The siblings slowly made their way up the beach, Eddie leading the way. Relaxing on the beach had help rebuild some of Azucena's energy, but their walk was slow at best, the sand making her work harder. She paused at the garden they had created, it had been nicely maintained, but she wanted to get her hands back into it. She knew it would be a few days before she would have the energy to work in it, but it was something for her to look forward to.
Steve interrupted her thoughts, "It's not as neat as when you maintained it, but we tried our best."
"It looks great. I'm just ready to get my hands dirty again."
"I noticed you didn't have a patio garden at your place." Observed Steve, surprised by his sister's lack of agriculture.
"I tried to grow a few things, but it's the desert. Everything died."
"Understandable."
As they entered the study, they could hear the playful argument in the kitchen. Azucena could mentally see Danny's hands talking just as much as his mouth. Her suspicions were confirmed when they finally entered the kitchen. His hands were going a hundred miles a minute, along with his mouth, and she giggled to herself.
"What are you laughing at?" Danny questioned her, giving her a hard time.
"Some things never change Danny."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Your hands talk just as much as your mouth!" She said, a giggle escaping her. Which caused her pain, but she enjoyed the endorphins that the laughter brought with it.
"Oh geez, now that you're back you're going to make fun of me just as much as your brother." He said, mock horror in his voice.
"Well, you're not really a difficult target to tease."
"Oh man, I'm hurt." He made is way over to her, hugged her, and kissed her hat covered head. "I've missed you kid. I'm glad your back, but now I've gotta go."
"Hot date?" She quizzed him.
"As a matter of fact, yes." Danny replied, trying to hide the joy in his person.
"Oh man, I'm gone for a few months and you have a love life. I'm so excited to hear all about this."
"What makes you think I'm going to spill?"
"Dude, if you don't, Grace will tell me everything." She grinned, her face hurting with the smile, but enjoying the banter with Danny.
"We'll do lunch." He joked and headed off to pick up his date for dinner.
Steve reached into the fridge and pulled out a beer to join in with Junior and Catherine. He handed a bottle of water to his sister. As all of this occurred, Junior reached across the island, "I'm Junior, it's nice to meet you."
"Azucena, but you can call me 'Cena. Nice to meet you as well." She said, as she shook his hand. His grip was strong, yet gentle. "So how long have you been a member of Five-0?"
"Going on about three and a half months." Junior replied, understanding the simple conversation. The woman was playing catch up for the past half year.
"Do you like it?" She paused and then reconsidered the question, "Never mind, your boss is right here. We can discuss that later."
Catherine and Junior laughed while Steve looked at his sister in mock offense, "I'll have you know I'm one of the best bosses around."
"You can't elect yourself 'best boss.' It doesn't work like that." Azucena changed her focus back to Junior, "We can discuss your boss in the future. I have great blackmail information."
"Do you want to go back to Roswell?" Steve joked with her.
"My bed here is more comfortable." She countered, and then continued, "Honestly, I think I'm going to go crash out for the night. The adventures of today are starting to catch up to me and to my internal clock, it is much later."
"We haven't eaten dinner yet." Offered Catherine, wanting to make sure the young sister ate for the evening.
"I'm honestly not really hungry." She answered truthfully.
"You gotta eat something." Steve stated, trying to come off more suggesting than demanding. Azucena knew this was a pointless argument and honestly, she didn't want to get into an argument about food in front of her brother's employee.
"I'll make some toast and then crash. Fair compromise?" Azucena looked her brother in the eye and Steve knew that was the best he was going to get out of his sister.
"Works for me. Go sit down and I'll bring you the toast." Steve responded, as Catherine pulled the bread out of the fridge.
"I can make it."
"You're still healing and you're starting to fade. We've got this." Offered Catherine, and then tried to take a different approach and handed the loaf of bread to Steve, "Besides how many times have you cooked for your brother? I mean, Steve can make you toast."
Azucena giggled, she had been so used to taking care of herself, that the thought of someone else doing for her was difficult to embrace, "Don't burn it."
"You're hilarious. I do know how to cook." Steve countered to his sister's backside and she slowly made her way to the living room, Eddie following her.
By the time she had situated herself in the oversized recliner, Steve was walking towards her with a small plate of toast and a glass of orange juice. He handed her the plate and placed the juice on the side table, Eddie sat on the floor in front of Azucena waiting for her to give him some food. Steve looked to Eddie, "Don't beg, women don't like that."
Azucena tore off a corner of her toast and presented it to Eddie, he surprisingly took it politely from her hand, "Don't listen to him. You're so cute, women will overlook the begging."
"That never worked for me." Steve explained to Eddie.
"That's because you're not covered in yellow fur and express unconditional love."
"It's always the fur." Stated Steve, as he settled onto the sofa. He flipped on the television and flipped through the channels until he landed on the Top Ten highlights of the sports world. He zoned out, while Junior wandered into the living room and sat down on the other recliner, getting into the highlights.
