I Miss You ---MALACHI

[sarah]

Sarah was happy to be done with work today. She had healed quite a few people and was feeling weak, tired. She needed to rest but first she had choirs to do. She knew that at this time, Zachariah was probably spending time with his son, which was only natural for a father to do so. She was happy to live with him still; he was like a father to her too and he helped her get through life no matter how hard it could be knowing that not everyone was as lucky as they were. They had managed to have a home, settle down, and were free from the street while so many kids were living there, uneducated. Those thoughts made her sad, especially when she saw a kid asking her for food or money. She frowned and gave to the little boy one penny. It made the kid smile and he thanked her before running away. How had they come to this? So many people could be handy out there and they still were silly with their high qualifications.

Yawning slightly, it didn’t take long before she arrived home. She called out for her brother, but apparently he wasn’t around; as she had expected, he was probably with his son. She was fine with that; it would allow her to clean at her own rhythm and to relax at the same time. She could take on a few more hours before actually crashing into her bed. She went upstairs to open the windows slightly; the air was chilly a little but not too much for them to freeze. She grabbed her broom and started pacing the floor, slowly going from the kitchen to the entrance hall. She stayed close to the door and the window; she didn’t know why but she had the feeling that they would have a visitor they hadn’t seen in a while and usually, the Dawson’s instinct never lied.

She started thinking about who it would be, trying to recall all of their good friends they knew until her thoughts landed onto Malachi. She remembered the man, he was always so nice and friendly. They hadn’t seen him in a while. Would it be him? She hoped so; she grew attached to him and from time to time, found herself thinking of him and even more, missing him. Whenever she was to spend time with him, she would always forget to ask him what was his job. It wasn’t as if it was important but she thought that it might be one of the main reasons of why she didn’t see him as often as she wished.

She soon began to zone, staring at the wall that was in front of her blankly. Maybe she was more tired than she thought but she still needed to clean. She took the opportunity to open her wings slightly; she had kept them behind her back all day, they needed to stretch. She didn’t like to do it all day, or in public spaces, knowing how large her wings were it would only disturb everyone around. Not to add that she didn’t like to have the attention all to herself because of this. Once her wings were opened, she returned to pacing the floor slowly nearing the entrance door so she would throw the dust out.

[malachi]

Blood dripped from the young man's shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice. In fact, he hadn't noticed it at all as he walked down the street, his eyes forward, determined to make it away from the rest of the crew and the bars. He had enough of them when they landed in unfamiliar places. But this place had been a home to him for the vast majority of his life. And there was one person he wished to see more than anything. And he'd made it his duty to find her when he realized where the captain planned to dock.

Malachi had yearned for this place since his last visit. But it wasn't that he wanted to see his home. Fuck, he'd rather steer clear of the place, seeing as so many people wished him dead. But there was a girl. And his heart clenched when he thought about her. And it had for some time, yet the man had found it in him to avoid thinking about his feelings. He was, after all, a pirate. Malachi's arm throbbed with pain suddenly, as if to remind him that it was still there and even though the fight had occurred hours ago, it was still bleeding. Malachi sighed and picked up his pace, his boots hitting the stone sidewalk harder with each step. Sarah would heal him up, that much he knew.

He glanced around and realized that it was a bit later than he'd expected, though it didn't mean the streets had emptied. There were plenty of children still playing and some adults sitting on porches and talking. Most of them looked like they were swimming in poverty. But, who wasn't these days? Malachi sympathized. Hell, he was still technically poor. The only person who had money was really just the captain. But so long as he was being fed and given a warm bed, Malachi didn't care.

Soon, he found his way to the Dawson residence. Running his fingers through his thick mess of brown hair, Malachi tried to figure out what he would say to her. He hadn't seen her in almost six years. And that was a very long time for him, being a human and all. He slapped himself a few times before knocking on the door, taking a step back afterward. His nerves were all over, but he figured that could also be from blood-loss. He'd tried to wrap the wound with a rag, but it hadn't done much but slow the bleeding. Still, the warm, sticky stuff ran down the back of his arm. Mal looked a bit worse for rag, too. Being on a ship for a few months, even if it were a flying ship, could make a man get a bit dirty. He just hoped that Sarah wouldn't turn him away. But he knew she wouldn't. She cared about him, she always had.

