To Be Free

Following their battle in Acre, the gang returned to Bassam's house for the night. Upon their arrival, Djaq prepared to seek out her uncle's friend, leaving Will with a squeeze of his hand, whispered words of affection and a promise to not be long. The elder man found her first, running to meet her and embracing her without hesitation, incredibly relieved to see her safe and with her beloved still at her side, unharmed. After all that she had lost and suffered, he could not be more grateful to see her fortune change for the better.

"Welcome back, Safiyya."

"Djaq."

"Sorry, yes, I remember, Djaq."

"Thanks." She knew it would take him a little while to get used to, but it was the name she had chosen to live by, continuing to use it even after dropping her disguise and she could not imagine herself going back now. She did not doubt that there would always be times that Bassam would, with a slip of the tongue, call her Safiyya, but she could accept that, and did not intend to completely erase that name from her identity, it was just secondary.

After a minute, Bassam slowly let her out of his embrace, taking her in at arm's length for just a moment before releasing her. "Djaq, now that your friends have brought you home, please tell me you will stay, you have a home here, you will always be welcome here."

"I know." She nodded hesitantly. "But is Will?"

"What?"

"I have to be with him. I love him and I promised him; I won't break that promise. I need him at my side; I cannot stay anywhere he would not be welcome too. You are important to me too, so I am asking you to trust my judgement, trust that my heart knew the other half of my soul when I met him; Will is that person, I have trusted him completely since the day we met, and I ask that you take time to get to know him, and respect him for who he is. All I ask is that you don't just think and feel what people expect you to."

"Have you ever known me to do what people expect me to?"

Holding her hands out to him, she leant forward slightly, urging him to listen. "You don't understand."

"You think I don't understand love? Oh, Safiyya, of course I do."

She let her arms fall back to her sides, his wife had died when she was still a girl, almost a woman but still a good few years away from truly understanding what love was, and yet he still carried her with him in everything. "No, I know, I do. When I was young, you never restricted me for being female, and all I ask is that you treat him with the same fairness, that you don't judge him for being an Englishman."

He smiled. "You think I care about the colour of his skin? I don't. But I do care about the way he sees yours."

"He would never change it. He would never change me. He is fascinated by our culture, I am teaching him Arabic, he truly embraces everything about me that comes from being a Saracen; he has only ever seen it as a reason to protect me if I need it. I love that, and I love Will."

"And he loves you just as much?"

She nodded, simply unable to prevent the edges of her lips curling upwards at the thought. "Yes. You've seen it."

"He treats you right?"

A broad smile spread across her face. "Yes, of course!"

"Then he is welcome."

Grinning, she stepped forward to grab him into a hug. "Thank you."

"So you will stay?"

She let go, not wanting to raise his hopes too much. "Maybe. I don't even know what I want, let alone what he wants. We will talk about it and decide. But I want you to know that whether here or in England, I am very happy. Will is my family and my home."

Bassam smiled. "I am very proud of you, as would your father, mother, brother and uncle be." Tears pricked her eyes at the mention of her poor late family. "Now go, don't worry about this old man, go and spend your evening with him." He watched her walk away, part of him still in disbelief that she was alive, and more incredibly, safe. "Even love that's forever can't give you an infinite number of nights together."

Djaq didn't have to go far to find her carpenter; Will had already been on his way back to find her, seeking to provide and receive a little well needed comfort. She took him down the corridors to her old room, when they'd arrived Bassam had assured her it was still hers, and whilst it didn't quite feel like hers anymore, it was a quiet, safe place where they could be alone and talk freely. In need of her sanctuary, she was grateful to find him eager to provide it, cuddling her for a long while until she felt relaxed enough to broach the subject they needed to.

"Bassam asked me to stay. Told me I'll always be welcome, promised you are too."

Gently kissing her forehead, Will let her go but closed his hand around hers as it fell into her lap. "I think we should stay."

"What?" Though her mind had still to settle, she smiled. "You don't have to say that, you don't have to think you'd be taking me from my home, England has felt like home too, because... because it's been you, you're home not a place."

He couldn't help smiling back. "I feel the same. Djaq, I think this is were we need to be now."

She frowned. "Doesn't England need us?"

"Yeah, probably. But I need you more." Wordlessly, she reached out to cup his cheek, pulling him to her for a deep kiss. "England just needs people to fight for it. But I need you. Don't you think it's cost us enough?"

She nodded as he drew her into his arms, grateful for the kisses he was pressing to her temple; after they day they'd just experienced there was no denying what it cost.

"Our friends, family, you almost died in the mines, I almost hung, you almost... died..." He tried not to think about about the memory of her bleeding in his arms, so close to death, terrified like him. "I don't want it to cost me you too."

"Me neither."

"I think we are at a point where we have to choose; I don't want to be fearing for our lives, fighting every day to survive, worrying and fretting and having to hide. I want us to be free; you deserve that more than anyone I've ever known."

"I want that for you too, you deserve it too, Will. I just want us both to be safe and happy. You think you'll be happy here?"

"Yes. I'm happy because I'm with you. I'm a simple man–"

"You're not simple."

He smiled, kissing the crown of her head. "You know what I mean, all I want is to be safe and free with my family." He tilted her head up. "That's you. You make me happy."

Djaq smiled back. "Are you sure about staying?"

"Completely sure. Unless you really don't want to, in which case I am not opposed to going back to England."

"No, I hadn't decided, I couldn't, but I trust you, I think you're right. So, let's stay."