Don't own. Inspired by 'Miss you', a song by Sweetbox. Youtube it, it's lovely. And by some insane avatar about memories. Geez.

Enjoy the (not that grand) finale.

"I have to, Leon..." Ashley pleaded, sounding desperate. She was hurting and this chapter of her live needed closure. But closure was something she would only get if she visited him right now. Yes, not next week, not next month, but right now.

Leon was sitting in front of her on the jetski, pondering about whether to give into her pleads or not. "But Ashley..."

"Please Leon, please." Ashley didn't care if she sounded desperate. In the past few days all of her pride had vanished down the drain, and she didn't feel like taking it back at that moment. "I'll never ask for anything again, I promise."

Leon smiled, but invisible because his back was turned against Ashley. He felt her small hands gripping around his waiste and he enjoyed it, it made him feel strong. Hell, he was strong...

"Leon..." Ashley's voice had lost the demanding tone Leon was growing accustomed to. She sounded tired now. Done.

It had been an hour since the island exploded. In the distance they could still see the mess the explosion had left behind, some smoke still floating in the air. Right before it had completely turned into a giant rubble, a chopper had landed. Leon had decided not to worry about it at the time and just enjoyed being freed from the insanity.

They were still on the ocean because Ashley had started to yell the moment she felt safe. She had yelled at Leon to stop right away, because there was some kind of unfinished business. And Leon had obeyed, because he knew what she wanted. And for some reason, he hated it.

"Ash, getting involved with him will very probably hurt you in the long run."

Ashley sighed. "I know..." She had been thinking for an hour now, trying to decide on several things that were wrecking her brain at the moment. Leon had just sat in front of her, waiting patiently. Every now and then he had answered a question she would ask him, and then he would just let her be again. Ashley had needed some time, and she had gotten it, but now she was ready for the final showdown. Her final showdown.

"Please..." It sounded so small, so insignificant, so pained, it struck Leon like a lightningbolt. So he turned around.

About two hours later, after heading back for Pueblo, killing some leftover ganados and getting lost for a while they found the lake and the boat. Leon was happy the boat was still there, because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get them to their destination. But the boat was still there, so they sat down in it again, just like they had done before. Only now Leon wasn´t annoyed and Ashley wasn't nagging. They were just quiet.

"It looks a lot less threatening by daylight." Ashley commented out of the blue before they entered the merchant's cave.

Leon nodded. "Everything looks less threatening by daylight." He frowned. "Except for regenerators anyway."

Ashley smirked. "I don't ever want to see one of those again." She tried to scratch her back, making the boat shake dangerously. "Oh sorry."

"Hnnnn."

The cave looked the same. The shabby cabin looked the same. The blue flames were still burning brightly, giving everything that same eerie glow. He was there too, though now wearing regular clothes. Black jeans and a white t-shirt made him look a lot less scary.

"I'll wait here..." Leon helped Ashley out of the boat and sat down on the wooden boards next to it. "Take your time."

Ashley just nodded at him, grateful but so damn nervous she could hardly speak. It was time, and she was happy Leon didn't ask her any questions now.

"Lil' lady..." His voice was low and his orange eyes didn't glow this time. "I knew you'd come."

"Hmmm... " Ashley glanced around at Leon, feeling stronger because of his presence alone. "What do you want?"

Marcus stepped back, staring at the blond in front of him. One moment she had looked nervous and the next she seemed confident. It confused him. "You know what I want..."

Ashley entered the cabin and sat down on the only chair again, just like she had done way back when... Back when she was still a child. She waved Marcus away as he approached her and tried to pull her into his embrace. "No."

"No?"

"No!" Ashley sounded firmer than she had ever sounded. "I'm not having this." Her lip quivered but she was able to keep herself from crying.

"I'm sorry?" He was at the loss of words there.

"Okay..." Ashley took a deep breath and started talking. "Listen to me, and listen closely... I am fully aware of the fact that you're one of the reasons that I am still alive... And that without you, I would have been raped by the midget, but I have a strange feeling you don't know who you're talking to."