[sarah]

Sarah continued her job, starting to hum softly in the process; she always enjoyed spending some time with herself but the more she thought about her new comer that might come, the more she was excited about it! She didn’t want to look sleepy if Malachi was to be the one who was to come and part of her truly believed that he was going to be what she had been waiting for. If only she could be certain and that she didn’t have expectations that were higher than her reality. She hoped it wouldn’t be the case-she wanted to see him and learn news from him. She remembered the last time they had seen each other but it had been so long since it happened.

She also knew that deep down, she had feelings for the man but she had never dared to express her feelings, knowing that he would often go travel for his job. She didn’t want him to leave if she was to tell him that she loved him; she wanted to be there for him, with him, always. She never told that to her brother of course, knowing him, he had always been quite protective around her, even when Malachi was there.

As soon as she finished pacing the floor, she went to the door and opened it, pushing the dust out she soon noticed the one she had been craving to see, in a bad state. She dropped her broom onto the ground which made a small thud sound at the impact. Malachi! What happened to him?! She was more than worried for the man she loved and quickly helped him in, forgetting about the broom; she tried to help him inside as much as she could. He was the visit she had expected, just not how she had expected to see him. Her emotions took over her as her eyes watered up slightly. “M-Malachi?” She asked hoping he was still conscious. It wasn’t the time for talking though, as soon as she found a place where she could rest him, she removed his shirt to examine the wounds he had.

She blushed realising to the fact that she was seeing him bare chest but soon got over him. She didn’t care about the fact that she was tired at that point, she needed to help him, to heal him, which was what she did for the next hour, placing her hands above his wounds, letting his skin glow as it was healing slowly. She didn’t know how long it took her to heal him but as soon as she was over, she felt dizzy and blanked out next to him.

[malachi]

Malachi's eyes were a bit glazed over when she opened the door, but yet, he hadn't passed out yet. Her sweet voice made him smile before he was led inside. He wasn't sure what had happened after that, but it seemed like forever had passed when he finally came to. The male hadn't exactly passed out, but he hadn't been all there. The blood had drained the color from his face and he seemed to be a bit dazed. But, when he finally came out of it, he stared at Sarah for a long time. "I'm sorry," he replied, frowning as he lifted her up and carried her to through the home into the place he knew as her bedroom. She felt light as a feather, but he supposed that was how all angels were. Except for maybe Zach. The thought made Malachi gulp. If Zach came in, he was gonna be a dead man. But he tried not to dwell on it, because he had Sarah to worry about. After he laid her in bed, he removed her shoes and laid them at the foot of her bed. They were tiny, just as she was. Like princess feet, he thought with a smile. Sarah was like a princess, without the crown. His princess.

God, if any of the guys heard him thinking that, they'd have cut out his tongue or something. Malachi ran a hand over the young angel's forehead before kissing it. "Thank-you, Sarah," he whispered to her. She'd saved him from death yet again. It seemed she did that often. When he was a boy, she'd rescued him countless times. And he could never figure out a way to repay her. He sighed and sat down on her floor, laying his head on her bed as he tried to consider how he'd repay her now.

Malachi felt stupid for showing up, but he couldn't just leave her in this state. Fuck no. If Zach knew he did, he'd be hunted. Not that he wasn't being hunted now. He was a pirate. And Zach was in the navy. He didn't know that his sister's childhood friend had become a pirate. In fact, neither of them did. Mostly because Malachi hadn't said much about his job. He just said he was a merchant. Of what, he hadn't said. His eyes traveled over Sarah's sweet, innocent face and he cursed himself. Why did he have to fall for her so hard? He watched her sleep and before long, his own eyes grew heavy. He let them close as his head rested on her bed, telling himself it would only be for a little while.

