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“Anya, get up! It’s time for school!”
The little girl rolled over and groaned. “Mama..” Her eyes felt too heavy to open, so she whined. She was just about to fall asleep again when the door slammed open.
“Miss Anya! What’s wrong? What is it? Are you hurt?” Yor zoomed around the room, checking her over and checking the closet to make sure there was no one there. She put her left hand on Anya’s cheek, placing her right on her own forehead, and gasped. “You’re really warm! Oh, no, what should I do? Loid got called into work early this morning. Would he want me to go to the hospital? Should I call him?” She had started pacing and muttering to herself. To Anya’s fevered mind, the blurry image of Mama walking around like that made her giggle.
Her giggle dissolved into a coughing fit, which made Yor stop in place. She turned towards the girl with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Anya struggled a little bit to read her mind, but she could make out bits and pieces.
….down, Yor. taken care of… sick child. Yuri turned out…
Anya squinted at her mama. The strain of trying to read her mind was too much. She was hot and cold and sore all over. All she could do was reach for her, whining again. “Mama…”
Yor scrambled to her side again, sitting down on the bed in the process. “Oh, Miss Anya. Don’t worry. I’m here.” She hesitated for a second before gently brushing the pink strands of hair out of her face. Yor’s cool hands were a relief to Anya, so she sighed and snuggled closer. Anya moved to lay her head on Yor’s thigh, and the feeling of warmth and protectiveness that surged inside of her was so powerful it almost knocked her over. Her breath hitched, and she smiled down at the little girl in her lap. “I know. I’ve got you.” She wrapped Anya in the blanket as much as she could to get her to sweat the fever out. It had been a while since she’d had to take care of a sick child, but she was determined to make sure Anya recovered quickly. This was her job as her mother, after all.
Soon, Anya settled into a mostly peaceful sleep. Yor lifted her as gently as she could and placed her on the bed. Luckily, Anya didn’t resist this time. Yor decided to at least call Loid to let him know Anya wouldn’t be going to school today, but she hesitated.
Do I have the right to decide that? Miss Anya can’t really afford to miss school right now…
She shook her head and went to pick up the phone. No. Loid trusts me as her mother. She definitely cannot go to school today. He will understand.
The phone rang for a few seconds. She started tapping on it to release some nerves before it connected with a click. The deep rumble of her husband’s voice rang through the line.
“Hello? Yor? What’s wrong?”
“Ah! Loid, yes, everything’s fine. I just wanted… Well, I had to tell you, Miss Anya is not feeling well at all. She has a fever and won’t be going to school. Oh, but don’t worry! I’ll make sure she’s all better by tomorrow.”
There was silence on the other end for a few moments as he seemed to be contemplating his answer. Finally, he hummed. “Well. I suppose missing one day won’t hurt. I’ll call the school and let them know. I’m sorry to have to do this to you on your day off.”
Yor’s shoulders sagged in relief upon realizing he wasn’t going to be upset. “Oh, it’s okay! Her health is my priority. I really don’t mind.” This is good for me to enhance my skills as a wife and mother, too!
She hung up and got to work on the one thing she can cook correctly: stew. Bond came over and sniffed around the kitchen a few times before watching her curiously. She laughed and said, “Don’t worry, Bond! Miss Anya likes this one. She’ll be all better in no time!” Yor brought a spoonful of stew up to her lips and tasted it. The flavors were just right. She sighed in relief, “At least I can make this for her.” She switched the heat to low to let it simmer for a few more minutes and started tidying up around the house. It was already clean, but the stress of dealing with a sick child was getting to her. She needed to focus.
Across the city, Loid was trying to get some work done. It had been almost an hour since Yor had called, and yet there were no updates. It would be bad for the mission if Anya were to get worse. The mission was his top priority, of course. Anya hasn’t gotten sick before. What do you do when your child is sick? What would a real father do?
Before he knew it, half the day had passed, and he had gotten almost no work done. Fiona asked him what was distracting him in that cold tone of hers, but he just grunted and waved her off. Finally, his supervisor came over because it had just gotten too obvious.
