Title: This is the first day of the rest of our lives
Fandom: Prison Break
Characters: Michael Scofield, Sara Tancredi, Alexander Mahone, Fernando Sucre, Lincoln Burrows + others
Pairing: Michael/Sara, Lincoln/Sofia
Rating: R
Warnings: one-shot, fluff
Words: 1811
Timeline: Right between 4x22 and 4x23 (final flashforward excluded).
Notes: I put this down right after the special episodes 4x23-24. Because yes, Michael and Sara deserve some justice and happiness, and I can give them in the form of a one-shot with plenty, plenty of love .
Michael entered the kitchen and rubbed his eyes, while pouring some cold coffee into a glass. He leant against the wooden counter and drank a bit of it, as the cars outside lined on the wide road that would lead them to the centre of the city, under the warm sun of the early morning.
He heard some soft steps behind him and turned around, with a smile on his face. He kissed Sara, who was wrapped up in a grey jumper and had her long uncombed brown hair fall on her shoulders.
"Good morning." he said tenderly.
Sara smiled at him and said back "Good Morning.", as she took the pot and poured some coffee for herself.
"It's a wonderful day." Michael murmured, turning to her and taking her face in his hands after she'd drank a little from her glass.
He couldn't stay away from her since everything was over, and he still couldn't believe he could hold her without having to worry about guns or dead mothers' ghosts popping up from nowhere.
Sara smiled again, her eyes filled with love, and he asked her: "What do you want to do today?"
"Be with you." Sara looked down for a moment before answering.
Michael was so in love with that shyness of her that he hadn't got to see very much lately.
He understood how much Sara had changed, even though he couldn't remember well what the doctor was like back in Fox River. And he knew that it was his fault if Sara had had to become brave and face all the difficulties they'd been through in those months, instead of living the peaceful life that her job as a doctor would have granted her. Those months that lasted long enough for Michael and his friends – and they had already been over for some who got lost in the way.
"Hey," Sara whispered, and had him look at her by leaning a hand on his face "What are you thinking of?"
"I'm thinking of all the time that was taken away from us so far." Michael revealed, though he didn't want to remind Sara of what they both wanted to forget very soon. But he knew he wouldn't manage to lie to her: she could now read through him and so he wouldn't still get away with it. "I don't want to waste a single minute, I don't want it to pass away without us to notice."
"It doesn't matter how long it'll last." She said, staring at Michael in his eyes with kindness and almost with reproach "It matters that we eventually got here. It matters that it was worth the fight."
"You were always worth the fight." Michael said, and kissed her hand.
"I want to be with you today," she repeated then, while holding both his hands in hers "No matter where, no matter how. I want our little piece of ordinary life. I want to be ordinary, and all I want is to spend an ordinary day with my boyfriend. Do I get that, Mr. Scofield?"
"Don't worry, ma'am," Michael smiled a cunning smile "I've already planned the whole thing for you."
"Oh, really?" Sara exclaimed, surprised "I thought I was the one who got to decide."
An hour later, they got to the beach. Sara was holding her sun lotion and wearing her sunglasses, Michael was into his swimsuit and brought their towels on his shoulder.
He stopped and stared at the shining water that was brightened up by the solar light. It shined so much it hurt him; then something caught his attention, as he heard Sara's voice.
"Is…Is that Sucre?" the girl said, being confused and amused.
The guy from Puerto Rico got out of the water, and ran towards them with a surfboard in his arms.
"Hey, Papi," he greeted them with a big smile, and then patted Michael on his back.
"Interested in surfing, uh?" Sara said, smiling behind her sunglasses.
"Thought I could enjoy an holiday since I was here." Sucre explained "Linc's there too. He's got Sofia on the phone, he must be somewhere on the wharf."
Michael took a quick look at the dock, but he didn't actually look up for his brother: Lincoln was safe, and luckily he would have been for a while.
"You taking a ride, man?" Fernando asked Michael, bringing him back to his attention by punching him fondly on the chest. He was referring to the surfboard.
"Oh, no, no thanks." Michael burst into a laugh and shook his head.
"C'mon, Michael," Sara pushed him "I'll be waiting here."
"Maybe our multiple-asset-engineer just can't do that." said an unexpected voice from their back.
Alexander Mahone, now dressed in his thongs and hawaiian shorts, stepped forward to join the three of them, winking at Michael.
Sucre and Sara laughed, while Mahone's victim made his best grimace and pointed at some place along the beach: "I'll rent a board over there, so I can show you what I can do."
"Fine for me."
