WHO: Emmeline and Caradoc!
WHAT: Reunited!
WHEN: Before the holidays!
WHERE: A park near her childhood home in Liverpool
Emmeline knew of a secret, magical garden. She loved describing it in that way as a child, even though her father often reminded her that if more than one person
knew of it, it certainly wasn’t a secret. She ignored him, though, and continued to visit the small area of the park that was magically warded off from muggles. Liverpool had a heavy concentration of wizards, and it had become necessary to create a safe haven for magic in the local park. Emmeline had made it her own escape from her home, and had not wasted any time in taking her own son there as soon as she’d settled in England.
These past few weeks...Emmeline didn’t know how she was really feeling, coping. Dealing. She’d made the trip overseas in an angry rush, but soon her investigating grew tiring, and really there wasn’t much time with a nearly two year old. So it had become a waiting game, a restless time of stress and denial. Emmeline filled her days with visits to St. Mungo’s to see Frank and Alice, lunches with Dedalus and his family. It was as if her life in New York had come over to England with her. Not all of it, of course…
If she didn’t think about it, she could deal with it. It was silly of her, stupid, really, to think that she would
know if Caradoc was dead. Dead! Those were her options. He was either dead, or in the midst of some ridiculous agenda he found to be more important than staying safe and alive. Emmeline could remember feeling like the war, the fighting, the battles, she could remember the feelings of being all right with laying your life down for the cause, whatever you believed to be right, but...she couldn’t do it again, not now.
She squinted her eyes as Andrew made his way through the jungle gym. She would normally be hovering about in case he fell, but the charms and spells were secure and her little one would bounce and bounce if he slipped. Emmeline reckoned he rather enjoyed the bouncing, actually, as he’d taken to jumping off the ladder and climbing right back up. A strong breeze caused her to tighten her shoulders.
It was another cold winter day without Caradoc, and she wondered if she was numb with grief.
When it was obvious that Emmeline was not returning home anytime soon, Caradoc drew a long sigh. After barely escaping England by the skin of his teeth, the last thing he wanted was to push his luck even further and return to the very country,
again, that he was supposed to be deceased in,
again. But, he had a growing inkling that she would not come home on her own volition, and while the phrase ‘head off to collect his girlfriend and child’ came to mind, not a living soul would ever hear it phrased out loud like that.
So Caradoc returned, and with a bit of sleuthing, followed Emmeline here to a small park in Liverpool. How (relatively) easy it had been for him to find her settled uncomfortably in his stomach, and in hopes to avoid it growing any kind of stronger hold within, he quickly tucked his chin tighter toward his chest and approached her with his gaze flicking around in search of any nearby danger. The park was empty, he determined, and sat himself down on the bench next to Emmeline with a little bit less unrest because of it.
Luckily, it did not seem like their son had realized his presence yet. Caradoc watched Andrew spring about, crawling through this, sliding down that--- even he could not ignore the small part within his chest that felt like it had died a little. He shoved his hands into his pockets. But his son wouldn’t think much of it, for he was still young, innocent, and had a lively present for him waiting at home.
His mother, however….
“Are you coming home?” Caradoc asked, curiously forgoing the questioning of her authenticity. Perhaps it was the cold, or his sudden exhausted and alerted state, but that question, somehow, felt more important to address.
Her hair whipped in the air as she turned to him, body stiff. Emmeline’s eyes stung with tears at the sight of Caradoc, her breath hitched, it was--the moment she’d been waiting months for. To see him, to be this close to him, to see that he was
okay. All the fears she’d pushed away resurfaced with fiery intensity only to be doused at the knowledge that he was here and alive.
Caradoc was
alive.
Emmeline’s hand struck out and she grabbed him under his arm, pinching him as hard as she could. Mostly so she could cause him some pain, but a small part of her wanted to make sure he wasn’t a dream or a hallucination. But Caradoc was there, her eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on her and he hadn’t dissipated into smoke. Before he could properly react she leaned into him and kissed him hard, grabbing his face to pull him close.
