Love Me Like You Mean It!

Did you see that couple just fighting on the street back there? They were really going at it.

Yeah it looked like it was getting pretty intense as well. I think they were married though.

A married couple having a big argument, huh?

They must have a pretty bad relationship to just start fighting in the middle of the street.

Yeah, nothing like your parents, huh, Ciel? I can't imagine them arguing.

You know... I've never seen them fight either!

Haha, I bet. I get embarrassed just looking at how lovey-dovey those two get.

And did you see the clothes that guy was wearing? What a fashion statement!

I don't know, the woman had a pretty unique style of her own too.

Unique style... Who does that remind me of?

Maybe, but that guy had wings! Wings?!

Wings? This definitely sounds familiar.

Mom! Dad!

Enough! I hear you, loud and clear!

You're so mean! I didn't realize I had married such a great big meanie!

You took the words right out of my mouth!

Oh no! We gotta stop them! Come on, big bro. I've never seen them argue like this before.

It must be something serious for them to get this worked up!

I hope it's not those scary people from the future again.

I don't know, I hope not too. Let's put a stop to it and see what the problem is!

Okay, let's hurry!

Mom, Dad! What's going on? Why are you shouting at each other?

Oh, Ciel! What are you doing here?

How come you guys are fighting? If there's something you need help with, we'll do whatever we can.

Thank you, Aldo, sweetie. You're always so kind.

But I'm afraid it's too late!

That's right!

We're getting a divorce!

What? Like for real?

You bet for real!

Wait, slow down. There must be a pretty serious reason for you two to want to separate.

Of course! And I'll never forgive him for it either!

You won't forgive me?! Hah! Listen, Ciel, I'll tell you exactly what the problem is...

Cake!

Um, what now?

Excuse me?

Well I just had a real craving for the lava chili cake. But nooo! Your dad insists that we either eat the extra salty cake or no dessert at all!

(Those both sound just terrible...)

You agree with me don't you, Ciel? "Tis the season of salt upon your sponge," as everyone says around this time of year!

Sure, Dad. The salt cake is really nice and all...

(Wait what? I can't tell if he's just being nice or not.)

Aldo, help me talk some sense into these two. Don't you just want to get stuck in to a big piece of fiery hot gateau?

It's hard to say really. I haven't tried either...

Which is why you want to try now, right?

See, dear! Aldo, agrees with me. How could you deprive him of his first experience of lava chili cake?

Well why don't you have cake with Aldo then? Just the two of you!

Why would you say something like that? All I wanted was to eat the same thing, as we sat side by side!

Hah! Oh really? Wouldn't you just have so much more fun having a romantic time with Aldo rather than me? He is the lookalike of your handsome actor crush after all!

I'll be fine eating my extra salty sponge alone with extra tear salt to boot!

Fine! Do whatever you want!

What are we going to do, Big Bro? At this rate Mom and Dad are really going to get a divorce!

Do you really think so? This is just about cake after all. I'm sure they'll be back to normal in no time.

You don't get it! My Mom and Dad are food fanatics, they're crazy for anything gourmet! This isn't just about cake. This is war, Aldo!

Got to think...

Oh, I know! How about you sing to them? Maybe if they hear your voice they'll calm down a bit and make up.

O-Okay! Can't hurt to give it a try.

Mom, Dad! Stop a second and listen to me!

Oh my sweet Ciel. You never fail to touch daddy's heart with your angelic voice.

......

Ciel, that was wonderful. Whenever I hear your voice, I don't know what comes over me, but it's like this... Excitement. Yes, that's it. Teehee!

(Yes! Looks likes Ciel's singing has done the trick.)

It's just like when you get a fever, my mind's just gone completely blank. There's no mistaking it...

I've felt this once before, but never quite like this♪ I've been enthralled by Aldo and his super-handsomeness!

WHAAAT?!

Oh my, what a thrill! Who would've thought there'd be a dreamier man than your dad, right in front of my eyes♪

Wait-wait-wait-wait!

Mom, what are you saying?

I knew it! I knew your mom liked the handsome Aldo with his great jawline more than me, with my stupid regular chin!

OOOHHH, WHAT AM I TO DOOO!

Oh, Dad, no please don't cry! Come back!

Teehee! Oh your dad is always so adorable when he gets jealous♪

Big Bro, what am I going to do? Mom's gone completely crazy!

This is bad. Maybe it was the power of your voice that had an effect on her. Remember the people from the orchestra in Laula Dome saying your voice was like some kind of magic?

So it was all my fault?

And now Mom has fallen in love with you!

Whoa, I don't know about that. But if she really has, then there's definitely a chance they'll get divorced!

I don't want you two to get divorced! We need to get Mom to a doctor straightaway, Aldo!

Yeah! Wait, no. Why a doctor?

They say people get lovesick, right, Big Bro? If my mom's sick, then we need to get her to a doctor!

If you think that'll be enough, then okay.

Now, Ciel, what I said was just...

Don't you worry, Mom! I'll get you back to normal before you know it! I heard somewhere that there're lots of good doctors in the Theta District. They'll be able to cure you for sure!

There! That person looks like a doctor!

Excuse me, are you a doctor?

I am indeed, yes.

Please doctor! You're my only hope! You gotta save my mom!

Whoa there. Just calm down and tell me what the problem is.

My mom loves my Big Bro!

I see... Well, there's really nothing inherently wrong with a mother loving her son, is there?

No that's not it! He's my Big Bro, but he's not actually my Bro!

Hang on, Ciel! You're talking too fast and not making much sense either.

Umm, ohhh! Look, my mom and dad are going to get divorced and you have to help me!

Hmm, seems like a particularly complex family dynamic here. I do believe you have the wrong kind of doctor though.

