Twilight excused himself from the room, while Yor talked on the phone with Anya.

He told his wife he was going to wash up and get a fresh change of clothes from his office, on the other side of the hospital.

Loid didn 't want to leave her and he didn't really care about his clothes, but he needed to get in contact with Wise as soon as possible.

Once he got to the Psychiatry Department, many colleagues asked him about his wife 's health and he politely answered a couple of questions, before excusing himself saying that he had to get to his office quickly before returning to his wife 's side.

Fiona Frost saw him and followed him into his office without being noticed.

'We may have a problem, ' Twilight told her after closing the door. 'I 'm not sure, but I think an SSS officer discovered my identity. '

'What? How is that possible? ' Nightfall asked.

So, Twilight proceeded to tell her about the lieutenant 's visit, as well as him disguising as the same person to interrogate his wife at the beginning of their marriage.

'You 're not making any sense, ' Nightfall doubted. 'How or why would that lieutenant know you pretended to be him? The only way he could know it was you who impersonated him is if he knew you weren 't Loid Forger. He has no reason to know and no reason to suspect you. '

Twilight fell on the chair of his desk and breathed out. She was right.

There was absolutely no reason for that man to suspect him.

'But then, why did he acknowledge he 'd met Yor?" He asked his colleague.

'He was just trying to be polite, ' the young spy guessed. 'He knew Yor Briar had a concussion and probably took her little mishap as a side effect. '

Now that he heard it from Nightfall, it made much more sense than him being discovered. If he had, that man would have arrested him on the spot, for sure.

Twilight rubbed his face with his hands. He felt extremely tired.

'You 're probably right, ' he conceded. 'All this issue with my wife ' '

Nightfall stiffened, but he didn 't see it.

'How is Yor Briar? '

'

Yor Forger

is doing better, she 'll probably leave the hospital tomorrow, ' Twilight corrected her and Nightfall noticed that.

'Pity. It would have been easier if she had ' '

Twilight 's glare turned into a murderous stare. She could almost hear him think a warning: '

Go ahead, I dare you to finish that sentence '

'

'Oh, don 't worry, I 've given up the hope of being your fake wife for this mission long ago, ' she continued. 'I 'm very aware that for you only Yor will do. '

Twilight rolled his eyes and got up to get fresh clothes from a near by furniture. Now, in addition to feeling tired, he also was terribly annoyed.

Nightfall remained in place as he started to unbutton his shirt. He noticed she hadn 't moved, so he stopped.

'You need to leave, I have to change, ' he told her, motioning towards the door.

'Why? I 've seen you change before. You 've seen me too, ' Nightfall argued.

'And what would people think if somebody saw you? ' he countered angry. 'My wife is a patient here. '

'Fake wife, ' she corrected him while walking towards the door. 'No need to call her that, Agent Twilight. '

He ignored her and continued to unbutton his shirt, but then he remembered something:

'Nightfall, I need to borrow your gun, ' he asked. 'With all the commotion, I left mine at home. '

Even if he hadn't been found out by that officer, he wanted to be safe.

The young spy turned around, took her weapon out and placed it on his desk, without question.

'I 'll investigate that lieutenant anyways, ' she told him before leaving. 'If there 's something concerning about him, I 'll take care of it myself. '

Nightfall closed the door behind her with a heavy heart.

That wasn 't even a five-minute conversation. He didn 't want to talk to her, and he didn 't want her, he never had.

She 'd seen him the night before and he hadn 't even noticed her. Oh, she had seen

him

. He was completely distraught, crazy with sorrow and worry. If she had suspected it before, now she knew for sure 'Twilight was in love.

And it hurt like hell.

How could such an unremarkable woman like Yor Briar awoken that cold heart of his? How?!

She hated her. Not only for being the object of her dear mentor 's affection, but also for transforming him into this vulnerable, useless, common man.

It would have been much better if Yor Briar would have died last night.

Nightfall kept walking through the halls of the hospital. She wasn 't well-liked there either. The 'ice-queen ' nickname seemed to follow her everywhere she went. This time it even went well with her fake identity.

She didn 't care at all. The only person she cared about was him.

When she finally made it to her office, she pounded hard on her desk.

If a stupid car wasn 't enough to separate them, then she would have to do the job herself.

That was a promise.

***

The next day, Yor sat at the edge of the hospital bed, relieved to be wearing her normal clothes instead of the hospital gown, ready to go home.

She 'd been discharged that evening and was waiting for Loid to settle the hospital bill before heading home.

The door of her room opened suddenly, and she turned around expecting to see her husband, but instead, she saw someone even more familiar.

The Shopkeeper.

Yor almost didn 't recognize him without his usual gardening attire. He was wearing normal street clothes.

