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"Gil" she sent him a small warm smile.
"You're back" he continued, he wasn't sure whether he was asking a question or making a statement.
"Yeah"
"when... ?"
"Just now. I came straight from the airport. I knew you'd be here"
Gil found himself momentarily lost for words.
"You... erm... you look good" he said, taking a step closer, shutting the door behind him.
"Thanks, I feel good." she too took a step forwards, her conversation with Miss Piggy long forgotten. "You look good too" she lied, he looked like he hadn't slept in a week and he looked 10 years older than the last time she saw him. "How are you?"
"Surviving" he replied honestly. "So... I, ah, I take it you did what you needed to do?" another step closer.
"Yeah, yeah I did" she nodded.
"and... everything's OK?" he gently asked.
Sara let out a small chuckle. "I don't think things will ever be OK. Damaged goods will always be damaged goods even after they've been repaired" she took another step.
"You're not damaged goods, Sara"
"Gil, I'm sorry. The way I left. I just..."
"you don't need to explain Sara-"
"No, please, let me finish" she cut him off. "It was so selfish, the way I left. I could only think about me. I... I just had so much stuff going on up here- " she tapped the side of her head "- that... I couldn't see the wood for the trees anymore..."
Gil nodded and took another step closer. He remained silent, urging her to continue.
"... and then it hit me sometime last week, that while I was out there chasing the ghosts and digging up the graves of my past- the past, which I can't do anything about, no matter how much I want to, that I was actually sacrificing my future, which I can do something about."
The distance between them was now a mere breath. Her deep chestnut brown eyes never leaving his searing blues.
"So that's why I came back. I realised that I want to stop living in the past, for the past, because of the past. I want to embrace my future... and my future is here-"
she reached her right hand up and stroked her long slender fingers down his cheek. Gil felt a jolt of electricity between them as skin made contact with skin. God how he had missed her touch.
"- You're my future" she chocked out as tears spilled from her rich brown eyes.
She wasn't sure when exactly it happened, but she suddenly became aware that there was now no gap between them. His arms were firmly encircled around her waist, as where hers around his neck. From somewhere buried deep within her hair she heard a low muffled voice.
"Oh God, Sara, I... I missed you so much" it was so quiet, but Sara was sure she could hear tears behind the words.
"I missed you too," she let her fingers run through the curls at the back of his head "more than you could ever imagine."
They stood there for several long minutes, cherishing the moment, enjoying once again being in each others arms.
Gil was the first to pull away.
"When you left... it felt like you took a part of me away with you."
A small wry smile crept onto Sara's face. "I did." She took hold of his hands and placed them on her abdomen. Through her jacket, Gil hadn't noticed the once flat plane of her stomach was now, well, not so flat any more.