Fic: Our Last Days as Children (Aaron/Ji Yeon)
Title: Our Last Days as Children
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Nervously, she pulled the bag over her shoulder tightly against her. Everything in the world that really mattered to her was in this bag. And everyone in the world who really mattered to her was waiting somewhere in this crowd. Or, at least she hoped.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. At all. I wish but alas...
Author's Note: For lostfichallenge, challenge #88: reunion.
Ji Yeon was barely of the plane before she was scanning the crowd for him. He wasn’t the tallest, so he could easily be hidden among the group somewhere, but all of the doubt and fear that had sprouted in her brain was growing stronger in a matter of seconds. What if this wasn’t as simple as she had thought it would be? What if he couldn’t meet her? Then what was she going to do?
Nervously, she pulled the bag over her shoulder tightly against her. Everything in the world that really mattered to her was in this bag. And everyone in the world who really mattered to her was waiting somewhere in this crowd. Or, at least she hoped.
“Ji!”
She turned sharply to her right, and there, standing next to a pillar, back a bit from the crowd, he was waiting for her. Sandy blonde hair, beautiful eyes, amazing smile. He was just how she remembered him. Only, even better because he was real and he was right there and she could touch him. She didn’t really know how much she had missed him until she saw him again.
As she broke into a run her bag began to swing wildly, but now she didn’t even care. In fact, she could care less if the strap snapped and everything she owned went spilling across the floor. She had Aaron again. He was here.
He caught her pretty much in mid-air and pulled her so close there was no air left between them. She buried her face in his neck and her hands in his hair. His arms were so tight around her, and he held her small back in his hands. “Can I tell you something?” she whispered.
“Sure,” he chuckled. She smiled.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be able to get away,” she confessed. “It was all I could think about on the plane…that you wouldn’t be here.” She closed her eyes and held onto his neck tightly.
“Well I’m here,” he replied. “There’s no way I wouldn’t be.”
He set her down but kept her close. As she looked up at him she couldn’t help but remember the last time she had seen him. They had been in the airport then too, but that was where the similarities ended. Hello was so much better than goodbye. He lifted his hand and brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes, like he almost couldn’t believe she was real. She knew the feeling.
“I love you,” he told her. She turned her face into his hand. It was so nice to hear that without two phones and several thousand miles between the two of them.
Leaning her forehead against his, she nodded vigorously. “I love you too,” she told him. He kissed her and they might as well have been the only two people in the airport. The irony of it all was not lost on her. “We’re really doing this now, right?” she whispered to him.
Aaron reached down and picked his shoulder bag up off the floor. He pulled it over his shoulder and nodded, reaching down and holding her hand. “If you’re in, I’m in,” he answered. She smiled and pulled her bag close to her again. She wondered if they looked like two kids running away from home. The fact that they were notwithstanding.
“I’m in,” she said. She was aware it might have seemed melodramatic, what they were doing, and that to someone who didn’t understand all that had happened and who their parents were this would all seem incredibly immature and clichéd. The truth was so much more complicated than any of that. This was the first time she had seen Aaron in over a year and a half after spending nearly her whole life from age six to age sixteen with him. All she wanted was to be with him.
“Let’s go then,” he said, giving her hand a tug toward the elevators. After the plane ride she’d spent all but chewing her fingernails off, she couldn’t agree more. Seoul was so far away from Los Angeles, but never further away than today. She just wanted to get to Aaron and disappear. And now she was, and they were.
“Is this your Uncle Jack’s truck?” Ji asked. It was looking even more ragged than it was the last time she had seen it.
Aaron nodded, taking her bag from her and putting it in the backseat. “He gave it to me as a birthday present,” he answered as she climbed in the passenger seat. She truly hated that she had missed Aaron’s 18th birthday. “It’s a piece of crap, but for some reason I’ve always loved it.”
She smiled. “I remember.”
Aaron turned to face her, put his arm around the back of her headrest, and looked her in the eyes. “Are you ready for this? Really ready?” he asked her. She put both of her hands on his face and pulled him into a deep kiss. To say she had been dreaming of this moment for a long time would be an understatement. It was sweet of him to ask, but if it were her in the drivers’ seat, they would have been on the highway by now.
“Drive Aaron,” she told him, breathlessly.
He nodded, put his foot on the gas, and they were gone. At long last.
*
One Month Earlier:
“This is insane,” he argued. “Ji, are we really just going to…what? Pick up and run off?”
“It was your idea,” she reminded him. He had said it not ten minutes ago. She heard him sigh. She could almost picture him, in his bedroom, crouched over and whispering into his phone, hand running through his shaggy hair. He always did that when he was frustrated.
