A/N: I am SO sorry that it's taken me this long to update. But now I am back with another update, and praying that you're not mad at me..

Please tell me you're not angry, then tell me if you like this chapter? Please review?????

XO


"You're a mean-y."

Sara smiled. "Am not. Now, where is it that you say we can go?"

Maggie seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn't be getting any juicy details anytime soon, and ended her plea with a little sigh. "Remember Mal?"

"How could I forget?" The man had been so kind to her only hours ago…he had reminded her of her granduncle who used to balance her on his knee.

"Well, sweetie," she began, andSara was almost sure she could hear the blushing Maggie was doing, "Mal is not my brother." U-hu. "He's my fiancé."

"No way!" Michael smiled at her – leaving her skin tingling with warmth and pleasure. O, if he only knew how much she had had hurt when she had heard learnt of his…death. She wondered if she could tell him – maybe she would. She was fairly sure that he'd believe her, especially after hearing Maggie's side of the story. Sara grinned. Those two would get along famously. "So that's the reason why he was supporting my mission so enthusiastically. He's a romantic, ain't he?"

"Pretty much. I'll tell you all about him later, sweetie, but for now, I need you to get back to his shop. I'm gonna meet you guys there, okay? Everything's gonna be alright, darlin'."

Sara's eyes connected with Michael's and in them she found the confirmation that she had needed the whole day – it was going to be alright. They were together now.

--

"Everything alright?"

She turned in her seat to face Lincoln, and nodded reassuringly. "Yeah. We're heading back to Chicago right now…" she saw a dark cloud pass over his face and felt that she had to set the man at ease asap. "Lincoln, trust me. I am not going to let anything happen to you, alright? I know what I'm doing."

He grinned. "It's kinda weird being told what to do by a woman who's…well, who's you really…" he scratched the back of his head in confusion, but the smile on his face told her that he didn't mind one bit. "Sara, why are you here?"

Michael's eyes searched her face for the answer that she didn't want to tell them. Not yet, anyway. The pain her vision had caused her was still too fresh, her emotions for Michael still too raw and open, drifting on the surface of her body. Every cell hummed because of it.

"You needed help, and erm – I came to find you."

She smiled at him. A pure, honest smile that lit up her entire face and set his whole being on fire. He was reminded of that day up in the crawlspace, where her ragged breathing in the dark had soothed him – he'd known he hadn't lost her. He had wanted to kiss her, even then.

Not yet, he told himself, wait…

The promise he had made himself evaporated when her fingers sought out his chin and softly pulled him towards her.

What had happened, he wondered, for her to trust him so? He'd done nothing but hurt her the last time they'd seen eachother at the infirmary; he had driven her straight into the arms of desperation and now she was here, saving him, and currently only inches away.

Their lips were almost touching, and the last space between them drove him insane. She smiled again and leaned forward, capturing his lips in what he believed to be the sweetest kiss mankind had ever experienced. She sighed against him, her fingers touching the back of his head in a gentle carress.

His hair had grown a little.

It was insane, how even the small stubble on his cheek thrilled her beyond compare. She had missed him – had missed this, even though they had but kissed once. It was like that phrase 'I think I would have missed you even if we had never met.' Well, that wasn't the sentence that escaped her lips when they parted, but it came pretty damn close.

"I missed you."

"Sara…" Michael felt the eyes of his brother bore into the back of his head, threatening him with the prospect of horrible things if he said anything to screw up this perfect moment. "I missed you too."

"Well then," she turned back to the road. "Let's head for Chicago, shall we?"

--

They had spent the rest of the drive in comfortable silence, stealing a look at eachother every once in a while. Michael couldn't stop thinking about the kiss they'd shared. Sure, he had longed for it, longed for her, but his brain couldn't shut down and kept on thinking about what had caused it. Something had shaken Sara, and he was determined to find out what it was. He wouldn't leave her alone in dealing with it. She was too important to him.

"I stopped it from happening."

How could she have known?

"We're here." He heard the faint click of her seatbelt being unbuckled and looked up to find the car parked behind a dusty store.

"Fievel's catapult?" Lincoln huffed. "Sounds real grown-up."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Behave, okay?"

"Can we trust these people?"

She smiled. "They're life-savers. C'mon, I'll introduce you." She stepped out of the crammy car and swung the door closed, before walking in a straight line towards the back entrance of the shop. The brothers still hadn't moved when she gripped the handle.

"She's really something, Mike. If you screw this up, I'll never speak to you again."

"Thanks."

--

She stood before them, the evening sun surrounding her with a soft glow, and patiently waited for them to arrive. He could sense that meeting this people really meant a lot to her, and swore that he would do his very best to show them how much he loved Sara, even though it could not be explained properly. He just felt…alive when he was with her. It was as if, every time he was near her, his heart surged. He was hers, forever, and he wondered if she knew.

Following her inside, he was greeted by a small, greying man with kind eyes that lit up when he saw the two of them standing next to eachother. "Wonderful," he said, "simply wonderful. I'm so happy for you, child."

Sara walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek, her hand softly touching his shoulder as she did so. She then turned to face him and properly introduced them. "Michael, meet Mal. Mal, I'm sure Mags has already told you, but this is Michael…"

Michael stepped forwards to politely shake his hand in greeting and was rewarded by the man with a nod and a broad smile. He liked the man already…

"…and his brother Lin.."

She was interrupted by the loud screeching of a woman echoing through the shop. "Alright, where is he?"

Mal's eyes sparkled at the sound, but before he turned to meet the source of it, he walked over to Lincoln and shook his hand, too. "It's nice to meet you, brother Lin." He gave another small wink and yelled "We're out back!"

The next moment, a tiny woman pushed the bangles that covered the passage aside and entered the room. Her eyes immediately settled on Michael, and he blushed like a small boy that had been caught stealing cookies.

He was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug, but didn't mind when he met Sara's gaze and it shone with love. He answered it.

"She's very much in love with you, Michael," Maggie whispered to him.

"So am I." He told her. "I can't even begin to tell you how much."

That answer pleased her, it seemed, since she let go of him and smiled at the rest of them. "So, shall we?"


So? What did you think? Please tell me you like it? Please?

XO