"It was pure luck, really, that this hadn't happened sooner. Two years of keeping out of his reach had really been testing the limits of fate, and the sane voice inside her head kept telling her she would have to face him eventually. The world was b...
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Four years and eight months ago.
Deren was fighting off a grin when Can and Sanem finally found them. Her face quiet - mostly, but a hint of something smug flickering in her eye that made Sanem wonder if she'd been watching them down at the docks, but she accepted that it was most likely more to do with the fact that Can's hand was now, unabashed, linked with her own, and that watching probably hadn't been necessary to figure out what had happened.
She had tried to pull away at first, only gently. Unsure if this was a statement that she was comfortable making in a village full of people who would have known exactly who he was, yet knew nothing about her. It passed her mind, for a moment, wondering how quickly the news would find itself to the ears of Can's mother, as the villagers caught on the sight of them, now exposed to a world that was not distracted by the bustle of crowds and the excitement of an evening festival.
So she had tried to pull away - but just as gently, he had not let her. Something inside her fluttering at the understanding that his gesture of assurance in a place that was unfamiliar to her was just as much an act of territoriality. He knew what would happen. And he was letting it.
Maybe it should have scared her. Maybe that would have been wise - but she was pretty sure she left the last traces of that behind on a beach on the outskirts of Katiket. Or perhaps even earlier, maybe it had abandoned her the moment she'd snuck into darkness through the doorway of her parent's house.
How many more reckless decisions did she have left to make, how many pieces of her heart left to turn wild before her parents wouldn't even recognise her anymore, she wondered?
Metin winked at her as they approached, friendly, discreet, silently noting their connected hands as Deren explained what the two had discovered after briefly asking around town. Apprehensive questions and apprehensive answers from people who were politely trying to hide behind closed doors.
"Huma was here. A little over two weeks ago," Deren informed them, all affection leached from her face as she set her jaw. "She left a package for us - in the usual place."
Can nodded. "We better get going then."
---
The path lead away from the village. Skirting around the borders of the coastland through a field of green and a trail that seemed more accustomed to a pilgrimage of sheep than human feet, as she followed the others further into the wilderness.
Sanem watched the last traces of civilisation fall back behind them, surprised. Before turning back around to find Can waiting to help steady her, though it had been charmingly unnecessary, as she stepped over a stile constructed into a cobblestone wall that seemed more overrun with moss than rock. But it was holding the sheep in, Sanem noted. The legged clouds bleating as they watched the group of humans disappear into a yellow wood.
Blanketed under a canopy of gold and birdsong. Ribbons of light falling through the branches and touching over patches of brown earth below.
She listened to the singing in the trees, smiling as she recognised the melodies that she had grown up hearing through her bedroom window, paying half a mind to her friend's idle chatter as they continued along a non-descript and near non-existent path that gradually rose uphill.
