It was wet, cold and Sara wished to be anywhere but here however, it was necessary.
The Glades at night usually was a place where no-one would feel comfortable in; feel like they belonged but Sara did. When she stalked through the night, she became one with the shadows. She felt at home.
Since Lian Yu, Nanda Parbat and her stay in Starling, Sara considered herself a predator. However, in that moment, she felt like prey. She hated it; feeling weak and out of control.
As she walked down the wet concrete towards the meeting point, Sara felt the eyes. They were everywhere, drilling into her body, making her feel naked and it sent tingles down her spine. She turned the corner through rusted metal gates at the end of an alley and in the distance; she saw a tall, slim figure standing rigidly near the water of the docks. Her step faltered but she regained her composure quickly and finally stopped beside the intimidating figure of Nyssa Al Ghul.
Nyssa made no move to acknowledge her and Sara took the time to look her over. No surprises that Nyssa was in full league gear apart from her silk face covering. Her long arms were crossed behind her back with her hands clasped together. Nyssa's tall, slim body was faced towards the water of the docks; the place where Sara tore at her already damaged heart. The gentle but chilly breeze had caught loose strands of dark hair and kept them from her face. Sara noticed (as she always did) that the assassin's black boots increased the already significant height difference between them and she struggle to push down the excitement that had always caused her.
However, it was Nyssa's eyes that held Sara's attention as she looked out the corner of her own. They were as emotionless as the day Sara was aware enough to acknowledge her rescuer from the wreckage of the sunken freighter.
Sara hated it. She hated it because she knew the wall that Nyssa had erected was because of her actions in this exact spot, months previously. Sara couldn't help but think of the years gone by in which she saw Nyssa's dark eyes soften in her presence. God, she wanted those eyes back. She'd do anything to get them back.
"Thank you. For meeting with me," Sara whispered as tried to keep her voice from cracking.
Nyssa said nothing but the right corner of her mouth twitched.
Sara sighing quietly and bit her lip in thought. She knew this meeting was going to test both of them and their stubborn nature. Sara walked toward the metal guard rail, leaned against it heavily and looked out to the water.
"I know that I had no right to ask you to come here," Sara spoke as she looked up to the black sky. "I just didn't know who else to ask that I could trust."
Nyssa scoffed softly, "Indeed, you certainly had no right to request anything of me."
Sara turned, leant her back against the rail and looked at Nyssa's face, "Yet here you are."
Nyssa made eye contact with Sara's sapphires for the first time in weeks and smirked wryly, "Here I am."
Sara walked up to Nyssa and left a few steps between. Sara looked into Nyssa's eyes, "Slade Wilson is here in Starling and we need your help to stop him."
"You said Queen had killed him long ago."
Sara sighed, "He thought he did. Oliver shot Slade in the eye but the Mirakuru must have healed him before the wound could kill him."
Nyssa moved her eyes from Sara's to the water behind. She felt the cold hands of her ex lover take hers and fought the urge to entwine their fingers (She missed the simple contact).
"He threatened to kill everyone Oliver loves to avenge Shado's death. He already drove a sword through Moira. Nyssa, I'll do anything in return, just…please help."
Nyssa managed to avoid looking into Sara's pleading eyes, "Tell me Sara, why should I help the Arrow in his quest? I care not whether he lives."
Sara shook her head, "I know that's not true Nyssa."
The Heir to the Demon scoffed, "You know nothing of the sort."
"I know that you care because you care for me. Ollie is important to me Nyssa and no matter how much I hurt you by leaving, I know that there is still a part of you that can help me."
Nyssa sneered and yanked her hand free from Sara's, "How dare you use my former feelings for you as a weapon!"
The Canary didn't flinch at the past tense the Heir used regarding her feelings. Instead, she stepped closer to Nyssa until their bodies were just inches from touching. Slowly, Sara rested her hands on Nyssa's Kevlar protected stomach (one of her favorite places to touch Nyssa) and connected their eyes after Nyssa responded to the familiar contact.
Sara licked her lips, "Nyssa, please."
Nyssa's eyes glazed over as she looked down at the Canary's small hands against her stomach.
It took close to thirty seconds before Nyssa responded, "The last time you begged something of me, it was to let you train with your Bō alone. How was I to know that you'd use the training time as a cover to leave the league and come to Starling City to join the Arrow and his merry band?"
Sara's hands desperately tried to find purchase on the Kevlar, "I understand that I hurt you Nyssa. It pained me to do what I did but I had just heard about the Earthquake. I had to make sure my family was okay."
"I was your family!" Nyssa stepped away harshly, "They could have perished long before the traitor's device, and you never cared to check before then!"
Sara sighed heavily, "Nyssa."
"-You abandoned me! After I risked everything when I nursed you back to health and trained you personally, against my father's wishes. I swore an oath on my name and honor that you would pass the league's tests."
In an uncharacteristic move, Nyssa ran her left hand through her hair roughly. "Sara. For the first two years of your training, my reputation was on your shoulders."
Sara knew how much Nyssa had risked saving her from death and training her. Ra's Al Ghul had not been pleased with her during her first nine months with the league; he had almost been ready to order Nyssa to end her life. If it wasn't for finally landing a hit on Nyssa with her Bō in training, Ra's would have ordered the kill.
From that moment, Sara had dedicated every single breath into becoming the person that Nyssa would be proud to present to the league in the initiation tests.
"If only I had known the trouble you'd cause me," Nyssa spoke breathily. "I should have left you to die," Nyssa avoided her ex lover's eyes.
Sara's face twisted in pain and as she watched Nyssa walk away from her. The words had cut deep, as they were intended to.
