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The last few months had been a wild ride for Tiffany. More than the rest of the war combined, but now it was over. And against all odds, she was finally coming home.
It was a wonderful feeling, and scary. She was a traitor for killing the King. But he was a cowardly man that failed to follow the rules of war. Not a fraction of the man his father was. The country would recover. It just needed time. Time the Emperor was giving them with his aid.
But as her cape came into view, all of those thoughts fell away. She could imagine the boats floating at the docks. Hear the sounds of her men working. The sounds of the village, full of life and in full swing. She couldn't wait to set foot back on Kingspool soil.
Most of all, she couldn't wait to see her family. She had snuck off in secret, leaving Johnathan and Angel behind without warning. They were probably angry with her, but she hoped they would be happy to see her after being gone for almost four years. At least someone should be happy to see her.
It was a while longer until they were close enough to get off. The ship was too large to make it into port, so she was put on a small lifeboat, and a soldier rowed her to shore.
Seeing the boat had drawn in quite a curious crowd to the docks, hoping for something interesting. Seeing Tiffany, a silence fell over them all. The faces were a mix of shock and disgust that she had come back. Stepping on the docks, she waited for something, anything.
All that she was greeted with was her father telling her men to get back to work. She knew better than to think he would start caring now, but part of her had hoped.
Shouldering her things, she turned to thank the soldier only to see he had already started to leave. With a heavy sigh, she started walking. She looked up the hill to the small house on the cliff. Her home. Then started off the docks to a larger house just on the edge of it. Hopefully, it still felt like home.
There was no use knocking, so she stepped inside. Putting down her bag, she listened. There was the tell tale sound of jars clinking in the small room Johnathan used for medicine. Peeking in, she grinned. He was working while Angel sketched on one of the cots.
"Hey, you got a minute?" She asked softly.
Angel's head shot up when she heard the voice. After all this time, she hadn't forgotten. She was more than twice as old now at seven, her hair longer and just as dark as Tiffany's dirty blonde hair. She looked so much like Tiffany but with bright blue eyes instead of green. It was painful how much she'd grown.
"Taffy!" She screamed and dropped everything to rush into her arms.
Tiffany knelt down and scooped up her baby sister in her arms. "Oh Powers, I've missed you, Angie. You got so big!" Holding her tightly, she finally started to feel like she was home.
All the movement got Johnathan's attention. Looking up, he stalled, dropping the bottle in his hand. No matter how hopeful he had been when he heard the war was over, he wasn't expecting to see her so suddenly. Seeing her standing there, tears welled in his eyes. With long strides, he crossed the room to wrap his arms around them both.
And being wrapped up with her best friend and her sister, Tiffany sobbed. Johnathan had to ease them to the floor when her legs gave out. All the fighting and near misses had weighed heavy on her, but Tiffany had never forgotten this. Her family and the people that loved her as much as she loved them. She was home, and she never wanted to leave again.