Thank you so much for the reviews!
aurelliawii08 – thank you for those kind words. The pairing is eventual ItaSaku! Like I had said in the first chapter A/N, it's just very difficult for me to imagine Sasuke and Naruto with any other characters. For me, they truly belong with each other. But I have no qualms to experiment with the other pairings. XD
MarchIII – Hahaha! I can imagine! Thank you so much for the kind words!
nobodysperfect2133 – I know, right? I see this Itachi and this Sakura as people who know a lot about a lot of things, but they got so caught up in that, that they forgot about the basic things. :p
PLEASE READ: This chapter will clarify why this story is rated M. I have avoided explicit language as much as possible, although the themes are definitely M. The story is going to pick up from here.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, except Mr. Sakinaka. Also, the situation mentioned in this chapter is inspired from Grey's Anatomy.
Chapter name is dedicated to Tony Stark from MCU.
Enjoy! :)
CHAPTER 5 – Stark-ly Wide Eyed
On Wednesday, someone knocks on her apartment door.
Sakura glances at the clock and it blinks 7.37 AM. Sasuke is standing on the other side of the door with his hand raised in the air as if about to knock again.
"Hi."
Sasuke lowers his hand. "Coffee?"
She smiles. "Sure. Let me grab my mug."
She picks it up from the breakfast table where she had just taken her first sip of the liquid. She follows Sasuke to his apartment and sees Itachi at the breakfast bar, dressed in his work clothes. He doesn't turn to greet her. Instead, he's reading something on his phone rather intently.
"What's up, genius?" She sits down beside him. Sasuke grabs his own mug and stands across the island.
"Look at you," Itachi mutters lowly, still engrossed in his phone, "making your own coffee with your own ingredients and everything."
Before she can come up with a retort, he suddenly hisses out a curse. Sakura exchanges a quick glance with Sasuke, who lowers the mug slowly, looking worried.
"Sasuke," Itachi says urgently, "the webpage is crashing. Open your laptop, quick." Sasuke is already moving across towards his desk. "Someone is hacking the system."
Itachi puts his phone to his ear and waits for the other person to pick up. "Did you see it? What's happening? … Yeah, I've got Sasuke on it … No. Don't do that. The hacker might get access again later. We need a long-term solution not a quick fix … Yeah, alright. Keep me posted." He turns to Sasuke. "Did you get anything?"
Sasuke is furiously typing away on his laptop. Sakura watches them, both worried and awkward. Maybe she should leave and let the two brothers deal with the crisis. She makes to move from the stool, but Itachi grabs her arm and shakes his head. She settles back.
"I've got it," Sasuke announces a few minutes later. He types some more. "There. Done."
"What did you do?" Itachi asks, still perched beside Sakura.
"I traced the hacker and fixed up multiple firewalls for the IP address."
"What if they try from another IP address?"
"I'll sit with the team today and we'll strengthen the system a bit more," Sasuke promises.
"Alright. Make sure this doesn't happen again."
"Roger that."
Sakura doesn't know what she's surprised with more – that Sasuke is quick on his feet, or that he's clearly good at what he does, or the way the dynamics between them suddenly switched to the employer-employee status, or the way Itachi commands. He's not rude, more curt, and doesn't drag on a situation far, instead opting to deal with it and move on. He even sounds like someone you'd obey without questioning. Sakura struggles to mould what she'd just seen with the way Itachi bickers with her over every little thing.
Sasuke goes back to his mug. "Sorry about that."
"It's alright," Sakura assures him. "Are things okay now?"
He nods. "For the time being."
Itachi pockets his phone and resumes drinking his own coffee. "You don't seem in a rush today."
"I have to be in by 9," she says. "I thought I could take it slow."
"Were you staying at the hospital again?"
"Er, yeah. I mean I was on-call on Monday night. Came home last night, though."
"Naruto told me you wanted a movie night," Sasuke says and smirks. "He said you realised how awesome MCU truly is."
Sakura scoffs. "I said no such thing. I only accepted his offer."
"Still," Sasuke shrugs coolly, still smirking.
"I don't have a TV," she points out. "I have zero knowledge about any movie trends, let alone Avengers. I would have agreed to anything."
Sasuke looks horrified. "But you have a laptop! Are you telling me you never stream Netflix?"
