”And last but not least, a pinch of ground mint for flavor. Mix well and gaelathe!” Celeste nearly clapped with excitement. ”Now, to test the serum,” she said as she took a small dropper-full and took it over to an old cat she had found. It was a miracle the creature had survived to such an advanced age without being killed off. If the elf had to guess, the cat survived off of milk, cream, and fish that people had given him out of mercy. She held the dropper to him and put the tip into the corner of his mouth, where she eased the concoction into his system. To her delight, the mangy cat seemed to grow younger before her very eyes. He gave a mighty stretch then darted out of the room with a youthful sprint.

She had done it! It had taken some time for an old alchemist to even trust Celeste enough to part with the recipe for the youthful potion, for it could have vast side-effects if not treated with the proper respect. Even more time was required to decipher the language, a cruel prank on the alchemist’s part, and then to acquire all the necessary ingredients. Celeste had not been entirely successful for many months, always second-guessing if her translations were even correct. In many cases, it was not. But now, she was the proud owner of a small pot full of the potion that would solve her biggest fear… Watching her wife grow old and die as she retained her youthful appearance.

Excited to share her achievement with Larka, Celeste bottled every drop up and ran out of her workshop. ”Ma vhenan! Ma vhenan! I’ve done it!” She was nearly bouncing as she came to a stop before her wife, shaking the bottle gently as if swirling the contents. ”I’ve got the answer to keeping you from ever dying from old age! You can remain my wife for as long as I am alive now! We can grow old together!” With a happy squeal, she threw her arms around Larka tightly. ”You have no idea how much it scared me to think that I would be forced to watch you age and perish on me. But now, I don’t have to, Larka. I’ve done it!”

Larka was busying herself in their little house while Celeste was working in her workshop, tidying up and looking after the twins. They had grown so fast, or at least the years had passed quickly as the toddlers played together and with the wolf and tiger that they had known from day one in the world. The two large beasts were ever so gentle with the fragile toddlers and were more than patient when fur or a tail was pulled or stepped on.

The tall berserker woman had known for some time that her wife had been worried about their future together. More over, the fact that Larka would continue to age at a normal human rate while Celeste would remain the way she was for centuries. Larka would die, Celeste would have to watch, and there was nothing that could be done about that, as Larka had no intention of changing herself from being human. That was one line that she would not cross, though Celeste seemed to know not to ask that of her wife.

So when Celeste came running back in, all excited with a small bottle in her hands saying that she done it, Larka smiled but was a bit confused. Done what? Larka didn’t know that Celeste had been working on the kind of potion that she was, then again alchemy wasn’t Larka’s strong suit either. She was still figuring out all the things she could do with the earth magic she now had, and that was enough learning for the one-armed human woman.

The words that came from Celeste made Larka’s eyed widen a bit, she had the answer to that?! Not that Larka wasn’t happy, and she laughed and smiled when Celeste threw herself at her. Larka wrapped her arm around her wife and hugged her tight while the wolf and tiger and toddlers looked on, curiosity written on all four faces. Larka smiled and pulled back a bit and placed her hand on Celeste cheek and kissed her and glanced at the bottle and then back to Celeste. ”I love you.” Larka said simply and pressed their foreheads together gently. ”How much do I drink and what will it do?” Larka asked, putting all of her trust in her wife with no hesitation. With everything that the two of them had been through it would take a lot to even start some kind of crack between them, and even then it more likely they’d patch things up quickly.

Being hugged tight by Larka's singular arm felt comforting, almost rejuvenating as she soaked up the love her wife radiated with. Even with the children's eyes upon them, Kyu and Reika's too, Celeste was too absorbed by her excitement and love for her wife to be bothered with nervousness witnesses might entice. To her delight, Larka trusted her enough to merely ask how much to take. "Ar lath ma, Larka," Celeste said as she allowed the moment to drag on before jumping into business. 

"Well, I gave the stray cat just a dropper-full, so calculating your weight… A swig? It rejuvenated him, made him younger, stronger. What this will do to you should just rewind time just a little bit for you." The elf giggled softly. "We don't want a pimply awkward teen running around here, do we?" She kissed Larka and snuggled into her wife. "Of course, we will need to figure out how often it will need to be consumed, but with any luck, it should be years in between each time." Untangling herself from Larka, Celeste set the bottle on the nearest sturdy surface and picked up the children. They sat on each hip as the three of them turned to Larka.

"Just think of it, with elvish blood, these two will have extended lives. They won't even need to watch you grow old and die! We will be a perpetually young family for generations!" While Lilly hugged Celeste's neck, Celeste was gently swishing her nose back and forth across the tip of Conner's nose. He giggled and hugged her and Celeste tightened her grip on them as she hugged the twins simultaneously. "My happy family."

