Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"Well I guess it's no' a gift, because y'still owe me somethin'. You have t'tell me what you took." It had been on his mind constantly after she told him, and he'd searched high and low to figure out what was missing, even going so far as to ask family members if they'd lost anything.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well...you never caught me so I don't have to tell you a thing." Fiona said with a hint of a smile on her lips. "I like the idea that I can drive Samuel Ghis a little crazy."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Oh, come on," Sam sighed, but he couldn't help a little smile. "After 'ow nice I've been?"

He stood, hands in his pockets as he strode away confidently. "Then I guess I won' tell you what I took either, hm?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"Samuel Ghis is incapable of stealing. I don't believe that you've taken anything from me." Fiona said, suddenly interested in the fact that Sam was willing to play this game with her.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Samuel Ghis has a very talented brother-in-law who can steal anythin' an' find out everythin'," Sam shot back with a smirk as he paused.

 

[heartofcourage]

"So, you employed the Lord Protector of Scotland to steal something from me?" Fiona asked, tilting her head to one side to look at him in the moonlight. "You might make a thief yourself one day."

She stood from the bench, her hand reaching into her pocket to pull out what she had taken from Sam. "I will show you what I have if you show me what you have."

 

[KieranSoares]

"It's in my room," Sam welcomed her to follow him. He opened up the locked drawer of his desk and pulled out a little wooden box that she'd never seen before. He handed it over to her, and inside was a familiar silver pocket watch that her grandfather had sold while trying to keep them from starving. It had a gorgeous design laid into the front. The visage of a chimera's three heads shone despite tarnishing- a common character in his fairytales- and on the back was laid a Greek beta, equivalent to the letter B for his family name. It had been his father's and he'd given it up to feed Fiona rather than save it for her to keep as an heirloom.

"Some shifty merchant was tryin' t'sell it fer more'n any common man makes in a year. I asked 'im where it was from an' 'e told me t'leave 'is stall. Kell found out 'e stole it from th'man tha' bought it off yer grandfather, so... I 'ad Kell steal it back fer you. But I kept it til now."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona was deathly quiet as Sam handed her the pocket watch. She had remembered it from her early days with him, but it had disappeared a long time ago. Turning the delicate piece over in her hands, she looked over the familiar etchings, knowing that her grandfather had cherished the piece and had given it up for her.

There was nothing that she could say as she looked towards Sam. Something of her grandfather's, something that had meant the world to him, had been returned to her. It was selfless, even though it had been stolen.

"It's not rightfully mine, though." Fiona murmured softly as she placed the watch back into the box and handed it back to Sam. "It needs to go to the man who bought it from my grandfather."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I thought y'might say tha'." Sam smiled, opening up his desk again to pull out a paper that had a signature at the bottom. "It was a friend o' yer grandfather's. Kell went t'ask 'im if 'e would sell it to us. He'd passed away a long time ago, but 'is daughter insisted 'er Da wanted t'sell it back t'Ephriam or return it t'yer grandfather's family. An' yer th'only known living relative. It's yours."

 

[heartofcourage]

Looking down at the polished box in her hands, Fiona slowly pulled it back towards her, cradling it against her chest as if it were the most precious thing in the world. "Thank you, Sam."

It was a few moments later before she reached into her pocket and pulled out the button that she had been carrying for so long. It had come off a coat that Sam had worn, probably pulled off by the brush in the woods as she had been chased. It had the image of a hunting dog etched into it. She was a little sad to see it go.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam reached out to take the button, looking at it with a mix of confusion as to why she'd thought to take something that meant so little to most, and relief that it'd come back to him. "I thought it was gone forever," he murmured. "But I never thought ye'd take something like a button. My great-grandpa wore a coat made with buttons like this... his was fallin' apart when 'e died. My gran kept th'buttons an' made my favorite vest with 'em. These're probably my favorite thing she ever gave me."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It was unusual and out of place in the woods." Fiona said as he asked her why she had kept it. "I'm glad to give it back to you if it means so much."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam smiled and he couldn't help leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Hold on," he murmured, going over to his wardrobe to pull out a small crate full of paper-wrapped parcels. He set it on his desk and opened the top package, showing her a beautiful leather-bound book with the name 'Ephriam Blackstone etched into the front along with the title 'Loch Fae.'

"My Da has all his books. We 'ad them copied," Sam murmured, offering the book. "There's seven more in here."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Sam..." She murmured, nearly in tears as he showed her a copy of her grandfather's book, telling her that he had the entire set copied. "No more. My heart can't take anymore."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Jus' hear me out," Sam murmured, setting the book aside. "I'm no' doing any o' this t'make you love me 'r make you owe me. I don' know what it's like t'lose everythin', an' I hate th'fact tha' there are people who do. Your grandfather was th'person you loved most, but you don' 'ave 'ardly anything left an' you never got t'see what 'is life was all about 'r even learn what made 'im who 'e was. I know some books an' a watch can' make it all better... but y'deserve t'keep 'is life's work. I don' know what I'd do if I didn' have these buttons from my Gran... Only other things I 'ave of 'er are things she sewed an' knitted fer me, but these buttons were part o' her history, part o' the memory o' her father tha' she wouldn' 'ave trusted t'just anyone."

 

[heartofcourage]

She was quiet as she heard Sam's speech, telling her that she deserved to have her grandfather's things back. There had been many times in the darkest times where she had wished for just that. She wanted something of his to hold on to besides her memories and that book full of his hurried handwriting. He was giving it all back to her as much as he could.

Fiona leaned forward and kissed Sam's cheek, tears gathering in her blue eyes. She didn't stop them as they fell, her heart aching and full at the same time.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam wrapped his arms around her, welcoming her to take whatever comfort she needed or wanted. He didn't say anything else. Nothing else was needed. He just wanted her to understand he cared, and that she deserved more than she gave herself credit for.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona wrapped her arms around his chest tightly, sobbing against his shoulder. She never cried, choosing instead to keep the hurt deep inside. There were always other things to worry about, like Will and having a roof over her head. Now, the layers had been ripped away and Fiona Blackstone found herself weeping like a little girl.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam felt his own heart clench at the sounds of her weeping, and he kissed her cheek to let her know it was all okay, that she could let everything out and he would be there to hold her up.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona cried for what seemed like forever, finally ending with hiccups that shook her slender frame. She was exhausted and sore, inside and out. Her heart ached as well as her bones. Only Sam's arms around her waist kept her standing.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam let Fiona sit down on the edge of his bed and he sat across from her in his desk chair, still holding one hand while he lifted the other to wipe away her last few tears. "I never want to make you cry again," he murmured.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You didn't make me cry, Sam." Fiona said as his strong hand wiped away the tears from her cheeks. "It's been a long time since I've cried, if I'm honest."

 

[KieranSoares]

"It's okay to cry sometimes," Sam told her, pausing when he realized he was starting to tell Fiona exactly what Julia always told him and he never seemed to listen, trying to harden his heart to everything.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona felt him tense slightly, a look crossing his features that was both confusing and heartening. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I just realized my Ma was right... about everythin'. She always tells me it's okay t'be sad 'r happy, tha' I'm allowed to cry even if I'm a grown man, tha' love an' family're more important than anythin' else... All sorts o' things like tha'. An' I keep catchin' myself tellin' you things she still tells me an' she thinks I don' listen."