Merry Christmas folks,

THE RETURN

"Hey Ollie, you forgot this!"

A young boy tossed Oliver an apple which Oliver caught with ease. Tossing a questioning look to the boy, the later shouted:

"It's on the house."

Smiling, Oliver turned around and bit into the juicy fruit.

"Must be nice to be so loved." a snickering voice came behind him.

Turning around with the apple still in his mouth he was greeted with a fist aimed at his face. Ducking on reflex, he jammed into its assailant's torso and they both fell onto a stack of old fruit boxes.

"Well, hello to you too, buddy." Oliver chuckled as he rose and helped his friend up.

They locked each other's hands around each man's underarm and pulled in to a heartfelt hug.

"Look at you." Oliver said after they had released each other.

"No, look at you. How long has it been?"

"5 years, Tommy. 5 years." Oliver replied with a smile.

"Bless Her Darkness, has it already been 5 years since you left us for you little crusade?" Tommy asked, mirroring Oliver's expression.

Instead of replying, Oliver simply dodged the implication by offering his friend a half-hearted smile in return. How many times, had he tried to explain his calling to his oldest friend? Not enough, it seemed. More likely, this discussion would continue until either of them had passed on to the next realm.

"But look at you! You are what…?" Tommy was biting his lower lip trying to find a nice way to describe Oliver's current look.

He knew it was bad. In fact, he was on his way to his chambers at the Order before Tommy had rudely interrupted. Wearing the same clothes he has been wearing for the past 2 years, they hung little more than thread at him. His hair was a mess, the only mirror he had for the past years had been a puddle of water, and The Light One be his witness, that water, let alone, a puddle in a desert was as rare as snow. Oliver had actually never witnessed snow, and he has been alive for almost 30 odd years already. The only thing that was not white or grey, were his leather boots. Well-kept one might add, considering the condition of his other garbs. As a prefect of the Light Order, Oliver wore the standard uniform. Grey leather leggings, a used-to-be white tunic, a silver breastplate with the Order's emblem on, and lastly his ankle lengthened grey cape. He was also carrying a sack of his meager belongings in an old dusty totem bag. Whatever colour it once had, it now melted into his other garbs.

Oliver scratched his chin. Along with a bath, a shave was long overdue, and looking at Tommy's expression, a lot of everything else.

"Ollie, it's been so long. You can't leave without stopping by." Tommy said, as he hung his arm around Oliver's shoulder and pushed him along.

"Fine. Like you are taking a no for an answer." Oliver chuckled and let his friend lead him.

"Darn, right. So there's been a lot of changes in these 5 years, buddy. Where to start?" Tommy continued as they walked through the busy market place.

"No, I don't want to hear any excuses, Tim. You were clearly instructed that the new load of silk was to arrive today. Why are you here empty handed? No, don't say that you missed it. How can you miss a cart big enough to carry a year's worth of silk?"

Oliver could not help but smile when he heard his sisters Thea, undoubtedly temper flaring up again. Instead of knocking, Oliver soundlessly slid into the chamber his father used as his office back when he was still in charge.

"..and what is this, Tim?" Thea lashed out.

Oliver just barely dodged the flying object that was aimed at the boy standing in front of the huge mahogany desk. The boy, Tim apparently, was blocking the view of his sister but not whatever Thea had just flung at him. The object in question hit the wall next to Oliver and slid down unceremoniously. Picking it up, he found out that it was a cute neat slipper with advanced embroidery on top of it.

"300 pairs of silk slippers! 300! Tim, why on earth are there 300 pairs of silk slippers downstairs?" Thea continued. The poor little boy was shivering and did not dare to talk back to the lady.

"No, nevermind, you wouldn't know even if I threatened to withhold your remaining salary for the rest of your life. " Thea now stood up and was going through the rows of books stacked neatly on shelves behind her desk. "300 pairs of silk slippers, in the summer, hah! What am I supposed to do?" she muttered by herself.

Oliver found the scene rather amusing, but did not dare to interrupt her in her own rants. Instead he motioned for the boy to leave the room quietly and took his place. Clearing his throat loudly, he simply waited for her to acknowledge his presence. With her back to him still, she replied with an unmistakably irritation.

"Now what? Tim, why are you still here? You still need to resolve the silk issue. Go ahead, run along now. I don't have all day long."

"Hello, sis." Oliver offered smugly.

Dropping the ledger she was holding, she spun around.

"Ollie!" She exclaimed and ran into his outstretched arms.

