You Know Me Through The Years

What If

It took Dante a moment to process where he was. He was definitely in his parent's house, and it was definitely not in ruins. Actually, it was like it had never been on fire in the first place.

There was a portrait hanging over the fireplace, but it was not the one he remembered seeing as a child. No, this was a portrait of the entire family. It was his mother and father sitting with he and his brother standing behind them. Roe was standing next to him with Cade, Mara, and then Evie was in her arms.

"Dante! Come eat!" He heard his mother's voice for the first time in forty years coming from the dining room.

"I swear he has been acting strange all day." He could hear his wife say. "Mara, get your elbows off the table." He was pretty sure he was dreaming, but it felt real. He pinched himself to see if it was real, and sure enough, the small jolt of pain ran up his arm. This could not be real.

"Dante?" He looked up to see his mother standing there. She had aged wonderfully, just like he imagined she would. "Is everything alright?"

"That's a good question." He spoke for the first time, and his voice cracked a little at seeing his mother. "I'm not sure if I'm in some weird alternate reality or if this is all some fucked up dream..." He was very aware of the feeling in his gut. The overwhelming need to run into his mother's arms had to be tampered down.

"Well, if you feel that way, we can talk about it later." Eva smiled as she walked up to him and hooked her arm around his. "You look nice today." He blinked as he looked at himself. He was wearing a red button-up shirt and slacks, a bit out of the normal for him. "Roe said you were being ornery today." That sounds like his wife.

"That sounds about right." He was so confused, but at the same time, he was trying to play the part.

She led him into the dining room where everyone had been seated, waiting on him. At the head of the table was his father, who actually looked his age for once. Old and very human. Sparda looked tired, which Dante had only remembered the man being somewhat youthful but incredibly stern. What was he to expect for a demon lord who had abandoned his power to become human.

"Go sit down." His mother ushered him to sit next to his wife. It felt so strange to have his parents in the same room as the rest of his family. Dante was accustomed to having his nephew and brother under the same roof, but it felt so strange with his father there.

"Where have you been?" Roe whispered as he sat down next to her. She seemed a little irate.

"I needed to think." It was the best excuse he could offer since he really had no clue how he ended up there in the first place.

"Well, you kept everyone waiting, and you know how Vergil gets." Speaking of. He looked up to see his twin glaring at him while Nero was eagerly waiting for food. The strange part was seeing the kid without Kyrie. Then again, if he had to guess, Nero was raised by Vergil in this strange alternate timeline. Meaning Nero never met Kyrie. "Dante, love, are you seriously okay?"

"I can neither confirm or deny that right now." Roe was taken aback by that answer. She did not know what to make of it, and she was obviously worrying about him tenfold now. "Don't worry, Babe. We'll talk about it later." Anything to set her at ease if only for a short while.

"Okay, if you say so." She said, taking the cloth napkin off the table and putting it in her lap. "Oh, remind me to get your mother's present out of the car. I forgot to grab it before we came in."

"Do you want me to remind you now or later?" She nudged him with her elbow as she sat up to take part in this family feast.

"Stop being snarky and pass me the wine." He gave her a slight smirk as he reached for the bottle of wine in front of him.