[sarah]

Sarah didn’t know for how long she had blanked out but she began to fear that Malachi’s presence had only been a dream. What if she had blanked out since a while now and healing him was just part of her imagination? Maybe it was better that way…she wouldn’t see him wounded but the thought was rather disappointing. She slowly opened her eyes once she was finally able to do so and let them adjust to the light of the sun. She slowly observed the room she was in. Ah, her bedroom. It didn’t take her long to figure out. Though…wasn’t she pacing the house before? She began wondering, frowning slightly until she turned her head and noticed Malachi, his head resting against her bed. He looked in a better state than how he was before, which made her sigh of relief as she slowly sat up, careful not to wake as she thought he was sleeping.

She could feel her heart skip a beat at the happiness of his sight. Being around him always had her to fluster, give extra attention to him. She loved the man, but she was always so nervous to tell him; he was always travelling after all and she didn’t know about how it was going to be if she wouldn’t be able to see him every year. She was still happy he came to visit her, her cheeks turned into a light pink color shade the more she looked at him until she decided to move out of her bed. Opening her wings and making sure they wouldn’t be in Malachi’s way, she managed to lightly lift herself up from it, without moving too much. She landed onto the floor silently and grabbed a blanket she would then place onto his shoulder.

Once she was done she went down the stairs, thinking that preparing some tea for both of them would be a nice attention. She didn’t know about if Zachariah would come back for dinner and therefore, she started thinking about a meal. She began to wonder, would Malachi stay for dinner? Maybe she could prepare his favourite meal. She smiled slightly at the thought-she had to wait for him to wake up though. She went to the kitchen and prepared the hot water. She looked through the teas she had deciding to go for a raspberry one she grabbed it and placed it onto the counter.

All she had to do was to wait now, which was what she did while resting her elbows onto the counter, humming softly to herself.

[malachi]

The blanket was warm across his shoulders, something that seemed different in his sleep, but Malachi did not wake. It was warm and nice, something he'd forgotten could even exist after so long on a ship. Where it could be cold as ice during the night. But even so, the sound of a teapot in the distance seemed to stir the lad and slowly, he lifted his head. He was groggy and a bit confused about where he was. He glanced around and found himself in a girl's room. On the floor....

When it hit him, he felt like smacking himself. Sarah's house. Her bedroom. He must have fallen asleep. Rising to his feet, the shaggy haired male folded the blanket and set it at the foot of her bed before leaving her room, wondering where she could be. He walked down the steps two at a time, a bit anxious to find his best friend. When he reached the bottom step, he heard the tea pot again and he made way for the kitchen. There she was, posed with her elbows on the counter, seemingly daydreaming if she was the same Sarah he'd grown up with. He walked up quietly behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He surprised even himself with this motion, but he figured it was the easiest way to thank her, seeing as how he could have died.

Malachi released her from the hug, cheeks flushed. "So is that for us?" he asked, pointing to the tea on the counter. He hadn't had tea in so long, he really hoped it was. He looked down at her and suddenly he felt a bit awkward. Perhaps it was the hug, but somehow, he felt stupid for being there. No way would she want anything to do with him. He was, after all, a pirate. Not that she knew that. But he hadn't had much choice. It was either be a pirate or starve. And he liked his life very much. But even so, his choices weren't the best, Malachi knew that. And he'd rather die than tell Sarah he was a convict. Except he wasn't really. Jeez, why was he freaking out?

[sarah]

Sarah smiled as her thoughts were all about Malachi as usual. She wondered about what would happen this evening, would he stay? Would he go? She sure hoped not but she knew that his leave would have to happen...once again. Even if she was used to his come and go, she couldn’t help but wish he would stay longer with her, spend more time with her like they used to back then when they were kids. He had always been a good friend and yet, it seemed to be harder and harder to be able to see him considering both of their jobs. He was a merchant and she was a healer and from what she knew, they were both busy on their sides so it made it hard for them to see each other.

