"Goodbye lil' love." Giran says as he gives you a gentle squeeze with his arms around you, pulling away to cup your face gently in his large hands. "Ya know you can always come back ta see yer grandpaw, 'kay? I love ya."
"Love you too." You reply, leaning your face forward a little more into his hands.
He kisses your forehead, and lets you go to stand and pat Dabi's back, talking quietly to him. You hook your pinky finger around Dabi's wordlessly, holding your duck in the other hand as you look towards Zero and Aiko as they talk together too.
Aiko even hugs Zero, which impresses you a little bit, because you'd only ever seen Aiko hug Uncle Giran, and even then it was brief, but this one looked like a long one, and she's smiling at him really big when she pulls away.
Dabi and Giran finish up whatever conversation they were having quietly, Dabi telling him goodbye and calling him an old man again, and then leading you away from Giran's house to Zero's car.
You obediently get into the car, letting Dabi strap you in and pull on it to make sure it's tight enough around you. He kisses your head before closing the door and sitting in the passenger seat beside Zero, telling him to drive carefully, only to be told that Zero always drives carefully.
You sit quietly in the back for a while. You were pretty sleepy, and the monotony of sitting in the car and watching things pass outside was doing nothing to make you feel any more lively.
"Uncle Zero?" You ask after a while, looking at the sewn-up man's side profile from where you're sitting.
"Yes, Star?" Zero replies, smiling a little more at the sound of your voice, but his odd-coloured eyes remain on the road.
"Are you boyfriend and girlfriend with Aunty Aiko?" You ask.
"Star." Dabi snorts and rolls his eyes, smiling as he leans his cheek on his fist.
"What?" You question, frowning a little. "She gave him a long hug and she doesn't hug anyone."
"We're friends." Zero answers, glancing at you in the rear-view mirror. "I have no interest in being anyone's boyfriend."
"No-one ever?" You ask curiously. "Not ever?"
"I don't think so." Zero replies, still smiling.
You hum a little in response. "But what about when you're old? You have to get married."
"Star, no-one's gotta get married." Dabi chuckles. "Yer mom wasn't married."
"No, but she had boyfriends." You defend. "And she had me!"
"Alri', let me put it this way. Remember when I told ya boys can kiss boys an' girls can kiss girls?" Dabi asks, turning to pay you his full attention. "Some people don't wanna kiss anyone at all. An' all of that is fine."
"Maybe I'm like that too." You muse. "I don't like kissing."
"You ain't kissed a damn soul yet, an' if you had I'd be out there wringin' necks, kid." Dabi snorts. "Plus, you gonna look at me an' tell me you don't have a lil' crush on our Spinner?"
You splutter, your face heating up immediately. Zero doesn't seem to even really pay attention to the conversation, busy following Dabi's order of driving carefully. You wonder if he ever really stops smiling, because you'd never seen anyone as smiley and happy as Uncle Zero before.
Even though he isn't paying attention that you can tell, you still get embarrassed at the fact that Dabi had teased you for your crush on Spinner in front of him. You hadn't told anyone about it apart from Dabi, and you didn't want Zero to make fun of you too, even if Dabi was always being playful about it.
Eventually, you huff and turn your face away, staring out of the window and falling silent again.
You feel Dabi's eyes burning into the side of your face for a little while before he's turning even more and reaching to stroke your cheek softly.
"Did I upset ya, hon?" He asks, and you ignore him. "...C'mon, I was just playin'. Don't get all grumpy wi' your old man."
"It was a secret." You reply, your voice thick from tears unshed.
"I won't tell anyone, Star." Zero reassures. "If it'll make you happy, I'll keep it a secret forever. I won't even discuss it with you if that's what you want."
"You're not going to make fun of me?" You ask, looking at your uncle dubiously.
"Why would I?" Zero asks, tilting his head in confusion and looking at you again for a split second in the rear-view mirror. "Crushes are normal. Even at your age."
"Thank you." You whisper. "Love you, Uncle Zero."
Zero's face drops a little, going more blank like it does sometimes, but it only lasts a second before the stitched corners of his mouth turn upwards faintly again.
"I haven't learned that one yet, Star, but I like you too." Zero says in his usual calm tone.
"You're weird." You half-tease.
You don't know why he didn't just admit it, because he had to love you. After all, he hurt someone to get you back with the rest of your family, and you wouldn't do that for someone you didn't love.
Maybe he was just shy.
"Watch it, twerp." Dabi warns, but you can hear the smirk in his voice. "You feelin' better today, darlin'? You're chattin' a lot."
"I'm sleepy, but I'm excited to see Himiko, Atsuhiro and Spinner again." You reply, side-eyeing Zero to see if there's any kind of reaction from the man when you say Spinner's name, but his faint smile remains. "Is Uncle Jin home, too?"
