I am so so sorry for this very much late update. My work, amazing as it is, have been my life dry and robbing me of any free time I may have :(

I hope this 9 pages, 4K chapter will make up for it. Without further ado here's the next chapter, taken just from the end of the last one.

Mr. Verdier blinked. Once. Then twice.

The trees in front of him still sported grey trunks and fuchsia leaves, though.

His eyes narrowed, he stared at the trees suspiciously. He may not have a green thumb, but he was pretty sure that trees with such strange colors as these one should not exist in the world.

Unless it was a dream world, of course.

Wait a minute. His eyes widened in sudden realization. If this was a dream world, then that means-

“Dad!”

He spun around just in time as a weight flung onto him, almost knocking the breath out of his chest. Glancing down at the foreign weight he could feel his mouth broke into a wide grin.

“Princess!”

Iola laughed as he lifted her up in his hold, her giggles rang loud in the air as he hugged her tighter.

“Sweetheart?”

“Iola?”

“Hey, sis!”

Mr. Verdier lowered his daughter down when he caught sight of his wife, along with their two sons behind her. She already pulled Iola from his hold to give her a hug of her own, along with Yunho and Changmin who were crowding over Iola, and Mr. Verdier took a step back to just enjoy the view of having his whole family together with him.

Iola laughed as she swatted Changmin’s hand that has been ruffling her hair. “Come on, stop it! You’re messing my hair.”

Changmin just smirked as he deliberately ruffled it even more. “That was the intention.”

Yunho chuckled as he looped an arm around her shoulder, effectively pulling Iola away from Changmin’s incessant attack. “Miss you, lil’ sis.”

“Miss you too, big bro,” Iola grinned and bumped her shoulder against his. “How’s the gig at the law firm coming on?”

Yunho gave a mock sigh. “Hard and tough. Just last week they kept me at the office until 11 at night, preparing for a big case we’re having.”

“…..and you love every minute of it, don’t you?”

“Wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Yunho and Iola shared a grin before Changmin pulled her back to him. “Hey, I’ll give you three chances to guess who just land a spot for the research internship one of the leading professor in this country is having?”

Iola’s eyes were wide as she pulled Changmin’s sleeve eagerly. “Don’t tell me…..you got the internship?”

“What, did you even doubt it?”

There was a loud shriek of glee as Iola threw her arms around Changmin. “Oh my God, you got it! I am so proud of you!”

Mr. Verdier’s smile grew bigger as he watched the scene, sharing a fond look with his wife. With both his sons in law school and graduate school in different states, and Iola in this other dimension’s world, the house has been too quiet for his taste. The boys called home often enough and Iola visited them in their dreams frequently, but still, it wasn’t the same as having all three of his children together like this.

In a sense they were even closer, distance-wise, than before, he mused. The boys lived too far away and were only able to come home during the holidays or semester breaks, but what with Iola’s newfound ability to ability to connect their dreams, she could gather them all together like this often enough that it was almost like they were all still lives together as a family.

 Iola turned back to him with a wide smile and Mr. Verdier grinned back, beckoning her closer to which she immediately comply. An arm around her shoulder while the other was around his wife’s waist, Mr. Verdier thought he must be the luckiest man ever to have his arms full with the two women he loves the most in the world.

“How are you, sweetheart?”

Iola grinned at her mother. “I’m doing fine, Mom.”

“You seemed a bit thinner, have you been eating well?”

“Mom….” Iola’s whine was something he hadn’t heard for a long time and it made Mr. Verdier chuckled. “I’m eating alright. Just that I have a lot of work and usually run here and there, so I’d probably lose some weight.”

The huff of breath his wife released hit his chest. “If only you were home, I could’ve cooked you your favorite meals.”

“Mom…”

His wife lifted her hands in surrender. “Just saying. You better tell those Guardians to feed you more.”

Mr. Verdier opened his mouth, ready to say something but his attention was diverted when he saw someone coming from behind the strange-looking trees. The newcomer caught his gaze and nodded politely, keeping his distance while shuffling somewhat nervously.

Mr. Verdier nodded back, silently nudging his daughter until Iola turned to see the young man. With a grin she bounded away to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him until he stood in front of the family. 

The man bowed again once he was in front of them, but his eyes seemed nervous and wary. Mr. Verdier frowned as he looked the man over. He knew this young man was one of the Guardians in charge of guarding his daughter; Iola had taken the time to bring the twelve men a couple of times when she visited them in the dreams so that they could get to know each other better. But usually it would be in groups, never did she take only one of them to the dream.