She was dying to ask him to live with her and her brother, but she didn’t think that Zachariah would actually like to have Malachi around. It’s not that she thought he hated her friend but she didn’t think that having another person under their roof would work out. It was sad, really because that way, they could’ve seen each other more often. Maybe if she tried talking about her brother about it he would understand...but considering his job, his son and how big he was she was sort of scared to ask him such a request.

Either way, her thoughts were soon broken as she felt someone wrapping their arms around her. At first, she startled but realizing it was her dear friend, her cheeks heated up but smiled nonetheless and rested her arms onto his. God, she had missed him so much, she had to restrain herself from strangling him with her hugs. Her smile turned into a frown slightly when he released her, the warmth, his warmth vanishing in the process as he stopped hugging her but she knew better than to let that affect her and smiled still as she turned around to face him as he questioned her.

She nodded. “Raspberry tea, I hope you like this one.” She said pausing for a while as she stared at him. He changed, that’s for sure but to her, he was still the same, her dear friend she cared about so much and couldn’t help but wrapped her arms around his neck into a tight glomp. “I missed you so much.” She said trying not to get caught into her own emotions.

[malachi]

Mal had never had raspberry tea before. That he could remember. Mayhaps he'd had it when he was a child, but that was so long ago, it would seem. He was caught off guard when Sarah glomped him, grabbing ahold of her to keep them from falling. She was so clumsy, it was cute. He smiled faintly and ran a hand through her hair lightly. "I missed you, too. I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, It's not nice to disappear for six years..." His voice was a bit strained, as if he was pained with saying such a thing. Six years. It had finally hit him. He'd been gone for that long? And yet, the two of them had picked up right where they left off. Almost literally. She was always catering to his wounds and taking care of him. Why hadn't he stuck around, asked to court her, married her. Mal's arms were strong around her and he embraced her tightly, wanting to never let go. "I'm sorry," he finally managed before letting her go. For what, Malachi wouldn't explain. If she was as smart as he knew she was, she'd know.

Just like that, Malachi was back to his calm, collected self. He leaned against the counter and a thought touched him. "Where is your brother? Off on some adventure?" he asked, gazing around the room with chocolate orbs. Zach never ventured too far from his sister when they were young. He was like a giant shadow, hanging over his sister to protect her from anything. Malachi wished he could protect her. But with his job...

Fucking job, anyways. It's a damn job that will likely get me killed. His fist clenched automatically at the thought, as if he were clutching a sword. He was lucky he had a good crew, else he would have been long dead. And lucky enough, the crew was not well known. Even the captain, whom he'd only seen once. It meant Zach had little idea of what his real job was; Sarah having even less of an idea. They thought he was a mere sea merchant. Which wasn't the biggest lie ever. The young man reached out and touched Sarah's cheek. "How have you been?" he asked to take his mind off his dark thoughts.

If only she knew the lie he was leading.

[sarah]

To an angel like Sarah, six year was long, yes, but not as long as things usually were. She was much older than Malachi was, she was aware of this, but he would always have a special place in her heart, no matter what. Besides; they had grown up together, even if she was younger but still much older than her friend, having feelings for him was bound to happen in a way. She didn’t know about if she would tell him; considering that he was a merchant, he was off often and she didn’t know if he’d want to settle down with her so even if her heart wanted to tell him her feelings, her head restrained her from doing so and acting foolishly. She didn’t want to make things awkward between them. Not when they hadn’t seen each other for six years. Her cheeks were burning as she felt his arms holding her tightly. It brought her a source of comfort to know that he was there, holding her. She liked it and enjoyed it as long as she could until he released her, apologizing for it. She shook her head. “It’s fine, besides, for me, six years isn’t that much..” she stated trying to remain positive. Even if it was painful for her not to be able to see her dearest friend as much as she could, she was still happy to see him now and didn’t want to ruin this special day of hers.

