Of Love and Death.

The Future Chapter 19: Sunrise Pt. 3

Ten years later

Bel turned the key in the door. The locks hadn't been changed since the door had been blown apart by the Cold incident. That was probably a safety hazard. But it was convenient to keep the same old key from decades ago. He liked looking at it sometimes. Like when he got really overwhelmed with training or if the, say, stadium he was building wasn't going well. Sometimes he'd have to take a few moments and just look at the key. He'd been through worse than machines and special moves deciding not to function.

Sighing a little bit at the memories of his frustration, Bel shoved open the door. The warmth inside immediately flowed out. The jungle never got chilly, especially not anymore. But he'd forgotten just how much of a sauna his father's mere presence could make a place. Not that he minded. Not that he minded in the least.

Closing the door behind him, Bel kicked off his shoes and looked up. He stood still for a few moments. It had been five months since he'd been back home. And there was a feeling of...heaviness about this visit. He couldn't put his finger on it. Couldn't put a name to it. But it was like his every step was being watched by all of the other iterations of himself that had stood right here. And all the ones that would ever stand here.

Up on the walls were pictures. There was the picture of a heart with an arrow on the beach, with the initials S + V in the middle. Fubuki's wedding present to his parents. There was a table resting below the wall. Covered in things like chapstick and keys and sunglasses and unbroken picture frames of times past. Like Bel and Jamie, after their first battle in which Bel himself had been utterly crushed by his sister. A trend that really hadn't stopped happening, at least now he could occasionally steal a win.

"Oy, what are you lurking in the foyer for?" The annoyed voice of Bel's aforementioned sister shouted from the kitchen. He looked up and sighed, taking off his black jacket. He tossed it up onto the rack, catching sight of the same cat face he'd been wearing for ages emblazoned on the back. And then trotted into the kitchen, the light shining over the head of the table. "Took you long enough to get here," Jamie muttered.

Okay, yes, maybe Bel was three hours late. But that was the plane's fault not his. He also knew that his sister already knew that, though, and there was no point arguing with Minerva. Speaking of which, Jamie looked more like the weird hybrid she was every day. She'd had glasses since senior year, and they were - appropriately - owl-eyed. Which made her look haunted in the night when her eyes shined. She had on a new jacket. Like the white one she used to have, except not at all. This one was leather, embroidered with pictures of feathers and owls. Almost like the Snake Pit uniforms from back in the day.

Running into the kitchen, Bel hugged his sister tightly. And she hugged him back, even though she only half got out of her chair and awkwardly mumbled the whole time. "Yeah, yeah, good to see you too you clingy cat," she grumbled at him.

Rolling his eyes, Bel took a step back, and then turned to Quadra. He intended to hug his sister-in-law/enemy/rival. But what actually happened was she glared at him once, and he didn't even try. He still wasn't quite sure how Jamie had ended up with the other masked blader. And it had been eight years. It wasn't that he minded, nor that they disliked each other. Honestly, it had become more of a joke than anything that they didn't hug. So, he settled for a simple nod, and got one back from the green-eyed blader.

Finally, Bel turned to see his parents. Who were the strange sort of hot mess that was perfectly functional for them. In this case, Valt was trying to eat the raw gingerbread cookies that Shu hadn't even put in the oven yet. And then when the Shu shooed him away, the mind-reader tried to eat the latkes. Those of which promptly lit on fire, the flames spelling the words "get out of my kitchen <3".