C2: Face to face

After getting the three settled back in, Aida ordered Amina up to her bedroom to tidy, though she had a feeling she would get halfway through and then collapse on her bed, re-reading her Holmes books.

Aida was wandering downstairs, trying to help move suitcases from out of the way, but Rick was being difficult and insisting 'the man of the house' do it. It might have also had something to do with Evy hinting that they go away again, but who could blame her? She'd ALWAYS had a spark for adventure. And recently, with the odd dreams she'd been having, she was like a jumping bean, not being able to stay still. She'd confided in Rick and Aida that something was guiding her and even maybe…reaching out to her with the dreams. Telling her where to go.

Evy and Rick asked them if they wanted to come, but Aida had calmly turned them down, citing Amina's need to study and her need to…well, stay and 'look after everything'. Truthfully, she didn't know if could go back there. To Egypt. The thought always made her heart ache terribly. And she feared visiting the past.

As she walked back to the kitchen, she saw Alex struggling with a rather large chest clutched against him.

"Alex, do you want a hand with that?"

Alex, not even stopping as he trudged slowly again, shook his head.

"No, I've," he grunted and shifted the item in his hands but didn't stop, "got this!"

Aida sighed and watched him trudge away. She knew he was too stubborn and wouldn't ask for help, NOR would he give her the chest. He was very much like Rick in that aspect.

Carrying on until she got to the kitchen downstairs, Aida crossed over the threshold and-

Froze.

She had to catch her breath but there was just the oddest feeling in her stomach. She turned to the window. Had-had she seen a shadow pass over that way? No one would come in the backway unless it was a delivery.

She walked over to the pane and stared out, but the rain was falling hard and made it difficult to see anything. She waited for lightning to illuminate the walled section of the garden that lead to her little potted plants, but still, she saw nothing. The shapes in the back were the large bushes and trees. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, but she'd gotten good at sensing things. Maybe she had been mistaken, but still…

"Old habits die hard," she muttered and tried to shake away the feeling.

She busied herself in the kitchen, unwrapping the plates of food she had prepared.

Evy came in at that moment and laughed at the spread that had been prepared.

"You really went all out! Oh, Aida, you made enough for everyone!"

"Actually, this is just for Alex," she held up a large platter of sausage rolls and smirked, "you know how he and Amina eat."

They laughed with each other and it felt wonderful. Aida hadn't been able to gossip or talk with any other women. All the other mothers are her daughter's school turned their noses up at her and that was BEFORE they found out she was unmarried.

She'd thought to come up with excuses to save Amina the 'embarrassment' but she told her the truth. That her father was someone she knew back in her old life and they went their separate ways. Amina pried a couple of times, but it was simple things.

'What color eyes did he have?'

'Did he like reading books?'

'What was his favorite thing to eat?'

Surprisingly, all the questions she'd asked, she'd never once asked for his name. And for some reason, Aida never felt to give it.

"You feeling ok? You look away with the fairies," Evy tore apart a sandwich and nibbled at a small corner as she looked worriedly at Aida.

Thinking fast, she smiled and shrugged.

"Oh, just wondering about what's in my daughter's head. She wants to go to the cinema if you three are up for it?"

Evy looked far from pleased.

"Oh no, what now? The Kennel Murder Case had those two little scamps up all night telling crime stories!"

"Believe it or not, King Kong."

Evy pondered this request for a moment.

"Well…I suppose that isn't too bad. Though they might start climbing things."

"More so than they already do?"

The two women giggled and Evy put her arm around her friend's shoulder.

"It's good to be home and laugh with you again."

Seven years ago, had Evy said and done these things with her, she probably would have inwardly jumped for joy and felt it was a romantic move. But their relationship had changed from that of friends to long-lost sisters. The love she had felt had dwindled and re-shapen, coming back as a fond but not overpowering feeling. She wouldn't change this for the world.

"Well, I best go let Alex know and prepare Rick. You'll know they'll want to try to sneak snacks in again?" Evy arched her brow and began to walk off, though couldn't help but pinch another sandwich to go.