Damn it, Twilight, get it together. You can’t keep letting her get in the way. I need to focus. I have to get through today. There’s a very important patient coming in today, and I must see him. He could make or break Operation Strix. Yor’s got this handled; they will be fine.
“Dr. Forger, is something the matter?”
He looked up at his supervisor and had the perfect response ready. “Ah, yes! My apologies, it’s nothing important. I’ll get back to work right away.”
But his mouth betrayed him. “I’d like to go home. My daughter is sick, and I need to take care of her.” His words surprised him so much he visibly flinched. What the hell did I just say?! She is sick, but I don’t need to leave! And flinching at my own words? Do I need to go back to training to fix this? No, this must be some kind of glitch. Yes, that’s it. Wait, I’m not a robot. Why would I glitch? This is not right. Maybe I’m coming down with something, too. But, I shouldn’t be. I’m supposed to be practically immune to most diseases thanks to WISE training.
His internal debate happened in a matter of seconds, but he wasn’t fast enough to fix his mistake. His supervisor replied, “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Since you’ve finished most of your work for the day, please go home and take care of her.”
Loid was about to rebut, but the man walked away before he could say anything. He figured he might as well go home. He’d decide what to do about the patient later. Besides, Anya potentially getting sicker would be worse for Operation Strix than missing out on this mini mission would be.
He gathered his things and made his way home, but not before stopping at the store to pick up some medicine and snacks for Anya. Extra peanuts, of course. He still didn’t understand her obsession with them.
When he opened the door, he was expecting silence. Instead, the scene that greeted him nearly made him walk right out the door. Anya was running around making a mess of things, and Yor was chasing after her, shouting, “Miss Anya, please get back here!”
Loid sighed and closed the door. Neither of them had noticed him yet. If Anya continued any longer, she’d get hurt. He was just about to interrupt when Yor stopped dead in her tracks. She ran towards the nearest wall, bounced off it, and grabbed Anya while she was in the air, successfully landing with her safely in her arms. Loid’s mouth dropped all the way to the ground.
The girl was laughing uncontrollably, practically screaming, “Mama! You got me!”. Yor was going to respond when Loid cleared his throat. “Well, well. Looks like someone’s feeling better.”
Yor shrieked and almost dropped Anya as she stood up. She raced over and babbled, “Oh, my gosh, when did you get here? Oh my God, you saw that?? Loid, I swear I can explain-”
He put his hand on her shoulder, effectively making her freeze and go quiet. Anya was still giggling a bit, but as he looked at her, he could tell she was delirious. She reached for him, and he obliged. He knew Yor had some hidden abilities she didn’t like to talk about, but she surprised him more every time. Once Anya was settled comfortably in his arms, she immediately dozed off. Typical.
Yor was wringing her hands together, and Loid knew if he didn’t act soon, she would run off. He looked around at the mess, then back at her, and smiled. For the mission, Twilight. I need to reassure her for the mission. “Let me put her to bed.”
She sputtered, “Wha-? You’re not mad?”
“Of course not. Thank you for staying with her today.”
Yor blushed, “Oh, it was no trouble, really! Miss Anya is a good girl. I just did what any mother would do, really.”
For a moment, the words felt right. Then she realized what she had said and cursed herself. You’re not her mother, Yor. don’t get caught up in this pretend life. You know it, he knows it. What if he doesn’t even want you to call yourself her mother when you’re not in public? She rushed to correct herself, but Loid hummed.
“That’s true. I’m sure you’ve been running after her all day. You can shower while I put her to bed. I’ll be back soon.” He walked off, leaving her a little dazed as she stared at his back.
She bowed her head and smiled to herself, the warm feeling inside of her spreading. My gosh, Yor. Get it together! He’s just being nice. She shook her head and went to prepare for her shower.
Truth be told, Loid hadn’t meant to react like that. While he had noticed Yor’s extraordinary jump and was about to question her about it, he also noticed the exhaustion seeping from her. He could never deny she was dedicated to her role, or the fact that he couldn’t do this without her. He didn’t know how he knew what to say to calm her down, but he was just glad it seemed to be the right thing.
