Fully Alive

Chapter Nine

"I don't think I can do this." Vivienne sighed, packing the last of her belongings in her suitcase.

"Do what? Go home?" Sherlock poked his head out from the bathroom.

"Go back to a normal life. Go home without you. Pretend you're dead... Pretend I didn't see you or marry you. Pick one. They're all true."

"I know. But I need you to. All of this... I need you to be normal. Even if it's pretending." Sherlock replied, straightening his jacket as he walked back out into the room.

"Promise me you'll come home to me." Vivienne wrapped her arms around Sherlock's waist.

"I can't-" Sherlock returned the hug, tightly.

"Promise me, Sherlock Holmes. You promise me now."

"I promise." Sherlock broke their hug and grabbed Vivienne by the shoulders. "I have a little surprise for you. Hopefully it will make things easier for you." He checked his watch. "Should be here any minute."

"What did you do?" Vivienne raised an eyebrow.

"Just wait."

"Sherlock-" A knock interrupted her. "What did you do?"

Sherlock gave his mischievous grin and nodded his head towards the door. "Go answer it."

Vivienne took the walk to the door slowly, not knowing what to expect on the other side. But when she opened the door, her eyes widened and her face lit up. "Kati!"

Sherlock watched the best friends embrace with a genuine smile on his face.

The girls broke their hug and Vivienne pulled Kati into the room, quickly shutting the door behind them.

Kati sat her bag down and smiled at Sherlock. "I'm gonna hug you now. Deal with it."

Sherlock rolled his eyes as Kati hugged him tightly. "Hello to you, too." He patted her awkwardly on the back, but a small smile was playing behind his lips.

"I've been asking you to come visit every week since I moved. But he asks once and you come running. I see how it is." Vivienne laughed at the sight in front of her.

"You didn't offer to buy my plane tickets and pay me almost three times what I make in a month so I could." Kati grinned at her best friend. "Can you really see me?"

"I really can." Vivienne was glowing with excitement.

Sherlock stepped forward. "The car dropping her off is the one taking me away. I have to go."

"I'm just gonna, um, go freshen up." Kati smiled at the pair and made her way to the bathroom, shutting the door to give the newlyweds their privacy.

Vivienne closed the space between her and her husband. "Come home to me. I love you." She said, embracing him one last time.

"I will. I love you."

Kati waited until she heard the hotel room door shut to exit the bathroom. She wrapped a comforting arm around Vivienne's shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"I will be." Vivienne gave a small half-smile. "You're here. That will make it easier."

Kati grabbed Vivienne's hand and pulled her to the bed. They sat down next to each other and Vivienne brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "So, how... You can see. How?"

"I don't really understand it, actually. I mean, other than saying it was Sherlock, I don't have another explanation. I kind of told him that I knew it was him and I even had a rant to go along with it, but I'm still... I'm still wondering why now. If it's because of him, why didn't it get better when we were together before? Back home?"

"Start from the beginning." Kati let out a pseudo-annoyed sigh as Vivienne raised an eyebrow. "Okay, not the very beginning. I know all that shit. Start from-" She thought a moment. "Start from the fake suicide. Classic Sherlock, by the way. Can't ever do anything the easy way."

Vivienne took a deep breath. "You sure about this?"

"I'm your best friend. This is what I'm here for. And to also give you unsolicited advice, but whatever. Go on. Fake suicide. Sex. Eyesight. Connect me some dots."

"Okay. He showed up in the middle of the night, like usual, except he was agitated and going on about that he needed to die and I needed to help. Next thing I know, we're at the morgue with his friend plotting a fake suicide. Tricky stuff. Help from MI6. A whole ordeal. Anyways, day of the funeral, his brother calls. Says to tell Gran than I'm visiting you, you're having trouble."

Kati held up her hand. "Okay, maybe fake suicide was too far back. Restart from, well, here. The hotel. Cliff's Notes version."

"I showed up, he was here. We argued, like always. He admitted he lied about not remembering me, blah blah blah. We had a heart to heart. We had sex. Good sex. I mean, sex like we used to-"

Kati squeezed her eyes shut and plugged her ears. "I get it. I get it. Get to the eyesight."

"Sorry. Anyways, I woke up and I could see. It's somewhere between pre-accident and after I woke up post-accident. Closer to post-accident, but whatever. We fucked and my eyesight came back." Vivienne shrugged and raised an eyebrow. "Your two cents?"

"I think... I think it proves you were really kind of crazy." Kati laughed and crinkled her nose at Vivienne. "On a serious note though, it's him."

"I thought you were going to give me something a little more profound."

"Hear me out. You always went on about how it got worse when he left. You were already thinking it was tied to your brain, and not in an injury kind of way, a mental kind of way. That psycho word."

"Psychosomatic."

"Yeah, that. Look Viv, it was all in your head at that point. We know that. Yes, he made you happy then. But was it really long enough to have that great of an effect?"

"But the effect it had when he left... everything getting worse. Explain that, professor."

"The way I see it... It's like grades in school. You make all A's and you have an A-average. Which is great and everything, but you get one F, and your average drops to a C." Kati took Vivienne's hand and smiled. "Everything was finally good. You were in school, studying like you wanted. There was a case against your grandfather and your kidnappers. All A's. You met Sherlock. Another A. Cut to Sherlock leaving. That's your F. It fucked up your average. Fucked with your eyesight because your eyesight was- is connected to your emotions, your mental health. You let that F eat at you for eight years and it brought your average down farther."

"I get it. But after an F, or multiple F's, one A doesn't bring your grade back up that quickly."

"He's been spending time with you. Including you in things. Those are your other A's. The sex, the reconnecting that you wanted, that was the tipping point that brought you back where you needed to be."

"Have I ever told you that you're my favorite?" Vivienne laughed as Kati embraced her. They fell backwards onto the bed and laid next to each other, both folding their arms behind their heads. "I'm glad you're here."

"I am, too. So what kind of trouble are we going to get into? I'm on vacation. I need a bit of trouble."

"It doesn't have to be a vacation, you know." Vivienne mused.

"What do you mean?" Kati turned her head to look at her friend.

"I mean... you could stay. Quit your job, move in with me. Find a job here. Eventually find your own place, if you wanted. You would be here because you wanted. You wouldn't be here to take care of me. Aren't you always saying that there's nothing in Florida for you anymore except your job and a shitty ex-boyfriend that you can't shake?"

"I'll think about it. Let's see how I feel in three weeks." Kati laughed. "Seriously, though. Would it be lame of me to want to do all of the tourist-y stuff? Because I really, really want to."

"I'll would be honored to do tourist-y stuff with you. I've never had the opportunity until now."

"Right." Kati clicked her tongue. "I kind of forgot."

"I bet John would take us."

"Ooh." Kati propped up on her elbows. "Who's John?"

"He's Sherlock's flatmate and best friend. He's a nice guy."

"Is he cute? I need a nice guy." Kati winked.

"First, I wouldn't know if he was or not. And second, his best friend just died. I'm pretty sure he isn't looking for a fling with a hot American tourist."

"I may have also forgot everyone thinks Sherlock is dead. Sorry." Kati shook her head. "Whatever. He can be my tour guide and I promise to not try and jump his bones. Cross my heart."

Vivienne laughed and laid her head on Kati's shoulder. "I'm so glad you're here."

xxxxx

A/N: Ugh. Again with the writers block. I apologize profusely. But I think I'm okay now even though I don't really like this chapter. I just needed to get this chapter out and I know how the next couple will go. Review, follow, favorite!