'Hello Yor, ' he said smiling. 'I 'm glad to see you 're doing well. '

'Shopkeeper! Hi! ' she greeted him enthusiastically and surprised. 'What are you doing here? '

'I came to make sure you were still standing, ' he chuckled. 'I was informed you were in pretty bad shape from your last job. '

'I 'm sorry I made you worry and about the mess, ' she apologized and bowed her head.

'It 's very unlike you to get hurt like this, ' he said thoughtfully. 'What happe...? '

'I think it 's time for me to quit, ' she interrupted.

Shopkeeper stopped his question and smiled sweetly at her.

'Today I woke up thinking about you, ' he told her. 'I knew you were being discharged today, but I came anyways, just to make sure. '

Yor smiled at his gentleness and took his rough, callused hand.

'I 'm so grateful for all the things you taught me, ' she sniffled. 'Not only how to kill, but also everything else. '

There was a point in time when she thought she would do that job forever, until she was old or until she was killed during an assignment 'and she was okay with that. But then Loid and Anya came into her life and her mind (and her heart) shifted. She realized she couldn 't do this forever. She no longer wanted to.

'It was my pleasure, ' he answered placing a hand on top of hers.

Part of him felt relieved this was the end for Thorn Princess. He wanted Yor to be happy more than anyone else because she deserved it more than any other of his students.

It was goodbye.

The Shopkeeper crossed paths with Loid Forger on the hallway, on his way out.

Loid spared him a quick glance.

His paranoid nature made him quicken his pace towards his wife 's room, to make sure she was okay.

He found her on her feet looking out the window. Her eyes sweetened when she realized he had entered the room.

'Are you ready to go home? '

Yor nodded, and taking her husband's hand, left Thorn Princess behind her.

***

Loid and Yor heard Yuri 's loud voice before they opened the door of the apartment.

They looked at each other thinking about what kind of trouble this visitor would bring.

'SISTER!!! ' Yuri cried the minute they opened the door.

'Mama!! ' Anya ran to hug her.

Yor felt a wave of relief as she embraced her little girl. They had talked on the phone, but hadn 't allowed Anya to see her until she was out of the hospital, partly because the hospital was not a place for children, and also because they didn 't want Anya to be scared.

'WHY DIDN 'T YOU TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SISTER?!! ' Yuri yelled at Loid furious.

'Because we forgot, ' Yor answered before Loid could. 'He was taking care of me, that 's why he forgot to tell you. '

'But sister ' ' Yuri was already crying.

Seeing this, Yor approached him and gave him one of those bone-crushing hugs.

'I 'm okay now, ' she assured him smiling. 'I 'll make a full recovery in no time! '

Still in her embrace, Yuri turned to Loid with mad eyes: 'You promised you would protect her! '

Indeed, he had, and he 'd failed.

'Don 't be silly, Yuri! I got hit by a car. How could Loid know? ' Yor debated amused.

She knew her husband and her brother were already in poor terms and was trying to defuse the tension between them.

'Hi Franky! ' Yor greeted their friend, trying to divert the topic.

'Hey Yor. Nice to see you back home, ' Franky welcomed her.

'Thank you so much for watching Anya while Loid stayed with me at the hospital. It really means a lot to us. '

Yor was being sincere. Having grown up with no one to rely on, it meant the world to her having a friend she could trust to take care of her daughter.

'Uncle Scruffy is the best! ' Anya chimed. 'He helped me have a welcome party for you, mama. '

Just then, Yor realized there were a bunch of colorful balloons in the living room, along with a long paper banner that said: 'Welcome home! '.

'Oh, Anya, thank you so much, sweetheart! ' Yor's heart swelled with happiness. 'And thank you too, Franky. '

'It was my pleasure, ' Franky responded. 'We also tried baking a cake, but it 's a little deflated. Hopefully it 'll still taste good. '

'Cake! ' Anya ran to the kitchen.

Loid followed her and emerged from the kitchen with a comically deflated chocolate cake, full of uneven frosting. He placed it on the dining table and went back to the kitchen to prepare some drinks.

Only after eating some cake and while still sitting by the table, Yor noticed a piece of luggage in the living room.

'I see that you 're ready to go home, Franky, ' she pointed at the bag.

'Oh yes, but that bag is not mine, ' the informant clarified.

Yor and Loid looked at each other and then at Yuri.

'It 's mine, ' Yuri declared shameless. 'I 'm staying here for a few days, to make sure you 're okay, Sis. '

Yor felt a chill.

'That won 't be necessary, Yuri, ' she chuckled nervously. 'I 'm okay. Plus, Loid is here so ' '

'I think after not being notified about something so important, I 've earned the right to take care of my sister for a few days, ' Yuri argued with authority.

Yor looked at her husband, not really knowing what to do or say.

'It 's okay, ' Loid yielded. 'He 's right. I owe it to him. '

They both knew what it meant 'they were going to have to share a room.

***

Of course, he had to say yes.

