grishaswxnd:

Reunion

Inej’s feet glided over the ground as she sprinted towards them, Kaz barely able to keep up with his cane. 

“Mama! Papa!” Inej shouted again, her braid flying behind her.

She could see them clearly now, the early morning sun shining on their bronze skin. She could see the wide smile on her parents faces—and the tears streaming down them. 

Her heart pounded hard in her chest, threatening to break free, as she halted before them. For a moment she just stood there, taking in the the faces she had dreamt of seeing again for the past two years. She took another step forward at the same time her parents did. Inej wasn’t sure what happened next or how she ended up curled in her Mama’s arms on the hard wood flooring of the docks, her Papa’s arms encircling the two of them. They stayed like that for a few minutes, shoulders shaking with sobs trying to come loose, as Kaz lingered on the side.

Ever so slowly, Inej lifted her head, blinking several times to make sure it wasn’t all an illusion. Her voice was choked when she said, “I’ve missed you. And… I have a lot to tell you.”

They stood up and her father kissed her forehead like he had done so many times when she was growing up. Suddenly she felt like the small child she had been so long ago. Her father spoke, “You can tell us later. Right now, I simply want to be with my little girl again.”

Her mother’s voice sounded like it had when she was a child—like flowing nectar from one of her geraniums. “And we’ll be here to listen to whatever you need to say, my little acrobat.” She glanced away from Inej, “How about you introduce us to the young man in black waiting for you.”

She’d nearly forgotten Kaz was standing there. His expression was unreadable as he watched her with his unblinking eyes. Inej wiped away her stray tears and held out a hand to him. He hesitated, but then grasped it firmly, as if he was a afraid to let go. Kaz walked towards her parents, his cane thudding in time with his footsteps. 

“Mama, Papa, this is… my friend.” 

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Ghafa. You may call me Kaz Brekker.”

They stood like that for a while. Her and Kaz’s fingers still entwined as they spoke to her mother and father. And to anyone passing by it would have been downright shocking to see the bastard of the barrel without his gloves, holding the Wraith’s hand and having a leisure chat with two Suli acrobats on the docks.

They spoke well into the afternoon before deciding to go for lunch. And as they were walking into the streets of the bustling city of Ketterdam—so quietly she almost missed it, her father whispered to her mother, “This will be the boy to bring her flowers.”