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After endless hours of sitting uncomfortably in a plane seat, plane that had a few escales, with mud and dirt everywhere, in his hair, on his clothes, underneath his nails and in his bag, he finally got off the plane. With a pounding migraine and eyes red of tiredness, he drags himself out, following the arrows on the ground.
After what feels like forever, he is out of the small and grey halls, getting to the main area which reads “ARRIVALS”. He swears his eyes are a little less foggy now, but his exhaustion makes him hear his own heartbeat in his ears – but it only amplifies when he sees a red figure.
Red is usually a color that only alerts his brain, it means blood to him, but he got desanitised by how many times he’s seen it. But this shade of red was like seeing a luxury car, one that everyone knows the name of and recognises it from a mile.
But he tries not to mind it, he thinks his tiredness is making him more ‘vulnerable’ or something, he once read how when you are tired you tend to be more honest since you are too tired to think of a good lie. But it is still a red dress that he recognises by heart, his fingers almost hallucinating the fabric because he knows it far too well.
His head and eyes almost don’t dare to higher up themselves, his ears ring and he can hear a clinking sound, his bag has a teddybear-keychain attached. Right as he scratches his eyes in an attempt to be able to see more clearly and finally look around him, to check his surroundings, his bag slips off one shoulder.
He averts his gaze downwards and he feels the muscles in his back and arms stretch almost uncomfortably. He gets back on track swiftly, and then his heart skips a beat as he realises he isn't imagining things anymore.
It really is Ada, in the airport. At the arrivals gate, her eyes following him closely.
He isn't quite sure of what to do, he is fiddling with his fingers, he feels a strange emotion swell in him. He walks towards her, catching a small figure on her face.
“Took you long enough,” she said quietly.
“How did you know I'd be here?” Leon asks, he made sure he had no tracker on him, on his bag, or inside of it, hidden between clothes.
“I tracked your plane for when you were in tonight,” she says simply, starting to walk outside of the airport. Her heels click somewhat loud, the airport is pretty quiet even though it's not so late.
“And how'd you figure my flight?”
She turns her head back and only smiles at him for some time, “I have my ways.”
They get to the taxi spot, where they wait for one to arrive. Leon has no idea what he's doing or what he'll do, but he is following close to Ada.
Ada has made plans for the both of them, she hopes he isn't too tired. “How are you holding up?”
“Just fine,” he looks around for a few moments, trying to think of what to talk about. He feels a little uneasy, but he believes that if he talks a little it will get better. “So, what are you doing here anyways?”
“Passing by, I thought it would be nice to take a vacation, don't you think?”
“Sure.”
A taxi stops right in front of them, and Leon reaches forward first. He opens the door, stepping aside and letting Ada in, then he enters as well. He doesn't know where this taxi is taking them, but it doesn't matter anymore.
Both of them look out the window, lights start to light up as the sun sets, and the city gains life when everything starts to glimmer together. Their taxi stops on a dimly lit street, and for a moment Leon panics, looking for his wallet but Ada shakes her head, showing him her phone where she already paid for the ride.
“You hungry? There's some nice restaurants here,” Ada looks around, quite satisfied.
“Yeah, I am.”
They begin to walk down the road, reading the menus of every restaurant. They flip pages together through the menu book, until they both find dishes that fancy them.
“Was it so random you got determined to find my plane or was it planned?” Leon asks, purely out of curiosity.
“I was strolling around when I saw a sign that read ‘Avenue du Kennedy’, and it reminded me of you,” she thinks of avoiding his gaze for just a moment, but eventually gives in and looks at him. He's raised an eyebrow, and she continues “I know he was one of the many presidents of the states.”
“Ada the encyclopedia,” he muses, wondering if she remembers the first time he called her this. And as he's finishing his sentence, Ada almost cuts him off.
“I still remember the first time you called me that.”
And Leon's heart flutters at that, it might've flipped and done some cardio while at that. It's small things that make him feel ways.
But on the other hand, Ada giggles and is happy to hear him call that again. A small gesture and quite a smart word.
They eventually pick a restaurant, one with speciality in italian dishes. Unbeknownst to them, both of them fancy Italian food.
They talk quite a bit, very little about missions as they said not to bring work into everyday chatter (there isn't everyday chatter in their lives, but it's the essence that matters) unless they think it helps the other or one of them might need help in a future mission. It is very uncommon for one of them to tell the other, but Ada's known to have saved Leon countless times, even without him knowing.
“Are you tired yet or will you indulge me some more?” Ada questions as they exit the restaurant, both satisfied and in a good mood.
“I guess I'll indulge you some more. What do you have on your plan?” Leon offers, leaning into her a little bit.
