Things had been....difficult of late. That was putting it quite mildly, but it sufficed well enough. For too long now Leon had been watching as his life slipped out of his grasp. His daughter made her disdain for him clear, though given how she thought of her mother it was not overly surprising. Said mother, his wife, Aubre, had been like a stranger. Or, at least, he'd been like a stranger to her; at least that's the way she treated him. She'd withdrawn, barely speaking, never smiling, the love they'd had seemingly stamped out in but a fraction of the time it took to grow.

There had been a time, of course. when that would have been unsurprising. Not all that long ago the very sight of him caused her to go into a blind panic. She wasn't just afraid of him, she hated him, he was quite certain of it. Truth be told he could not really blame her. He had made mistakes, irrevocable ones, that had utterly destroyed everything he'd been trying to build. As a result she was lost to him, or so he'd thought. Still, somehow, he managed to reach her, and began to make amends to her, if not himself. In time she even came to love him, and he felt for her things that he did no one else. The past was the past, dead and buried. But clearly not forgotten.

As much as he'd wished for it to stay where it was, the past had a distinct habit of coming back to bite. So it was with their marriage, what remained of it at least. She did not go into shock the moment he walked in the room but, nonetheless, she *was* afraid of him. He could see it in her eyes, too bright open to ever hide. In the way she tensed up whenever he touched her, ready to flee or fight from the attack she knew for certain was coming. It...hurt. In ways he could not even begin to understand, let alone express. And so he did everything he could to try and bring back what was lost. He'd come to Hoenn with her, leaving his family behind just as he did his life up to that point. He encouraged her pursuits, so long as they remained within reason, even though he did not much see the point. And he tried everything he could to please her, even as he stubbornly pretended that nothing had changed. That a little part of him didn't die everytime she flinched away from him.

All that needless to say, the letter he found on the table was quite startling. It was not quite warm, her stiffness showing through even in her writing, but it was perhaps welcoming. An olive branch, perhaps, to serve as foundation. There was no question that he would be meeting her, but that was quite some time away and in the meantime he had a precocious toddler to manage. Still he did look up the details, finding to his utter lack of surprise that it was a space of protected waterline where Tirtouga were known to spawn. Her intent, then, was quite apparent. Not knowing just how early she would arrive, only that she would arrive early, the matter of timing was a bit of an issue. Nevertheless, that was a matter for later.

---

With a low rumble, followed by a bit of jostling, a black suv pulled up at the edge of the beach. Leon had sent Victoria ahead to apologize to Aubre if he was late, the meeting spot being rather off the beaten path. Nevertheless he placed the vehicle in park at exactly 6:00 pm on the dot. As soon it shut off three doors opened, one in front and two in back, and three figures emerged. The first, of course, was Leon. He was dressed down today, being as they were going to be digging in the sand, yet even so looked as though he were arriving at a formal gathering rather than a deserted beach. The other two, one on each side, were an Empolean and a Bisharp. The pair immediately began scanning the area, heads swiveling even as they split, the penguin moving towards the beach and the woman there while the Bisharp moved towards the back of the vehicle, his eyes still scanning the treeline. Leon attempted to undo Mikaela from her seat so that she could join them, but he found to little surprise that she was already scampering out hte other side as he leaned in. With a sigh he closed the doors and followed Aetius and the albino blur, Tiberius gradually moving at their back.

Upon reaching the beach the little girl wasted no time in bolting over to her mother, latching onto one leg before turning her fierce gaze to scowl at all the nasties about. She was going to make them pay for bothering her mommy. Leon, meanwhile, approached more conservatively, being careful with his footing. He glanced at Victoria as he passed her perch, the old Skarmory chirping in acknowledgement. Aetius and Tiberius meanwhile fanned out, both moving to intercept any hostiles in the operational area. Finally, Leon came to a stop in front of Aubre, a smile that could not quite hide his relief and trepidation on his face. "Buona sera amore mio. Where would you like me?" Though he did not often attend church, he prayed that this would turn out well.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

Aubre McKenna-Settentrione