(Part 7)

I woke up to a sleeping Vergil at my side. Turning on my side so that I was staring at his peaceful expression, I admired the minute details of my lover that I didn't usually focus on. On closer inspection, I realized that he had particularly long lashes –lashes that girls might kill for. It might have made any normal guy look feminine, but it didn't work on Vergil.

It just made him look even more handsome.

The smooth creamy skin was undisturbed from chin to hairline, the defined jawline still as sharp as I remembered. Before leaving my world, he had already shaved, and that left him a perfectly-clean cut look. In fact, shaving had cut a few years off his appearance, it was almost hard to believe that he was already approaching his thirties.

The white hair that was usually kept back now pooled around his head, and I could tell that he had bathed right before climbing to bed. A stray strand of fringe defied the rest of its brethren and hung adamantly between his eyes, softening the sharp-as-knives features.

Feeling mischievous, I blew a soft breath at his nose, hoping to wake him up. As usual, my darling Vergil didn't even stir. I had learnt over the years of sleeping in the same bed as he that Vergil didn't usually stir in his sleep. He tended to fall into sleep the way he laid down, and woke up the same way. He rarely stirred at all –not even when he was disturbed.

He must have been exhausted when he fell asleep, because he was usually a light-sleeper. Even soft footsteps woke him up sometimes, and I assumed it was some type of trained instincts of a demon hunter for years. But blowing at his nose didn't seem to wake him up at all, so I simply laid still and watched him in his peaceful Dreamland. Was he dreaming about me? Was he dreaming about his family?

Time passed, and I decided to reach out to smooth the stray fringe away from his face. The movement as well as the touch didn't take long for his deep breathing to become shallower, and his eyes slowly opened. The blue-green eyes that were inherited from Sparda met the world with a soft shine against the bed-side lamp turned on beside us.

Then, a soft smile drew across his face, and he captured my hand on his face with his own.

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, and I admired at how he seemed to never have morning breath. Was it something only half-demons benefitted from?

"I'm feeling perfectly fine. You?" I smiled as well when the strange glint in his blue-green eyes disappeared at my answer. Was it me, or did he look a little overly-worried?

"I'm fine." He replied in the usual assuring tone that was reserved only for Sasha, Leon and me. I nodded, then took the chance to look around, realizing that I was in an unfamiliar surroundings.

"Where are we? I don't remember..." I said, and then realized that I didn't remember falling asleep at all. I remembered falling into Limbo, looking around for somewhere familiar, meeting Leon and being brought to Sasha. I remembered meeting Killian, and Vergil threatening him... I had been leaving the room, but I felt something, and I had tried turning around. Then...

"We are in Sasha's guest room. You fainted, and Sasha said it was for the best to let you rest. Getting a doctor didn't seem right, since you are still harbouring a half-demon within you."

I took a look at his black T-shirt that fit him extremely well. "You've changed. How long have I been out?"

"You fainted yesterday afternoon." Vergil's hand moved to smooth my hair as well, still looking a little worried. "Are you sure you are feeling fine?"

"Yes, I think so... I must have been too tired from travelling the worlds." I answered, not sure if the aching my back was thanks to my long sleep or something else.

Vergil nodded to show that he trusted what I felt about my own condition, but still held a little worried glint in his eyes. "Tell me if you feel anything strange, Leah."

I grinned at him, and promised him quickly. Of course, there was no hurry to get out of bed yet, so Vergil pulled me close and hugged me (even in my day-old clothes) and we talked. I asked him about what happened after I fainted, and he was unafraid to be honest at all. It turned out that after my swooning fiasco, Killian had been terrified that he might have somehow been the trigger to my fainting.

Sasha eventually found out about Vergil's hard threats at Killian and forced my boyfriend to make nice and explain situations. Killian had initially thought that Vergil was back to claim his family –and imagined for Vergil to truly be Sasha's lover. Things were cleared quickly, though Vergil did not rescind his threat. Killian was ultimately invited the share the dinner table, but the poor human fled once he had the chance, earning Sasha's displeasure, and Leon's utter curiosity.