"I don't really use my laptop, much," Sakura admits. "It's mostly to study and research." When Sasuke continues to stare in the dumbfounded way, she adds, "Of course, I've seen movies. My father makes me watch whenever I visit him, which is not a lot, though."
"You're doomed," Itachi mutters with a quick side-glance thrown her way.
"Huh?"
"Naruto was right," Sasuke says firmly. "You need a movie night. We'll get popcorn, chicken wings, beers, and watch Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man 1."
"Uh... alright …"
"And I'll invite Naruto and Shika. Itachi, we have to have a movie night."
Itachi raises his hands in defence. "I didn't object."
Sakura promises to let them know when she's free. Before they leave the apartment – Itachi and Sasuke for work and Sakura to get ready – Sasuke grabs her arm.
"Hey, you coming over tomorrow in the morning?"
"Definitely."
He grins.
xXx
It's next Wednesday when Sakura finally gets the evening off for a movie night. They even pick up the morning coffee routine again, despite Sakura not really needing any more favours. She gets ready, heads across the hall with her coffee, they chat before leaving for work. Or at least it's possible when she's home in the mornings.
She's also stumbled home, exhausted after long surgeries, and promptly passed out in her bedroom. She takes extra care of not going to 10A, no matter how much her brain insists that it's fine, just absolutely fine, and can function for another fifteen to twenty minutes. Been there, done that, not happening again.
On Wednesday, she's home by five. She takes a long shower, tidies up her bedroom, and decides to make some snacks. She pulls out the unopened bag of nachos, pours them in a large bowl, and decorates it with toppings and cheese. Satisfied, she glances at the clock. 6.15 PM.
When Sasuke opens the door, Sakura sees only Naruto present.
"Shika couldn't make it," Sasuke tells her.
Sakura shrugs and sticks out the large bowl. "Nachos?"
"Here, here!" Naruto makes grabby hands, perched on the couch, not moving at all.
"Feed the big baby," Sasuke says. "Beer?"
"Yes, please."
Itachi is on his laptop. He hasn't changed from his work clothes yet. Sakura goes to stand behind him after she gives the bowl to Naruto, and peers at the screen. It looks like a business article and features an image of a man in his late fifties, fake tanned skin, smiling up at her.
"He's creepy," she tells Itachi.
"And a snake," he mutters absently. "Look at this. He's making a fool out of everyone in plain sight, and people are still loyal to him. Denial is dangerous."
"Who is he?"
Sasuke nudges her elbow with a beer can, already opened. She mouths 'thanks' and turns back to Itachi.
"Shimura Danzo," Itachi says, still not entirely focused on her and reading the article. "He owns this company called ROOT. It's a consulting organization. Advices businesses on how to do business. He called the office today, wanting to speak with me."
"What does he want?" Sakura frowns, now leaning more over Itachi's shoulder to read better.
Itachi doesn't move. His chin is propped up in the palm of his left hand. "He said he could help me make the company even better."
"Are you going to accept it?"
"Not at all," he says, almost reflexively. "But I'm thinking of outing him on his schemes. He is leeching off the smaller businesses and they don't even see it."
"Guys!" Naruto calls out loudly. "You're ruining movie night."
"Hear, hear," Sasuke cheers in support.
They don't move immediately. Itachi says cryptically, "Better buckle in, Sakura."
Sakura rolls her eyes and joins the other two. Itachi takes another ten minutes to shut his laptop. He grabs one of the beer cans from the refrigerator and sits on the floor near Sakura's feet since the other couch doesn't face the TV directly.
"You're not going to change?"
He shakes his head. Sakura has a feeling that he's still thinking over the Danzo guy even though Naruto is starting the movie now, with excited cheers of how much Sakura is going to love it.
Now here's the thing about Sakura and movies. She isn't a big movie-watcher as has been already established, but her father and Uncle Obito did make her watch some with them growing up. And it so happens that she picked up Uncle Obito's habits.
He's what you'd call a person who wears his heart on his sleeves. He's fallen in love many times until now, even after Rin, and he's the guy who ends up messing things up due to blurting out "I love you" on events such as fifth dates.
He doesn't understand that even though some stuff is understood, it doesn't have to be said out loud. Which might fit Kakashi's choice of friendship dynamics because her father loves to speak his mind – it's just that, Kakashi's mind isn't the mind of a romantic exactly. Rather, it's the mind of a downright pervert. Sakura thinks it does balance things out between them – one man of the heart and the other of sex, taking the world two girls at a time by being each other's wingmen. The effect it has on a growing girl, though, is not that exciting.
