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Yor couldn’t believe her eyes when she awoke one morning.
She and her adoptive child woke up one day to food left on the table for breakfast and a note saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back but I’ll be home late” signed by her husband. They both found it strange, but didn’t comment on it. Instead, they went on with their day, with Yor bringing Anya to school then heading to the Berlint City Hall.
Little did they know that when both would get home from work and school, they would never hear from the patriarch of their household. Somehow, Yor felt as if this would happen someday. She didn’t want to believe her gut at first, thinking that Loid was different and that he really, genuinely, cared about the small family they had.
She
thought
the feeling was mutual. At least, deep down, she hoped it was because she knew it would break her heart if it wasn’t. This family was the only family she had aside from Yuri. She felt safe and comfortable in this home, being a wife and a mother to Loid and Anya respectively. From caring about the both of them, she started to love them. Most especially, romantic feelings for her husband started to arise. Yor always admired the hardworking and persevering nature of Loid; she thought it to be quite charming. And she started to notice every little gesture he did; she began to love the way he showed a gentle smile or the little ways he would show that he cares through his actions.
But as days turned into weeks that turned into months passed by, both Yor and Anya knew that he would never come back home as much as they wanted him to. Anya, of course, knew this was ultimately going to happen, but she couldn’t help but still be sad that she wouldn’t be seeing him again. She noticed that it devastated her adoptive mother even more, she could hear her thoughts, begging for him to come back.
On one fateful day, it surprised Yor to find a white envelope that seemed to be slipped under the front door of their apartment. On the front, there was a name she never thought she would see again.
From: Loid Forger
To: Yor Briar Forger
Yor rubbed her eye with the hand she didn’t use to hold the envelope in hand. She gently brought the envelope close to her heart, not knowing whether or not this was a prank and one of her neighbors just wanted to see her reaction. She didn’t know how to react, but she knew what she felt.
She missed him. More than she would ever admit to anyone. His absence left a cold place in her heart that she couldn’t seem to thaw, no matter how hard she tried. She traced his name over and over again, almost having the childish belief that if she rubbed it enough he would come back to her.
Hoping he would come back home.
Dear Yor,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. I'm sorry it's taken so long to write this to you and there's no excuse to justify the wrongs I've done to you and Anya. I am most likely the person you wouldn’t want to hear from, but I hope you are able to at least read until the end of this letter.
I know we married for the convenience and benefits, but I do want you to know that our marriage became more than that to me. Overtime, I got to know the person I’m bound to. I recognized your strength and beauty in every action that you do. I see as you move with grace and how your kind heartedness tolerated so much suffering in your life. Your resilience and grace are very moving, and it made me fall for the person that you are. Your smile can brighten even the darkest of nights and give hope to the darkest of souls.
Even with your shortcomings, I would not change a single thing about you and I love you all the same.
It was never my intention to fall in love and become attached to our family only to leave so soon. But when it happened, I meant to stay and I wished it could happen. The reason for it will never be enough, and I wish I had a choice on the matter but there are forces beyond my control. And still, if or when it is all over and I am free, I want to be able to return in your arms if you so wish the same.
I’m sorry I wasn’t enough to stay. I wish I could explain it all to you, but I’m afraid it could put you and our daughter in harm’s way. It’s too much to ask for you to understand and not think negatively of me, but there is no other way. As much as I would want to tell the one I love the truth, I don’t want to endanger you. I apologize for being so secretive from the start and until the end, even if I hope this wasn’t the end of us.
Yor could not stop the tears streaming down her face, leaving a puddle on the spot she crumbled to on the floor. She never wanted to be separated from him in the first place and now it’s even harder that she knows that what she had with Loid could’ve been real.
No, what they had; this family, and more importantly, this love is real. It always has been. She knows this now that she’s read his letter.
Needing a release, Yor got up on her feet and scrambled for a blank paper and pen.
Dear Loid.
I don’t know how this would even reach you. I have no idea where you are and how you’ve been. I don’t have any means of contacting you.
But these are things I wish I could tell you.
I would give anything for you to come back.
I miss how it was like; how everything seemed complete when you were still here. Anya misses you and I know she wants to see you again. Sometimes, she asks me if I know when you’re coming back and I never knew what to tell her. If I ever admitted to her that I knew you wouldn’t come home would make me believe that you really are never coming back. At least now, I know for sure that you won’t. At least now I know I’ll never see you again and that your delivered letter on the doorstep of our house is the last thing I’ll ever receive from you.
Yes, this is still your home if you want to come back. Or rather, if every word is to be believed in your letter, you can come back.
And I’ll be here wishing that you will. So please if you can, come back to me. Come back to your family.
Yours, forever and always,
Yor Briar Forger
She packaged the small paper with the usual white envelope, leaving it in the mail without labeling it with a name or address. She knew her letter would never get to him, but if fate still brought him to her she would be eternally grateful. All she had to do now was hold on to his word and believe he would still be able to come back.