This fan fiction was born from the deepest tv show disappointment I have ever felt. Sleepy Hollow season finale (3x18 - Ragnarok) was terribly tragic and unfair not only for all the fans who have been following the show for the past three years but also for all the romantic «Ichabbie» team members who saw every hope of their favourite couple finally together, broken.
So, screw the sadists writers, I have decided to write a different end for Ichabod and Abbie. An end that Nicole Beharie, perfect next to Tom Milson, has well deserved. An end that will have finally sealed the incredible chemistry both these two actors and the characters they play have.
«Ichabbie Redemption» talks about a different end from the one shown on tv, maybe my end is a bit too romantic but after all the fans have been waiting for it to happen for so long, we really deserve it. I hope this fan fiction may relieve your broken hearts as much as writing has relieved mine. The story began after Ichobod kisses Abbie's hand… Enjoy the reading.
Translators: Giuliana Mistretta, Jarrod Don
Sleepy Hollow Finale
(Ichabbie Redemption - How it should have gone)
«Do more, honour our bond. Be brave, be strong. I know you will. You are my guy… always. Be still my beating heart.»
Ichabod raised his eyes from the hand he just kissed. He really could have let her go, it would have been the most reasonable thing to do. Their destiny was done, everyone played their part. It would have been easy, painful maybe, but just as natural as life or death…
Yet he could not accept it. That same fate that had brought them together despite hundreds of years away was now turning against them.
He couldn't, he wouldn't let it happen.
He looked at Abbie one more time, loosing himself in those deep dark eyes, the same eyes he was never able to tell the truth to. He moved his lips and the words just flowed out of his mouth like never before. There was no longer any constraint, or repression. The time had come.
« Your heart will beat alone, lieutenant» His eyes were more blue and clear than ever «and it will beat next to mine»
Until that moment Abbie had tried to suppress the devastating emotions she was feeling inside. She was hoping to hide her feelings behind her warm and cheeky smile so that he would have let her go with no regrets, but she knew it was only a matter of time before she would crumble.
Many years have passed since she encountered Crane's suspicious and haughty eyes for the first time, yet she never saw him as determined as he was now.
She wanted to indulge in those eyes, hold tight to them and believe they would have been able to change their destiny, but a strange feeling out of her control kept blocking her in that limbo. Her heart wanted to go back home with him, but her soul was stocked, incapable of moving.
«You have to go now Crane, or it would be too late for you as well» she let his hand go and looked away «I could never forgive myself for that.»
Ichabod's eyes suddenly became full of determination «I'm not going anywhere without you, Abbie, not after all we have been through together»
He moved too quickly for her to stop him, suddenly his arm was around her hips and he pulled her against his body. Abbie had always known that behind that apparently lanky and thin figure a considerable strength was hiding, and she just had a taste of it. There was no way to resist Crane's hug.
Once again she was surprised how tall and awesome he was.
Even though she was totally aware that their bodies were not real, she could feel the warmness of them and those sparkles of electricity that surrounded them every time they where so close to each other. Her stomach was a riot of butterflies and her heart was beating so fast.
«Crane, what…?»
«Do you really think that I would abandon the best part of me so easily?»
Abbie could barely breath. Crane's clear eyes were so close that for a moment she thought their noses were about to touch.
Instead, as if by magic, the golden symbol that she had been praying for months in the darkness of the catacombs just appeared in front of her. Somehow Crane must have brought it with him. He was holding the symbol in one hand while with the other arm kept hugging her.
He broke it in two halves with a quick movement of his fingers. And there it was, his eyebrow slightly raised and a sly smile on his face, that irresistible expression of someone who still has faith but knows exactly how to fix every situation.
«Never underestimate the power of two opposite poles, remember?» He said with his deep and confident voice. Abbie couldn't help but smile even if her mind kept telling her that there was nothing left to do, their destiny was already written and it was going to tear them apart forever.
«I don't know how you brought them here, but you are just postponing the inevitable, Crane. You are gonna end up hurting yourself, it's not going to work.» Abbie was finally gaining clarity and for the first time since he hugged her, she tried to push him away. Of course all her efforts were worthless, his hug was way too strong.
«It will work!» he said starring into her eyes «It will work if you believe it… If we both believe it. Do you trust me, Lieutenant?»
«Of course I do, but…»
«Hold one half then and concentrate on everything we shared together…»
Abbie was breathing faster and faster. «…Think about everything we have done together, about all the times our bond saved us from all the crazy situations we put ourselves in… Sometimes what scares us the most is the only thing that can save us.»
Something in Abbie's mind clicked. Finally all her emotions broke free. She had always admired Crane's natural ability to aways believe.
Not matter what adversity, monster or apocalypse they had faced, he never stopped believing in the red wire that had bound them beyond the boundaries of space and time. For the first time in her life Abbie felt that faith. Faith in their mission as Witnesses, faith in what they felt for each other, faith in the brave man named Ichabod Crane. The truth was obvious, she didn't want to leave him, for anything in the world.