I laughed when Vergil spoke of how the little innocent boy had tried to threaten an answer out of his long-lost 'Papa' about why 'Uncle Killian' looked scared and went running. Poor Leon still had so much to understand, but it seemed as if Leon accepted Killian well. The young boy liked the man who was trying to get close to his mother. A few more years, when Leon understood situations, then things would be harder for Killian.

A few more years was something Vergil and I didn't have with Sasha and Leon.

Eventually, we got out of bed. I showered and changed into a fresh set of clothes, frowning at the beginnings of dark circles around my eyes. I had been sleeping peacefully since my fainting, so why were dark circles forming? Still, it was nothing a little powder could not cover up.

I stepped out of the bathroom, ready to face the world once more. What met me was the epitome of domestic bliss of my lover standing in front of the stove, concentrating intently on the contents of his pan, adamantly not wearing an apron. Leon was sitting obediently at the dining table, reading what I assumed to be a braille book silently. His mother sat beside him, already getting ready for work with her expert grace. The steady eyeliner was drawn without hesitation in the time I took to approach them from the door, and she blinked up with a beaming smile at my arrival into the room.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?" The gesture of welcome made me smile as well. While I was, after all, the 'third party' of this loving family, Sasha had still treated me like a close friend, because things were never the way it seemed.

"I'm fine now. Don't let me hold you up." I urged kindly, and Sasha nodded quickly, turning back to the mirror to finish the last of her makeup.

"I'll leave Leon in your care for today. I expect he has much to tell the both of you. Killian's bringing him back here at noon, so I will have to trouble you to watch over him." Sasha informed, and my boyfriend simply made a soft sound of acknowledgment.

"It's my pleasure to be able to watch over him. We will have so much to talk about." I assured her, and with a warm farewell kiss from the obedient young boy, Sasha was on her way out the door to work.

"Miss Leah, are you sure you are okay now? If you are still tired, you can go take a rest! I will not make too much noise to disturb you." Leon asked worriedly as we sat down once more, me waiting for breakfast, and the young boy waiting for his school bus to pick him up.

"I'm feeling perfectly fine, Leon darling. You don't have to worry about me." I smiled and entertained him while he read his braille book aloud, proud that he had picked up a skill that not many people were familiar with.

Breakfast did not take long to be prepared, and soon I had a plate full of sinful greasy bacon and eggs. I made an offhand comment about Vergil feeding me fat, sneaked a strip of bacon to the salivating Leon, and enjoyed the meal with my boyfriend simply smiling quietly and watching me savour the results his culinary abilities. Vergil had never been much of a chef, but he had been forced by circumstances while in my world. You see, I am what people call an extremely-amateur chef. My repertoire contained simple pasta, boiling water and instant noodles.

Thus, when I declared that I intended for Vergil to be my one true love to my adoptive mother in my world, she had taken it upon herself to make her future-son-in-law the great chef that I could never be. Thus Vergil was reluctantly imbued with the skillsets of a Cartlier chef, and was appointed quickly to be my personal kitchen helper.

Which explained how a demon hunter like my amazing son of Sparda could cook up a real storm for breakfast that left me craving for seconds. Leon's bus arrived quickly, and thus it was the two of us left alone once more in the apartment.

"You know, I had a weird dream about Lily yesterday." I mentioned it in passing after breakfast, when we were both left with nothing to do after finishing the menial household chores.

"What about her?" The reply was quick with concern. "Did she threaten you?"

"She said something about helping everyone. She said that you were not happy, and that I shouldn't be afraid to tell you the truth. She said I was going to be scared about something, but I had to love you and trust you. I really don't understand what she was trying to get at, but she had Azazel's 'I-know-things-you-do-not' tone." I explained to an increasingly confused and concerned boyfriend. I guess that I was following Lily's advice if I talked to Vergil about this strange dream, right?

"She said that I wasn't happy?" Vergil echoed with a perplexed look, obviously thinking hard of how to interpret his own sister's cryptic words.

"Yes." I answered honestly, munching on an apple since I was actually still rather hungry despite polishing off breakfast. "You are not unhappy, are you? You must tell me if so."

"Of course." The reply was made in a matter of fact tone, which definitely made everything feel better immediately. "The only thing I am currently unhappy about would be the fact of Dante's situation. But that is little concern of the moment if Mother insists that things should go in such 'rightful' ways."

