This is an AU one-shot that I came up with after reading other fics with similar plot lines, so I decided to put my own spin on it.
Sara's POV
It was a beautiful spring day in Central City. The sun was shining and there was barely a cloud in the sky. "A perfect day for a picnic," Sara thought. Her daughter had been pestering her for a picnic for about a week now, but it had been rainy and cloudy for the past several days. So, since today was beautiful and sunny, she thought it would be a perfect day.
Sara watches her daughter skipping from their covered patio all the way to the patch of grass in the middle of their backyard that they had used last time for their picnic. Aurora was so excited that Sara couldn't help smiling at her daughter's pure joy. Sara places the picnic blanket onto the ground and spreads it out, so that the two of them can comfortably sit without getting grass stains on them. Sara was especially concerned about the grass stains because Aurora was wearing her favorite princess dress and the last time she had gotten stains on it, Sara had the hardest time getting them out. She almost thought she'd have to get a replacement dress, but luckily with a little scrubbing and strong stain remover, Sara successfully got the spots out.
Sara places the picnic basket on top of the blanket and begins to pull out all the food and supplies that they had packed for lunch. As Sara is organizing the food, Aurora starts talking about how beautiful it is outside and how much she's been looking forward to this picnic.
Sara just smiles as she's half-listening to her daughter and half-wondering how she ended up with such a normal life. She had never really given any thought to having children or starting a family. I mean, she was a former assassin and they don't usually make the best babysitters, let alone mothers. But the universe had a different plan for Sara.
Sara still remembers the day that she found out that she'd be having her 'little canary', which was one of her cute nicknames for Aurora. It was a month after the Oculus explosion that she found out she was pregnant. She couldn't believe the news. Especially because the father of her unborn child had just sacrificed himself so that the team could live. Sure, her and Leonard had shared one passionate night right before the Oculus mission, but she had never thought that she would end up pregnant, with his child.
But now, she could never imagine a life without Aurora. She was her whole world. Sara was eternally grateful that a little piece of Leonard Snart lived on in the world. And every time Sara looked into her daughter's eyes, she could see the same piercing blue eyes that stole her heart all those years ago. Because he really was one hell of a thief.
Aurora said something that got Sara's attention, pulling her out of her thoughts.
Aurora was pulling on her mom's hand and pointing towards the fence that led to the front yard as she spoke, "Mommy, who's dat?"
Sara turned to where her daughter was pointing and couldn't believe her eyes. It was him. Leonard. She shook her head trying to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. But realizing that Aurora had seen him too, she knew this was no dream. He was here. But he was walking away from the fence towards the street. She knew that blue leather jacket and crew cut hair anywhere.
She yelled in his direction, desperately, "Leonard?"
Leonard's POV
(This section is leading up to where Leonard sees Sara, but takes place about 10 minutes before.)
It had been over two years since the explosion at the Oculus. And during that time, Leonard had been trapped in the temporal zone, completely helpless and unable to escape. He had relived all of his memories over and over again. Forever on a time loop. These moments included all his heartache, his regrets, and worst of all, every single painful memory from his childhood all caused from his abusive, drunk of a father.
But out of everything Leonard relived, the one thing that stood out the most to him... The one thing that hurt him the most because he thought he'd never be able escape this endless torment, was not seeing her again. Sara. She was also the one thing that kept him going. That kept him alive. Her memory was what kept him fighting. Because he hoped he'd see her again. He just had to have a little faith.
When he had finally been freed of the temporal zone, thanks to Barry Allen, he went straight to Rip Hunter thinking that Sara would still be traveling with the crew on the Waverider. But once he found Rip, he was surprised to hear that she had left. Rip never said why she left and all he gave him was her address so that he could find her. Leonard had thought it was a little odd that the Captain had been very vague about what happened to Sara, and that worried him a little bit. And as he left the Waverider, he was hoping, and even praying, that she was okay.
As Leonard got off the bus at the stop near her address, he was thinking about the conversation that they had had, where he brought up the possibility of a future. He was never good with expressing his feelings and at the time, it was the best he could do when it came to sharing them. And of course, Sara deflected her feelings too, at least at first. He still remembered that night. The events had ran through his head constantly because it was the best memory he had when he was stuck in the temporal zone.
Flashback Scene
Leonard, walking towards Sara, "It's the things I didn't do, that keep me up at night."
Sara, looking up at Leonard as she sits on the edge of her bed, "What's that?"
Leonard walks up and leans against her bed, fiddling with the cards in his hands, "Oh, I don't know, if it's being on this ship, traveling through time. Started to wonder what the future might hold, for me. And you. And me and you." He looks at Sara with a smirk, watching intently for her reaction to his words.
Sara responds, obviously deflecting, "Wanna steal a kiss from me, Leonard?" She leans her head closer to his, looking straight into his eyes as she continues, "You better be one hell of a thief."
