Another short story of mine. It'll probably be just three, maybe four chapters. It's a fluffy one, so beware :3
NOTE: I forgot to mention that this stems from a couple of one shots I wrote for the Oh Porings! forum 2006/2007 christmas collections. Read those or you might be confused. I might add them later...for now, just go to the ffnet author "Oh Porings" to read them.
What a Nice Boy
Sabri sat on a bench by the Alberta docks, watching, as Asira delivered bread to the outgoing fisherman. Asira normally did all the delivery and errands for Lynell. It was sometimes hard to believe he still found her again. She had been so happy that he had spent Christmas with them. It had been the best holiday she'd had in a long time. Surprisingly, the fact that they had only met once before the nine year absence, made little difference in anything.
Now, the snow had melted away and spring was making its way back. She was a little disappointed to see it go, but she looked forward to some mild weather for once.
She waltzed back to him and held out a piece of bread. "Here, try it. This one is really good. The chewy crust on the outside keeps the inside soft a little bit longer. It's good for traveling and stuff. The fisherman think it's great since they're out a few weeks at a time."
He reached out and took the sample and popped it into his mouth. After a few moments, he nodded in approval. "You and Lynell are going to make me fat if you keep using me as a taste tester."
She grinned and poked his stomach. "Oh please, if you haven't gained any weight yet, you're fine. Let's head back to the bakery. I'm done with the deliveries." She made sure to walk a little bit slower than normal so Sabri could keep up with her. She knew he hated when she did that, but she thought it was better than him stuggling to keep up with her.
He stood and fell into step beside her. He didn't like when she made it obvious that he had a lame leg now. However, he was grateful that she did the things she did to make things a little esier for him. He supposed a bruised ego wasn't such a terrible thing.
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She had learned everything about baking that Lynell knew in her time with the woman. Asira did enjoy helping Ren and Lynell run the bakery. Her days began by getting up before the sun rose, taking a brisk walk with Lynell (they had figures to consider you know), and starting the days first batch of breads. Lynell usually worked on the breads and Asira worked on the sweeter things like fruit filled pastries and muffins and the like.
This is what they were doing now. The sun had just risen and the two were hard at work kneading and mixing and chatting away as usual. Lynell, however, seemed to have something on her mind.
"Sabri is a nice young man, isn't he?" she asked as she kneaded a doughy mass on a bed of flour.
Asira looked up from her bowl and nodded. "He is. He's been good to me." Too good to me sometimes.
"I know he's not your real brother, but how did you two meet? You never really told me. I thought it might have to do with the night that I found you behind my store in Morroc. Does it?"
Asira set her mixing spoon on the counter and wiped her hands on her apron. Thinking about that night was a little less painful now that she knew Sabri had survived, but the memory was still a bad one.
"You probably guessed that I was a thief of sorts. I tried to steal from Sabri one day and he caught me. He didn't punish me though. I hung out with him for a while that day. Later, some guys came to hurt me and Sabri sent me away. He dealt with them and he barely knew me. It's why he has the bad leg and the scars."
She deliberately left out the part that Sabri had once been an assassin. She didn't want Lynell to judge him, even thought she probably wouldn't. Even Asira didn't know the reasons behind him becoming one so it wasn't her place to say anything.
"And you ended up on my doorstep?"
"Yeah...I thought he was going to die. All because of my stupid self," Asira frowned. She still couldn't believe how much of an idiot she had been. Didn't all kids made dumb decisions though?
"Why were those men after you?"
Asira sighed. "There was a man I liked stealing from because he always carried a lot of money and he was such an easy target. I guess he figured out I was doing it because he sent those three guys to catch me. I got away from them a few times and then Sabri took care of them." She really felt horrible that he had been hurt so badly.
Lynell smiled and placed her dough on a baking stone and slid it into the oven. "I think highly of him. I did before, but now I like him even more. That he came back to see you after nine years says something. He cares about you. Even more now that he's gotten to spend time with you."
"Well yeah, he did risk his own neck to save a homeless thief after all," Asira murmured and turned back to her bowl.
Lynell laughed. "I think you know what I mean. I'm just saying that I like him and so does Ren."
On one hand, she couldn't believe that her mother was insinuating that Sabri liked her, liked her. He was quite a bit older than she was so why would he like a nineteen year old like that? He'd like a woman closer to his age, wouldn't he?
Or would he?
