Saturday- April 3

She could not believe they were having this discussion. Again. "Michael I thought we'd been through this."

Michael hated to fight with Sara. He didn't want to fight with her. Ever. But what she was asking, what she wanted was just too much. It had been bad enough last fall to wear short sleeves to the barbeque. But there at least they all knew about his past. This was something else entirely. These were strangers. "We don't know these people Sara. What will they think?"

Sara let out a sigh of frustration. "I don't know what they'll think and I don't care. This isn't about them. It's about you. You being comfortable in your own skin."

Instinctively he began to close himself off and had to make himself focus. Putting his hands in his pockets, he looked her in the eye. "I don't know if that will ever be possible."

Closing the gap between them that had grown since the argument started, she reached out and he pulled back. She tried again and he relented. "I know this is hard for you Michael. Really I do, but…you can't keep hiding and you don't need to." When he gave no response, she lowered her head and stepped away. Leaving him standing alone in the bedroom, she walked into the living room.

Sitting on the couch, she contemplated the situation. Was she asking too much of him? She thought they'd been over this hurdle already but obviously not.

Lost in her thoughts she hadn't heard him enter the room. He sat down beside her and she looked up. He was wearing one of the shirts, the short sleeve shirts, she bought him. He wasn't looking at her. He was looking at his hands. Almost to himself he said, "What if they find out who I am and don't want to have anything to do with us? What if they won't let us have the wedding there because of me? I don't want that to happen."

Sara reached out and placed a hand on his arm and he shifted his gaze, looking down at her hand. "Michael if that's how they feel about it, then we shouldn't get married there. I, Sara Tancredi, am marrying you, Michael Scofield."

"I know that."

"Do you? Because I don't think you do. This isn't about you Michael, this is about us. I want our wedding to be special, perfect. We deserve that after everything we've been through." He didn't respond. "And that means..." she softened her tone. "That means that we are who we are. Both of us."

~

After another hour of conversation, Michael had agreed to wear the shirt but would take a long sleeve one just in case. Sara wasn't sure what the "just in case" part was but in the end she didn't feel it was worth another hour of discussion. He was now sitting behind the wheel wearing a dark gray t-shirt and light tan kakis.

It was a beautiful day. The windows were down and the wind was blowing through her hair as they made their way down the highway and out of Chicago. Michael hadn't said much on the drive down but she'd been watching him. The muscle in his jaw was tense. That was the only sign he gave that he was not at peace.

As they pulled into the small town where the bed and breakfast was located, she reached over and touched his leg. He glanced over, "Are you ok?" she asked.

He could tell her he was fine but then again, Sara knew him better than anyone and would know he was lying. The entire drive, he'd been thinking about their fight this morning. On some level he knew she was right, which is why he'd relented back at the apartment. But things weren't so cut and dry. There were still people out there that had a problem with him, his history, what he'd done. And the tattoos just brought with them questions. They always would. He reached down and squeezed her hand, "Let's just get through this, ok?"

Leaning over, she placed a kiss on his cheek. "One way or another…it will be alright."

A few minutes later, he was pulling up a long driveway. As he parked the car, a woman in her fifties came out the front door to greet them a huge grin on her face. "Welcome. You must be Michael and Sara." She shook each of their hands. "I'm Carol by the way." Sara had come to stand beside Michael and as usual, his hand slipped into hers. "Well come on in you two and I'll show you around."

As they walked up the front steps, Sara took in the beautiful scene around her. It was April and the flowers were blooming. The house was situated just outside of town and had that small town country feel to it. The house appeared to be well taken care of and thus far the welcome had been warm.

Carol walked them through the house and showed them all the unoccupied rooms. It was a large house with five bedrooms for guests. Carol explained that she and her husband had a master suite down on the first floor but were always a phone call away should they need anything. They walked through the kitchen and into the backyard. If Sara had thought the front was pretty, this was amazing.

The garden they walked into was nothing short of perfect. Straight ahead stood a white gazebo surrounded by rose bushes. The hedges were all neatly trimmed and full of flowers. Carol explained there was plenty of space for chairs in the yard for their guests. They're hands had gotten separated in the exploration of the house but Sara reached out and laced her fingers with Michael's as they walked up the steps into the gazebo. "You like it?" he asked.

