"Everyone deserves a happy ending." - Jodi Picoult

"The love of a family is life's greatest blessings." - No idea

"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story." - Orson Welles

Kanda was reclining back on the floor if the observatory he and Allen had gone to on a date a while back. He had a hard time remembering if they had gone there on their first date or not, but he did remember how important it was to him. It had been so sentimental, so thoughtful.

Most people wouldn't have bothered looking up a local observatory and taking him to lay underneath the fake stars. They would've either seen it as pointless since he couldn't see them or insensitive, for the same reason.

Allen Walker took the saying "It's the thought that counts" very seriously when he set up that date and it was very much appreciated. He wasn't overly concerned with upsetting Kanda, he just wanted to create wonderful new memories for his boyfriend. It'd touched him.

The smile that had spread at these thoughts dropped from his lips as Kanda's mind inevitably went to the media leak of his parentage. A blind person living in New York was almost the most common thing ever, but a famous and reclusive artist adopting a blind child? Suddenly, everyone took an interest.

Kanda normally went unnoticed when he left his house and pounded the streets. Either that or being briefly noticed for the wrong reasons and then just as easily discarded.

He was used to it.

What he wasn't used to was being called out by one person and then being noticed by everyone in the street. Being identified as The Blind Son of Froi Tiedoll. He'd never thought he'd feel like it was a luxury to not be noticed, but he was feeling that now. Not that he wanted to go back to being seen by no one, he thought with a small shudder. No, certainly not that.

Kanda knew that he didn't handle people talking about his blindness very well. It had been used against him so much in the past that it just became a harsh topic for him, altogether. Every word about it seemed like a criticism of his character, even when it wasn't. And then Allen came in, being all fumbling and wonderful.

Allen tried, actually tried, to interact with Kanda on a level they were both comfortable with. He learned and adapted to what made Kanda comfortable, more so than anyone else ever had.

When they were shopping together, Allen made moved to alleviate Kanda's anxiety naturally. When Kanda couldn't find something, Allen either grabbed it for him or else he would talk to the display and let Kanda follow the sound of his steps. He almost never led Kanda to something by holding onto him, recognizing that Kanda could walk on his own.

When he did touch Kanda, he never grabbed onto him as if he thought Kanda had no sense of personal space, like people had sadly so often done in the past. When Allen touched him, it was because he wanted to be close to him and he touched him softly and lovingly, not like he owned him.

Kanda sighed at the way his thoughts were going. He'd started to open himself up more, sometimes without realizing it. Now having people he didn't know throw his blindness back in his face . . .

Kanda clenched his hand into a tight fist and forced himself to breathe in and out slowly.

They didn't even know him!

The blind son of Froi Tiedoll. That's all he really was to them; a charity case or an exhibit to gawk at. His previous caretakers thought just like they did . . . The blind son of the artist, Froi Tiedoll, was all he was to any of them.

"They don't even know me." Kanda breathed out, his voice melancholic as he stared up into blackness.

"No, they don't." An achingly familiar voice and accompanying footsteps sounded from several paces away.

Propping himself up on his elbow to peer at his boyfriend, Kanda didn't even bother to try to keep the emotions from his face. A time months ago, he may have. With someone else he still may have tried to hide how he was feeling. Someone else? Sure. But with Allen? Never with him.

As always when Kanda looked at his boyfriend, Allen stood there, surrounded by a sea of black. His silvery hair was agitatedly tousled, his cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were watery and worried as they looked back at him.

"You don't look so good." Kanda smirked, he'd never thought he'd be able to say those words to anybody.

"Do I?" Allen asked laughing lightly as some of the worry lines on his face smoothed some.

Kanda's smirked softened at that. "How did you know I'd be here?" Kanda asked, not the least bit upset at being found.

"Your dad told me you weren't at the house. If you weren't there, I couldn't help but think you might be here." Allen stepped closer and carefully laid down beside Kanda. They spent a moment just staring up towards the ceiling of the observatory, Allen seeing stars and Kanda seeing darkness.

