Hooray for the written word! I've been lacking inspiration lately and have finally been able to write something. It's short but I love it, and was inspired by a tumblr post about the strangers you remember. (Also I'm on tumblr now! I'm under the same name) So have a cute fluffy fic, and I've gotta go 'cause my online class starts in two minutes!

~Lou xx

Rating: K

Genre: Family

Summery: Some people you just see for a moment, or speak to for a sentence, and they stay stuck in your mind in a way that makes you wish you weren't a stranger.

Passerby

I remember my flight was delayed twice that day and I was sipping cold coffee and flipping through a magazine to pass the time. My phone had died, and I'm happy it did. I doubt I would have noticed the little boy otherwise.

He was maybe seven years old, with blonde hair and bright eyes, zipping about the waiting area with a toy car in his hands, acting as the commentator of an imaginary race.

"In a desperate attempt to catch up, the Crimson Shadow takes a dangerous shortcut through Domino Canyon!"

A series of 'vrooms' and explosions followed as he drove the car over arm rests and coffee tables, looking quite at home in an airport.

"Alan!" A deep voice called, and the boy startled with a guilty look. "How many times have I told you not to run off?" A tall man weaved his way through the furniture, tailed by three other boys. His sons and Alan's brothers, if the resemblance in their faces was anything to go by.

"Sorry, Daddy." Alan said sheepishly, running up to his family. "I made sure I could still see you."

The oldest boy, a redhead, ruffled his little brother's hair. "But we can't see you, Sprout. That's the problem."

Alan huffed and crossed his arms, seeming to take some offence from that statement. "I'll get tall when I'm older. Taller than Gordy!"

"Will not!" Came the indignant reply.

"Will to!"

"Will not!"

"Will t-"

"Boys, please, we're in public." Their father cut in sharply, sending an apologetic look to those who would meet his eye. I smiled when he met mine. Though annoying to some, and embarrassing to a parent, I quite enjoyed his boys' banter.

Alan's father commandeered a small section of the waiting area for his family, and his boys settled in. A tablet and sketchbook appeared, the older two evidently well prepared to fend off ensuing boredom, While the two youngest seemed to get on just fine with the other for company.

Atop the coffee table with a stack of magazines and the contents of their dad's pockets, they constructed Alan's Domino Canyon, taking turns driving the car and manning the death traps the canyon was inevitably riddled with.

They were shushed every other minute by their father, muttering sheepish sorrys and staying quiet for all of sixty seconds before their volume increased again. It was sweet though.

People in airports- and people in general- always seemed to be some combination of bored, rushed, exhausted, or irritated. This family was none of those things. They chattered to each other, laughing quietly and teasing good-naturedly. They made the space seem different.

I smiled as Alan and his brother somehow shifted their whole setting under the sea, reluctantly turning my eyes back to my magazine. It was rude to stare for so long, but at least the article wasn't as boring as I'd remembered.

Time ticked by and my flight was called at last. Gathering up my things, I rose to go. Alan seemed to have gotten bored of his race car/submarine and was now skipping around on the floor tiles (only the grey ones), being careful to stay in his father's line of sight this time. I pulled on my coat and the little boy stopped dead in front of me.

At a loss, I smiled hesitantly at him, and he returned it with a gap-toothed grin. He pointed a finger at my coat. "I like your jacket! It's my brother's favorite color."

I smiled in earnest now. The blue wool was very similar to the color of the little boy's eyes. "Thank you very much. I like your race car."

Those eyes lit up. "Thanks!"

My flight was called for again and I quickly waved good-bye. I spared a glance over my shoulder at Alan's family, wondering which of his brothers' favorite colors was blue.

I ran smack into a man in my distraction. He was tall, dressed head to toe in military camouflage, and he reached out a hand to steady me until I regained my balance. I looked up to apologize, and was stunned into a stupor as a wave of déja vu overtook me.

He looked just like-

My eyes turned back over my shoulder, landing on Alan's father.

The man followed my gaze and his whole demeanor changed. He seemed to light up from the inside out.

"Sorry about that." He said to me, though it'd been my fault, eyes still over my shoulder. He side stepped around me and rushed forward with long strides, weaving through the crowd with an almost giddy sort of eagerness.

Alan, still skipping on the floor tiles, was the first to see him.

"Scott!"

The little boy took off, and Scott was running now too. He dumped his duffle bags right there in the middle of the airport as Alan leapt, catching him out of the air and lifting him high, laughing all the while.

Scott hugged him close, Alan clinging like a koala. "Oh, Sprout, I've missed you."

To this day I've never seen another person convey love with such feeling as this young man toward his little brother.

The rest of their family was upon them in a great cyclone of hugs and laughter, and the soldier-come-home was embraced at least twice by each of them.

My heart swelled in my chest at their smiles. I'd have stayed watching them for as long as they were there, but it was the last call for my flight and I rushed to board.

I never saw them again, not in person. I send up prayers for a family of strangers now though, and I kept my blue coat long after it was worn out.