A/N This is an alternate-time version of MC and Jake. It was written as part of a larger collaboration on tumblr called For All of Time with user paigenoelchas. The selection of the story that relates to the over-arching plot has been removed. Visit tumblr to read the full version and the rest of the collaboration.
Warnings: Implied Death
Location - Pompeii, Italy AD 79
I am running through the streets against the flow of the crowd of people. My family was making their way to the boats and out into the harbor. I should be with them, safely watching as the skies continue to darken. Fine particles begin to fall. This is not rain. Not clear clean water falling from the heavens. This is gritty and dirty and thick.
I had turned around to look back only once as I pulled away from my mother's hand. I saw the confusion and sadness in her eyes as I left her side. But I can't go to safety. I can't be out there safe on a boat watching while knowing he would still be in the town.
We had met by chance. Or perhaps it was the Fates. He came delivering fresh bread from his family's bakery to my father's house. And I had been where I wasn't supposed to be, the kitchens. That was always my favorite place to hide away. I loved listening to the slaves as they gossiped and smelled the many dishes they created as they prepared the household's meals. I was closest to the doorway when he arrived that day. He was wearing a linen tunic and carrying a basket full of flatbread. His hair was a dark black that contrasted with the strikingly bright blue of his eyes.
We started seeing each other in secret shortly after that day. Making plans to meet in different locations throughout the city. While his father was a freedman and a respected entrepreneur with considerable wealth, my father was born into his class and wealth. He would never see his daughter married to the son of a freedman wealthy or otherwise. Was this romance just an infatuation, a craving for the unobtainable? Probably yes. But there was this pull, this draw that I felt towards him that seemed to indicate it was more. I couldn't stay away from him. And so, I didn't. I can only describe it as an invisible rope that has us tethered together. Always pulling and only easing when we are near each other.
And here I am, running through the streets while the skies brake and crumble above me. Up ahead the bakery stall is coming into view, but I rush past it, into the residence that is connected behind it. He is standing there in the courtyard garden under the overhang of the building, beautiful blue eyes turned up to the sky. The debris is already beginning to form a layer on the ground, covering the vegetation, the stone fountain, and floating in a layer on top of the pool of water.
I knew he would be here waiting for me. As our eyes meet, I see clearly that he knew that I would come as well. In all the chaos, we know where to find each other. With one last look at the sky, he reaches out his hand to lead me inside a small room the only light coming from small open windows high on the walls. Once away from the bizarre elements outside, he pulls me close into his warm embrace and his lips find mine. This is where I am meant to be. His warm arms were surrounding me. Keeping me protected inside the bubble of our love.
Suddenly, with a deafening crack, the ceiling began to brake and collapse onto us. Quickly we seek refuge in the corner. We are safe but surrounded by the rumble and unable to leave the area. Thankfully, a roof is still over our heads, and we remain safe from the debris that continues to fall from the sky. We huddle together in the hazy twilight.
"It is ok. Just sleep. It seems quiet now. We will find a way out in the morning."
I woke with a start. The air was thick and smells like sulfur. A cough next to me reminds me where I am. I use my hands, feeling upward to find the face I love so dearly but can't see it the dark gloom. I can't breathe. A cough raises in my throat and water begins to form in my eyes causing them to sting. No amount of tears will wash them clear.
Then I hear the voice I long for, the voice I live for, the one I cannot be without, "I am here. I won't leave you." I can feel his hands on my cheeks, but I can not reply. Slowly, I shake my head in a positive reply. It is the only indication I can give, as I feel the pressure in my chest, in my lungs, and on my heart.