"Oh, of course. But that's why we frisk and check their pockets BEFORE we leave the house," Aida frowned and looked at one lone cupboard, shaking her head, "an entire jar of biscuits and cookies gone. Those two make me look at my pickpocketing days and I wonder if it's possible to inherit those things?"

"If it helps, Alex didn't learn it from Amina!" Was Evy's parting reassurance, leaving Amina snorting.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that was also Jonathan."

Once she had been left alone again, Aida decided to begin the process of a proper warm dinner. She was thinking good, strong chicken soup and bread she had made the day before.

Of course, as soon as she had arrived back in England and discovered she was with child, she had tough days. She dealt with crippling anxiety and the worry she wouldn't be a good mother. But Evy had helped and eventually, Aida had decided to teach herself the things her mother had been unable to. She got herself into cleaning, cooking, sewing, and generally, being a good 'housewife' just without the husband. It had taken a few months to get into the swing, but she'd managed it. And then when Amina arrived, she did the exact same chores, just with her daughter strapped either to her front or back. Eventually, when her daughter could run around on her own, she began to copy her mother and Aida had an unlikely but adorable helper.

She reached up high and placed the large saucepan on the countertop in front of her. But before she had a chance to turn around and head towards the pantry, a hand suddenly came across her mouth. At the same time, something cold, sharp, and familiar came across her throat. She inhaled sharply, but the man jerked her head back and pressed his lips to her ear.

"Do not scream," an unfamiliar male voice told her in cold, dark tones and she knew he was serious. She nodded quickly and his hand moved slowly from her mouth. He then harshly pushed her shoulder and made her turn, the blade of his sword still pressed against her as a warning.

She was faced with a man she had never met, dressed in red, foreign robes. His dark eyes bore into hers and his face was covered in scars.

She gulped nervously but waited for her moment.

"What-what do you want?"

He sneered and there was something in his look that told her she wasn't worth this time, but something…or someone had forced him here.

"The chest. Where is it?"

Aida blinked at him a few times and thought quickly. She truly had no idea what he was talking about, but if she said as such, she had a feeling she would be losing a lot of blood in a matter of seconds. So, she played for time and hoped she was still very good at acting.

"I-I can take you to the chest," her hands moved behind her, as though to support herself on the counter, but she was really reaching for her one weapon, "just please, don't hurt me."

His eyes shifted downwards, and she knew not only had he fallen for it, but he was now noticing she was a woman. The sword fell away, but drifted slowly down, pressing against her bosom.

"Please," she let her voice wobble, but she felt her resolve build as her hand wrapped around the handle of her saucepan.

He smirked and carried on and that's when she knew it was now or never.

As fast and hard as she could, she brought the saucepan up and violently hit him upside the head. The metal met his skull with a sickening (but satisfying) crunching noise and he immediately fell to the side and down.

Dead.

She took a few deep breaths, but before she had a chance to relax and alert the others, she heard footsteps and saw a man rushing in through the door. Another stranger dressed in red robes and pulling out his sword.

Distracting him for a moment by tossing her saucepan right at him, she ducked down, grabbed the dead man's sword, and brought it up, just in time to deflect the downward strike of his own weapon. Using what skills, she had honed over the years, she assaulted him back with the simplest tricks. First, she punched him below the belt, and then, once he was winded, swept his feet out beneath him. As he fell to the floor, she turned and spun around on her knee, bringing her sword back around and cutting his torso as he went down.

But just before he hit the floor, apparently dead as well, she couldn't help one last parting shot.

"I don't know who you are, but you don't come into MY bloody kitchen!"

She stood up on unsteady legs, thinking she was safe. But she sensed another approach. This time, she shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

'Concentrate.'

She waited until she could feel the man only a few footsteps away from her and then, spun around, the sword held high.

She opened her eyes, and her arms shook as her sword connected with his, jarring her violently.

But instead of attacking again, Aida was frozen to the spot. Brown, familiar eyes stared at her, his sword held up easily, blocking her from killing him. Which was a good thing, because she was face to face with someone she had known so long ago.

"Ardeth?!"