After he tucked Anya in, he got to work cleaning up around the house. He cooks, and Yor cleans. That’s their routine, but today hadn’t gone routinely at all. He was not above cleaning the house at all, especially after the day they’d had. Yor is obviously much better at it than he is, but he gets the job done.
Once the house was returned to its rightful order, he checked up on Anya. She was breathing a little heavily, but sleeping nonetheless. He knew he’d have to wake her up soon for dinner and medicine, but that could wait. Bond had been waiting patiently, and Yor was in her room. He had told her to rest up after her shower. She protested a little, but she eventually gave in after he assured her he had everything under control.
“Alright, Bond. It's just you and me. What do you want to do?” Bond barked and ran for his leash. Loid followed and told him, “Okay, ok. But just for a few minutes. You know Anya’s not feeling well.” Bond huffed but didn’t resist when Loid put the leash around his neck.
Their walk was pretty uneventful. A short little trip around the block to stimulate Bond and give Loid some downtime. Since he had left work so early, he’d finished all his house chores, and the sun hadn’t even set yet. Maybe coming home early every once in a while wouldn’t be so bad… What the hell am I thinking? Coming home early disrupts the mission. Why would I make this a habit? It’s not productive at all.
They had just made it up the front steps when Loid realized someone was shouting. He rushed up the indoor steps with Bond to see their front door flung wide open and instantly ran inside.
Yor was standing in the middle of the room cradling Anya close to her chest. She was surrounded by a few men, but she didn’t look scared at all. In fact, the gleam in her eyes was murderous. One man tried to reach for Anya, and Yor landed a kick to his chest so powerful he flew several feet backwards. She looked… beautiful. Loid was in a daze, mesmerized at the ease in which she took down the assailant. The sound of the man hitting the ground snapped him into action, and he jumped in next to her, watching her back. He felt her stiffen at first, but she quickly relaxed. Bond ran up to them, and Yor set Anya down on his back. She whistled, signaling him to run away.
Yor looked at Loid. They nodded to each other and simultaneously started fighting off their attackers. They made quick work of them, leaving a pile of bodies stacked high in their living room. Both of them were breathing heavily, but it was Yor who broke the silence. “This reminds me of our first date.”
Loid was so surprised, he let out a laugh. Yor started laughing, too, and soon, they were leaning against each other for support. What a day they had had. The laughter was dying down when the gravity of the situation hit them both. They clearly had a lot to talk about. As she was wiping down her dress, Yor gasped. “Oh, my God! Where is Anya?!”
With no regard for the bodies, they rushed out of the apartment, but they didn’t have to go too far. Bond was waiting for them at the dog park. He was curled protectively around the little girl as she slept, and the parents breathed a huge sigh of relief. Loid picked Anya up, and Yor whistled so he would come to her side.
While they were making their way home, Loid asked, “When did you teach him that?”
“Hm? Oh, you know. Here and there.” She fiddled with her hairband, which Loid had come to learn meant that she was hiding something. Clearly, he was not the only one good at keeping secrets.
They were just coming up the steps when Loid realized they were going to have to deal with the mess inside. He was already dividing the tasks in his head, but as soon as they opened the door, he saw it wasn’t necessary. It was as if they’d never left- that morning. There were no bodies. No hole in the wall where they’d both hit a man at the same time. Not even a single chair out of place.
This one was going to be a little hard to explain…
Loid awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “I guess I’ll get started on dinner?”
Yor, who was also on edge, jumped into action. “Yes, that sounds great! I’ll get Miss Anya ready to eat. Please let me know if you need anything!”
“Mm. Of course.”
Loid had noticed the pot of stew on the stove earlier, but now it was nowhere to be seen. Damn, did WISE have to be that thorough when they were cleaning?! Now I have to start from scratch. Speaking of scratch, who the hell were those people? And why were they after Yor and Anya? Could it have been a plot against me? How did they figure out where I live and who I am? He had been walking around the kitchen grabbing things as he mused, his hands absentmindedly putting them together. By the time he had realized, he’d had a pretty solid meal of rice and salmon going. At least it wasn’t another soup. Anya was probably sick of soup by now, and she needed to eat. While the food was cooking, he set the table for his little family. Your pretend family, Twilight. Don’t forget.
