Solar ; 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘸

twenty-three: a two-year jump

▂▂▂▂▂ act one , chapter twenty-three
A TWO-YEAR JUMP
Harmony Falls , 1958 ▂▂▂▂▂

❝elle, there's something we have to tell you.❞

ELLE WAS PRETTY sure that this was the first time in the little blue racket ball's existence that its two users played with it at the same time. Near the massive window in the front of the bridge, Snart sat and, for probably the hundredth time, bounced the ball to the Anders girl — who sat in the swiveled-around captain's chair, her legs swinging back and forth with liveliness.

It was the morning after the team had rescued Jefferson, the twenty-year-old spending the whole time in the MedBay, so Elle had yet to see him. But that was okay because the Anders girl needed rest after all that happened yesterday. She slept soundly throughout the entire night, knowing Aiden and his family were back in existence. Her mind was finally put to ease after seeing James and Ruth interact, unknowingly setting the timeline back on track.

When Snart and Elle returned from the diner, the latter rushed to her room and called Aiden on the trans-temporal communicator. After a few agonizingly anxious seconds of Elle waiting for someone to answer, the screen lit up, and none other than Aiden Parlour was on the other side, grinning widely, elated to see Elle. It didn't even shock Elle that Aiden was smiling even after he was brought back from not existing for a hot second. The young couple first said how much they missed each other (many, many times), and then Elle took the time to explain everything that happened to Aiden. She had thought for a moment that telling Aiden about his past was a bad idea, but then she remembered that Rip said that the future was always in flux, so there was nothing Elle left out. The only thing she didn't end up talking about was her panic attack at James' house. She didn't want to burden Aiden like that — he'd been through enough.

Aiden did not fail to mention how cool it was that Elle met his grandfather — he was always the optimist — even if it was the grandfather on the side of the family he didn't talk to. He asked what James was like, and Elle didn't hesitate to say that the two Parlour boys had very similar personalities.

It was refreshing to talk to Aiden, even if it had barely been twenty-four hours since they last spoke. The time didn't matter — Aiden hadn't existed. They might as well not have talked for years because the feeling would've been very similar to what Elle felt during the past day and night. But soon, Aiden insisted that Elle could go to bed because he could tell how exhausted his girl was even through a screen. Reluctantly, Elle agreed, but only after she convinced Aiden to stay on call with her until she fell asleep, which, of course, he did. He was on the communicator for the entire night, watching Elle peacefully sleep for a good chunk of time before his body followed. Even then, they were still on call throughout the entire night until morning came, and they talked even more until their devices were practically dead.