Welco Ho
Floating on air, Leon’s voice broke the stillness, piercing past falling petals without pause.
Ho at last, he spoke without rushing.
A beat.
"My beautiful wives... and my cute maids."
Into the courtyard they drifted, each syllable quieting an old hum that had stretched too far.
A single motion swept through the group behind his back - knees t stone at once. Each figure bowed low without a sound, timing locked like breath held too long.
"We greet our queens."
Falling petals floated down - gentle, slow, without pause - touching skin, tangling in strands of hair, easing away whatever tightness remained in the streets. Breath returned to the sky above, like the city had waited long, finally allowed to let go.
A hush fell. Not a soul stirred.
A quiet tension pulled at Rias’s hands, gripping the leather straps tighter. Staring hard, her red gaze stayed locked on Leon, nothing else seeming real - the flags, the stone, the crowd - all gone blurry. Her mouth shook slightly, caught between stubbornness and sothing deeper, a pull she couldn’t na.
Words hung soft in the air, nearly silent. She spoke them low, though they landed on ears unseen. Not ant for a single soul - yet sohow heard by all.
Aria breathed in deep, eyes glinting violet under a quiet storm. Out ca a gentle laugh, slipping through before she had ti to pull it back. "Naturally," she said, words trembling like leaves. Just that - how he always put things."
Cold air caught in her throat as Cynthia touched her chest, just above the heart. Stillness held her face together, yet sothing gentle crept into her gaze - years of planning fading behind quiet relief. Waiting had worn thin, then cracked open.
Forward in the seat of her horse, Syra tilted ahead, a smile spilling before words ever did, her gaze sharp with light. A quiet "Wow" slipped out. Right to the center of it. Not one second wasted on easing in
A flicker at the corner of Kyra’s mouth gave it away as she glanced sideways. Quiet words slipped out: "Your face is doing that thing again.".
Overhead, light flickered where Nova stood still, her usual gaze drifting away from the open air. Wind moved through shapes above, yet none of that held weight at this instant.
Mia stopped breathing for a second. Her arms hung down, restless, like they were searching for an anchor that wasn’t there. Next to her, Cassidy didn’t move either - frozen in place by the sa silent realization creeping through them both: he had actually shown up.
Lira shut her eyes just briefly, silver eyelashes quivering. A mont passed before she looked up - and suddenly ti, space, that long pause between them, began to fade. Sona let go of tension stored deep in her fra, her blue stare softening into sothing calm, real.
A quiet breath escaped Natasha, the crack in her calm showing who she really was. Not if but when - he’d follow that path, she thought aloud, almost to herself. Right on schedule, his move ca without surprise.
Beyond their backs, the servants - Fey, Rui, Mona, Lena, Mira - remained still, fingers locked, gazes stretched wide. Staring ca easily to Chloe, wonder stamped plain on her features; yet Lilyn held her mouth tight, feeling dancing just beneath the surface of her amber eyes.
Stillness settled where words had been.
Floor level, so guards dropped to their knees.
A shape of stone rose at his back.
A city sat nearby, eyes open. It saw what happened next.
It didn’t make a difference. What happened just sat there, unchanged by wanting more.
Only Leon.
A quiet smile touched Leon’s lips - gentle, known well, impossible to mistake. Air grew lighter suddenly, like his grin had whispered it was okay to inhale deep. Up went one hand, then a snap, sharp but playful, cutting through the weight like sothing half-joking at a funeral.
"Where did you all get lost?"
A pause held them, just for a breath. Back it crashed - real again, sudden, too much to take in. The horses stepped sideways. tal groaned under movent. A laugh broke out, trembling at its edges.
A sound burst out of Rias, sharp and clear, as she swung off the mare without slowing. In three steps the space between them vanished, her body eting his like a gust catching still air. Her arms locked around his middle, holding as though he were smoke ready to drift away.
Her breath ward his collarbone as she spoke. Relief scraped her words raw when she said it. His chest took the weight of her brow without protest. How many years had that need waited inside her? The question hung like dust after a fall
A sudden warmth wrapped around her - Leon’s arms, sure and calm, holding just like she had for him, again and again. His lips brushed her forehead, soft, because speaking never helped much.
"I know," he said quietly. "I missed you too."
A shaky breath escaped Rias, sowhere between laughing and crying. Just far enough away now to see him clearly, she studied his face, her eyes bright, needing proof he stood there in front of her. Then ca another embrace, tighter than before. Only after that did she move to the side, offering a lopsided smile.
"Don’t think you’re getting away with only ," she said, glancing back at the others.
Aria was next.
Not far along, she moved with usual precision - slow, deliberate, regal even. Yet once their gazes locked, that steady mask slipped. A sharp intake of air ca first, then, closing the gap, her fingers twisted tight in his robe like she needed it to stay real.
Stillness filled the air as she stayed silent. Her head leaned on him, close to his heart. Sounds slipped through without words. A quiet kind of knowing settled in.
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