[For Chuck]

[piemakerprince]

It didn't take Ned long at all to head out the compound after Olive told him of her and Chuck's discussion - rather, their conversation that happened to revolve around secrets and the telling of them. Two such secrets were plenty, but it was the third that had Ned almost on the run once he heard it. He couldn't stand the thought of Chuck alone for

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[agirlnamedchuck]

The facts were these: one Charlotte Charles, formerly dead and now alive again on a tropical island without fear of death at the hands of one Piemaker was indeed crying near the large waterfall. They were tears of a realization of osmething she'd always quietly known as bittersweet as it was having more joy than sadness in them.

The truth was that she had always known that her aunts were not biologically hers, being family that married in and took her in after her father had died. The idea that they were in fact family was something of a great comfort for now her childhood family tree could finally be completed.

[piemakerprince]

Ned hadn't been running, but he hadn't been walking along at a leisurely stroll, either. Every passing minute meant Chuck alone with the sort of news that could crush someone, and he couldn't stand the thought.

He'd only been planning on looking around for a second (like every other place he'd passed on the way), but Ned spotted her right away. Ned could spot Chuck in a crowded room with a blindfold on.

Only slightly rumpled and a little overheated from his non-leisurely pace down the path, Ned made his way over to Chuck, stopping just behind her. He could reach a hand out to touch her, but he was unsure of how she felt, or if she needed or even wanted comfort. "Chuck? I just heard - Olive told me she told you about your mother."

[agirlnamedchuck]

To compare these tears and this event to the realisation that the man she loved had once been the boy who accidentally killed her father would have been a misstep. While they were in fact waterworks they were a very different sort.

Looking up as the Piemaker approached, there were tears on the cheeks and in the eyes of Charlotte Charles in addition to something else partially miraculous: a smile.

"She did," she sniffed. "I...I'm happy."

[piemakerprince]

"Oh? Oh, you're happy, that's..." Ned wasn't quite sure just what it was, but he couldn't help the beginnings of a tentative smile of his own when he saw Chuck's. He couldn't imagine how she'd been able to take something that could have been so bad and made it something good, but that was one of the things he'd always liked best about her. "That's good."

A knot he hadn't been aware of in his chest (most likely because Ned often felt that way over something or another) loosened, and Ned remembered he could close the gap between them. So he did, wiping away more than a few stray tears from Chuck's cheek. "Are you sure you're okay?"