She grabbed one side of the golden symbol and held it so tight, like she did many times before (often in secret) before Crane knew how important it was for her. Once, she almost let him die because of it. Just thinking about it made her heart ache.
«I trust you, Crane… I will always trust you.»
Holding each other, they closed their eyes and put their faith in those symbols that had always represented their indissoluble union. Space and time no longer had meaning. All those deep and countless memories that they both guarded in their hearts started running through their minds: the first time they met, he being so stern and she so suspicious, when they hugged after the Sin Eater saved Crane.
The memory of their meeting in Purgatory, when they secretly promised each other to never be apart again. And all those times they risked to loose each other just to find each other again.
The symbols shined and burned in their hands. It was like they wanted to melt. So driven by a power neither of them could explain they let them free to rejoin.
Abbie and Crane opened their eyes and stared and each other while a little smile appeared on their lips. No matter what was going to happen they would have stayed together. A burning light completely surrounded them but their bodies and hands stuck together. They belonged together. They always did and they will always do.
It was hard to say how long after they woke up. It could have been just a couple of hours or maybe a couple of days. It was dark and the only light was coming from the full moon that was shining upon the lonely cemetery of Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod and Abbie were still lying on the wet grass holding each other. He was all over her, protecting her with his body. Once he was fully awake he gently shook her shoulder.
«Lieutenant… Abbie, are you ok?»
«Yes…» Her voice was still a bit croaky, like she had just woke up from the longest and deepest sleep «I believe I am.»
She didn't want to move away from him, especially now that she was so certain about their feelings for each other, but to keep laying on the cemetery's grass in the middle of the night was not a good idea. So they set down while they were still thinking about what just happened. The symbols were still on the floor a couple of feet from were they were sitting, still united.
«So… you were right. You brought me back, again. You did it, Crane.» She smiled.
«We did this together, Lieutenant.» He held her hand and gently squeezed it
«Next time, it would be better if we remember to keep antique and powerful objects always with us.»
«Do you think there will be a next time?»
«We are witnesses, Lieutenant. There's always a next time…» The blue of his eyes was accentuated by the reflection of the full moon.
An unavoidable silence fell between them. Now that it was all over and they were both safe and sound, they could go back to their old lives. Back home, were Crane would cook italian for Abbie and she would challenge him in countless chess matches. They would be perfect house mates, best friends…
Something was changed though. In the limbo between life and death, they put their faith on only in each other but also in that strong feeling that both were too afraid to admit. That feeling was so strong that it could change everything, it could twist their lives, not to mention the mission those unknown supernatural forces entrusted to them.
They were still sitting next to each other when Crane decided to finally talk.
«Lieutenant, I think it's time to... let's see…" His voice broke in his throat. None of the potentially lethal missions he had faced in the past seemed as hard as what he was going to do.
Abbie smiled of his very formal manners once again. After all, that was one of the reasons he was special. She touched his face with her empty hand and gently rubbed it against his pale bearded skin. In that moment Crane realised he could no longer wait. He closed his eyes enjoying Abbie's touch, then he stared at her beautiful black eyes and at those lips so many times before he forced himself to not look at.
«If I would declare my feelings for you everything will change, Lieutenant, we both know that, but if don't do it I would just keep lying to myself.»
Abbie's heart skipped a beat but she kept listening to those words she had been waiting to hear for so long, even when she went with someone else just not to think about what she really felt for him.
«Lieutenant… Abbie, if I tell you I love you it wouldn't give justice to what I really feel for you.»
«Say it anyway, Crane.» Abbie laughed.
Ichabod got even closer to her, their faces almost touched.
«I love you, Miss Abigail Mills. My heart belongs to you. I would never allow anything or anyone in this world to separate us, ever.»
His lips gently touched hers. The initial contact was light and kind, a little be clumsy maybe. Abbie kissed him with patience then with passion and they found the perfect balance. The mosaic of their souls was finally complete. The kiss was slow, and awaited for so long that neither of them wanted it to end. When both had enough their lips separated and their foreheads touched. They smiled.
«I think I like some of our old customs. Maybe we should keep them.»
Abbie smiled again, while Ichabod tried to get back some of his self-control.
The man stood up and helped his lady to get on her feet as well.
«I'm afraid we may have to surrender to way more modern customs soon, Lieutenant». Crane pulled Abbie closer. It was amazing to finally be able to hold her. She was so tiny but still so strong. He had been wanting to hold her for so long, too long and she hugged him back putting her arms around his neck.
«I don't really mind this idea.» she said while he leaned towards her. Abbie interrupted him «There is something…»
«Lieutenant, I don't think you realised how long I have been waiting too…»
She didn't let him finish his sentence. Abbie put a finger on his lips…
«I love you too, Captain Ichabod Crane.»