Reconnecting

By MaryKent

Disclaimer: I don't own any aspect of Arrow the tv show. I do own an arrow. It's plastic.

Raisa dusted. She vacuumed. She polished the light fixtures. She freshened the bedding. For five years Raisa had cleaned Oliver's room. She honored the sweet little boy by cleaning his living space just as frequently as she cleaned the rest of the mansion, only today she would not have to lock the door to the room. Oliver had been found. He would finally be returning to the room she had kept clean and prepared in hopes that he would return.

Five long years ago, it was apparent that Oliver would not be returning to his room; however, Raisa kept it clean for Moira. Moira would grieve in Oliver's bedroom. She would stand at his window or near his bed for hours.

One day soon after Moira's wedding to Mr. Steele, Moira was walking through the mansion with Raisa discussing the preparations necessary for a reception. As Moira was about to leave she turned and looked at Raisa. With a firm but cold tone she said, "Oh, and Raisa, please continue to keep Oliver's room neat, but lock the door when you are done. I do not want anything to happen to his possessions."

"Yes ma'am," replied the maid.

And with a perfunctory nod, Moira left. And she never returned to Oliver's room.

Raisa arranged to have the staff complete all of Moira's requests for the reception. It would be a grand party; however, the request to care for the unoccupied bedroom upstairs was a more important task to the kindhearted maid. She watched Oliver grow up from a wide eyed young toddler to a rambunctious young man. The death of such a pure spirit was a grievous loss to the maid.

After lovingly running a dusting cloth along the knick-knacks and trinkets throughout the room, Raisa sighed and slipped out of the room. While brushing at a stray tear, she turned to slide the key into the lock.

Thea came down the hall at just that moment. "What are you doing?" asked the young girl. "Why can't I go in Oliver's room anymore?"

Raisa bent down to motherly hug the girl. With her arms wrapped around Thea she said, "You may visit Oliver's room anytime that you want Thea. But your mother wants the room to remain locked so that nothing inside the room will be disturbed. Would you like to take a look inside the room right now?"

Raisa felt Thea's head nod while she was still hugging the girl. If it were up to her, Oliver's door would remain unlocked so that Thea could continue to visit Oliver's room. However, Moira was determined that the family would reunite following her marriage to Mr. Steele. And this included accepting that no one needed access to Oliver's room.

After unlocking the door again, Raisa and Thea joined hands and walked into Oliver's room. Raisa spoke wistfully, "This is a lavish room for a young man. He needed more time to grow into its sophistication."

Thea traced the shelves lining the wall with her finger while admiring Oliver's books and baubles. In a small voice she whispered, "I miss him."

"Me too," responded Raisa.

Each of them contemplated Oliver until Thea spoke up. "Can I take this back to my room?" asked Thea who was holding an elegant brass statue that she removed from Oliver's bookshelf. "That way even when the door is locked I can have this with me?"

With a sad smile Raisa said, "Of course, Thea, you may take that with you. But keep it safe."

"Thanks," was Thea's simple reply.

The mansion looked just the same as it always had when Oliver arrived after years of absence. The imposing stone facade barely softened the landscaping and the massive front doors felt like a barricade. Oliver hoped that being with family inside would more comforting than the house itself.

"Your room is exactly as you left it. I never had the heart to change a thing," stated Moira as the two entered the house.

Oliver did not care about his room. He had not used anything from inside his room for five years. The items in it were hardly important now; he would rather familiarize himself with the people that filled the house, the people that made it a home. Walter Steele was not one of those people. But Raisa was a dear friend from his years growing up in the mansion.

"It's good to see you Raisa," said Oliver while holding back emotion. He stepped over to hold her hands. Her hands were warm and comforting and she smelled of fresh laundry, just as he remembered.

"Welcome home Mr. Oliver," responded Raisa with a large smile that lit up her eyes. She was pleased to be reunited with her sweet boy. Her delight grew as Oliver embraced his sister a moment later. She wished that the two siblings could heal the loneliness in one another.

Once Moira stopped hovering around Oliver, he retreated to his bedroom. As his mother promised, the room was just as he left it. It felt lonely. After the desolation that he often felt on the island, he had expected the company of family at home would eliminate his loneliness. Perhaps time would remedy his loneliness. With a gentle thud Oliver set down his wooden suitcase and thought about how to begin to heal his city.

A light knock interrupted his thoughts. Oliver turned to the door, hoping that it was not his mother returning to prattle on as if nothing were wrong. With a small sigh Oliver called, "Come in."

After a moment, Thea stepped into Oliver's room. "Hey," she said with trepidation. "I'm glad you are back."

Oliver sat back in his chair and released a slow smile. "So am I," and a little of the loneliness that he felt was released as he looked up at his sister.

For a minute the siblings enjoyed quiet contemplation together before Thea walked further into the room. She slowly traced the shelves lining the room with her finger, just as she did the day Raisa locked the door. Finally she turned around and showed Oliver the brass statue she was holding. "Do you remember this statue? It used to sit right here," Thea said while placing it back on the shelf. No longer making eye contact with Oliver, Thea spoke toward the wall in a nervous rush, "I know it sounds silly, but I took it from your room. I know it doesn't mean anything, I don't even know what it is. I just, I just wanted something of yours that I could keep. And so I kept this statue in my room so that I could have something of yours close to me."

Oliver had stood up and joined Thea to look at the statue. With gentle hands, Oliver lifted the statue off the bookshelf again. "I hope that it brought you comfort then," added Oliver quietly. And he turned and walked to his desk where he set the statue on the corner. "I will keep it here where I will see it. Thank you for telling me."

The two siblings embraced again before Thea retreated back to her room, pleased to have her brother back at home rather than remembering him only by the statue she had long ago taken from his room.

Oliver sat at his desk chair and contemplated the statue Thea had brought him. Why would she have chosen this statue out of everything in the room? It had a small pedestal supporting multiple circles overlapping to create an abstract globe. Bisecting the globe was an arrow. Oliver had not even remembered this statue while he was developing his skills as an archer, but it was oddly reassuring that Thea had chosen this object to remember him by.

Oliver's lips spread into a small smile as he adjusted the statue so that the arrow shaft could be seen in profile from his seat.

It was at that moment that Raisa peaked into Oliver's room and saw the tiny smile on his face. Before he spotted her she ducked back into the hall, pleased that Thea had obviously told Oliver the significance of that particular statue.

Author's Note: Check out Oliver's desk in his room, it really has this statue on it. Also, Thea's room has a trophy that appears to have a gold archer on it. Easter eggs!