"You're right, you know." Allen said at last, blue eyes glancing over at Kanda.

"Hm?" Kanda inquired, calmly glancing over at his boyfriend, the only spot of light in a sea of darkness.

"You're right. They don't know you." Allen turned over as he said this, so that he could look back at Kanda. "But I do. And your father does. And Lenalee could, too, if you let her. For all the people you feel are against you, there could be a dozen people you never noticed, waiting in the wings to help you."

For a brief moment, Kanda felt his old hackles rise as it sounded to him like Allen was chastising him for not being as open.

Then he felt Allen's hand closing around his own and saw the soft, affectionate smile Allen was aiming at him and realized that it was a promise. A promise for their lives from here on out.

Feeling Kanda's emotions as he felt them, Allen's smile widened and the next words he spoke doubled down on Kanda's observation.

"We'll get there one day, Kanda, you and me. We'll have a whole army of people behind us and together we'll take over the worl-ahem . . . I mean, we'll have support." Allen shot a grin at Kanda as the dark haired man snickered at his dramatics. "Still, you'll see. We'll have so many people behind us that you won't even notice those against us. That's a promise." Allen squeezed his hand, tightly.

"You'll never feel alone, either." Kanda reassured, his voice strong and clear. "I'm not the only one with people to support them. I'm not the only one who needs it and you'll have it, too." The azure-eyed man smiled at his boyfriend, feeling like the luckiest person in the world.

Allen had a look of surprise on his face, like he hadn't really even thought about getting support for himself. Knowing the selfless bastard, he probably hadn't. Kanda shook his head fondly at the thought.

The surprise quickly drained from Allen's face, to be replaced by the most brilliant smile the silver-haired man had ever given him.

Kanda's thin lips tugged up in response. Things would be better from here on, he decided, and any problems that came upon them they would face together.

(Fifteen Years Later)

"Daddy, can you tell us a story?" Brown eyes peeked up from underneath the covers, tiny hands on either side of the eyes holding onto the covers.

"Yeah, Dad! Yeah!" An older but still young voice chimed in. The small figure it came from was jumping up and down on their bed excitedly.

The dark-haired father chuckled. He couldn't see the beds or the covers, but he could see the little boys and hear the bed springs squeaking from the bouncing. He was blind, but there were some things he could see, like his little souls.

"And what makes you think I'm going to tell you a story tonight? Maybe I've just come in to say goodnight." The man chuckled, even as he sat down on his quiet child's bed.

"Please tell us one, Daddy. The quiet boy in the bed asked sweetly.

On the other side of the room, the boy's brother decided to logic out his father's argument. "You have to! You and Papa don't play favorites and Papa's already in Miranda's room reading to her, so you have to read to us too or it wouldn't be fair!" The older boy nodded to himself after he finished his argument, still bouncing up and down.

"Is that true, Daddy?" The younger looked up at his Daddy with hopeful eyes. A soft smile spread across the man's face as he watched his adorable youngest child.

Gently combing the boy's black hair, the man calmly replied. "Your brother's right, Alma. It wouldn't be fair if your sister got stories but you didn't." Then in a louder voice as he spoke to his other son, "BUT if you don't stop your bouncing and listen to the story, Lavi, I'm not sure I'll be willing to tell one tomorrow."

The bouncing stopped in an instant and the last sound he heard was the soft thump of a small body flopping back onto the bed. "I stopped, Dad." Lavi narrated, causing his dad's smile to widen.

"I'm glad, Son. Now what story do you want to hear tonight? We can only do one."

"Can we finish the story of you and Papa?" Alma softly asked, right before Lavi jumped in.

"Sometimes Papa reads extra stories to Miranda and then comes in after you to read more to us." Lavi informed him.

Kanda failed to hide a smirk. "Yes sometimes, but he's not supposed to do that."

"Shh, Lavi! You're going to get Papa in trouble!" Alma said worriedly, but Lavi ignored him in favor of furthering his argument.