"Not yet hon." Dabi replies, and then goes quiet for a while. "Hey, doll. Needta tell ya somethin'."
"What is it?" You ask curiously.
"Atsuhiro... Compress, he got arrested, like Kurogiri." Dabi tells you slowly. "He's not at home, either."
"Why?" You ask, your shoulders drooping. "Did he hurt someone, too?"
"S' a long story, darlin' girl." Dabi replies a little apologetically, peering at you. "Don't get too upset, m' sure we'll see him again soon."
You go completely silent this time, going back to watching the trees pass outside the window as Zero drives through the wooded area close to your home. You recognise it from all the other times you'd been driven through it before, and although you're excited to go home, and see everyone you'd missed so dearly, it is a little less exciting while knowing your pa, Uncle Jin and Atsuhiro are still missing.
You feel Dabi's eyes on you for a while, but he doesn't say anything more, he just lets you all sit quietly in peace for the remainder of the journey.
When you pull up, you wait for Dabi to tell you it's safe to get out of the car to undo your seatbelt and hurry out of the car. You're pretty tired, and would probably go to sleep when you were able to, but you were going to use the remainder of your energy to rush to see your family.
Apparently, the speed you're moving at isn't actually as fast as you feel like it is, because Dabi's managing to keep pace with you easily, with Zero walking at a relatively normal pace behind you both, keeping watch.
Dabi pushes the doors open for you, because you're too weak to do it alone, but the mansion appears to be silent. You take careful steps inside, looking around for any sight of life, embracing the sudden rush of relief that washes over you when you take in the familiar surroundings. Nothing had changed since you were gone.
Eventually, you hear footsteps, and see Tomura approaching with a confused frown pulling non-existent eyebrows together. His hair is so much longer than it was before, and even fluffier than it had been when you'd last seen him, you could tell even though it was all piled onto the top of his head in a bun.
His eyes fall on Dabi, and then on you for a second longer than they had Dabi.
"Tomura?" Dabi asks in disbelief.
"Where've you been?" He asks. "Who's thi-?"
"Pa!" You exclaim, summoning the strength to jog up to close the distance between you both, wrapping your arms around him, and pressing your face as hard as you can into his torso. "Dabi told me you were adventuring!"
"Star?" Tomura asks, as if he doesn't quite believe it.
"Mhm! I'm home now! Did you miss me?" You ask, looking up at him, meeting the wide eyes looking down at you. "I missed you!"
Tomura looks at you, visibly confused, and then at Dabi, and then at you again, the confusion slowly dissipating and being replaced with forced neutralism.
"Of course I missed you, Starlight." He replies, peeling you away from him to kneel in front of you, hands reaching for your face.
You yelp when he doesn't tuck any of his fingers into his palm though, or stretch them away like he usually would whenever he would touch you, and he pauses instantly, recognition flitting over his features.
"I have control of it now." He informs you calmly. "Look."
He presses one of his hands flat against the floor, but the floor doesn't crack or begin to show any signs of rotting. His eyes remain on you the entire time, drinking in the sight of you and taking note of every single detail. Feeling brave, you grab his hands and place them on your face, trusting him entirely even when he flinches slightly at your abrupt eagerness. But then his expression softens, and you feel his thumbs running along your cheekbones faintly, and then the tube taped to your face.
"You look different." He says.
"So do you, your hair's so long!" You reply, and then you realise something. "Your hand's better!"
"It is." Tomura agrees. "Why do you have a feeding tube, Star?"
"I didn't eat when I was in the hospital, so Nurse Wani put it in. And then I didn't eat when I was at Hawks' house either, so they put it back in even when I took it out." You explain while Tomura listens to you carefully, his thumbs continuing to coast back and forth over your cheeks. "I've been having lots of fruit shakes, because Uncle Giran couldn't get the special food for the tube."
"Hawks' house." Tomura repeats, but it sounds more like a statement than a question.
You nod. "I didn't like it there, they weren't very nice."
"I can see that." Tomura replies dryly.
You're overwhelmed with the emotion of seeing Tomura, even though you were prepared not to see him because of what Dabi had said. You feel overwhelmed and relieved altogether, and your body responds by making you tearful again, your tiredness probably not helping matters.
"I missed you so much, pa." You sob, and Tomura pulls you to him instantly, hugging you close with one arm around your waist, and his other hand placed at the back of your head, keeping you close to him.
"You could've text." Dabi says coldly from behind you.
"My phone was destroyed." Tomura replies calmly.
"She's tired and overwhelmed already." Dabi continues, his voice raising a little. "You can't just..."
