The Road Back Home

That night Ser didn't end up getting to sleep until pretty late. She'd ended up making hot chocolate and staring out the window at the snowstorm. She was glad the thunder and lightning had subsided. Now there was only wind and snow. She'd bet anything that the girls would be happy about the snow. They always had a ball playing outside when it snowed. Ser watched the wind blowing the snow around, quietly humming a slow melody until she finished her hot chocolate and went to bed.

Despite having stayed up late the night before, Serenity was the first up in the morning, making pancakes. She wasn't going to wake anyone up just yet, least of all Felix. She was sure he was tired, so she wasn't going to bother him for a while.

Kiara woke up with a light sniffle, before yawning and stretching. When she smelled the air after a moment, she smiled and got out of bed, shaking her sister lightly. "Nora Nora, I think mommy's making pancakes," she whispered with a big smile.

Felix was out cold until late that morning. The smell of food wasn't even worth him getting up. When he heard the girls going downstairs, it still wasn't enough. He only curled up tighter and drifter back into sleep. When he did wake up, he wasn't nearly as refreshed, but he knew he should probably go downstairs. Changing into clean clothes he went downstairs and looked at the three. "Morning," he said with a yawn.

Nora blinked her eyes open. "What happened," she asked. She then smelled the pancakes. "Mmmm," she said with a smile. "Let's get down there and see for ourselves," she said as she hoped off her bed and hurried down the stairs. "Mommy, you made pancakes," she said as she climbed onto the chair, ready to eat. "They smell delicious."

Kiara followed Nora downstairs with a smile, climbing onto her own chair as well, next to her sister's as was usual for her. But instead of sitting down, she stood up on it to get a better look. "Ooooh, they're chocolate chip pancakes!" she chirped excitedly, quickly sitting down when her mom scolded her, blushing a bit. "Sorry momma."

By the time Felix had come downstairs, Serenity had already cut up pancakes for both Kiara and Nora, and given them their plates. She was cooking more when she heard Kiara say "Good morning daddy!" Serenity turned her head and gave a smile. "Morning. Hungry at all?"

"Morning Dad," Nora said as she finished a piece of pancake. She was glad they were chocolate chip. Pouring more syrup onto them, she went back to eating, only glancing up when Felix answered. Wasn't he hungry? She knew she was. In fact, she was starving and these pancakes were delicious.

Felix gave the twins a small smirk. Then he looked to Serenity. "No thanks, I'm still full from last night's dinner." Lies. Felix just didn't want to make the kids worried. If he wasn't starving, he wasn't hungry. And by starving, he didn't mean one missed meal, he meant several days without food.

Serenity knew how Felix was, she just thought it would be kinda rude not to ask. Okay, very rude. She just gave a shrug and a small smile, but didn't protest. "Okay then." When the girls had finished their pancakes, and Serenity had just started on hers, she looked to them with a smile. "Go look out the front window, you two," she told them.

Kiara didn't say anything as she was eating her pancakes, mostly because she was far too busy enjoying them. She swore their mom was the best cook in the world! After she finished her pancakes, she blinked as their mom told them to do something out of the ordinary. Looking to Nora, Kiara slid off her chair and went over to the window, her eyes widening. "Wow!! Look at all that!!"

Nora followed her sister to the window. She gave a gasp when she saw the blanket of snow. "We can make a million snowmen!" She turned away from the window. "Momma, can we go outside," she asked. She was hoping her mother said yes. There was so much snow. "Please! It's covering the entire village and there are already people outside playing in it," she said hoping that would make her mother say yes. Her eyes were just as wide as her sister's with excitement. She loved the Snow and was going to the move to the Snow Village when she was older. Right now she'd just enjoy the snow here with her mother.

Serenity couldn't help but smile at how excited they were. Maybe she should've waited until she'd been about finished eating to tell them about the snow. That's okay though, it wasn't a big deal. "Sure, but we have to get you two dressed in something warm though," she told them, standing up. She'd managed to get half a pancake eaten by now, so it would be enough for a little while. She usually only had about two pancakes anyways, since she didn't eat so much as it was. She wasn't really so used to raising kids with a father around, however, so it didn't really occur to her to ask Felix to get them some warm clothes. "Come on, upstairs," she said, chasing them playfully a moment to get them going. As if they weren't excited enough. She looked to Felix as the girls started upstairs. "Are you gonna come outside with us?" she asked with a smile.

Yes, so maybe he didn't notice that Ser was taking over all the responsibilities. When he was with Aiko, she'd raised Lyra because he'd been with Ser for a while until they got into an argument. He'd been a good father, but he'd been a ninja first, so he was rarely around. Then there was Eliade. That woman was a mother and a father. He could do nothing more than stand on the side lines. Walker and Stephen he'd raised alone, but they were twelve when he'd phoned them and he'd trained them to survive. He was sure Serenity would rather him not do the same with the twins. He gave a nod when asked if he was coming outside. "Sure."