"We should get more stories than her though, because she's in middle school now." Lavi said, looking to his younger brother for support and pouting when he doesn't get it.

"I wouldn't recommend telling Papa that." The father smirked. "It'll only make his stubborn self even more insistent on reading to you until you're in college."

"I wouldn't mind being read to in college." Alma added, Lavi accentuating it by nodding fervently.

"Don't tell him that, either. Really, boys, he doesn't need the incentive."

"What's that mean?" Alma asked.

His dad paused before answering, anticipating his little bookworm would want to do it and right on schedule . . .

"I know that one! It means a reason for doing something!" Lavi stated confidently, but then his bright green eyes cut a questioning look over to his dad. Just checking.

He gave a slight nod to show that Lavi was right and the boy smiled blindingly bright, something he might have picked up from his Papa. Alma definitely took after himself, though.

He could never get rid of the amused smirk he wore around his kids, they were just too amusing. Like the way Lavi looked to his dads for guidance, but tried to look only confident and knowledgeable in front of his little brother. "Okay!" The man clapped his hands once. "Let's get started on the story. Are we all agreed that we'll finish the story of Dad and Papa tonight?"

"Yeah!" The boy cried excitedly, one clearly louder than the other. And the man began.

He told the story of two princes, lost in the world, who joined together to find their way home. The princes fought and they made up and, most importantly, they protected each other. There was a witch that cast evil spells on them and landscapes that shifted and changed trying to get them lost, and even a fire breathing dragon they had to fight just as they were almost home.

The night that they got to their home, they decided to stay together forever under the stars. The two princes adopted three children, making them princes and princesses and they built a beautiful kingdom for their children.

"That was us at the end!" Lavi proclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, it was." The man smiled.

"But the blind prince couldn't see his babies at first, could he?" Alma piped up.

"That's right, he couldn't. He never thought he would be able to see them like he could see their Papa, but he loved them more than anything anyway. But then, like with Papa, he started to actually see them little by little as time passed, until he could see everything from the light in their eyes to the smiles on their adorable little faces." The father lightly pinched his youngest's cheeks, who smiled shyly in response.

"But why can Daddy see Papa and Miranda and me and Alma, but not grandpa or Aunt Lenalee or Aunt Tewaku or Uncle Link?" Lavi listed, ever the inquisitive one.

"Hm . . . It's hard to say, Lavi." The man spoke cryptically, causing both boys to look at him curiously

"Some questions we'll never quite have the answer to. The world is strange that way. Yet if I had to guess, it might have something to do with soulmates. It's been said that when a person meets the person they're supposed to love, they have the ability to connect on a deeper level than we can really understand." He said.

"So you can see Papa even though you can't see like we do, because you were meant to be together?" Alma asked, eyes wide in childish understanding.

"Maybe." The dark-haired man allowed, smiling. "It may also be that me and Papa are special and being together, being soulmates, allows us to share that specialness with each other. I believe that as much as I can believe in anything."

"Why can you see us, then? Are we soulmates?" Lavi asked, clearly trying not to start bouncing on the bed again in excitement. For all that they spent time with both their parents, they'd never talked about this before.

"Yes, of a different sort. When we adopted you and your sister, you became ours in every way. You both know I was adopted?" Both boys nodded. "Your grandpa used to tell me that I was born from his heart. That's what adoption is, taking home the child your heart and soul calls for and the more I loved you guys, the more I saw.

Now I can see your fluffy hair," he patted Alma's head, the turned to Lavi. "And your green eyes and your sister's dark curls. Is that also why Papa always knows what you're feeling and sometimes what we're feeling?" Lavi, again.

"Why not?" The man asked, kissing Alma on the forehead and then moved to tuck Lavi into bed and kissed him on the forehead, too. "The world is strange. Sometimes we can explain something and sometimes . . . it needs no explanation." Lavi seemed thoughtful before smiling up happily at him, accepting what his dad had to say.

He went to the door and switched off the lights. "Goodnight, boys." He called.

"Night, Daddy!" His boys called back. Kanda smiled and left the room.

