WHO: !!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT: !!!!!!!!!!!
WHERE: !!!!!!!!!!
WHEN: !!!!!!!!!!


The end of the summer brought a crispness to the air that Gabriel always enjoyed. It meant that the year was coming to an end, and with winter coming everything would be covered with a cleanse of snow only to be reborn again. After this trying year for his family, Gabriel was ready for a fresh start, even if things had turned around quite nicely from how horrendous the year had begun.

It had taken he and Rachel a long time to find themselves, what defined their relationship, the first time around. After the attack and her memory loss, it had seemed as if they would never find each other again. Gabriel had been determined, and after a few months they were once again a family. They were different, but they were a family and he was grateful for it. Still, some things felt a little off kilter.

The summer festival was a tradition in their hometown, one that Rebecca would make Gabriel take her to and play the events which had to best prizes. It was a wizarding fair, so there were rides that literally sent you soaring and foods that caused your hair to stick on ends. The fairgrounds were illuminated by large lanterns and there was a happy tune coming from the band on stage. Euan and Rebecca had volunteered to take the boys around for some rides (though Euan was doing most of the work as Rebecca directed in her highly pregnant state), so it gave Gabriel time to simple stroll with his wife, her arm comfortably looped through his.

“Let’s find a ride,” he said, smiling before he looked down at his wife, anticipating her response.

Rachel doubted she would ever be used to the feeling of family and solidarity that was now a part of her everyday life. She could not ever have imagined herself going to a festival as a girl, could hardly believe she was attending one now, but here she was. Husband and children in tow. She rather wondered if the feeling would still be so alien, even if she recalled all their years and months together.

But what she did have now, that hadn't ever been there before, was a little flutter of pleasure low in her stomach of being here, being with him. There was still so much she was at unease with, so much discomfort she still had in her own skin, but her spirits had been undeniably lifted for reasons she couldn't say. Her birthday had left Rachel momentarily troubled, it was true, but that too had passed. Whatever else had happened, was happening, or would happen in her life, she was content, and in this moment, had no desire to question it or prod at it, as she usually did. She was even willing to forgive her husband's outrageous and quite often infuriating perfection on account of the infectious celebratory atmosphere surrounding them.

"You seek to make a heathen out of me," Rachel accused, using her supposed dignity as a blatant stalling tactic, turning her nose up in a way that was both haughty and allowed her to search the fairgrounds for the least terrifying amusement. "You know it is quite preposterous to think a lady would involve herself in such things."

As she turned her head slightly to better glimpse the attractions on her right, she caught sight of something that rose and dropped its riders with alarming speed, and the sound of no doubt terrified shrieks assaulted her ears even from this distance. Rachel could feel her stomach dropping at the same speed and quickly jerked her head away. "I mean, really," she added, unwittingly tightening her grip on Gabriel's arm.

Gabriel hummed, eying the thrill ride. He did not have the stomach for such a contraption; he could ride a broom well enough, but he was in control on the quidditch pitch. Random drops and spinning simply did not make much sense to him. He was sure, however, that he could convince Rachel to get on something, he just had to figure out what. His eyes scanned over the crowds, past the stands of delicious smelling food (festival food was a weakness of his, he was trying so desperately hard to avoid the stands), and he finally settled on the center of the grounds. Gabriel smiled, yes, it was perfect.

“The ferris wheel,” he said, pointing at the brightly illuminated ride. It rose high above the fairgrounds, shining it’s array of colors across the festival. The baskets were under levitation spells that allowed them to float around the large rig without being connected, allowing for some to pass each other if the riders so desired to take a slower ride. For the view, perhaps. Gabriel decided that this would be the perfect ride, and before Rachel could agree he started to pull them toward it.

“It’s rather soothing, actually,” he said, his hand dropping to take hers. “Maybe we’ll be able to spot the boys.”

For the moment, she was relieved that he bypassed the exercise in torture which passed for amusement, mistakenly thinking that anything else could not be quite so awful. The delusion continued as they entered the queue (a queue) to be seated in one of the baskets.

Even without her making mention of it a time or two during their romp at the festival, it could not come as much of a surprise that Rachel herself was not thrilled to be there. She could not bring herself to complain about it overmuch, however, for the boys were delighted to have come. And she might, just the teensiest bit, have begun to enjoy herself. But for another, far more damaging matter, her husband was delighted to have come. And, clueless as to whether or not he was aware of this about himself, or her, she found it one hundred and eleven percent impossible to tell him no.

