Aiden waited by the tiger pit at the zoo anxiously. He had never been so nervous in his entire life. There was no telling how Arielle would react to his call. Would she even show up? He at least made an attempt to apologize with his message. It asked her to meet him where they first met. It was public, so the probability of a scene was less likely, and the sentimental factor had something to do with it as well.

It wasn't his fault that TAT had tracked him down and tried to reassert their authority over him. At least he had helped a fellow mutant out while he had been escaping. The poor fellow had been confined for a reason different than Aiden but they still had been able to escape from their shared imprisonment.

Sitting on a rock railing overlooking the tiger pit, the shifter waited for the love of his life to appear so he could explain why he had been gone so long.

There was no clear emotion that Arielle was experiencing as so many had decided to rear themselves after receiving that message. There was shock from the voice mail left on her phone by none other than the guy who had turned her into an emotional wreck over the past few months he had been missing. There was hint of happiness over the fact that yes, he was still alive, there was suspicion over what he had been up to over the last 3 months he had been absent from her life. Above all, there was that rage. Oh boy, when she listened to his voice as she heard the message, it truly was a strength of will to contain herself and not explode into and washout everything in her room.

She accepted his invite. To meet him at the exact place she first met him nearly 4 months ago, and oh course she was on edge. What was it exactly did he have to say? What was the reason why he had hurt her so bad? The girl was on edge as she did not know what she would do. Whether to hug him, kiss him or to just punch him in the throat. Well the time for the answer had came when arrived at the zoo and near the tiger pit, she saw him.

"Calm down, girl. Don't do anything rash..." she told herself because, she wanted to storm over and push the blonde over into the tiger pit to see how a weretiger would fend against the real cats. Instead she calmly stepped over and halted behind him, crossing her arms making sure that she would not hug him or that she wouldn't break his face in. Though the look on her face pretty much stated that she wanted to turn him into her new throw rug for her puppies to chew and piss on because thats how she felt after being abandoned. Chewed up, spit out and urinated on like nothing.

"Long time no see." she finally said in a rather low and dark tone, her face frowning slightly.

At the sight of Arielle, Aiden's face grew a smile and all his nervousness went away. He strode toward her and offerred her a hug. The venom in her voice was lost on Aiden.

"I'm sorry for that. It wasn't something that I could avoid. I was captured and taken back to TAT. They tried to make me into and agent again. Fortunately, they were unsuccessful. I only managed to get away a few days ago. And I just got back into New York."

Aiden started to feel Arielle's hesitance then. Everything wasn't going to be like it used to be. Like he wanted. He had been gone a long time. Maybe she had started to see someone new. The thought never crossed Aiden's mind until then. All he could do was wait for her next words.

"..." Arielle stood still and her expression and stance remained the same, even when he offered a hug. No. She was in no mood for a hug. She wanted to know why he had been away for so long. All those nights she stressed wondering if he was alright. Those nights when she alone and no one to comfort her...except the one who did and she wouldn't give him another chance because she felt that there was still some small hope that Aiden would return, and here he was. Apparently he had been abducted by TAT for the last 3 months and he broke out. Ok....

"That is the sorriest sack of shit bold face excuse I have ever heard..." Arielle shot back scornfully and misunderstanding considering that she had never heard anything about TAT before."You're a bastard. I was worried sick about you. I mean....I thought you cared about me. Every night the first 2 months I wore this..." she reached into her pocket and pulled out the silver chain she had received from him on their trip to Paris.

"I wore this, wishing and hoping every night that I would receive a phone call, a text message, a letter, anything to let me know that you were alright, but not until today did I get that message. Just when I was starting to get over it...you call. Seriously, you've just love making a wreck don't you? I mean, seriously, what the hell is TAT? Seriously?! You know what, I was scared to open up and start to love you and when I do, you do this? What do you want from me?" she asked as tears started to sting her eyes and shaking her head still in disbelief he was here again and actually expecting her to leap into his arms.

Aiden started to feel angry after Arielle had finished talking. He had told her the absolute truth about what had happenned. And she didn't believe him. She called him a liar to his face. He had spent everyday in his imprisonment thinking of her and now she just threw it back at him.

Arielle had been the only thing that had given him the thought of a future. Any kind of future. And now she was yelling at him for something that was completely not his fault. What was he suppossed to do? He did they only thing he knew. He gave into his anger.

"An excuse?! How could you possibly think that I would make up an excuse to get away from you? I've never wanted to be apart from you since we met. What makes you think that I ever wanted to be away from you for any length of time? What reason do you have to hate me?"

"You....uh.." Arielle was more than ready to lash back out at the Weretiger, but his retaliation had caught her off guard. She could hear that he was beginning to be upset as well. It was by his tone that she knew he was sincere in his words. She remembered a saying from her mother. 'The truth always comes out when you're angry' and there was no way Arielle could disagree with it because it was pretty much true. Her own anger towards Aiden couldn't be masked and her feelings about being left high and dry for months were all out there and now Aiden's were too.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't hate you. If I hated you I wouldn't be here right now listening to what you have to say. I'm angry because I loved you and then you left without a trace. I thought you were gone for good and I tried so hard to move on, but I can't because I still love you. I mean, I've heard songs about heart break, and before I'd just sing along because I liked the tune and the lyrics. These last few months, I could actually relate to those songs. I was a mess. Even when someone else came along, I couldn't be with them because all I could think about was you."