“I was venting. I didn’t mean it.”
“You did.” She knew him. She knew when he had said it, he had meant it. She knew he thought about it all the time. And as of late, so had she.
He sighed again. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why not, Aaron? I have money in a trust from my Grandfather. I can meet you in LA and we can just…go. Drive away. Get on another flight, something.” She was aware she didn’t have a real plan, and she sounded a bit desperate, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Just like that?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just like that.”
“This is insane,” he repeated.
“You’re the one who said it, Aaron,” she insisted. Now that she had the idea in her head she found she couldn’t let it go. “You’re the one that said it was their bullshit, not ours, that they don’t just get to lie to us and come back and try to be our parents when they’ve missed our whole lives. You’re the one who said they don’t even know who we are, and you were right!”
“I know,” he answered. “I know I said it and I know I’m right but Ji…can you really just pack a bag and leave?”
“Can you?”
“Of course I can,” he answered quickly. “It’s all I can think about sometimes.”
“I know,” she said, sympathetically. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for Aaron, how much of his childhood had been built on a lie. “Why can’t we just do it? Let’s just go.” She would spend all day on the phone convincing Aaron that they had to do this if that was what she had to do.
“We can do this Aaron. Pack a bag and meet me at LAX. I want to and you want to. We need to. I have to get out of her and you don’t want to stay there.” A long silence followed and her heart was in her throat the whole time.
“Okay,” he finally said. She stopped breathing.
“Yeah?” she asked, in the smallest voice, almost not daring to believe.
“Yeah,” he affirmed. “You’re right. All I want is to get the hell out of here and be with you. You tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”
“Yeah?” she asked, in the same tone of voice, still caught on the edge of hope. Aaron chuckled lovingly and she wished so badly that he was here with her right now.
“Yeah,” he answered softly. “I love you, Ji.”
A few tears spilled down her face as she smiled. “I love you too, Aaron,” she replied. “So much.”
“Call me and tell me when to get you and I’ll be there. I swear,” he told her. She closed her eyes and held her hand over her heart, willing herself to breathe evenly but not quite able to force herself to do it. She couldn’t believe how hard her heart was beating. She could hardly believe this might finally be happening.
“This is gonna work,” she whispered, almost but not quite talking to herself. “You and me. This is gonna work.” She would make sure of it.
“It’ll work,” he promised. And she believed him. She knew, between the two of them, they would find a way.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Nervously, she pulled the bag over her shoulder tightly against her. Everything in the world that really mattered to her was in this bag. And everyone in the world who really mattered to her was waiting somewhere in this crowd. Or, at least she hoped.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. At all. I wish but alas...
Author's Note: For lostfichallenge, challenge #88: reunion.
Ji Yeon was barely of the plane before she was scanning the crowd for him. He wasn’t the tallest, so he could easily be hidden among the group somewhere, but all of the doubt and fear that had sprouted in her brain was growing stronger in a matter of seconds. What if this wasn’t as simple as she had thought it would be? What if he couldn’t meet her? Then what was she going to do?
Nervously, she pulled the bag over her shoulder tightly against her. Everything in the world that really mattered to her was in this bag. And everyone in the world who really mattered to her was waiting somewhere in this crowd. Or, at least she hoped.
“Ji!”
She turned sharply to her right, and there, standing next to a pillar, back a bit from the crowd, he was waiting for her. Sandy blonde hair, beautiful eyes, amazing smile. He was just how she remembered him. Only, even better because he was real and he was right there and she could touch him. She didn’t really know how much she had missed him until she saw him again.
As she broke into a run her bag began to swing wildly, but now she didn’t even care. In fact, she could care less if the strap snapped and everything she owned went spilling across the floor. She had Aaron again. He was here.
He caught her pretty much in mid-air and pulled her so close there was no air left between them. She buried her face in his neck and her hands in his hair. His arms were so tight around her, and he held her small back in his hands. “Can I tell you something?” she whispered.
“Sure,” he chuckled. She smiled.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be able to get away,” she confessed. “It was all I could think about on the plane…that you wouldn’t be here.” She closed her eyes and held onto his neck tightly.
“Well I’m here,” he replied. “There’s no way I wouldn’t be.”
He set her down but kept her close. As she looked up at him she couldn’t help but remember the last time she had seen him. They had been in the airport then too, but that was where the similarities ended. Hello was so much better than goodbye. He lifted his hand and brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes, like he almost couldn’t believe she was real. She knew the feeling.
“I love you,” he told her. She turned her face into his hand. It was so nice to hear that without two phones and several thousand miles between the two of them.