“A cruise on Seine,” she says so casually, her eyes gleaming. It's as if she proposed a walk in the park.
“Extravagant, are we?”
“You can't be in Paris and not go on a boat on Seine,” she tilts her head, looking him in the eyes playfully.
The same girl she always was, but a lot of people are quick to villainise her.
“You may be right. Let me guess, you have a reservation?” Leon knows her a little too well at times.
“Of course I did.”
It's a small walk to the boat line up, but quite a lot of stairs. Leon mindlessly goes down the first step and turns around slightly, raising his hand for Ada to take. And when she does, they go down the stairs together, Leon slows down a little as some steps are not as even or straight. She makes a mental note at this, smiling slightly as well – and Leon catches it.
Her and her forever heels.
“The shorter line is ours,” hand still in his, she pulls him through a crowd to the designed line.
After Ada shows both their tickets, they get in another line which is waiting to get aboard the ship. There are a few people shifting around nervously and quick, some even get out of the line for whatever reason.
A group of men move swiftly to exit the line, even though they checked their tickets. They walk carelessly, and Leon puts his hand on Ada's shoulder, bringing her closer.
His eyes narrow at the sheer arrogance of these men.
They were pressed up one to another for a bit, and before Leon lets go of Ada he gives her shoulder a small squeeze. She averts her face away, a little caught off guard. Such a small motion caused such big emotions inside her chest.
She is a girl that can love but probably doesn't make it obvious, at least she doesn't follow any standards for that matter. But there are lonely nights in empty hotels when she finds herself with a pen and a paper on her desk, and words flow on the page, and sometimes even a kiss stain formed by her lips and her signature lipstick on the bottom of the page – but then she rips it apart or folds it carefully and hides it between other stuff of hers. Letters above letters, a side of her that's rarely disclosed.
But some of these letters, or bits of it do reach Leon. Like the time when he found a tracker on his shirt, attached by Ada almost randomly, without him noticing.
The gate opens and now they board the ship, “where do you want to sit?”
“The top floor offers a better view.” Ada sways her head towards the stairs and he follows her closely behind.
They sit down on the benches, and admire the city in its full glory. It's lit, the Eiffel Tour radiates a golden glow, and for once they don't hide in the shadows.
“How long will you be in Paris?” Leon wonders, almost hoping she will say a few days. He longs to see her, it's just like when they first met at twenty-one and twenty-four. He will probably never forget that day in 1998.
“I don't know yet, typically a few days but you never know when you get a call in the middle of the night and a receipt of a plane ticket,” she stares into his eyes in a way no one has ever done to him before, and he swears he can catch a glimpse of sadness, and he feels an urge, a need in his chest to hold her close.
“I understand,” is all he settles for.
And nothing else gets to be said, the boat's engine starts and the tour begins. There's a recorded voice speaking in English, then French, saying what touristic objectives they'll be able to see from the boat.
“You know French, don't you?” Leon asks, he remembers something about her being multilingual.
“Why yes I do,” she smiles at him, “I haven't spoken it in a while.”
“It didn't click to me at the restaurant, thinking it's common phrases people usually learn when going abroad.” Leon admits, at which Ada scoffs.
“To forget such a thing about me, handsome..” she trails off and raises a brow jokingly, teasing him. She knows how he loves being called that by her.
He throws his head back a little, looking at her but she quits a potential game, looking at what beauty the so-called city of love has to offer.
They admire the architecture, and a few unnoticed stolen glances at one another every now and then. They are quiet for most of the ride, eventually pointing something out to the other.
The boat eventually circles and starts heading back, and it's as if time slips between their fingers. Not knowing if their next encounter will be tomorrow, in a month, or in thirteen years.
“I can say I'm glad you tracked my plane,” Leon nods slowly and laughs.
She is satisfied with hearing that and replies confidently, “I might do it again.”
The ship pulls at the dock, and people start exiting. They have a little to go left, they are somewhat close to the stairs but it's quite crowded.
Everyone seems to be rushing, but neither of them mind – Leon even forgot about his tiredness. But when they do get to go down the stairs, Leon offers his hand again to Ada.
She accepts it, and praises him, quietly saying “what a gentleman.”
At that, he smiles.
They get off the boat and walk back to the main street, where the Eiffel Tour starts to glimmer because the clock has just struck nine.
And they both stop for a bit, looking at it, while still holding hands – which is a little of a reach, but their hands do touch. But Leon decides it's time to interlink their hands, and then Ada looks at him and decides it's time to do something as well.
So she leans into him, tugs a little and pulls him down. And as they stay for a moment, she reaches higher and he goes lower, and their little date in Paris ends with a kiss.