"Nyssa, you don't mean…"
"-Don't!" The Heir interrupted loudly and her voice echoed off of the surrounding buildings.
The Canary tensed as out of the shadows, six assassins dressed in full league uniform emerged, all with arrows pointing at her. Sara understood the message of exposing themselves, however they would not be needed; Sara would not lay a violent hand on Nyssa.
Nyssa gave a command in Arabic and the six assassins lowered their weapons, albeit reluctantly and resumed their positions in the shadows.
Sara felt lightheaded; she took several deep breaths and tried to gain control of her emotions.
Nyssa had looked skyward in Sara's silence and when the Canary looked towards her, Sara was left awestruck at the beauty and power that Nyssa radiated.
The dim lighting provided by the scarce lamps along the dock, managed to emphasize the silkiness of Nyssa's hair. Sara felt the urge to tangle her fingers in it and tug a few times; she came to the realization that the Heir enjoyed it immensely early on in their relationship.
Nyssa's face shone with softness that ill-fitted the situation but Sara couldn't blame her; though the stars were not visible in Starling City, Sara knew that her ex was imaging them in Nanda Parbat. Nyssa's favorite pastime was stargazing and over the many years with the league, Sara came to also appreciate it. It was a brief respite from the constant training and killing and eventually they joined each other under the stars. Sara would put all her effort into gazing at the stars at not the Heir Assassin who would always lay on the ground to her left. Despite the light that the night sky would provide, Sara would have a hard time trying to distinguish Nyssa's features but she always found comfort in the Heir's striking presence.
"Would you have told me?" Sara spoke gently, "About the Earthquake? I overheard two league members talking about Malcolm and what had happened. That's how I found out."
Nyssa looked away from the sky briefly to Sara, "We were to leave two days after my father told me. It would have been enough time to get our affairs in order."
Sara shook her head and grimaced, "Two days would have been too long." Sara's weak justification did little to ease the guilt that washed over her and made her feel faint.
Sara looked up and was surprised to see Nyssa's vulnerable eyes as they stared at her wistfully, "Did you trust me so little? Did you believe that I would not tell you?"
"No…No," Sara closed the distance between them quickly, "Of course I trusted you. I just…I wasn't thinking clearly Nyssa. I panicked and all I could think about was that I needed to check on my family as quickly as I could."
Nyssa's shaky hands reached up to cup both sides of Sara's face and the dark eyes searched for something within bright blue ones. Sara instinctually placed her hands on Nyssa's neck and her fingers gently played with the fine hairs at the base of her head. Nyssa smelt of mint and the scent lead Sara to nostalgically sink her body completely into the Heir. Her head pushed out of Nyssa's hands and nuzzled deeply into the tan neck.
As she looked off into the distance, Nyssa moved her hands to rest against the familiar hips of Sara. Her carefully crafted walls were close to being nothing but dust and there was little she could do to stop it.
When Sara had sent an S.O.S message through her heavily protected email address, Nyssa had struggled deeply with herself as to whether she should answer the call. Having not recovered from Sara's betrayal, she had been close to ignoring it. However, anxiety crept up on her when she wondered if Sara was fatally injured. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she knew that her resolve was a lost cause. Taking six league members with her after a tense discussion with her father, she had travelled to Starling to meet with Sara.
It did not surprise her that she found the city almost destroyed to rubble, the Arrow's reluctance to kill when needed would always be why the city would never be in a state of peace. She had wondered who was terrorizing the Arrow this time, most likely someone who he let live coming back to haunt him. It was these thoughts that made her realize that the S.O.S message was a plea for help to take down the mad-man leveling the city. So it was with great reluctance that she arrived at the rendezvous point.
As she held Sara in her arms, against her better judgment, she allowed herself another moment of vulnerability and squeezed the Canary tighter. She closed her eyes briefly when she felt Sara's soft lips as they pressed a kiss against her neck.
She released a shaky gasp and tried to pull away but Sara's grip refused to loosen.
"Sara, do not try-"
"-I'm so sorry Nyssa," Sara croaked, "I lied to you back then and it nearly killed me."
Nyssa recognized what Sara was apologizing for and finally yanked herself free in an attempt to escape the confession. "I don't want to hear it."
"Habiti-"
"Don't-"
"I love you." Exclaimed Sara with tear filled, determined eyes.
Nyssa sighed heavily, shook her head and desperately tried to calm her heart as she made eye contact with Sara.
Sara's body ached with need, so she closed the distance between them once more, "Nyssa, I love you. I'm sorry I lied but you wouldn't have let me go if I didn't."
"I have never stopped loving you. I felt so guilty when I left and for the first few weeks here, all I could think about was our home, our room and being in your arms. Then things got complicated here and I knew I had to stay."
Nyssa opened her heart, "When you left Sara, I wished that had never let you in. Then I realized that had our roles been reversed, I'd be hard pressed to not do the same. I reluctantly understood Sara but you damn near ruined me."
Sara took Nyssa's hands in hers and squeezed tightly, "And I will do whatever it takes to gain your trust back."
Nyssa laughed dryly, "That shan't be as easy as you think Ta-er al-Sahfer."
"Whatever it takes."
"My father is extremely displeased with you," Nyssa stated, entwining their fingers slowly, "He wants you to know that help does not come cheaply."
Sara connected their eyes, "I will return to league, with you. For you and only you."
"Your experience with the league will be much harsher this time Sara, they consider you a traitor and my father will not be as lenient."
"I'll deal with what comes my way without complaint."
Nyssa nodded, "Okay."
Sara smiled, "Okay."
It's been a very long time since I've written a fanfic but this pairing inspired me.
