I'd gone over the scene a thousand times in my mind, played and replayed every possible variation, from the best to the worst. I wasn't going to expect too much, no matter what we'd been to each other--it had been years since she left me, and she'd spent that time first on the battlefield and then locked away in a military prison. Would I even know her now? I was determined to be there for her--but I wasn't going to push, either.

And then she stepped into the room, and all the scenarios and all the careful rules I'd laid out for myself vanished, because this was Violet, Violet standing here in the same room with me, thinner and sharper and with a scar on her face, but I didn't care, it was her.

Maybe she was feeling the same, because the edgy, careful, not-quite-certain look she'd been wearing when she came in dropped away like a cloak, leaving her standing there, vulnerable and unarmored, just looking at me with an almost-desperate intensity. There was silence for a moment. I literally couldn't think what to say--"Hi?" "How are you?" "How was the stockade?"--and then she whispered, "Ayla?" and I opened my arms and she crossed the room in two long strides and threw herself into them, and I knew we didn't need any words after all. Just this touch, and tears, and the sheer joy of finally being together.

We stood there crying, arms around each other, while the other travelers just smiled and shook their heads and went around.

I finally tugged on her hand. "C'mon."

She wiped her face against my sleeve and looked at me, still with that wide-eyed and slightly stunned expression. I'm sure mine was the same. "Where are we going?"

I grinned. Oh, my darling. "First we're going to go over to the main house so you can say hello to Garth and Imra and Mekt and Graym."

She caught that right away. "'First'?"

"Yup. Because after that I'm going to drag you off and we're going to make love until neither of us can stand up, and then we're going to do it some more."

Her face didn't change, she just gripped my hand tighter and started pulling me toward the 'port exit. "Hurry."

At the house Vi smiled and greeted everyone and was greeted in return. She let Garth kiss her cheek and nodded a polite hello to Imra and solemnly accepted a hug from Graym, that devil. She shook hands with Mekt, somewhat warily, and he accepted it with his new and calm grace. It’s not her fault, after all; the Legion fought Lightning Lord too many times, and too fiercely, to let all those old feelings just vanish. This was the first time she'd seen him since he'd gotten better.

Me, I just stood close and watched her. Vi was home, she'd come home to me and I was so, so thankful. The others must have sensed how badly I wanted to be alone with her, because after just a few minutes Garth told us to go on and get "reacquainted." He didn't have to say it twice. On our way out I glanced at Imra...and it had taken me a long time to learn to read her face, but I could tell she was amused. By our haste, and by the smile on my face that I couldn't stop even if I'd wanted to.

...It probably helped that Vi wouldn't let go of my hand, either.

Alone at last.

The nice thing about being part-owner in a family plantation--even one that's currently in some financial distress--is that you can pretty much decide to call a piece of it "yours." This was mine, a cabin far enough away from the main house for privacy. No one would come looking for us; my twin would make sure of that.

And this scene, too, I'd imagined a thousand times. Except that once we got inside she abruptly dropped my hand and stepped a few paces into the room, holding herself very still.

"Vi? What is it, love?"

She turned, and I saw such anguish in her eyes. "Ayla, you know...what I had to do during the war, I--"

"Shhhh." I moved closer and put a finger to her lips. "I know, Vi. And I know that no matter how many times I remind you that you were only doing what you had to, you'll keep beating yourself up about it. But not tonight." I took her hands in mine. "I've been dreaming of having you here."

She blushed--oh, I loved that, that I could still make this battle-hard warrior blush like a schoolgirl--and squeezed my hands. "Me, too."

"Then for the love of God, would you kiss me already?"

She leaned in and caught my mouth and oh, the taste of her after so long...like I remembered but different too, as if everything she'd endured had changed even this. Richer, somehow. More complex. But still essentially Violet.

I traced the scar over her eye, and she flinched away from my fingers. "It's horrible."

"Oh, no." I kissed the edge of her eyelid. "It makes you look dangerous. Don't you know I like that?"

She grinned. "Oh, so THAT explains--" and paused.

"What? Brin? Vi, honey, it's okay, that's all in the past. And sure, that was part of it. But...here." I slowly kissed every centimeter of the scar, over her eyelid to where it ended on her cheek. "It's beautiful because it's part of you."

