Saturday, May 10, 2008

Prompt: 2.14.2 B. Going Home/TBS

You've been away from someone or someplace for a very long time. Write a fic about the moment that you first see the person or the place, and the feeling you have. Has anything changed? Have you changed?

watching soccer, iconillusion prank 1, two3, together time, What a happy guy, we three, ack, coffee, Hey Joe, jana's bad news, Congo, can only watch, Luka and Joe 3, I have to go, what a smile, Congo praying, observing, with patient, bedtalk, two2, betrayed, first time, the vice, I don't know, sleeping, two1, welcome, Neck view, closer happy at work, Water run, Luka and Danijela, mirror, youth, Skyes 2, examining, back at County, father and son, heehee, surprise, first kiss, Wedding Dance, little lost, guilty, little drunk, Mourning, Luka and Joe with Niko, drained and alone, resting, smile for JD, long day, Congo goodbye, Danijela and Jasna, decision, white shirt, Janaines what, Remembering Marko, Coming Home, saying good-bye to my family, calling home, Congo collage, red coat, in thought, FB Downcast, crossed arms, rehab, Janaines Cute Joe, jana's lucky man, thoughtful, walking Joe, AndrewJoe, FB snuggling Tata, healing sleep, marry me, Luka and Joe 1, Wedding Picture, Skyes 1, Congo waiting, serious thought, eyes, ID, family time, after the rush, giggly, arguing a point, deep thinking, I missed you, tired, ouch, laugh, intimacy, I'm safe, smirking, fatigues, making out, Skyes 3, FB with Tata, Luka and Joe 2, young love, arrival, Congo prayer, chewing his thumb, dimple, Vukovar, cold outside, Congo feverish, Luka and Joe 4, black shirt leaning, Proud Tata, AidanJoe, Mamas gone

How long had it been? Six years, seven? As he sat on the plane, waiting for it to taxi into it's position at the terminal, Luka was surprised to find his stomach tightening into a knot.

What was he nervous about? It wasn't as if he and his father hadn't been talking during those years of separation, and there certainly hadn't been any sort of ill will when they had last parted, so, what was it then?

As his gaze wandered to the view outside the plane, Luka tried to hone in on something specific that might be darkening what should be a happy reunion. It would be easy to lay the blame for how he was feeling on his relationship, or his lack of a relationship with his brother, Niko. After all, what had it been, almost ten years since they had last exchanged anything more then an impersonal hi, how are you, or discussed anything other than their father? It was time to try and undo what his pain and anger at the loss of his family had done to his relationship with his brother. At one time they had been best friends, was it possible for them to find their way back to that place again or had they waited too long?

This wasn't only about Niko though, this was about the relationship he had with his father as well, and the secrets and feelings he'd kept from the man for far too long. As the passengers began de-boarding he knew that the conversations that would come were not going to be easy ones, but, they were ones that were long overdue.  These were conversations he had run away from, conversations he had hidden from, but, with the news that now brought him back to Croatia, they were ones that now needed to be addressed, no matter how painful they might be. While much of the talk would undoubtedly revolve around Danijela and the children, it was time he shared other secrets with his father.  He would use this time to talk about what happened in the Congo, he would tell him about the mugger, and Curtis Ames. Hardest of all though would be talking about Abby, and about his fears when he thought they might lose Joe.

Once through Customs, Luka scanned those waiting for either his father or brother, if not both.  He'd left Croatia all those years ago vowing never to return.  At the time, he was convinced that all it held were reminders of death and destruction, and those who had been taken from him too soon. Coming back now, he hoped it would trigger other memories, memories of happier times.  Who knows, maybe one day he could bring Abby and Joe back with him, and he could share with them the places that meant so much to him what now seems a lifetime ago. At the sight of his father and Niko in the crowd he raised a hand to wave. Had his father always been so small?


 

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