Is this destiny?

Aiden observed the painting that got Sarah's attention and he understood that is THE meadow. The one Sarah told him about. There is no other explanation why she is staring so intently at that painting while she almost-ignored hundreds of meadow-forest-mountain photos he showed her so far.

"Where is that?", Aiden asked the old man expectantly.

The old man took the painting and brought it to the front for them to see better. He can see that they are interested. Customers! But he does not have an answer to Aiden's question.

"I don't know. When I moved into my current house, this was on the wall.", he explained. "That was more than twenty years ago."

Aiden saw that Sarah's mood dropped. He placed a hand around her shoulder and kissed her temple.

Well, this is the closest they reached to finding THE location for their wedding. If nothing else, he can use this to create the landscape on the island because he will make sure that Sarah gets the wedding she dreams of. Thinking about that… he is running out of time. He said six months when he woke up, and now he has only four months left. Creating a landscape is not something that can be done in a week or two.

"How much are you asking for it?", Aiden negotiated with the vendor.

After purchasing the painting, to Aiden's surprise, they went to a restaurant for lunch. It was not a very luxurious one, but it was decent. Definitely much better than those food trucks.

After lunch, Sarah wanted to go to few more places, but the painting was cumbersome to carry around and she was afraid not to damage it, and didn't want to leave it in the car either because she developed some strange attachment to it, so they cut their outing short.

After a quick grocery run, Sarah and Aiden returned to the apartment.

"Sarah, your mother accepted to meet with King this Saturday at 11 AM in New York...", Eve said when they entered the apartment.

Eve is monitoring King's email accounts, phone calls, texts, and data transfers. Sarah and Aiden are aware that he wants to meet with Stella, but so far she didn't accept.

"Sarah?", Aiden was confused. "When did you get Eve to call you by your name?"

Lately they always use earpieces or ear studs, so he didn't hear Eve address Sarah over the speakers. Before speaking, Eve will scan the area, and if there is a possibility to be overheard, she will not use speakers. In the Cliffside villa, there is ALWAYS someone around.

Sarah was still processing what Eve said and it took her some time to respond. "Uhm… 'Madam' was strange, I could not get used to it. And I thought how Eve is my friend, and my friends call me by my name, so…"

Aiden nodded in understanding and called: "Eve, call me Aiden."

"Yes, Aiden.", Eve confirmed.

Sarah saw that Aiden smiled proudly that he got Eve to treat him in the same way Sarah did, but she was not in the mood to pay attention to naming conventions. Her mother is going to meet with King, in person!

"Eve, send me the information where they confirmed time and place for their meeting.", Sarah requested.

"You don't think of going?!", Aiden asked in panic.

"I…", Sarah paused. "What do you think I should do?"

"How about, don't go there?!", Aiden's panic was turning into rage. Why is she so irresponsible? "King is the one after us, you specifically. I am just a pawn to be used to control you! You don't know how many of his men will be there! If the rumors are true about his fighting skills, even if he is by himself you will be giving yourself away on a platter! And we don't know what he plans to do once he gets his hands on you!"

Sarah can understand Aiden's displeasure, but can he understand her?

"Shit, Aiden! What would you do if that is your mother?!"

"I don't know! There is few days until then, why don't you talk to her?"

"Yeah… whenever I mention King or my maternal family, my mother is eager to talk about it.", Sarah said sarcastically. "We barely escaped with our lives last time, and she still was not willing to talk. What can I do to make her talk, other than using the truth serum?"

It's not that they didn't consider using the truth serum on Stella, but once it wears off… they don't know what Stella would do in retaliation. If she does not cooperate willingly, it's useless.

Aiden rubbed his temples. He knows that Sarah is right. But he needs to think of something, anything, that will stop Sarah from being reckless. After a minute, he got an idea: "Stella is not telling you things, but you know that she is doing her best to keep you away from him. Tell her that you know about the meeting, and that if she does not keep you in the loop you will go by yourself."

Sarah thought how that… might work. "Eve, where is my mom now?"

"In the Cabin, training grounds.", Eve responded.

The fact that Stella is on the training grounds, means that she is preparing for a fight. This is more the reason for them to hurry.

Aiden watched Sarah walk into the bedroom and he knows that she went to pack things. Well, it seems that this 'vacation' is over.

Aiden looked at the painting which was propped against the wall in the living room. The meadow, forest, mountains… perfect. The only thing missing is the two of them. Sarah in white, with a bouquet of wildflowers in her hands, walking toward him, ready to say 'I do' for the two of them spending their lifetimes together...

Aiden hopes that both of them live long enough to have their wedding there (anywhere, actually, he is not picky). After that, he will drag her to a deserted island without any internet connection or a cell phone reception for a month, or three, or a year with an excuse of a honeymoon. That will keep her safe.

Aiden was confident that at this rate he will start having gray hair early. Too much stress.

Will he be able to find the location? A brilliant idea flashed in his mind. "Eve, scan this painting and find matching locations anywhere on Earth. Search through everything you find online and use military satellites to confirm locations. Let me know about anything with a similarity above 95%. Include deviations that can be caused by changes in twenty years or more…"

After giving instructions to Eve, Aiden called the pilot to get the jet ready. They need to be in Seattle by dinner time. It seems that groceries they purchased on their way back will go to waste.

"Are you sorry that the food will not be used?", Sarah asked when she returned to the living room. She noticed Aiden's sad expression while looking at the grocery bags. "We will take them with us."

Aiden liked this solution.

"The plane will be ready in one hour.", he told her.

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