closed starter for @svjetllost
She had promised herself she wouldn't come back here, that she wouldn't spend the rest of her life chasing a ghost the way Mrs. Graham had warned her about. She had sworn to put the past behind her and finally move on. And she had, for a time. She had become a doctor, a mother, a widow, but there were days she missed being a Sassenach, being Claire Fraser.
She told herself that it was this inherent, underlying longing that had drawn her back to Scotland. Even though she promised herself not to make the journey back to Craigh na Dun, she found herself back in the country that harbored her heart. She'd visited the moor, the shops she and Frank had perused on their visit to Inverness, and even made her way to Lallybroch--or what was left of it. Claire had said her goodbyes to the past and was intent on leaving the remnants of her broken heart behind, but such things were easier said than done.
It should've been easy to climb back into the car, to drive back down the Wakefield's house and pack her things to go home. And yet, the siren song of the stones still called to her like a hymn on the wind. She sat at the bottom of the grassy knoll, mere kilometers from where she'd last seen him. The car was in park and the rain was beginning to speckle the windshield. As the droplets began to fall around her, Claire made no effort to rush home, even though she was sure Bree would be wondering where she was soon enough. Instead, she sat within the confines of the vehicle and let the earth's tears rain down around her, hoping that it would drown out the sorrows in her own heart.
It was useless. She could've sat there for hours, waiting for a sign, waiting for something, and nothing would come. He was dead. The love of her life had died two hundred years ago in a bloody battle that she had been powerless to stop. Even with the knowledge of history on her side, she hadn't been able to save those she cared for and it would undoubtedly haunt her forever. What would Mrs. Graham say if she were still alive to see Claire acting so foolishly? What would Jamie think if he knew she still sought him out and waited to see his apparition at every turn?
She was just about to give in, to turn the key in the ignition and drive off when she felt a familiar buzzing in her fingertips. It was the storm, she told herself. It was the dark clouds rolling in and bringing an electrical current with it. But she knew this feeling all too well. Claire had only felt this sort of buzzing twice before and both times had brought mind-altering changes to life.
Before she could think better of it, Claire had popped open the door and stared into the distance. She had to squint her eyes to make out the shapes of the stones amidst the drizzle, but she was positive that she could see movement through the mist.