Sakura's childhood has been confusing most of the times, but after a while, she learned how to take the teachings of both the men from her life and somehow adapt without losing her mind. In case of movies, however, she is completely – wholeheartedly – channelling Uncle Obito.
Sakura watches Iron Man 1 starring Robert Downey Jr. with her heart on her sleeves.
Turns out, she's not the only one. The only person to groan louder than her when Yisin dies is Naruto. Sakura clutches Naruto's arm when Stark crashes in the desert after defeating his captors. Sasuke and Itachi keep up a constant stream of Iron Man's armour and its abilities. Naruto wolf whistles when Pepper Potts and Stark are dancing during the charity event. They all seem to be on the edge of their seats when Stark is attacked by two fighter jets before he calls Rhodes and tells him his identity. They all cheer when Stark is fighting Stane in the end, and he asks Potts to overload the arc reactor as a last resort. And when Stark stands in front of the media, and says, "I'm Iron Man", Sakura nearly jumps out of her seat in excitement.
"Oh my god," she says loudly as the end credits roll, "did he just do that? Did he just announce that he's Iron Man? What the fuck? That's brilliant."
Naruto and Sasuke are beaming at her. "I know!" Sasuke cries.
Itachi, who's still sitting on the floor and only turned around to discuss one point or the other, gets to his feet and stretches his spine languidly.
"Beer? Anyone?" He calls out as he moves to the refrigerator.
"Yes!" Sakura says.
Naruto shakes his head. "I should get going, actually."
"Are you sure?" Sasuke implores. "You can just crash here."
Naruto cracks a grin. "You know we have work tomorrow, right? I'd rather sleep in my own bed."
"Alright," Sasuke shrugs and they stand up.
Sasuke escorts him to the front door, Naruto calls out a final bye, and leaves. After a moment, Sasuke calls out loudly, "Text when you reach home, dobe!"
Sakura hears a distinct "Yeah, teme!" and the door shuts.
Sasuke heaves a long sigh. "I'm going to get to bed, too, actually." He beams at her. "I'm so glad you liked the movie, though! We're going to have so much fun watching the other MCU movies!"
Sakura giggles. She takes the beer that Itachi hands to her, and says, "I really did. Let's plan the next one soon."
Sasuke bids them both good night before shutting the door to his room. Sakura sits sideways, her neck lolling lazily over the back of the couch, nursing the beer close to her chest.
Itachi mirrors her and they sit facing each other.
"You know," she says in the comfortable quiet, "Kakashi and Uncle Obito are going to be so happy to know that I'm actually excited about watching a movie."
Itachi smiles slightly. "It's your fortune that it happens to be MCU movies."
"I can see why you guys like it."
"Why is that?"
"Because you're all nerds," she giggles and takes a healthy gulp of the beer.
Itachi rolls his eyes. "Says the nerd."
"Yeah, yeah," she dismisses lightly. "I get it, though," she says seriously. "I like how the super-hero is there to save the day."
"And says the doctor."
A sad smile pops out on her face, leaving her feeling sombre. "We don't always save the day."
Itachi sobers up instantly. "Something happened?"
Sakura sucks in a sharp breath at the memory, tries for a nonchalant shrug and fails. "Lost a patient today."
Itachi holds her gaze steady like he'd done when Sakura had told him Kakashi is her father foster. "You want to talk about it?"
Sakura traces the threading on the couch, shifting her attention to the inane task, as her index finger runs around in a random pattern. "He got a new heart. An intern of mine fought hard for it on his behalf. I don't advocate for patient-doctor romance, but I guess I can cut some slack."
"Tell me from the beginning," he says softly.
So Sakura does. "He was on the list for years. He'd already had two heart transplants before in his life. He was born with a defected system, so he wasn't new to the procedures. But he really needed this one. He stayed in the hospital for months, being monitored, and hanging by a thread. And then he goes and falls for one of the interns. As a doctor, you need to learn how to draw a line between yourself and the patient. It's for the benefit of both of the parties. The doctor cannot afford being emotionally attached to the patient, lest his decision-making is hindered by it, and it will cost the patient in the end.
