Rue the Day [Yuri Briar x f.Reader - SPY x FAMILY]

Chapter 10

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　Yuri's POV　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Beyond the dirty window, you watch the leaves glitter in the trees under the spring sunshine as your train from Copenhagen rushes past. The greenery contrasts with the vivid memories of the way the setting sun brought out a warm glow in the autumn foliage surrounding the lake on the day of your marriage.

The wedding week after you ran her over in the hallway was small. The full day trip back to Ljubljana meant that only your families could afford the time off to attend. Despite this, the sanctuary felt almost crowded due to how tiny the church on Lake Bled is. It was perfect.

Everything was perfect, but you wouldn't enjoy it for long. Those were easily the happiest three weeks of your life. That was over a year ago now though.

The moment you returned from your honeymoon, she received word that she was to be promoted. Her dream of becoming a diplomat would finally come true. You wanted to be happy for her, to support her, but you both knew this meant she would be leaving the country and that you would have to finish the last year of your mandatory military service alone.

You never imagined on the day you exchanged vows just how short your domestic life would be, how few morning cuddles you would be able to enjoy, or how soon you would be crying yourself to sleep. Your plan had been to come home as early as you could to cook dinner, clean the house, do the chores, anything to see her relax fully when with you in the evening. But that never happened either.

You had hardly finished moving your belongings into her apartment when she began packing her own to take to Sweden. If it weren't for having your sister a few floors up to get you through the loneliness, you might have tried deserting to dodge the last year of your service. Though it would mean you could never return to Germany without a life sentence for being a traitor to the nation, the thought crossed your mind more than a few times

In that long period, you never saw her even once. Her being new meant no vacation leave, and any days off you had were never enough to get you all the way to Sweden and back. Instead, you racked up phone bills that easily consumed half your salary. But at last, from today onwards, you can be by her side freely for ever more.

Steel grates on steel, grinding your train to a gentle halt as you roll into Stockholm Central Station. You stand impatiently by the door for the attendant to open the car, jumping down to the platform before the outer attendant can even lower the stairs.

There she waits, observing each door slide open, furrowed gaze darting along each car until it lands on you. Though your heart urges you to race into her arms, your body does not comply. Legs like piers in the water, you remain unmoving as the tide of passengers moves off the train.

She looks just as beautiful to you today as she has since the day you met her at the ministry - just as out of your league as then too. No part of your mind seems to believe in this moment that she really is your wife. Surely, you're nothing more than a junior who wishes in vain to be near her. Your married life with her was so brief that it feels like little more than a fantasy your heart conjured up to soothe your yearning.

A cool hand caresses your cheek, waking you from the memory of that year working by her side and the agony that followed. How desperate you've been to know again what her touch feels like, to see if it's familiar, to be reassured that something actually happened between you.

Fear and relief spill over your lash line as she tugs you into a gentle kiss, and your arms weave around her waist to clasp her to you, duffle bag in your hand falling to the ground. The warmth that emanates from her embrace seeps into your soul, melting the doubt lingering in its recesses and your composure along with it.

Well after the crowd has dispersed, you're still crying into her shoulder where she cradles you, clinging to her frame as if she might leave you again should you release her for even a moment. Only when the train pulls out of the station loaded with a new set of passengers do you raise your head to seek her gaze.

"Senpai," you begin in a shakey voice, but she cuts you off with a kiss.

"Yuri, let's go home."