In Which Ashe Is Found Again

September 13, 1181

A slower-than-usual motion did little for the dresser drawer's trademark creak and once again, Ashe regretted not just cutting his losses and sleeping in the shirt he already had with him--as badly in need of a wash as it was. One last night in a dirty shirt was a friendlier prospect than waking Rona.

Really, he was starting to wish he'd continued along with Lonriad and spent the night there. If he arrived home during the day, at least the steward could warn Rona of his arrival, and she could decided whether she cared to see him or not. Now, she'd learn after the fact that he'd returned in the night and had slept in one of the guest chambers. That was, if the drawer hadn't roused her.

"Mmm?"

So much for wishing that it wouldn't.

"Someone there?" Her voice was faint, but distinct.

Sorry, Rona. "It's just me. Go back to sleep."

"...Ashe?"

The bedsheets rustled. He shut the drawer and looked over his shoulder to see her blond head rise from the pillow. "Ashe? Is that you?"

"I was just getting another shirt. I'm sorry. I was going to sleep in one of the guest rooms--"

"No, don't."

Her petite feet landed on the floor, soft as rain yet with a drum-like prominence. He'd grown too used to Lonriad's loud, careless footfalls. Rona hardly made a sound and it set his heart racing. "Stay."

Between rapid blinks, Ashe's eyes darted along the grain of the dresser door. Had he heard right? Surely he hadn't. "Rona--"

"Please?"

He turned around to find she'd snuck right up on him, lip pouting and eyes wide, their soft amber brown still golden in the dim light. As shocking a thought it was, she didn't seem to be angry with him any more. If she wanted him to stay, she might have been almost happy to see him.

Or maybe she'd decided they were through and just wanted to get it over with. He supposed he could understand. "Rona, I--"

She flung her arms around his neck, her chin over his shoulder, soft blond hair to his cheek, every star in the universe bursting into a billion smaller stars until the sky was a dome of tightly-clustered diamonds and Ashe's strange heart beat into a dance he'd forgotten. "Never leave again."

It was not a request he had expected. But it was one he was happy to oblige. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Good. I'm sorry I made you leave. And I'm sorry I said all those horrible things to you." A series of kisses started at his cheek and trailed to his lips. Five in total. He'd spent the last while thinking he'd never be kissed again. "I don't believe that any more."

She didn't? Then... "Do you believe me?"

A smile. If he was still standing, then sheer bliss had the power to prop him up. "I'm sorry I didn't before."

"It's all right. I should have told you back at the tournament, when you met me in the stables. I'm sorry I didn't." A silken finger skimmed the blunt ends of his roughly-chopped hair. She probably hated it. How many times had he woken in the middle of the night to find her playing with his hair? "Uh... it'll grow back. Sorry--" He had to stop. He'd been caught so off-guard by her smiling face that he'd been unable to look away, but one glimpse of her neck...

"For what, silly? I missed you, not your hair."

As odd a thought it was, she must have. "Your key..."

"Oh." Her hand flew back to the dangling charm, index finger looping beneath the chain. "I've been sleeping with it the past couple nights. I hope you don't mind. I just wanted to feel like I had some part of you with me." She blushed--not so crimson as her preferred gowns, but nonetheless she wore the color better than most. "I guess I don't need it any more, do I?"

"Rona..."

She fiddled with the clasp and pulled the chain from around her neck, key swaying back and forth as she wrapped it instead around his. The familiar weight settled and Rona's smile burned brighter than ever, some missing piece of him found again.

"Are we all right?"

"We'd better be." And if Rona so willed it, they must have been. Or they would be, all in all. She wouldn't let that budge, and so neither would he. "I love you. I think I always loved you."

"I think I always loved you too. And I'll never leave you and the kids again."

"I'll hold you to that."

"I know you will." It almost hurt to step back from her, but whatever ache the distance left, the life in her eyes left it good and healed. "But you won't have to."

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