"But the intern ended up getting attached. She fought for the right on the next available heart. He was on LVAD by this point. We did the transplant last night. I was paged early in the morning today, and by the time I reached, he'd already died. It was a stroke. He barely had a warning of a few seconds.
"I've lost patients," she continues quietly, still tracing the random pattern, still unable to look at Itachi, "but I got attached, too. I try my best not to do it; it's hard at times. He was a man in his thirties, and honestly, one of the funniest people I'd met. He always had a wisecrack ready during the rounds."
"I'm sorry," Itachi offers.
"And the cherry on the cake is, he'd proposed to that intern before he got the new heart. She went to say yes to him and found his dead body instead. Obviously, that's against the ethical code of conduct for the doctors and my Chief is taking the necessary actions."
Itachi has nothing to say to that. He lets her trace the pattern in silence.
xXx
Two weeks later, Sakura is sitting in the cafeteria with Ino and Shino during their lunch break.
"Did you see him?" Ino asks, swirling the straw in her mixed fruit juice.
"Yep," Shino says. He pauses to eat a forkful of salad before continuing sombrely. It's hard to say though because he always sounds serious, as if he's discussing a potential apocalypse. "He was in the lift. I think he finally wants to file a suit against the hospital."
Sakura curses. "I guess I'd be called to the Chief's office any time now," she sighs tiredly.
Genma, the patient who had died of a stroke after the heart transplant, turned out to be quite a wealthy man. The intern whom he'd proposed to received a big check, from what Sakura had heard, of a few million at least when Genma's will was processed. And now, apparently, his father came to visit the Chief again. He'd visited a few times before and tried to accuse the Chief for tampering with Genma's treatment, that the right call was not made. How does my son propose to an intern from your hospital, dies soon after, and the intern is left with all his money? he'd demanded.
Since Sakura was involved with the case, she'd had to sit through those impromptu meetings, along with Dr. Orochimaru who was the lead surgeon on the case. The management was called down a few times to try and avoid a lawsuit. Clearly, Genma's father hasn't given up yet.
But her pager stays silent. No message is sent her way even when lunch gets over.
Mentally relieved, Sakura begins her rounds on her patients with her group of interns, sans one, who is suspended for getting involved with Genma. Sakura had to sit through a brutal scolding from her Chief for being unable to handle her interns well. The good thing that came out of it was that her interns seem to have found a new level of respect and comradery for her.
Things start going downhill when Sakura sends one of her interns to fetch two medications from the storage unit on the fourth floor. He doesn't return even after fifteen minutes. Sakura instructs the others to stay with the patient and goes to see what the holdup is. He might have been stopped by a senior doctor and Sakura supposes that she might have to explain as the person-in-charge, but that seems unlikely.
She takes the elevator to the fourth floor. There are no patients, only various rooms with extra storage space for hospital logistical items. A nurse passes by her with handful of items, and Sakura frowns. There seems to be no reason for her intern to take this long if the floor is empty.
She opens the door of the correct storage room, already calling out, "Dr. Darui?"
No response. Sighing in frustration, she decides to grab the necessary bottles herself and deal with Dr. Darui later when she finds him.
Sakura turns the corner of one of the shelves and freezes.
Dr. Darui is lying on the floor in his own puddle of blood, gurgling, shaking, and eyes wide with shock. It takes Sakura two seconds to react. She runs to him quickly and does a swift assessment of his injuries. There is a gunshot wound to the lower right of his abdomen.
Just then, the hospital is abuzz with red alert. Her pager rings and she reads it, all the while putting pressure on the wound with gauze. It says Code Black.
Shit. Code Black is for immediate lockdown. The elevators will be deactivated, and all the individuals within the building will have to stay put wherever they are. Clearly, they've just now realised that there's a lunatic with a gun on the loose.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Sakura tries to focus on the task at hand.
"Dr. Darui? Can you hear me? Blink once to say yes."
He blinks.
"Great. I need you to stay calm, okay? You need immediate surgery, but I need to assess the injury first. The hospital is in lockdown and we won't be able to go anywhere. I'm going to shift you slightly to check if there is an exit wound."
He blinks again.
Sakura curses mentally when she sees there's no exit wound. She tries to see on the bright side of her current predicament. She's in a storage room with all the supplies she'll need to treat him – or at least, supplies to get by for the time being. Granted, it's not sterilized, but she will have to make do with what she has if she wants to give Dr. Darui a shot at staying alive.
