Dedicated for:
1- Slouchingtyger who wants a Leon&Ashley fic (I gave the idea of switching her with the cute merchant but he didn't have enough money xp)
2- Mother's Day. (I know it's too early, but the thought count, right?)
ENJOY!!
A curse slipped out of her lips as strands of blonde hair fell in her sight, blocking her sight while she bent to retrieve the chicken from the oven and pour the remains of the seasoning sauce she made.
The way to win your man's heart is through his stomach.
Who was the crazy wise woman who said that, Ashley will never find out. Did her mother just write that on the first page just to intrigue her? Well, it did its work fine.
It was true saying, she nodded mentally to herself. Her father had lost his obvious belly over the years her mother had passed away. After her death, Ashley kept her mother's notebook as a souvenir, the hand-drawing daisies on its cover always made her smile. She drew those daisies herself for her mom when the original coverage was torn from the daily use, plus it has become handy nowadays. She could still smell her mother's faint aroma in those pages, sending her back in time where the two of them would be standing in the kitchen, chatting about her day in school and then she'll whine whenever her mother will tell her to watch and learn.
Before the incident in Spain, she used to be a huge women's rights supporter. She will refuse to join her mom in the humiliating act of slavery (in her own words), claiming that when she will get married, all the housework will be split fifty/fifty between her husband and her.
Now she only want to have a normal life with the man of her dreams in her comfy house. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a simple life. She never thought she'll be standing in the kitchen with an apron and cooking for her man, her mother was really wise to leave food recipes for her. She must've seen her future and knew Leon loved spicy chicken.
Ashley looked at her watch and sighed. *What's taking him so long?*
She took the lighter and lit the candle she set earlier on the table. As she stood there, watching the flam burning the thread slowly, she felt a hot wave of anxiety cruising through her body. *What if something bad happened?*
But as soon the feeling came, she shook it away. He was the best in the elite team of the US governmental agents; the agents weren't picked just by mere luck. He had survived a city of walking dead, saved her from that village with its horrible creatures, and was doing his job quite neatly. She didn't need to worry about him like a little child and fuss over him.
So why is the bastard 30 minutes late for their dinner? Ashley cursed him and his stubborn attitude. His cell also appears dead whenever she dials his number, so she couldn't locate him at any time.
She checked on the chicken in the oven, poked it with a fork (funny how these things had held threat in the past year) and uttered a satisfied sigh. It was good and smelled great, but the only messing object was the warmth of her lover. The light haired youth took the cordless phone off the counter and dialed her lover's number.
"The number you are calling cannot be reached at this time, please try later."
Damn, she hated him for turning the thing off whenever she calls. She's only doing it out of love and not to distract him like he always says. Why did they invent cellphone in the first place if you would turn the damn thing off?
Throwing the padded gloves over the counter, Ashley sat herself down on a chair and waited. She opened her mom's notebook and looked thoughtfully at it without reading it really. This little book had her mother's most delicate touches in it, she had written cooking recipes, poetry, and a couple of entries as she tried to turn it to a journal but failed in the end when she couldn't keep daily updating it.
The pages had turned beige; some were burnt at the side when she once forgot to keep it away from the flames of the cooker, some had the ink turned into misshaped stains where she will cry at the memory of her, specially the pages that held poems she had written for her.
When you embrace a sweetheart,
That you by chance might see,
Look deep into her eyes,
You'll be seeing 'Me'.
When you play with a baby,
And it begins to laugh and coo,
You'll be surprised to see,
'Me', looking back at you.
Early every morning when The grass sparkles with dew,
Look at each and every dew drop,
And there you'll see 'Me' too.
Yes, you'll see 'Me' everywhere In rock, trees and stars,
And always remember, dear,
Wherever you are, I'm not far.
A sad smile touched her lips as tears slowly gathered in her eyes. If only she was still alive today, she would've been happy for her and have girl-talks til the morning about boys, discussed fashion, what's hot and what's not. Like all her girlfriends do with their mothers, enjoy torturing Leon like all mothers-in-law she sees in movies and hears about from her friends.
The candle she lit gave a nice illumination to the room, highlighting her soft features and giving her amber eyes a mysterious gleam. Ashley continued to watch the candle as it burned time down in the little drops of wax, the orange flam moving in tiny waves by the air she released and inhaled, soothing her mind as she began to drift away.
~*~*~
Leon walked to his apartment, feeling tired, exhausted and about to fall down on the floor and crash. Sometimes, he wonders why he volunteered to join the special forces, to sacrifice his life for the others. But right at the moment when he considers his decisions, the events that lead him to this path would come back, and they never were nice. He just knows he would never trade his work for the world.
Or the cute sight in the kitchen. Leon's heart pumped with renewed energy at the light figure at the table; head resting on her folded arms, honey hair cascaded over her face and shoulder, the lean body of hers illuminated by the bluish light of the moon spilling from the window in the kitchen right beside her.
Really, he didn't deserve such a fragile angel. What great deed did he do in his life to receive a great gift?
He leaned over her smaller form and kissed the side of her face, smiling and brushing the fair strands away.
The honey blonde lashes flattered slowly, revealing her amber orbs as they focused on him in the dark room. "Hey there, gorgeous," he whispered lightly to her ear. She smiled at him a bit, his face so close to her she could feel his breath on her, cool, damp and wet.... Her face heated up with embarrassment when she figured she had drooled on herself.
Ashley pushed away from him and fixed the problem with the napkin, and then when that was taken care of she looked at her wristwatch. Her eyes widened when she realized what time was it now. "Wow, I was out for 5 hours!"
"Yeah, the arm-prints are there on your face to tell and there is no way to hide them with make-up now."
Ashley gave him a dirty look and jabbed him playfully with her fist.
Leon chuckled, he pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry," He whispered sincerely and kissed her soft lips, "Didn't mean to keep you waiting,"
"It's okay, you're here now." She whispered gently and returned the hug. Her hands started to roam up and down his muscled back, convincing herself of his presence.
Ashley gasped when she felt herself being lifted off the floor and up to the strong arms of her lover. "Let's tuck you in bed, princess."
She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her to their bedroom.
The seasoned chicken slept alone in the dark cold oven that night.
~OWARI~
So, what do you think? This is my first attempt of something that is not crazy and high on caffeine ;p
It's also my first fic starring Leon and Ashley. Well, mostly it's about Ashley but hey, the ending gave you a hint, right? *wink*
Please review.
The poem "ME" belongs to Mary Grace Baroudy. I don't know what possessed me to write it, I was going through my roomie's stuff and found an old folder with her grandmother's poetry.