Normal is a very strange word. What is normal? Vash used to think he knew, but now he wasn't so sure. Everything had seemed so far from normal since the night Lili disappeared so long ago, and it hadn't really ever gone back. Sometimes he would wake up in the morning and expect to find her in the kitchen making breakfast, but she was never there. The house always felt so empty and quiet without her cheerful laughter or quiet inquisitions. It was like no one lived there at all.
Nothing ever felt normal anymore. Waking up to an empty house was strange. Cooking food for one person was strange. The bluish glow that came from the garden behind the house was strange. The odd tinkling noises he thought he heard from the garden was strange. Werewolves having weddings in the village church was strange. The fact that it had been two years since the new treaty was agreed upon was strange.
Vash woke up some mornings not knowing what to do. On those days, he would walk through the forest hoping he would see her. Even just a small glimpse of her light gold fur between the bushes would be enough. He never went as far as the cave that he knew was hidden somewhere deep in the southern part of the forest. It would take two days of walking, and he knew he wouldn't exactly be welcome there. His unexpected visit would be like someone walking into his house without bothering to ask first. He had been invited plenty of times, but Vash never accepted. It would be admitting something that he never wanted to admit.
He didn't empty out her room either. He left it exactly the way it was. Even when the smell of flowers that was distinctly hers disappeared, he still didn't bother to move anything. Sometimes he opened the window make it feel lived in, but that didn't change the fact that no one had lived there for years. Years. He could never believe it had been years. Each day felt kind of the same.
There was one day every week that Vash actually looked forward to, and today was that day. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he always made sure that the house was looking nice and that there was plenty of food in the pantry. He didn't want her to worry that he wasn't taking care of himself. She may have had new responsibilities of her own, but she still found time to worry about him. It seemed that some things just never change. The thought brought a very small smile to Vash's face. The world may have been falling apart around her, but she still worried her little self over everyone else's problems.
Vash carefully set a vase full of flowers from the garden on the dining room table. He didn't enjoy gardening as much as she did, but he did it for her sake. It was worth spending long hours on his knees pulling stubborn weeds just to see the joyful smile on her face when she spent a few moments in that garden. Sometimes he thought he saw her talking to the air, but it must have been his imagination. Honestly, he wouldn't care if she was talking to nothing or dancing around wearing nothing but her underwear. The thing that mattered most was that she was there at all.
One of the flowers seemed out of place, so he tried to fix it the best that he could. His face set into a scowl as the flower continued to be stubborn. He never had a knack for that kind of thing, but he wasn't about to give up yet. The struggle continued for another minute before he decided to pull the whole flower out and forget about it. His suddenly foul mood had nothing to do with the flower really. It was possible that she wouldn't come at all. There were times in the past where she had been too busy with other things to be able to come that week, and before that there had been a few months where she hadn't visited at all. It wasn't her fault necessarily, but it had made Vash anxious. Now he was always nervous that she might not show up on the one day that she could.
He went over his mental checklist again. The garden was weeded, the house was cleaned, there was food in the pantry, and flowers on the table. Vash had even gotten a few sweets this week for some other visitors that would be coming. That had been a difficult one to explain. He didn't want people to think he liked to waste money on frivolous things like candy, but he couldn't help himself. There wasn't any candy in the forest after all.
All this waiting around was starting to make Vash uneasy, so he stepped out of the house for some fresh air. Maybe a quick stroll was just the thing to take his mind off his anxieties. Out of habit, he turned toward the south gate and began to walk. His pace was usually on the brisk side, so he had to make a conscious effort to control every step to ensure that this walk was actually a walk and not an agitated march. The sky was clear, and a refreshing breeze tousled Vash's chin length hair. He took a deep breath that seemed to release every tension from his body. This was exactly what he needed.
He was going to turn back once he got to the south gate, but something caught his eye. Someone was walking toward Schattenwald on the path that led from the forest. It was too soon to know who it was, but Vash hoped. He hoped with every fiber of his being that it was her. If any of the other villagers knew how much he wished for it to be her, they would have thought he was crazy. But he didn't care. Was it so wrong for him to want some small piece of normality back? The figure grew closer, and he realized that it wasn't one person but three.
To Vash, each moment felt like an entire day. After one day passed, he thought he could see the waving folds of a pink dress. After two, he thought he could see blonde hair. After three, four, five days, he saw bright green eyes and a smile that lit up his world.
Lili hadn't changed much in two years. She was still short and physically unintimidating. Her voice was like the wind softly rustling the trees, and she loved to worry about other people. She was still very much the little sister she had always been. Vash's world seemed to revolve around her just as many other worlds did, including the two that were with her. The two playful bundles of gold fur were the only exceptions to the 'human forms only in the village' rule. It was uncanny how much they looked like miniatures of their parents.
She stopped just out of earshot and looked Vash over with the careful eyes that only a mother with small children has. He knew that she was evaluating whether he had been eating right and getting enough sleep. She seemed satisfied enough with what she saw and quickly closed the space between them. This was always Vash's favorite part. He loved being able to hold her closely and pretend like he never had to let go. This may not have been the life he would have chosen for her, but it was the life she was happy in and he couldn't deny her that. The little ones wagged their tails and barked happily.
"Welcome home," Vash whispered.
Hey everyone :) Thank you so much for reading this story and sticking it through to the end. I'm sorry if the end maybe wasn't what everyone was looking for, but it's just the way I felt the story going and had to finish it like that. I also have to apologize because I probably won't be posting much after this. I'm in college now and it keeps me pretty busy :/ That being said, I'm taking a break from publishing now to focus on school, but that doesn't mean I won't be writing whenever I can squeeze it in. Hopefully I'll have a bunch of new stuff for you once the school year is over :) Thanks for understanding and for all the support I get from each of you. You're all awesome!