Title: Happiness

Author: me! (Flowerfluffy)

Rating: G

Warnings: If you cannot read, then DON´T READ THIS!

I don't own the characters; all the credits go to people with difficult Japanese names :3

Summary: Just a little peek into the lives of Sven and Eve as loving father and daughter. Series of oneshots surrounding Sven and Eve. Open for suggestions :)

Ooooh, baby! Another oneshot! I'm on FIRE! ... Every once or twice a year apparantly...
I'm really very sorry, peeps, but I don't seem to be able to squeeze out stories at a regular base :( But I do like writing a lot, so it's not something I'm going to give up on. It's just that I won't make you any promises about updates, so that way you can always be pleasantly surprised instead of aggravatingly disappointed. Yeah... I really don't know which verbs and adverbs go together, so please forgive me for that :3 Enjoy!

Happiness

Eve looked out of her window. Love, huh. She sighed. That was the first time she has ever used that sentence. She never thought that she was allowed to love or to be loved after all the horrible things she'd done in the past. After all those lives she'd taken. Was she even allowed to be this happy with these loving and caring (and when it comes to Train, mostly annoying) people around her? Eve closed her eyes and smiled. This used to be an endless debate with herself and she would always side with her guilt and shame. She knew better now, but only with Sven's help. Whenever her doubts would come up and start pulling her into the darkness again, she would only have to remember that one time Sven came to her rescue… again.

It was about a year after the defeat of the Apostles of the Stars. Sven, Train and Eve had finally saved up enough money to buy a nice hideout mansion near a good school for Eve to attend during the times when there weren't many criminals to catch. Sven strived for these periods to be as short as possible, as it would prevent Train from doing stupid times in the meantime. Like practicing his shooting or practicing his fighting skills, during which Train would inevitably cause a lot of 'unexpected' damage, which in return would cause a serious beating by the good graces of Sven.

During these somehow oddly peaceful times and when left alone with more room for her thoughts to wander, the impact of what had happened in the past started to hit Eve more and more over time. Eventually, Eve found herself struggling with the controversy she thought she was living in. How could she be happy now when she was the one who caused so much misery when she was with Torneo? She was the killer in that house and she had to kill everyone. She tore those people away from their lives so mercilessly, denying them the hopes, dreams and ambitions they had. Even if those hopes, dreams and ambitions were bad or disputable, did she have the right to play God and erase them?

It might have been years ago, but the pain, the guilt, the anger and the helplessness evoked by the memories of her sins had not faded away. Did she, who was merely a killing machine for so many years, deserve to be happy? With this question looming over her head, her accusations accumulated into a despairing and guilt-ridden Eve. She put up a strong front and went on living her life, but the agony and resentment remained. This inner debate only worsened with time and caused Eve many sleepless nights.

One night, when Even was again unable to sleep, she sat up in her bed and put her arms around her legs. Her chin resting on her knees. Eve's thoughts kept raging through her head, accusing her of living a lie as a hypocrite of the worst kind. Numbed by the repetitiveness of this talk with herself, she stared outside her window at the dark sky and the absent stars, which did nothing to light up her room. At times like these when her life and existence felt so dark, Eve would leave her surroundings in a similar state. Unfazed, Eve heard her bedroom door open and dim light came into her room through the small opening of the door.

"Eve."

Hearing his voice soothed her. It always had. Whenever it was dark, he brought the light. Whenever she was in doubt, he would clarify. Sven, her savior. He really was her savior. What would've happened if he hadn't seen her that day she went after Train? Would she have become that ultimate killer weapon she was bred to be? Killing, no, massacring thousands or even millions of innocent people? Thank goodness he found her. Thank goodness he saved her. This confusing mix of shame, guilt and gratefulness overtook her and prevented her from looking at Sven.

Sven walked up to Eve and sat next to her. He had always known that this darkness was luring her in and these were the times when she needed him most. Sven lowered his head and tried to catch Eve's attention.

"Eve." Sven whispered again. This time more demanding.

"Yes…" Eve softly let out after a little while.

"You didn't know what you were doing at the time. You had no one to give you a choice and no one to guide you into the right path. Your guilt may always want to tell you that you are a bad person, but this guilt alone is already proof enough that you're not. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Eve understood it perfectly, because those reasons were the exact same reasons she would use to reassure herself. But maybe she needed to hear them from someone other than herself in order to believe them.

"But I killed them, I killed them nonetheless. I'm a monster…" Eve softly whispered, hiding her head in her arms in shame.

"You're not a monster, Eve. You saved as many people as you could after you decided that you wanted to live your own life. Even now, you have devoted your life as a sweeper to keeping the world safe from harm."

