DMC: Abayo Okaeri, Farewell return
Mission 2: Reminisce Or Shitsunen
"Nido to modorenai ano koro mo bokutachi wa waratteita..."
"I can't return to that time ever again when we were laughing..."
Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry, Capcom does. If I did Vergil would have a bigger role. Also don't own Redemption by Gackt, or Birdcage.
Authors Note: Rated for Violence, Language, and other not for kiddies content
Summary: When Dante and Vergil discover a wolf demon as children and befriend her can she bring the two siblings together after the tragedy of losing their parent as well as heal her own wounds? Read to find out.
Max laughed as the two boys tickled her sides relentlessly. They'd lost a game of hide and seek so this was how they retaliated. The demon was in hysterics as her sides ached since they'd been doing it for several minutes now.
"Okay, okay.. you win!" She managed to gasp out causing the pair to stop. The twins grinned deviously at their victory as she leaned on her arms trying to calm down and catch her breath.
"Told ya Dante." Vergil said with a nod. The younger twin gave his brother that much. It had been Vergil's idea to use tickle torture and it seemed to work pretty well.
"Can we go get ice cream now?" Dante asked. The other two nodded and he ran back towards the house the other two following at a slower pace.
"Might wanna hurry Verg or Dante will eat it all." Max teased. Vergil seemed to think about this for several moments before he dashed off after his brother. This caused the wolf to laugh a bit as she walked up to the house to see everyone gathered on the porch. Taking a seat on the railing like she always did she took the small bowl of vanilla ice cream with caramel syrup that was handed to her and picked up a spoon watching the sunset as she lazily ate a few bites.
"Something about a sunset after a long day is quite soothing, don't you think?" Sparda mused. The other nodded in agreement.
"Yeah something like that." Max muttered with a sigh.
"What's wrong?" Vergil asked as he tugged on the hem of her shirt from where he sat. She smiled a bit and ruffled his hair earned a slight frown.
"Nothing Verg, nothing at all." She said as she went back to staring at then sunset. He didn't believe her, in fact none of them did. They'd all heard the lingering regret in her words. However no one decided to press the matter any further.
It was dark as she sat on the room staring at the clear sky with the full moon and the stars. Glancing over her shoulder at a noise she saw Sparda standing a few feet away grinning sheepishly.
"I've told you to be careful old man." She said teasingly as he made his way over to sit next to her. "You fall off this roof and Eva might yell at me this time." She added in a mock scolding tone.
"I am not old." He replied indignantly. "Besides she'd yell at me for bugging you." He added. Max nodded a bit knowing it was probably true. The wolf adored the human women, she was kind, gentle, beautiful, and a myrid of other things she didn't feel like listing. However she didn't really understand her.
"So why are you up here risking injury anyway?" She asked only mildly curious about the answer.
"I was wondering what was wrong earlier." He said getting straight to the point. She sighed and shook her head. She'd been hoping they would all forget it.
"I just miss home sometimes is all." She replied. "I miss everybody I guess." She shrugged. It didn't really matter now. The older demon chuckled a bit and wrapped an arm around her shoulders giving her a hug as they sat there watching the sky.
Max shook her head at the memory. That seemed like so long ago. Far longer then it had actually been. Standing and glancing at Devil May Cry she sighed softly.
"I'm sorry Dante." With that said she turned her back to the building and ran.
Dante sighed as he looked at the letter for the sixth or seventh time in the last half hour. He couldn't believe it. He'd found her again and she'd left. What hurt the most about it was that she had left because she couldn't be around him. The silver haired devil hunter shook his head and stuck the note in a drawer of the desk as Lady walked in.
"Hey, where's your wolf friend?" The brunette asked her bi colored eyes looking around the shop for any sign of the demon.
"She left." Dante said trying to act casual. "She had things to do so she took off. Not like it hasn't happened before." He waved dismissively as if the matter were nothing more then another typical thing at Devil May Cry. He was right though to a point Lady knew that much. Trish never stuck around long when the blonde did show, and she was consistently only stopping by to bother Dante with new jobs she didn't want to do. Something however seemed different about the way he was handling this, as if his reactions were more forced then the casual normal.
