Chapter Text
They were overjoyed to hear that their beloved Ajax would be returning within the next week. How could they not be? It had been ages since he had last returned to visit them in Snezhnaya. They began their usual preparations a few days before his scheduled arrival. His mother barked orders around the house, demanding that it was to be spotless, that no one wanted to return to a hog pen of a house. His father touched up on their fishing rods, hoping that perhaps they could ice fishing, even if it was just once. His siblings all worked together under their mothers guidance to restock their food storage, so that they would be able to cook his favorite meals upon his return.
Then, the fated day was upon them. They all hurried to the harbor, and waited anxiously for the first sign of his ship. It took a while, before the ship pierced through the morning mist. It lumbered along the icy waters until it came to a slow stop at the dock. A low sound blared in their ears, announcing its presence to all of the passersby here and fro. At once, Teucer and Tonia clamored over each other to race to the bow of the ship, giggling and yelling, not even bothering to conceal their excitement. Their mother hurried after them, Anthon perched upon her hip, with the rest of her family on her heels. They slowed to a stop behind the two, and watched with wide eyes as the ship crew began unloading crates and travelers alike from the ship. The family stared with wide hopeful eyes as their gazes followed each person that past by them. The mother lost count at how many people passed by them, and as she saw two Fatui members herding the last of the travelers off the ship, she felt a sinking feeling deep in her stomach. Before she had time to react, Teucer grasped the coat of one of the agents, frowning up at him.
“Where's my big brother, Ajax?” He asked before looking at the ship with clear desperation on his face. “He should still be on the ship!”
The feeling in her stomach gave way to dismay at the look on the Fatui’s face. His lips pursed into practiced neutrality.
“Im sorry kid, I can’t say I recognize the name. Is he perhaps scheduled for the next ship?” He reasoned.
The mother stepped forward to whisper in his ear. “He goes by Tartaglia among the Fatui… He said he was supposed to be arriving with this ship?”
She pulled back and watched his face light up in recognition. But, it was soon followed by something she couldn't read.
“I… I'm sorry. But I assure you, he isn't on this ship. Please, wait for the next one. Perhaps he was delayed?”
It was not as if they had much more of a choice. So instead, as the clouds gathered above them, they found a bench not far off to wait in anxious silence. She had expected her youngest children to begin bombarding every passerby for information on his whereabouts, or to even begin demanding that they find out his exact location. But for once, they sat quietly, fidgeting with their coats. The mother returned her gaze to the dock. It's not like it hasn't happened before. Sometimes work called him at the last minute, and he would be on the boat before he could send word that he would be late. Other times the boat, as they said, was simply late. But as the next boat arrived, and unloaded itself with more or less the same results, she couldn't stifle the anxiety rising in her chest. They reluctantly went to eat at a food stall. As her children wolfed them down, she found herself without an appetite. She forced herself to finish the food, feeling the empty pit in her stomach, as well as her husband’s eyes on her.
The longer they waited, the more her own fears seemed to be coming to life. It wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked over to see her husband’s comforting gaze, that she saw the skies had shifted into a purple hue behind the clouds.
“I think it's time we head back.” He suggested before adding, “I'm sure there’s a letter waiting for us back home.”
She nodded slowly, hope flickering in her eyes. That's right. They had been here all day, so they could have easily missed a letter from him. And so, they gathered up the reluctant children, and made their way back to their home. Teucer raced up to the mailbox the moment it entered his field of vision, grabbing the letters from inside and began hastily flipping through him. As she caught up to him, she watched as his eyes began to slowly widen in dismay, and her heart dropped. Tonia snatched the stack from him, and began to furiously flip through the mail like he had, before turning to her, worrying, setting into those big blue eyes.
“Theres… There's nothing here Mama!” Tonia’s lip trembled as her gaze fell, “None of them are from him…”
As she trailed off, each of them passed a look at the other. This was very unlike Ajax. But, there was nothing they could do at this point, except for haul themselves past the threshold of their front door. Her husband lit a fire, as they all crowded the sofa to collect their thoughts, and to process the possibilities of what this meant. They looked up at the sound of her husband’s voice.
“It's going to be alright. I'm sure there is a logical explanation for all this. He must be busy, and the letter has yet to arrive!” He assured me with a smile on his face.
