Home Sweet Home I

Hala Davos stood on the empty platform, drawing the station manager's curious eye, which was unsurprising, considering how rarely she stepped away from her clinic.

She stood tall and imposing in her fur-lined black parka, almost identical to the one she had gifted her grandson a few years ago. It had not been her intention to match, knowing how the younger generation usually got about things like that. Yet, the quality of the product had been good, and Yuliang never said anything about it the few times she had worn it. So it probably wasn't as big of an issue as she had thought.

Her long dark red hair was up in a messy bun secured in place by two silver emerald studded hairpins that had been a gift from her other grandson for her 200th birthday. A style that revealed a pair of sharp grey eyes which were almost permanently narrowed in a glare. Her dark brown skin was flawless, not displaying a single blemish or line from aging. Her body was lean and had a softness about it that came with motherhood and time.

Motherhood that had been robbed from her by this country, when her one and only son and daughter-in-law had died in what was now dubbed as the War of the West.

The first War of the West now, she supposed. Considering they were right on the brink of the second one. One that threatened to rob the lives of her grandsons as well.

A possibility that would never see the light of day with everything she had planned finally starting to fall into place.

She tapped the heeled sole of her black leather boot against the wood below her feet in a quick rhythm, indicating her impatience while eyeing the direction the train would arrive in.

It wasn't long after that the train finally rolled down the tracks and came to a screeching stop before her.

She took a step back just as the train doors opened to reveal her two beautiful grandchildren.

It had only been a few months since they had seen each other, but Hala could see that the pair had grown.

It made her ache to see the shadows that lingered in their eyes that came with maturity. Their innocence was fading away, but that was just a part of growing up.

Their reaction at seeing her was immediate.

"Granny!"

Hala smiled. Their innocence may be fading, but there would still be some aspects of their youth that would never change.