The scream came simultaneously from both throats. Anna and Klein launched forward together, their movements synchronized by shared desperation.

Reinhard's arms opened wide while Anasha stepped back with a faint smile.

Anna and Klein crashed into him from either side.

Small bodies colliding with his chest as their arms wrap around his torso, faces pressing into his shoulders.

The impact nearly knocked him over, but he held firm, his own arms coming up to embrace them both.

"You are just coming home now! Only sending letters! Missing our New Year! Not taking better care of yourself! Not resting!" Anna's voice rose with each accusation, her words tumbling over each other in rapid-fire scolding. Her hands grabbed his jacket tightly, as if afraid he'd disappear if she let go.

"I'm so proud of you for working so hard! I hope you had fun at the Academy! You must have learned so much!" Klein's cheerful voice provided a counterpoint to Anna's complaints with a grin.

Anna's head turned toward Klein, and her hand shot out, fingers finding his cheek and pinching it. "We're scolding him first and then praising him!"

Klein squirmed from her pinching while saying. "But wouldn't it be faster to do both? You do the scolding and I do the cheering."

Anna's crimson eyes narrowed. "Wouldn't that just mean I get all the harsh lines and you get the good ones?"

Klein's smile widened, and he tilted his head. "But isn't that how it goes-"

Anna pinched both of Klein's cheeks simultaneously before her fingers dug in, making him squirm and yelp. "You little-"

It was then that laughter erupted around.

Reinhard's chuckle mixed with Marie's giggle, Joseph's warm amusement, and even Anasha joined in, her lighter laugh like bells.

Reinhard pulled Anna, Klein, and Anasha closer, all of them in his arms. "I missed the three of you so much. And I'm happy to be home."

Three voices answered in unison, slightly out of sync but carrying the same emotion: "We're glad you're home and missed you as well!"

…

The table was simple wood, scarred from use but clean. Reinhard sat at one end, his hands folded on the surface, while Marie and Joseph had claimed chairs along one side.

Anna, Klein, and Anasha occupied the other as they trembled in excitement.

"-and then Marie took us to this huge store!" Anna's hands gestured wildly, painting the air with invisible shapes. "It had everything! Food and clothes and toys and-"

"The toys weren't that interesting," Klein interjected, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "But the food section was amazing. They had fresh bread every morning and-"

"You're skipping ahead!" Anna's hand shot out, pushing Klein's shoulder. "We're still talking about when we first met Marie and Joseph!"

"But that part was boring," Klein protested, pushing back. "You cried for like an hour thinking they were lying about knowing Rein-"

"I did not cry for an hour!" Anna's face flushed, her crimson eyes shining with indignation. "It was maybe ten minutes, and I had good reason to be suspicious!"

Anasha giggled, her hand covering her mouth. "Anna did cry for a long time, though. She kept saying 'prove it, prove it' until Joseph showed her Rein's handwriting-"

"Which was obviously fake!" Anna's voice pitched higher. "His handwriting was all wrong! Too neat! Rein's handwriting is messy!"

Reinhard's lips twitched while his expression softened.

Klein seized the opening. "And then when they showed us the medicine they brought for me, Anna still didn't believe them until Marie mentioned Rein's wish-"

"Which anyone could have known!" Anna crossed her arms, her expression stubborn despite the embarrassment coloring her cheeks.

"It was very specific, though." Anasha added helpfully. "I doubt Rein would mention wanting to find the Elixir of Life to save Klein-"

"Okay, fine!" Anna threw her hands up. "That convinced me! Happy?"

Laughter echoed around the table as Klein's grin widened and Anasha's giggles continued. Even Marie was smiling, her light-gold eyes warm with fond memories.

"But then-" Klein straightened, his excitement returning quickly. "They told us about this place! About moving here! At first, Anna said no because she didn't want to leave-"

"Our home." Anna finished quietly. "Even if it was falling apart."

Reinhard's hand moved across the table, finding Anna's, and his fingers squeezed gently.

"But then Klein's curse got really bad one night." Anasha's voice came softer now, more serious. "And the cold was making it worse because of the holes in the walls. Marie and Joseph stayed with us that night to help-"

"Joseph's wind kept the cold out." Klein added, his own voice dropping. "And Marie's light helped with the pain somehow, making it easier to breathe."

Anna nodded, her fingers tightening around Reinhard's. "That's when I agreed. Because staying was stupid if Klein was getting worse."

"And then we came here!" Klein's enthusiasm surged back like a wave. "The journey was amazing! We took a carriage! A real carriage with those grey orbs! And Anasha had never been in one before, so she kept pressing her face against the window-"

"You did too!" Anasha protested, her cheeks flushing. "You kept pointing at everything we passed!"

"Because it was interesting!" Klein defended. "We saw so many things! Other cities and farms and-"

"And then we arrived and saw this building," Anna took over, her crimson eyes lighting up. "Three whole stories just for us. I thought they were joking at first, but then Marie showed us inside and-"

"Each of us got our own room!" Anasha's voice rose with remembered excitement. "Mine has a window that looks out over the street, and I can watch people walking by!"

"Mine has shelves for books." Klein added. "Joseph helped me organize them by topic and-"

"And mine is the biggest because I'm the oldest," Anna stated with satisfaction. "And because I need space for all my things-"

"You don't have that many things." Klein pointed out.

"I have enough things!" Anna's glare returned. "More than you anyway-"

"Children." Marie interjected before another argument could commence in amusement. "Maybe tell Rein about the fun stuff you did?"

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