.
(Sáname)
A bell chimed as the wood-paned door to the Apothecary swung open. The building was nestled on a hill, in the small wizard town of Les Sages, just outside of Paris.
The man behind the counter was engrossed in conversation with a customer and barely glanced up at the sound. Rose darted down one of the aisles, hoping he hadn't recognized her yet. From around a row of glass jars, she observed him. He stood as tall as she remembered, shoulders back, refusing to compromise. Round wire frame glasses unfamiliar to her lay on his face, looking tedious, as they seemed to hover halfway down the bridge of his nose. There was a chaotic air about him, as he excitedly explained an ingredient to the man across the counter. His hair was long enough now that it held slight waves as it fell around his ears and forehead. It was lighter than the last time she'd seen him, days spent outside gardening and harvesting must've returned it to the shade it was when they were kids. His apothecary robes had long sleeves and he wore a crew neck sweater beneath them, the clothes shifted on his body as he began gesticulating during his explanation.
Rose couldn't help but stare at the neckline of his sweater, looking for a whisper of the words she knew lay on his skin just below the fabric. His hands finally rested, folded on the counter as he waited for the customer's response. Rose's eyes fixated on his fingers, spotting the familiar scars from thorns and tools he had acquired over the years. There was a soft tan line from a ring on the pointer finger of his right hand, while a tattooed snake wrapped around the same finger on his left. His hands were so familiar to Rose, they felt safe and steady. She had trusted them to heal her and protect her countless times. Yet spying on them through the shelf before her, she felt like she was seeing them for the first time, a voyeur in her own life.
Rose continued to observe the exchange as the man decided on the remedy he would be purchasing. The men chatted as she watched those hands wrap vials of amber liquid in brown paper and tie the package together with string. She felt hypnotized by their movement, and suddenly she realized one of the hands was waving goodbye as his customer exited the shop. Rose knew she needed to move. But she let herself steal a few more breaths just looking at one of her oldest friends, trying to memorize every inch.
His eyes cast around the shelves of the shop seeking out the customer he knew was there, with a soft sigh she turned away from him. Grabbing the first jar she saw, she rounded the corner, letting the hood of her cloak fall she met his eyes. Taking a few steps forward she allowed herself a moment to take in his face, his lips were parted in a soft 'o' and his eyebrows had lifted well above the frame of his glasses. He recovered quickly and tilted his head to the side, a question, his eyes never leaving hers.
She had planned out a perfectly articulate explanation of how she felt and what had happened, but now standing just a few feet from him she couldn't remember a single sentence. Her mind was filled with a crashing sound, like waves pulling her under and she couldn't open her mouth for fear of seawater rushing in.
"I've missed you" was all she finally came up with, and she wondered if it was the right thing to say.
A/N: So this story has existed in various iterations on my computer for years now.
But I always promised myself I wouldn't publish anything until I knew I would finish it. Mostly for myself to be quite honest. This has bounced between being a huge unwieldy fic spanning years of these characters' lives, and a series of unrelated one-shots. It's finally landing as something in between. The Prologue takes place many years after the first chapter, but I hope it sets the tone for the dance this duo is going to do with each other in this story.