Serenity gave him a smile before starting upstairs to get the girls dressed. She was glad she'd already dressed in something warm. After getting them both dressed, Ser started downstairs to take their coats and gloves out of the closet. Like always, Kiara insisted she put her coat and gloves on by herself, this time succeeding in getting her coat on alone. Going over to Felix, she tapped his side a couple times, looking up at him with a smile. "Are you gonna come outside and play too daddy?" she asked hopefully. "There's so much snow outside, we could make a really, reaaally big snow man!" she said, motioning with her arms at how wide it might be. She was practically bouncing with excitement.

Felix had went upstairs and dressed in long pants and a long shirt. He then got his jacket from the closet. He looked to Kiara as she spoke to him. He gave a small nod. "Of course," he said. "So much snow, it'd be a shame not to go outside and play." He gave a grin. "How about I help with that snowman of yours," he said. "We can make it taller than me and bigger than the house." It was an exaggeration, but he was sure she knew that.

Nora was happy to be going outside. Jackets, gloves, scarf, and boots. She was all ready to go. Opening the door, she jumped off the steps and landed in the soft snow. "It's amazing!" She squealed as she rolled around. "So much white snow to play in. I hope it never ends."

"Alright!" Kiara cheered triumphantly, when Felix said he'd go outside. Grabbing her scarf, she wrapped it untidily around her neck and grabbed her dads hand and started pulling him towards the door. "Come on, come on!" she giggled. Serenity got her own jacket and gloves on, forgoing a scarf, and holding the door til everyone was out. The door almost didn't open because of all the snow.

Felix grinned as Kiara pulled him out the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming," he told her. He looked over his shoulder at Serenity. "Are they always like this?" When he was completely outside he got to work, rolling a snowball, giving a small grin as he saw Nora making a snow angel. When he'd made the base of the snowman, he looked to Kiara. "Is this big enough," he asked. "Or do you want it bigger?" He wondered how he was going to stack these things.

Serenit giggled lightly at Felix's question, giving a light nod. "Most of the time, yep," she told him, closing the door and going over to Nora, tossing a bit of snow playfully onto her as she made a snow angel. "I think I'll make a real snow angel," she said with a small grin.

Kiara smiled as Felix made the base of the snow man, patting more snow onto it. "Nope, we hafta make it bigger! It's gonna be the biggest snowman ever!" she giggled, grabbing an armful of snow and patting it onto the base, trying to help.

"Oh boy, this is going to be one big snowman," he said with a nod as he continued to help Kiara. He didn't feel so bad about not giving Nora as much attention because Serenity was playing with her. Felix wasn't sure how he was going to divide his time between the two of them. Mortal lives were so short and they were so fragile that it would wrong for him not to be equal towards them. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He'd worry over trivial stuff later, right now it was just him and his kids and Serenity.

Nora gave a over exaggerated shiver when Serenity tossed snow on her. "So cold," she giggled. She stood up and looked at her work. "Awesome!" She then looked to her mom with a grin and picked up some snow, but formed it into a snowball. "Mom, you'd made a better snow angel." With that she hurled the snowball at Serenity with a laugh that would warm any person's heart.

Kiara nodded excitedly when Felix said that it was going to be a really big snowman. "Sure is!" After a few moments, she stood back. "Alright, second piece!" She giggled happily, collecting a big pile of snow and trying to form it into a ball. She looked over to her mom and sister when she heard Nora laugh, giving a small giggle of her own. She'd get their dad in a bit. She glanced to him. Maybe not. When he came over to help, Kiara stealthily made a small snowball and mashed it on top of his head before she started laughing. "Now you're a snowman!"

Serenity giggled at Nora's reaction to the snow, smiling when her daughter got up and looked at her snow angel. When Nora threw the snowball at her, Serenity blocked her face with a slightly surprised laugh, grinning lightly at her daughter's. It'd been a long time since she'd had so much fun. Maybe she'd move to the Snow when the Crested started getting old. Getting her own small snowball together, she tossed it at Nora, laughing lightly.

Felix was gathering snow to add to Kiara's second half. The base was large and he was glad he didn't have to lift it. Rolling the snow together, he blinked when Kiara jumped on his head with a snow ball. Okay, now that was serious cold. "So now we have a human snowman and angel. Aren't you two lucky." A good amount had fallen down his back, leaving him to try and get it out. The hell with snow, he liked the warm sun where he could sit outside and just relax. Snow was a hassle and not worth the time and effort. Picking up a snowball, he tossed it at Kiara to get back at her and then backed away, preparing for a counter attack.

Nora started to giggle when her mother threw a snowball at her. She tried to run away but ended up tripping in the snow. She blinked several times confused and then started into a laughing fit. "This is so much fun," she said. "It's almost criminal." She rolled over and sat up. "I wish it could snow like this every day of our lives." She fell back into the snow, kicking her legs into the air.

"The luckiest!" Kiara giggled, running behind the snowman and peeking around it at her father, only to get hit in the face with a snow ball. Like her sister, she blinked a couple seconds before shaking the snow out of her face. A moment later she ducked back down behind the snowman's base and started making snowballs. She peeked her head over the snowman with a snowball in her face, a mischievous smile on her face. "Hehe, you just made me the perfect fort!" she said, throwing a snowball at him before ducking back down, breaking into a small fit of giggles as she made more snowballs.