She grabs his hand and places it on the gauze on his abdomen. "Hold this. Apply pressure. I need to grab a few things. I'll be right here, don't worry."
Sakura moves around the room, quickly collecting everything that she'd need for a quick fix on a GSW. She sighs in relief when she finds the blood bags in the freezer in the back of the room.
It takes her fifteen minutes. All through the process, she keeps an eye on Dr. Darui's condition. She sets up a rudimentary sterilized field and surgical equipment. She hangs the IV bag and the blood bag on a higher shelf, drags Dr. Darui on a clean bedsheet slowly, and takes a deep breath to centre her mind.
She wears gloves, mask, and a surgical gown she found in one of the boxes. The only problem now was –
"There's no anaesthesia," she tells him softly. "Do you understand what it means?"
He blinks.
"I need you to stay as quiet as possible, okay? I'm going to keep a clean cloth in your mouth so that we don't attract … anyone."
He blinks again, and then his eyes are widening further. He is scared. So is Sakura, for that matter, but she doesn't think it'd be a good idea to tell him that.
Sakura has never believed in God. Kakashi and Uncle Obito never taught her or told her she should be doing that. When Sakura had questioned them, when she was old enough to do that and because she'd seen many people following God, the two men sat her down and said this –
"Well," Kakashi begins, "you see, doll, God is not someone you can see or touch, or talk to for that matter, the way we can do with each other."
"You mean God is not a scientific creation?"
Kakashi pauses. "Yes. There is no empirical evidence as such. Of course, some people do believe there is, but not in the way you're used to."
"I don't get it."
Uncle Obito takes over. "God is not supposed to be a person. There is no He or She. You know how sometimes you feel like stealing a cookie but then you don't?"
Sakura nods, following the question. "Yes, I almost do, at times. But then I remember that you'd told me not to, and if you find out, you'd be upset. So I don't."
"So your mind tells you what the right thing to do is, correct?"
Sakura frowns. "Yes, who else will?"
The two men grin widely. Uncle Obito pats her head, and says, "That's God."
So Sakura never became religious the way she'd seen people around her do. Kakashi and Uncle Obito always taught her that the best thing to do is to listen to your mind, and believe in it. Even if you turn out to be wrong, it's fine, because it's all part of the process.
"What process?" she asks one day.
"The process of learning," Kakashi says. "Of growing up."
When Sakura came across theories such as the Big Bang and the Theory of Everything, she also came across people questioning "What about before Big Bang? What was the catalyst for it? Doesn't this tell you that God exists?"
And Sakura began counter-questioning, "Just because we don't know something isn't proof that a deity exists. It only means that we don't know something at that time, don't you think? When you were born, did you know everything? No. You learned as you grew up. It's all part of the process."
This is what Sakura focuses on as she operates on Dr. Darui in the storage room for a GSW by a person who apparently believes that shooting someone is a fantastic way to deal with things.
It takes her quite some time, but she manages to stop the bleed and take out the bullet. When she stops to think over her next steps, the door to the storage room opens. Sakura freezes. There are heavy footsteps and she puts a finger to her mouth to signal Dr. Darui not to make a sound.
It's difficult because the man's hands are clenched tightly, his abdomen is open, and his breathing is ragged.
Sakura waits with bated breath. The footsteps are coming closer.
Dr. Darui suddenly screams, a few stitches come loose, and more blood starts to flow. The footsteps hurry across the last leg of the distance, and Sakura looks up just as Genma's father, Mr. Sakinaka, appears on the corner.
He's holding a gun pointed directly at her. Sakura swallows. Her entire body is trembling.
"Don't," Mr. Sakinaka warns her. "Don't try to save him. He was there. And so were you. Genma died because of you."
Sakura glances at Dr. Darui. The blood is coming out faster.
"Mr. Sakinaka," she says in a shaking voice, "please. Please don't do this. I need to stop the blood. Don't shoot. Please. My name is Haruno Sakura. I knew Genma. Think about him. He wouldn't want you to commit murders!"
His face turns furious. "Don't you dare pretend as if you knew my son!"
Dr. Darui is turning whiter by every passing second. Without thinking, she resumes treating him again.
"I said, don't!" Mr. Sakinaka shouts. "Stop that. Don't save him."