They nodded in agreement, before dispersing for the night. The next day came, with a fresh layer of snow coating the trees and the ground. They waited. Hours became days, and days became weeks. A month dragged by with no word from Ajax. It was getting harder to distract the children from this fact, and as more time passed, the more anxiety began to set in. The fresh food was eaten. The fishing rods were put away. The children made regular trips to the docks. Her eldest child, Alexei, had recently begun to report to her and her husband about how suddenly Fatui seemed unusually hesitant to speak about her son.
It was as if that was the final piece to the puzzle she had been too scared to solve. As night set in, she sat by the fire, clutching Ajax’s old scarf to her chest, trying to do anything to ease the overwhelming dread that had set into her chest over the past few hours. Her husband wasn't looking at her, instead he poked at the fire as he sat beside her. The windows rattled as the wind battered and howled through the cracks, making the house creak and groan.
... Knock.. Knock, knock, knock…
She almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of the hesitant knocks at the front door. Her husband must have too, because she felt the old sofa lurch from the movement. They shared a look, unsure of who it could be. There was a blizzard raging outside for heaven's sake! It didn't take someone from Snezhnaya to know that stepping outside in this weather would mean catching their death! It wasn't until the knocking sounded once more that it fully registered in her mind that someone was currently outside, on their doorstep, in a blizzard, making her leap from her seat to rush to the door, bracing it against herself to prevent it from slamming against the wall from the force of the wind. The sheer cold forced her eyes shut at first, but she forced them open to peek at their unexpected visitor. And as she did, she couldn't stop herself from crying out,
“Ajax!!”
A tall, lanky figure stood before her. Seemingly unbothered by the cold. The tell tale ginger hair was a stark contrast to the white snow surrounding them. His red scarf whipping in the wind behind him as his gaze landed on her. She gave him no time to speak, grabbing him by the forearm to tug him inside, slamming the door shut behind him, making his eyes widen in surprise. A cry of joy sounded behind them, and she felt the youngest of her children dart past her to tackle him onto the floor. The commotion must have roused them from their slumber. She herself joined them, pulling him into her arms, tears brimming in her eyes as her children sobbed into his clothes. Something however, brought her to her senses. She couldn't place her finger on it, but something didn't seem right… And so, she brought her eyes up to meet his. But as she opened her mouth to speak, Teucer beat her to it.
“Ajax where were you?! Why didn't you write back?!” He demanded, beating a small fist against his arm.
Teucer had sent out not one, not two, but three letters, all of them demanding to know what was keeping him from them. To which all of them received no reply. Ajax gazed at him steadily before his usual smile spread across his face, making her sigh in relief.
“Aha! My apologies! I had some unexpected business to attend to, and well one thing lead to another, and I was relocated. So, I don't think I received them. I'll make it up to you, promise!”
His mother helped him up. “Well! You are still in big trouble for not sending any word! Do you know how worried all of us have been??”
“Ahh I suppose I should have expected this.. What will my punishment be then?” He laughed
“We can talk about that later! Are you hungry? You must be. I’ll get something for you, go wait at the table.” She turned to her eldest, “Alexei? Go get him a blanket! He’s freezing!”
They nodded and disappeared out of the hallway. She let go of Ajax and hurried to the kitchen, lighting the stove and raiding the cabinets in what her family called her “Host frendzy”. She wasn't going to make anything special. Just a simple stew to get him warmed up. She heard a chair screech and glanced over to watch her son seating himself at the table. In the background, her husband was making his best attempt to herd the other children back to their rooms, claiming that they didn't want to overwhelm him and they could bombard him all they wanted when he woke up in the morning. Ajax watched them with an emotion she couldn't recognize. Slowly, he looked back at her. It was then she noticed the red markings beneath his... Amber eyes? Eyes like Cor Lapis that glimmer in the firelight. He smiled at her
“Its good to finally be home…” He sighed, the smile making his eyes crinkle much like his father’s would.
It had been… a long time.. Since she had seen a genuine smile on his face. It made her smile in return.
“It's good to have you home my dear.” She paused, her lips forming a frown.
“Is something the matter, mama?” He asked, tipping his head.
She snapped out of her thoughts, and smiled again. “Those red marks are new~ may I ask what prompted this bit of fashion?”
She expected him to smirk, and go into another tangent about the trends he came across. Or to do something other than look at her with surprise. As if, he never realized they were there.
“Ah, these? Just a small trend in Liyue.” He explained
She frowned as he waved a hand dismissively. Instead diving in to ask her about how things had been at home. His usual squirming, and watching her with careful eyes. Continuing to talk even as she turned her back to him to finish cooking his meal. Nothing was out of the ordinary…
And yet… She couldn't help but feel like something was off about him...