After that incident at the hospital with that SSS officer, Twilight was wondering if Yuri 's petition to stay at their apartment was due to simple concern for his sister or if he was suspicious of him. He had to play it safe.

Luckily for Twilight, he was able to give Franky all his spy gear (with the exception of his and Nightfall's borrowed gun).

Franky had been staying in Twilight 's room and when it was time to pack up, the spy took everything from under the loose tile in his closet and relinquished every item to his friend for him take in his bag. He was sure Yuri would snoop around every corner, and he couldn 't take any risks.

That same night, he installed himself in Yor 's room (without the mystical 'YES! ' comforter set).

'I am so sorry about this, ' she offered.

'Don 't apologize, Yor, ' he reckoned. 'We agreed we 'd do this whenever we had visitors, remember? '

Yor nodded, blushing prettily.

She 'd never shared the bed with another man. He knew that.

Twilight wondered if it would have been less uncomfortable if they hadn 't kissed like that at the hospital. Before, even though they had kissed, he could excuse himself by saying it was an act for other people to believe they were really married. But the last time it had happened, there was nobody watching them, no need fool anyone. On top of everything, the kissing hadn 't exactly been chaste nor innocent.

And he thought about it

all the time

.

He hadn 't dared to do it again, because being out of control truly terrified him. So, he 'd tried to keep his distance, but in the end that hadn 't worked out either 'thanks to Yuri 's visit, now he was sharing a bed with his wife.

It didn 't really surprise him 'every time he 'd tried to pull away from Yor, he 'd ended being closer to her.

And this was as close as it gets.

The lights were off, and everybody was already asleep. Everyone except them.

Loid knew Yor was wide awake next to him, staring at the ceiling, just like him.

Twilight hated to admit it, but he was nervous. Yes, him, the best spy in Westalis, who had slept with plenty of women during his missions.

Nervous

. And he was not even going to try anything.

'Loid, are you awake? ' Yor 's soft voice asked next to him.

'Yeah, it usually takes a long time for me to fall asleep, ' Loid disclosed accidentally.

'If you feel cold, I can close the window, ' she offered and tried to get up, but his hand stopped her.

'No, it 's okay. I need some fresh air. '

He learned that Yor preferred sleeping with the window open year-round. Being paranoid and extra careful as he was, he always preferred to sleep with a closed window, no matter how hot it got during the summer. However, that night, even though it was still winter, he needed the cold to calm the heat on his face and neck.

It took a big deal of discipline to not turn to his side to look at Yor 's face. If he did, God only knew what he would do. That woman had an absurdly powerful effect on him.

'I don 't know if I thanked you for staying with me at the hospital, ' Yor whispered, and Loid felt her move. 'You had to take time off work and leave Anya here. You shouldn 't ' '

'Yes, I should have ' Loid 's raspy, deep voice interrupted. Without thinking, he turned around to face her. 'Yor, you 're my wife. '

Her beautiful red eyes glistened in the dark.

'I want to take care of you 'forever. ' He didn 't mean to say any of that, but that last part in particular surprised him.

Even though there was only moonlight, he could see she was blushing furiously, yet she didn 't take her eyes off his. Slowly, she put her hand on his face. It was a little cold, but soft.

'It 's been a very long time since someone has taken care of me, ' Yor told him while caressing his face.

'Then let me. '

Loid got closer to kiss her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, and finally her lips. Then, he pulled her close and embraced her softly. Yor placed her head on his chest and arm around him.

He could smell her shampoo's fragrance on her hair. He wanted to do

so much more

, but at least like this, he thought he 'd be able to control himself. After all, she was still recovering.

Yor hummed pleasantly. He could feel the heat emanating from her blushing face, but she didn 't seem uncomfortable. He wasn 't uncomfortable either, he was actually quite happy. Twilight almost chuckled. In all his years as a spy he had never cuddled with anyone.

Yor lifted her head to look at his face, while caressing it.

'What is this? ' She asked delicately rubbing her fingers on a miniscule scar he had above his eyelid.

He was actually surprised at how observant she was. That was his oldest scar, barely noticeable too.

'I got that when I was a kid, ' he explained rubbing circles on her back. 'My friends and I used to play soldiers and use rubber bands as weapons. One day, I got shot in the eye. '

Yor giggled when she listened to his answer.

'Don 't laugh! My dad got so mad at me when he saw my bloody eye! He hated it when I played war games ' he continued. 'On top of it, I got this nasty scar. I think every time he saw it, he was mad all over again. '

'I 'm so sorry, but I think it 's so funny. I imagine you as a kid ' ' Yor was laughing openly now, trying in vain to be quiet.

Her laughter was contagious, and he ended up joining in too.

It was a funny story, and he didn 't have many of those. He was so happy he could make his wife laugh.

He didn 't even know he could do that.

And it was glorious.