Disclaimer: The Nightworld and its characters belong to L.J. Smith, not me.
I know it's been done before but I don't care! This is my version. I apologize (sort of), in advance for anything that seems weird to Americans and Canadians, as I'm not from North America and the place where you put stuff in the back of the car is a boot, not a trunk dammit!!! (I would also like to point out that both words are equally ludicrous. What does footwear or an elephant's nose really have to do with storage space in a car anyhow?) Anyway, there may be some colloquialisms that you don't recognize, and I few details that I don't know, but I've tried to stay away from them to make everyone happy.
Enjoy!
1. The Knight Errant Returns
Ash ran his fingers worriedly through his blond hair. He could hardly believe that the moment he had been waiting for, which he had been waiting an entire year for, was about to come true. He was nervous though. He didn't know if he had done enough for her, if she would be able to look at him without any hate or disappointment.
He sighed and turned his attention back to the driving.
Mary-Lynette was currently not anxious in the slightest. This was because she was working on her truck.
Since Ash had left and her car had blown up, Mary-Lynette had been without transport. For her and Mark to go into Briar Creek, this had been a pain. Either her father all Claudine, (who was right up there in the 'World's Worst Driver' stakes), had to take them into town. So, when Vic and Todd had decided to leave, they also decided to sell their truck. Mary- Lynette had bought it.
Unfortunately, it was little more than a lump of rust, and since she could no longer ask Jeremy to do it up for her, Mary-Lynette had spent most of her free daylight hours fixing it up. It had helped to give her something other to think about than Ash and how much she missed him. At the recommendation of the Redfern's, she had bought new doors for the back seat, so that people could get out of it from the inside. Most of the engine had needed something done with it as well, if nothing more than a bit of TLC.
And even though it had been an entire year, it still wasn't working properly.
Whoa, thought Mary-Lynette, an entire year. Just about anyway. She stood up suddenly, nearly banging her head on the bonnet. Had he forgotten? Was he coming? Rowan and Kestrel had been trying to bring their brother up in conversation for the last few weeks, but Mary-Lynette had ignored them or changed the subject, not wanting to know.
If she thought about him too much the longing became overpowering. There was nothing more in the world she wanted.
And now it was exactly a year since she had first met him.
I should go and ask Rowan if she knows if he's coming or not, she thought.
Mary-Lynette abandoned the car and went inside to get changed.
Ash pulled his car into the driveway of Burdock farm. Jade was sitting on the porch, playing with Tiggy. Tiggy was a lot bigger than when Ash had last seen him, but the tiger-stripes were still the same.
Jade jumped up as he got out of the car. "Ash! Hey, Rowan, Kestrel, he's here!" Then she ran over to him and gave him a hug.
Ash gave her an odd look as he warily returned the hug. "What's up with you?" he asked.
"Everything's wonderful, don't you think?"
"Um, maybe. Where's Rowan?"
"Inside, they should be coming down..."
Rowan and Kestrel appeared in the doorway. Ash disentangled himself from his youngest sister and went to them.
"Hi."
Kestrel gave Jade a withering glare and Ash a dark look. "Hi Ash." Then she went back inside.
Confused by the antics of both his younger sisters, Ash looked at Rowan. She gave him a warm smile and a quick hug. "Come on in Ash."
Inside they sat down at the kitchen table. "What's up with them?"
"Jade is in love with Mark, again. They keep breaking up and getting back together. And Kestrel is pissed off because she can't really leave Briar Creek and you can.
"Oh. How are you? Any problems since I talked to you last?"
"Nope. That witch from Circle Daybreak stopped by again. Are you keeping tabs on us?"
"Maybe."
"You don't need to, we're fine."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm still the head of the family out here." Ash paused for a moment. "So. How's..."
"Mary-Lynette?"
"Yeah."
"She's fine. She's going to Oregon State when the summer's over. Studying astrophysics and English literature."