Serenity smiled lightly when Nora fell into the snow. If there was one thing she'd noticed about her little girls, it was that they didn't cry as easily as others. In fact, they were very happy children compared to most. She laughed lightly when Nora laid back in the snow, kicking her feet, then looked over to Kiara to see that the more tomboyish of the two children was starting a snowball fight with her father. It made her remember the pillow fight she'd had with him that one time, and she couldn't help but to giggle. This would be amusing to watch.

Felix smirked when his snowball hit it's mark. When Kiara threw another at him, he could have easily dodged but he decided not to. It was funner to just play around with his kids. He gave a small frown. "Oh no, you wanted a snowman, you're getting a snowman. That will not be a fort." He picked up two hand fulls of snow and patter it together. "He's the head to your snowman," he called as he threw it into the air over her head. "Do you like it?"

Kiara quickly ducked when she saw the snowball coming at her, bringing her head back up above the snowman's base and grinning. "Haha, missed!" she taunted, throwing another snowball at him. Behind the snowman's base, she was also working on the second part of the snowman's body. Yeah, she could multitask too.

Serenity smiled when she saw Felix let himself get hit by the snowball, blinking when she heard her cell phone start going off in her pocket. Taking one of her gloves off, she pulled it out and answered it. "Hello?....Yes, a little bit....why even ask then?" A pause and then she sighed. She didn't have much choice. At least not the way it looked. If she wanted to be able to stay in this village for a little longer with Felix and their kids, she'd have to do this. "I understand." Hanging up, Ser looked to Felix. "Felix, can you watch them for a little while? Something's come up..."

Felix dove out the way. "Alright Kiara, it's war," he stated as he got himself a makeshift fort. He quickly made several snowballs for ammo and then armed himself when Serenity asked if he could watch the kids. "Um, sure," he said with a shrug. He didn't ask if everything was okay because one, it was none of his business, and two, it was probably just some healer stuff. Going back to the snowball fight, he threw one at Kiara and then dunked down.

Nora didn't care for the snowball fight, she was just enjoying the snow as it fell from the sky, hitting her cheeks softly before melting to water. She glanced towards her mom when she said she had to go. "See ya later mommy," she called and then went back to staring up at the snow.

Serenity gave Felix a smile. "Thanks. I'll see you later." She gave a small wave to Nora and Kiara. "Bye bye girls," she said, putting her phone away and her glove back on before starting off to the Kage's tower. The guy was on his last breaths, and of course they would call upon her now, even though they'd ignored her requests for information about Felix's mission. She was going to do nothing to help them. Or rather, she'd only pretend to help the old man.

"Bye mommy!" Kiara called from behind her little fort. Looking to Nora, she smiled. "Nora, Nora, come play!" she called happily. When she turned her head, she saw another snowball was coming at her and immediately ducked behind her fort. She quickly came back up to throw one at her dad before ducking back down again. She was working on making a giant snowball, one that she could roll around and hide behind. A mobile fort!!

Nora was rolling through the snow and by the time her sister had called her, she was like a walking snowman herself. "Okay," she said as she dusted off the snow. Waling over to Kiara's snowman fort, she took a seat. "What are we doing," she asked, rolling up a snowball just for the fun of it.

Felix came up only to meet a snowball. He sat back down and wiped his face. "Damn snow," he mumbled. "How do people stand it. You can't walk, you can't move. It's annoying as hell." He was only mumbling, so the girls wouldn't hear his rant. He took two snowballs and threw them at the girls, followed by two more.

"Snowball war," she told her sister with a grin. "I'm trying to make this really big ball of snow so we can move it around and hide behind it," she whispered with a snicker. "Wanna help?" she asked, rolling up another snowball, then throwing it quickly at their dad's fort, before patting more snow onto the 'mobile fort'.

Felix could do nothing more than sit down against the fort he'd built and stay low. Two against one was a bit unfair, but he'd just have to suck it up and deal with it. When another snowball hit his fort, he took that opportunity to toss two more at the girls. Dunking down quickly he looked around for something to distract the two of them so he could make a full on attack.

Nora gave a small chuckle when her sister said snowball fight. "Momma and me had a small one," she said. She then gather some snow and pushed it towards Kiara. "I'll help you," she said. "That's what sisters are for, right?"

Kiara giggled lightly. "Right," she said with a nod, packing the snow onto the big snowball. It looked about big enough now, but now they'd have to roll it. "Okay, it looks pretty big," she said quietly, smiling. After giving it one big push, it broke off of the ground, and Kiara began rolling it to the side of their fort. Maybe it their dad suddenly saw two forts, it would confuse him. Making up two snowballs, Kiara handed one to her sister. "On three," she said with a smile, packing her snowball once more. "One...two...three!" Standing up, Kiara threw her snowball towards their dad, then sat back down, giggling.