More fluff written to cheer up a friend. I was convinced to post it and am putting it up here I guess. Based on when Tear explains she learned the Seventh Hymn because Van would sing it to her as a child. To anyone who doesn't know, Nii-san is the Japanese honorific for "older brother." I wasn't sure if he was Van or Vandesdelca at this time, and cheated by using what she said in the anime.

"Nii-san?" a little girl asked from the other side of the room. She was about six; her brown hair barely passed her shoulders, and it hung loose around her face. "Nii-san, are you here?" Her voice cracked a bit at the end, and she rubbed her face with one hand, the other tightly clenching the hem of her blue dress.

"Yes, Mystearica. What's wrong?" Her brother was sitting on his bed, using the light from a lamp at his bedside table to read. She was too young to understand the long words in the title, or the curvy handwriting. Van was the smartest person she knew. He was smart, mature, almost an adult, and could even read big books like the one he was holding. Having him for an older brother was all she needed.

However, she looked down, still keeping a death grip on the light fabric, shaking her head softly. "Umm, nothing. Nothing's wrong." She shifted from foot to foot, breathing irregularly and not meeting his eye.

"You look like something's bothering you. Come over here for a moment," Van told her. He folded the corner of the page he was reading, set the book down, and shifted on the bed to make room for her to sit next to him. But she didn't move, as if too afraid to go any closer to him than she already was.

"I'm going back to bed, okay, Nii-san?" She turned around and shuffled her feet in the direction she came from.

"Mystearica," he called again. She froze at his commanding tone, one he had been practicing to sound older, and a soft whine escaped her throat. "I'm sorry," he said, this time much more gently. "Will you come here and keep me company?" She turned back around, bangs covering her eyes and preventing her from looking straight at him.

He stood up and walked up to her, towering height far surpassing hers. If it was anybody but her brother, she would be intimidated. But Van was nice, and didn't want to hurt her. Him being so close forced her to look up, hair falling away from her face. He kneeled down to her level, looking her directly in the eyes.

"What's wrong? You look like you've been crying." He ran a thumb under her left eye, catching the tear that was falling. "Are you upset?"

She rubbed her other eye with a free hand, and shook her head again. "No." Her quivering lower lip and damp eyes and cheeks betrayed her lie, and Van smiled at her. He lifted her from under the arms, and she clung around his neck, leaning on his shoulder.

"If you aren't upset, then would you mind keeping me company while I read?" She shook her head, and a quick "No" was muffled by his shirt. He walked back to where he was before the interruption, leaning against the headboard and letting her snuggle up to his chest. For being as strong as he was, he was a great pillow, and he was always really warm. "Can you tell me what's wrong now, Mystearica?"

"I got lonely," she said quietly. "And I missed you." Van had let her have her own room, after she had insisted that she was ready to sleep alone. She wanted to be more like him, and not have to have someone bigger to chase the monsters away. The Qliphoth was dark, but the mist from the miasma sent shadows to dance eerily on walls, scaring many young children who didn't understand it.

"Are you sure you want to stay in your own room?" Van asked her. He was against the idea, and if she was this scared maybe it was a bad idea to let her stay there.

"Yes, I can do it," she said, sounding determined. "I am old enough, just like you Nii-san."

"But sometimes you have to be old to admit you're scared." His voice was serious, and he was looking at a wall instead of her. "I'm scared for you. I only want to protect you."

"You already do that for me," she said, reaching up to tug playfully at the few hairs on his chin. "Like this. You're going to be older now, so we can both be safe."

He chuckled and said, "I suppose so. Are you going to be alright now? Do you want to go back to bed?"

"I think I can…." She trailed off at the end, and started to cry. She had her brother right now, and if she went back to bed, she would lose him until morning. As she cried, she buried her face in his chest and gripped his neck in a tight hug, as if trying to strangle him.

"It's okay," he whispered, stroking her head to calm her. "You'll be okay." He glanced at the book he left on the table, and sang something he was taught when he was younger. It was a series of seemingly nonsense words, in a peaceful tune. It was useless in means of power at the time, but apparently there was a different magic to it for his sister.

She had stopped crying when she'd heard his deep voice singing. "What's that, Nii-san? It's pretty."

"Yulia's Seventh Hymn. I was taught it as a child. I can teach you if you'd like." She nodded her consent, not trusting her voice. "I'm going to read more now, okay?" She nodded again, and sat in silence while he studied the complicated book.

"What are you reading?" she asked several minutes later, voice still slightly rough.

He glanced at the cover, and said, "It's an old book about Yulia Jue and the Score." He pointed to the title and moved his finger along with it as he read aloud, "Yulia's Score and her Fonic Hymns. Do you know who Yulia is?"

"Yes," she said. "She wrote the Score, and we're her descend…decent...."

"Her descendants?"

"Yeah, that." She could always count on Van to know things that she didn't. Is it a good book?"

"If you like history, I suppose it is. But I think we should keep you reading fairy tales right now."

"Alright," she said, clearly disappointed. "I'll be good enough at reading soon, okay? And then maybe I can read harder books than you can."

"Maybe you will," he said, chuckling under his breath at her childlike need for a role model, and how he wound up the person to whom she looked up to the most.

She had almost fallen asleep, and had been dozing off against his chest for nearly an hour. "Nii-san?" she asked, sleepiness clouding her voice.

"Yes?"

"Can I sleep in your room again?" Her wide eyes were half closed from drowsiness, but they still looked so hopeful and needing.

"I was hoping you'd ask. Of course you can. Should we start tonight?" He closed his book and turned off the lamp, drawing the covers up over them so she wouldn't get cold.

"Thanks," she said quietly, falling asleep with her last words. "I love you, Nii-san."