Right. This is all for the mission. Peace between the East and the West. He is not actually a father. Not actually a husband. Anya and Yor won’t see him when all of this is over. For the second time, he finds himself wondering what life would be like if this were his new normal. Coming home to a wife and daughter and not having to hide behind several masks. Cooking for them, walking with them, and being able to hold them for real, not to keep his cover. That thought stopped him dead in his tracks. You’re compromised, Twilight. Abandon mission. Let somebody else take care of this, it’s not safe anymore. You will get them killed.
He glanced at Anya’s door. He heard quiet shuffling, but they’d be out soon. He started walking towards his door. If I leave now, I can just say I needed to buy something for dinner. Then I can say I got called into work. That will give me enough time to come up with something and have the agency make arrangements. Anya will go to a good home, and Yor will be taken care of-
Loid made it just past Anya’s door before it slammed open and a whirlwind of pink hair went flying by. She looked around before finding her target. She immediately latched herself onto his legs and started screaming. Yor came running out two seconds later, panicked. “Miss Anya! Why are you running?! We’re getting ready for dinner!”
The girl simply gripped onto her father harder, digging her face into his pants leg. Loid blinked himself out of his stupor and reached down to pick her up. She thought he was going to pry her off him, so she resisted until she registered what he was trying to do. When he was able to get a good hold of her, he lifted her up to face him. “Anya, what’s gotten into you?”
She looked at him with teary eyes and sniffled. Her voice had barely healed from being sick, and she’d just screamed her head off, so she croaked. “Papa… don’t leave me. Please?” Alarm bells went off in his head. He stilled. He knew Anya was an intuitive girl, but this was not intuition. There’s no way in hell I said that out loud. And even if I did, certainly not loud enough for her to hear it. And suddenly, every strange thing that had happened since he adopted Anya started to make sense. Every time she knew more than she was supposed to. Every time he had narrowly missed danger because she had “coincidentally” stopped or redirected him. Every time he had wondered how she was so bad at school but had managed to pass his first test. All this time and I didn’t see what was right in front of me… so much for being the world’s best spy. Focus! Yor is standing right there. Anya may know, but Yor doesn’t have to. There’s still time to save this. Wait, can she read my thoughts right now?? He looked down at the half delirious child in his arms and realized she was staring as intently as she could at him.
Unfortunately for her, she could barely keep up with his whirlwind thoughts when she was at her best. While sick, trying to listen in made her head hurt. She put her hand up to her head and whispered, “Papa. Stop thinking so hard. It’s too much.”
He had been thinking about what to say when Yor, who had been watching the whole thing, stepped forward with a giggle. “Oh, my! I think we need to get this little one some food and send her off to bed.” Loid, immensely grateful for the redirection, agreed. He reached the table and moved to set her down, but she started whining. “Nooo. If you let me go, you’re gonna leave me.” Christ, Loid would make sure she never got sick again. Yor was looking at them fondly, no doubt attributing this mess to the girl’s delirium. “Miss Anya, I promise your dad is not going to leave you. Why don’t you come sit with me?” She held out her arms for her, and Anya looked back and forth between her parents. She did not look like she believed her, but she did love being carried by Mama. Besides, she was certain Mama would not let Papa just leave. Satisfied with her little debate, she accepted the switch.
Mama stroked her hair just like she had this morning, and it took everything in Anya not to yawn. She needed to keep an eye on her papa so he couldn’t leave. She could keep his secret! She had done so good at keeping everyone’s secrets. Papa didn’t have to leave!
Loid served the food and set it down on the table. “Alright, Anya. Can you sit on your own now so Yor can eat in peace?”
The girl looked positively affronted, but she didn’t want to be a nuisance to her mother. She looked up at her, and was about to get off, when she heard her thoughts. Oh. Should I tell him I don’t really mind? Or is that getting in the way of his parenting? It’s just… I rarely get to hold Anya like this.