She had tested it on a cat? Interesting. If it was anyone else telling her all of this Larka would be more off put about the idea of taking the potion, but because it was Celeste she trusted her wife fully. At the idea of being a teen again Larka grinned. ”Tall and lanky, and a bit awkward until I got my sword work down.” She chuckled in reply as Celeste removed herself from Larka’s embrace, set the bottle down and picked up the twins instead.

Larka beamed in love and pride at the sight of her wife and kids together, they were only missing Akira and this would be utterly perfect. Larka still always worried about their adoptive daughter, but so far things had worked out and Akira had proven that she could take of herself despite her young age. She had up until Larka and Celeste adopted her, so why would that change?

At the sound of Conner’s giggle Larka giggled in reply and took a seat after picking up the bottle. For a moment Larka eyed the liquid before using her thumb to pop the top off as Kyu came over and sniffed. ”This isn’t for you.” Larka grinned and Kyu climbed up on the couch with Larka and laid her head on Larka’s lap under her arm. ”Comfy?” Larka grinned.

Smiling to Celeste Larka placed the bottle to her lips and took a sip, however, at the same time, Kyu raised her head and bumped into Larka’s elbow. This forced Larka’s arm up, and as a result she dumped almost all of the potion into her mouth, and mid swallow was forced to choke down most of what was spilled into her mouth. Realizing she had swallowed too much Larka got to her feet, forcing the wolf down at the same time and spat what she could out from her mouth. She looked to Celeste as Larka’s eyes seemed to haze over a bit. ”Celeste, I, I don’t feel so good.” Larka managed to speak, but the potion was working. Larka was a mid forty something human woman, and she was in damn good shape, so the changes starting in her body were subtle at first. Her skin tightened, the few wrinkles she had vanished, some of her visible scars became lighter to, it was having an affect.

It was when Larka started to feel herself shrink that she became more nervous, but the change happened quickly with the amount of the potion she had drank. She could hear the twins starting to cry when they sensed the panic that was now hanging in the room, and Kyu was whimpering as he watched Larka change.

It only took a couple of minutes until the potion had finished its work. Larka’s clothing lay in a heap on the floor, and, tangled among it all, sat a now toddler Larka, butt naked and looking very confused and woozy. That wooziness seemed to fade after a moment until the toddler got to look up into Kyu’s face as the wolf stood over her, whimpering still. Utter confusion was written on toddler Larka’s face, why was she looking up at the wolf?! Looking to Celeste she saw the look on her wife’s face before finally looking down at herself.

Upon seeing her tiny and body Larka started to cry, instead of scream, like the toddler she now was.

With toddlers in hand, Celeste watched as Larka got comfortable on the couch. Kyu joined her and that's when things began to go terribly wrong. The wolf's head lifted, Larka's arm jerked up and the bottle was nearly empty. "Kyu!" Celeste called out, putting the children down hastily as she went to pull the wolf away from her wife. Larka stood, almost swaying as her eyes hazed over, the magic of the potion beginning to take effect. The elf held her breath as she couldn't do anything but watch as her wife started to change. How much did the berserker drink and how far back would she rewind?

Celeste bit her lip, all but hugging the wolf. Tension began to charge the air until it was palpable. Reika and Kyu whined, the children started crying, and Larka was shrinking! "No, no, no, no, no, no…" she started to chant, suddenly afraid of losing her wife entirely. Her eyes followed Larka's height decline as her heart clenched and her stomach churned with dread. 'Stop, stop, stop, stop… I can't lose her!' And then it was over. Kyu pulled herself free from Celeste's grasp to check on Larka's small frame as Celeste sat in shock. What had she done?!?

She watched Larka's emotions play out on her tiny face with guilty disbelief. From confusion to bewilderment. Her face scrunched up and she started to cry, which encouraged the twins to continue their wailing. The cacophony of it all grounded the elf. Crawling, she approached Larka and pulled her up into a loving, supporting embrace. "There, there, my love. Celsy is here," she cooed, using the nickname Lirin gave her so very long ago. Celeste carefully approached the twins and pulled them into the embrace, trying to calm them all down before she freaked out. "That's it… Calmly now… Shhhh. It'll all be okay." Once the three of them were finally calm, Celeste pulled back to look at the three tear-stained faces looking back at her.

