Written years ago by me, I decided to finally post it, with some fixes. Hopefully, friends, with some good luck my health with even out and my writers block will dissipate. Until then, I hope you enjoy...
What Will Be...
Jubilee walked through the darkness, squinting her eyes to see in front of her. The landscape was hazy, almost dreamlike. But she knew well enough that it wasn't that.
Suddenly, she could see a form in front of her. Taking a few more steps, the dark outline became slightly more clear. She drew in a breath. It was him.
He stood, arms crossed, leaning against a tree; that familiar, lopsided smile playing on his face.
She stood, frozen, just staring at him, before his grin widened and he spoke: "After all this time, you can't think of one thing to say to me?" He teased her gently, and she let his voice wash over her, reveling in that which she had missed.
She grinned sadly. She'd been waiting forever to tell him something. A lifetime.
"I'm sorry." She said softly. He started, obviously surprised at her words. He hadn't expected that, of all things. His grin faded. "What are you...?"
"All those years ago." She started again. "I should have said yes."
He stopped, his face softening as realization struck him. "Oh, Jubes. I never wanted you to regret that..."
"But I do." She said. "It's haunted me."
"It shouldn't have." He insisted.
"I should have said yes." She repeated.
"And I should have asked you years earlier." He shot back.
There was a tense moment of silence, and then she smiled. He returned the grin, easing back against the tree again.
She began looking around, just noticing her surroundings for the first time. She looked back at him. "You wanted for me?" She asked, surprise in her voice.
"Of course." He said, his face softening as he spoke. "I've been here, both waiting for and lamenting the day that I'd see you again." He paused, looking at her. "Took you long enough, though." He grumbled jokingly.
She grinned, both thoroughly touched at his sentiments and glad that he was back on familiar ground, joking with her.
"You know, they thought for awhile there that I might have been an immortal." She said casually. "And besides, you didn't have anything better to do than sit around waiting for me?"
He grinned at that. "Well, that, and I got to watch you every second of every day." He leered jokingly at her.
"Every second?" She returned his grin. "Even when I showered?"
He laughed at that, then looked back at her. "Well, I did have to check on some other people some time..." He looked down. "But other than that... There just wasn't much else worth doing."
She smiled sadly again. Tears seemed to be a bit of a waste now. "You watched me." She repeated, and he nodded. She looked back at him. "Then you know what I named my oldest."
He smiled again. "Yeah. And don't think I don't appreciate that." He said. "But... why?"
She took a breath. "Honestly? I decided...I knew that I didn't want to go one more day without an Angelo in my life." She said. "Every one I ever knew was perfect."
He grinned sheepishly. "Perfect's not quite the word I'd use to describe me." He said lowly, then looked back up at her. "Unless there's some other Angelo you're talking about."
"Nope. Just you."
He nodded. "But, you had a good life, though, right?"
"I thought you said you were watching..." She grinned.
"I could watch actions, but emotions were harder to pick up."
"Yes, I was happy." She affirmed, and he nodded again.
"Good." He said, then began walking, motioning for her to follow. "I'm proud of you, you know. Raising your kids like that."
She looked down as they walked. "It was hard sometimes. But I wouldn't have traded it for the world."
He nodded. "And they turned out great. Nothing like their father..."
She laughed. "I know..." She said. "I was afraid." She confided quietly. "That they'd turn out badly... I thought maybe not having a father would... Make them hate me. For leaving him."
Angelo shook his head. "Not with you for a mother." He said softly. "How could any child be angry at that?"
She nodded. "They handled it very well." Her smile grew proud. "They were quite well adjusted, despite my influence. They were great kids." She stopped, looking behind her for a moment. "It made it all the easier, you know...?"
He knew what she meant. "They'll deal with that, too. They'll be strong. Just like you." He studied her face for a few moments. "Are you OK?" He asked, concern evident on his face, in his voice.
"Yeah, well... You know. As well as I can be." She grinned.
"I knew you would be." He said.
She stopped. "You were there." She said, and he looked down.
"I was so afraid, and then I... felt you." She gazed at him, willing him to meet her gaze. "It was you, wasn't it?"
He nodded. "Yes." He looked back up at her. "I wanted to help you, guide you... I'd visited you before."
She nodded then, also. "I know." She said, awe coming into her voice and understanding in her eyes. "I remember now. There were times that I knew... I just knew that you were right there... Next to me." She looked at him, comprehension dawning on her face.
"I was." He said simply.
She walked over to him, and hugged him, the first time she'd been able to do so for over seventy years. He hugged her back, fiercely.
"I always tried to imagine what could have been." She said into his chest. "We would've been so happy..."
"But then you wouldn't have had your kids." He reminded her gently. "It's all right. It was meant to be this way."
She nodded. "Maybe... But I could never help thinking about the what ifs. Maybe you'd have lived, if I'd said yes to you before. You could've still been alive.
"And be mourning you on earth now?" He shook his head.
"What makes you think you'd have outlived me?" She joked feebly.
He grinned. "Point." He said. "I'm not much interested in the what ifs anymore." He drew her to him again. "About what could have been." He smiled down at her. "What matters now is that we can spend the rest of eternity finding out what will be."
He leaned down, and took her chin in his hand gently, then lowered his face to hers, his lips brushing hers.
She accepted the kiss gratefully, and deepened it, feeling the years slip away and old feelings resurface. She'd waited a lifetime for this moment, and now she had an eternity to enjoy many more moments just like this one.
They parted after a moment – was it seconds, or years, later? They didn't know. Time didn't much matter to them anymore.
They grinned at each other, grinning softly, then began walking again; their hands intertwined as they walked together, down the path to eternity.