How he managed it, she could never be certain, as none of their three children held the same sway with her. But the personally distressing problem at hand was that even when he was a total, intimate stranger to her and she had to refuse being alone in the same room as him, Rachel felt a compulsion to do things that pleased him. And as their relationship deepened, and blossomed, she knew with absolute certainty that she could never tell him such a thing.

As they moved entirely too fast up the queue and were being escorted into their basket, she waited for Gabriel to climb in first and then stepped in daintily with the assistance of his hand. There. She settled into the small seat experimentally, and thought it wasn't as bad as all that.

"At least you had the good sense to choose an amusement designed for those who would like to leave after their time at the festival in one piece," she decreed loftily, crossing her ankles and folding her hands primly in her lap.

It drove him mad in that fantastic way, when Rachel went out of her comfort zone to do something he wished. Gabriel couldn’t stop the smile on his face as they made their way through the queue and had more than happily helped her into the basket. He remembered times with his friends when rocking their basket into a spinning frenzy would’ve been the reason for riding such a demure ride, but this was not the time for such games. Though riling her up with a bit of rocking would please him so.

The ferris wheel began to move, and Gabriel took his seat opposite of Rachel, to watch her as they rose high into the air. The rainbow-colored lights danced across her face and features and he wondered how it was possible that, every new day, he found something about Rachel that simply startled him and made him lose all thoughts. Gabriel dug his hands into his cloak pockets, watching the delicate curls that had come loose frame her face, and even though they had been held back they were a perfect addition to her cheeks. He had dated quite a few women and they’d never struck him as Rachel did each and every day.

Gabriel supposed it was a good thing she had ended up his wife.

He smiled at the thought, noticing the basket begin to slow as they reached the apex of the ferris wheel. He had told the conductor to let their ride rest at the top, to sit and watch the world below for a few moments. A bit of privacy here at the top of the world was what they needed right now.

“Rachel,” he said, shifting to lean towards her, resting on the edge of his seat.

Gracious, how her heart was fluttering. Rachel quickly learned the ways of the beast she was atop, and her primly folded hands in no time shot (in a very ladylike manner, thank you) to the edge of the seat, so she might better steady herself. And thus prevent herself from being flung out of the basket to her most untimely death at four and twenty years of age.

She was dreading the eventual climb to the top, thinking it would be impossible to avert her eyes from the view awaiting them there. When they reached it, however, the dreadful rocking motion had ceased, and they lingered there, suspended above the grounds. Her heart resumed its beating, and she was even able to pry her hands from their death grip on her perch, discreetly wiping them of their dampness on her skirts before placing them back in her lap. And the view that seemed so upsetting minutes ago was stretched before her in all its vast glory, letting her fancifully imagine the distance she could see. Never overfond of heights, Rachel couldn't say she'd ever willingly have chosen to ride this, nor would she likely ever admit to having a good time—

—But she was. Hovering as they were, in the light breeze with the soon-to-be-setting sun, Rachel didn't feel small and insignificant, nor was she plagued with the doubts and worries that made up her day-to-day life. It felt… right, to be in this moment. Not ahead, not behind, just… here.

Gabriel's voice pierced through her pseudo-profundity, which had been making her laugh. She slid her gaze back to him, felt the light, pleasant, often infuriating constriction of lungs she always had when looking at that face, and asked, "Yes?" slight smile still in place.

She was radiant, it was amazing how they could literally be doing nothing and he found Rachel to be breathtaking. Gabriel had been thrust into this relationship by the demands of their parents and society, and never in his wildest dreams had he ever imagined that he would actually fall so hard and absolutely for the woman he’d been forced to wed. It had been a slow process, yes, going through their trials and wondering how they would survive a lifetime of not fitting in place, but then one day it all slipped together. They worked, they had been turned from an indistinguishable mold into a masterpiece. Gabriel had never felt so easily ready to brag about anything in his life but Rachel, and it was a feeling that grew each day, hour, minute.

When she was attacked in February, he had believed, for a short time, that he was never going to find his way back into her heart. So many of his familiars showed concern for Rachel falling back in love with him, but Gabriel knew the internal struggle that his wife had gone through to accept his feelings for her. It had taken a very long time to have Rachel believe that she could be loved and adored the way Gabriel loved and adored her, and even though he knew he still hadn’t broken through all her barriers, it had still been something to aspire to. Anything that made Gabriel push Rachel in those tiniest of ways lifted his spirits like no other.