"Okay… So, your mother is now the same age as you. But I'm still here, and we will figure this out. I promise." Even Reika came over to sniff at Larka now that things were calm, then gave her a scratchy lick upon her cheek. "See, Reika is gonna help. This is going to work out just fine. You'll see…" Celeste swallowed, wishing Akira or Lirin were here right now. She could very much use the help. "Um… First things first, we should get you dressed. And then I need to go talk to that alchemist, which means you will need to come with me…" Since they had twins, it was sheer luck that she stopped de-aging to an age where they had an abundance of clothing. Otherwise, it would be an awkward trip to the stores.

Taking the twins and Larka upstairs, for the twins really didn't want to be left alone, Celeste began rummaging through the dresser, pulling out choices of Lilly's clothing for Larka to choose from. From dressing Lilly primarily in dresses, she had forgotten completely that Larka rarely ever wore a dress. She had given the option of a plain white dress with a blue sash tied in a bow, a purple dress, a sunflower yellow dress with ruffles, and a sky blue one with white lace. "We also need to cover some ground rules, Larka. You are a toddler now, so you can't just run off from my side, okay? It'll worry me to death! Don't set bad examples for the children. I need you to be good like we expect from Conner and Lilly."

When Celeste pulled her in close toddler Larka tightened her grip on the elf, burying her face in Celeste’s side as she did. Celeste pulled the twins into the embrace and after a few minutes things started to calm down as Larka got a hold of herself and looked up Celeste. When Reika came over to sniff at Larka she reached out and patted the big cat’s nose. ”Kitty!” She squealed happily. Instantly Kyu came back over and shouldered the cat out of the way and Larka beamed at the wolf. ”Puppy!” She babbled and hugged the wolf’s neck while Celeste spoke to the twins.

Larka saw that Celeste picked up the twins and she moved to scramble up the side of the wolf and clung there. Kyu followed Celeste upstairs with Larka on her back as Celeste started to go through Lilly’s clothes to find something for Larka to wear. Toddler Larka pouted at the sight of the dresses, she hated dresses! Not to mention they were the worst colours, at least for Larka, they were perfect and adorable for Lilly. When presented with the choice Larka shook her head and pointed to where they kept Conner’s clothing, preferring boys clothing to girl’s dresses in this case. If Celeste allowed it of course, though Larka might make a fight out of it.

Ground rules?! She was a toddler! Larka climbed off of Kyu took one step and then plopped down on her butt and looked up at Celeste. Larka puffed out of her face like she was ready to argue or pout more but then seemed to give in and nodded to Celeste.

Larka had the bright idea to ride on Kyu's back, which earned the wolf a "you better not drop her, so help me, or I'll tan your hide" look. To Kyu's benefit, Larka held on rather well, despite being about the age of three and only having one arm. With any luck, the children would not get the bright idea to try it for at least another year or so. They just did not have the strength or training yet. Celeste feared for them because of who she and Larka were, their personalities. To have them mixed in the twins… who they will turn out to be was a rather scary future to dwell upon. Though… she supposed there could be worse pairings.

When she displayed the options she pulled out, Larka pouted. "Okay.. That's adorable…" she cooed at her wife before allowing herself to acknowledge the fact that Larka was pointing to Conner's drawers. Celeste frowned a bit. "But you look good in…sigh Fine." The elf put the dresses back and then went towards Conner's clothing as she spoke of the rules. But as she turned, she saw Larka give a toddler-sized attitude. Celeste sternly looked down at her wife, arms crossed, seconds away from pulling out the full name when Larka nodded. "Good."

After pulling out a pair of black pants and a white shirt, Celeste grabbed socks and a spare pair of boots of his. She helped Larka get dressed and began lacing the shoes to properly fit. Once her wife was ready, Celeste gazed at her like she was about ready to cry herself. "Larka, I am so sorry. I know it's not my fault, but… I am responsible." Her hand lifted and cupped the toddler's cheek. "I love you…" Before she could actually cry, Celeste scrubbed her face and forced a smile. "Now, who's ready to go shake down an alchemist for the reversal recipe?"

Once more, Larka used Kyu as a mount, Reika stayed by Celeste's side as Lilly and Conner darted towards the rose maze. Celeste consoled herself with the fact that was Sularia, the town where women and children were safe. What harm could come of three toddlers in town? Right?

When Celeste said that Larka was adorable pouting the pouting become one level higher as Larka pointed to Conner’s clothing. Toddler or not, Larka was NOT wearing a dress, unless it was to her and Celeste’s wedding again or a fancy ball or something, but day to day? Nope. Larka gave in about the rules that Celeste set down and Celeste got her some pants and a shirt from Conner’s clothing.

