled. Ulquiorra gave her a glare, wishing she wasn't like this and would understand, but he knew it would be hard trying to convince her.

"Please lower your voice, you're making Jasmine cry even more," he pleaded, as the crying continued. Emily desperately wished Jasmine would stop crying, she couldn't even feel herself think.

"Jasmine!? How can you have another child if you left her pregnant with Joshua!?" she shouted infuriated with what lay before her eyes.

"Look, some things happened while I was gone-" Ulquiorra half explained before being cut off. His mother was about to make a huge scene, and what worried him the most was what his mother planned to say against Emily.

"That whore!" she shouted angrily. Ulquiorra's eyes widened in surprise and Emily managed to hear those two words despite the crying.

"Please watch your mouth, I won't let you say those words to her" Ulquiorra responded angrily, but that only provoked his mother and she gave a rather sarcastic laugh.

"You don't want me to offend her, your wife, I guess you can call her that, despite her going off with other men!" she countered. Emily hadn't noticed but she felt some tears running down her face.

"I would never do that!" Emily felt herself say, she wouldn't ever do anything to hurt Ulquiorra, and if there had been a different choice that day to prevent her to be touched by anyone than Ulquiorra, she would have done so.

Ulquiorra's mother stared at Emily incredulously before speaking once more. "You're a fool if you stay with her after this," she said before walking out the door.

Ulquiorra stared at the spot where his mother had just been and then looked up to where Emily stood crying. "mommy?" Joshua asked as he held her dress in his small hand then the small child turned to Ulquiorra, both green eyes looking at each other, "daddy, do something," he said afraid of what was wrong with his mother.

Ulquiorra didn't bother to see his mother leave, he just walked over to where Emily stood holding onto the bundle who had finally calmed down. He patted Joshua softly on the head before embracing Emily who was in tears. His touch only added to her sadness and cried even harder. "I would never do something to hurt you" she mumbled sincerely, how that thought haunted her, but she knew that she could never change her past.

Ulquiorra just embraced her softly, hoping that she wouldn't say those words, which pierced him and tore him apart, for he knew he hadn't done anything to stop that from happening. When she most needed him he hadn't been there, and now she stood there asking for his forgiveness.

"No, what happened was out of your hands," he whispered into her ear. They stayed there for a few moments, and eventually her tears ceased and she felt better.

Ulquiorra separated himself to see her face, which was filled with some tears, he reached up and cleaned one from her cheek, and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Mommy?" Joshua asked, Ulquiorra looked down at him and picked him up, he now stared at his mother, who looked ever so tired. She felt awful to see her own child worried about her and did her best to sound convincing.

"Everything's better now," she said as she brushed her son's cheek and gave him a small smile. She kept Jasmine tightly in her arms, protectively, how she wished that Jasmine's fate was another, rather than to be destined to be forever shunned, even from her. After looking down at her small daughter, she gave a soft sigh, she wished things were simpler but she knew things were just turning, announcing new twists. Softly, she placed the child back in the crib, looking at it once more before looking back at Ulquiorra and Joshua.

With a reassuring smile Ulquiorra gave Emily she followed him to the living room, although she really wished she didn't have to explain things to anyone, especially to his mother, who did not believe her. Unfortunately, she was left no choice, so she followed obediently, expecting a better outcome.

Decided to cut this chapter here, due to the title, you'll understand better when you read the next chapter! :) Hope you all like it, its getting jucier! It's getting towards the climax (thought I would never get this far!), but I really like this story, so I'm working really hard to make it better. Will fix mistakes in previous chapter ASAP!! Next chapter should clear up the feelings Emily bears towards Jasmine, just so you won't get confused! :)

Reviews and any type of commentaries are warmly welcomed! Hope you all liked this chapter, because there is more to come! :)