As Steve and Junior bantered back and forth about the merits of each highlight, Azucena slowly ate the toast. She was truly exhausted and passed out in the chair before she finished the second piece of toast. Eddie ever so slowly inched towards the young woman and right before he was about to sneak the remaining piece of toast off the plate, Steve spoke up, "Don't even think about it."
Eddie walked over to Steve, trying to play it cool. Steve petted the dog, "She's going to try to get rid of so much food using you. You gotta be strong. She's gotta build up her strength and you can't steal or take any of her food."
"Well that is a hopeless cause." Replied Catherine, as she walked out of the kitchen and picked the plate up out of Azucena's sleeping hand. She took the piece of toast and allowed Eddie to eat it. She carried the plate back into the kitchen and then sank down on the sofa next to Steve.
He looked over at his sister, he didn't have the heart to wake her up and there wasn't any way he could move her without causing her further pain. He let her continue to rest in the chair, but he flashed back to the first evening she had come home with him. She had fallen asleep in that same chair; they had come full circle.
#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~
She was somewhere she didn't recognized. She was inside a structure, but the floor was dirt. The structure was comprised of wooden beams and frames. She could hear water gurgling in the distance. She had to be in a barn, but it wasn't like any barn she had been in before.
She didn't like the feeling of being in this building. She knew she wasn't safe her; she had to find a way out. She looked around her, and to her left, was a large silver chain. She had seen chains like this before; they were a WoFat specialty. Her stomach sank at that thought.
She continued to scan the room, there were two doorways, one behind her and the other one to her left. She didn't know which one to choose, but as she quietly walked in front of each door, she realized the one to her left had a breeze flowing through it. She decided the breeze had to be coming from outside, so she started to make her way down the hall.
She wasn't too far from the room with the chain when she heard it. The sound that cut through to her bones, "A-zu-ce-na, A-zu-ce-na."
Images of his bloody face flash through her mind, the blood oozing down the front of his face when she broke his nose. However, she hadn't been around him lately, so she knew that image was false. If anything, he was perfectly healthy and insane. She had to get out of this barn as quickly as she could.
She started running as fast as her legs would carry her. She glanced over her shoulder, and couldn't see anybody, but could hear his taunting voice, "A-zu-ce-an, A-zu-ce-na."
She was pulled from her dream, by the nuzzling of a wet nose on her hand. She looked to the wet feeling on her hand, and saw Eddie sitting down next to her. He stared at her and she realized he knew. He knew she was having a nightmare. She looked over at the others in the living room, Catherine and Junior hadn't noticed anything, but Steve had watched the whole episode. Steve looked at her, questions in his eye. She just nodded her head as a way of saying, I'm okay. Azucena petted Eddie's head, "You're a good boy."
He licked her hand and then walked back over to his bed in the living room. She stretched and grabbed the glass from the side table. As she stood up, Steve looked at her, "Crashing?"
"Yeah, still on Roswell time." She said, as she made her way into the kitchen to rinse the glass, and then slowly made her way to the foot of the stairs. "Need help?"
She looked to her brother, "Thanks, but I think I've got this."
"Holler if you need anything." Added Catherine, understanding the young woman's desire to lead her normal independent life.
As she climbed the stairs, Eddie got up from his bed in the living room and climbed the stairs right next to her. She looked down at the dog, he had become protective of her. He reminded her of Charlie. Dogs truly are incredible creatures, she thought to herself as they made it to the top of the stairs.
She walked down the hall and found her backpack situated on the chair right inside her room. She flipped the light switch and looked at her room. Her dresser was still covered in the pictures she had left behind. Her night stand had the picture of her and Tommy. Additionally, it appeared that someone had changed the sheets on her bed because the last time she had seen it, the bed was unmade and the sheets were strung about.
Her cellphone and iPod were sitting on her night stand. She tapped the screens and noticed they were fully charged. Whoever had prepped everything had thought through everything she might need or want. She smiled to herself, it was nice to be home. To not have to do everything herself.
Eddie let himself into her room and sniffed around. From the way he acted, she didn't think he had been allowed in this room. As he explored, she slowly changed into her pajamas. When almost all of her energy was spent, she pulled the covers back. She could smell the fabric softener and her whole body relaxed.
She opened the bedroom door, flipped off the lights, and softly laid down in her bed bed. She pulled the covers up over herself and laughed when Eddie jumped up onto the bed and laid at her feet. She scratched him behind the ears and they both settled in for the night.
Apologies for the delay in updating. I was able to write when we were on vacation a while back, and then when we returned to the real world, my writing fell by the wayside. I'm going to try and get better about writing and posting. Thanks for continuing to read. All the new readers, welcome! Thanks! ~Avy73