Chapter Text
'Now that I think about it, it's been more than three days since I've received any calls from the shopkeeper. Could something have happened? I'm starting to get worried!' Yor reflects while scrubbing some plates, glasses, and utensils left over from lunch.
'Worse! What if they've discovered something?! Oh no, no, no!' Imagining such a possibility sends a chill down her spine, and in her distress, she quickens her movements. 'Calm down, Yor! If something had happened, he would’ve told you! Right?'
Without her noticing—since she's too lost in thought—Anya approaches the sink, yawning.
"A-Anya!" Yor jumps, startled, and drops a glass. Her reflexes kick in, and she catches it just before it shatters on the floor.
"Phew! That was close."
"Sorry, mama! I-I didn’t mean to scare..." Anya’s eyes start to fill with tears. "... you! Wah!!"
"Don’t cry!" Yor picks her up. "It was all my fault, okay? I was too distracted and didn’t notice you’d woken up. I just need to pay more attention, that’s all."
'Because of all this anxiety, I nearly hurt Miss Anya! What if that glass had fallen?! She’d probably be covered in cuts right now. Oh, how terrible!' As this thought crosses her mind, Yor tightens her embrace, as if trying to protect Anya from an unseen danger.
"C-Cuts? WAAAH!!!"
"Calm down, sweetie! Everything's fine." She gently strokes Anya's head, soothing her until she stops crying. "So, what did you want to tell me, hm?"
"Anya wants a glass of water!"
"I’ll get it for you, okay?"
"Uh-huh!"
After getting what she wanted, Anya says goodbye to her mother and heads back to her room.
"Already? That’s strange, she's usually so full of energy. The outing with her classmates yesterday must have been quite fun, hehe," she chuckled softly.
"I wonder if there’s anything good on TV?"
After finishing her chores, Yor decided to settle in front of the screen.
"The house is so quiet. Don’t you think, Bond?!" she asked the dog lying on the rug at her feet. He responded with a soft bark as if agreeing. Yor stroked him.
"Where could Loid be?" Her thoughts began to trouble her again. Suddenly, an image of Fiona appeared in her mind. "Could it be... no, Yor!" She shook her head in denial. "Don’t even think about it! Remember what he told you after that tennis match?! Just... don’t." Lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t realized she’d stopped on a craft channel.
"Hello, dear viewer! Welcome to channel 58. Up next on the program: embroidery, crochet, and sewing—crafts that have become the pastime of many homemakers, and even some men: Meet people who have turned these arts into true therapy, here on Kate’s Atelier..."
"How interesting! If I’m not mistaken, that’s what the girls were talking about on Monday." Yor let her thoughts drift, taking her back five days.
"Oh! I’m so excited about this new hobby, Sharon! It’s going to be amazing! My pieces will be the most beautiful in all of Ostania, you can bet on it."
"What’s it called again?" Sharon interrupted herself to take a drag from her cigarette for the fourth time. "You’re so enthusiastic that even I’m getting curious."
The woman responded with a coldness her colleagues had grown accustomed to.
"It’s crochet, Sharon! And it’s not the same as sewing or embroidery, got it?" Sharon nodded. "And you, Camilla? Thinking about becoming a craftswoman too?"
"Well, it’s becoming a trend here in Berlint, that’s for sure."
"No. I prefer to stick to cooking. After all, I’m great at it," she said with a smug tone, trying to show off and throw a subtle jab at Yor, who was right beside her, writing and signing some paperwork.
Mind you, it wasn’t that the three of them cared much about Yor’s presence at the time—they loved ignoring her—they just decided to be “less mean” for once. Luckily, Yor paid no attention to it, as she had more important things on her mind, like the request the shopkeeper had made earlier that day.
"Hey, Yor! Thinking of starting a hobby?"
"..."
"She’s completely zoned out of our conversation again," Sharon grumbled to the others before stubbing out her cigarette in an ashtray. "Yor!"
"A-Ah, hey, girls! Sorry I’m not paying attention, I’m working on a really important document right now, I have to get it done by today."
She was completely focused on the old typewriter.
"Come on, we’re on a break! Take a pause!" said Millie, looking a little upset.
