Home (PG)

She hated to watch them leave. She hated watching the group pile into whatever vehicle someone could afford and drove off, getting smaller and smaller until they faded from view.

Nasuti adopted this routine to where she’d perform it daily, not bothering to hide it because curious Troopers were destructive Troopers and there was only so much trouble that her poor heart could honestly take.

The Troopers hated to leave. But one by one, they’d slowly return to the lives they had left behind.

Day by day, she’d worry about them, the feeling hiding behind her fascination of her grandfather’s documents. Night by night, she’d toss and turn in sleep, plagued by scenes of the past and what might have been if she hadn’t met each and every one of the five.

Day by day, she’d have the lingering hope that one by one, they’d return to the life that she had selfishly adopted for her own.

She fell out of the desk chair with a pained yelp as someone knocked on the door.

Judging from the knocks’ force, someone knew that she was at home and they promised to break the door down if she didn’t answer soon. Soon being immediately as she could hear the door rattle, who the hell could be so bloody impatient?

Her ankle ached as she made her way to the front door only to stop, peer out the window and feel confusion settle on her as there was no one there.

The knocking continued.

Wait, she remembered the side door, which prompted her to move faster as there were only seven people who used that door and one, if he dared skip school, she’d strangle him.

The poor door probably couldn’t take too much more as she fumbled at the rarely used locks. “Just a mi-” she unlatched the lock and the door fell open under the force of another knock. Nasuti could only finish “nute” before her jaw went slack.

Violet eyes greeted her as her heart skipped a beat or three, she wasn’t quite focusing on that but on the relief that overwhelming flooded the nagging loneliness that had undeniably robbed her of sleep these past few days.

“Oh god, Seiji,” she couldn’t stop the words tumbling from her lips as she jumped into his arms, not caring if his arms weren’t welcoming as this was completely out of her character and oh god, he was home.

Lean, strong arms enveloped her with silent acceptance as he molded her body to his own. “I’m home.”

“Seiji,” she whispered as she buried her face into his hair, the undeniable scent of sandalwood filling her nose and her heart finally found another pattern that wasn’t quite so fast and she wasn’t actually going to die like she thought she would.

“Missed me?” He released her, his hands immediately heading for her face, smoothing the hair that their embrace had mussed.

Cheeky snot. “Of course,” she stepped away as embarrassment set in. Scarlet laced her cheeks as she ushered him inside. “Where are my manners? Come in, please.”

A small smile was offered to her, enforced by a gentle gaze that settled on his face as he allowed himself to be lead into a place that for the years he was away, should have felt so foreign to him.

It felt like home.