She promised herself she would stand strong on her ground, to tell him that there was no way she'd ever take him back because she didn't want to risk going through another heartbreak session like she had. Then she looked back at him, and his words running through her mind. She hated him. Not literally but she hated how much control over her he really had because he knew how to say all the right things. She could pretty much read him like he was able to read her, and by his tone and his eyes, she could tell that he was hurt to be apart from her just as she had been from him. Staring into those beautiful feline eyes, remembering the spark she felt when she first looked into them at this very spot when they met. The ball room dance they shared that started her decent into love. Even that night when she first saw his tiger form fighting Sam and how monstrous he could become. She was his beauty and he was her beast, on the inside anyways. Arielle never dated ugly men and never will.

She remained silent and moved towards him, giving him the embrace he attempted before her lash out. She rested her head on his chest while she wrapped her arms around him. "I missed you. I'm upset, but I'm not stupid enough to throw away one of the best things that's ever happened to me. It's obvious we need to discuss somethings out, but I'm still willing pick up the pieces and gives us another try. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't. "

Aiden just stood there as she spoke about what she had gone through while he was gone. He felt his face tighten. The shifter was angry at himself for being so easy to capture. It would never happen again though. He had made sure of that before he come back to Arielle.

The sudden embrace from Arielle surprised him. Her sudden change in demeanor was not what he expected from her first words. That didn't matter though. What mattered was that she was in his arms again. Aiden had forgotten how good she made him feel when she was around.

"You're right. We do need to talk. I certainly don't ever want to leave you again. But for now, can I just enjoy being with you?"

"It's not like you have a choice. We've been separated for months. It's time to make up for lost time." she responded looking back up at him. That's when she realized that she always found herself looking up at people. Meh, that just made her all the more cuter. "Guess I should put this on if I've been claimed again..." she let out a sigh of misery, though she wore a smirk to show she was only kidding while she slipped Aiden's silver chain around her neck once more.

"Well I hope you'd never want to leave me again. I mean, how many fine brazilian women do you come across here in New York? Not to sound cocky, but Arielle Monteiro is irreplaceable. Well...it could replaced by an Arielle Jerrick in the future if all goes right. Eh heh...did I just say that?" she asked herself out loud. Ugh, she really did love him, so much so she thought that eventually they would be able to get hitched. Not that Arielle never dreamed about having a nice wedding with all her friends and family present, but she never found a guy she could consider husband material. "One step at a time. Can I at least get a kiss? I've missed your sugar." she smiled reaching up and pressed her lips against his.

"Only if you want to."

Aiden just smiled while Arielle went on talking. Nothing could force the grin from his face. He kissed her gently as he ran his fingers through her hair. He pulled away and said, "Your lips are sweeter than I remember."

Marriage was something that had never been a thought for Aiden before now. He never considered himself the marriage type. But if that's what Arielle wanted then he would certainly give it to her. Besides, it might even be fun.

"So what are we going to do now?"

"I have no clue on what we're going to do..." Arielle said looking up into his feline eyes. To tell you the truth she didn't really care. She wanted to stay the way they were for just a little while longer. To hold each other and enjoy having one another again. Still cuddling next to the tiger pit might have been a little strange.

"Is there anything particular you want to do? I mean I'm a little hungry. I can whip us something at your place if you want." she suggested.

Aiden let out a small chuckle at Arielle's mention of food. "That sounds good to me." He still stood there though. Reveling in her presence, the feel of her against him. Not wanting to move in the slightest.

The sun had already begun to set, when he finally let her go. Not that much time had passed since they had arrived however. "You ready to leave?"

OOC: Sorry for the delay, internet troubles.

"Hm, I suppose I am." Arielle sighed pulling back from Aiden and stood there for a moment, with a hand placed on her hip. Staring back at him and trying to figure out how in the heck she got so smitten with him. All that had happened from the first time they had bumped into each other...literally and up until now. Another thing that struck her...was how little she actually knew about his past. How he never mentioned anything about his parents or family for that matter, his childhood...it was never brought up at all. She loved him, but if she was ever going to truly be with him, she'd have to know the truth about Aiden Jerrick.

"Well, whenever you're ready. Where did you park? Or did you drive at all?" she asked. Perhaps she should stop relying on taxis, public transportation, and others for a ride. She'd have to stop shopping for clothes and start shopping for a car....or just make her father do it for her. Yes, that would work well.

Aiden's apartment wasn't too far. It was just the right amount of distance where you could either drive or walk there. He had preferred to walk to gather his thoughts for there meeting. And to burn up some nervous energy that had begun to gather.

"I walked here. Do you want a cab or would you prefer to walk back?" Aiden knew that he still had to explain about what had happened. But he was confident that he could try and deflect any questions about his past, at the moment anyways. Arielle had ways of getting under his skin and making him do things that even torture couldn't.

"Oh baby, you better believe we will be walking. That'll give us all the time we need to start to polish off are relationship." Smiling wholesomely, Arielle strolled back over to Aiden, wrapping her arms around one of his and started to lead them towards the Zoo's exit. "Those past 3 months when you were missing, as miserable as I was...I think it helped me grow a lot and open my ideals to what a relationship should be. I don't want to say we rushed it, but perhaps we did. I mean, I never had these feelings before so perhaps I was sort of blinded. I know you Aiden...but I don't know you. I know you make me happy...but I don't know who you are exactly. And I'm probably just as guilty for not sharing everything about myself. I'm not saying we should start over. I'm saying we need a reboot. You know?" she said looking back up at him.

"This may be kind of corny, but we're going to do it anyway. I'll start. Hi, my name is Arielle. Age 19, born on Valentines day....btw, you still owe me for missing that, and I grew up in Rio de Janeiro Brazil with my mother, my father and my little brother who is a pain in my ass..." Arielle chuckled. "So...now its your turn to share." she said looking back up at him with an innocent and sweet smile.