I was gonna put this up in Oh My Ganados! but decided against it. It's a real one-shot.

Inspired by: Pretty song. Very pretty song. Last of Days (A Fine Frenzy)
Warnings: Not really I suppose.
Genre: Romance I suppose. In a way.
Pairing: Ashley x Merchant. (My favorite!)
Disclaimer: Do not own the song. Do not own RE4.

Reviews would be nice. But... I just hope you'll like it.

"Ehehehe. Thank you." The man had stared at Ashley's face as he bought the spinel from her. He was surprised to see the president's daughter so fired up after all she had been through.

"Leon, let's go!" The girl in front of the merchant said. "I want to get out of here!"

-

Ashley smiled as the memory washed over her, she had been a little afraid of the scrunched man in the black cloak... She didn't remember why though.
Her hands scooped up some sand and she added it to the growing pile in front of her. Silently she patted it to make it stick together better.

-

"So what's your name?" Ashley was staring at the man in front of her. Leon had left her behind to kill Mendez and now she was stuck with the merchant.

"Mark.." The merchant had winked at her and Ashley had blushed. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

-

"Mark." Ashley sighed and saw a little boy walk up to her with a ball.

"Hey, what's that?" The curious boy pointed at the pile of sand.

"It's... nothing, really." Ashley smiled and watched the boy go back to his friends. She loved kids, they were so innocent and curious, just like she had been many years ago. Sometimes she wished she could've stayed that way.

-

"You're hot." Ashley blushed and cursed herself for saying something like that after the merchant had showed her his face. Then again, he really was kind of hot, in a rather strange way. Or maybe more sexy.

"You're a strange lil' lady." Merchant Mark had chuckled and left it at that, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

-

A cold breeze touched her face and Ashley looked up. Dark clouds were starting to fill the sky and she could tell a storm was coming. She shrugged and and continued digging in the sand, ignoring the people around her that started to leave. She had to keep digging, or else she would lose it.

-

Eerie eyes wandered over her body on the floor, eyeing the blood dripping down her leg. She felt a strange fabric carress her arm and a hand touched hers. "Don't move." Came a raspy voice from above her.

Ashley cringed when a cold fluid made the wound in her leg sting even more and she groaned.

"I'm outta first-air sprays."

She smiled. At least she was safe.

-

She had not felt safe like that since she left the island, which was odd considering the fact now she had many people from security following her around, and back then she only had Leon. And Merchant Mark in a certain way. But he didn't count.

-

He was so close she could feel his breath on her skin, giving her goosebumps.

"Don't move." The merchant was sitting close to her, trying to hide Ashley from anyone's view. Outside Leon could be heard, firing his shotgun at anyone who approached him.

Ashley had smiled again. At least she was safe.

-

"Do you ever feel safe?" Ashley was staring at a crab, but the crab didn't move. She got on her knees and poked the creature with her index-finger. The crab started to move and was soon making its way away from her, side-ways into the water. "Bye Mr. Crab!" Ashley waved.

Suddenly she stopped her movements and stared at her arm. She quickly got back to the sand and started adding to the pile again. She wasn't going to lose it, not here, not now.

-

"Where's the strangah?"

Ashley had just shrugged. "He told me to GO HIDE again." Ashley shook her head. "He certainly doesn't say a lot."

The merchant had chuckled. "Poor lil' lady."

"Can I..." Ashley had stopped in the middle of a sentence.

"What is it?"

"Can I see your face again?"

-

Pretty face. Scarred by many and then rarely seen. Unless Ashley was around. Ashley had gotten to see it quite a lot of times. But not enough. Not enough by far. A million times wouldn't have been enough to her.
The pile of sand in front of her had grown so high she was now sitting on her knees. The sand had gotten everywhere, under her nails, between her toes, even in her pants. But it was okay, the sand felt good. It felt real.

-

The arm around her shoulders made her feel comfortable. She silent rising and falling of his chest calmed her down. His heartbeat near her ear made her want to cry. He was perfect.

"You okay lil' lady?"

Ashley had chuckled, his voice sounded weird when her head was resting against his chest. "Mm, yes, I'm fine."