No you don't get it! Mom said she felt feverish, and...and her mind has gone blank!

I wouldn't worry. It just sounds like you're mother has come down with a cold, is all. Just make sure she drinks plenty of...

Doctor please! My mom's in bad shape! She's lovesick!

Oh my, well that is very serious indeed. In that case I have the perfect remedy right...

Nowhere! Are you serious right now?! Can you even hear yourself talk?

Wait, what! Why not?

Look just stop bothering me. I'm a very busy person. Stupid kids wasting my time again....

But, this is serious... I'm serious...

Maybe you should have told him about your magical singing voice...

So sweetie, is it okay if Mommy goes home now?

What?! Go home? What home, where?

To our house, of course. I want to check up on your dad before he does anything dad-like...

So you're not going to leave dad? You said you were enthralled by Big Bro and his lovely jawline!

Oh Ciel, you're so sweet sometimes. I was just playing with your dad. Of course I still love him. It's just that he's so oblivious I thought I'd have a little fun with him, is all.

You waited until we came all the way to Theta District to tell us that!

Maybe you're right, I just got caught up in all the excitement. Sorry about that.

Honestly, Mom!

Which I guess means that your argument is over, at least?

I suppose it is. And I can always just make both cakes anyway. Lava chili and extra salty. I'm sure I can get back on your dad's good side if I do.

Okay! Then there's not a moment to lose, we have to get you two to make up!

Hm? That's strange... Where's your dad gone, I wonder?

Daaad! Look, Mom's home now!

Do you think maybe he hasn't come back home yet?

I hope he's okay...

Oh, a message from dad!

What does he mean he's going home-home?

But I thought everyone in this family apart from Ciel was born in the future?

That's right. So I don't see how he could possible go back home...

Whoa! What the, ?

He's... He's not actually trying to go back to the future, is he?!

I thought Shannon said that it was impossible for this island to travel through time again?

Normally she'd be right. But in his desperation, he might've turned off all of the fail-safes. Please, Ciel, you have to stop him before it's too late!

Leave it to me, Mom!

If he's trying to go back to the future, our best bet would be to look for him in the engine room, right?

Good idea! That's where Shannon went last time too! We have to get to the far side of the garden!

Well, I guess this is goodbye to this perfect world. Oh boy, here come the tears...

Dad, wait! Please stop! You don't need to go home!

My lovely Ciel!

It's not like I want to go back to that horrible place. But, Ciel, your mom's made it clear...

Aldo, you take care of her, okay? You and your glorious jawline. I know when I'm beat.

Just calm down and listen for a second! That stuff your wife said, it was all just a joke, she didn't mean any of it!

What? A joke?

That's right! Mom still loves you, just like she always has! So don't go!

R-Really? You mean I can still live the good life with your mom in this world?

Yes! So come on. Let's go back home, together.

Whoa! What the, ?

I know that violent rumble well. And it might - just might - be because I forced the time travel system to boot up...

I thought this island couldn't time travel anymore?

Well it's amazing what you can do if you turn off all the safety switches and ignore the flashing red lights.

I've got a really bad feeling about this!

Why would you do that? You knew it was going to go badly!

All I could think about was getting as far away from here as I could. What happened after wasn't really important.

That's just so irresponsible... The pair of you are as bad as each other!

Whoa! Is that a tear in spacetime?

This is definitely not good! I think the travel-matrix has malfunctioned!

This place is too dangerous now! You two run while you still can!

What are you going to do?

I've got to try and shut the system down. This is all my fault anyway. Get yourselves to safety!

Dad!

This is bad! We gotta take this thing down before it hurts your dad!

You got it, Big Bro!

If you wanna hurt my dad, you're gonna have to go through me first!

I'll save you, Dad! Just hang in there!

Arroooow...find your mark!

Ciel! You did it!

Dad, wake up! Are you okay?

Oh, Ciel, hello there. I think I'm all right, thank you.

I'm so relieved you're safe!

And it looks like the tear has closed up again, the system seems to have stopped malfunctioning as well. Guess we're all safe then?

Come on, Dad. Up you get! Let's go home now.

And then he was like "Arrow, find your mark!" and BAM, no more crazy monster. You should have seen it, Ciel was so cool!

That's not fair! I wanted to see Ciel be all cool and heroic too!

I'm so glad Mom and Dad were finally able to make up again.

And all thanks to you, Ciel.

Heheh, you think so? Thanks, Big Bro♪

It really was quite impressive, well done, Ciel!

Big Sis, Shannon!

You know, I never thought the day would come when little Ciel would be mediating a classic mom and dad squabble!

Hang on a second. You make it sound like this isn't the first time that this has happened?

You bet it isn't. Those two always end up fighting over the most ridiculous things. It wasn't sock puppets again was it?

Whaaat?! But I've never seen them fight before, not once!

And that doesn't really surprise me. You've always had this kind of calming effect on those two.

Oh really? I hadn't realized.

The last time they had a full-blown fight was before you were born. And believe me, it was full blown! Dad started screaming that he was running away and went crazy with the island's controls. That little outburst almost crashed the entire island into the Elzion Plate.

Wait! So is that why the COA's been monitoring them then? Also, sock puppets? I kind of feel like I shouldn't ask.

That's exactly why. I'm just glad the situation was contained before anything really bad happened.

And, Ciel, adorable, little Ciel. I can't believe you were able to get Mom and Dad to stop fighting. You're all grown up now... And I don't know whether to be happy or sad about it.

It has always been up to your other sisters and me to settle their squabbles. But can I trust you to keep them together from now on?

Yeah! You can count on me, Big Sis!

And with Aldo's help too!

What? I'm in on this too?

Of course you are! You're my super reliable Big Bro after all!