"I have to," she cries. "I can't let him die!"
"Stop or I'll shoot."
Sakura doesn't stop. She thinks about Kakashi and Uncle Obito. She thinks about the time when Kakashi and Uncle Obito bought her a bicycle for her sixth birthday and took her out every day to teach. She thinks about the bird she'd saved when she was eight, and the two men had thrown a small party to congratulate her on saving a life. She thinks about the time when they'd sat her down and explained menstrual cycles when she was twelve with cheeks flushed red. She thinks about the time when she'd told them that everyone teased her for being a bookworm and they consoled her. She thinks about the way they'd been crushed when Sakura had to leave for college but tried to put on brave faces for her sake.
She thinks about Sasuke and Itachi and Naruto and Ino. She thinks about the nice store clerk, Karui, who'd helped her and wants to be an engineer. She thinks about Dr. Orochimaru, and wonders whether he'd be proud or disgusted, and then she wonders whether he's alive to do so.
She thinks about a lot of things in an attempt to not think about the gun pointed at her that will go off any second now. She locks her eyes with Dr. Darui's and sees regret, fear, and apology mirroring back.
Her ears are ringing even as her hands work on the wound. Mr. Sakinaka's voice doesn't reach her anymore, it's muffled and at a distance and doesn't bother her anymore. Sakura thinks about Kakashi and Uncle Obito's smiles, focuses on them, when the sound of a bullet pierces the air and leaves behind a ringing silence.
There's a moment suspended in time as Sakura slowly looks up, her body frozen in shock, but Mr. Sakinaka is not standing where he was anymore. It takes her a few seconds to register that the man is lying down and not moving a muscle. It takes her another second to register the fact that there are men in black uniforms surrounding her and the dead man, and someone is tugging on her elbow.
"Ma'am? Can you move? Can you hear me?"
"He needs immediate attention," she says blankly. "I need an operating room."
"Ma'am?" the man says again, the one who is holding onto her elbow. "We need to get you out. You're in shock."
"He needs surgery," she repeats.
"Call a unit of doctors, stat," he orders. "We have an injured doctor. Call a unit." He tugs on her arm again. "Ma'am? Are you hurt anywhere?"
It takes her a few seconds to respond because she honestly doesn't understand what he means. She can barely feel anything, let alone hurt.
"Um… no."
Sakura is led by another man towards the door, out of it, to the staircase, down to the main lobby, and out of the hospital. The sunlight and the chaos is jarring to her senses – enough for her to realise that she's – finally – safe.
There is no man with a gun pointing at her. There is no bleeding doctor under her hands.
The man is now leading her towards one of the ambulances parked nearby. An EMT rushes forward, helps Sakura out of the mask, gloves, and the surgical gown. The EMT winces when he sees the blood on Sakura's uniform.
"Are you sure you're not injured?" he asks.
"This is not my blood."
He stares at her hard before nodding. He grabs a blanket from the back of the ambulance and drapes it over her shoulders. He makes her sit and hands her a bottle of water.
She doesn't drink it.
There is media outside the barrier that the police force has put up. There is a crowd of civilians gathered to witness the spectacle. Sakura is just about to ask for Ino, for the Chief, for Dr. Orochimaru, for Shino, and for her interns, and is everyone safe? when she hears someone familiar calling her name loudly.
"Sakura! Here! Sakura! Hey, I know her! Let us through!"
Sasuke, Naruto, and Itachi cross the barrier. They're all white as paper, but clearly relieved. Sakura gets to her feet just as Sasuke throws his arms around her in a hug.
"I'm okay," she says, then repeats it more convincingly.
When Sasuke pulls back and notices the blood, he sucks in a sharp breath.
"It's not mine," she assures them. "It's not. I'm okay. What are you guys doing here?"
"It's all over the news!" Naruto says anxiously. "We came as soon as we saw it."
"Oh."
"Move it! That's our daughter!"
Sakura turns sharply to watch Kakashi and Uncle Obito making their way towards her. They're jogging, their faces crumpled in fear and relief and pain, and Sakura is nearly bowled over by the force of their combined hug.
She breathes in the familiar scent of her childhood, of safety, feels the arms of her home tightening around her form, and finally breaks down as a staggering rush of relief overcomes her.
A/N: Please let me know your thoughts in the review! I hope I did justice to this chapter.