"English lit? Why's she doing a double degree?"
"She said something about it opening her eyes to other people."
"Oh."
There was a longer pause as Ash willed himself to ask The Question. "Has she mentioned me?"
"Not lately, no. She used to ask what you were up to and things, but now if we bring up you name, she tunes out or changes the subject, sorry Ash."
So it was true. You could lose your soulmate by being apart too long. Everyone else back in Vegas had reassured him that it wasn't possible, but Ash always had a sneaking suspicion that he would be the first one to prove them wrong.
"Where can I find her?"
"She's probably at home working ton the truck. She's trying to get it ready for when she moves away. She doesn't want it to crap out on her when she doesn't have the time to fix it."
"She bought a truck?"
"Yeah, she needed wheels."
"There was another pause. What the hell was he going to do?
"I've got to see her."
"Then go."
Rowan smiled as Ash walked out the door. Her little story about Mary- Lynette ad been true; her not wanting to talk about him, but it was hardly Rowan's fault that Ash had interpreted it the wrong way.
Rowan was fairly confident that Mary-Lynette would be hoping to see Ash as much as much as Ash wanted to see Mary-Lynette.
Ash walked up to Mary-Lynette house, wondering the whole way what he was going to say to her. If only his friends could see him now. They all thought that he was smooth, always knew exactly what to say. So did Ash, most of the time. It was just Mary-Lynette. She completely unarmed him.
Blinking, he found himself staring at her front door. What the hell was he going to say? It doesn't really matter, he said to himself. She's not going to care. Just let her know that you do.
Steeling himself he raised his hand to knock on the door. As he brought his fist down her the first rap, the door opened. Surprised, his hand kept going.
Into Mary-Lynette's chest.
He managed to stop it a hair's breadth away from her. He slowly drew it away, not able to look at her. "Hi."
"Hi."
He was here. REALLY here. Not just in her imagination. But he looked so worried, as though she was going to say she hated him or something.
She grabbed his shirt and pulled him into the house. Thank god my parents aren't here, she thought wildly. I'd never live this down.
She shut the door behind them and then did something she's wanted to do ever since she first saw him. She punched him, square on the jaw, and knocked him flat.
"Wha...?" Oops. She had better rectify the situation before he got up and started yelling. He probably hadn't noticed with the floor and her fist hitting him, but the brief moment of contact between her hand and his jaw sent sparks of lightning down her arm.
She fell down on top of him, knocking the wind out of him. "Hey, what gives? Yomph..." She covered his mouth with her hand.
"Shut up and kiss me," she said, thinking how wonderfully clichéd it all was.
He did. The pink haze raced up around her and engulfed her, and she knew it was doing exactly the same to him. Then his mind and hers merged and each knew what the other was thinking.
I've missed you so much; don't ever leave long again her mind cried to his.
I promise, if you promise not to send me away again.
I promise.
I love you, but I was so afraid...
Afraid that I would forget you? How could I? You're my soulmate. I'll never forget you. I've spent a year trying to, but it hasn't worked at all.
I've tried to do what you said... is it what you wanted?
Mary-Lynette stopped for a moment to look at all the things his thoughts were trying to show her. He had done good things, and made a lot of things right. It wasn't just for me that I asked you to do that. Your darker side is a part of you that will always be there, and I can accept that. But you have to accept it too, and that you can be good at the same time.
She could feel the wonder building up in him. Wonder at how she knew exactly what to say to make everything perfect.
I love you Ash, nothing can change that.
You just made it more perfect. I love you.
They stayed like that for awhile, just getting to know the feel of each others minds again, making the perfect moment last for as long as it could. Eventually, Mary-Lynette withdrew from the pink haze, back into the real world, where she found herself wrapped in Ash's arms and him in hers.
"We should probably get up before my parents or brother find us here. It's a rather compromising position."
Ash laughed softly. You're right. Where should we go?
"It's getting dark. Let's go look at the stars."
