ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴅɪᴠᴏʀᴄᴇ
'ᴀ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ ʀᴇᴜɴɪᴏɴ'

Inanna groaned as she placed her hand over her eyes, shielding them from the brightness of the daylight that floodied into the apartment through the blinds, Inanna wasn't sure what time it was and didn't even remember coming home but she had woken up to an empty bed — like she did everyday — a faint smell of cooked eggs that lingered in the apartment and a few wounds from the night before.

"Careful before you fall down again" Diego stood up from the couch as Inanna gripped the door frame with her hand.

Diego took Inanna's other hand and led her to the chair as Luther and Vanya watched from the couch. She didn't need his help, but it was much appreciated even if she didn't thank him.

"Where's Five?" Inanna asked as she sat down in the chair, leaning her head against the cushioned back as she slowly opened her eyes, gradually letting her eyes adjust.

"To get Klaus and Allison, he'll be back soon. Told me to watch over you while he was gone, so, just so know you, if you die, Five will murder me".

"I'm not going to die" Inanna muttered.

"Good" Diego nodded as he sat down in the chair next to her "You can clean the puke out of the bathroom sink then, I'm not going near that" Diego said unaware that Five had cleaned it up with Elliott, so Inanna didn't have to.

"Nice" Inanna groaned as she rubbed her temple, finally noticing the two people across from her. She couldn't remember throwing up. "Oh, hi" Inanna waved weakly.

"Hi" Vanya smiled, her hands laced together in her lap. Vanya had been excited to see Inanna again, upset with herself for how she had left things the last time they saw each other.

"Uh, we met last night" Luther said. "Luther-".

"I know" Inanna muttered. He didn't need to introduce himself. "I saw you loose that fight and punch a hole in your wall".

"Yes" Luther grumbled. "I was having a rough day. Almost as rough as you-" Luther cleared his throat when Diego gave him a look that said 'really?'. "Also, last night, I know you weren't doing great, and I- I was kind of high" Luther chuckled. "But you, you called me-" Luther scratched the back of his neck. "- you called me a sister kisser, and I just want to say that I never kissed my sister. I never kissed Allison, or, or Vanya. Never". Vanya looked at Luther with disgust.

Inanna chuckled quietly, she didn't remember anything after Diego sat her in the back of the stolen car with Five, she didn't even recall changing out of her dress into the pyjamas she wore. But she wished she remembered calling Luther a 'sister kisser', even if she said it in a painful daze.

"I believe you" Inanna said, unconvincingly.

"I haven't- I swear, I would remember-".

"Making yourself less believable" Inanna muttered, turning her head as Elliott entered the room with a large bowl of Ambrosia salad and a proud smile, excited to share his food with his guests.

Elliott sat it on the end of the table before hurrying back to the kitchen to grab the five bowls and spoons he had. Elliott arranged the bowls on the table, lining a spoon up next to them. Inanna watched along with the others, silently, as Elliott carried a chair over from his desk and sat it at the end of the table in front of the salad.

Inanna tuned Elliott out as he began rambling about the salad and how it was originally made. If it was any other day, Inanna might have paid attention but her head was still ringing and she wanted to tear her arm off at the shoulder, to stop her bandaged cut from itching.

"Y'all know, Jell-O used to be a delicacy. You know, in order to make it, you gotta boil down a whole mess of hooves..." Elliott looked from Luther to Vanya, both of them looking just as bored as Inanna and Diego, the latter flipping his knives as a way of distracting himself. "You know, horses, cows, pigs, it doesn't matter. But not everybody has a mess of hooves just lying around. It wasn't until, uh, a couple of sassy New Yorkers figured out how to dry it out so that the rest of us could have a.. a chance to enjoy this ambrosia".

"If we have some, will you shut up?" Diego asked.

"Maybe" Elliott drew out his response as he nodded his head.

Elliott picked up the spoon and a bowl for Diego, scooping up a large portion for Diego as Luther grimaced, his body stiff with disgust.

"How you feeling?" Luther turned to Vanya slowly, wanting to draw his own attention away from food.

"Pretty shitty, to be honest" Vanya responded.

"Where would you say you are on a scale from one to.." Diego shrugged as he continued flipping his knife "ending all life on this planet?" Diego asked.