"Oh, God...Ayla...." She kissed me hard, fingers coming up to tangle in my hair. She was crying again a little against my mouth but it was okay, this was just joy and relief at finally being together again. "Ayla. Ayla."

"Love you," I whispered back, and her arms tightened around me.

Finally she pulled back a little and looked me in the eye. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"Leaving you."

I tried to protest. "You had to--"

She wouldn't let me finish. "No. I didn't. I know you'd forgive me anything and I love you for that, but I was wrong. It wasn't anything but stupid pride that made me go. You'd think I'd have gotten some kind of...perspective with the Legion, but Imsk called and like a good little patriotic Imskian soldier I ran home. I should have known better. I should have stayed with you. But Ayla--" she took my hand--"I promise. I'm never leaving you again."

It was my turn to sniffle. "Oh, Vi..."

She kissed me quickly and stepped back. "I'm all grungy from the trip. I need a shower." She smiled. "Join me?"

That sounded like the confident Vi I remembered. "Definitely."

I followed her into the 'fresher. After her letter yesterday I'd come here and filled the place up with things she liked--bath gels, candles, her favorite foods--'cause I wasn't letting her out of here for awhile. I saw her smile as she realized what I'd done, and that made it all worth it.

Without any ceremony she unzipped her travel clothes. She was so thin. Her muscles stood out in relief. She'd always been pale-skinned, but it looked like she hadn't seen the sun for about a year.

She was beautiful, and I told her so.

"I look like a stick. With no hair." She ran a hand ruefully over the top of her head, black hair shorter than I'd ever seen it. "But you look gorgeous. All tan and healthy and--glowing."

I laughed. "It's Winath. You'll see. A couple weeks of good food and sunshine and you'll feel so much better."

"Being with you makes me feel better." She held out her hand and I took it, stepping into the shower.

"Touch me, Vi." Her hands slid over my shoulders, and I shivered.

I hadn't been celibate all these years but no one touched me like she did. We'd actually had that conversation before she left.

{{ She'd been throwing clothes into a duffel bag. "Listen, Ayla, I don't know when I'll be back."

"Whenever. I'll be here."

She stopped, came over, and hugged me. "I know. But this could be over in weeks--or years. I don't want you to--be alone."

I think my mouth dropped open. "Wha--Vi, I wouldn't..."

"You shouldn't be alone. As long as you're here for me if--when I get back."

All I could do was promise, and hold her close until she had to leave. }}

But now, Mother-God, together again at last, her hands on my body; it was almost too much to believe. I kissed her over and over, tasting her, loving the feel of her under my mouth and hands.

The touch of her hand on my breasts, sliding down between my legs was so intense.... "Bed, now!"

Hand-in-hand we ran out of the shower and tumbled into bed, giggling as we rediscovered each other's sensitive spots. Did you know Vi giggles? She does. And she moans beautifully, too.

We rolled together, hands and mouths sliding everywhere, I couldn't get enough of her. The way she fit against me like she'd never left. The taste of her skin, the scent of her passion, the look on her face as she shuddered and pressed against me closer and closer until there wasn't an inch of space between us. Her thigh slid between my legs, still wet from the shower and our mingled sweat, and that merest touch was enough to send me over. She caught my cry in between her lips and gave me back her own as we fell back, locked together, never wanting to let go again.

But as it happened we only had a few days before things started happening again, Roxxas’ murder of Blok and his attack on the Lightning Plantation, and the Khunds and the Dark Circle, and even Glorith....

It didn't matter, none of it, because we were together. Safe harbor with each other, and with the reborn Legion of Super-Heroes--not the same as it was, it could never be the same, but still the Legion. A dream that will never die.

The same as my love for her. Until the end, Violet. And after.

{end}

*sighs* Well, if you know the Legion...you know that the end did come, not in the shape of character deaths in-story but in DC Comics' decision to completely reboot the Legion of Super-Heroes and erase over thirty years of history. Among the many casualties was Vi and Ayla's relationship, and we lost one of the few on-panel same-sex couples in comics.

But the readers remember; and in that, the story and Ayla's last words stand true.

Long Live the Legion!