Six of Crows One-Shots

Reunion Part 2

The last chapter hit me in the feels, so I'm hoping to hit y'all in the feels with this one. Enjoy!

Spring couldn't have arrived faster. Without Inej, without his starlight, Kaz was stressed and pressured and depressed. It didn't seem different from how he usually was, but the fact that she was missing made it five times worse. His heart ached and he had hardly any motivation to do anything. 

The sun cast long shadows among the Ketterdam streets, the mist hung high over the city. Ocean waves could be heard crashing against the docks even from the Slat. The air smelled fresh, clean. It was almost a relief.

He had just returned to his room after a brawl with some of the ex-Dime Lions. It seemed as if someone was in his head, pounding a rock against his skull. His room in the Slat felt too hot, too humid.

He closed the door behind him and kicked off his shoes, then pulled off his suit jacket, letting it fall to the floor. He peeled off his gloves, tossing them onto his desk, then he unbuttoned his vest and let it drop beside his suit.

The city seemed so... bright that day. Kaz wished he knew why.

He shrugged his suspenders off and reached for the first button of his shirt when he was grabbed from behind. Startled, Kaz reached for his cane but paused at the smooth lips that were trailing up his neck.

"Inej."

She spun him around and smiled. Her eyes seemed brighter, fresher. Her caramel skin now glowed with sea-salt and clean wind.

He couldn't fight back the soft whimper that slipped from his mouth as he collapsed into her embrace. Inej wiped at one of her own tears before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I missed you," he whispered, unable to get enough of that smell of home, that comfort of her embrace.

"I missed you, too," she replied, kissing his cheek.

After a few more moments of Kaz holding Inej like she was a stack of money about to slip away, they broke apart.

Inej smiled that beautiful, beautiful smile. It was almost enough to send Kaz crawling across the ground towards her. "I have... news."

"News?"

She nodded, glancing out the window. Shadows danced in her gorgeous brown eyes. "My... my parents want me to... start a family."

He raised an eyebrow.

"My cousins have all settled down, married. My parents know what happened at the Menagerie, but... they want me to have a family."

"Oh?"

"Kaz quit it!"

"Quit what?"

"Playing dumb! I can't ask you for anything but... if I'm going to start a family, it's going to be with you."

He couldn't exactly say he was shocked. Unless she had some secret love back in Ravka, Inej didn't seem like she would have picked anyone else. "So, what do you want to do?"

She glowered at him. "We're getting married."

"I didn't agree to this."

"You don't have a choice unless you want me to marry some rich Ravkan. If I'm not married within the year, I'll be forced to go back to traveling with my parents."

Kaz clicked his tongue. "Why is that?"

"A while back, my parents signed a contract with the circus operators, promising that I would be married by the time I turned eighteen or I would be thrown out of the circus. Since I've returned, they told me that if I wasn't married by the end of the year, I'll have no choice but to travel with them and turn my back on Ketterdam."