"Maybe we should go look for Dante." I suggested with a little frown at the memory of Lily's short conversation with me in my Dreamland. "She said something about Dante being unhappy as well."

"My brother is forever unhappy at his state of life. Till he attains utter riches and the privilege to sleep all day and still have enough money to survive solely on pizzas and sundaes, he might never be happy." There had never been truer words spoken, and I suppressed a surprised laugh at how well Vergil knew about his own brother. Granted, it was expected of Dante, but it was still amazing how no one do anything about this streak of lazy uselessness inside a man whose potential was made out to be so much more.

"I'm still a little worried about what Lily said. What if you sister knows something is going to happen and is trying to warn us?"

Vergil crossed over from where he sat on the armchair next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and gently guiding my head to rest against his hard chest.

"When we took those pills in your bedroom, I was ready for all sorts of troubles. I can deal with our odds now, and I know as well that something is going to happen. I have been up against Mundus enough times to know that he has tricks. Lily might warn us, but we still have to go on. We have Mother on our side. Unlikely as it seems, your angel is supporting us in his own way as well. All things aside, you know Dante as well as I do. If trouble finds its way to his doorstep, Dante isn't afraid of dealing with them in his usual manner."

I sighed, closing my eyes and took respite in the fact that I had him with me. Quite literally, there was no one that I would ever trade with Vergil. He was the immovable wall that I hid behind in a hurricane. Nothing could push him back even an inch, and the utter feeling of safety... I wasn't sure what I would do without it.

"What I'm worried about is what she said about you..." I confessed, hearing his steady heartbeats. "I'm worried about what might happen to either of us in this mission. We were ready for dangers, but now that we're back here in Limbo, I'm worried. What if something happens to you? What if something goes wrong with Mundus, and I never get to see you again? I can't survive that."

The long moment of silence spoke volumes. We were both adults; we both knew and understood what could possibly happen to us in this risky mission. Just because we had the backing of two angels –one being our own mother and my own guardian angel –it could not guarantee that nothing would happen to us. In Hell, angels could not interfere. In Hell, where we planned to free our father, Eva and Azazel could do nothing. We were on our own.

Vergil knew it, and thus he took his time to come up with his own words of comfort.

"You or I, if one goes, there isn't much to consider. Eva will grief over us, but she will take heart that we will still be together, no matter where we go. Even if our bodies are scattered separately in the sea, our souls will still sing together to meet the Otherworld."

And that itself was Vergil's promise. I nodded, and breathed in Vergil's scent deep.

He didn't move to remove my weight from his strong chest, and we stayed like that for very long.

I didn't even realize when I drifted off into peaceful sleep.

This time, Lily wasn't there to greet me.

Instead, this time my dream was blissful –filled with joyful scenes of me, Vergil, my adoptive family and my real family. Dante was still his lazy, useless self, but he treated his brother with the same measure of love that Vergil reciprocated for him. Daddy Sparda and Mummy Eva were both loving, and approved much of Vergil's unwavering love for me.

In the dream, my sister became Dante's and Vergil's sister, and we all had fun together. Leon was there, as well, playing with a young girl. The young girl ran all around my imaginary playground, laughing brightly and cheerfully. Leon, years older, despite being blind, chased the girl bravely by the sound of her laughter, urging her to be careful.

Then, in my dream, the girl ran up to my boyfriend and jumped up and down at his feet, her arms reaching upwards. I watched as Vergil smiled his gentle smile that was reserved only for me, bend down and carry her up. The little girl immediately pushed herself out of his arms, grabbing on to a section of his shirt, and began climbing on him until she sat on his shoulders.

She grabbed onto his hair as handles, and while there was a short wince, he obeyed her shouting instructions to move towards my direction. Vergil was still smiling when they crossed the imaginary playground, and reached me. I looked up, and jolted in surprise when I saw what I could only imagine as Vergil's young face on the girl.

She was beautiful, and she had inherited his beautiful blue-green eyes as well. Her double ponytail made her look doubly cuter, and she once more scrambled to get off her ride, which was my boyfriend. Vergil caught her carefully in his arms, but she didn't stay there for long. Active and eager, I watched as she climbed to stand on my boyfriend's arm, turned, and launched into me.

"Mummy!" She screamed.

And my perfect dream ended just like that.