As Sara began to quickly walk away, Leonard caught her arm, stopping her and turned her towards him for a kiss. It was quick and unexpected. And after the kiss, he whispered into her ear, adding his usual drawl, "Good thing I am."
Leonard motions to walk away afterwards but this time Sara stops him. And she leans up and puts her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her and kisses him back. But this kiss was different. It was passionate. Electrifying. Sara could feel every nerve in her body tingling as her lips met his. They pull away after several minutes, feeling the need for air, and look into each other's eyes. Both knowing where the night is going to lead...
As he continues to think about him and Sara, it's in that moment, that Leonard knew that he had fallen in love with that beautiful, blonde-haired assassin. And it's that moment, that night that Leonard held onto as he had desperately tried to make his way back to his 'canary.' He wasn't going to let the things he didn't do keep him up at night any longer. He was finally going to act on his thoughts, his feelings. Because he still wanted that future that they had talked about.
As he walked towards the address, he was surprised to see that Sara was living in a house, not an apartment. And it wasn't just any house. It was one of those cookie cutter houses that he was sure Sara had hated when he knew her. As he noticed which one was hers, he saw it wasn't a particularly large house but it wasn't as small as he imagined.
But Leonard didn't care. All he cared about was seeing her. And as he walked towards her house, he noticed that she was in the backyard so he began approaching the gate. He saw that Sara was sitting on a picnic blanket in the middle of the yard. He unlatched the gate and began heading towards Sara, when he froze.
His heart sank from his chest into his stomach. He now knew why Sara lived in one of those houses. Why she left the team. She met someone. And... started a family, because sitting across from Sara, was a little girl. Probably about two years old. Leonard was furious and heartbroken at the same time, and knew he didn't want to face Sara. That he couldn't face her now. She had moved on with her life. He decided it would be best if he left without seeing her. Because he knew it would be too damn hard to act happy for her when he was feeling this miserable. Of course, he was good at hiding his feelings after all these years, but he still didn't feel like enduring that kind of pain right now.
So, he turned from the gate and began heading back towards the road before anyone noticed he was there. But it was too late. Because he faintly heard the young girl say, in the cutest little voice that Leonard had ever heard, to Sara, "Mommy, who's dat?"
He had froze in his tracks again, thinking it was too late to leave but then decided to try anyway, until he heard her cry out his name, "Leonard?" Hearing her voice, her actual voice instead of the one that he had heard daily in the temporal zone , almost killed him inside. But, mustering up all the courage he had inside, he turned around to face her, waiting for her reaction. He was unsure of what to do, or say, or even how she'd react to seeing him after all this time. So he stayed where he was, waiting.
Sara's POV
Sara couldn't believe her eyes. Leonard Snart was standing a mere 15 feet in front of her. Her first instinct was to run to him. And jump into his arms and never let him go again. And that's exactly what she did. Because before she could even think through what she was doing, she had gotten up from where she was sitting and ran into his arms. She hugged him so tight, never wanting to let go of him.
Leonard reciprocated her hug and placed his one hand on the back of her head as he held her close. And as he finally held her in his arms after all this time, he felt like never letting go. He had missed her so much. He didn't even care about her family at this point. All that mattered was that she was here. In his arms.
Sara had wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, especially because of the height difference. And as she did that, she could smell his cologne. God, how she missed that smell.
Sara then remembered Aurora was still sitting in the yard, wondering who this strange man was and she pulled away from him.
She looked up into his mesmorizing blue eyes and asked, almost pleading, "How.. are you here? We thought you were dead." Sara paused, tears forming in her eyes as she continued "How is this possible?"
Leonard lifted his hand to wipe the tear that escaped from her eye and paused, "Basically, I was trapped in time. It was completely miserable. It was almost like hell. But... The only thing that kept me going was.." He trailed off because he was unsure of whether he should continue when he glimpsed Sara's daughter out of the corner of his eye, remembering that she had a family. That Sara had moved on.
Sara looked into his eyes, trying to read his thoughts and asked, desperate to know the answer, "What? What was it?"
Leonard was still unsure but because of her insistance, he continued, "You. You kept me going, Sara. The thought of never seeing you again, killed me. Because I meant what I had said before. About the future. About me and you." Leonard paused. "But, I can see it's too late. You've moved on."
As he finished his sentence, Leonard broke his eye contact and began pulling away from Sara, motioning to leave. But Sara grabbed his arm to stop him, which reminded her of when she stopped him from leaving after their first kiss on the Waverider.
Sara spoke, slightly unsure of herself, "Well... not exactly." She paused and motioned towards the little girl. "Rory, can you come here, sweetie?"