Her smile pleased him greatly, making him feel warm. Gabriel pushed himself off his seat, looking as if he were to stand, but instead dropped down to one knee; he landed so hard he was sure that the basket would shake and sway, but the spells must have prevented the motion. His hands slowly pulled themselves from his cloak pocket, his eyes never leaving Rachel’s.

“You have brought joy into my life that I never thought possible,” he said, his hands in fists, resting on his knee. "I love you with every ounce of my being, and I want you to know that I never want to live without you." Gabriel grinned; it thrilled him to surprise her in such ways, and he hoped he was doing a good job of it now. He lifted his hand and revealed a ring box, which he opened with ease. He hadn't proposed properly the first time, and hoped that this ride to the top of the world made up for it, "Rachel, will you marry me once more?"

The smile she had been wearing froze in place, a pleasantly bemused expression forming in her eyes as she saw him rise, then drop to his knee.

Now Rachel's jaw had dropped in a manner wholly unbefitting of a lady, and she was not one bit in her right mind to care.

Ever the product of her upbringing, she first could not take her eyes off the ring in his hands as it threw off the last strong rays of the sun. It was singing a bewitching siren song to her, where every word was her name, and it knew it belonged on the bare finger of her left hand. Bare, the way it had been since February, since she felt she didn't deserve to be wearing a token of married faith. That hand moved toward it, independently of the rest of her, and she yanked it back when she noticed. Not entirely certain she was breathing, she hardly had a hope of stopping the tears that were filling her eyes.

She couldn't be glib. He couldn't say such beautiful words to her and expect her to show how impressively they rolled off her, as she always did, which meant he must want her to cry, and she'd never forgive him for forcing her hand, and he was a beautiful, stupid, bewitching man, and he didn't have to do this.

"You don't have to do this," she whispered, as one of the tears she'd forgotten were threatening her eked out the corner of her eye. Her hand cupped the side of his face, her thumb unconsciously smoothing over the plane of his defined cheekbone, her fingers curling against his skin. "I never—I don't expect you to do this."

It was not the answer he had hoped for, but it was the one he had expected. Gabriel pushed into her touch, his smile never fading even at her words. His Rachel had people fooled into thinking that she was above such frivolous emotions like insecurity. Gabriel knew he’d never truly understand why she couldn’t easily accept his love, but that drove him to show her even further how much she meant to him. He shifted to rest on both knees, straightening up to knee at eye-level with her. Gabriel took her left hand in both of his, the ring box pressing into her palm.

“You’re all I want,” Gabriel said. He wanted to give this to her, to do this for her, to her. A chance to reset their rocky start, to give her the memory of an engagement that she never had. Gabriel felt the deep, great, pulling desire to provide Rachel with all the happiness his life could offer, and this was the first step. She deserved more than to be placed back into a life she didn’t remember having, gaining, had thrust upon her. Gabriel didn’t want them to have the rest of their lives resting on a fumble of memories. He wanted them to create their own, and he was willing to start from the beginning.

“I want to be your husband,” he said, feeling himself get choked up the more he stared at her. His hands shook with nerves he didn’t realize he had, but he kept his grip on her hand.

"Yes!"

The word burst out of her nearly before he'd finished, startling Rachel, whose other hand pressed itself to her lips. She did, now that it was in front of her, now that it had become a real possibility, she wanted it so fiercely that it actually hurt. It would have been so easy for Gabriel to walk away from her after her accident—she'd wanted him to, in fact. That he hadn't did not, to her mind, speak to the volume of the love he must have for her, but of the duty, the obligation he felt he had as a father and once-husband, to keep his family together. And because it would hurt so much more if he meant it out of a misplaced sense of duty than true want of starting anew with her, she had to give him the chance to take it back.

But in her heart of hearts, she thought she knew that this man who had stayed by her side in the darkest, murkiest hour of their marriage, willing to wait and fight, patiently but determinedly, for her to trust him again, loved her not out of duty, not from obligation, but for herself entirely.

Tears were falling down her cheeks in earnest now, but the sound that bubbled out of her was laughter as she threw her arms around Gabriel hard enough to knock them back against the seat as their extended stop at the apex had ended. "Yes," Rachel managed breathlessly, between peppering him with kisses and the sobbing laughs or laughing sobs, heedless of the basket seat's rocking motions. She pulled back a little reluctantly from his lips and, since it seemed a fair point in their relationship, leaned towards his ear to murmur, "Always."