Her blush was still onto her cheeks but not as apparent as it was in their embrace. “He is spending family time with his son, John.” She said wondering about if Malachi would remember of him but she liked spending time with the boy and taking care of him too. She always liked to take care of people in general anyways. The thought made her smile dreamily, which she didn’t notice Malachi’s clutched fist. She only returned to reality when she noticed the water was ready. Ah. She turned to the fire where she was having the water to boil and grabbed it carefully not to get her hands to burn and placed it on the counter. “The water is ready!” She announced cheerfully and grabbed the herbs to infuse in the tea and placed them in. All they needed to do now was to wait for them.

“Do you want cookies with your tea? We have a few left I think.” She said once she returned her attention to him. She smiled once again as he questioned her. “I’ve been good, busy with my job but still good. Been taking care of Zach, his son and the house...it kept me distracted.” She said. That way, she wasn’t missing Malachi too often if she didn’t have free time to thinking about how much she missed him. “How about you? Despite the fact I found you nearly dead?” She asked nudging him playfully, not mad at all at him for coming to see her. She would always take care of him, no matter what anyways.

[/justify]

[malachi]

Of course six years wasn't much for her. She was an angel. Malachi had always envied how time flowed for Sarah. What seemed like forever to him seemed like only moments to her. He smiled anyways and murmured, "Yeah, I forgot about that." He watched her for a moment before she said that Zach was with his son. It seemed normal enough, he guessed. But not seeing the sky-scraper was a bit...odd. Malachi looked up to the angel literally and figuratively. The brunette recalled that the other male was one of the few people who cared for him. Even if he didn't show it. Soon the water was ready and Mal let his hands relax.

He watched her pour the tea out and said, "A cookie? I'd love a cookie." His smile grew fonder when she said she'd been good, distracted even. He supposed that was a good thing. Distractions were nice. "Distracted from what, exactly?" he couldn't help but ask. He felt he knew the answer, but he didn't want to assume. It was just silly to do. As he took up his cup of tea and smelled it. It was very...interesting. Girly, but it probably tasted delicious. "I've been alright. Been beat up a few times, but the life of a merchant is hard work. Harder than I ever figured it would be. And, really, I'm sorry about that bit. I knew you'd know how to help, and luckily, we docked here."

Her nudge made him smile and he nudged her back gently. "Besides, I didn't come here to talk about me. I came t'talk to you and spend time with you." He grabbed her hand and led her out of the kitchen. He was a bit bored of just standing in the kitchen and wished to be more comfortable.

[sarah]

Sarah smiled at Malachi, she always cared for him and no matter how long he would disappear for, she would always be happy to see him again even if she ended up missing him terribly when he was gone. She wondered about how it was the life of a merchant. She never questioned him all that much about his job but she was hoping that it was doing fine for him. She never liked it when he was far away from her for too long-she wanted to be with him, and forever. Though, she wasn’t sure about if his feelings were the same as hers. She blushed as she thought about it but soon shook her head and questioned him about if he wanted cookies.

She nodded as he agreed and went to the counters to grab one for him, chocolate flavoured and also one for her. She put them both onto a plate she put onto the counters. Her cheeks went into a darker shade of pink once again as he questioned her. She trailed of a little before deciding to risk it and admit part of her feelings. “From missing you…” she said playing with her hands until the tea was ready. She smiled once again as she watched him smelling the tea. “Oh it’s delicious, don’t worry, even Zach likes it.” She said feeling the need to involve her brother into the discussion when it was about manly things.

She laughed lightly as he nudged her back and smiled sheepishly once he spoke, making sure to grab her cup of tea as he grabbed her hand to lead her out of the kitchen. “You want to sit in the living room? It’s more comfortable.” She suggested while giving a squeeze to his hand. She didn’t want to let it go. “How long are you staying for?” She then asked wanting to know exactly how much time she could spend with her loved one.

[/justify]