A/N: This story idea truthfully came out of nowhere today. But it was something that I had to write. My priority right now is Heart and Gunpowder, but I still just wanted to drop this little nugget.

"We wish you would come back home."

Those were the final words of the letter sitting openly on the table, but Tatsumi couldn't bring himself to read the letter a second time. It was from his home village, and they obviously knew what he'd been up to in this post-Empire era. It had been three years since the rebellion succeeded, and though the main battles were over, there was still fighting from loyalists.

It wasn't as though it was unexpected, but Tatsumi never realized that they would still be trying to fight for an Empire that no longer existed.

His meager home was filled with the minimal amount of decorations, though he certainly had the money to live a grander lifestyle. But that wasn't what he wanted. In truth, he wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do anymore.

His days as an assassin were mostly over, save for the occasional request to stop a new loyalist uprising.

No, aside from training his body and working within the new Empire's ranks, life had mostly fallen into a repetitive pattern of working during the day, and resting at his home at night. Yet, even after three years, he couldn't stop the anticipation he once had when he worked with the Night Raid. Those days were nostalgic for him.

"Daddy?"

His young daughter grasped at his fingers, her beautiful green eyes staring up with worry in them. Truthfully, he never thought he would be a good father to her – but so far, everything had worked out in his favor.

"Hey there, Sayo," he said to her, lifting the young child in his arms. "Were you a good girl today?"

She nodded. A smile spread across her face, one that melted his heart. "The beast lady took us to the park today. It was a lot of fun."

Tatsumi grinned and kissed his daughter on the forehead.

"You know, it would help if she would just call me by my name," the woman watching over the child had said.

"She can't help it," Tatsumi remarked, setting his daughter on the ground. "Thanks for watching her."

"It's no problem at all," the 'beast lady' said, walking over to Tatsumi's fridge to pull out a bottle of liquor. "When are you planning on paying your big sis back, though? I don't like watching over kids for free."

"I tried paying you," Tatsumi told Leone.

"And I told you that I don't want that money. I already marked you, so why don't you just give me my real payment. We'll have so much fun."

Tatsumi chuckled at that. Leone hadn't changed very much. She still wore the same exposing outfit as she always had, and he was worried a little bit that some of her traits would rub off on his daughter. But for the most part, Leone had cared for the girl, and Tatsumi couldn't take that away. Besides, little Sayo seemed to really enjoy hanging out with her.

"She's not around, Tatsumi…it's been three years, you know. I will never understand why you would want a woman like her. Mine's not going to wait around forever…she's getting impatient."

Ah, Mine. The pigtailed girl brought back some unusually fond memories.

"I thought she hated the fact that I had a daughter with that woman?"

Leone shrugged her shoulders. "I think she's realizing that it wasn't really your fault about what happened. Just take her out on a date…I think she'll be satisfied with reconnecting, at least."

"Hmm…" Tatsumi sat and stroked his chin. It was true, the two of them hadn't spoken in quite a while. With his priority being his daughter, he truthfully didn't have enough time to work on their relationship…or relationships that the two of them had. Breaking up, getting back together, drifting apart…it was a weird circle that the two of them were in. "I guess…"

"Good. It's settled," Leone cheerfully said, patting Tatsumi on the back.

A little too hardly, if he had a say in the matter.

Leone practically hopped out of her chair and moved for the door. "I'll let her know that you'll have a date tomorrow. Just the two of you. I'll watch the kid for free this time. You'll be surprised at what Mine might have to say this time."

For some reason, that filled his heart with more worry than anything.

But then again, what could've been more worrisome than having a daughter with the most notorious sadist in the Empire? If only Esdeath had been around…but then, he wouldn't have moments like these where he could relax, now would he?

It was so unlike her to avoid drawing attention, but Esdeath truly didn't want to unnecessarily cause a fight with any of her enemies. There were so many of them. Though her blood screamed out to paint the streets with horrible screams and death, she had a single-minded focus that overpowered even her very nature.

She had left the Empire to seek her own battlefields, having listened to Tatsumi's words back on that fateful day.

He told her to come back when she was ready to lay down her arms.

Why did his words penetrate her so deeply? She used to seek battle, thrilled by the prospect of having someone trying to prove they were stronger than her. The little assassin known as Akame was even prepared to fight her to the death, and yet, something about what Tatsumi said struck her.

'We'll be waiting for you,' he once told her.

Something about those words had caused her to do something she never would've thought was possible – she left the battlefield. Well, she left this battlefield. There were other parts of the world in which she could fully embrace her nature and cause all kinds of havoc. It was thrilling for a time.

But now, standing here in the outskirts of the Empire borders with garments to hide her features, there was a yearning for something more. There was something inside of her crying out louder than the need to prove that she was the absolute strongest in the world. The blood that stained her hands no longer excited her. Even the multiple opportunities to torture a person didn't have the same allure to it.

"Tatsumi, what…did you do to me?"

She only returned because she needed to see why his words had such an effect on her, growing over these last few years. For Esdeath knew that she would not convince him otherwise to leave whatever the Empire was. Of course, she could've always kidnapped him. But there was the matter of their daughter.

Something about thinking of her child really derailed everything.

And Esdeath needed to know what it was.

These feelings…she didn't understand them. She couldn't comprehend what she felt in her heart. It was madly frustrating.

She had to know.

At least, before that little assassin finally made her move. The girl had been trailing her on and off for weeks, and Esdeath wondered why it took so long to make a move.

Esdeath pushed onward.

If Akame was content with hiding in the shadows, then Esdeath would simply wait for her to strike. She would not start a battle until she saw her daughter and Tatsumi first. Then…she would settle this.