Dabi doesn't continue, catching himself before he starts an argument in front of you. Instead, he picks up your duck plushie that had been so easily abandoned on the floor in favor of being held by your pa.
"Whatever. I'll change the sheets on your bed, Star, so it'll be nice an' fresh for your nap."
You don't reply, but even if you had, Dabi wasn't hanging around to listen to it, because you hear him pass you, with another set of footsteps following behind him, which you assume are Zero's.
You squeeze Tomura tightly, or as tightly as you can at least, and somehow he feels even firmer than you had the last time you'd seen him. He just holds you quietly, letting you cling onto him as you cry silently and wet his shirt with how he's holding your face to his shoulder.
"I missed you so much, 'Mura." You repeat. "It was horrible without you and pawpaw, I tried so hard to be bad enough to send me back, but they wouldn't. They just kept putting me to sleep, and they took my quirk away!"
"What." Is the one-word, dangerous response from Tomura.
"They put me to sleep because I kicked a few people and bit Endeavor." You sniffle. "And they took my quirk away because I kept making everyone sick."
"They took your quirk away."
"Mhm!" You sniff. "Will I get it back?"
"You'd better." Tomura replies, his voice still carrying a darkness to it. "And if you don't, I'll get you a new one."
For some reason, a dark chuckle seems to emanate from within his chest, but not really leave him. It's a little spooky, but you figure that maybe he's just sick and doesn't want to cough so close to you.
"You're silly." You giggle through the tears, and bury your face into his shoulder again.
He cards his fingers through your hair thoughtfully as you cling to him, refusing to let go of him like you'd refused to let go of Dabi when you'd been reunited with him, too.
"Your hair's pretty." You sniffle. "It looks like Zero's, except fluffier."
"Thank you, little Star." Tomura replies, leaning his cheek on your head.
"I'm a little tired." You admit.
"I'll carry you upstairs." Tomura offers immediately.
You're lifted off your feet with ease, even from how Tomura had been kneeling, and are carried with ease, your arms wrapped around his neck and his arms wrapped underneath your thighs to keep you stable.
"Can I nap in your room?" You ask halfway up the stairs.
"Of course you can." He replies calmly. "Would you like me to stay with you?"
You nod, tightening your arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "Thank you, 'Mura. Love you."
His scarlet eyes look down at you with a sadness you can't figure out the reason behind, and he kisses your cheek back softly, his dry and cracked lips scratching your skin there ever so slightly. He doesn't say the words back, but he rarely does. It was okay, you had learned to realise that he loved you back anyway from things that he did, so the words weren't always necessary.
He places you on his and Dabi's shared bed carefully, tucking you under the sheets like Uncle Giran does before climbing on top of the sheets next to you, lying with his hands interlocked on his torso, staring at the ceiling.
You turn onto your side and press your forehead against his arm, sensing that he didn't want to cuddle with you like Dabi would be so willing to, but still wanting to have some form of physical contact with him so that you can remind yourself that he's here, that you're home and safe.
You hope that Dabi comes to join you both too, wanting the comfort from both of your parents that you once used to have so readily, but hadn't received for maybe a month or so since being taken.
The whole time you had been away from them, you'd cried out for Dabi and you'd been desperate to be returned to Dabi, too. But you'd also missed both of them and the incomparable feeling of safety and adoration they brought you when you were with them both.
You're about to fall asleep, right on the cusp of nothingness when you just about make out the sound of the door to the room creaking open slightly, the sound just enough to make you stir awake again.
"You ain't stayin' in here alone with her." You hear Dabi hiss quietly, but it sounds distant and faint.
"I'm fine." Tomura whispers back. "I'm in control."
"I'm not fuckin' risking it, Tomura. She's been through enough already. Look at her." Dabi whispers.
"Come here too, then." Tomura whispers back, despite Dabi being a little bit mean to him, and sounding like he was trying to start an argument.
"You disappear an' just expect me to..." Dabi begins, his tone a little snappy, but he doesn't finish his sentence.
Instead there's a silence long enough for you to begin slipping fully into unconsciousness again, only to be pulled away from it once more by the feeling of the mattress dipping at the end of the bed as Dabi climbs beside you from the bottom of the bed, laying an arm over your torso protectively while you rest with your head pressed against Tomura's strong arm.
"Love you, pawpaws." You murmur sleepily.
You'd missed this. You'd missed them. You'd missed it all so much.
So often, while torn away from them, you'd try to imagine that you were where you are right this moment, safe between Tomura and Dabi, and would try to lull yourself to sleep pretending that. And now you were finally back where you were meant to be, safe between your dad who loved you so intensely that you found yourself not really even doubting it anymore, and his boyfriend who had gone from not liking you too much, to returning your words of love with little acts of his own.
You never wanted to be without them again.