"I knew it! You're back. You're back!"

"Missed you too, Speedy." Oliver muttered into her ears.

"So what, Tommy has failed to tell you is that he is married? Meaning, he won't be able to fool around with you anymore, Ollie." Thea said smugly as she was toying with a few grapes.

Oliver looked over at his friend with an arched eyebrow, sending Tommy as questioning look. The later one suddenly was in a rush to drown the wine goblet in one go.

"But that's not all, Ollie. A lot have changed…" Thea trailed off.

The three of them were sitting in the drawing room enjoying some catching up time. Thea had cleared off all the staff and they were discussing what's been going on, for the past 5 years that Oliver had been gone.

Thea's comment, made Oliver switch his attention back to his sister. She did not meet his eye at first. But then, finally she rose and moved from her seat and walked towards him. The swish, swish sound of her gown, reminded Oliver that his sister had grown quite the bit. In fact, it has already been over two years since she passed the year of becoming of age. Two years ago she could marry if she had wished for it. Getting hold of both his hands, she played with them for some time, just like how she has always done. Oliver lifted the corner of his mouth when he remembered Thea as a toddler. Their father had passed just when Thea turned 5 years old. Being the only man in the house, he had made it his personal mission to see to her upbringing, despite the amount of manpower that was available. In contrast to his current look, the House of Queen was of noble decent. His mother's side of the family was a long distant of the current reigning Queen. It was perhaps the name and its implication that drove Oliver to join the order in the first place. A place, where he was a nobody, because everyone was somebody. Many claim the order was a place of charlatans, because they only accepted noble-borns. But Oliver knew, that the healers and teachers and whatever else the Order produced, were most welcomed by the people in this nation. Had it not been for those stubborn sisters… No, he was now home, and Thea clearly had something important to tell him. Work could wait.

Stopping her fingering, Thea grabbed his hands and settled down on the seat next to him.

"Oliver, you see…erm..Tommy is not the only one who's gotten married, you see…" she started off a little carefully.

Suddenly, Oliver unintentionally clenched his fists around her small hands. Realising her mistake, Thea hurriedly started to explain.

"No, not me."

Oliver relaxed a notch. But if it was not Thea…Then it could only be one person…

"Mother remarried." Thea finally let out. Searching for his eyes, she tried to read his emotions after the news. Judging by how she was biting her lower lip, he must have been displaying some turmoil of emotions. At least that's how he felt like.

Unclenching his fists, he brushed a loose lock out of his sister's face.

"That's brilliant news!" He said a bit too cheery.

In fact, he had no idea, of how to react. His father had been dead so long, and yet his mother had never shown the simplest inclination of wanting to remarry. In this world, where a woman was allowed to have more than one husband and a few concubines if she so desires, his mother had always only chosen his father. It was a bit of a sudden change. 5 years was apparently enough to change her previous 20 something years of celibacy.

Somewhere in the background he could hear Tommy excusing himself. Following the look of his sister's eyes, he turned around.

"Mother." he uttered.

"Oliver." the woman stuttered between her teary face.

Ignoring everything else, he rose and took two giant strides and gathered his fragile mother into a bear hug.

"My beautiful boy…" she whispered into his ear.

"I'm home now." he muttered back.

How was this happening? She thought as she was cascading through the town square. It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was about to set. Everything had been going according to plan, but something went wrong. More than something, the failsafe plan derived by no one other than herself, Felicity Smoke, went to the roof once she had been discovered today. The fact that she was discovered still bothers her. No one knew about this mission. It had been a private set of instructions just for her, from the previous head. No one could have known… No one. Except… giving her mind a mental shake, she continued to run along the alleys of the city centre. It could not have been him. Yet, he was the only one who knew. But thinking of this, would not undo the events of today, and she was in no position to even think about this right now.

The streets were pretty much cleared. Everyone was probably back home, preparing their dinner at this time. Despite the efforts of the guilds and the Orders', it was still dangerous to be around at night fall. This was all due to a stupid boy. Well, according to the legend at least. A boy who unleashed this curse, the one that is terrorising this part of the world. Felicity never gave it much thought, but as skilled as she was, she'd rather not deal with the spawn of the curse alone. Not without her gear anyway.

She cut into a particular narrow alley and managed to shake off her pursuers, temporarily at least. She knew better than to fall into a false sense of security when the situation has escalated this much. The angry women hunting her had not seen her face yet. But damned be her red robes at this moment. It was mandatory as sister to always veil herself and don the red robe. I really ought to change that, she thought bitterly.

