The Return of the Jedi || Safehouse 21

The sun bounced off the girl's, young woman's really - at the age of seventeen Ashleen liked to believe she should be allowed to use the word woman to describe herself - bright blonde hair, causing it to shine to an almost angelic white as she bounced down the familiar streets. Her shoulders, free to soak in the sun from the light blue halter top, were low and relaxed. The eyes that appeared brighter and a shade darker with the aid of the shirt skimmed her surroundings with a practised ease. The young woman looked like she didn't have a care in the world.

Although that was in fact untrue, she had many things she should indeed worry about, she had spent the last few months in far too much bliss to feel properly repressed by such thoughts. Her tanned legs moved free of the frayed denim shorts she had donned, and despite the cheap flip-flops she had chosen as footwear she had taken off down the street at a run, stopping only when she began to lose her breath, to turn to her companion with a bright and impish grin. She may have grown up in so many ways - looked every part of that young womanhood she had wanted to claim - but that grin was exactly the same as it had always been, since she was a child.

"Honestly, slow poke. You should really be able to keep up with me by now. If six years isn't enough for you to figure out when I'm going to run, I don't think any time is." Her voice was light, musical in its teasing. Despite the worries she should have, Ashleen was as bright and alive as the summer day that was surrounding them. Maybe it was the thought of home, maybe it was just the weather.

But more likely it was him. After all, for six years now that had been the way things were. It was always him.

His eyes glowed with barely suppressed happiness as he watched her, a grin tugging at his lips despite the worry nestled deep in his stomach. He couldn't help but be happy around her, and the band around a certain finger on his left hand only helped his distraction. They had stayed off the map almost too well, using his knowledge of the way the Mafia works to keep them both safe. It had been almost fairytale like, almost too good to be true.

He hadn't smiled or drawn as much in his entire life as he had during those amazing five months, and selling some of his artwork had actually brought in a decent enough income. They had barely needed to work. It had been, frankly, heaven.

Gold eyes shining, he sped up to catch her, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her close. "Wings." He warned slightly, unable to keep the grin off his face, though the tense pressure of his arm around her waist spoke volumes. "Just because we've come home doesn't mean you get to be less cautious." His tone was restricting, but just barely. His eyes swept their surroundings, even as he nuzzled his nose against hers and pressed a brief kiss to her lips. His tattoo shined in happiness, though his anxiety was starting to rise.

There were no guards. No anything. No patrols to dodge, no snipers to stroll by, no anything. Stopping before the door, he glanced at Ash, the worry in him transmitted between them with a brief glance before he was pushing it open, standing in the doorway of the old house.

He blinked. Once. Twice.

It was completely empty.

The stone on her finger glinted in the sun as she brought her hand up to brush his face softly, "Angel, just because I'm happy doesn't mean I'm not watching." Kissing him back she let out a soft bubble of laughter floated off into the air, even as her expression moulded into something with slight more concern as her blue gaze took in the... bareness of the house.

The air was full of only silence as she slid away from him yet again, this time moving forward in the empty front hall, gazing at familiar walls attempting to remember what had once stood there. Rolling her shoulder slowly, wrinkling the skin on her shoulders as she did so, morphing the wings on her shoulder blade in a way that almost made them look like they could have been fluttering, she did a turn at the end of the hall, blue gaze drawing back up to meet gold.

"I suppose they were bound to move on eventually?" There was a feeling she wasn't entirely sure what to do with in her stomach. She couldn't quite tell if she was happy or sad to find the place the way it was.

He took a protective step after her, eyes sweeping their surroundings before he raised his wand. "Homenum Revelio." He murmured, stepping further inside. Closing the door behind them, he slid the top lock home, a small but familiar comfort. Moving silently forward, he took her hand, squeezing gently before slipping away. Disappearing into a few different rooms, he found the same thing in each - no furniture, boarded windows, empty hearths. The dusty and bare wooden floors seemed uninviting, the barren walls complete and silent in their disapproval.

Ignoring the dull throbbing that seemed to want to overtake his chest, he raised an arm, gesturing to a back corner. Briefly, a wind rose in the room, and the dust and cobwebs were all swept to the back corner. Drawing near the hearth in which they'd sat and thought of christmas, Tre pulled a small dufflebag from his pocket, returning it to its normal size and opening it. He pulled out a blanket and set it before the hearth, aiming his wand there and setting a small fire.

"Come on, Wingzy." He called, patting the place beside him. "I'm sure someone must come check in on this place every once in a while, right? We can just stay here." The fire was not really necessary, it was only a bit chilly, really, and the summer night was long away, but it was a comfort, and he had the small hope that maybe the smoke from the chimney would attract a bit of attention from those he wished he was still running from. Staring into the flames, Tre shivered slightly, not liking the silence that surrounded them. Leaning his head on her shoulder, he ran a finger down her arm, humming.

"Sing me a song, Wingzy?"

Squeezing his hand back, Ashleen left it dangling in place as he went off to wander around the rest of the vacant house. The draft of an empty house - a house, not a home - clung to the air, wrapping around her now lonely had as she looked around the hallway. There was no need for her to wander the rest of the house. It was a feeling in her bones that she couldn't shake - the place was as empty as a crypt. They had fled - possibly as soon as they had disappeared - and there was a deep lingering sense of punishment.

Wrapping her arms around her middle she migrated towards the last room Tre had disappeared into. The magnetic pull he had always had strengthening now that he was the only person she could drift to at all. Had she been happy in this building? In a lot of moments, not at all, but there had always been a lingering sense of home.

And it wasn't so much the place that was causing the odd clunk in her stomach, but the people. The emptiness represented people more than anything else.

"That is certainly handy," she said softly as she moved across the room, curling beside him. She tucked her legs beneath her and rested her head against the top of his own. With his touch some of the unsure emotions eased away, "You know I never did like dusting and such anyway. I knew I married the right guy." She laughed lightly before shivering at his touch, light on her bare skin.

"Isn't singing supposed to be your department?"

The low hum that came from her throat as she tried to find a tune to match a song in her head countered her tease, proving that she would indeed do as Tre had asked her. Was there ever really any doubt.

"Close your eyes, give me your hand darling," she crooned softly, worming her fingers within his own hands before she slowly slid it back up to her own heart, smiling slightly, "Do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand?"

Ashleen could in fact sing, though she rarely attempted it. In fact if anyone were to hear music cross her lips, she was often purposely making it sound worse than it could be, off key and out of tune. Still in rare moments, for rare people - if they asked her in the right way, caught her in the right mood, she'd give it a try.

"Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming, or is this burning an eternal flame?"

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