"I love it." She said with a sigh and walked into his arms. "It's perfect."

"Carol do you know where my work gloves are? When they looked up a man about the same age as Carol was strolling into the yard. "Oh sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I didn't realize you folks were already here. Lost track of time I guess."

Michael and Sara made their way down the steps of the gazebo, still hand in hand. The man met them halfway and stuck out this hand. "Travis Wilson. Nice to meet you."

Carol stepped in. "Travis this is Michael and Sara."

Travis was looking intensely first at Michael's face and then at his tattoos. When his eyes met Michael's again, he cleared his throat and turned to his wife. "Carol? Could I talk to you a minute?" Turning slightly back to Michael and Sara he quickly added, "Excuse us for a minute will you?"

Travis practically pulled his wife into the house. Sara felt Michael tense beside her and gave his hand what he hope was a comforting squeeze, but when she looked up his face was blank. The happiness she'd seen only moments ago in the gazebo was gone. It was replaced with the face she hated. The one she'd seen way to often inside the infirmary.

Then they heard it.

"You can't be seriously considering having them in our house can you?"

"Of course I can. And why not? You said yourself you weren't sure after reading everything that he should have been sent back to prison. Are you suddenly changing your mind?"

"Of course not. But thinking the justice system made a mistake and having a felon in my house for an entire weekend is not the same thing."

"It is."

"No. It's not."

"Travis Wilson I can't believe you. That man out there and his family have been through so much and he wants to get married at our home and your saying no? Knowing what you know, how can you do that? How can you treat him like a common criminal when so clearly he's not. I just spent the last twenty minutes going through the house with them and they are a perfectly nice couple."

"Carol…"
"I'm not discussing this with you anymore Travis. There is no good reason why they can't have their wedding here. Or stay here for that matter."

The was a long pause. "Fine."

"Good. I'm glad your finally seeing reason."

"One thing through."

"What?"

"Promise me you will never be alone with him. I mean we don't…"

"Ok. I promise."

The door swung open and Travis came out first. He briefly glanced their way and then with a hesitant smile headed around the corner and out of sight. A few seconds later, Carol came out with a somewhat forced smile on her face. "So…why don't we head inside and talk menu shall we?"

Both Sara and Michael hesitated. Neither wanted to cause marital difficulties between the couple. When Carol noticed their solemn expressions she came closer and said, "Look don't mind him. He'll be fine. He's just…he just worries about me is all."

It was Michael who spoke up, "Maybe we should go."

"Go?" Carol asked. "Don't be silly." She sighed. "Look. I knew who you both were before you got here and it's fine. It's more than fine. The first time I spoke with you both over the phone I knew there was something special about you. I just couldn't put my finger on it. But once I realized who you were, I knew." Walking forward, "You two have a special connection and deserve to be married in a beautiful garden. This garden." She paused. "I promise you, my husband will be fine." She stepped back towards the house. "Come on now. Let's figure out what we're going to feed your guests."

~

On the drive back, Sara looked over at Michael. "That wasn't so bad was it?"

He gave a little grunt. "If you call putting a rift into someone's marriage not bad then no, not bad at all."

Playing with the material of her pants, "I do feel a little bad about that." He didn't comment. "I think it will be ok though. I mean…Carol thinks he'll come around."

"And what if he doesn't Sara? What if he decides he doesn't want us there?"

Turning towards Michael she reached out and placed a hand on his thigh. "I don't think that's going to happen." He gave her a doubtful look. "I don't." Deciding to change the subject, "What do you think about meeting the minister?"

He didn't say anything but instead tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Sara noticed.

"When are you going to get over this fear of meeting new people?"

He was silent for a few more minutes and then, "I don't know." He sighed and laid his hand over hers. "It's not like I want it to be like this. I want a normal life with you Sara. I'm just afraid my past is going to follow us forever."

Turning to him, she held onto his hand with both of hers. "First of all…it's our past, not just yours. And it's our future. Our life. There are always going to be people who will think ill of you for what you did for your brother but who cares. Let them. The people who matter most in our lives, Lincoln and LJ, they know better. And look at Matt and Vicki, John and Becky." She let that hang in the air.

With a deep sigh he kept his eyes on the road. "I know." He finally said.