Anya, stubborn as she was, turned to her papa. “Mama doesn’t mind! Do you, Mama?”
Yor blinked in surprise. She didn’t know how to answer that, so she responded honestly. After all, she had just been given permission. “No. I don’t mind. It’s alright, Loid.”
Loid pinched his nose in reply and waved them off. Anya tried to read his thoughts, but his mind was filled with the mumbo jumbo that made her head spin. Mama positioned her to where they could both sit and eat comfortably, and that filled Anya’s little heart with a special kind of warmth.
He was mentally blocking her on purpose, obviously. He’d never been in this situation before. Of course, he’d heard rumors about experiments like that, but he never imagined they’d be successful, much less that he would adopt one of said experiment’s subjects. The more he thought about it, the more concerned he became. Anya is clearly a child. Was it painful? Were the scientists cruel? Why did they abandon her? Do they even know where she is? His personal mission to make sure children can live in a world without tears was ringing in his ears. He could not deny it anymore: he cared about Anya. He would not be able to part with her. Right there, he made a promise to himself that he would not let anyone come in between their family. Anyone.
Yor was worried that she had overstepped. Loid had barely spoken, leaving her and Anya to their own devices. She’d gone and ruined everything. Her anxiety must have started to come through because the girl patted her arm and whispered. “Don’t worry, Mama. He’s not mad at us.”
Yor had known since the beginning that Anya was scarily good at reading people, better than any child her age is supposed to be, but that was suspiciously accurate. “Huh?!“
Anya flinched and stuttered, “Uh, I mean! Don’t worry! I just know.” She then turned back to her plate and started stuffing her mouth with her food. “Wow, Papa, this is so good!”
That got Loid to look at her, and he just sighed. “Slow down, Anya, or you’ll-” As he spoke, Anya started coughing violently. Yor panicked and pat her back a little bit too hard, but the food fell out of her mouth. “-choke…”
“Geez, Mama, I know you’re an ass.. assass.. assassin! But you don’t have to hit me so hard.”
The entire room froze. Yor laughed nervously, but Loid felt like he’d just had the breath stolen from his lungs. Anya can read minds. She would not say something like that unless she believed it to be true. Here he was, making promises to protect their family, when there was a threat under his nose all along. Damn, Twilight, family life has made you soft. What’s your next move?
Anya quickly tried to rectify her mistake. She was going to play it off as a joke like Mama, but her father’s thoughts worried her. He knew she was telling the truth, and now she had put Mama in danger. However, before she could say anything, she was hoisted into the air, and the world went upside down as Yor flipped them off the table, narrowly avoiding the swift kick Loid had sent her. She landed gracefully, as always, but her eyes glinted dangerously as she looked at her husband. The grip she had on Anya was firm, but never harmful. “Why.. would you try and kick me when I’m holding Anya?”
“I wasn’t going to hit her.”
“What’s this about?”
“I should be asking you that question. What is your mission?”
At this point, Loid’s mind was working overtime retracing their history. Had it all been a trap? Was she here to finally put an end to Twilight?
Yor never imagined her cover would be blown like this. How did Anya even figure that out? How long had she known? Where did Loid learn how to fight like that?
As for Anya, her anxiety was burning her alive from the inside. She had messed up so badly. She loved her parents, and she knew they were quite fond of each other, but her stupid mistake had ruined everything. They both thought the other was the real threat. If she survived this, she was never going to get sick again! “Wait! It’s not like that!”
But they were both too into their secret identities to hear her. Yor adjusted her stance to account for Anya’s weight, adopting a mostly defensive one. She did not want to fight with Anya in her arms. Loid planted his feet while he planned his next move. Obviously, he wasn’t going to hurt Anya. She was innocent, and he had just come to terms with the fact that he loved her. He was even looking forward to getting closer to Yor. He would never admit it, but he was actually… hurt. He remembered their fake fight to save “Princess Anya”. Yor clearly had great reflexes and defense skills. This was not going to be as easy as he had hoped.