"You sure your okay Dante?" Lady asked her concern for the silver haired man obvious. He nodded slowly giving a smile.
"Yeah, yeah i'm fine. Don't worry about me Lady." He replied in his usual off hand manner.
"Alright.." She said unsure she should believe him but deciding to anyway. "I suppose your a big boy and you can take care of yourself." She mused. He nodded as if to confirm this.
"Of course. I'm fine. Now what did you want?" He asked almost impatiently.
"Just wanted to check up on you and your friend is all. Anyway i'm gonna go then. Stay outta trouble." She said waving slightly as she exited the shop. Dante nodded to himself as he leaned back in his chair further.
"It was a long time ago." He muttered as he thought about the time Max had spent with them. It hadn't been very long, only a few short years, though at the time it didn't feel that way. He remembered shortly after their father had disappeared and Max had become more prone to watching the twins cautiously. He'd once asked her about why she watched them and not their mom.
"Your mother is an adult and can take care of herself. Besides if something goes wrong I can hear her. You two get in more trouble." Had been her explaination. The twins had begun causing a considerable amount less trouble after this and left the wolf demon curious.
"So we can help you protect mom better." Vergil had said. "We don't want something bad to happen because your helping us." Max had laughed and given each twin a hug before settling down to read a book for the night like she always did. A few demons had begun to appear and she seemed to have no trouble with them at all. She was never gone for more then a half hour prowling around the house and the immediate area. Afterwards she always returned and the twins could hear muttered curses as she washed the blood away. Max never complained out loud about the fighting or the injuries she occasionally came back with. She would talk with their mother as the other tended to the injuries and she would play games with the boys when there were no threats around. Often things like board games and puzzle which Vergil seemed to excell at. Dante often liked when they would play things like hide and seek, or race outside when it was deemed safe enough and the weather permitted. Summer came quickly one year and the trio sat outside eating sundaes as they relaxed after a particularly exhausting game of hide and seek.
"Your both getting faster and very much stronger." She said absently. "Won't be long til you'll be able to protect your mother without my help." Both boys shook their heads vigorously.
"No way Max! Your way strong!" Dante said enthusiastically. Vergil nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, your our friend we'll always need your help." The older twin said. The demon girl smiled and hugged the two boys before letting them finish their treats. After that they'd relaxed until it had begun to get dark and they'd gone inside for the night.
"Thank you for your help Mackenzie." Eva said as the two eavesdropped on a conversation the two women were having one morning a few days later.
"It's no problem at all miss Eva. It was a request of the lord Sparda that I watch over the three of you when he left. You've been very kinda to me until now so I see no reason to not honor that request." Max replied with a slight laugh.
"Please Mackenzie no need to be so formal." Eva said as they heard the sounds of tea cups being set down.
"Quite sorry, it's the way I was brought up as a child." Max stated in an apologetic tone.
"It's alright just saying." Eva said not seeming to mind. "I meant to ask. How old are you my dear? You don't look more then fifteen." This seemed to make the demon girl laugh a bit.
"Twice that miss. As i'm sure you know demons almost never look their age." She said with a slight grin. The human women seemed to agree and the boys heard the sounds of chairs scrapping against the wood floor slightly.
"Very true. I believe it's time we made breakfast i'm sure the boys are hungry." Eva said as footsteps grew near the door and the twins scrambled away to the kitchen to await breakfast.
"You caught us pretty easily." Dante mused as he looked at the ceiling of the shop watching the fan swing precariously and wondering what the canine was doing currently.
Had Dante wandered outside he would have known. Max sighed as she looked at Devil May Cry from the room of a building not even a block away.
"Sorry Dante but this is the way it has to be." She said sadly as she watched him exit the shop ready for the first job of the day.
"Yasashii dake no kotoba nara ima no boku wa iyasenai."
"Your kind and gentle words can't heal me now."
And here's chapter two, one week later as I promised. Almost a total revamp from the original because I wanted something darker and not so happy this early. The second half was originally the first half but I like it better this way. Anyway hope ya enjoy.