Now and Then

by Crevette

Change is hard. Especially when it is change not of your own choosing. But sometimes second (or third or even fourth) chances come around. The question then is what do you do about them? Run, or grab hold with both hands with everything you've got. Canon until the end of series 4. AU after that (just as though Fire never happened...)

1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Disclaimer. I don't own Skins. Naomily would never have been put through such fuckery as Fire if I did.

Prologue: Some mornings are like magic

It strikes her suddenly, how every now and then, if you are really lucky, you get a glimpse of what paradise feels like. In between the bits and pieces of the daily grind time seems to slow, as though the whole world has chosen to stop, to let you embrace the moment, to nurture it and to cling to it.

Mornings like that are magic.

She cracks open her eyes, squinting slightly against the sun as it shines down, splashing its rays across the room and causing everything it touches to rise up and glow as it gently warms her skin. Her contentment builds; the warmth of the sun coupled by the warmth of the body in her arms fostering a feeling of well-being that is as deep seated and all-encompassing as it is strange and new (again).

She can barely make herself breathe just in case the noise or movement might break the perfection. She lies still, so very still, and soaks in every detail, her senses working hard to catch it all, to savour each element: the feel, the smell, the touch. But most of all, she looks, hardly daring to believe her eyes, at the woman sleeping soundly, peacefully beside her. Emily. Beautiful, brave, unstoppable, Emily, finally back where she belongs, after so long… after so much… after everything.

Some mornings are like magic. They are the ones when Emily is with her.

.

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So, I have been muddling away with this for a while now, and am finally at a point that I feel alright to start posting. Many thanks to Miss Marauder, who has once again agreed to Beta, despite her very busy life, and has already made a number of incredibly helpful contributions.

I can't promise that all will go swimmingly in this story. I am more than a bit addicted to angst, as you may have noticed. But, I love Naomily, and can promise at the very least that neither of them will be beset with a terminal illness while in my hands. Come along for the ride, and maybe drop a review to let me know what you think.