Vaughn stood at the bridge where he and Sydney had gone so many times before. He stood there at the railing, looking at the city lights beautifully shown after the sun had set. He twirled his wedding ring around in his hand and looked straight ahead. He couldn't believe how screwed up things had gotten this past weekend. Isabelle's death, Sydney's leaving him and the divorce? He wanted to leave this city too. He kept looking down at the highway which was anything but busy. Part of him was expecting Sydney to show up, to give them another chance. But with each passing hour, his hope was dashed.Vaughn stood there a little while longer, and when he finally decided to go home, a car pulled up in front of him. He looked at the car and his eyes lit up with that hope again. "Sydney?" A figure stepped out of the car and walked over to him. When Vaughn finally saw the figures face, his heart sank. Jack walked up to Vaughn and frowned. "Not who you were expecting?"
Vaughn shook his head. "How'd you find me, Jack?"
"Actually...I have some news for you."
"I don't want to hear anymore news." Vaughn began to walk away, but Jack stopped him.
"It involves your daughter."
"She's dead."
"We don't think she is."
Vaughn raised his eyebrow while Jack continued. "We think that The Hand played you. The girl in that photograph is not Isabelle at all."
"You think they killed another little girl to fake her death?"
"No," Jack said. "I think that little girl was already dead, and they used the body to fake Isabelle's death."
"Why would they do that?"
"I'm not entirely sure..." Jack admitted.
Vaughn shook his head. "It's just hope Jack. Hope that she's alive. There's no evidence of it."
"Since when have we relied on that when it concerns the people we love?" Jack snipped.
"It's too late Jack. So, unless there's anything else..." Vaughn started walking away.
"Where's Sydney?" Jack called after him
"She's gone."
With that, Jack watched Vaughn leave to be consumed by the darkness. Sydney's gone?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vaughn went back home and for about an hour paced the floor. The next hour, he cleaned up the house and then worked his way into the kitchen. He hadn't eaten anything for several hours, but at the same time wasn't hungry. He washed all the dishes and dried them and put them all away. Just as he was finishing, he heard the front door open and close, and a heavy bag drop on the floor. Vaughn looked in the dining room and saw his gun lying there. Damn! Just as he was about to go and greet the intruder, Sydney was standing in front of him, drenched from the late night rain shower. "Sydney..." he breathed. She gave him a half-hearted smile and walked over to him. "Sydney, I thought you left..."
"No...I, I thought it was the best thing for us, but then I realized..."
Vaughn studied her," What?"
Sydney looked at Vaughn in the eyes, through her tears. "I love you."
Vaughn's heart skipped a beat at Sydney's words. "I love you too, Syd."
"So...I don't know..."
"But, the divorce papers?" Vaughn interrupted.
"Oh." Sydney blushed. "I flushed them down the toilet."
Vaughn laughed. "You what?"
"I couldn't sign them, Vaughn."
Vaughn smiled. "Me either."
"So...where do we go from here?"
Vaughn shakes his head. "I'm not sure."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Song playing: Nickelback: Everyone Cared
Sydney fell onto the bed, with Vaughn above her, kissing her, making love to her, It was something that Sydney had longed for for months. Something that they never gave into. Sydney felt guilty in some ways. Her daughter was dead, and her family and friends thought she went missing, and her she was, feeling alive for the first time not only in two years or three years, but in the past week. Vaughn's gentle kisses showed her his love and his strong arms his strength. Maybe it began as lust to them. But it didn't feel that way. Sydney missed Vaughn so much, that she felt she deserved to give into her sin. As Vaughn's fingers trailed along her skin, giving her a tingling sensation, Sydney realized that despite everything they had gone through since they met, all the roadblocks they had to overcome, they were still together and they found that connection that had faded away. Vaughn and Sydney weren't divorced, or breaking up. They weren't moving out. They were going to work through it together and give each other their love and strength.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Vaughn opened his eyes as the bright and early sun light came into the room. He sat up and looked at Sydney lying next to him, sleeping for the first time in three or four days. They both had given into their sins and their desires. Maybe it was wrong of them with everything that had happened, but he didn't regret last night. Sydney had came back to him and they found their connection with each other again. Vaughn looked out the window as he heard a bus, or possibly truck, passing through. Vaughn put on his shorts and peered outside the window. A yellow, but dark tinted, school bus stopped directly in front of their house. "Sydney." Vaughn walked over to Sydney and shook her awake. "Sydney."
"What?" she mumbled.
"Look." Vaughn went back to the window and Sydney sat up to see what he was talking about. "Vaughn...why would you show this to me..."
But Sydney stopped. She quickly got up and looked at the school bus, which now was just sitting there. Then, the doors opened, as if to let someone enter or exit. Sydney and Vaughn exchanged looks and quickly grabbed clothes to put on and ran outside. Sydney reached the front door first and ran outside as Isabelle, carrying her lunch box and backpack, emerged from the bus. Sydney ran to her and hugged her tightly. "Oh my God, Isabelle."
"Mommy...you're squishing me."
Sydney let go of Isabelle and looked at her closely. "Are you okay?"
Isabelle nodded as Vaughn came up beside her and hugged her as well. "Oh, Isabelle, we've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too Daddy."
Vaughn put Isabelle down and Sydney hugged her again, crying tears of joy. Vaughn glanced over at the bus and looked through the open door. Behind the wheel of the bus, he saw Irina, who winked at him and closed the door. Vaughn stared at the bus as it drove off, in shock. He looked at Sydney once the bus was out of sight. Should I tell her? Vaughn shook off his thoughts and picked up Isabelle, spinning her around. "Hey," he said. "What do you say, we go to Disney to see Mickey?"
Isabelle's eyes lit up. "Really? When?"
"Right now."
"Yay!" Vaughn put Isabelle down again and she ran inside the house to pack up her things. Vaughn smiled at Sydney as she laughed.
"She was alive Vaughn."
"Yeah."
"We did it." Sydney said.
"Yes...and I believe this vacation is well deserved for us, don't you?"
"Of course I do!"
Vaughn looked at Sydney seriously. "I love you."
"I love you." Sydney kissed Vaughn and he kissed her back just as Isabelle ran back out and grabbed their hands. "Come on," she said. "We're gonna be late." Sydney and Vaughn laughed as Isabelle dragged them into the house.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I sat back in my chair and smiled. After just getting off the phone with Michael and Sydney, I was relieved. Despite everything that they had gone through, they found their way back to each other and got their back, alive. I began to write my final notes on the couple. They went through hard times with each other, then had their daughter kidnapped and presumed dead, then a divorce came up, then Sydney left, then they believed Isabelle wasn't really dead, then Sydney came back, then they finally found each other, then Isabelle returned, and now they are enjoying themselves in Disney. "Hey," I said out loud as an idea suddenly occurred to me. "This would be a great story!" Hmm, I thought. "'I twirled my pen in my hand and silently sighed...'"
The End