Still Waters Run Deep

Epilogue

Epilogue

Emily put her palm against her right side, her muscles throbbing underneath her ribs. She could still feel where she'd been hit by the bullet sometimes. She took in a deep breath and then hopped up the last few steps to catch up with her wife.

Alison saw the strange look on Emily's face and then her eyes darted down to the hand on her side. Alison's face tightened in concern. She reached out and softly put her hand on Emily's other side.

"Did you take something before we got here?" Alison asked.

"Yeah." Emily nodded. "It's just...a lot more stairs than I remember." She glanced down, averting Alison's gaze. "And I pulled something yesterday during the gondola ride." Her lips pinched together, more out of fear of her wife blowing her top than out of pain.

"Babe," Alison put her other hand on Emily's palm on her side. "We could have taken the lift. Why didn't you say anything?"

Emily flipped her hand over to grasp Alison's palm. She smiled softly at her.

"I knew you wanted to see the view."

"Em, you're more important." Alison rolled her eyes. Leave it to her wife to completely disregard herself for her wife. "You are so bull-headed. Why do you always insist on doing things the difficult way?"

"Because..." Emily moved them closer to the edge of the viewing platform. She moved her head up, motioning with her chin for Alison to look out at the city of Paris.

Alison glanced to her side and looked at the looming sunset. The purple and pink hue of the clouds was reflecting off of the river below.

"God, it really is beautiful." Alison smiled.

The look on Alison's face was one of pure awe, like she was experiencing a once in a lifetime event. It was a look that Emily treasured seeing.

"That's why." Emily wrapped her arms around Alison's waist, eliciting a giggle from the blonde.

A satisfied sigh slipped from the Alison's lips. Her mouth formed a perfect "O". She was like a child seeing something new and exciting for the first time. And Emily absolutely loved it.

"It's even more breathtaking than I remember." Alison smiled, slowly turning to face Emily, who was unsurprisingly watching her and not the view. "You're missing a gorgeous view."

"No." Emily replied. "I'm not. I'm looking right at it."

"You sap." Alison smiled, leaning in for a kiss. She pulled back. "What do you remember about it?" Alison asked curiously. She wrapped her arm around Emily's and linked their fingers together. "About our last trip out here?"

Emily's memories of their last trip to Paris were hazy after the shooting. Her brain had been muddled and fuzzy about the months following the wreck, including their impromptu trip to France.

"Um..." She closed her eyes, something she'd taken to doing when she was trying to pull out specific memories.

Alison watched her.

"Fireworks." She remembered the fireworks because they sounded like explosions. She remembered gearing herself up for them because she knew Lily wanted to see them. "I remember fireworks."

"What else?" Alison slid her fingers up Emily's arm, leaving goosebumps in her wake.

She moved in closer to Emily's face and Emily smiled.

"Flowers. You looked beautiful wandering through the flowers at Luxembourg Gardens." Emily opened her eyes to find Alison's deep crystal colored irises just inches from hers.