"Sorry, but I’ve got fifty pages to get through, and I’ve been putting this off since last week, haha," she let out an awkward laugh.
"Fine, ugh," she rolled her eyes. "Back to the topic, even if you stick with cooking, check out ‘Kate’s Atelier’ on channel 58, Cami! It airs every Sunday at 1:00 p.m. That’s where I discovered crochet, and she talks about all sorts of different crafts. You should watch too, Sharon! You might find something you like."
"Hm. I’ll think about it."
"I’ve got nothing better to do, anyway."
"Yay!" Millie smiled. Sharon and Camilla remained neutral, even in the face of her cheerful expression.
The town hall bell rang, signaling that the employees should return to their posts. The trio grumbled as usual and then returned to their seats with bored expressions, while Yor remained focused. "I need to finish this before 5:00 p.m. I won’t let you down, dear shopkeeper."
"We’re back from the commercial break!"
Katellyn Ruschel’s voice on the TV interrupted our protagonist’s train of thought.
"Hey, are you feeling impatient?"
"Yes?"
"Feeling anxious? Stressed about work? Are your daily problems overwhelming you?"
"Oh, don’t even get me started..."
"I’m sure many of you can relate, so why not try something new? An activity that becomes your mental refuge, "A calm amid the storms? That’s exactly what these people have started doing. Our reporter, Suyane Fischer, interviewed two of our many viewers, Betty and Simon. Simple folks, just like us, who turned the art of sewing and crocheting into a form of home therapy—a pastime that’s spreading all over Ostania. Roll the footage, Fred!"
"Wow. Since it’s helping so many people going through the same struggles as me, why not give it a try, right? It might even be fun, like Millie said!"
Yor brightened a little. After all, she deserved a mental break—something that had become clear to her after the near accident earlier. She picked up a few magazines from the living room shelf. It was true that Yor didn’t really care about these things, but Loid always made a point of staying up to date. He was constantly buying newspapers and refreshing the magazines around the house.
"Hobbies, pastimes, therapy, stress, anxiety, hm..." she repeated the keywords aloud as she flipped through the pages, trying to find something relevant.
"Here! ‘Thinking of starting a hobby but have no idea where to begin? We at Ostania Today have created a catalog to help you.’"
Yor ran her left index finger down the list, noting the brief description of each activity below the name.
"Jigsaw puzzles? No, I need to put my head together, not take it apart... drawing? Nope... gardening? The plants would probably die before I could do anything… photography? Not a chance… collaging? Interesting..."
The description explained that with collaging, you could create wall art, decorate your space, edit photos, or even make an album, but not just any album: a more playful one, where you could add stickers, cut the photos into any shape you liked, write dedications, and even turn it into a diary of sorts, among other things.
"Well, I’m good at cutting, and I love happy memories. Not to mention, our family has lots of photos together. I think this is the perfect therapy for me!" Yor said excitedly. "I’ll write down the materials I need and head to the stationery store right now before it closes!"
Heading excitedly to the stationery store, which wasn’t far from the apartment where the Forgers lived, Yor carried a discreet pouch containing money.
"Alright, what do I need..." she muttered to herself as she looked quickly at the scribbled note, already inside the store. "Let’s start with the stickers!"
Grabbing a basket near the entrance, Yor began walking through the establishment, which, due to its size, almost resembled a supermarket. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, she managed to find nearly all the supplies, except for one thing: the scrapbook. Stopping in the notebook aisle, Yor searched for one that suited her.
"Aha! Got it. And... done!" She crossed off the last item on her list with a red pen. "I can’t wait!"
She headed to the front of the store and walked to the cashier, where a young woman, who appeared to be around twenty-three, greeted her. She thanked the girl and left the store.
When Yor arrived home, Bond greeted her calmly. The house was still quiet, meaning her husband hadn’t returned yet, and Anya was still asleep.
"If this is supposed to be like therapy, it needs to be done in a completely calm and quiet place." Following that logic, Yor went to her room and organized her desk, aligning everything neatly.
"All set. Wait, something’s missing..." she said, looking confusedly at the desk. "Of course! My goodness, Yor! How are you going to make collages without the photos?! Let me go get them."
As she left the room, another thought struck her.