To be honest, Yor knew how strange it was for her to hold Anya. She knew it looked as if she was holding the girl hostage, but she had grabbed her on instinct. Now she didn’t want to let her go because she knew that if she did, this life of hers would really be over, and she wasn’t ready for that. She wanted to be Anya’s mom forever, even if it wasn’t real.
Anya was still pleading with them to stop.
Loid lunged, and with inhuman strength, Yor dropped down on one arm to side sweep kick him, holding Anya with the other. Her kick landed, and he hit the wall- the wall that had just been freshly patched up. Bond heard the commotion and came running over. Anya was fully crying at this point, snot running all the way down her nose. Yor was about to go on the offensive when Anya wailed, “B-b-bond! Why didn’t you tell me this was going to happen?!”
Both adults stopped and looked at her. Loid had had just about enough. First, he found out his (not really) adopted daughter was a telepath. Then, he found out his (fake) wife was an assassin, and now he’s finding out the dog can talk?! He was starting to think he was the sick one and this was a fever dream.
“Anya, what are you talking about?”
Yor, sensing Loid’s energy shift, relaxed a little, but not all the way. It was just enough for Anya to wriggle out of her arms and run to Loid. He picked her up immediately. She was crying so hard she couldn’t breathe. Loid rubbed her back until she calmed down enough, reducing her sobs to little hiccups. Neither adult knew what to do because this had never happened to them before.
“It’s all my fault! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! I just wanted a family. I didn’t mean to trick you, Papa. Or you, Mama. Please believe me. I don’t like it when you guys fight.”
Yor and Loid looked at each other guiltily. They had never seen her so upset, and it was all because of them. Yor took a hesitant step towards them, and although Loid stepped back at first, he didn’t shrink back when she tried again.
“Anya… I’m sorry you had to see that. And I’m sorry we put you in the middle of it. Our problems are our own. I promise it won’t happen again. I’ll get my things and go.”
Anya was getting worked up again. “No! I don’t want you to go! Then Papa will leave me, too, and I’ll have to go back to the orphanage.”
Yor was walking away, but what Anya had said made her turn around in shock. “The orphanage?!”
Loid winced. Right… she doesn’t know about that yet. He had never seen Yor look so angry, and if he wasn’t holding Anya, he would’ve held his arms up. Before Yor could assume a terrible story, Loid spoke. “I think we all have some secrets we need to share.”
Every nerve ending in their bodies was on fire. Talking? About their secrets? This is definitely a dream. Loid motioned towards their table that had, thankfully, been spared too much damage. He felt it would be easier to have some type of barrier between them. He sat on one side, Yor on the other, and Anya in between them at the end of the table. He decided to start.
“I know we have all had quite the day. First of all, I’d like to say I didn’t plan for any of this to happen. I still don’t fully know what’s happening. This very conversation goes against all of my training. What I do know is that I’m tired of pretending. I don’t know if I can share the full truth yet, Yor, and maybe I never will, but I’m sorry I lied to you. My name is not actually Loid Forger. I don’t really use my real name, so I’m not going to share it, but you can still call me Loid if you’d like. I work for an agency from the West, and my mission is to maintain peace. Anya is not actually my daughter. I adopted her from an orphanage to help my cover. And, well. You know most of the rest. I’ve already made up my mind about where to go from here. It’s up to you. All I ask is that you hear Anya out when it’s her turn.”
Yor sat in stunned silence for a few moments. Not a single explanation she had thought up in her head amounted to this one. A spy from the West? Peace? I didn’t know they did that. Wow, nice job, Yor. You married A SPY to avoid suspicions of being one. It’s always something, isn’t it? Wait, what does he mean about hearing Anya out? Oh, they’re both looking at me. I should probably say something.
She cleared her throat and started slowly, “My name is Yor Briar. I do work as a civil servant, but I also have a second job. I’ve had this job ever since I was young so I could take care of my brother and me.” Then, she laughs drily. “It’s not glorious, but it paid the bills. I’m an assassin. I work for an agency that works in the shadows. I also work for peace. To keep this country safe. Funnily enough, I agreed to be your wife to avoid suspicions of being a spy. Guess I couldn’t escape it if I tried.”