"Really?" Vanya asked.

Luther leaned forwards "Diego, put the knife away, you idiot. She's fine" Luther muttered.

"The last time I saw this one" Diego pointed at Vanya with his knife "She had me suspended midair, sucking the life out of me with energy tentacles. I think I'm allowed a little time to process" Diego pointed his knife at Luther as he leaned forwards.

"Energy tentacles?" Inanna mumbled quietly.

"Oh, I would love to see an energy tentacle" Elliott pointed at Vanya hopefully. Luther shook his head in disapproval.

"I don't remember what I did" Vanya sat up "But I'm sorry... if... if that means anything" Vanya said.

Diego stopped flipping his knife and dropped his hand onto the arm chair. "It does" Diego nodded. "Just going through a lot right now" Diego said. Luther and Vanya's expressions softened, their shoulders dropping as they waited to see if Diego would continue.

"There's this- girl that I like" Luther rolled his eyes at Diego "I thought she liked me, but turns out that she's...".

The door to the television shop opened with a ring from the bell and a woman's laugh filled the building. Five was back with Klaus and Allison.

"Oh, thank God" Luther said, thankful that he didn't have to listen to Diego's Lila troubles.

"Is anyone here? Hello?".

Elliott, Luther and Vanya stood up and Diego followed, after telling Inanna to stay sat, incase she fell. Inanna didn't think she would fall, but didn't want to test it and land face first at the bottom of the stairs. She wanted to make a good impression to the remaining family she was yet to meet.

"Le petit mort, le petit mort".

"What? You don't speak French" Allison chuckled at Klaus.

Elliott, Diego, Luther and Vanya stopped at the top of the stairs looking over the banister at Five, Allison and Klaus.

"It's 'the little death'" Klaus said. "Oh, wow. Look at this old stuff" Klaus said, stumbling after Allison. "Oh, wow" Klaus stopped in the middle of the room, looking up at his other siblings "I know this is impossible, but... did we all get sexier?" Klaus asked.

"Vanya" Allison muttered.

Vanya smiled "I can't believe I have a sister" Vanya said in disbelief.

Vanya walked down the stopping in front of Allison. Allison expressed to Vanya that she had missed her, before hugging her as Luther and Diego walked down the other set of stairs to Klaus and Five.

Klaus joined Vanya and Allison's hug after Diego asked if he was drunk — Klaus denied it, but it was clear that he was. Vanya's quiet 'hi' was muffled in Klaus's chest making Allison laugh as Klaus kissed the top of Vanya's head, mumbling 'Hey, Vanny'.

"Klaus. Is Ben here?" Five asked. He wanted them to be all together again.

Klaus pulled away from his sisters, putting his hands on his hips. "No, unfortunately, ghosts can't time travel". Ben was sat in the chair on the other side of the room, staring at Klaus in disbelief.

Five nodded "All right, then. Let's get down to business" Five said to his siblings as he turned towards the stairs.

"Hey" Diego put his hand on Five's shoulders stopping him. Five glanced over his shoulder to Diego, raising his brow in question. "Red woke up while you were out".

Five nodded, fighting the urge to blink up to Inanna in that moment. "Thanks" Five muttered.

"Who is Red?" Klaus asked, his question directed at any of his siblings who could answer as Five hurried up the first few steps, his hands balled at his sides.

Five blinked to the top, anxious to see if Inanna was okay, ignoring Klaus and Allison's confused stares. "Our family got a little bigger and a whole lot stranger while you were gone" Luther said.

"Inan?" Five muttered her name quietly, not wanting to startle his wife who was inspecting Elliott's salad with a spoon while Elliott went into the kitchen to fetch more bowls. She had tried Ambrosia salad before, but always wondered why it looked the way it did. The appearance was rather off putting, at least Inanna thought so anyways.

Inanna turned her head towards Five "It tastes better than it looks" Inanna said, noticing the small smile grow on Five's lips as she sat the bowl and spoon down on the table.

"How are you feeling?" Five stepped asked.

Inanna stood up, her hand grasping the arm chair as blood rushed to her head and she became light headed. Five's breath got caught in his throat and he blinked to Inanna, knocking the bowl of Ambrosia salad that Inanna had just placed on the table as he hooked his arms around her waist, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest.