"How's your back?"

"Still there I guess."

His chuckle sounded even better from the place she had been at that time. Beautiful. She was sure she would never forget the sound of it.

-

Ashley heard the wind blowing through the leaves in the background. She heard the waves of the sea as they crashed onto the land. She heard the seagulls in the air. She heard so much, so many familiar sounds. But she couldn't remember that one sound.

She lifted her face up and stared at the now dark blue sky. "Why can't I remember?!"

-

Closer. He was closer than he had ever been. She felt his warmth and the ammo hiding in his cloak. His nose briefly touched hers before he suddenly took a step back.

"Hmmm, gotta apologise for that lil' lady."

"No!" Ashley had stepped closer to him again and grabbed the collar of the cloak. Ignoring the warnings in her head she had forced her lips on his, desperately craving for some affection.

And she had gotten it. For five minutes he had been hers and hers alone. Then Leon had showed up again, all bloody and annoyed.

-

Ashley licked her lips and tasted the salt air. Then she felt something wet on her forehead. It started to rain and she welcomed it. It seemed so logical to her, now the sand would be even stickier. It was brilliant.

"Brilliant!" She got up from her place in the sand and noticed the sea was closing in on her. The tide was rising and Ashley decided to go sit further away from it, she didn't want to get wet.
Wet, like rain wouldn't get her wet.

A flash of lightning lit up the dark clouds and Ashley's heart skipped a beat. The sky was losing it, just like she was. For one moment she felt in perfect harmony with nature. Then the rumble reached her ears and she closed her eyes, hands pressing against her ears. "No... Not again."

-

The island had started to shake and sounds of falling rocks could be heard at a certain distance. It had seemed surreal to Ashley, who was, as always, standing near Merchant Mark. She had turned to him. "Shouldn't you get away from here?"

Just that moment Leon had come down with the elevator, and told her the island was going to blow. Blow soon as a matter of fact."It's gonna what?!"

Leon had started to pull her away from the spot. He was holding onto her arm and jerked her forward when Ashley wanted to say something to the merchant. She had wanted so much more, she couldn't believe it could just end like this. It seemed wrong to her, stupid even.

"Get away from here!" She had yelled to the dark figure. Leon was still pulling her with him and Ashley couldn't believe her eyes when the merchant had not moved. When they entered the tunnel she was finally able to free herself from Leon's grasp and she had turned around. She just wanted to go back the way she came from when the tunnel had collapsed, blocking her way.

"Ashley, there's no time!"

A few seconds later she had been on the jet-ski, holding on to Leon who had called her Sweetheart.

Sweetheart. Right.

-

Ashley felt hate when the memory entered her brain. She felt a gigantic amount of hate towards Leon, who had ruined everything. She didn't care he had gotten her away from there, she didn't care she was safe now. There was a difference between being safe and feeling safe, and Ashley would chose the latter one anytime. But she never felt safe anymore. She just didn't.

Ashley stood back up and walked to her bodyguard who had been watching her the whole time. They silently walked back to the car, and Ashley looked back once, only to see her pile of sand was starting to disappear.

I built myself a castle on the beach
Watching as it slid into the sea

When they reached the parkinglot Ashley was surprised to see the cars driving by. She was surprised to see the umbrella's and the talking people. It seemed wrong. On the beach it seemed time had stopped, but this just proved her that nothing could get in the way of daily life.

Ashley watched her bodyguard unlock the car and felt that hatred again. "I hate you," she said with a cold and biting tone in her voice. "you've ruined everything."

While she was getting in the car Leon just stood there, wondering what he had done wrong. He wished he could help her, but she wouldn't speak about it, not one word. Sighing he got in the car too and started the engine.

While driving away Ashley stared at the people walking by, laughing and looking happy. She saw another little boy, this time on a bicycle, and gave him a small wave. "I wish I could've stayed that way..." Her voice sounded soft and pained.

"What did you say there Ash?" Leon asked from behind the wheel.

"Nothing..."

The world carries on without you
But nothing remains the same
I'll be lost without you
Until the last of days