Anya’s eyes were shining. Even though it was gory, she loved hearing about Mama’s job. She whispered, “Mama is so cool!”
Unwillingly, Loid’s eye twitched.
Yor played with her hair out of anxiety and motioned for Anya to go. This was the weirdest thing she’s ever done. She has never felt so exposed in her life. She had no idea it was about to get weirder.
Anya’s throat had overworked itself today, and she was so tired, but this was the moment she’d been waiting for! She was also tired of hiding everyone’s secrets plus her own. She drank the water she had abandoned on the table before speaking. She had been thrown around today a little more than she would have liked, so it took her a second to get her thoughts in order.
“Mama… Papa… I don’t remember much about my life before the orphanage. I remember a little bit about my real mom, and I remember a little bit about the scientists, but thassit. I can read people’s minds. I know Papa believes me because he just figured it out, but I want you to believe me, too, Mama. That's why I act the way I act. That’s how I know some things you’ve never said out loud. And that’s how I know your secret ident- identities. Papa was always thinking about the mission. I don’t wanna just be a mission. So I didn’t say anything. And you protect me. I had a Mama and a Papa, and that’s all I ever wanted. I’m sorry.” She burst into tears at the end, and Loid and Yor both automatically reached for her. There was no denying they were both in too deep. But they found themselves thinking if they were both off the deep end, maybe that wasn’t so bad.
Yor spoke. “I don’t really know where to go from here… but I'd like to figure it out together, if you’ll have me.”
The girl whipped her head up. She looked from her mother to her father, then back to her mother. Was this actually happening? She was already planning how to run away with Bond if she had to, and she might not need to?! She vaguely registered the anxiety in Mama’s thoughts and the shock in Papa’s before she pounced on her mother. “Pleeeasee, Papa, please? I promise I’ll work harder on the mission!!”
Loid let out a surprised laugh. “I cannot believe I’m agreeing to this.” but Anya knew he was secretly pleased. She hid her face in Mama’s neck to hide her smile. This felt like such a dream. If it was, she never wanted to wake up. Speaking of dreams… she yawned, and both parents looked at her knowingly. Yor kissed her hair and gathered her up in her arms. Loid followed suit. They took turns getting her ready for bed. Well, as best they could. She was not very cooperative when sick and sleepy. By the time they’d reached her room, she was half dead to the world. She looked so cute in her pajamas. They nearly cooed at her, but not every barrier was broken, so they didn’t. Realistically, this shouldn’t be happening. They should be still fighting each other, both trying to protect their covers. For once in their lives, they found themselves living in the moment with no cares about the future. The old trust they’d had in each other was ruined, but they were building a new one, together. This time, with a better foundation.
They were tucking her in when she latched onto their arms with each of hers. She whimpered, “Will you please stay with me?”
Loid and Yor blinked at each other. They had never slept in the same bed before. They weren’t actually married. They didn’t do that real family stuff. But that was before. Even if they were both convinced the other person wanted nothing to do with the other, they would both do anything for Anya, and they knew it. With little resistance, they lay on either side of her. Once safely cocooned in between her parents, the little girl sighed contentedly, dozing off to sleep. Yor and Loid had a lot to talk about, but those things could wait. Right now, they had their daughter between them, and a warm house around them. They made eye contact over her head, and Loid looked away first, but not before he felt his ears turn bright red.
This means nothing, Twilight. You don’t feel anything for her, and she doesn’t feel anything for you. You’ve just both made the craziest decision of your lives together, that’s all.
Calm down, Yor! God, this is crazy. What am I gonna do? Do I talk to someone? Did I just make a huge mistake? Should I have run? No… I love my family. I couldn’t have run even if I tried.
Bond wandered in and jumped on the bed, leaving them breathless from the impact. “Oof! Bond, we may need to put you on a diet.” He huffed and laid his head down.
Anya, who had been lightly snoring, sat up and said, “Oh! And Bond can see the future!” She promptly laid back down and went back to sleep, snoring deeper than before.
Both parents yelled, “WHAT?!”