Ashe and Cassidy's Reunion: The Aftermath

Part 5: Forgiving Old Sins (Ashe)

For once in her life, Ashe was speechless. She was still pissed off about the Russian roulette trick, but she was stunned by Cassidy's story. After all these years of feeling hurt, angry, and betrayed it turned out that Cole had tried to write. He had missed her, but didn't want to return for fear of being replaced. Ashe almost didn't believe it, but when she looked into his eyes, she could see her own desire and desperation mirrored in them. She didn't know what to say or how to respond.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, she began to whisper breaking the silence that hung between them. "You know I wrote to you too. Sent the letters to the prison you were supposed to be staying in. And I never heard back."Ashe's voice began to crack with unspoken emotion, "I wrote to you for three damn years, and I never got one letter in return. Nothing. I thought you didn't care about me like everyone else." Her voice wobbled dangerously before tears began to stream down her face; tears she didn't know she had been holding back for the last 20 years.

"I'm sorry, Ashe. I didn't know."Cole whispered back as he reached up to gently brush the tears from Ashe's face. She leaned into his warm hand as it cupped her cheek.

"You should've come back."she mumbled through her tears.

Cassidy nodded in agreement. "I should've come back."he echoed her.

Then he dipped his head down, and placed a soft kiss upon her lips. And although it was sweet and unsure, as if asking her for forgiveness, it melted her heart which had long since frozen. Ashe wasn't sure if she could forgive him, but she knew now that no man could make her feel as alive as Cole Cassidy did. No one else could make her heart beat so fast, or her stomach twist and flip. No one else could make her cry so much or smile like a schoolgirl in love. No else could make her feel like electricity ran through her veins.

For once, she didn't care what happened next. She just wanted the here and now. So she reached her hands up and ran her fingers through his wild brown locks. When Ashe's long fingers were thoroughly entangled in his hair, she pulled him back to her and kissed him hard. That was all the encouragement Cole needed.

He responded to her lips and engulfed them in his own. Her defrosted heart was no longer just beating; it was flying, as Cole's lips made their way from her's to press soft kisses on her jaw and then slowly down her neck. Each spot felt as though it had been lit on fire. "I've missed you, darlin."he murmured his lips finding their way to nibble on her ear.

"How much?"she whispered back while fiddling with the buttons on his shirt.

"More than you'll ever know."Cole said softly as Ashe loosened the last button. She pressed a pale hand against the dark silky hairs that dusted his chest.

Looking up into his eyes, she spoke in a serious but dulcet tone. "Show me then."

Cole's eyes flared with unspoken desire, and he stared back at her for just a moment before pressing his lips against hers with more fervor. Whilst still engaging Ashe's lips, he lifted her out of the chair, made his way over to the four-poster bed with her cradled in his arms, and deposited her gently on its red silken sheets. Then he showed her with love and passion just how much he had missed her.

Lying safe and warm in Cole's arms, Ashe smiled to herself as she listened to his gentle snoring. It almost seemed as if no time had passed. Like they were still two troubled teenagers who had found comfort in having a kindred spirit. But unlike then, Ashe knew just how much Cassidy meant to her. She knew just how precious these small moments were. It was these thoughts that filled her head as Ashe drifted into a dreamless slumber.

When Ashe awoke tangled in her sheets, she felt unusually chilly. She reached out for Cole to steal some of his warmth, but her slender finger-tips found nothing but more cold sheets. Her heart pounded in her ears as she sat up. She looked around frantically, but found no sign of him. No tobacco smoke hovering in the air, no click of spurs on the floor, no loud raucous laughter, and no unruly brown hair.

The good-for-nothing bastard had left her again. Ashe reached out for a pillow to throw across the room in frustration and anger and heartbreak. Instead of a pillow, however, she found in its place an extremely familiar, old, weathered, red poncho. All at once her anger faded away, because she knew this was Cassidy's promise: He would return to her.

The End....