Farewell
By Danii
Summary: An oddly
solemn piece. Ash takes a trip.
Disclaimer: I own no
one. I get no money from any of
this. If I did, I'd be writing much
more of it.
Distribution: Feel
free to take. Just put my name on it
and send me the URL…
Dedicated: To
Justin. Love ya!
And now:
It was an odd feeling.
He'd always thought it was an odd feeling. Then again, he didn't fly very often, so
perhaps that was why he felt so strange as the plane finally pulled into it's
gate and stopped. Or maybe it was why
he was there in the first place which was making him feel so bizarre.
It had taken five years of saving, research, and hard work,
but he was there. There, in England,
getting out of his seat in the slow, carefully planned manner of someone who'd
been sitting too long. That's why he
was pulling his single bag from the overhead compartment with as much speed as
his fellow passengers allowed. That was
why he felt the butterflies in his stomach that he'd thought were long ago
dead.
And yet, with that sense of unease came a deep feeling of
completion. Of the trip being something
that had to be done. Of something
right.
This feeling was the only thing that didn't keep him from
remaining seated and waiting to be flown home.
He didn't, of course, stay there. Instead, he quickly got off the plane, then made his way through
the airport's taxi service area. There,
a friendly looking man in a light coat showed him the way to an empty cab, and
sent him on his way.
All during the cab ride, he kept on looking at the case in
his hands. To him, it was
all-important. More important than the
cabby. More important than the scenery. More important than the little village that
was the closest to his destination the driver would bring him at that hour.
However, the case wasn't more important than his pay to the
cabby, so the man quickly paid him and wished him a safe ride home as he began
his walk to the village inn whose lights he could see even in the dark and
slightly foggy night.
It took him but a few minutes to arrive at the inn, and he
quickly found a place at the mostly empty bar for himself. A woman came by a moment later and took his
order, simple fair he knew that even the these people couldn't screw up too
badly. Then he continued his contemplation
of the case.
Inside. Well, inside
of that case was an object, which he had come to this remote spot to
return. An object that many a scholar
would marvel at. An object that had
great value to him. An object, which
had caused him both pain and joy over the years he had had it. An object which had compelled him this far,
though the people of this bar would never know it's value should they see it.
It seemed like seconds after that his order came, though he
supposed that more than that amount of time had elapsed. But he didn't much care for time.
He didn't much care for food either, but he knew that he had
to keep his strength up for this and so ate every bite of the what was on his
plate even if he tasted none of it.
When he was done, he left his money, with a decent tip, and
made his way out of the inn, despite it's warm and inviting feel. He wasn't looking for warm and
inviting. He was looking for cold and
familiar.
It didn't take him long to find what he was looking
for. It wasn't far. And, Hell, even he wasn't stupid enough to
miss something as big as it was, even if it looked a lot different from when
he'd last seen it. Then again, that had
been a very long time ago. Far too
long.
It took him longer to find the spot, though. It was one thing to find this familiar
place, but something else completely to find something he wasn't even sure
existed. But surely, he'd thought, it'd
HAVE to exist. They wouldn't just…
No, they hadn't. It
had taken him a while, but he did find it. Just a few feet away from the wall of the chapel.
Yards away from where he had rebuilt…
Centuries from when he'd fought…
And then, he opened the case and pulled out the thing that
had brought him so many miles to this very spot.
Carefully, as if handling a newborn baby, he placed the
light blue cloak upon the tattered gravestone.
After a moment, he moved one corner just slightly to compensate for the
pieces of granite which had fallen off and been swept away by the sands of
time. Then he stepped backwards to look
at all he'd accomplished and sighed tiredly.
"Hi, Sheila." He started cheerily enough, "Long time no
see. Really long time no see. I mean, it feels like only five years to me,
but I know that it's been a lot longer than that.
"I don't know what happened to you. There was never any mention of you, or
Arthur. Even that spinach-chinned
wiseman didn't really make it into the history books. Hell, there was barely even a reference to this castle at all,
which I find kinda funny since it's people did save the world.
"But I did find you at last. And then I saved up to get here.
I mean, sure, the trip over the centuries was a lot harder, but it cost
a lot less than it cost just to travel a measly two or three thousand
miles. And my job doesn't exactly pay
the best…
"Sure, I know you're dead.
Been that way a long time from what I can tell. And I'm sure you went on with your life
after I left. Probably led some
forgotten crusade for women's rights after I left…"
He chuckled.
"Lord knows you should've considering the way I treated
you.
"Yeah, I bet you found some really great guy, had tons of
kids, and lived a full and happy life without me. And I'm glad for you.
Really, I am.
"I just…I needed to thank you…Like I never did back when I
had the chance. I needed to return your
gift, and tell you all these things.
Like…I'm sorry. That I'm sorry
for telling you all about the future, getting your hopes up, and then leaving
you. And that I'm sorry I caused all
that trouble back then. That I couldn't
remember three simple words. And that
I'm sorry for treating you the way I did.
"And I wanted to tell you…thank you for all that you
did. For showing me kindness. For giving me love. For making me believe I was a hero enough
for it to happen. I mean, Arthur was
right. I'm a loud mouth braggart with
an uncanny ability for surviving. But
you made me a hero. In the eyes of the
people, in your eyes, and even in mine for a while.
"And now, I've got someone else to make me think I'm a hero. Her name is Jenny…and she's totally
amazing. She's…everything I need. In so many ways. But I wanted you to know.
"Don't know why…don't know anything…just knew…
"Just knew that I had to tell you…and thank you…and
apologize…and see this place again…
"And…I knew that I had to say farewell. A final farewell to this place, the people
here, and all that I left here.
Especially you…"
Then Ash picked up the case, closed it, and began to walk
away.
"I won't be back. I
don't need to be. But I'm sure I'll see
you again someday. And I hope you and
Linda get along up there…you're both sweet ladies…"
"Anyway, I'll be going back home now. This trip cost me an arm and a leg, and
considering, I really can't be losing any more of those at this point.
"Have a nice-er…good-"
He stopped and considered what to say.
"All the best to you, Sheila…"
And then he turned around, made his way out of the castle,
and began his trip home in all the ways possible.
The End
