Firelight
A/N: Hello everyone! I think it's safe to say that I've been gone from this fandom for too long a time, and I have to seriously remedy that. ;P I've missed James and Penny, I haven't realized how much til I read "Final Fling." The ending is seriously astonishing, to me, anyway. This fic is based upon Bill Tanner's final revelation. If you haven't read it, READ IT, and then come back and read my fic. :D
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not The Moneypenny Diaries, or James Bond. This is purely for fun.
Scotland had been blessed with a cold, rainy winter, and consequently the land flourished in a way that made Jane Moneypenny smile whenever she beheld it. She was still a very strong woman despite the years that had crept up on her. This was a woman who aged gracefully, one could tell by the streaks of silver that adorned her head of otherwise faded auburn hair that she had lived a full life and was deeply content now.
The wind danced past Jane, compelling her to wrap herself tighter into her thick cable knit sweater, until she made it back to the cottage's warmth. As she pulled the door open, she left behind the cold outside and was welcomed by the enticing smell of homemade shortbread. Her dogs also rushed over to greet her, two spaniels called Button and Lila. As she knelt down to stroke both of them, a voice resonated from the kitchen.
"Jane? Is that you?"
"Yes, dear. I'm back. It's freezing out there, I wouldn't be surprised if we woke up tomorrow to find ourselves buried up to our heads in snow," Jane walked inside the room from whence the lovely aroma of shortbread had come. She went straight into the arms of the man who had been her companion for the better part of a decade.
Inhaling his familiar scent, she mused about how he'd taken to baking, as if a lifetime of leaving the cooking to someone else had finally been overridden by some sense of pride that told him to learn how to cook himself.
"You do feel quite chilly." He murmured into her hair, just holding her as they stood in the middle of their cozy kitchen.
"Then warm me, James."
Her husky tone was not lost on him. After the last batch of shortbread was removed from the oven, he led her slowly to their bedroom and kissed her with a sweetness that always managed to make her breath catch.
It was ridiculous at their ages. Two sentimental people well past middle age, that was what they were, yet their love had transcended all expectations. It was partly because of this reason that they had chosen a place as remote as Uist. They had no one to answer to, nothing to justify, they had all the freedom in the world to be just themselves with each other.
She never tired of the way he stroked her cheek with such tenderness, or the way he arched into her in the height of his pleasure. He adored her lily white skin that had retained its smoothness throughout the years, the alluring curve of her shoulders. But most of all he loved that she loved him for exactly who he was. No more secrecy, no more lies. They moved together as one in such unity that it was impossible for either of them to imagine life without the other.
Later they were entangled in each other beneath the bedclothes. He had started a fire in the fireplace in their bedroom, its light turned her fair skin golden. There was more than enough heat between them to keep themselves comfortable. They lay together, awake, for hours. It was well past seven o'clock when James suggested they should have dinner. She refused adamantly, claiming she didn't want to end the moment of euphoria. He laughed next when just after she spoke, her stomach growled loudly in protest.
"Let's eat." James said as he rose from the rumpled bed and went to fetch both their bathrobes. Reluctantly she agreed.
"Shall I make dinner? You already made such wonderful shortbread this afternoon."
His grey blue eyes narrowed playfully, "I'm cooking. You are not to enter the kitchen until I say you may do so."
Jane forced herself to stifle her laughter. There it was yet again, that masculine pride that urged him to dominate the kitchen. She relented, holding her palms up, and she went to the living room to work on some sketching as he cooked. Art was a delight she discovered when she first moved to the island, she had plenty of time on her hands to sketch. James came around and deposited a nice glass of Merlot in her grateful hand. The flavor danced over her tongue, she paused and closed her eyes to savor the taste of the liquid.
As she listened to him humming under his breath, she continued to move her pencil over her paper, unknowingly beginning to create his form. She decided she liked it after all and continued to refine it, adding minute details that made this man who he was. His hair was no longer short, he had grown it out along with a matching moustache and beard that was just as silver as her hair was turning out to be. He looked like a wild man, but she didn't mind anymore.
"I think you're right. It will snow this Christmas. We can go sledding." James remarked.
She couldn't see him, although she could hear him chopping some vegetable steadily. She made a non committal noise of approval, her concentration was pinned on getting his facial features correct on her paper. When James received no reply, he figured she was too caught up to fully comprehend what he was saying.
It was another half an hour before he announced dinner was ready. He had to physically steal her sketch pad away from her in order to coax her to come eat before the food got cold. She fought him at first and surrendered eventually, as she always did.
They had a tender steak and broccoli with egg and parmesan cheese, complemented by Merlot and followed by the shortbread he baked that afternoon. Jane's stomach was happy and full by the end of the meal. If someone told her when she was thirty that James Bond was going to be her faithful lover, grow an extraordinarily long beard and moustache and be king of her kitchen, she would have told that person to check themselves into a mental asylum.
After cleaning up together, putting away the dishes and wiping up the table, the pair retreated back into the bedroom. It was now hailing outside, the clacks of the icy rocks were audible against the cottage roof. James kept the fire going while Jane sunk into their bed beneath the covers, languidly sprawled out on the mattress. He soon joined her, her arms pulling him so close that he soon forgot where he ended and she began. The ease with which they melded together was something they never lost in their relationship.
Together, they climbed to the peak of ecstasy. James kissed her lips and wondered if it were possible to love so deeply as he loved her, it was almost as if they were one person. He was nothing without her and it pained him to think it had taken nearly thirty years for them to discover this. So much time…So many years they wasted working for an organization that gave them more grief than satisfaction.
They could have just gotten married when they were young and spry. Left the Office, the deadly game they both played every day, they could have had a family. He often imagined a little girl who looked exactly like her, or a boy who had his crooked smile. She would have made an excellent mother to his children. It weighed on his heart that they could not have this,he knew it would have given her boundless joy.
Jane watched him, noting the sudden sadness in his lined face. She laid the palm of her hand on his cheek, silently asking him what was wrong. When James turned to look her in her eyes, she was surprised to see tears welled up in his.
"I'm sorry, Pen."
Without directly telling her, she knew all that had troubled his mind. She knew everything about his anguish, something that had plagued him for years but never revealed to her. The true message behind his words had set off reverberations of compassion in her heart.
"Don't be. I have everything I ever wanted here with you."
They lay together in silence, the firelight illuminating their future ahead, filling them both with happiness neither believed was attainable until they had found each other.
A/N: I am unspeakably fond of this story. It is my first James/Pen fic in such a long time. Review if you wish, I hope you enjoyed it.