The Road Back Home

Felix looked up to throw a few more snowballs, but then he saw there were two forts. When had they made a second fort, not it wasn't a fort, it looked like a second base to a new snowman. Momentarily forgetting they where in a war, he couldn't avoid the two snowballs that knocked him backwards. He was of course joking as he lay on his back, speaking loud enough for the girls to hear him. "Oh no, they got me," he called. "I have been defeated."

Nora had waited for her sisters count down and then threw her snowball. When their dad spoke of losing, she smiled. "I think we won," she said with a giggle. "Let's go make sure."

Kiara looked at Nora with a big smile when she said they won, and nodded. "Me too," she agreed, but gathered a pile of snow in her arms anyways. She was gonna throw it at him if he suddenly got up again. "Let's go," she said, starting forward towards their dad, peeking over his fort at him, giggling lightly.

Nora wondered what her sister was doing with that snow, but she didn't ask because Kiara was already heading for their dad's fort. "Heyyyyy daddy," she said as she leaned over the fort. "We didn't hurt ya did we," she asked. She jumped back when Felix sat back up with two snowballs in hand.

Felix had two snowballs ready for the girls. He knew they were going to come over, so he'd get them good. He didn't think they'd come prepared too, so when he heard Nora, he sat up ready to strike, but saw the snowball in Kiara's hand. Felix's expression went blank and he dropped his snowballs. I hate the snow.

Kiara nearly jumped when their dad sat up with two snowballs, ready to throw hers. But when he dropped his snowballs, she grinned and started giggling. "Haha, yeah, we win!" She then looked down at their dad, holding the snowball in both her hands like it was some kind of stuffed animal or something. "You okay daddy?" she asked, giggling.

Felix gave a nod. "Yeah, you win and I'm fine. How about we go inside, change into some warm clothing, and get ourselves some coco?" He asked standing up. His gaze was on Kiara and her snowball though. He wasn't sure if she was going to take it upon herself to throw it at him. The thing was, they still hadn't finished the snowman, but he didn't care. Eyes bright, he started for the door.

"Sounds good to me," Nora stated as she hurried after Felix. She did like coco. Pulling off her scarf as she went, she slipped past her dad as he opened the door and headed upstairs, dripping boots and all.

When their dad said that they won, and mentioned hot coco, Kiara threw her snowball down and followed after her sister. "Yay, hot chocolate!" she giggled, running upstairs after Nora. "Wait for me, wait for me," she called happily, stumbling up the stairs with a smile.

Felix followed them upstairs, but went to the right and headed for his room. Slipping his jacket off, he pulled his shirt off, frowning when the coldness of his locket hit his chest. Finding a dry shirt as well as some new pants, he headed downstairs and fixed up the girls some coco. He hoped Serenity wouldn't mind them drinking it in the living room, he was going to put on a movie. "Kiara, Nora, the coco is on the living room table," he said. He then went to the closet and got his bag. Pulling out a movie he'd bought in the Rock, and two t-shirts that read Kiara and Nora, Felix went back to the couch. He laid the shirts down on the couch and then popped in the dvd. It was a kid's movie, so he was sure they'd enjoy it.


Nora changed into her pajamas because they were warm. Going downstairs after Felix said where their coco was, she made her way to the livingrooom table. She picked up her mug and turned to sit on the couch when she saw the shirt. "It has my name on it!" She looked at Felix with bright eyes. "Did you this," she asked.

Kiara did the same as her sister and changed into her pj's, then hopped her way down the stairs, but held onto the railing as she went. Picking her coco up, she took a sip, then turned to climb on the couch, her eyes widening in excitement when she saw her shirt. "Hey, this one has my name on it! Cool," she exclaimed with a grin. She looked to their dad for his answer to Nora's question. She was curious too.

Felix gave a small nod and smirked. "Yeps," he said. "I figured you'd like something with your names on it, if your mother hadn't beaten me to it already." He shrugged and helped them onto the couch. Sitting on the ground and laying down, he played the dvd. His blue eyes barely watching the tv as the movie played. He was really just thinking about everything and nothing, while listening out for the kids.

