Work Text:
~12th of June, 1945~
~Dear Diary...
Mamma and I are going to visit Papà in Porto Ceso today! We want to surprise his after the big fight, but Mamma looks worried...~
The train pulled into the station at Porto Ceso at exactly 10 in the morning, as it always does. Out stepped a woman the town hadn't seen since 1929; Anna Myers, now a well known journalist and investigator, though her hair was noticibly longer. Behind her stepped out a young girl who had the same blonde hair and face as her mother and the same eyes and smile as her father. She held her mother's hand, as she was told to do. The 2 then went into the station where Anna set their suitcases down on one of the benches. She wanted to stay here and wait for her husband, but she knew that her daughter is as restless as she was.
"Helen, dear, do you want to go around and see Porto Ceso?" Anna asked her daughter.
Helen gasped softly. "Can I really, Mamma?" She asked, excitement already bubbling in her little 8 year old body.
Anna nodded. Helen was mature for her age, knowing what she could and couldn't do and not doing anything bad. Helen smiled widely, hugging her mom tightly before running out of the station and going into Porto Ceso.
~~~~~~~~
Helen went around most of Porto Ceso, taking in the beauty of the place where her father had grown up. Without seeing where she was going, she bumped into an older man, falling to the ground. The man, who was Giuseppe Cozzi, turned around, seeing the girl who had bumped into him on the ground. He was about to scold her, but something made him pause. Her face was similar, and so were her eyes. The girl then stood up, brushing dust off of her dress. "I'm so sorry, Signore, I wasn't watching where I was going. I promise it won't happen again!" She said, giving the man a smile that he recognised.
"... What's your name?" He asked, unable to stop himself.
"My name is Helen Affini-Myers, Signore. Why do you ask? The little girl asked, her little head going to the side in curiosity.
Affini-Myers? No wonder she looks and sounds so familiar to Cozzi.
"Are your parents Anna Myers and Luigi Affini?" Cozzi asked, though he already knew the answer.
Helen nodded. "Do you know them, Signore?"
Cozzi cracked a rare smile. "Your father used to work under me in the Police." He waved his hand towards the station. "Ah, but where are my manners. My name is Giuseppe Cozzi, its nice to meet you, Helen." He held out his hand.
Wonder sparked in Helen's brown eyes as she shook Cozzi's hand. "You're... You're Officer Cozzi?" She asked, breaking out in a wide smile when Cozzi nodded. "Mamma and Papà told me a lot about you! Is it true that there used to be a legend about the Walking Dead here?" Helen couldn't help herself. She got her curiosity from her mom, and Cozzi could tell.
They talked for a bit, with Cozzi telling Helen stories about what had happened in town when her mother had visited them.
~Meanwhile, at the station...~
Anna paced nervously, her heels clicking against the floor of the station anxiously. It was already half past 12, and Luigi's train was meant to arrive nearly an hour ago. She started worrying that something had happened to him, to his train, or that he didn't live the war... No, she can't think that, Luigi is strong, he has to live, for her and Helen.
Thanks be to God, a train pulled into the station just then. Soldiers started filing out, many of which staying on the platform and waiting for the train that'd take them hom. Anna scanned the crowd, hoping to spot the love of her life. But when the last man left the train, Anna's shoulders slumped.
That was when a pair of strong arms hugged her from behind. She turned to see her darling husband, some cuts and bruises on his handsome face, but he was in one piece. She turned around and hugged Luigi tightly. "Don't do that ever again, you idiot!" She told him as tears of joy filled her eyes.
Luigi merely chuckled. "Of course, Cara Mia." He said before lightly kissing the top of his wife's head, thankful to see her.
They stood there for some time in each other's arms,
Helen and Cozzi were going down to the station, wanting to wait for Luigi with Anna. Just as they made it to the gate to the Cliff Road, they saw a couple leaving the station; a woman with Helen's hair and face and a man with Helen's eyes and smile. Anna and Luigi.
Helen only saw her dad in person when she was a baby, but her mom showed her photos of her dad. She ran up to him without hesitation. "Papà!" She called out. Luigi went down on one knee, opening his arms wide as his daughter hugged him tightly, as if he had never left.
The Affini-Myers family was whole again after 6 years and a world war.