Twist of fate

Hearts

One week until the wedding

Today was Ava's nineteenth birthday and they where throwing a small party for her on Whole Cake, with just the family. Cracker smiled as he watched Ava talk to her sister and Shinobu, holding a very sleepy, year old, Tyber.

Tyber was another spitting image of Katakuri, with the exception of his purple hair and eyes. It made Cracker yearn to see what him and Ava's own children would look like down the line.

"I see you." Perospero snickered, patting him on the back, as he sat next to Cracker.

"See what?" Cracker asked absently, watching his soon to be wife.

"You, with that big goofy grin on your face."

Cracker shrugged, not even denying it. "What can I say, I'm a very happy man!"

Daifuku grimaced beside him, sneering. "Another brother has fallen."

"Don't give him to much shit Dai." Oven laughed. "Mama wanted this, Cracker just made the best of a bad situation."

Cracker shook his head, taking a drink of his scotch. "Not at all. Ava is strong, fierce, funny, and has a good head on her shoulders."

Peros gave him a knowing look. "You love her!"

Cracker nodded, no reason to deny it.

Oven lifted a brow. "How on earth did that happen. All you seem to do is bicker and pull pranks on one another?"

Cracker smiled. "I don't even know. All I can really say is that it feels like fate."

"How so?" Peros inquired.

"You ever get that feeling like something was just meant to happen?"

All three brothers nodded, Daifuku looking somewhat disgusted.

"I wasn't out in the woods by accident the day I found her." Cracker said quietly, revealing something he'd had yet to tell anyone. "I don't know how to explain it. I felt a pull, ya know, tugging, demanding that I go and look at what had fallen."

Cracker looked back to Ava, who was handing a sleeping Tyber to Eris. "The first time I looked at her, something just clicked. I felt the need to keep her close."

"So that's why you chased her like a mad man." Oven smirked.

"So what happened the day that you scared her face?" Peros asked curiously, taking a sip of tea.

Cracker frowned, not liking to think of that day. "I had her backed into a corner, she had nowhere to run. When I went to reach for her, she popped one of her feathers off and started to swing it wildly. She caught me on the thigh." Cracker grimaced. "You know how I get when I feel any kind of pain."

All three nodded.

"I didn't even think about it. I grabbed Pretzel and lashed out. She'd moved, trying to run, I ended up getting her face when I was just trying to scare her." Cracker hung his head in shame. "I regretted it as soon as I realized what I did and froze up. It's how she got away."

"So that's what happened."

Cracker took another drink of his scotch.
Oven huffed, shrugging. "At least she forgave you for it."

He smiled. "Not so sure about that."

"She has, you know." Dacquoise said stopping at the table. "Forgiven you!" He supplied when they all just stared at him.

Cracker growled. "What do you want?" He still wasn't comfortable with Dacquoise and Ava's relationship, especially since he didn't know what it entailed.