When Leonard first heard what Sara called her, his whole body stiffened as he began to get angry and heartbroken again. He thought to himself, "Rory?! Seriously?! Sara and Mick?!How could either of them think that he'd be remotely okay with this?!" He motioned to leave again, but Sara stopped by placing her hand firmly on his forearm.
The little girl skipped towards her mother, smiling. Sara bent down and picked her up into her arms, turning to face Leonard and spoke, "Leonard. This is Aurora Marie Snart. Your daughter."
Leonard felt all the anger melt away because he couldn't believe his ears. She was his daughter.
Sara turned to look at Aurora in her arms, "Rory. This is your daddy. The one I've told you about."
Leonard was still in shock as he studied the girl, his daughter. The first thing he saw was that she had his eyes. It was like he was looking into a mirror because they were light blue with a few flecks of green, just like his. He also noticed that she had her mother's beautiful blonde hair. In so many ways, she looked just like her mother, only smaller. Except, Leonard did see a slight resemblance to what Lisa looked like as a child. But for the most part, she was a spitting image of her mother and he was awed by her beauty. Just like he was by her mother's, every day since the day they first met on that rooftop.
Rory smiled up at Leonard, "Daddy?"
Sara turned back to look at Leonard and saw tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He knew that he would never admit it. But under the cold exterior of his, he was the warmest and kindest man she had ever known, and he was even a bit of a softie. The last thought made her giggle to herself.
Sara could tell as he was standing there admiring his daughter, he was also extremely nervous. She could see it on his face, in his eyes. He had told her about what kind of father he had growing up. And how he never wanted kids because he was worried he would turn out to be just like him. But Sara knew better. She knew Leonard would try his hardest to be the best father because of that. He'd be the most loving and caring dad there is.
Sara then turned back to Len and asked, "Would you like to hold your daughter?"
Leonard responded, cautiously, "Yeah. I would."
Sara gently handed Rory over to her father, unsure of how she'd react to him. Especially because technically this man was a stranger to her and Rory was not very fond of strangers. But as soon as Leonard held her, she was smiling and happy to be in his arms.
Leonard looking down at his little girl, smiling back at her, "Hey sweetie, I'm your father, Leonard."
Rory lifted her hand and touched his cheek, responding with only, "Da-da."
Leonard was so touched by his daughter's affection, he started to tear up again. Rory then began messing with the collar of his jacket, especially with the zipper because she loved zippers. As she was doing this, Leonard turned back to Sara because he remembered something that she had said earlier that had caught his attention. He inquired, "What exactly did you tell her about me?"
Sara smiling, "Well. I told her that her father was a hero. That he was away on a very important mission. And that he would be gone for a very long time."
Leonard smiled at Sara's mention of the word "hero."
Sara slightly laughing, "I know you never really wanted to be called a 'hero' but after the Oculus mission, that's how we all saw you. As a hero, who saved us all." Sara smiled again at Leonard's slight chuckle to her words.
Leonard then decided to address his daughter once more, "Rory, I love your princess dress. It's very beautiful."
Rory smiled and blurted out, "Elsa. Queen Elsa." And on the mention of her dress, Rory started squirming in Len's arms because she wanted to go play again.
Leonard set her down and she took off back towards the picnic area, where she picked up a princess wand and began waving it around, playing.
Sara laughed, correcting Len, "Elsa is actually a queen."
Leonard looked back at Sara, smirking "Oh really? My mistake."
Sara smiling, "It's okay. You'll soon see it a hundred times, just like I have. And you'll definitely get tired of 'Let it go' a whole lot faster than I did." Sara laughed at the mention of the ever popular song from Frozen.
Leonard chuckled, "I don't doubt it. But I do have some experience with princess movies. I watched a lot of them with Lisa growing up."
Sara smiled at what she was about to say next, "You know why Elsa is her favorite?"
Leonard shook his head, not really knowing the plot of the movie that well, "I have no idea."
Sara still smiling, "Well, I told her that her dad loved the cold, that's why his nickname was 'Captain Cold' and as soon as we watched Frozen, she was like, "I want to be Elsa. She likes the cold, just like daddy.""
Leonard smiled at the pure joy he felt in his heart over his daughter, "Really?"
Sara teasing him and making a motion over her chest, "Cross my heart."
They both laughed as they watched Rory continue to play and run around the backyard.
Sara looked back at Leonard, "So, I know we have a lot to talk about. The future and all. But for now, why don't you join us for our picnic." Sara held out her hand to Leonard.
He smiled and took her hand in his, "Yeah, I'd like that." He then pulled her closer and put his arm around her instead, never wanting to let go.
Before they began walking towards Rory, Sara looked up at Len and standing on her tiptoes, kissed him on the cheek. She then smiled as she said, "Welcome home."
R & R are always appreciated. I might continue the story as a series, depending on feedback. :)