Mid-Valora, 1527
The day Theo returns to Mistveil is a quiet one, with the sun just beginning to set over the hills. Nova stands at the edge of the village, her heart pounding as she watches the road. She's dreamed of this moment for so long, imagined it in so many ways, but nothing could have prepared her for the reality. She had spent most nights restless, tossing and turning since Sirius' last letter telling them he was to return. Nova had known that Leo had gotten her letter but she hadn't heard back from him. She didn't mind as she knew that he would be back in due time.
She catches sight of figures on the horizon and a horse drawn wagon. Nova's heart catches in her throat, brimming with anticipation. When she sees him, thin, pale, leaning heavily on Sirius, her breath catches in her throat. He looks so different, so worn, but when their eyes meet, she knows it's him. The same Theo she's loved all these years, the same Theo who promised he'd come back to her. The boy she had always waited for.
Nova runs to him, her tears blurring her vision. She trips over her long skirt but continues to run full tilt towards him. There is nothing in this world that would have stopped her from reaching him. And when she reaches him, she throws her arms around him, holding him as tightly as she dares. For a moment, neither of them speaks, they just stand there, holding on to each other, letting the reality of the moment sink in.
Her tears continue to run down her cheeks, feeling that they would never stop. Her shoulder became damp from the tear that Theo too could not hold back. He was warm in her arms and solid. She could feel him and grasped onto him tightly. Theo clung to her back as he too wanted to make sure that she was real. He had dreamed of this moment for so long, he felt that this may have all been a dream after all. Having her in his arms after so many years, had him weeping without a care.
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"I knew you'd come back," Nova whispers, her voice choked with emotion. "That you would find your way back to me, as you always do."
"I told you I would, I'll always find my way back to you" Theo replies, his voice weak but full of warmth. "I never stopped trying, Nova. I never stopped thinking about you. You were the only thing that got me through the worst of it."
They stood there for what feels like hours, wrapped in each other's arms, finally home after so many years of pain and uncertainty. All Theo wanted to do was to hold her and never let her go. Nova wanted to take him home and keep him there away from harm.
Nova leaned back and looked into his eyes. The amber eyes were the ones she loved though they were haunted. She knew that he would have to heal from more than the physical wounds that he was inflicted with. Nova would nurse any wounds he had. She would have him never leave her side again.
Theo looked into the hazel eyes of the one he had longed for too long. Her smile filled in all the cracks that the war had made. He would never leave her side, no matter what happened, even if that meant the whole world would burn. He was finally at the place he was meant to be.
A strong hand clamped onto his shoulder. Sirius one a cheeky grin and looked between the two.
" Welcome back brother. You made it." He said, squeezing Theo's shoulder before letting go.
Nova whipped her eyes with a handkerchief and did the same with another for Theo. He briefly leaned into her touch. She grabbed his hand in a vice grip as if he would fly away at any given moment. Theo gripped her hand back.
"Let's go home." Nova said and led him away back into the village.
Theo was finally home and that is where he would stay. Tomorrow would be full and hectic but for tonight he was here and he was hers.