Fighting history (Threequel to 'Lucky 13')

Chapter 44: Everything has changed

Third person's POV

Lily and Catherine fell back on the couch in their living room. They let out a breath, almost simultaneously, and chuckled afterward.

"That was a great restaurant," Lily smiled at Catherine. "Thanks for taking me there, haewa."

"My pleasure, haewa."

"Lily?"

Lily and Catherine looked at the door opening and saw Lily's entire family. Lily gulped as she immediately thought they were here to take her hostage. Then it saddened her as that was the first thing her mind went to.

"Can we talk?" John went on.

Lily looked at Catherine who nodded. Lily then looked at John and nodded slowly.

While the whole family went to sit down, Catherine scooted closer to Lily and wrapped her arm around Lily, to show her support that way. And Lily really appreciated that.

"Hey everyone," Lily said as they all looked at her. "It's been a while."

"17 years," Betty said, she sounded emotional. "I've missed you so much, Lily," She sniffled then. "We've missed you."

Lily gulped as she didn't know what to say to that.

"As I said before," John started. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been a stubborn man and should have just chosen for my family..." He sighed. "I wanted to do what was right but ended up doing the wrong thing."

"Your parents have been miserable," Bill said, gaining Lily's attention. "They regretted the way you all lost contact."

Lily looked down. "I didn't end contact, I thought we'd stay in touch but nothing happened."

"It wasn't easy, Lily," Susan said. "Of course, we wanted to stay in touch with you, but we couldn't really get to you as your wife's army guarded you."

Catherine nodded, seemingly agreeing with Lily's family. To Lily, this showed her just how much Catherine had changed and grown over the years. Never before would Catherine have agreed with humans, yet here she was doing just that.

"It indeed seems like a cheap excuse," Betty sniffled. "But we didn't know what to do, we tried keeping up-to-date with anything involving you and your family just to get a glimpse of you."

"Whenever they would talk about the Mother Superior, I dropped everything to listen," John said. "Because I wanted to know if they would have harmed you or found you."

"We were so worried each time they would go on a hunt to find the Mother Superior," Betty sniffled. "We were terrified they'd harm you or our grandchild."

Lily looked down.

"No one will ever harm Lily," Catherine suddenly said. "I won't let that happen."

John nodded. "We know."

Catherine then nodded before looking at Lily.

Lily looked from her parents to Avan and Mabel, and their son. "Hey."

Mabel smiled, she was visibly happy to see Lily back. Julian smiled politely, he didn't know Lily or Catherine, but it was easy to assume he had been told some stories. Avan, however, didn't seem to react at all.

"I've heard about your problems," Lily started, gaining Avan's attention finally. "I'm sorry to hear that, I always thought you two were a lovely couple," She then smiled a bit. "When Emily told me you two were still together and even have a son together, I was so happy."

Mabel smiled a bit while Avan just looked at Lily.

"I know I hurt all of you by having a child with Catherine and getting married to Catherine," Lily gulped as she remembered the hard times in her past. "I didn't plan this to happen, I didn't intend to betray our kind or you all," She sighed deeply. "But I wouldn't change anything."

They all looked at her.

"I've learned over the years that worrying about other people's opinions isn't going to make life easier. I do care about you all and I love you a lot, but I can't stop my heart from loving someone else, can I?"

Catherine smiled a bit.

"I had to choose between my child and my girlfriend or my family," Lily shook her head. "And I hate that I had to choose because I would've loved for Emily to have grown up in the amazing family I grew up in."

"As I said before," John broke the silence of the family. "I was stubborn and stupid, I'm so sorry, Lily. I would love to be a part of your life and Emily's life," He then smiled a bit. "And Leon's life."

Lily looked at Catherine, who was smiling. And it made Lily smile too.

"We would love to be a family again too," Bill said to which Susan nodded in agreement. "Honestly, seeing you two like that confirms to me that love doesn't care about labels or prejudgments."

Lily nodded before looking at Avan and Mabel.

Mabel smiled. "I'll happily be a part of your life, Lily, you know that."

Lily smiled before looking at Avan, the person she probably cared the most about.

Avan sighed before looking down.

"I'm sorry for leaving, Avan," She started as she noticed he was clearly having a hard time. "I didn't want you to get in trouble because of me."

"I would've gone through those troubles for you, Lily," He sighed. "You know that?"

Lily slowly nodded. "I'm sorry."

He looked at her.

Lily showed him a small smile before getting up and opening her arms.

Avan hesitated at first but, with a gentle push from Mabel, he got up and hugged his best friend again. Finally, after 17 long years, he knew he had his best friend back.

Soon enough, the rest of the family joined in and hugged them too. And Lily, well, she finally felt the love her family had offered her during her childhood. She felt the family she knew and loved so much. And she knew things would finally change for the better.

________________________________

In the days that followed, things really did change.

Avan and Mabel would come by often to talk to Lily while Emily would show Julian around the huge house. Avan, Mabel, and Lily were pleased that their kids were best friends, just like they had been too.

When Lily's parents came by, they finally acknowledged Catherine as Lily's wife and not the Mother Superior. It took some time though, but they tried, and that's all Lily could ask for.

Lily's mother and Marianne surprisingly hit it off well as did Lily's father and Catherine. Both shared common interests. Lily's father even started giving Catherine advice on how to train her guards and use them in battle.

As for Emily, she finally gave the Bloodborn book to Jennifer so Jennifer could inform herself about all of their history. Jennifer, however, was very relieved she could skip the chapter about the Bloodborn form.

And in her free time, or whenever Jennifer would read in the Bloodborn book, Emily spent time teaching Leon her language. As little Leon, only aged 2 weeks, would already start speaking. 

We all know that Superiors grow up fast. Leon will grow up fast too and then it will be his turn to look and find his one true potential to delay the curse yet again. But, unlike before, he too won't have to deal with Bloodborn anymore. And maybe one day, he won't have to deal with those misplaced labels any more.

The end

_______________________________

Hey everyone

We've reached the end of this series, which took almost 3 years to be published completely. Thank you for joining me on this ride, I hope to see you on a different story :)


- LxT4ever