Nora looked at Felix with bright blue eyes. "Thank you," she chirped. When he helped them onto the couch and pressed play for the movie, she sipped her coco and smiled. "We have the coolest dad," she said. She leaned back into the couch and watch the movie happily. She barely even blinked.

"Thank you," she said, once more in unison with her sister. That one hadn't been planned though. Kiara nodded in agreeance when Nora said they had the coolest dad. "Mmhm, the coolest ever." After that, she fell silent and watched the movie while drinking her coco.

Serenity came home just as the movie ended, taking her gloves off as she walked in, smiling when she saw that Felix was laying on the ground and the girls were watching a movie. Quietly, so as not to disturb them, she walked into the kitchen. She guessed she'd start on making dinner, since everyone was occupied. She didn't know that the movie was actually about to end. She was pretty tired after what'd happened. A couple idiots even tried to blame her for it. Shaking her head, Serenity turned on the kitchen light and looked through the cupboard for something to make.

Felix was half sleep when he heard the front door open. He looked to make sure it was Serenity. Giving a shrug, he went back to his dazed state until he heard the credits rolling. Sitting up, he looked at his daughters. "Alright you two, go upstairs and wash up, I think your mom is about to start cooking dinner." He stood up and stretched. "Afterwards we can eat and whatever else you guys wanna do before bedtime." When both where upstairs, he went into the kitchen. "Everything okay," he asked.

Nora jumped up when the movie was over. "I knew the super hero would win," she said. They always do. She gave a nod when their dad told them to go wash up before dinner. "Yes sir," she said as she slid off the couch. Going into the kitchen she put her cup up. "Hi mommy," she greeted and then headed up to her room.

Kiara practically jumped up at the end of the movie. "That was awesome! Think there's a part two?" she giggled, following Nora into the kitchen to put her cup up as well. "Hi mom," she said happily, once more following her sister.

When Serenity heard ending music, she looked towards the living room. It would've been nice if she'd came in near the middle of the movie. "Hi girls," she said with a smile. Once they went to wash up, Serenity ran a hand lightly through the side of her hair with a small sigh. "Would be nice if it was. The Kage just died," she said, keeping her voice low enough that the girls wouldn't hear. "A couple of the council members are insisting it was my fault," she said, shaking her head lightly as she took out a couple cans of peas.

Felix frowned. "What do you mean they think it's your fault," he asked. Yeah, there was the old Felix. "The guy was getting old, it's only natural that he finally passed on." Felix looked at her, waiting for an answer. Just what was going on that he had missed. Then again, he hadn't been here for a while. Felix was trying to put the pieces together but he didn't have enough to go on. This just didn't make sense.

"A lot happened while you were gone Felix." She turned her head to give him a small smile. "In a nutshell, it's because I've been able to save people on the brink of death before that they believe I didn't do all I could," she told him. That was only part of the truth. There was a lot more to it, but at least she hadn't lied to him. There were, of course, reasons they thought she hadn't tried her best. But she'd only divulge them if Felix asked.

Felix had to ask, because he'd seen how Serenity had been when the other Kage had died when they were out treasure hunting. He'd seen how she was when Shaira had died. Sometimes he wondered if he knew the real her, because he was sure she didn't know the real him. When would they stop with the secrets? "Did you do all you could," he asked. "You don't exactly seem down about it." He looked to the stairs, making sure the girls were coming back down. "Just because you couldn't save one person, doesn't give them the right to accuse you. Serenity, what aren't you telling me?"

Maybe she should've worded it better, then this conversation wouldn't be happening. But she was getting sick of lying. As she spoke to him, Serenity busied herself with getting things ready to cook dinner, rather than looking directly at him. "There was no reason for me to do all I could. He was old, and dying. They already had a new Kage picked out, and the old man was suffering anyways," she said. "There's not much reason for me to be down about something like this." She paused when Felix asked what he wasn't telling her. "While you were gone, the Kage accused me of some pretty outrageous things. It hasn't sat well with me, and everyone higher up in this village knows it." She went over to the cupboards to get out a pot. "Which is why I was surprised they called me in to help in the first place."