Out of habit Larka tried to pull her own pants on, which as a toddler was hard enough, but as a toddler with only one arm it was nearly impossible. After a second of tugging on the pants Larka wobbled and plopped down on her butt, putting on a pouty face again as Celeste heled her get dressed and tie her shoes. When Celeste apologized Larka wobbled closer and wrapped her tiny arm around Celeste as best she could. ”Lub you too.” Larka replied smiling up to Celeste, grey eyes filled with love for the elf as she leaned up and kissed Celeste on the cheek.

Oh yes, Larka was ready to go and confront of the one that had given Celeste the recipe. Larka climbed back up on Kyu again, this time the wolf made it easier by crouching down, gently booping Larka with her nose making the toddler Larka giggle. Larka did seem to be taking this all rather well, however, the question that remained was; how did this affect her mind? If at all? Clearly she knew she wasn’t supposed to be like this, yet her speech was impeded and so was her coordination. Could it be that the potion took longer to work on Larka’s mind if it was affecting it? It was possible that she was slowly reverting to a toddler mentally and not just physically. But hopefully the alchemist would have an answer for them.

Even as a toddler, Larka was able to give her exactly what she needed. An adorable toddler hug and loving kiss later, the family was on their way. As they approached the town, Celeste found herself frowning at Larka’s back as she rode Kyu. How far was this potion going to go with its effects? If she cannot reverse this, will the children be forced to have their mother the same age as them while she has to raise her wife? She shuddered at the thought of having to raise Larka during the rebellious teenage years. Somehow, the words “your not my mother” will be shouted at her, and she would retort back with “No, I’m your wife!”. Could it strengthen or destroy their relationship?

This needed to be solved, soon. Resolve straightened her spine as she marched into town with her little army of toddlers. Celeste led them to the alchemist’s shop, but the door was locked. She began to bang on the door. ”Mr. Chester! I have a problem!” Sounds came from within, something shuffling while banging into something. ”I’m closed! Can’t you read?” Celeste glared and banged again. ”I need you, Chester. Open up, before I kick your door down. It’s an emergency!” Fortunately, they did not have to wait much longer because the door opened just as Celeste prepared to pound her fist on the door again. ”Oh, it’s you. What do you want?” Mr. Chester’s voice carried a bit of disdain, although Celeste had no idea how she got it before now.

”There was a wee small problem with the potion you sold me…” Celeste started before Chester interrupted her. ”My dear elf, I did not sell you a potion. I sold you a recipe. Any mistake is on your head.” He went to close the door, but Celeste pushed the door open, furious. ”Don’t brush me off so quickly, Chester. The potion was flawless, I made no mistake. Kyu did.” Chester scoffed. ”And this name that means nothing to me makes it my fault how?” The elf pointed to Kyu and her wife. ”That’s my wife! Fix it!” The alchemist’s eyes bulged as he gazed upon the toddler form of Larka. ”To have someone translate and prepare a potion so quickly…”

”Enough of that and help me fix my wife!”

Despite the circumstances Larka was having a wonderful time riding on Kyu’s back, the wolf was still confused, but she could tell that this was Larka. Larka had raised Kyu from a puppy and now that Larka was a human ‘puppy’, in the wolf’s eyes, it was her job to protect Larka in return.

When they arrived at their destination and Celeste knocked, the reply that came from within almost had Larka off of Kyu and trying to kick the door down. But, Celeste persisted and the man, Chester, came and opened the door, asking what they wanted. The disdain in his voice only made Larka grumpier, and a grumpy and angry Larka was a stronger Larka. When Chester’s eyes finally moved to Larka the one-armed toddler only glared in return.

Chester came closer to Larka, who only kept staring at him, to inspect her. He went to try and touch Larka, perhaps to see if she was real. As he did Larka’s hand shot up and she managed to grab his middle finger of his right hand, she then twisted. ”Help or break it!” She threatened, which alone was terrifying, angry toddler Larka who still had her Berserker powers. Chester struggled but Larka’s grip was like a vice and he could only stare at her and then back to Celeste for a moment.

Kyu huffed and tilted her head to look at Larka, who was still on her back. Some of the gravel around the wolf shifted and rose and after a moment it formed Larka’s missing left hand! So, she still had control of her magic, for now, her Berserker powers and her usual temper, that was all kind of terrifying in and of itself. Finally Larka released Chester and glared. ”You help!” She snapped, bouncing up and down in anger making Kyu grunt. At the noise Larka leaned forward and patted Kyu’s head. ”I sorry.” She apologized and then squealed in laughter as Kyu licked her face in acceptance of the apology.