Leo walked into Greenlee's room. This was the first time he had seen her since she had left the ICU. There was no ventilator buzzing in the background. She was breathing on her own. She only had one IV in. She was still connected the heart monitor.
With the exception the tubes in her nose she looked like the woman he remembered. As she laid there now if he didn't know any better he would just think she was sleeping.
He so badly wanted to climb in the bed with her and hold her as tight as she could. For now he settled for sitting next to her and holding her hand.
"Hey Greens" he kissed her hand. "You look beautiful baby."
He stared at her hoping the sound of his voice would bring her back to him.
"Nine years ago today we were supposed to be starting out lives together in Paris. I'm so sorry I left you Greens. I never wanted to leave you. You have to know I would never intentionally leave you. I fought so hard to come back to you baby. I hate that my mother was able to keep us apart for so long.
In those short months we were married, when we finally got everything right I truly knew what it meant to love another person and what it meant to be loved. You did that to me Greens you showed me how to love another person more than myself. It took us so long to figure out how to do it right we made up and broke up so many times. But when it was right, man Greens we were unstoppable.
I still think about our time in Paris. Going into my hotel room and finding you in the bath tub. I was lucky to have you there with me, always by my side."
Leo laughed as he thought about how she had gone after Wolf. "I still couldn't believe you stuck up for me with Wolfie. That man had suckered punched me but you didn't care. He learned real quick not to mess with Leo and Greenlee du Pres. Bianca told me how you gave her our necklace when she thought she lost Miranda. Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow it was us all in three little diamonds who knew that just a few months after Paris our tomorrows would be robbed from us.
Remember our nearly perfect wedding. You were so beautiful in your wedding dress. I couldn't believe I was lucky enough to be marrying you. Our wedding at the boathouse was everything I could have asked for. You, me, David, and Anna. Of course I can't forget Duncan. Hearing your vows."
As Leo reminisced about their life together Greenlee was back in time.
The falls crashed around her. The mist from the water sprayed gently across her face. She was back there again. She had had this dream so many times before. Every important day in their relationship brought her back here.
Christmas Eve, Valentine's Day, their first date, the day he asked her to marry him, the night his mother held that knife to her throat, the night they agreed to give their relationship one last chance. The night they first made love on the set of WAVE, their trip to Paris when he gave her the three stone necklace, the night they were married at the boathouse, and of course the night he was taken from her.
Their relationship had been full of so many happy and trying moments. Each memory engraved in her mind. When these anniversary's approached she was always taken back there. She had never told anyone about these dreams not Ryan, Jackson, Kendall or even the shrink she saw after his death Lystrada. Part of her was afraid they would think she was weak the other part was afraid the dreams would stop. If she didn't have these dreams she wouldn't see him she might forget about him and that was the last thing she ever wanted to do.
The dream was usually the same but how they got to the ending changed from time to time. She always ended on that ledge with Vanessa. She always got pushed over the side. There were times when instead of falling over the falls Vanessa shot and killed Leo and then shot her. Sometimes the both fell over and Greenlee let go of the branch and joined him. And then there was the worst dream. Vanessa pushed Leo over the falls, she watched as his body fell slowly into the rapids. Vanessa jumped down on the ledge putting her hands over Greenlee's. Greenlee could hear the hate in the old woman's voice as she leaned in close to hers. Her hot breath floating by her ear, "I told you, you would never keep him away from me." Vanessa pulled her up over the ledge and jumped to her own death.
Now here she was nine years removed from his death and she was back up on that ledge. But this night something was different something felt different. All the same players were there. Her hands were tied behind her back as Vanessa held a gun to her head. Leo had come to the falls to try and save her. All that was the same but there was something different about her and Leo. They looked different they looked as if they had aged almost ten years but Vanessa stayed the same.
The sound of the falls was more hallow then she remembered it. Their voices weren't as strong. The events unfolded the same way. Leo went and found the diamonds. He was trading their value for her life. Vanessa refused to let her go. Leo dropped the diamonds over the falls one by one. Greenlee fought back and was pushed over the falls. The hallow sounds of gun fire. The feel of the bullets rushing past her face narrowly missing her.
This night something different happened Leo fought Vanessa for control of the gun and tonight rather than their combined weight pulling them into the rapids below he got control of the gun. She heard one last shot and saw the horror on Vanessa's face. Vanessa looked into his eyes and with a whimper fell by herself into the rapids below.
Leo called out to her praying she was still alive. Nine years ago Trey had jumped onto that ledge and tried to pull her back. All those years ago she had imagined Trey was Leo but tonight in the safeness of her dream it was Leo pulling her back over the ledge.
He said the same words to her she had imagined all those years ago. As he held tight to her she closed her eyes and everything went black.
As Greenlee lay in the safety of his arms something changed. The sound of the falls dissipated and a faint peeping noise began to overtake her. The cold fall night that had taken her husband from her was gone she felt a warm blanket around her body. She fought opening her eyes afraid of facing a life without him again. This dream had given her what she so desperately wanted, her love back. She wanted to go back to that dream to be with him forever like he promised. Opening her eyes now meant facing another year without him.
With her eyes closed and darkness around her she could imagine his face, his smile, his eyes, everything about him. She could even hear his comforting voice calling out to her.
