The bell above the door rang as Anya looked up, and saw her family flood into the small cafe. Isabel was clutching one of her fathers hands, while Eren sat atop one of his shoulders. Furlan ran through the door first, running up to Anya and hugging her before tossing his backpack on the ground behind the counter. Kuchel was on his heels, running right up to her mother and tugging on the ends of her apron until Anya bent down to meet the little girl's gaze.
"Mommy! Mommy school is so fun!" she exclaimed with a giggle, the same sweet smile she always had plastered on her face, the same smile that Anya knew by now meant that she had done something that she shouldn't have.
Anya raised an eyebrow and looked towards Levi, who was taking Eren from his shoulder and moving him to the ground, "is that so,"
Levi sighed, "Well, it was an eventful day - someone already started a fight, isn't that right Furlan?" He frowned as he looked towards Furlan, who nodded as he was rifling through his backpack, "and this little one," he started as he ruffled the Isabel's short-cut black hair, "is apparently 'too advanced for kindergarten' "
"It's all those medical books Nat reads to her," Anya sighed, as she picked up the smaller girl into a hug, "isn't that right sweetie?"
"Auntie Nat says that I'm her little miracle," Isabel pouted, "and that I have to grow up to be a doctor like her,"
Levi sighed, "You can grow up to be whatever you want,"
"No," Nathalie started as she walked in the door holding her son's hand in hers as Zeke held the door open above them, "she's going to be a doctor, and marry Tom," She looked down at the little boy, a book held to his face with the hand that wasn't holding his mothers, his brilliant blue eyes slowly reading the page as he puffed back his long blonde locks of hair with a breath. Nathalie and Zeke sat with him at one of the larger tables, where Furlan and Kuchel soon sat with them as Isabel tried to climb onto the chair on her own.
"How many times do I have to tell you, our daughter is NOT marrying your son!" Levi huffed, and helped his daughter up into the chair, and rolled his eyes, "Anyway, they want to put Isabel in a higher grade,"
Anya stood up, and wrapped her arms around him, gently placing her head on his shoulder, "And Kuchel?"
"Kuchel is the reason Furlan started a fight" He began, "She is apparently - 'outspoken to a fault'" Levi said, mocking the teachers tone, "which means she called a kid a 'shitty brat' for interrupting the teacher,"
"Why am I not surprised, though I wonder where she got that from," Anya sighed as she rolled her eyes, "What about Eren?"
"A perfect angel as always," Levi responded, "got along well with everyone, and did his work perfectly,"
Anya smiled as she looked around the table before taking a seat in Levi's lap, as his arm slipped around her waist and he planted a soft kiss on her cheek. She looked to the five children, Furlan and Kuchel arguing over what to have for a snack, Isabel quietly reading next to Tom, who was doing the same while occasionally asking his mother questions, and Eren, who was sat with crayons in front of him drawing a picture of what one could only assume was supposed to be a flower. She laughed softly at Zeke, who was dozing off to sleep with his head in his hands, and Nathalie, who was explaining medical jargon to both her son Tom as well as little Isabel.
She looked around at the small cafe they were now the owners of. Tin's of different teas lined the walls behind the counters, all on display and perfectly evenly laid out. A glass display case full of cakes was to the right of the small counter, and to the left were glass display trays of various baked goods that Anya had spent the morning baking while Levi got their children ready for their first day of school. The tables were all perfectly arranged, white linen table cloths and vases of freshly cut flowers from the garden Levi maintained adorning each one.
They had made that silly little childhood dream of thiers become their perfect reality.
She turned at the sound of the doorbell, and saw Sarina standing there with Hitch on one side of her and Connie on the other, as they each held an array of gift bags.
"I heard it's you lot of little terrors first day of school," Sarina smirked, "so we brought you some gifts,"
Anya grumbled as she stood up, and moved behind the counter quickly to start preparing everyone's drinks. Black tea for Levi, and coffee for the rest, with hot chocolate for the little ones. She watched as the children all opened their gifts - books for Isabel and Tom, an art set for Eren, and for Kuchel and Furlan there were matching outfits and toys. All of them excited and thankful for their gifts, and telling their aunties and uncle about their first day of school.
Anya sighed as she looked at her family - her husband and children, but also her sister with her partners, as well as her best friend with her husband and their child. Never, in her wildest dreams, could she have imagined that she would have all of this. All of this love, happiness, and warmth. Her perfect little family, and the people she considered family. She was lost in thought when she felt familiar arms slip around her waist, and the warm, chapped lips of her husband pressed to her cheek.
Ever since he came back into her life and they had those wonderful little children, her reality didn't hurt anymore. Her reality had become her dream come true.
"Oh my god, why are we doing this," Kuchel complained, her long white hair falling into her eyes as she slumped into the chair, "and why do we all have to match," she rolled her eyes as she looked from her own outfit to the ones her siblings were wearing - the exact same outfit - a collared shirt with black slacks and a tie all in different colours, pink for her, Furlan's blue, Isabel's purple, and Eren's green. Her mother in a white dress, and her father in a black suit. "I'm pretty sure this is a violation of the Marley-Eldia ethical convention of eight hundred an-"
"Because, your father wants a family portrait," Anya frowned as she looked at her daughter - aside from having her fathers eyes and nose, she was a spitting image of herself at 16.