He just looked at her with a serious expression on his face and nodded.

"I am the president's daughter, and you know that..." Ashley's hands turned into little fists as she tried to remain calm. "And... And even though I really like you, I can't act on that. Imagine people finding out I found love out here, how would they react? They would think that I actually liked this place... They could even think that, for some reason, this whole kidnapping was a cover-up..." Ashley held back a sob. "And I don't want that, not for me, and not for my daddy."

He nodded again.

"I know that sounds farfetched, and perhaps it is... But you can never be too careful in my position." Ashley cursed her father for being an important person. "Also..." This was the hardest part. "Also, I think it's better if when I leave this place, there aren't too many things that remind me... Because this was hell, and I'd rather... get the hell out?" She shook her head, wondering if that had sounded a little too odd. "I don't know."

"I understand."

Ashley looked up. "I..."

"I really do..." Marcus shook his head. "It's okay."

"It's okay?" Ashley got up from the chair and felt a rush of anger. "You don't even care, do you?"

Too many emotions made her instable, Marcus realised. It was sad there wasn't a rewind button in real life. "I do care, lady... But what you said makes sense to me. Who am I to pursuade you to change your mind?"

"But..."

"That would be disrespectful... And considering the fact you only just arrived, I figure you've had some time to think this over."

Ashley nodded quietly. "I did. But it's not completely what I want."

He shook his head. "It's not always about what you want, lil' lady. More important is what you need."

Ashley shot him a questioning look.

"Well..." Marcus tried to think of a way to explain himself. "I think because of everything that was going on, you needed something steady. Someone that would be standing there, no matter what. Something... reliable?" He sighed. "That was me."

"I..." Ashley shrugged.

He continued. "Now you're going back to your daily routine, and you'll have many steady factors in your life from now on... The strangah being one of them, probably." He smirked, but it seemed a little bitter. "You don't need me anymore."

"I do so! But I can't..."

Marcus shook his head. "Okay, you won't need me anymore... Come on lady, think about it; You'll be so busy with your own life and trying to get it back on track, I would only get in the way." He glanced to the side and saw Leon standing near the door, hiding from Ashley's view. "A relationship wouldn't be healthy."

Ashley snorted. "True... I know and I made up my mind, but still, I'll probably be wondering 'what if' a lot anyway."

"As do we all, lady. But that's okay, it's one of the things that make us human... Dwelling in the past." He snickered. "We'll get over it." He raised an eyebrow. "I'm too old for you anyway."

Ashley smirked and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you really are old."

Marcus grabbed a TMP from a shelf and jokingly aimed it at Ashley. "Dear, you've crossed the line."

"Like a man of your age could actually hit a target..." Ashley started to giggle but soon enough her expression changed again. "Shit..." She muttered as the damn tears finally started to slide down her cheeks. "Shit."

"Shhh..." For the last time he pulled her against himself and rubbed her back. "It's okay."

"I'll miss you."

"Likewise, lil' lady..." He sighed. "Make sure the strangah doesn't get himself in to too much trouble, okay?"

Ashley giggled again. "I'll have to put him on a leash to make sure of that."

"Hahaha, priceless picture that would make."

"Hnnn... I should go." Ashley pulled away and took a long, last look at the merchant. "I still think you're hot."

He winked. "Ain't that bad yerself, lil' lady."

Done.

Ashley left the cabin and walked back to Leon, who for some reason was sitting in the exact spot he sat down in the first place, showing no signs of eavesdropping whatsoever. She didn't need to know he had been there aswell, it would just upset her, even though he only did it because he was worried. "I'm ready Leon."

"That's great." Leon glanced inside the cabin. "One second, I need to thank him."

"Eh, okay?"

Leon walked inside and faced the man he had hated so much for a little while. But all hatred had vanished and it had been replaced with respect and gratitude. That merchant, he really was indestructable.

"Ello there, strangah! What're ya buyin'?"

Leon smirked. "Hey, let me tell you a secret... I still have that empty first-aid spray you gave to me back then."

Marcus smirked. "Treasure it, strangah... Put it in a list or something."

