Hello! I'm back with another fic, something slightly AU this time. This is dedicated to all the readers who've been visiting my stories and leaving wonderful reviews, you're the reason I keep on writing, thank you very much! So, this is still quite short, but I hope you like it.
She's not there. They are finally back, but she's nowhere in sight. He cannot mask his disappointment. Did she tire from waiting? It's been over a year since they parted ways after all. His heart constricts from the thought. They'd promised forever, but he'd been the one to leave her first.
They reach their destination and are soon enveloped by an assortment of people. He tries to keep his trademark smile in place, but it's hard to pretend to be cheerful when he meets the friends that stayed behind and his traveling companions' families, even his own family and best friend, knowing she hasn't come. From day one he's been dreaming of reuniting with her, of finally seeing again her honey colored eyes and that tiny, sincere smile of hers.
Suddenly two voices get everyone's attention.
"You should stay in bed."
"Shut up, I'm already late because of you, don't make me get angrier."
A few steps away, two figures appear, one human and one spirit, both he knows well. She's wearing a new dress, blue and longer than her favorite black one, and her hair is covered in her bandana, but more interesting that that is the bundle she's carrying, protectively pressingly it to her chest even as she argues with the spirit who should have passed to the other world. He's not sure who he is more surprised to see, Anna or Matamune.
As if sensing his stare, they both turn, their eyes landing straight on him. Anna stops walking, but the cat pushes her forward. Behind him, Manta does the same to him. In the end, he meets her in the middle. With everyone behind him watching silently, he feels the need to hide his eagerness to embrace her, for her sake, but his smile is the widest he's ever worn.
"I'm home," he says, hoping she hears all the things he doesn't, like "I missed you," "I'm glad to see you again" and "I want to stay by your side now."
"Welcome home," she returns. Her soft voice is premonition for what comes next. She carefully relaxes her hold on the bundle in her arms and offers it to him before adding, "from both of us."
He loses his breath as he realizes what he's seeing. She's handing him a baby, a tiny person with a face he's seen in his own photo albums. The only difference are a few stray strands of hair, which tell him this new person has Anna's blond hair instead of his own brown one.
He cannot keep away the tears as he takes his son in his arms, lifting him to appreciate his features. The baby wakes and opens his eyes, revealing them to be the exact same shade as Anna's. He's so beautiful and tiny as he babbles excitedly, extending his chubby hand to touch Yoh's face. The young father is almost afraid of hurting him if he hugs him tighter as he wants to.
"His name is Hana." Her voice gets him to look at her once more. She's wearing her beautiful smile openly, unwarded.
"Hana..." He tries the name in his tongue. He likes it. It has something to it, did it mean…? "Yoh and Anna?"
"Yes." Her answer is straight, almost solemn, but he thinks it's simply adorable. What a way to show her cute side.
"I love him." He does, he's known him for a minute but he already loves this little boy that is half Anna and half him, whose hands are pulling at his face in fascination. It makes him smile wider before turning to her and saying those words that he's kept to himself too many times to count, words she deserves for many things but mostly for the gift that is the boy he's carrying, "Thank you."
She doesn't reply, just steps forward and embraces him by the waist, burying her face in his chest. He rearranges himself so he can kiss the top of her head and embrace her too without dropping the baby. Hana laughs, patting Anna and Yoh's heads alternatively, and even though it's the opposite of the quiet they usually share, it just makes the moment perfect. He's with his love and their child, no matter all the questions that have to be made soon, at the moment, he couldn't ask for more.