“You are that Guardian of Healing, aren’t you?”

The young man seemed startled at being spoken to and quickly bowed again. “Uhm…yes, Sir, I am Yixing.”

His wife took her place besides him and looked over the man warmly. “How are you, dear?”

“I-I’m fine, Ma’am.”

“Our sister has been giving you troubles, huh?” Yunho sidled closer, grinning at the indignant screech Iola let out.

“O-Oh, n-no, nothing like th-“

Changmin cut Yixing off easily. “Oh please, sure she does. We’re used to it, anyway.”

“Hey! You make me sounds like some troublemaker or something!”

“Well, of course you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

Mr. Verdier chuckled as his children started to bicker again, but his laughter died abruptly when he noticed something.

“Iola.”

His daughter immediately turn to him, her face alert and guarded, probably because the serious tone he used. “Yes, Dad?”

He narrowed his eyes, nudging his chin to point. “Want to explain about that?”

Everyone’s eyes followed his gaze until they landed on Iola’s hand which was still holding tight to Yixing’s, and Mr. Verdier swore he could actually feel the air grew thicker with tension. Both his sons scowled and ready to pounce forward while Yixing himself tried to let go of Iola’s grasp, but she refused to budge and instead just rolled her eyes.

“That’s actually the reason why I gathered everyone here. This…” she pulled Yixing forward, the man almost stumbled before he quickly righted himself. “Is Yixing. You know him before as one of the Guardians, but I want to tell you today that we’re also dating.”

Silence ensued for a few seconds before chaos erupted.

“You what??”

“Are you’re saying he’s your boyfriend?”

“Since when??”

Mr. Verdier was ready to charge ahead but a soft touch on his arm halted him, and he turned to see his wife, a small smile on her face as she shook her head almost imperceptibly. Sighing, he nodded and took a deep breath.

“Very well, Iola. If you says you are dating this boy, then I want to get to know your….boyfriend,” he spat out the word like it brought a sour taste in his mouth and frankly, he wasn’t sure it didn’t.

Iola beamed and nodded. “Of course, Dad. That’s why I brought Yixing here today, so that he could meet you and the others.” She turned back to Yixing and grinned. “I’ll just go somewhere with Mom and let you boys have your time, okay?”

Mr. Verdier looked on with satisfaction of how oblivious Iola was to the panicked and pleading look Yixing tried to send her as she let go of his hand and looped an arm around her mother, already starting to walk away.

They were already some distance away when Iola turned. “Dad?”

“Yes, princess?”

“Don’t kill Yixing, okay? He’s a good guy, I promise.” She glared to her brothers and pointed an accusing finger. “That goes to you two, okay?”

Yunho gasped and pressed a hand to his chest. “What, us? I’m insulted that you might even think that lowly of us.”

Iola only snorted before turning around, hand in hand with her mother until they disappeared behind the trees.

They waited for a few more seconds after that before simultaneously turning to Yixing.

Yunho stalked forward, eyes glinting with something dangerous. “Iola did say for us not to kill you.”

The smirk grazing Changmin’s face could only be called feral. “But she didn’t say that we couldn’t hurt you.”

“Just a bit.”

“Or a lot.”

Mr. Verdier looked on with a grim smile as Yixing paled and gulped audibly, and felt that he couldn’t be more proud of his two sons than at that moment.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So.....”

Mrs. Verdier looked on as her daughter continued to walk a few steps ahead peacefully, humming a tune under her breath. She didn’t seem to hear her so Mrs. Verdier satisfied herself by staring at her only daughter.

Even though Iola visited in her dreams often enough, Mrs. Verdier couldn’t help but miss her. It was strange, to say the least, to not have her around at home; the house seemed much too quiet without loud music playing from her room, no laughter as the TV played her favorite comedy shows, no whining to have an advance in allowance for that new bag she just have to have. Instead, now she have to rely on dreams to meet her.

Mrs. Verdier couldn’t blame Iola for her decision of staying back in this strange world. She understood her reason, and was proud of her for making such a big sacrifice. Still, a mother’s heart will always long for her children to be nearby.

“.....Mom?”

Mrs. Verdier startled out of her musing, to find her daughter staring at her. “I’m sorry dear, I was thinking about something...”

Iola sent her a small smile, a glint of understanding in her eyes as she looped her hand around the older woman’s arm, squeezing it a bit.

“How’s everything at home?”

It was Mrs. Verdier turn to hum. “Everything’s good. It’s been getting colder nowadays, I’m sure winter is just around the corner.”

Iola nodded and they continued to walk in silence before Mrs. Verdier decided