Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 Clues series.
Title: They Say Time Heals
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Suspense
Summary: They say time heals, but it can also leave scars.
Words: 497
Those dark amber eyes mesmerize her, as they had mesmerized her many years before.
"Amy, is that you?"
She is fourteen again and he is the source of the heat that rises to her cheeks.
"Ian. This is a pleasant surprise."
"I'll say. It's been a long time—five years?"
"Closer to fifteen, actually."
"Wow, time really flies by. How are you, Amy?"
She shrugs. Madrigal training has made her a strong woman. "I'm alright. How are you?"
"Good. Great." He smiles, a flash of white. There is a pause in the conversation. She tries not to stare at his jeans.
"So what brings you here?"
"To the zoo?" He laughs. It is a warm, genuine laugh that she has never heard from him before. She wonders what is so funny. "I'm chaperoning my son's class's field trip."
There are so many things wrong with that sentence that she doesn't even try to understand it. In fact, there are so many things wrong with this conversation, with him, with his easy smiles and natural laughs, with his clothes, and even his eyes—they are no longer hungry black fires that reach out to her. They sparkle and light up with his enthusiasm for life. He's happy. Who is she to take that happiness away from him? Someone has broken Ian Kabra out of his shell, someone has fixed him before she could, and she is just a fragment of his past now. The past is best left where it is.
She makes an exaggerated gesture of looking at her watch. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. It was nice seeing you, Ian."
He reaches for her, surprising her. She tenses as her head is pressed into his chest and his warm hands hold her. He smells no longer of expensive cologne but of soap and nature. She is more than a little relieved when he lets go. "Goodbye Amy."
As she walks away, her cell phone rings. She knows who it is before she picks it up. "He remembers faces and people, but not events. And it's going to stay that way."
The man on the other end is silent for a long time. "If you're sure."
She struggles to keep her emotions in check. "He's happy," she almost snarls. "He's finally happy for once in his life. Do you want to tell him that he's actually a member of one of the most vicious families in the world, he lost part of his memory in an explosion, his sister is dead, and his psycho mom tried to kill both of them? Are you that heartless, Dan?"
She takes a deep breath. "As far as the others are concerned, Ian Kabra is presumed to be dead after that deadly explosion his freak of a mother pulled."
She hangs up before her brother can reply. A pair of sunglasses is slipped onto her face, so that no one can see the tears welled up in her eyes.