molly and fjord (some time far in the future, practically married to each other, sailing and exploring the rest of the world after essentially saving it) find a burning house one day (or one night, more probably)
its mostly wreckage by the time they get to it, only half standing if that and with the fire reduced to patches of burning bits surrounded by blackened rubble
theres a kid there, ash smeared on his face and clothes raggedy and torn, skin a dark purple and hair near black, wavy and nearly hiding his eyes, he looks like he would be hiding if there were anywhere to go but there isnt, really, and so they approach him
molly kneels down almost immediately tries to ask whats wrong but quickly finds out that he cant (or wont, for now) talk
(which isnt an issue for molly, he and fjord used to use a rudimentary sort of sign language to communicate in battle, and gustav had used a thumbs up and down system for molly himself when he first came to)
so molly quickly teaches him the system (a thumbs up for yes, down for no) and they go for yes or no questions
- do you have any family around here (a head shake and a thumbs down)
- do you know who did this (another head shake and thumbs down, more tentative this time)
- do you want us to take you somewhere safe (a nod, frantic, 2 thumbs up)
- do you think you need to be carried out (another affirmative reply, this time without the nodding)
they get away from (what’s left of) the house and go straight to their docked ship, not trusting the locals that had let this happen to not cause problems upon seeing the kid
they get him food (molly asks him to put one thumb up for fruits and vegetables, and the other up for meat. the kid hesitates before molly says its okay to choose both. he puts 2 thumbs up with the first hint of a smile molly had seen)
the kid becomes family, fjord and molly have a talk together about giving him a new name (he didnt seem to know/remember/care for his old one) and when molly says names have power and fjord mentions a new name bringing a symbol of hope
the phrasing hits both of them at the same time and they grow quiet, both of them smiling and knowing theyre thinking the same thing
they go to him later, all sitting on the floor of the deck, and ask if he likes hope, would like for it to be his name
he smiles bigger than the 2 of them had ever seen, teeth showing and hands flapping excitedly, nodding enthusiastically
molly ruffles his hair and he sticks his tongue out at him (though he isnt able to keep up the charade of being annoyed for very long)
fjord tells him not to worry, that he’ll get payback for him and ruffles mollys hair in much the same way that hope’s had been ruffled, grabs molly and pulls him on top of him to do so
it quickly becomes a group hug, hope laying on both of them and each of them laughing together
(and this is the start of fjord and mollys family together.
they find out hope has a knack for divination magic, learns tarot with ease and seems to know it instinctively (”hes a natural, love” “takes after you, molls”).
they find out he doesnt speak very often, fjord and molly hear his voice most when hes laughing or shrieking in delight.
they find out he hates crowds of people but loves looking at things in shops, curious eyes flitting over everything they can.
they find out that having a family with each other is one of the most natural feelings in the world.
they find peace and happiness in it.)
