Ours

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

She twisted her head so that she was facing upwards; towards him. "If you want," she said softly. "You don't have to if you'd rather not talk about it."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"No," he sighed, "I'll talk..."
He let go of her once more, sliding back so that they were sitting a good distance away from each other while he spoke. He didn't think he would much enjoy feeling her every reaction as she moved against him. He cast his mind back a bit, trying to figure out where was a good place to begin.
There wasn't really anywhere.
"Basically, Madeleine," he said slowly, trying to bring it all together in one easy summary. "My side of the family and Kira's hate each other's guts."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine leant back against a tree, frowning slightly, her smooth forehead creasing.
But Kira and Lee had always seemed so close...
"Why so?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Keep in mind, they didn't always," Lee said quickly. "My dad and her dad are brothers- and they were really, really close growing up. For goodness' sake, we all moved from Iceland to Ireland as one big family unit! But... back then, Marius and Major were still Headmasters of the school together. Back then, my family didn't care much for politics...
"Then, something happened to change all of that. Kira's aunt- not mine- it's Aunt Rachel's sister, Hannah. Well, Kira and I already attended Orchid Hill, but... um, last year, Hannah was killed in one of the battles outside the school- fighting for Major Hoodham. Aunt Rachel was grieving, and then she found out that my parents and sister actually supported Marius...
"Well, she was understandably upset. Suddenly, all these arguments cropped up; and things started getting personal. Eventually, me and Kira stopped seeing each other all together, but we managed to develop a way of communicating through her shadow powers. Realising that this rift between our families wasn't going to heal, together we hatched a plan to run away back to Orchid, where we could be together and away from all the stupid bickering...
"Kira's mum didn't want her to go back, because she knew Kira would be in battles, and didn't want her to die like Hannah had. My parents didn't want me to go back, because of course, it was under the control of Marius Hoodham.
"The night we planned to run away, Bethany caught me outside sneaking away. She was coming home late from a night out with Jason, she saw my bags and worked out what I was doing immediately. And then, well... we got into a massive habit. Eventually, I actually used my powers against her, and was forced to fly Kira and I to a railway station quite far away. We made it to Orchid... and we haven't actually been home since. That's why Bethany got so upset whenever I went back on my promise..."
He trailed off finally, and tilted his head at the silent Madeleine.
"That's it, really."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Oh, Lee...
Madeleine had known about Kira's aunt, but she had never known the implications of her death on both Kira and Lee. Suddenly, everything made sense - Kira's wanting to fight, Lee telling her that he was going to be in the battle because of her...
But they'd run away.
She could honestly say that she had never once been tempted to run away - she loved her parents and her brother too much for that. But if she had been in these circumstances, would she have been able to tear herself away...
In a way, she found it disgusting that Lee's parents and sister supported Marius Hoodham, but now she looked at him with a new respect - because he had created and stuck to his own beliefs even when his own parents were against it.
But the fact that he'd had to use his powers on Bethany... that horrified her. If she'd had to use hers on Shaun because he was being stubborn...
Avoiding his gaze so that he wouldn't see how horrified hers was, she lifted his hand and stroked it, tracing the tendons and bones and light patterns of veins...
"Oh, Lee," she sighed.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

He wrenched his hand from her grasp, realising that he had apparently not moved back far enough. He cleared his throat, watching her, but her eyes would not meet his. Sighing, he leant forward and forced her face upwards- forced her to look at him.
"Madeleine," he said clearly. "It's fine. It is. I swear it is. I don't get upset about it- and I made the right choice. If I hadn't ran away, I never would've met you. And in the meantime... out in the battlefield... someone mighn't have found you. So you could be dead, and I could be at home, without Kira, and miserable."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

His fingers were cool on her face as he gently forced her to look up towards him.
"I didn't say it was the right choice," she said, her tone as clear as his. "But how can it be fine? You had to leave your family - your sister is getting married, and you were pretty much forced into leaving her?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Don't do this to me, Madeleine.
"I've made it fine," he decided quietly. "I've accepted it. Please, though, don't make me talk about it anymore. If I had to talk to anyone, it would be..."
He trailed off, and bit his lip. Oh. Right. That one would go down well.
It was just that... even now, it felt almost wrong to try and confide in someone other than Kira. Even though this was Madeleine.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

She shook her head slightly, but relented anyway. "I'm sorry," she said, slightly huskily. "I won't ask again."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Look, Maddie..." he stopped and bit his lip. "Sorry. Madeleine. I didn't mean to call you that."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

She blinked.
Hold up here...
That had to have been the first time that someone had called her Maddie - and she didn't care.
Maybe it was because she'd spoken to Shaun. Maybe it was because it was Lee calling her Maddie, and he'd never done that before.
It was weird... but in a way, she really liked it that they shared a name for her. She didn't know how that worked, but... it did.
"It's fine," she said, suddenly smiling. "I think I'd like you to call me Maddie, from now on."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

That smile broke forth a rush of emotions Lee hadn't been expecting- and suddenly, he was ridiculously thankful to her for not pressing the issue of his family, and even more so, letting him call her the name he knew Shaun and her shared...
It was strange. He'd never called her 'Maddie' before, and had no intention of doing so. For a moment, it'd almost like someone else had been speaking for him...
Lee moved closer to Madeleine again, and took her in his arms, breathing in her familiar scent with a strange rush of euphoria. His lips travelled across her forehead and cheeks, marvelling as usual at the softness of her skin- until they finally met her lips.
They were okay now. She knew about his past. And it felt... really, really good. Like a ton weight had just been lifted off his chest.
All he could do was kiss her for it.
After all, he'd never been very articulate.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Her arms snaked up around his neck and into his hair as she kissed him deeply, warmth and bliss flooding up and slowly moving through her veins like maple syrup, smooth and sweet and lovely...
Why had she ever stopped? From the first time he kissed after she'd woken up, she immediately forgot the reason why she had let herself leave him, and knew that she'd never let him go again. Knew that she'd never stop loving him. Would never stop kissing him.
His hands were moving down her back, and she was quickly losing everything in him. There was nothing there but them. She ceased to exist when she wasn't in Lee's arms.
Everything was forgotten in his kiss. All memories, all thoughts, all sadness.
It was just them.
In their place.
It was just perfect...
Bliss. Heaven. Paradise.
Only better.
She pulled away, grinning. "You know that you calling me Maddie is like, the highest honour ever? By that, that means that my brother would like you, and that's really something. And now you have a name for me."
Well, it would always be Shaun's name for her - but who was to say that it couldn't be both theirs? Shaun wouldn't mind, she knew, - and by this, she was showing who the two people that she loved the most were, and was showing that they both meant the world - so much more than the world - to her.
And she was sure they always would.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"I know," he replied. "Maddie. Maddie. It's nice. I like it. I really, really do."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

She smiled, moving closer to him and leaning her forehead against him, feeling a sudden rush of affection. "Love you," she murmured.