Spoilers until "Sona", after that, just my sick imagination.
Pairing: Michael/Sara.
Rating: PG-16 Summary: …And Sara thought that it was her time to say "Thank you.
Dedicated to Maria, thank you for making it possible.
Title: Thank you Chapter title: Two months.
By Lylou
Insults, comments or reviews are always welcome.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-"…Now it is time to say thank you…"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sara opened her eyes slowly.
The intensely humid air in the room hit her, making her quickly remember where she was.
Sara remembered that everything hadn't just been a vivid nightmare. It had been two months since that hot evening, when they almost had it all, when they had been so close to freedom… Two months since Sara had seen how Michael turned himself in to save her.
She woke up from the elegant and big hotel bed and walked onto the terrace.
Sara was naked, so she took the white dressing gown from the chair and put it on.
And she couldn't help but think again, in that still dark room that it was strange that after all that had happened, after everything that they had been through in those past two months, it was strange to think that she was going to see Michael again.
Today.
After that horrible evening and still with the metallic taste of guilt in her mouth, Sara had made a decision.
The hardest decision that she had ever had to make in her whole life.
For him.
To save him, like he had sacrificed himself to save her.
Because now it was her time to say thank you.
Sara knew then that the price was high and painful, and that surely it would destroy her slowly… But the odds had been against them since the beginning.
Yet, Sara had no doubt, not for a second. There wasn't another option, and besides… It had already been done, so now there was no going back. Not for her.
The only thing that they could do now, that Sara could do now, was to pay the price and try to never let Michael know of it.
One of them living with the knowledge was enough, and that person was going to be her.
Sara opened the terrace doors and walked onto it.
Panamá city was still there, hot and bathed in the morning sun.
She had almost gotten used to this place, to the aching sun upon them, to walk through the narrow and white back streets, and it was almost funny to think of, especially after all that she had lost in that damned city. After having discovered painfully what she was really made of; what she was able to do for him.
61 days, 1.464 hours, 87.840 minutes and 5.270.400 seconds.
Two months.
It had been enough time for Sara to understand that they would never stop bleeding.
That the love, the guilt and his lack of presence were like warm poison coursing through her veins; slowly, poisoning her with pain and guilt every second, until she even began doubting that there would be anything about her that Michael would recognize when he got out.
And even if Sara had been convinced that all the pain and all the bloodshed would have been in vain, she would have done the same damn thing.
Everything.
Since that night she left the door open for them, their lives and their fates were changed forever.
Sara entered the room again, but left the terrace doors open and the sun slide all over the room, warming it. Then she walked to the master bathroom and turned on the faucet.
Lincoln was in the adjacent room, and surely he was already awake. Surely he had been awake since midnight, but he didn't dare knock on her door.
He had no idea what she had done to save his younger brother.
They had both been in that classy hotel almost since the beginning;
Sara had gone alone to Chicago for two days to solve everything concerning her bequeathal.
She had signed the papers at the big wooden table in her father's office - in his house, the house that was now hers - in the presence of two lawyers she had never met before.
Sara smiled sadly as she removed the bathrobe to jump in the shower. She kept thinking that she wasn't accustomed to this. To think about her father in past tense, to have no financial worries, to be the very last Tancredi on earth…
She felt the water upon her skin and running trough her hair, sliding slowly over her body… There were too many memories, too much pain and too much love to just let it go.
Sara cried silently under the stream of water, and her tears were mixed with the warm water.
She continued this until she was able to calm herself down, which eventually made the tears stop from falling.
It had been a high price, and it was going to be just that for the rest of her life, but it was already done.
Sara thought again about that night, about the suspicions that would appear in Lincoln eyes sometimes… About everything that had happened in these past two months.
About how THAT would always be a part of her life, of their lives.
Forever.
Sara turned of the water and got out of the shower.
It was scary, painful and a thousand other things, but all that was nothing compared to what she was feeling now, because today she would see Michael again.
In four hours, Michael would be released for good from that hell hole, and all that had been required of her to make that happen, had been to sell her soul and blood.
Sara kept thinking about Michael and the fact that she didn't know what she would say to him, when they finally saw each other again, or what Michael would say to her…
What if Michael had spent all this time blaming her?
Would there still be something left of the old Michael after having been in that place?
She would have to lie to him hereon out.
Lie to him in order to save him… It was a small price to pay.
Slowly Sara entered the room again and opened the big closet.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Michael heard the metallic noise of the door closing behind him.
He closed his eyes for a while and took a much needed breath of fresh air.
He was nervous for the first time in a long time, he had gotten used to live without faith or hope in that place. It had been easy, but now he was scared of what he would find outside the prison walls.
It was almost funny.
And surely Michael would have smirked if he wasn't so worried. It was a strange and new feeling.
The faith, slowly getting overpowering with every step he took towards the heavy doors, Michael could almost imagine how it would be to feel the light of the evening sun in his eyes, hurting them, since they were used to the darkness.
Michael had spent two months in that place; having been almost certain he would die there. And now two heavy iron doors were the only thing separating him from freedom.
Separating him from her.
Michael hadn't seen Sara in all this time.
61 days, 1.464 hours, 87.840 minutes and 5.270.400 seconds.
Two months.
He hadn't even spoken to her, but suddenly, a week ago, a guard took him to the visitations room that he didn't even know existed, and there he was; Lincoln.
He told Michael that he was going to be released. That Sara had fixed everything.
"-She did it Michael… I don't know how, but she did it"
And just like that he was a free man.
Forever.
Michael still remembered the happiness and the hope in his brother's eyes.
And then Michael just thought about one person: Sara.
He thought about all the new possibilities they had to share their lives together, about all the words that he could whisper to her now, about all the kisses, this time without the feeling of guilt or of rushing everything. All this he would be able to give her soon… He couldn't give up this feeling of hope.
And hope was something Michael had been convinced he had lost forever.
He had spent two months without her and it had been painful enough to fill two lifetimes.
When he broke out of Fox River, he let four days pass before taking the phone and calling her from that half-dark room, crying miserably against a wall.
Then Michael had wanted to kiss her, to make her understand that during all that time they had spent together in the infirmary his love for her had evolved, that he never thought, even for just a second that he would be able to just walk away, leaving her behind… Michael needed her to understand that "Baja" and "Wait for me" had been nothing but the painful truth.
While he was walking towards the last door, Michael continued his train of thought. He thought of all the times that he wished he had kissed Sara.
Like the morning in her infirmary, when she had found out about the key and she was under the impression that that was all he ever wanted from her. Michael had wanted to kiss her that hot day, when she was panicking, crawling around that dirty ceiling with him. Or in that quiet and dusty motel, in El Gila…He wished he had kissed her many times…
But Michael hadn't done it.
And during the past two months, he had been convinced that he would never have the chance to kiss her.
They had lost too much time.
Too much time and too much blood; too many opportunities to kiss her, to say "I'm sorry" or "I love you."
And during the time Michael had spent there, he had thought it was over, that he had lost all those opportunities forever.
For Sara.
He had lost her forever in order to save her.
But now, after all they had been through together and alone, the only thing separating Michael from Sara was two iron doors.
And he was certain she would be there, beautiful as always and bathed in the midday sun.
A uniformed guard walked over to him and spoke before opening the doors:
-"Be good amigo.
Michael half-smiled slowly and muttered:
-"…I will"
Finally the guard was opening the doors. The sun shone brightly through the space between the two doors, and Michael understood then that the sunlight would hurt him much more than he had thought.
To be continued…
Every comment is loved.