The Road Back Home

Felix had left the Rock early that morning after visiting Kymin's grave and saying goodbye one last time. Summoning the Executioner, he rode the black and yellow creature in silence. Felix felt like the very life had been snatched away from him and all that was left was an empty shell. He was hoping that in the next three days he'd have a reason to exist. He was hoping that his two little girls would be there waiting for him. Hoping Serenity had told them all about him so he wouldn't be such a stranger. He was tempted to call, but he knew she'd be worried by his sorrow filled voice. He shook his head and decided against it. Besides, he wanted to surprise her.

Upon arriving at the Crested, Felix slid off of the Executioner and let him back into the scroll. He gave the guards a small nod and then hurried to Serenity's place. Despite the fact that he'd been gone for so long and had spent a great deal in jail, he'd made sure to pick up a few things from the Rock and on the way back. Felix was finally feeling better as he knocked on the door. His blue eyes were glowing bright, for he was sure he could hear the kids inside playing, or maybe he was just tired. He didn't know or care. He was just glad to be back.

Just as Felix heard, Kiara and Nora, who were just shy of four years old, were running around in the house playing. Kiara was roaring like a small monster as she chased after her sister. Serenity found it absolutely adorable. Since Dantes hadn't come around after that last time, she'd all but forgotten about him. When there was a knock on the door, Kiara stopped chasing her sister and laughed, running towards the door in a mock race with her mother. "I wanna get it!" she giggled. When she got to the door, Kiara quickly called out "Who iiiss ittt?" before her mom could open the door.

When Serenity did open the door, she was laughing a bit, but her face went all but blank and her eyes widened a bit as she saw who it was. "F-Felix?" After a brief moment, Serenity's eyes lit up, and for the first time in who knew how long, she immediately hugged him, a huge smile on her face. "You're home!" she exclaimed with a small laugh.

Nora was hurrying to get away from her sister. Her tiny legs carrying her up the stairs just as there was a knock on the door. She stopped and looked down at her sister who was racing for the door. Taking her time getting down the stairs, she skipped to the door, arriving a second after it was opened. When her mommy jumped some guy in the doorway, she squeezed her way outside to see who he was. Silver hair? Felix? Wasn't that what her daddy's hair color was? Wasn't Felix his name? And did he mommy say he was home. There was only one way to find out if this was who she believed it to be. "Excuse me mister," Nora started. "Are you my daddy? Mommy says he has silver hair and I've only seen someone with your hair color, so I thought I should ask."

Felix was more than happy to have Serenity hug him. God he missed her and everything about her. That warm welcome was just what he needed. "I've missed you too," he said with a soft smile. He looked down to the blond haired girl who spoke to him. Felix's eyes shinned ten times brighter at her question. "The one and only," he said as he cautiously wrapped her in a hug. He was glad when she hugged him back with just as much joy as her mother had. He then looked into the house wondering where the other was. Serenity had told him twins.

Serenity couldn't begin to explain how good it was to see him again, she'd been so worried that something had gone wrong. At Nora's question, Serenity stepped away with a smile so the girls could see better, her smile widening a bit when Nora, the smart little one that she was, asked Felix if he was her dad.

Kiara also pushed past her mom at Nora's question, her blue eyes shining brightly when the guy said yes. "Yay, he's home, he's home!" She quickly went over with Nora and hugged Felix too, giggling. "I thought you were a fairytale!"

Nora gave a small squeal of happiness. She couldn't believe this either. They finally had a dad. "We should have a party with lots of food and cake," she said with a nod. She looked to her mother. "Dumplings, dumplings, we all scream for dumplings," she giggled. "Oh, dad, me and Kiara will show you our room," she said as she took Felix's hand and pulled him inside the house excitedly, trying to lead him upstairs.

Felix was glad when he saw the other twin. He wrapped her in a hug as well, glad to see his kids for the first time. Kiara and Nora. He'd have to learn how to tell them apart, but he figured it shouldn't be too hard, right? When Nora suddenly started talking about parties and dumplings, Felix gave a small chuckle. "How about it Ser? It'll be taking them off your hands for a while." He stood up as Nora led him upstairs. "Be back in a bit?" He asked with a small smirk.

Serenity couldn't help but laugh a little at the girls' excitement. It was too cute. She never imagined they'd be this excited upon seeing him. She always figured they'd be a bit shy around him. But they accepted him as easily and happily as a new puppy. She moved out of the way when Nora pulled Felix into the house, Kiara following quickly behind. "I don't see why not," she said with a chuckle, giving a small wave as the girls led him upstairs. "Buhbye," she giggled, closing the front door. This was amazing. She couldn't wait to talk to him, but she'd wait for the girls to go to bed first. They deserved plenty of time with him.

