His Cure

Fleeting Joy

[nearly 3 weeks later...]
As I rode back towards camp after a successful hunting trip, my mind was racing. It had nearly been a month since the bank job and the others still hadn't returned. Two weeks ago we all had a meeting. We came to the agreement that if they weren't back by the time the month was up, we would leave. Find a better home. Start our own jobs. Start our own robberies. We decided to stay as a gang as, after many mental breakdowns from everyone, we realised we all needed each other.
Since it was nearly a month, we had to think about our next steps. Where would we go? What would we do? But I just couldn't bring myself to think about it because deep down I still had hope. Hope that they would return. Hope that HE would return.
You don't realise how much you care about someone until they leave. As it turns out, I cared a lot more about Arthur Morgan than I had originally thought.

I hitched Wish outside the house before untying the rabbits from the saddle and heading towards Pearson's butchers table but he wasn't there. In fact, no one was there.
"Everyone okay...?" I asked as I pushed open the door to the house and saw that everyone was inside. No one replied but they all smiled. Something I hadn't seen them do in a long time. "Alright, you're freaking me out. What's going on?" I asked as I passed Pearson the rabbits. I looked at Sadie but she didn't reply, instead she just smirked and nodded towards the other end of the room. "What?" I asked again as I turned around but what I saw answered my question for me. My eyes opened wide in shock and for the first time in a month, I relaxed my shoulders. "Holy shit..." I muttered which caused the gang to erupt into laughter at my reaction.
"We were waiting for you to come back. According to this lot, you've become the new leader of the gang?" Arthur asked me with a smirk but I couldn't reply. I was still in shock.
You know that weird feeling when you haven't seen someone for a while and then they suddenly show up? Multiply that by ten and you might be just about where I was.
"Liz...?" He questioned as he stood up and took a step towards me. "You came back..." I whispered as a smile made its way onto my face. Never in my life had I ever been so relieved to see someone. He nodded before saying, "The others are on their way. We went separately to avoid bringing unwanted attention." "The others...?" I questioned as I felt the relief surging through my body. Dutch was coming back... we weren't alone. I didn't have to be the leader anymore. I didn't have to make decisions. They were alive and they came back...
Just as I thought this, the door swung open and slightly scared the shit out of me. "Dutch!" Everyone called out all at once, relieved, as they each took turns in hugging him. Including me.
I had never been a very 'huggy' person, especially not to Dutch, but in this moment I couldn't help myself. I lunged forward and pulled him into a tight embrace as I felt a tear drip down my cheek.
"Miss Elizabeth?" Dutch asked as I sobbed into his shoulder. "Is everything okay?" "It's been a rough month." Sadie answered for me which caused Dutch to nod as he placed his hand on the back of my head. "We're here now." Dutch replied as I pulled away and he wiped the tear from my check. I nodded with a beaming smile and stepped back, allowing the others to say hello.
"Liz." Arthur whispered from behind me, before nodding towards the back door. I quickly followed him outside and into the forest slightly, away from prying eyes. "How you been?" He asked with a smile but I didn't reply, just pulled him into a hug as I continued to sob.
Goddamn it did it feel good to be back in his arms...
Yes, I was an emotional wreck but it had been the most stressful month of my life and I had been holding it together for too long.
"Hey, hey, it's okay." He whispered as he stroked my hair.
"Fuck you, Morgan!" I sobbed into his chest. I have never been so relieved to see someone and yet so damn angry.
"I know..." he replied as if he could read my every thought. "Fuck you..."
He didn't reply, he just kept hugging me.
"Where the hell were you?!" I shouted as I pushed him back. "Hosea and Lenny...! And then you all left! A month Arthur! You left for a whole month! We didn't think you were coming back!" I continued to get more and more annoyed.
"I know, I'm sorry." He replied. "I don't want your damn apologies! I want an explanation! Now!" I was being unreasonable. I had no idea what they'd been through but I couldn't help it. When you spend a whole month being pushed to your limit on a daily basis, it changes you.
"Okay, okay. Sit down." Arthur said, trying to calm me down.
We sat on a log and I stared at him, waiting for an explanation.
"We escaped on a boat. We were expecting to be back in a few days but there was this storm. Entire boat fell under the waves..." He continued to explain everything. Guarma, Fussar, the sugar plantation, Hercule, the war, Javier being shot, all of it. With each thing he explained I became more and more shocked at the intensity of his last month.
"Holy shit..." I whispered once he had finished his story. "Yeah, then I got back to ShadyBelle and found your letter, pretty good idea by the way."
"I... shit I'm sorry." I replied after a moment of thought. Turns out, he had been through just as much as I had. "Don't be. I get it." He said with a smile, clearly not fazed by my earlier comments.
"Wait, wasn't Fussar one of the men Bronte introduced us to?" I questioned as I thought back. "Yeah." Arthur replied. "Alright, your turn." He quickly added. "What's been happening here?" He asked after seeing my confused look. "Oh, not much..." I replied, feeling slightly stupid. After hearing his story, my month sounded like a walk in the park.
"Lenny and Hosea...?" He asked, seeing my hesitation. "We buried them." I replied with a sad look as he nodded.
"So, you took over?" He questioned with a smile, trying to change the subject. "I guess so. Me, Sadie and Swanson." "Swanson?" He asked, slightly perplexed. "Yeah, after y'all left he actually cleaned up his act and Robin has actually been really helpful." "I never thought that day would come." He replied with a slight chuckle. I smiled tightly as I stared into his eyes. God how I'd missed that laugh. "You okay?" He asked, noticing my silence. "I'm fine." I said dismissively.
"Hey, before I left you actually began opening up. Come on, don't close off now." "It's nothing... just... you came back..." My brain still hadn't really processed what was happening. When you haven't seen someone for a month and then they just show up out of the blue, it can be a real shock to the system. "Of course I came back. I wouldn't leave you." He replied before quickly adding, "Oh, look." As he pulled something out of his satchel and passed it to me. "We don't get parrots here but there were loads in Guarma. One of them dropped this and... I don't know. Just thought you'd like it." He explained as I looked down at the feather. It was beautiful. Vibrant, deep shades of blue covered it from tip to end, merging together to create an ombré of multiple different strengths. Yes, we had bright birds in America but none of them could compare to this.
I smiled as I twirled it between my fingers before looking back up at Arthur. "Thank you."
"Come on, we should be getting back to the others." He spoke up after a moment as it began to rain.
As Arthur began to walk away, I looked down at the feather once more before quickly putting it in my satchel and calling out. "Wait... Arthur...?" I trailed of causing him to quickly turn back around and look at me. I didn't think twice before quickly walking towards him and pulling him into another hug. God it felt good to be back in his arms.
***