This had all gone on for far too long. There was a simmering anger that would bubble up and over, Emmeline was sure, but over the past few months she’d come to realize that there were very few things that could permanently tear her apart from Caradoc. Maybe it was terrible of her, maybe she was going to hell for it, but damn it all.
When she pulled away, it was barely an inch, and her gaze lifted to his eyes.
“You are never to leave me again,” she whispered onto his lips. The hand on the side of his face took on a tighter grip and her eyes never left his. “Swear to me.”
Her words struck him, even more than Emmeline’s surprisingly passionate kiss.
Swear to her? Caradoc’s brow furrowed, and he felt an uncomfortable itch begin to bloom under his skin. Surely, she knew, that a promise like that was impossible, especially from him of all people. One day, this could all be over. One day, the life and defenses he had so meticulously built could very easily just… burn away and he would find himself taking his last breaths backed up against the wall. If Caradoc had learned anything from his scrambling weeks with Derek Dobbs, that, at least, was clear. So logistically, it wasn’t…
There was more. Deep within, Caradoc knew no matter how insignificant the issue, he could never truly follow the strict wishes of another. It wasn’t within him, he didn’t have the selfless capacity that many others had to put aside his stubborn personal drive. In the end, that character flaw had almost gotten him killed time and time again… but it had also kept him alive, as well. And that being had become so ingrained to the person he was that, now, it wasn’t about to change, no matter how much the witch staring before him meant to him.
Caradoc didn’t flinch in her grip, for he would not feel guilty for speaking, for once, the utter truth. “You know I can’t do that,” he murmured without emotion, gaze never leaving hers. Her grip felt heavy on his face.
She knew he couldn’t, the logical, pessimistic,
realistic part of her knew that he couldn’t. But why was she always forced to listen to that voice? Why couldn’t she, why couldn’t
they, for once, believe the silly lies that people told each other all the time? That things would be okay, things would be fine. Nothing could ever pull them apart. Emmeline felt a strangling desperation in her throat build up and she forced it back with heavy breaths. Their life was never going to be easy, it never had been, and in this fleeting moment she hated herself for being able to squash silly things like feelings and emotions that might cause her to do something rash. Emmeline needed to focus on what was in front of her right now, and a flash of despair crossed her features before it swiftly disappeared and she nodded to his words.
She leaned into him, turning to look back out toward the playground. Emmeline wanted to have him as only hers for a little longer, knowing that Andrew would soon notice the appearance of his father and interrupt them with shrieks of delight. It had become hard coming up with new stories about Caradoc’s whereabouts, because Andrew grew weary of hearing them and Emmeline felt bad for lying. Her hands gripped the front of his robes and being pressed so close to him reminded her how much she’d missed him.
“Will you try?” she asked softly, wincing as Andrew took a particularly hard tumble off the steps. He bounced nearly a foot in the air, and Emmeline involuntarily let out a laugh. She buried her face in Caradoc’s chest, eyes shutting at his familiar scent. She felt deflated, “I’ve missed you so much.”
Even after Andrew had stood back up all and well, Caradoc still kept his sharp gaze on the boy. He knew that it had not been… it had be wrong, neglectful of him to think that there was anything important enough to leave behind his son, but even now, he couldn’t say…
He could not go back to regretting past decisions. That kind of thinking had led him to his past month of troubles, and would only lead to more if he dwelled on any of it any further. It must be about the present, the
future, he must always be thinking about the future.
Caradoc inclined his chin over Emmeline’s head, and rested it atop her hair. He could not make that promise to her, no, but he could at least stand to be more responsible. The truth was, over his short time back here in England, he hadn’t thought much about anything aside from the problems in front of him. But now that everything had calmed down again, that Derek Dobbs was no longer vying for his blood, he realized that he had, in fact, missed Emmeline’s presence very much. It was rather obvious half of the mess he had gotten himself into may not have happened if she had been by his side.
His arms wrapped around her, and Caradoc let out an expelling sigh. “I missed you too,” he murmured. His eyes closed as an electrified shriek filled his ears, and the ends of Caradoc’s mouth curled up as he watched his almost two year old son trip and race toward his seated parents.
