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Sara will always remember the first time she took the Waverider back to the early months of 2016. She knew she wasn't supposed to and she knew if her team had been hear they would tell her just that. But she had given everyone some time off, dropped them with their families and close friends or, in Mick's case, Aruba.
She had taken herself back to two weeks after she had first left with Rip and the original team. She had stood outside Laurel's building for a couple of hours, and then sat outside her door for another before Laurel came home.
"Sara?" She asked as her sister stood up. "Is that you? Are you back?"
"Just for a couple hours. Then I have to go pick the others up." Sara told Laurel, hugging her sister tightly as if to make sure she was really there.
"Why can't you stay?" Laurel asked, obviously disappointed.
"If your neighbours heard they might think I'm crazy." Joked Sara, as her sister opened the door and let them both in.
"How's the mission going? Stopped the immortal bad guy yet?"
"Like nearly a year ago now." Sara laughed. "That's old news."
"A year ago? Then why didn't you come home sooner? Why aren't you staying?" Questioned Laurel.
"Because, we blew up the assholes who did control time and made sure it stayed on track so we took over making sure the timeline stays the way it is." Explained Sara.
"That doesn't answer why you haven't visited already." Laurel pointed out.
"I did, in the future." Replied Sara.
"So, why now? Why today? You literally missed Nyssa by about an hour by the way." Said Laurel. "If that's why you chose today."
"It's okay, I came to see you." Sara smiled, hugging her sister.
"Sara, why didn't you just go see me in the future when I'd remember your other visits?" Asked Laurel.
"I couldn't." Sara told her, turning away.
"Am I dead?" Asked Laurel, fear obvious in her voice. Sara just nodded sadly, which made Laurel choke back a sob and fall on to the couch.
"When?" Asked Laurel after a few minutes of silence.
"I can't tell you. I wish I could tell you but I can't." Said Sara, starting to obviously cry along with her sister rather than the invisible tears she had been shedding up to that point.
"It's okay." Laurel reassured her. "I just want to be prepared."
"I just really miss you." Sara justified, wiping her eyes.
"I missed you when you died too." Replied Laurel. "Now, tell me all about your time travelling."
"So you know Lancelot?" Asked Sara. "Totally based off me."
"No way!" Gasped Laurel. "That's so cool!"
"Yeah, I kissed Guinevere and after I told her that I enjoyed meeting her, she said 'And I you, Sara
Lance a lot.' It was awesome."
"Of course you did. What else has been going on?" Asked Laurel, not wanting to hear about any of the people Sara had slept with.
"I nearly got hung as a witch after getting stranded in 1693 Salem." Boasted Sara. "Actually thought I was going to die until the team arrived."
"How did you manage that?" Laurel questioned, feeling that she already knew the answer.
"Slept with most of the women in the village." Sara said with a smirk.
They talked for most of the evening, exchanging stories from their adventures as vigilantes. Once Laurel fell asleep however, Sara left quietly, leaving a note explaining that she couldn't tell anyone what had happened.
~~~
Sara came back just under a week later. Well, for Laurel anyway, it was over six months for her.
It probably wasn't a good idea considering everything that was going on with Oliver and Felicity and William and the fact she couldn't help without seriously screwing up the time stream.
But her and Laurel talked some more and whatever had obviously upset Sara seemed to be washed away over the next few hours.
~~~
From Laurel's perspective, Sara visited a lot. At least once a week every week. But Sara spaced out her visits quite well, stretching the few months she had with Laurel to last for the ten years after her sister had died.
Her last visit was the decade anniversary of Laurel's death from her perspective. It still stung, but not at the intensity of when she had first found out. For Laurel it was the night before she died, while she was considering taking the promotion she had been offered.
"Tell me what to do." She begged and answered the door seeing it was her sister.
"Good to see you too." Replied Sara, giving her sister a hug.
"What do I do about the DA job?" Asked Laurel as the sisters walking in to the living room and sat down.
"Do what you always wanted to do and what makes you happy." Replied Sara.
"Do I take the job? You're from the future, tell me." Laurel begged. "This is the biggest opportunity of my life but I don't know if I can quit Team Arrow."
"I can't tell you, you have to make the decision by yourself." Sara told Laurel, knowing whatever she said couldn't avoid the inevitable. But she honestly hadn't known her sister had been so close to leaving the vigilante lifestyle.
They talked for a while about Sara's adventures and then watched a movie to get Laurel's mind off the decision she had to make.
"I'm really going to miss you." Sara said when she had to leave, hugging her sister goodbye for the last time. She seemed more upset than she normally was when leaving and hugged her sister tighter than she had since her first visit.
"I'll miss you too." Said Laurel when they broke apart. "Go save the world then come home safe."
"I always do." Sara promised.
"Stay safe, okay?" Laurel asked her.
"I will. I love you Laurel." Sara told her sister before she left. "You know that, right?"
"Of course I do. I love you too, Sara." Laurel reassured her before Sara left, walking down the corridor with tears in her eyes, not wiping them away until she turned the corner.
"You okay?" Asked Ray, who was waiting outside for her with Nyssa, once Sara left the building. "That can't have been easy."
"I'm here for you beloved." Nyssa comforted a crying Sara.
"I got to say goodbye properly." Said Sara, standing up straighter. "That's all anyone can ask for." She explained before breaking down in to sobs more powerful than the tears that had just been rolling down her face.
Her best friend and her girlfriend both immediately put an arm around her and took her on to the time ship and while Nyssa took her to her to their room, Ray went to the kitchen and made Sara hot chocolate, knowing that when Laurel was involved Sara preferred not to drink.
~~~
Laurel knew as soon as Damien Darhk stabbed her that she was a dead woman. Because of a few reasons really, mostly involving Sara or basic biological knowledge. How her sister had all of her visits over three months for Laurel but must have been years from her perspective. How a few weeks ago Sara had accidentally revealed that she didn't see Laurel from after she left with Rip until that first night at Laurel's apartment. And Sara's visit the day before. How Sara had looked shocked for a tiny moment when Laurel started talking about the DA position like she didn't know it had ever been on the table. How Sara couldn't tell her what she did about the position in the future. How her sister had hugged her so tight, like she was making sure Laurel was still there. How Sara had reminded Laurel how much she loved her. How Sara had added the 'really' when she said she was going to miss Laurel. How Sara turned away quickly with tears in her eyes. How Sara was saying goodbye like she was never going to see Laurel again.
Laurel had a glimpse of hope when she woke up from surgery and heard the doctor say she was going to be fine. But then she remembered the tears that had been lingering in Sara's eyes and the hugs that had been more frequent lasted for longer the previous night and accepted her fate.
She tried to say goodbye. But it was hard without letting the others know that she wasn't going to be okay. When Oliver stayed she let him see that she kept the picture and told him how she felt, how she had always felt. Then she made him promise to train a new Black Canary, wanting her memory to live on and not wanting the thing that made her feel alive and live her life again to die with her. The Black Canary had helped Sara to adjust to life away from the league and Laurel to adjust to life without Sara and she hoped it could help someone else the way it helped them.
Laurel knew she was about to die. She wasn't scared.
~~~
Sara lurked at the back of the funeral in a disguise made for her by Gideon. But she attended the next time she needed to see Laurel, and finally let her sister go after a decade of denial and mourning.