"A Waterfall in Wales"

"Why are we doing this again?"

Genesis looks over to Sherlock and rolls her eyes as he slams the car boot shut before dragging the two bags in his hands along the snow, leaf and twig covered ground towards the rest of them. Turning around she twists the two suitcases in her hands and pulls on them harshly to make them moves.

"Because," she grunts as they begin to follow Mycroft and David up the sloped pathway leading to an old log cabin. Grimacing as one of her cases twists over a stray twig, "Violet has been saying that the two of you have been a bit tense." She watches as David continues to attempt to make Mycroft laugh with his shitty jokes. "So we brought you here!" The entered through a gate in-between two large oak trees where the snow hadn't fallen and the old cobblestones were noticeable through the rotting auburn leaves.

Taking a deep breath, Genesis smiles at the familiar sting the brisk air brought to her nose and glances through the trees at the small village at the bottom of the hill.

"You brought us to a secluded log cabin in the Welsh Highlands?" As they begin ascending the final few steps to the cabin Genesis throws a bright smile over her shoulder to him and nods wildly. They pass by a circular stone pit filled with melting snow and enter the cabin. David was piling logs into the the wood burner in order to heat up the building while Mycroft wanders around the room with his laptop balancing on his arm as he attempts to find the best service. The walls were painted a homely pastel green colour and dark oak beams supported the ceiling.

While Genesis ignored the rustic decor and furniture she had seen one too many times, Sherlock was doing all he could not to gape at the finely decorated room. Turning quickly to the only corridor so far, Sherlock hurries after his old friend's voice and finds himself navigating another hallway, and another, and another, until he eventually finds himself in front of two glass sliding doors leading out onto a patio. Genesis smiles from the other side of the doorway and tugs her purple beanie further onto her head.

"Put your bags down and come out here, I want to show you something." Doing as he was told, Sherlock made sure to shut the door behind him as the sludgy mess crunches below his feet. He made sure to assess every inch of the area. From the bench swing to the barbecue to the hot tub which was bubbling and steaming already. It was an awesome sight to say the least. But the swing was not where Genesis was heading. Nor was the barbecue. Nor was the hot tub. She was zipping up her duffel, pulling her gloves further down her wrists and beelining for the trees lining the area.

It took a moment for Sherlock to realise he was supposed to follow her.

For a moment all they could hear was their own breaths and the twigs, snow and leaves snapping, crunching and squelching beneath their feet. The sound of rushing water soon became apparent to Sherlock and he compelled himself forwards, burning with curiosity. As they broke through the treeline he acknowledged Genesis rushing forwards with a dazzling grin adorning her features while she tore her gloves from her hands. He began to wonder what they were doing here, and why she was showing it to him.

"This was my place when we used to come as a family. If I wanted to get away from the business and the drama. If I just wanted to properly relax." She hopped onto a boulder protruding from the water. "Of course I didn't get much of that." She hops onto another, closer to the waterfall. "I was eleven when we left the UK altogether." Finally she leaps onto an embankment close to the waterfall. "We never came back, even for holidays." Holding her hand beneath the water she wasn't shocked to find the water was warm. "When mum died I used to imagine I was here. Where the water drowned out all of the sounds everyone else made and it was always warm and welcoming- despite the season. When I was sat in the hospital holding Aria because no one else could bring themselves to or when I managed to calm her before she woke anyone in the middle of the night, I would bring us here." Sherlock had joined her behind the waterfall and watched as she continued to hold her hand in the water. He allowed her to entwine her fingers in his. "I would tell her what it was like to stand here. What it was like to block the rest of the world out behind a wall of roaring wet heat; where everything goes quiet... and it's peaceful... where no one leaves and no one dies." Sherlock finally looks away from the water and find that, despite the water spitting drops onto them she was crying.

Her tears mingled with the fresh water falling in front of them. Her eyes glassy and bloodshot, her auburn hair sticking to her face, she looks at him and cups his cheek with her wet hand. As her thumb runs across his cheekbones he carefully cups his hand across the back of her neck and head before guiding her into his chest. She releases his hand and wraps her arms tightly around him. She was thinking of Victor Trevor. Of how she could never really talk about him to someone who truly knew him because she was now the only one who really did know him.

"I'm sorry," she muffles into his chest and moves her head so that she was leaning against his shoulder. Turning her face into his neck she apologises again, "I'm so sorry for leaving you." He sways gently and tangles his hand in the hair protruding from under her hat.

"It's okay." He mumbles. "It's okay."

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The two teenagers had eventually stumbled their way back to the cabin. Genesis red in the face and slightly sweaty from the change in temperature while Sherlock managed to look completely fine. When they had emerged from the trees one again, Genesis had found that Mycroft was now sitting on the bench swing holding his laptop in the air and tapping a few buttons. Quickly snatching it from his grasp and closing the lid she smiles at his scowl.

"There's a wifi cafe down the hill. Find it in the morning." She shoves the laptop back at him. "Get your trunks on for now." Entering the house, she trails her hand along the walls. "David!" She yells as a way of announcing her arrival. His faint yell is an efficient reply. "Get your trunks on!"

▪~○••○~▪

Not too long later all four of them were sat in the water, steam consuming them and water bubbling up around them up to their necks. Genesis sat leaning her head back against the plastic of the tub, hugging her knees close to her chest. Sherlock sunk further into water not used to feeling so exposed while Mycroft and David chattered with wine glasses in their hands. They stayed like that for the majority of the night: lost in conversation or thought.