Kiara took their daddy's other hand as Nora started leading him upstairs. "Nora Nora, we can paint now! Right daddy? We can paint the room now!" she giggled happily, practically bouncing up and down on the stairs. Actually, she was so happy that she was bouncing up the stairs one at a time. Their mommy had said that when their dad got home that they could color their room all pretty and stuff. Kiara had gotten mad a lot because she really thought their daddy had just been an awesome bedtime story.

Nora was far more careful. Although excited, she was taking her time crawling up the stairs. "Oh yeah," she said thoughtfully. "I want to color it pink," she said. "Mommy said we had to wait, so we've been waiting for you." She smiled shyly. "Will you help us paint," she asked as she cleared the last few stairs. She gave a small puff before continuing on to the bedroom. Pushing open the door, she pointed to her bed. "That's my bed," she said. "And that's Kiara's. You can tell us apart because I'm cleaner," she said, indicating to the toys on her sister's side.

Felix looked to Kiara as she took his hand. He had to keep his balance with her jumping up and down. He was seeing some differences. Kiara was hyper, but Nora seemed a bit calmer and careful. Felix wanted to tell Kiara to be careful, but wasn't sure if he should. When they got to the room, he let Nora give him a tour guide. "Ah, I see. Well, since there are already toys out, I guess it wouldn't hurt to add two more," he stated with a grin. He slid off his bag and searched for a minute before pulling out two stuffed unicorns. One pink and the other purple. So he didn't know what kids liked, he never bought Walker and Stephen toys and Sven was too busy with being perfect that he didn't have time to bother with them, thanks to his mother.... So he was going out on a limb and praying he didn't tumble off of it. "Pick which one you want. Maybe it'll add some magic to your fairytale," he said looking to Kiara.

Serenity sat down lightly on the couch, smiling as she listened to the two girls. She could hear Kiara over Nora, which wasn't surprising. Despite the fact that the two were twins, they were already so different, and at such a young age. She'd head upstairs in a moment. For now she was too busy trying not to cry out of happiness.

Kiara smiled brightly when Nora said she wanted it colored pink. "I want it all different colors, just like a...um...what're those things called again...?" she said shyly, looking down a bit. When they got to their room, Kiara gave a light huff at Nora's explanation. "My side's not that messy." Her eyes lit up when their daddy said he had a toy for them, smiling a big smile when he pulled them out. "I want the purple one, I want the purple one," she said happily.

Nora looked back to her sisters side but decided not to argue. "You're thinking of a rainbow," Nora happily informed her. "But I still want my side to be pink," she stated with a nod. She quickly looked to Felix as he said he had something for them. She peered at his bag curiously, cautiously taking the unicorn and hugging it happily. "It's pink, he knows my favorite color! Oh I will love her forever and name her Star." She then jumped into Felix's arms. "Thank you!"

Felix gave a sigh of relief when both accepted the gifts. He had plenty more to come, but he was sure Serenity would appreciate him not giving them everything in one take. They'd be up all night with no break. Okay, so this wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be. He now knew that Nora liked pink, which meant he had a conversation starter. "I will gladly help you paint your side pink and Kiara's side in rainbow," he said. He looked to his other daughter. "What's your favorite color?"

Kiara pointed to Nora when her sister answered. "Yeah, that thing! A rainy bow!" she said with a smile. Taking her unicorn as well, she happily hugged it. "It's cute! I'm gonna name it...uhhmm...hmm..." She looked towards Nora, who named her unicorn Star. "Moon! I'm gonna name her Moon!" she said with a small giggle. Just like her sister, Kiara hugged Felix, smiling at him when he asked her favorite color. "Blue! I saw a blue butterfly in our backyard once, it was really cool!" She giggled. "I wanna fly like a butterfly too," she said happily.

Once Serenity had calmed down enough, she stood up from the couch and started upstairs towards the girls room to see how things were going. It sounded like the girls were having fun, and Serenity couldn't help but smile.

"Ah, so you like butterflies eh?" Felix raised a brow. "And you want to fly like one. I can see what I can do," he said with a grin. A jutsu should happily do the trick, or Serenity's wind and a pair of fake wings. "Star and Moon, I hope I can remember that. Hopefully I don't get them mixed up, or you two for that matter," he joked and ruffled their hair. He was glad he'd come home immediately. "So, now that we've got that settled, how about we go into town and buy that paint. If we start tomorrow, we should be done by the end of the week. Besides, I have to show off my two favorite daughters now that I'm back at home."