Furlan clicked his tongue as he took his seat next to Kuchel. He had grown into a mirror image of his father, save from having his mothers eyes and deciding to grow his hair out slightly longer. "We have better things to do on our sixteenth birthday, Sarina said since we're old enough to drink she's going to take us to downtown,"
Levi cocked an eyebrow, "You are not going to get drunk tonight, are you?"
"No!" Eren cried out, as Levi tried to style his messy mop of brown hair into something presentable, "I couldn't imagine a better birthday than spending it with mom and dad! I'm staying home!"
Levi softly smiled at the sentiment, and ruffled his son's hair lightly - being careful not to undo the now neatly styled hair that took much too long to get perfect, "tch, well thank you, at least someone appreciates their parents,"
Isabel sighed as she adjusted the collar of her shirt, and double checked her own appearance in the mirror - an exact copy of her sister in everything except hair. Whereas Kuchel had her mothers white and kept it long, Isabel preferred to keep her jet-black hair short and out of her face. It was more efficient for her work in the lab, doing research alongside Nathalie and Tom, "excuse me father, I appreciate you and mother," She scoffed as she sat next to her sister, "and I will not be joining them in their escapades, I have important work to do at the lab tonight,"
" 'I appreciate you and mother' , ' I have important work to do!' " Kuchel mocked, "oh look at me, perfect daughter, miracle child, the favorite..."
Anya quickly slapped Kuchels arm while Levi gave the girl a disapproving glare, "you are all our little miracles -" Anya began,
"And we don't have favorites, you're all brats," Levi piped up, as he stood behind Anya and wrapped his arms around her tightly, "but, we love you all the same, so quit your shit and take the damn photograph,"
"Historia called today," Levi began, as he held Anya close in his arms while they laid on their couch together, "It seems Kuchel was - in her words - 'Made to be a lawyer',"
Anya laughed softly, as she reached her hands up into her husbands hair and stroked her fingers through the greying locks, "Well, she has been arguing since she could talk,"
Levi scoffed, "and Furlan has already been up the ladder, he's in charge of engineering for the New Eldian Military,"
"They both took after Sarina," Anya sighed, "One can't shut her mouth, the other can't stop making things,"
"He's in charge of making explosives," Levi added, "so he definitely took after Sarina,"
Anya nuzzled her face into his chest, "are they coming home for Izzy's wedding?" she asked, her tone defeated,
"Tch, Of course they are, those brats wouldn't dare miss it," he reached his hand up to her cheek, and used his thumb to cup her face, "Eren's coming home too, he said the university gave him a whole week off of teaching to be with family,"
Anya smiled as she looked up into those grey eyes she so adored, and had for so long. The eyes of the man she loved, and had loved since she was a child. The man she was so mercilessly taken away from for those twenty-two long years apart, the man who she had come back to and built so much with. A home and a family, built on the foundation of their love for each other. The children they raised and watched grow, fostering their interests and nurturing them with all of the love they had to give. They were both so proud of their children, and the lives they were living.
Kuchel, now the head of the New Eldian Empire's prosecuting courts. In charge of prosecuting war criminals and the worst of the worst that came before the courts.
Furlan, the top engineer for the New Eldian Empire and its chief developer of weapons with a speciality in explosives and technology.
Eren, who became one of the top artists in Marley and was teaching art at Marley's most prestigious university.
And Isabel, a child prodigy who finished her university studies while her siblings were finishing secondary school - at only 25, she was a top doctor in the hospital Nathalie was now in charge of.
"You know, Zeke called it," Anya let out a soft laugh, "he said his son would marry our daughter,"
Levi's face turned sour, "tch, thankfully Tom is nothing like that monkey,"
Anya chuckled at her husband's expression, and kept her eyes locked to his before pressing a chaste kiss to his lips - the same warm, dry lips she had kissed every day since they had been reunited. The lips she loved to kiss, tender and comforting.
He pressed their lips together again, this time kissing more passionately than the last. Their tongues danced as they sat there, wrapped up perfectly in each other's arms, her in his lap and them both clutching to each other needily.
He broke their kiss slowly, pulling back only to breathe. "I still can't believe I got so lucky, and you never left me,"
She looked into his eyes, so full of love and adoration for her. She couldn't believe it either, that in spite of everything they had faced - there they were, safe and warm and together wrapped in each other's arms, just as they had always wanted to be. She smiled, and gently caressed his face, a faint blush still on her cheeks as she felt him pull her ever closer, and lay a soft kiss on her lips.
He hummed into the kiss, and broke it with a sigh, "I love you, my Anya,"
"I love you too, my Levi,"
She looked out of the window, and could see the moonlight bathing their quaint living room. She could see the stars from the window, unobscured by building or sewer grates or dirt ceilings or even the clouds. She sighed, and took in all of it - the house they had made a home together, with photographs of their children lining the walls and a piano in the corner. The scent of freshly baked bread from dinner still lingering in the air, and most of all of her husband, her Levi, holding her there in his lap with her legs draped over his, a slight smile on his face, and not a hint of pain in his eyes.
It was truly their dream come true