This talk almost seemed as old as time, seen the number of times she had already discussed it with herself. And even then, when she could give herself a remotely comforting answer, it would be after countless times of blaming herself first. But Sven never failed to give her the right answers on the first try. Why?

Eve looked up to look Sven in the eyes.

"Why do you always have the right answers, Sven?"

He smiled.

"Because I know you."

And that simple truth caught her off guard. Sven knew her?

Eve slowly raised her head. She knew she wasn't alone after Sven and Train rescued her and she had always felt that they were a team, but this was beyond that. Rather than the girl they picked up and took along on their sweeping missions, she was the girl who had become a part of this… family.

She had a family.

Silence spread in the room as the realizations dawned in on her. With her mouth slightly agape, she stared off into space.

She had a family.

People knew her.

She was allowed to be happy.

Sven looked at her and saw her doubts and fears slowly fade away. He smiled again and patted her on her head. She was still frozen to the spot, but he knew she would be able to sleep now. He stood up and made his way to the door.

"Sven?"

Sven turned around.

"Yes, Eve?"

"Are we a family?"

Eve looked at him with eyes brimming with hope.

"Yes, we are."

And with that, one of the most honest and heartfelt smiles Sven had ever seen appeared on Eve's face. Eve didn't cry often, but she cried tears of happiness that night. After being so blinded by people around her and her own guilt and shame, she had again been rescued from her darkness.

From that moment, Eve clearly remembered that she started to see the people around her as a family. Train was her annoying (very, VERY annoying, headache-inducing, frown-provoking and competitiveness- arousing) big brother, Rinslet was her doting big sister and Sven…

Sven was her father.

Sven had always looked out for Eve and she was always his first priority. Even if he had to sacrifice himself for her sake, he would do it. Every definition of a father applied to him. Of course, Eve didn't know how Sven would react to her altered view of him, so she decided to keep her sentiments a bit hidden.

It was only until that fateful encounter with her teacher at the school gates that Eve showed Sven that her view of him had changed. With her heart filled with hope, Eve made a bold decision and openly acknowledged Sven to be her father and called him dad for the first time. After she ran to her classroom in all her excitement, Eve had the courage to look outside to see Sven's belated reaction (ever since he only stood there motionless after it all happened). Sadly enough, she didn't see Sven around anymore and Eve quietly wondered whether the shock was a bit too much for him to handle. Though she would be surprised if that were the case, knowing that Train had given Sven enough surprises with his bills concerning his insatiable appetite in food, destroying things and waste of bullets.

Or maybe… he just didn't like this change at all and simply wanted to get out of this awkward situation as soon as possible…

Luckily, Eve didn't have to question his regard for too long. Because after Eve got home from school, a big cake and a big smile from Sven awaited her. At that moment, when they looked each other in the eye, they both knew that they now had what they unconsciously always wanted to have.

A happy family.

And now, a few months later, those unspoken words were also no longer left unspoken and Eve could not be more grateful for all the changes that turned the tide in her life.

Eve has found her happiness.

Well, in response to some of the comments (yes, I'm looking at you who wrote me a comment) (... and yes, I'll high-five you for it, because it's one of my biggest sources of motivation *wink wink nudge nudge*) and also to have some sort of sequel to the previous chapter (which I think is a milestone in their relationship), I wrote this chapter. I think it can indeed be a little strange to see Eve call Sven 'dad' or to have this development in their relationship, but in my opinion and in my storyline: I want them to have this. Growing up without role models or parents is pretty hard and now I speak from personal experience. So to actually have someone around who truly cares for you, who will always be there for you, who will educate you on the things that matter and who can be a person that you want to be like: can that person not be called your parent? Again, I can understand why it feels a bit odd to have Eve call Sven 'dad' -truth be told, even I was a bit uneasy with it at the beginning- so I hope my perspective explains a bit why I did it.

Oh, and in response to another comment: this story is completed, because it's not a story that develops itself. The situation in general remains the same with Sven, Train and Eve just living a happy-home life, but with little peeks at their lives at different times and in different situations. Furthermore, the whole plot of the story already came together in the first oneshot: Eve is Sven's daughter and they do cutesy stuff together ^^ And yaaay for the first suggestion! I'll definitely take it into account, because the idea of Sven going crazy at the thought of Eve having a boyfriend is just to die for x3!

Also, a pat on the shoulder for the peeps who understood the major reference at the end of this oneshot ;) Black cat all the way!

Again: your comments, favorites and everything of the sort make me a very happy me! And feedback and suggestions are very welcome too!

Byaa~~

Hunniebunniezzz & Luuuvv ~~ Flowerfluffy ~~