Nora's eyes widen when he said he had to remember the unicorn and their names. "Oh Daddy, my unicorn is pink and Kiara's is purple, you can easily tell them apart." She smile and shook her head. "You're so silly." She looked to Kiara. "And you can tell us apart by...the ribbons in our hair. I always wear pink," she said. Nora couldn't help but give a tiny bounce when told they were going to get the paint now. "Really?" She giggle when told that he would be showing them off. "Does that make us famous?"

Kiara's eyes widened a bit and she grinned when he said he'd see what he could do. "Cool, I'm gonna fly like a butterfly!!" she exclaimed happily, giving a little bounce as Nora explained how he could tell the two of them apart. "You can tell because I'll always be carrying a purple unicorn," she giggled. She looked to Nora for a moment when her sister asked if they were famous. "We're famous? Yay, we're famous, that's so cool!!"

When Serenity got to the room, she leaned against the door frame with a smile. "You three having fun?"

Kiara quickly turned to their mom and smiled, holding her unicorn out. "Look what daddy got us! Nora's got a pink one! Ooh, ooh, and daddy's taking us to get paint for our room!" she exclaimed happily.

Serenity couldn't help but to laugh lightly, her bright blue eyes aglow. "Oh?" She looked to Felix. "You weren't planning on going without me, were you?" She was obvious joking, but she couldn't keep a straight face in order to play the joke out correctly.

Nora quickly chimed in her sister gave a different way of telling them apart. "I'll always have my pink unicorn," she said shyly. She didn't want Felix to think that she didn't like her gift. The little girl was happy to see her mommy had joined them. "Yes ma'am," she answered her mother. She lifted her unicorn to show Serenity as her sister spoke. Secretly she felt like the family was now complete. She'd waited nearly four years for her dad to return and now he was back and bringing them gifts. There was no better father in the world.

Felix looked over his shoulder at Serenity. His blue eyed shinning lightly. "I'd never do such a did madam, I was only thinking of showing off my precious little angels to the village. And maybe giving you a break if you wanted one. However, if you insists on coming, maybe you can help me get these two dressed in something warm. It's a bit chilly outside." He stood up, taking his bag with him. "By the way you two, you get to be a famous as you want." Felix hoped Serenity would be edgy because he was letting their imagination run wild. He wasn't sure how she wanted to raise the twins, so he'd have to ask her. Maybe he was still stuck in submission mode because of Eliade. To think that was years ago though.

Serenity once more felt like bursting out into tears of happiness as Felix spoke, but only showed her happiness with a smile. She just wanted to hug him again, and make sure one more time that this was real. "Of course. Come on, let's go get your jackets," she told the girls with a smile. She didn't mind letting the girl's imaginations go wild, in fact she'd more than allowed it with her last few children.

Kiara, rather than running immediately towards Serenity like she usually would've, had her stuffed unicorn in one hand and grabbed Felix's other hand and started pulling him along excitedly. "Our jackets are downstairs in the closet," she told him.

Felix grinned when he saw Serenity smiling. He couldn't wait to just sit down and talk with her. It seemed like forever. He was surprised she didn't question him about the scar on his eye. It had long since healed, but it was still very much noticeable. That and she hadn't asked him about the lack of communication. He hoped she didn't think he'd been running from her. If anything he was trying to get back to her. Allowing Kiara to lead him, he looked to Nora.

Nora looked at Felix for a brief moment, but instead of taking his hand, she took her mother's. Her mommy still deserved some love too. Besides, their daddy needed at least one free hand to hold onto the railing so he didn't trip going down the stairs. "Is his hair really silver," she asked Serenity.

Serenity smiled when Nora came over to hold her hand. It seemed Kiara was getting very attached to Felix. It didn't bother her, in fact, she was happy about it. Taking Nora's hand, she went down the stairs, heading towards the closet to get their jackets. She'd let them pick their own jackets when they'd gone shopping before it's gotten too cold out. Nora's was pink with small hearts on it here and there. Kiara, to the small girl's delight, had found a blue jacket with a butterfly on it right next to the zipper. When Kiara went over to get her jacket, Serenity handed it to her with a smile, then proceeded to help put Nora's on, since Kiara was trying all by herself.

Putting one of her arms into her jacket, Kiara blinked when she realized she couldn't find the other arm hole, spinning around once to try and find it. Blinking a couple times, she went over to Felix and looked up at him. "I can't find the other one," she said, hoping he'd help her find it.

Nora was glad that her mother helped her put her jacket on. When she saw Kiara struggling she gave a small giggle. Once her jacket was on, she zipped it up by herself and looked expectantly at her parents. She was all set and ready to go, well...as soon as she got her shoes on that was. She went over to the door and sat on the floor as she slipped on her boots. "All set," she said as she stood back up.