Kanda deftly made his way to the kitchen. It wasn't the house he grew up in, but it had been his family's home for many years now and he knew it like the back of his hand. A figure was already waiting for him in the kitchen.

"You got the little beasts to sleep?" His husband asked, pressing a mug of hot chocolate into his hands.

"They'll be down for the count in three minutes." Kanda answered confidently, not even blowing on his hot chocolate before slurping it. His awesome husband always made sure it wasn't too hot to drink before tempting him.

The warm chocolate spread pleasantly across his taste buds and the blind man gave a low hum. "MIranda?" He inquired.

"I think I got her down." Allen said, sounding less assured. "I swear she's less interested in sleeping than she was as a toddler."

"Sucks to be you, then." Kanda smirked.

"I'm taking the boys tomorrow." Allen griped, goodnaturedly. Kanda buried his smirk in his mug.

"Anything big happen at the office?"

"Not much, although there's another child welfare bill passing soon that I'll need to make sure all my people know the change and implement it." Allen answered.

"That's what you get being the head of your department instead of a grunt. You're just too good at your job. Should have known you of all people would want to work in child and family services." Kanda said.

"Yeah and I thought I had a lot of work when I was just starting out." Allen laughed. "So hey, you know how I either have lunch with my coworker Johnny, Tewaku or Link when I can drag him from his job for a little while? Well, today it was Tewaku."

Allen was clearly leading up to something. Kanda nodded softly.

"Everything went as normal at first." Allen continued. "She came into my office and we ate our lunches and she chattered on excitedly about her students this semester, like normal. It was only near the end of our lunch that she brought up something different."

"Something else?" Kanda prompted.

"Mmhmm." Allen hummed, taking another sip of hot cocoa. "She pulled out a newspaper, showed me an article." Allen paused, drawing in a short breath.

Kanda tried not to get worried, but his husband was usually more direct than this. He was uncomfortable with something. "What did it say?" He asked, trying to get his love to continue.

"Congressman Mayer surprised Congress last week by pushing through several bills. The Access Technology Affordability Act, the Greater Accessibility and Independence through Nonvisual Access Technology Act, and the Disability Employment Act were all passed almost entirely due to the aid of Congressman Tokusa Mayer.

It is unclear why the Congressman chose to show his support, as he is not known to be a strong proponent of equal rights for those with disabilities." Allen recited, his voice quiet.

Kanda was quiet for a time too, thinking. "Do you think he remembers?" He asked, hesitantly.

"He's Tokusa. Bastard never forgot anything." Allen sipped at his drink. He knew what Kanda was asking about, of course he did.

The promise Tokusa made Allen the last time they talked. The last thing he'd said to Allen. The laws . . . they mainly helped blind people. They helped them access technology easily, helped them to get jobs, and made having their jobs easier.

"Does he know I'm taking college classes right now? These laws, once implemented, will no doubt be a great help. The timing is . . ." Kanda trailed off.

"He could." Allen acknowledged, not looking at him.

"Looks like he finally made it up to you." Kanda said, watching his reaction.

"I guess so." Allen looked up and flashed a small smile at his husband. "Took a while, but he never did do things in halves." Allen said, thinking of all the new laws.

"Still a jerk, though." Kanda said.

Allen choked out a laugh, his smile widening and the tension leaving his form. "Tewaku said the same thing after she showed me the article."

"Sounds like her." Kanda laughed.

"Dad! I can't sleep! Can I stay up?!" Their daughter's voice called out from inside the house. Allen groaned loudly while Kanda smirked.

"You're up." Kanda saluted his husband with his cocoa mug.

"I swear she's trying to become nocturnal." Allen muttered, putting down his mug and heading into the house.

Kanda watched as his husband went to take care of their child and left him with all the hot cocoa. Kanda smiled. Life was good.

Alright! I done! I tried to write the law/bill stuff realistically, but I mostly just cared about making it sound natural and using actual bills that are supposed to be introduced here in 2019. Thank you all for reading. Let me know what you think.