Hurt and Heal (Arknights)

Chapter 31: Saturday

Kind of chill chapter, also a bit shorter than usual. Only 19K words.

A/N: God Ho'olheyak is so beautiful... I think she might be my next all In after Penance... And getting high on my podium of wives...

A young man stood in front of the door of a small house. After a few moving out and moving in, and especially a few years, Yuri had finally found his parents. He could already hear the voices of his sister and brother. The feeling of the snow on him did not bother him, the powder falling softly from the sky. And yet he stood there, frozen. His worn out travel bag, right next to him. His only possession.

Years had passed. Ten years precisely. Ten years since he had run away from hurting his father. He had gone through his heroin addiction, his near death from an overdose, his training in Armenia, the war in Chechnya, the death of his first love, his recruitment into the spetsnaz... And yet, while he had cheated death more times than any other man, he had faced the grim reaper, the cold, the war. And yet all this, what terrified him the most was to see his family again... To meet the eyes of-

The door opened, letting out Viktor, his father, with a garbage bag in his hand.

The giant gasped, meeting the eyes of the man in front of him.

Just a second. Just one second was all the father needed to recognize his son. Not by the shape of his face, the color of his eyes and hair, by the scar on his eyebrow, but by pure parental instinct.

The giant had grown half a meter since the last time they had seen each other, he had gone from obesity to a real mountain of muscle, and had become a rather charming young man. Hardly anyone would have recognized him.

Sebastian: He-

Yuri didn't even have time to pronounce his first syllable, when his father took him in his arms.

Viktor: My son...

The two could have exchanged thousands of tearful words at that moment. But instead, they decided to keep quiet.

Sebastian: Dad... I'm back...

Viktor: Welcome home my boy...

The father let go of his son, backing away slightly, but keeping a hand on his shoulder.

Viktor: Come inside, we'll start eating soon.

The giant nodded, walking back into the house. The father walked down the hallway.

Viktor: Olena, please take out one more plate!

In the dining room he could hear his sister's voice.

Olena: Huh, do we have another guest?

At that moment, the father entered the room accompanied by his son, and soon the family members recognized Yuri. Olena's mouth was wide open, her face hadn't really changed with the years. Her hair took on the color of their mother's purple. Nikolai, his brother, who was reading a newspaper, also seemed surprised, despite his unruffled attitude and his face colder than an arctic night. And finally his mother Yulia, sitting on her chair, had her eyes wide open.

In a flash, Olena, who was one head shorter than the giant, threw herself on her beloved brother, hugging him so tightly that the giant was really in pain, but it was a pain eclipsed by the joy of seeing his family again. After all Olena had always been the strongest of the three.

Olena: Yuri!

Sebastian: Stop it Olena, you're going to hurt me... I'm glad to see you too.

Nikolai: I was sure you were alive. It's good to see you safe and sound.