Sorry it took so long to update. The stupid damn thing deleted itself. I don't know how. I don't know why. But it did. So, that got me to thinking: I don't want my other stories spontaneously deleted! So, I'm saving them to the documents folder on FF. It keeps 'em safe.
It has to be impossible. It has to be impossible because she is seated comfortably on a sleek jet, hurtling over the ocean at speeds she had thought were not possible. Because this is impossible. But this... this is possible. It is possible because of him.
He, her savior, is beside her. He is silent, but that does not stop her from smiling at him and folding him up in her arms. "How did ya do it? They jus'... they jus' let me out. All you had ta do was... Ah mean... " His own mute presence makes her nervous, and she releases him to fall back into her seat. She gazes out the window, and is once more the ocean amazes her with its vastness. She wonders if it ends. It has to. He is taking her somewhere new. He calls it their home, but she has never seen it. She can't remember it.
She had to have been there. Where is there? It doesn't comfort her that their "home" is something she can't begin to grasp. She doesn't know what to think, except white walls and a garden.
Does it matter? She will live with the only person who ever cared for her. It should be enough. But it isn't. It should be, but it's not. If she had prepared to bombard him with questions before, he would be crushed under the new amount she has now. But only one seems to echo in her head relentlessly: how was he able to get her out so easily?
She waited outside the office of the Warden nervously. He had walked her to the office as soon as she seemed to understand the notion of his announcement.
"Won't be long, chére. Jus' gotta clarify a few t'ings," he told her as he left her on a bench by the door.
Much to her surprise, there were no yelling or loud noises. A mere four minutes later, he came out and offered her a hand. "Ready, chére
The truthful answer was 'no', but the beaming smile on his face made her nod her head and accept his hand.
She looks back to him. He doesn't. She searches his face, and finally lets her eyes fall back to her lap.
For a while, they sit in silence, but the questions swirling in her head makes it uncomfortable. As her confusion mounts, and her comfort falls, she makes her decision.
She half-turns to him, and takes his hand in both of hers. "How did ya do it? They almost never let me outside unless y're there. Ah'm always watched, unless y're there. Ah don't know much, but Ah'm not blind. Not stupid, either. So, why is tha'? Why is it tha' y'r word is law there? When ya attacked tha' man, they didn't do nothin' 'bout it. Not a thing. Ah mean, you musta seemed kinda dangerous, with that card thing an' all. So why-- "
"D'ya t'ink I was gon' hurt y', chére?" He asks suddenly. He lifts his head, but doesn't meet her eyes.
"What?" she gasps shocked. "No! No, o' course not. It's jus'... they don't let me do much of anythin'. But they never questioned ya. Why? Why not?"
He seems partially nervous, partially relieved. "Heh. Dey know I'd never hurt y' purposely, chére. Dey'd be fools not t'."
"But why? Why do they know tha'? How do they know tha'? I really don't think ya have a trust-me certificate on y're person."
He smiles, and finally meets her eyes. "Y' never were very good at lettin' t'ings go, girl, were y'? S'pose dat's a good t'ing t'ough, neh? Helped bond us, in a way."
She releases his hand and turns away. "Ya haven't answered mah question. Ya promised ya would. Or did ya forget?"
He sighs. "Chére, I... chére, look at me."
"Why?" she asked bitterly. "So ya can lie and ignore me some more? No thanks, Ah think the seat is more int'restin'."
"C'mon, look I... " He is interrupted by the pilots sudden intrusion:
"Sir, we're approachin' our destination'. You an' de lady shoul' t' buckle up."
His worried face breaks into a smile. She glances back at him again and is held by the joy on his face. "Buckle in, chére, an' look outside."
With some effort and a little help from him, she is safely buckled. "Look," he repeats.
She does.
The sight that meets her makes her gasp and press closer to the window. A city, far larger than anything she has imagined before. It sprawls near the ocean, and seems to nearly give off a glow in the dawn lighting.
"Where are we?" she breathed.
"We're in our city, chére. N'Awlins."
So... how many of you thought 'home' meant something else? You know who you are.
Wasn't this chapter much longer than the last one? I should say so.
I think that's all I have to say except a nice, good ol' shout-out:
evolutionstripes: I really don't care what you said. I loved the chapter. It had all those great things that make it so... you! You're an excellent writer, and I'm gonna hafta put one between your eyes if I have to keep reminding you that.
So that's about it, except R&R! You know I lurve reviews.
E.V.A.N.