Felix's blue eyes narrowed. If only he hadn't drawn out the mission....or rather, had he not gone and lost control, they could have been home sooner to sort this mess out. Felix shook his head. He wanted to tell her that it wasn't her place to decide whether or not he lived or died. Instead he continued to listen to her speak. "What do you mean accused you of outrages things? Elaborate." Brilliant time for him to come back and tell her he was going to quit as a ninja. Worse part was that if he asked Izua to help out the guy would make him remain a ninja, meaning no spending time with the girls.

Serenity gave a light sigh when he told her to elaborate. "Can we talk about this later? Maybe after the girls go to bed?" she asked, turning to look at him. She'd answer his questions, just not now. Talking about something like that was fine, just not with the chance of the girls overhearing it. It was all lies anyways, but still. And besides, she wanted to make sure Felix wasn't going to try and do anything when things were already taken care of. And something like that would probably take more than just a few minutes.

Felix's blue eyes were unblinking. "Fine," he said curtly. When the girls had eaten, taking their baths, and were tucked into bed, Felix was standing in the living room with his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for Serenity come down. He wanted to know what was going on, every single detail. She was smart enough to know when the Kage himself accused you of something it was serious.

Serenity remembered that she'd told Felix she'd talk to him about what was going on, but she wondered if he would take her word when she told him that it wasn't true. Walking downstairs, she saw him with his arms crossed, and nearly sighed. She really was sick of lying, but she was also sick of unwarranted worrying. Sitting on the couch, Ser looked at Felix. "You gonna sit down, or just stand there?" she asked with a light smile.

Felix was not smiling. He was a ninja first before anything. His loyalty was to the Crested and although he would never think of Serenity as a traitor, he wanted to know what was going on himself. Considering they'd be living together for the next 18 years of the girls life, Felix didn't want to get caught up in issues that would make him look bad. Nor did he want Serenity being looked down upon after all she'd done for the village. Taking a seat on stairs, he looked at her through icy blue eyes. "I'm listening."

When Felix took a seat on the stairs, Serenity took a breath before beginning to speak. "You know about those ambushes that were going on for a good long while before you left, right? Well, the higher ups were looking into what was going on with that, and after a while they started noticing that many ninja from this village who came to me for healing had their teams ambushed, usually during their next mission. They also noted that I don't only heal ninja from the Crested, and began suspecting that I had something to do with the ambushes. They took away most of the power I held here, including being able to look up mission details." She hoped he realized that meant his mission as well. "When I went to speak with the Kage about it, he was very...abrasive, like he really was suspicious of me. Despite the fact that I'd done so much for him of all people," she said, shaking her head lightly. The whole while she spoke, she kept her gaze on the floor. She paused for a long moment. "I didn't have anything to do with what happened to those ninja," she said finally.

Felix looked at her for a brief moment after she'd spoken. They were linking ambushes to Serenity? Why in the hell would they do that? She of all people had done nothing wrong. He was going to see what Izua could do. This wasn't something they needed right now. His blue eyes looked off to the side. "I believe you," he said. "Maybe someone's just trying to pin this on you because they think you're vulnerable, a easy way to cover their tracks." Felix shrugged. "Probably someone that's part of the higher ups is my guess. Someone who knew the Kage well enough to put the idea into his head."

Serenity was clearly relieved when Felix said he believed her, giving him a smile. She'd been a bit worried, since she figured Felix had known a lot of the ninja who'd gone missing. She paused when he said that it was probably someone higher up trying to pin it on her. Sounded like he was trying to figure out what's going on. "Hey, Felix...you don't have to try and do anything about this," she told him lightly. "They've pretty much left me alone after the last time they'd talked to me a couple years back." All she wanted was for him to stay home and be a father to the girls. He'd only been here little over a day and already she could tell they'd be devastated if he disappeared.

Felix went to protest but he understood what Serenity was saying. His blue eyes became somber and he stood up. "It's whatever you want," he said. Why wouldn't she let him help her? "I'm going to sleep." Felix didn't like this, not one bit. Even if they'd left her alone, ninja were still missing and no one was doing a damned thing about it. Walking up the stairs he called a almost inaudible, "Good night," over his shoulder and kept moving. He went to his room, closed the door, and leaned against it. "I was better of in the Rock, at least then I could do something about the issues. Now I'm home and powerless."