"Tsk." Leon grabbed the empty can that had saved his life. "Wanna buy it?"

Marcus laughed out loud. "Oh no strangah, I ain't buyin' it at a high price!"

Leon grunted. "Well, I suppose it was worth a try... Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks."

"Anytime, strangah..."

Leon shook his head. "Seriously, you've been a great help."

"As I said strangah, anytime. Now get the lil' lady home before I do so."

Leon nodded. "Will do..." He turned around and raised his hand as if to wave. "Bye merchant."

"Goodbye, Leon..."

Leon helped Ashley back in the boat and sat down behind her, wanting to go home. He was happy to be alive and pleasantly surprised that odd man actually did know his name. 'Guess I ain't no strangah to him anymore,' Leon thought to himself before steering the boat away from the cabin. He glanced at Ashley's hair and poked her shoulder with his index-finger. "You okay?"

"Well, no..." Ashley stated slowly.

"Wanna talk about it?" Leon asked. He felt like it was okay to talk now, they were safe and going home.

"Yes, I do want to talk..." Ashley replied. "I'm sitting on a fucking harpoon."

Leon laughed. "That's life baby... You get kidnapped, your comrades turn into mutants, there's people with tentacles in their heads and in the end you're sitting on a harpoon."

Ashley snickered. "Life sure is odd." Her stoumach twitched and her eyes started to burn with tears again. "I don't quite like it."

Leon ruffled her hair, completely forgetting about his 'no-affection' policy. "You will again someday... Patience is a virtue."

"I know."

"And until then you'll just have to talk, and cry, and nag and maybe sit on harpoons some more."

"Leon?" Ashley sounded a little amused.

Leon frowned, wondering what she wanted. "Yes?"

"You're such a dork..."

Leon laughed. "I know, I actually won a price for that once..."

"Dork."

"Wanna see it? It's a medal with glasses etched into it..."

"Medals are for dorks."

"It's silver, I was the second in line. There was one bigger dork... Haha..." Leon steered the boat and when they entered the shore again he realised they were on the wrong side of the lake. "Oops, wrong turn."

Ashley looked at him and slowly shook her head. "Getting lost... That's exactly what a dork would do."

"I'm very proud to be one, thank you miss Graham." Leon eventually got them back to the jetski and suddenly remember the chopper that appeared shortly after the explosion. "Hmmm, I wonder what was up with that?"

Ashley put her arms around Leon again, making sure she didn't fall off the jetski. "What?"

"Never mind... Let's just get home!"

And that they did... Scarred, broken, battered, bruised and tired, but both in one piece and both still awe-struck by some things they had seen, they went home. For a split second Ashey regretted not having a picture of the merchant, but she pushed that thought away quickly. Pictures would fade away, but the memories would last forever... And these memories she would hold dear and therefore never forget.

-xxx-

"Funny lil' lady..." Merchant Marcus was staring at a spinel, wondering who to sell it to. "Damnit." His thoughts were interrupted when someone entered his 'shop'. In walked a man wearing a black suit and sunglasses.

"Marcus Noah?" The man's face showed no emotion whatsoever.

Marcus nodded. "Indeed strangah, how can I help ya?"

"Hn..." The man took off his sunglasses, revealing eerie eyes that reminded Marcus of his own somehow. "You're one of them... But not posessed."

"What's it to you, strangah?" A strange feeling washed over Marcus and he grabbed the Chicago Typewriter from underneath the counter.

"You're coming with me."

THE END!

... :D I'm pleased with this chapter. I ended with a cliffhanger, Leon is a dork and dear Lord, my back is KILLING me.

Guess what... There were will be sequel that will stand on its own, meaning there's no need to read MBB first. Like you care, you already read it anyway.

It will be Leon x Ashley, and I'll be damned, I actually have a plot made up already. It came to me an hour ago. Perhaps hints of Wesker X a mystery person.
Not giving anything away, keep an eye out for it.

- TTT is celebrating - I have a plot for yooouuuu. LOL. Insane. (No, not an insane plot... Don't worry.)

For the last time in this story, please strangah, please review.