A month later, Emma Morrel stepped out of the sea side cottage Scott and she had settled in, to greet their guests. Erik and Charles were heading across the sea, planning to travel for a while before probably settling in London. Hank, Alex and Raven were there to see them off.
Scott emerged right behind his young wife, offering their guests a smile. Charles stepped forward, beaming at the young couple, "Emma, you look lovely. The air here suits you, as does the company."
She smiled at him. "I can certainly say it's the air, not so sure about the company," even as she said it she offered her husband a smile.
Scott offered her a fond if slightly exasperated look, "Emma's being kind, I've been caught up with work more than I intended these past couple of weeks. I fear I've not been the best company for her."
"Well, it's not been all bad. His father has been quite good company," she said with a smile, though she eyed Hank as he approached. "What is he doing?"
"Oh," he said, remembering the engagement. Stepping to one side, he took Alex's hand, offering her a hesitant smile. Blinking, Emma nodded.
Charles glanced toward Hank, smiling faintly, before turning back to Emma, "I'm glad to hear you're settling in well." He paused for a moment, glancing at Erik, "I'm not sure either of you have ever been formally introduced to this gentleman..?"
"We have," Emma said quietly, curtseying. "Count."
He inclined his head to the pair. "I no longer go by that title."
Glancing at her husband in some surprise, Emma blinked. "Monsieur?"
Scott's brow rose, "Then, no, I don't believe we have been..."
Charles's smile brightened a bit, "May I introduce, Mr. Erik Lehnsherr. Erik, Mr. Scott Morrell and his lovely bride, Emma."
He inclined his head, taking Emma's hand and kissing the back of it. "I am sorry for any confusion," Erik said.
"It's alright, I'm sure," Emma replied, looking at the house. "You've given us more than enough."
Scott spoke quietly, "I was able to get passage for the two of you on a schooner that departs with the evening tide tomorrow. I hope that will suit?"
"More than well enough," Erik replied, glancing back toward the small city. "I think I have seen enough of France for the moment."
Charles glanced up at Erik, changing his focus and the subject, "What do you say to a walk along the quayside this evening, Erik?"
Glancing down at him, and smiling softly though something dark was still lurking in his eyes, Erik nodded. "Alright."
"If all of you will excuse us?" Charles glanced at the rest of the group. Raven shooed them off, moving over to start a conversation of her own with Emma.
Hank and Alex looked set to meander off the other way for the moment, tension still in the air between Hank and Emma though it had lessened greatly since Hank had shown his choice of Alex.
Erik took Charles' hand, leading him along the once familiar quay side. "It feels like a dream to be here," he said. "It's been so long..."
"It has. Far too long." Charles closed his eyes, leaning against Erik for a moment before he straightened and looked up toward the skies.
Following his gaze, Erik also looked up. "It looks the same."
"It does." He leaned a bit closer, pointing up at a star, "Do you see it up there?"
A smile playing around his mouth, Erik nodded. "The star."
"Yes. Do you know I hated that star for years?"
Eyes tracking down to him, Erik blinked. "Did you?"
"It was supposed to always bring you home to me. I spent every night after you were arrested hanging my prayers on that star. And every day doing everything I could to find a way to contact you, to prove your innocence. And then I was told you were dead. I saw the death certificate. And that damn star kept shining."
Erik reached a hand out to cup the side of his face. "But it did bring me home to you."
Charles leaned into the touch, "It did, but I didn't know it would."
"I know," Erik said softly, stepping closer. "But sometimes life is surprising, and apparently stars do what they're supposed to. No matter where we go in this world, that star's still going to be there. Well, it will be in the sky, and I don't think we'll stray far enough to lose sight of it."
"I..." Charles looked up at the other, "I'm not strong enough to lose you again, Erik. Where you go, I go."
"I said where we go, didn't I?"
That earned a smile, "You did. And I'll hold you to that."
"I have no intention of leaving again," Erik promised. "I've gone down that road before and I'd prefer not to do it again."
Charles hesitated for a moment before leaning up to kiss the other. Tilting his face down into the kiss, Erik drew him closer, vaguely aware of the star in the sky behind them almost as if the star was giving them a blessing to start anew.
And so we come to the end of this tale. Looking on toward the hope for a future that they had lost, we leave them. Thank you to our wonderful reviewers for being so very consistent.
I(Meadowlark) realized I forgot to mention a chapter or so ago in response to Sss's review about Scott/Emma, so Sss, if you read this, consider this a special note. I wasn't much of a Scott/Emma fan...in fact I was pretty much adamantly against them, but my lovely co-author, Victoriousscarf, knows the best way to convince me of something is to shove it at me, back off, and then argue logically for it. There's still a part of me that supports other pairings, but I find Scott/Emma to be one of the healthier ones for either of them. As such, they tend to show up, even in the background, as shipped in our stories. Though we have a couple that will have Scott/Jean as well (such as King's Pawn Game and later parts of Not Just Pain and Anger).
Again, thank you all so very very much for coming along for this ride with us. We both have had really stressful periods in our lives, and VS is just now starting finals-so if you would be kind enough to drop us a review on your way out we would greatly appreciate it. It gives us something to look forward to at the end of a long day/week/month and helps improve our moods, you have no idea how much
Thank you! We hope to see you around the profile.