Leo watched Greenlee her eyelids attempting to open. He called out her name hoping she was coming back to them.
"Greens I'm here with you baby. I love you." His soft voice repeated over and over again.
She knew once she opened her eyes the voice would go away and she would be alone again but she couldn't avoid living any longer.
Her eyes slowly opened. Her dark brown eyes stared into his. She looked confused. She looked around the room trying to get her barings.
She looked into the familiar brown eyes staring back at her. She knew those eyes they weren't the piercing blue eyes that Ryan had looked at her with and they weren't the loving brown eyes that Jackson had. Those were Leo's eyes.
"Leo?" her voice was hoarse from a combination of the tube and being shot in the chest. She struggled to trust what her eyes saw.
"It's me baby." The sweet sound of his voice pierced her senses.
She struggled to remember how she had gotten to this place. She knew this wasn't the night he went over the falls. As familiar as his eyes were his faced had aged just as hers had. She remembered how life had been without him. How she had fallen in love with Ryan. Being Jackson's daughter. Her friendship with Kendall. Fusion. She remembered her life with him and without him.
She was taken back to the Chandlers. To the party they had all been invited to. The toasts, the marriage proposal, Angie's eye sight. Her dad and Erica fighting. Going after Erica. The gun shot. Laying on the floor and seeing him across the room. Angie and Jack trying to calm her down in the ER. Waking up to Ryan standing over her. Not being able to call out to Ryan. Not believing Ryan when he told her he was alive. Seeing Leo walk into the hospital room. The darkness that had engulfed her moments later. Her father's comforting voice. She remembered it all.
"You're really alive?" she still didn't trust what her eyes were seeing and what her memories were telling her. This couldn't be real he couldn't be standing here right now.
He placed his hand on her cheek. "I came back to you baby."
"Our love is forever. Now and always." They had said that to each other so many times.
"I dreamed you saying that to me the night I lost you." Tears formed in her eyes.
"This isn't a dream Greens." He watched as she struggled to sit up.
"Greens you were shot in the back you need to take it easy." He saw that familiar Greenlee stubbornness in her eyes and knew she was going to sit up whether he liked it or night. He placed his hand behind her back and used his other hand to help her sit up.
When she was sitting upright she wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"I prayed every day for this. That you would come back. I should have known you were still alive. I should have tried to find you."
"Greenlee you watched my mother and I fall over a cliff and hit the rapids 100 feet below. They never found my body. There's no way you could have known I survived."
"I knew Leo. Deep in my heart I knew something wasn't right. My heart didn't believe you were gone. Inside I felt like you were still here with me just lost and waiting for me. I convinced myself it was the grief talking. I believed what everyone was telling me. That you were gone and never coming back."
Leo could feel her tears soaking the back of his shirt. "Shh Greens its ok. We're here together now and I'm never going to leave you again."
He helped her lay back in the bed. "You need to get some rest Greens. I'll go get a doctor they need to know you're awake."
"No!" she called out to him, "Please don't leave me. Stay with me and hold me. I've missed your touch for so long."
He sat back in the chair and held tightly to her hand.
She struggled to move her body across the bed to make more room for him. "Please hold me the way you used to hold me in bed at night while we slept."
Carefully he climbed into her hospital bed. He placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her next to him. He wrapped his other hand around her waist as she clung tightly to his arms not wanting to ever let him go.
As the clung to one another breathing each other in he watched as she drifted off to sleep. Before she let the darkness take over he heard the soft whisper come from her lips, "I love you Leo. Now and always."
He reached the hand behind her shoulders up to her hair and stroked his fingers through her hair, "I love you Greens." He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. Enjoying their first night in each other's arms.
Angie had stayed at the hospital late that night not wanting to go home. She took over for the nurse on duty so she could take a quick break. Angie walked from room to room check on the patients. Brooke slept soundly with Adam holding tight to her hand. They had attempted to tell Adam he couldn't stay but that man never listened. Marissa was also sound asleep holding tight to a picture of her, Bianca, AJ, Miranda, and Gabby at the park.
Angie made it to the last room in the hall and found Greenlee and Leo holding tightly to one another. She knew that Leo would never have climbed in that bed if Greenlee hadn't woken up. She smiled down at the two of them. She remembered the first time she saw Jesse after believing he had been dead for 20 years.
She walked back to the nurses' station and told the night nurse to leave those two alone that Greenlee's vitals were fine and for just tonight they could wait till morning to check them.
The sun began to rise over Pine Valley another day welcoming the citizens. It was early but Ryan wanted to be by his wife's side in case he woke up today. The last thing he wanted was for her to wake up and be alone. He walked into her room and stopped dead in his tracks. He eyes fell on his wife clinging tightly to the husband she had lost all those years ago.
A/N for those of you who read this story because it's more of an ensemble piece I just wanted to let you know that this chapter was written for my own personal enjoyment. Nine years ago on the 17th was the night Leo died so I wanted to touch on that. I also wrote it as a little Birthday gift to myself. I started this story as a Leo and Greenlee story but after everyone's kind words about this story helping them with their AMC withdrawls I opted to make this a more ensemble piece and took it in a completly different direction then I ever intended it to be. Once again thank you everyone for your kind words especially MyMariska your kind words after every chapter has ment more than you will ever know and encourages me to keep going. One day I will write a chapter just for you.