Healing Hands of Time

The shock on Alex's face was rivaled only by the intense look of pain and guilt that followed. "Oh...oh my God, she--"

He felt numb. "She tried to..."

Unable to bring himself to finish the sentence, he fell silent.

"She tried," he agreed, nodding. He stared blankly at the two pieces of glass in his hands, then sighed, shaking his head. "Just wanted you to know. She'd kill me if she finds out I told, you, but I thought you had a right to know... How she really feels towards you."

"I'm so sorry...this is all my fault..." he breathed.

"No, it's not," Thatch replied matter-of-factly. "There was nothing you could've done." He kneeled, put two pieces together, and ran his thumb along the crack where they met, merging them.

Alex nodded slowly, glad to have heard it from someone objectively. "...I still...I wish there could have been something I could do. I feel awful for all the pain she's been though, and I'm glad this is all over."

He pieced two particularly large sheets of glass together and held them up for Thatch.

"You and me both, pal." Biting his lip, Thatch ran his palm over the glass. "D'you think we shoudl get these up there before they get too huge?" he asked, jerking a thumb at the empty window.

Alex nodded, "Yes, let's."

Carefully, he grabbed a pane and between the two of them, they put it in place.

"And if anyone comments on the glass, we'll just say that the architect wanted it that way," Thatch laughed.

"It's...abstract. Stained glass always looks that way."

He turned his head to the right and squinted. "I think."

"It does now." A few more little pieces remained on the ground, and Thatch kneeled to pick them up. "No one will be the wiser..."

Alex grinned, "We hope."

Thatch nodded, lapsing into silence. And then...

"How did you two... meet?"

Alex half-grinned. "I was having a fight with my father and I went for a walk in the field. I tripped over her."

Thatch paused, frowning. "Uh-huh... And she was on the ground... why?"

"That's what I wanted to know. She'd run away from home, she told me."

"Ah." A nod. "Yeah, that's right. I wondered why she'd come home all flustered..."

"Did she?" he laughed, "Hm."

He paused, "How'd you meet Aislin?" he asked, grinning, "Fair's fair."

Thatch blinked, then laughed. "Yeah, alright. We were out on one of our little 'exploration trips', Door and Tremor and I, and we just kinda... ran into them. A total chance encounter."

Alex made a face. "And they stuck with you? You guys live with them now."

"Yeah, why?" Thatch gave a lopsided grin. "It may be a far cry from our old house, but... I actually prefer this over going home."

Alex laughed, "Just struck me odd that you moved in with strangers."

Thatch laughed, nodding. "Yeah, alright, that does sound a bit weird. But we'd traveled a bit before they actually let us stay over, and we got to know each other pretty well."

Alex smiled. "Interesting. How long'd that take?"

"About a week. During which I got slapped," he added with a grin.

"Aislin, I'm betting. She has a temper?" he laughed.