Story start.

A blinding light, somehow warm, filled the woman’s senses. Nothing else existed besides the light, and that was enough. But soon that light was joined by a voice, and the woman at once realized that the light alone had been far from enough.
“Mother…”
A long pause, an agonizing pause that seemed to last forever, a painful hiatus from bliss.
“Mother…”
Another pause, but the silence was filled with a splash of colour. Gold, and blotches of deep magenta that sent chills through the woman’s consciousness.
“My name…”
The colours became more vibrant, as if building up to some great climax.
“…is Zelda.”

It was morning in the small suburb of Kyoto. A fog, more of a mist, hovered over the lawn of the traditional-styled Kolareny home. Covered walkways lined not only the circular house, but they outlined, and separated, a series of gardens. A tall figure could just barely be seen through the fog within a sand garden, gracefully raking out the new tides of the day. He wore a traditional kimono and hakama, both black. His hair, too, was black, left to hang freely just past his shoulders, a slight natural curl in the ends.
Just as the sun rose above the treetops of the woods surrounding the property, the first rays falling upon the dull red of the house, a small bluebird perched on the branch of a tree just outside one of the windows. It ruffled its feathers a bit, then settled down and began to chirp its hello to the sun, welcoming the new day with its cheerful song. That is, until another song interrupted it.
The stillness of the morning was quickly disrupted by the beeping, buzzing, and other various sounds of a number of alarm clocks. One in particular, though, stood out. It wasn’t the incessant chiming of the typical alarm clock, but instead a funny little ditty. Through that window, inside a small room, there was an array of things, from cute to beautiful. All of it may have been practical in some way, such as the boutique and the chair, but they were of a style very pleasing to the eye. Little knickknacks lined the dresser and boutique, as well as a number of shelves on the wall. There weren’t any boy band posters, but plenty of tasteful artwork, some of it professional, and some of it original, all of it framed and neatly hung in a place best fit for it. There were shelves of books, but they weren’t manga. Rather, they were textbooks, encyclopedias, various translator dictionaries for a multitude of languages. There was, however, one place, a bench just under the window, filled with plush dolls and stuffed animals.
Beside the futon in the middle of the room was the alarm clock, a little pink elephant on its hind legs. Its head was reared up, with its trunk curled around so that the tip rested on the back of its head, and set in the center of the trunk was the clock face. From beneath the blanket over the futon came a small, delicate little hand, the hand of a child. It reached for one of the elephant’s ears and gave it a squeeze, pressing in the button on the back of the ear to shut off the alarm.
The child slowly sat up, arms reaching up out of the blanket for a stretch before pushing the blanket over in half. There sat a girl, no older than twelve, and quite sleepy by the look of it. Her hair, though a mess from sleeping, was of a beautiful gold, naturally curly, and reached down to about mid stomach. Her skin was fair, her face round and pretty. She yawned as soon as she was sitting up, arms reaching up over her head again for one final stretch. When she opened her eyes, they proved to be a deep, liquid blue, wise beyond her years, perhaps a product of her interests as illustrated by the contents of her room.
One yawn, and those few stretches, and she was wide awake. She slipped out from under the rest of the blanket and pushed herself to her feet. She’d slept in a cute little nightgown, with a ribbon around the waist and a little bow at the center of the collar. She began to hum the little ditty her alarm clock had been playing, and went about her morning routine. She brushed her hair first, getting it in order and presentable, before slipping out of her room to head for the bathroom. Her parents were long since up, and she woke up quicker than her siblings, so found no line at the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and then gave herself a quick check in the mirror.
As she left the bathroom to return to her room, she passed a boy about half a foot shorter than herself. He looked a bit like a zombie, eyes half closed and his movements stiff with sleep. His hair was a mess as hers had been, though his wasn’t blonde, nor black as the man’s outside had been. Instead, it was a shade of platinum silver that seemed to shine despite being tousled and a little dirty.
The girl giggled lightly at the sight of him. “Good morning, Haru.”
“Hn,” was about all he managed to get out before shutting the door of the bathroom.
She giggled again and turned back towards her room. She slid the door shut behind her and resumed her morning routine. Hanging just inside her closet door was her uniform, neatly pressed the night before. Even the socks were on the hanger. It only took her a couple of minutes to change out of the nightgown and into the uniform. She then took a seat in front of the boutique to finish with her hair. Some of it was pulled back in a ponytail with a blue ribbon, then she braided in matching ribbons to locks of hair on either side of her face, in front of her ears. She made sure they were even, and then took herself out of her room again.
“Good morning, squirt,” came a voice behind her. She turned and looked up at an older boy, in his late teens, with eyes only a shade lighter than hers. His shoulder-length black hair was pulled back neatly behind his head in a ponytail, already dressed in his own school uniform. He had a bit of a brooding look on his face, very serious, though that didn’t seem to faze the girl in the least.
“Good morning, Seth,” she responded with a sweet smile. “Are you staying after today?”
He nodded once with an affirmative sound. “Soccer practice.”
“I see, guess I’ll have to-“
“Breakfast!” yelled a voice from elsewhere in the house. “Come and get it!”
Seth rested a hand on her shoulder and walked with her down the hall and into the main part of the house. The main living space was wide open, unlike traditional houses. The living room itself was separated from the rest of the house by being sunken down about eight inches. In the living room, there was a fireplace, a T.V., and a number of seats to accommodate the number of residents under the roof, as well as the many visitors the family often entertained. Over the fireplace sat a single katana, sheathe and hilt both as black as night. On the far side of the living room was a small alcove by the windows that looked out into the backyard. And on the side closer to the hallway was the kitchen, separated from the rest of the living area by a long bar, on which sat four plates of steaming food.