"Where did the camera end up last time?" Yor pondered, trying to jog her memory. "Oh, that’s right! Loid said he’d keep it in his room..."
She couldn’t quite recall why, but just seeing his bedroom door at the end of the hallway gave her a peculiar feeling.
"And now? I can’t just go in there..." Yor swallowed nervously. It felt strange to be so anxious about entering someone’s room, but Yor was a woman of extremes.
'But if I don’t go in, I won’t be able to do what I want. Courage, Yor!'
"O-Ok, it’ll be quick! I’ll open the door, locate the camera as fast as possible, grab the photos, then put the camera back exactly where it was and close the room."
With this plan in mind, she approached the door as if she were about to steal honey from a hibernating bear. Opening it cautiously, she peeked through the gap and entered, quickly grabbing the camera. She opened the compartment where the photos were stored, took out a few, and carefully placed the object back in the same spot as before.
"Loid's room is surprisingly normal. Why does he make such a big deal about it?"
Her eyes lingered on the bed, which led her to wonder what position he slept in. Her face turned bright red as she realized where her thoughts were going.
"A-Ah, I’d better get out of here!"
Yor quickly closed the door, her heart racing. Returning to her room, she tried to make herself as comfortable as possible in her chair, stretching her fingers and relaxing her neck.
"Let’s get started! Which photo should I pick first?" Yor asked herself, looking at the scattered pictures on the table with some uncertainty. "These."
She picked up three photographs: one of herself, one of Anya, and the last of Loid, all dressed in costumes.
"That day..." she sighed happily, as fond memories filled her mind. Yor flipped the photos over, each one showing a date on the back. "If I’m not mistaken, that was during last year’s Children’s Day festival. Miss Anya looked so adorable in that costume!"
Yor glued the memory right in the middle of the page, placed colorful tape on each corner to decorate, drew some cute little flowers around it, and filled the page with peanut stickers. In the end, she wrote a small dedication:
"One of the many memories of my little angel, Anya, dressed in a peanut costume. We were celebrating Children’s Day at the amusement park here in Berlint. Everything was so funny; I remember we came home exhausted that day, but it was so worth it. With my family, everything is always worth it. To the little five-year-old who changed my life."
She smiled genuinely as she looked at the finished page. Moving on to the next, she picked up the photo of Loid. Yor couldn’t hold back her laughter seeing him dressed as a teddy bear.
"Hahaha! It’s always so strange to see Loid being spontaneous like this."
She glued the photo onto the paper and repeated the same process as before, this time using shades of brown and bear-themed stickers.
"This was the first time I saw Loid so free and excited, even joining in on the fun with the two of us, which, truth be told, is so unlike him. I know he’s a kind, chivalrous, and honorable man, but this time, he truly surprised me. It’s in these small, everyday acts that I see Loid as a father who loves Anya deeply and would do anything for her. Their bond is so strong that I sometimes get emotional, which reminds me of myself and Yuri. Seeing these moments stirs a desire in my heart to be a better mother, more present and loving with Anya every day. He’s an inspiration to me. After all, we are the Forgers, aren’t we?"
After finishing the dedication about your husband, Yor glanced out the window beside her.
"What a beautiful sunset! It would be a crime to keep this window closed." As soon as she opened the curtain, a gust of wind blew through the room, sending a few photos flying to the floor.
"Oh no!"
She managed to catch them before they were lost or slid under the furniture. Among the many photos, four caught her attention. Her face flushed as she gazed at them with a tender and dreamy expression while returning to her chair.
"What can I say about these?" Yor chuckled shyly. On the back of each one was a date, along with the name of a specific season.
"Autumn, winter, summer, and spring. Each photo is a memory of a moment with Loid. How could I forget?!" She laughed. "Sorry, past Yor, but I have to record these first!"
She flipped through the notebook pages, trying to find the best layout to paste the winter photo. Yor took a deep breath, sighing. In the photo, Loid was holding her by the waist, both of them leaning backward on an ice skating rink.
"That was in the winter, on January 23rd," she said aloud, making sure to mark the date.
That day was incredible. I remember a few months before our date, in December, all the news channels started announcing the opening of an ice skating rink in the center of Berlint. As soon as Loid read about it in the newspaper, he made me a promise...