Felix set his bag down inside the closest. He didn't want to drag it around. When he heard Kiara asking him about the jacket, he gave a small smirk. "Sure." He said as he helped her with no problem at all. "Alright, you're good," he said as he stood up straight. He glanced at Nora as she said she was all set. He smirked and then looked to Serenity. "So, I have something for you as well," he said. "Just so you don't feel left out, since the girls have their bears and all."

Kiara smiled when she had her jacket on and all zipped up. "Thanks daddy," she said, running over to put her boots on like Nora did. She managed to get those on without a problem, then hopped to her feet. "Me too!"

Serenity too gave a small giggle as Kiara spun around, but just because it was so cute. Kiara was always trying to do things by herself, but a lot of the time it ended up like this. Serenity found that it really wasn't so hard to tell her twin daughters apart. She blinked and looked to Felix when he said he had something for her as well, tilting her head curiously. "Something for me?" She paused. "You've no idea how much of a gift just you being home is," she told him with a smile. She was being honest. She wasn't sure just how much more she could take before bursting into tears.

So it was settled. They would be off. He then looked to Serenity who said him being home was enough of a gift. "Hmm, in that case then okay." He gave a shrug with a smirk and headed outside. "Off we go," he said as he opened the door and head outside. Nora followed quickly behind him. She skipped to the end of the road and stopped, looking to the left and the right, but not moving to cross.

It took them a couple hours to pick out paints before they started back home, each of the girl's carrying a little can of paint, well Felix and Serenity carried the larger ones. If the paint cans weren't so heavy, she'd suggest they go grab something to eat on the way home, but that wasn't the case, so she didn't. Instead she just smiled as the girls walked along. She'd never expected the girls to warm up to Felix the way they had. She gave Felix a glance, and smiled lightly. And she'd never expected him to come home out of the blue like that. When they got home, Serenity unlocked the door and the first one to run in was Kiara.

"Can we start tonight? Can we, can we?" she asked, quickly slipping her boots off and smiling up at her mom and dad.

Serenity couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "Maybe after dinner." She looked at Felix. "What do you think?"

Felix walked in silence, just enjoying the day as he walked back to the house. When they arrived at the house, he walked in after the girls, including Ser. Placing the paint cans to the side, he looked to Kiara and then Serenity when she asked his opinion. "Sounds like a plan," he said with a shrug. He then slid off his own jacket. Placing it in the closet, instead of in the bedroom like usual, he stretched lightly. "What's for dinner?"

Nora set her can next to Felix's. Going over to her sister, she took her shoes off and then her socks, wiggling her toes she giggled and then went over to the couch and sat down. While the adults were talking, she was going to find a movie to watch or a good cartoon show.

"Yay!" Kiara gave a small jump, looking to Nora as her sister went over to the couch. Glancing to their mom and dad, Kiara gave a light giggle then ran over to the couch with her sister. "Can you believe he was real?" Kiara whispered with a big grin.

Serenity watched the girls go over to the couch, putting her paint cans down with the rest, and taking her own jacket off. "That depends on what you feel like having," she said with a smile, putting her jacket into the closet before looking to him. If it was his first night back, she was going to make whatever he wanted. She really was just too happy to care.

Nora shook her head in disbelief. "Not at all," she said. "I though momma was just making stuff up to keep us entertained," she said with a giggle. Felix hadn't heard the girls, but the giggles said something was up. He gave a small smirk, but disregarded it. "Not really hungry, so I guess we can cook whatever those two like." He gave a shrug. He didn't have much of an appetite. He had also said we, because he was planning to help. Yes, he occasionally cooked, and this was a special moment.

Kiara giggled. "Me too, me too. This is so cool..." She then turned her head to the tv for a moment before looking to her sister again. "We should make him a present, a welcome home present," she said quietly, as if it were a big secret.

Serenity caught what Felix had said and she smiled, motioning Felix to come to the kitchen as she walked towards it. "They're not really picky eaters, so I'm glad. Their favorites have to be mashed potatoes and steak though," she told him once they were in the kitchen. She paused a moment in thoughtfulness. "We'll make broccoli too," she said with a small nod, but then paused again, but this time it was clear she was trying to keep herself from tearing up as she looked at him. When she realized it, she quickly turned away. "I'll get the pots out," she told him softly.

Nora hadn't thought of that. She gave her sisster a hug. "You're so smart," she said. "What should we make," she asked. She had never made anyone a present before, unless it was a drawing, like the one she did last year for her mommy during Christmas.

"Broccoli? When have children their age ever eaten broccoli. Looks like we have a rare breed." Felix smirked. "I'll let you cook the steak, the potatoes should be easy enough for me to handle myself." Felix had noticed her acting strange, so he walked over to her and made her loo at him. "Are you okay," he asked.