"After you." Michael said, and he bowed a little; he kissed Sara's forehead before getting away with Alex.
"I'll be right back."
"I love you." she whispered, and turned to the wide sea to breath in as much air as possible, so she would remember that day forever.
***
"So after that giant wave was gone I couldn't see his head emerging from the surface, and that's when I thought 'He's about to pop off!' " Alex declared, as he was entertaining the people sitting around him, and then they all burst into laughs.
Sitting on his right, Lincoln almost accidentally dropped his cocktail in the act of patting his brother on his back, since he was the only one not to laugh at his own performance: that morning, Mahone had been declared the best at surfing after the kid had fallen off his board.
"Here's something Mike's not the best at!" Sucre said, smiling widely.
Sara touched and caressed Michael's hand, while whispering to him not to let their jokes upset him.
"Someone else was the real fish out of water, though." Alex spoke again, as he leant on to take a malicious look at Lincoln. He hadn't run out of jokes that night yet.
Michael giggled, now happy that everyone's attention had shifted to someone else.
Lincoln skimmed over his head and acted as confident as he could. He'd never got close to the sea water that morning, instead he'd spent a lot of time talking on the phone with Sofia, or sitting at the coffee house on the beach.
"Man, he was just very busy dealing with his chick." Mahone said, apparently justifying Linc – but you could totally tell from his voice that he was just kidding him.
"It's just that the brothers know how to deal with women and you don't." Sara interrupted them, and Michael, Lincoln and Sucre started to laugh. The latter raised up his beer to Mahone, and yelled: "And the winner is… Miss Tancredi!"
Alex lowered his head and used a little papkin as a white flag, waving it with a defeated look on his face.
Michael's eyes met Lincoln's, and they looked at each other in silence, though they meant to say a thousand words. They'd never actually discussed about the fact that they weren't brothers in blood, as Cristina had revelead after reappearing.
But Michael was sure he had said everything he needed during his conversation with Linc in the car, a few days earlier, when he had told his brother that they weren't siblings because of the blood, but because of all they'd faced together, because they'd saved and supported each other through difficulties.
And now Michael said everything again through his green eyes filled with serenity, and Sara with the fairest words she could ever choose.
"Here's your drink, sir." a young gentleman said, standing up above them, his face hidden behind the wooden tray he carried.
Lincoln turned to him and said that he hadn't ordered anything more, but then the guy revealed himself as everything but a waiter.
"LJ!" the man exclaimed as he stood up, and his son got into his arms, hugging him and hiding his face in his father's shirt.
Lincoln kissed his hair while everyone was looking at them. Michael smiled and stood up too to hug his nephew right after his brother.
"What you doin' here? You should've told me!" Lincoln roared, as he grabbed LJ's shoulders. He was deeply moved and happy to see his son again after a long time.
"Oh, I've got a package to deliver." LJ said with a smile, and then he turned on his back and pointed at someone.
Confused, Lincoln looked up and his mouth widened with surprise while he reached for a smiling Sofia. The girl threw herself into Lincoln's arms, and only when he got to feel her warm skin and her sweet scent, he finally understood how much he'd missed her.
They looked at each other and kissed immediately, Sofia's arms placed onto his chest and heart.
Once they separated, huge clappins came from their friends' table. LJ was sitting next to Michael and applauded the couple too.
Sofia smiled widely again and said hi to everyone, then Lincoln and she took their seats, while Sara said: "See? I knew better."
"I couldn't stand this situation anymore, dad," LJ began to explain, and he looked proud of the results of their arrival "Sofia was missing you so badly, and I bet you were too. Plus we couldn't wait anymore for having you back in Panama."
"So he told me, 'Let's go!', and I couldn't refuse." Sofia added, abandoned into his man's arms.
Lincoln smiled, now fully free from any kind of concern.
Sucre raised his glass again, and said: "To our future! And to freedom!"
***
"So this is the end of our very ordinary day together." Michael announced, as he got closer to the deck, hand in hand with Sara. She smiled at him and dragged him on by holding his hands; she seemed to dance in her white-linen dress, the stars above lighting up the darkness of night.
And Michael followed her, humble and captive of her eyes.
"Are you happy?" she asked, as she stopped and she got closer to his face, standing on the tips of her feet. She smiled like a little girl.
"I am. Are you?"
"Very much." she answered, and Michael kissed her. Sara's forehead was touching his chin, and she kissed the base of his neck.
"It's all over." she said softly, and for the very first time, she sounded broken.
"Today it all ends," he murmured, as he tightened her to his chest, and they watched together the moon dancing over the sea water "And today the rest of our lives begins."