Running around on the cobbled streets, her sandals echoed into the silent night. Changing tactics, she saw a washing line. Unhooking her whip that has been fasted on her waist, she used the washing line as a lever and hoisted herself up on the roof of a building. Tucking back her whip, she started to jump from roof to roof. This was probably the only advantage of town houses. They were so closely built together, that if one were to catch fire, the rest of them would too. Shaking her head, she continued her flight away from her pursuers.

The houses slowly stopped being so dense and she was having more trouble running along the rooftops. Stopping to survey her options she realised that she was in front of one of the noble houses. House, being an understatement. Compared to those crappy narrow town houses, this mansion, cause that what it was, was huge. The building was white and shone like a beacon during this dark hour. The mansion certainly gave the royal castle a run for its money. Despite its size, Felicity noticed that every window was lit. This was a well-kept mansion then. Just when she was about to pass and skip into another direction, she saw someone on the 4th floor on the left wing standing by the window. Before she knew it, the figure had thrown themselves out the window and fell down to the ground. She had expected a large dunking sound when the body impacted onto the ground but it never happened. The figure was bent down and rose. It was a man, unless it was a very tall and muscled woman, which Felicity highly doubted.

The event had distracted her and she now regretted stopping at all. From her vantage point, she saw the torches closing in, as well as the echoing sound of several pairs of sandals hitting the earie streets. Looking from one scene to another, she made a rash decision. But then again, she would not be Felicity Smoke if she had not taken a few risks every now and then.

Sliding down the rooftop she was currently hiding on, she jumped into the tree which was at the fence, severing the mansion from the rest of the world. The man, who had surprised her earlier, was in turn startled when she flung herself from the tree and landed barely, inches apart from him. Rising from her hunkered position, she ignored the man and turned around. Right at the end of the block she saw them coming. Dressed in blue robes, her pursuers did not leave her room to catch her breath. Turning around to face the stranger, she tore her veil off her face and put it away in a pocket in her inner robe. Throwing her arms around the neck of the stranger, she pushed him forward and at the same time increasing her height by tipping on her toes, she crashed her lips against his.

She took him by surprise alright, but he broke free of her lips in an instant. Grabbing hold of her small arms, he dug his fingers into her soft skin. Releasing the hold she had over him, she refused to whimper, but damn he was strong. Figuring she did not have much time, she caught the eyes of this stranger. The torches placed around the mansion illuminated them. She was startled by the intensity they reflected, and more by the anger that had been sparked by her little stunt. She realised she needed to change tactics as this man was not as simple as most of them. Rubbing her sore arms, she looked into him and pleaded.

"Help me." she whispered barely audible.

For what felt like a life time, the man kept looking into her eyes, like he was searching for something. Then he finally broke their contact by looking over her shoulder. Understanding hit him and he returned his look to her face again. The light from the torches was not enough to distinguish either of their faces, yet, she could see his arched an eyebrow in question and she had to use all of the willpower at her disposal to simply swallow her pride and let the man decide if she was worth the trouble or not. She did not dare to look around her shoulder, she could hear them clearly now. The yard they were standing in was slowly getting brighter as contributed by her pursuers' torches. Just when she thought the man would sell her out, he put his hands around her waist and pushed her closer to him.

He was much more gentle than she had been. The kiss was almost enjoyable, had she not been busy being afraid of being made. His hands remained politely around her waist. Despite their earlier exchange, she noticed that this man had not been a monk. She could hear the echoing sound of her pursuers slowly fade into the distance and her brain told her to make a run for it whilst she had the chance. She tried pulling away slowly, and when that did not work… So you want to play huh, she thought mischievously. Well, the two of them could play this game.

"Ouch!"

Grinning over her win, she turned around to leave. But after five steps towards the fence, she turned around. He still stood there rubbing his wound. Biting her lower lip, she was hit by a sudden guilt. He had helped her. It is not that she had not repaid him more than double already, but looking in the direction of her pursuers, she heaved a big sigh and walked back towards the stranger again. Hooking her finger by the neck of his tunic, she pulled him to her eyelevel. She did not kiss him. Instead she licked the thorn part of the lower lip she had bit earlier. The wound was instantly healed and she heard him let out a soft moan. Smiling, she turned around and hoisted her belt onto a tree branch. Without a second glance, she hoisted herself across the fence and was on her way.