Leaning her forehead against his, she nodded vigorously. “I love you too,” she told him. He kissed her and they might as well have been the only two people in the airport. The irony of it all was not lost on her. “We’re really doing this now, right?” she whispered to him.
Aaron reached down and picked his shoulder bag up off the floor. He pulled it over his shoulder and nodded, reaching down and holding her hand. “If you’re in, I’m in,” he answered. She smiled and pulled her bag close to her again. She wondered if they looked like two kids running away from home. The fact that they were notwithstanding.
“I’m in,” she said. She was aware it might have seemed melodramatic, what they were doing, and that to someone who didn’t understand all that had happened and who their parents were this would all seem incredibly immature and clichéd. The truth was so much more complicated than any of that. This was the first time she had seen Aaron in over a year and a half after spending nearly her whole life from age six to age sixteen with him. All she wanted was to be with him.
“Let’s go then,” he said, giving her hand a tug toward the elevators. After the plane ride she’d spent all but chewing her fingernails off, she couldn’t agree more. Seoul was so far away from Los Angeles, but never further away than today. She just wanted to get to Aaron and disappear. And now she was, and they were.
“Is this your Uncle Jack’s truck?” Ji asked. It was looking even more ragged than it was the last time she had seen it.
Aaron nodded, taking her bag from her and putting it in the backseat. “He gave it to me as a birthday present,” he answered as she climbed in the passenger seat. She truly hated that she had missed Aaron’s 18th birthday. “It’s a piece of crap, but for some reason I’ve always loved it.”
She smiled. “I remember.”
Aaron turned to face her, put his arm around the back of her headrest, and looked her in the eyes. “Are you ready for this? Really ready?” he asked her. She put both of her hands on his face and pulled him into a deep kiss. To say she had been dreaming of this moment for a long time would be an understatement. It was sweet of him to ask, but if it were her in the drivers’ seat, they would have been on the highway by now.
“Drive Aaron,” she told him, breathlessly.
He nodded, put his foot on the gas, and they were gone. At long last.
*
One Month Earlier:
“This is insane,” he argued. “Ji, are we really just going to…what? Pick up and run off?”
“It was your idea,” she reminded him. He had said it not ten minutes ago. She heard him sigh. She could almost picture him, in his bedroom, crouched over and whispering into his phone, hand running through his shaggy hair. He always did that when he was frustrated.
“I was venting. I didn’t mean it.”
“You did.” She knew him. She knew when he had said it, he had meant it. She knew he thought about it all the time. And as of late, so had she.
He sighed again. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why not, Aaron? I have money in a trust from my Grandfather. I can meet you in LA and we can just…go. Drive away. Get on another flight, something.” She was aware she didn’t have a real plan, and she sounded a bit desperate, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Just like that?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just like that.”
“This is insane,” he repeated.
“You’re the one who said it, Aaron,” she insisted. Now that she had the idea in her head she found she couldn’t let it go. “You’re the one that said it was their bullshit, not ours, that they don’t just get to lie to us and come back and try to be our parents when they’ve missed our whole lives. You’re the one who said they don’t even know who we are, and you were right!”
“I know,” he answered. “I know I said it and I know I’m right but Ji…can you really just pack a bag and leave?”
“Can you?”
“Of course I can,” he answered quickly. “It’s all I can think about sometimes.”
“I know,” she said, sympathetically. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for Aaron, how much of his childhood had been built on a lie. “Why can’t we just do it? Let’s just go.” She would spend all day on the phone convincing Aaron that they had to do this if that was what she had to do.
“We can do this Aaron. Pack a bag and meet me at LAX. I want to and you want to. We need to. I have to get out of her and you don’t want to stay there.” A long silence followed and her heart was in her throat the whole time.
“Okay,” he finally said. She stopped breathing.
“Yeah?” she asked, in the smallest voice, almost not daring to believe.
“Yeah,” he affirmed. “You’re right. All I want is to get the hell out of here and be with you. You tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”
“Yeah?” she asked, in the same tone of voice, still caught on the edge of hope. Aaron chuckled lovingly and she wished so badly that he was here with her right now.
“Yeah,” he answered softly. “I love you, Ji.”
A few tears spilled down her face as she smiled. “I love you too, Aaron,” she replied. “So much.”
“Call me and tell me when to get you and I’ll be there. I swear,” he told her. She closed her eyes and held her hand over her heart, willing herself to breathe evenly but not quite able to force herself to do it. She couldn’t believe how hard her heart was beating. She could hardly believe this might finally be happening.
“This is gonna work,” she whispered, almost but not quite talking to herself. “You and me. This is gonna work.” She would make sure of it.
“It’ll work,” he promised. And she believed him. She knew, between the two of them, they would find a way.