Inanna chuckled, pressing her nose against the side of his face and Five's brows furrowed with concern.

"I'm okay" Inanna muttered as she pulled away from Five, his hands moving from her waist, his left hand finding her cheek and his right hand moving up her back. "I'm fine, really" Five's eyes studied Inanna's, looking for a hint of pain that suggested otherwise, but he found nothing in her bright blue eyes that stared into his — she didn't even phase. "I just stood up too fast, that's all".

"Wow, Five" Diego chuckled "You're her bitch".

Inanna grabbed Five's arm as he turned to his brothers and sisters who stood at the top of the stairs, ready to threaten Diego with the first thing that came to mind "Where's your girlfriend ran off to, Diego?" Inanna asked.

"Don't you start" Diego pointed at Inanna with a shake of his head "I carried you back to the car yesterday after you got your ass handed to you, I saved your life, a little-".

Five glared at Diego. Inanna's hand dropped from Five's forearm to his hand as he stepped away from her and towards his brother. "Don't talk to my wife like that, Diego".

"What-".

"Hey, okay" Luther stepped in between Five and Diego, he didn't want any knives being thrown around. "This is supposed to be a happy moment, right? A family reunion" Luther reminded, looking from Five to Diego. "Five can love and care for his wife, as odd as it is to see, especially because he is so little-" Five glared at Luther "- but it's about time one of us had a healthy relationship, so can we not throw knives at each other? Not today?" Luther asked, his voice dropping as he pleaded with his brothers.

Five and Diego's eyes flickered away from Luther to each other. The room fell silent as they held their eye contact, neither of them wanting to be the first to back down. But as Five's eyes narrowed and his lips curled into a threatening smile, Diego gave in with a slump of his shoulders.

"I can hold off until tomorrow" Diego muttered.

Allison stepped towards Five, her eyes darting from Five to Inanna and then back to her brother. "Five, you got married?" Allison asked.

Five nodded "You're over thirty years late to the wedding" Five stated.

"Thirty years?" Allison repeated, her smile forming into a confused frown. "I don't under-".

"Time travel" Five interrupted.

Inanna dropped her hand from Five's stepping passed him as she extended her hand to Allison. "Allison?" Allison nodded as she took Inanna hand, shaking it as her smile returned. "Inanna" Inanna introduced herself "It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you".

Inanna could have sworn she saw Allison's eyes light up at the thought of Five talking about his siblings to Inanna. "I wish Five would have told us about you soon-".

"Wait" Klaus hit his hand on his knee as he pointed at Five. "Is she the mannequin you were banging?" Klaus asked, his eyes widening as he clicked the pieces together in his hazy mind.

Inanna's brows furrowed as a wave of déjà vu hit her, snapping her back to the day she had met Diego and he had called her 'mannequin girl'. Inanna didn't know what it meant then and she wasn't sure what it meant now, but she wanted to know.

Inanna glanced over her shoulder to Five, his eyes darting away from hers before he blinked passed her to Klaus, grabbing his brother by his shirt.

"Don't talk about my wife like that" Five spat harshly as his ears turned a light shade of red from embarrassment. He didn't care that his siblings knew about the mannequin — even if their perception was incorrect — he only cared that Inanna now knew.

"Five-" Luther shook his head, it hadn't even been five minutes since he had asked for peace.

"Who would have thought you'd be so protective" Klaus chuckled, innocently raising his hands up by his head.

"Five" Inanna sighed.

"Just give me a minute to throw Klaus down the st-".

"Five" Inanna raised her voice slightly wanting to be heard as Klaus repeatedly slapped Five's hands. "Now" Inanna pointed towards her room.

Five stilled for a moment before releasing Klaus from his grip. Klaus brushed his hands down his shirt as Five tucked his hands into his pockets, his head bowing as he turned on his heel.

Inanna fell into step behind Five, both of them walking towards the bedroom. "You can throw Klaus down the stairs afterwards" Inanna muttered.

it's 12am where i am from
and it's my birthday, i wanted
to get a chapter out again
because i don't think i will
be able to update this story
until at least tuesday at the
earliest. i might be able to,
but just incase...