AN: So this is just a little oneshot that wouldn't let go of my brain. Hope you enjoy!
Beca clung tightly to Chloe's hand.
Chloe looked over at her.
Beca's once thick, chestnut, now thin, silver, hair was splayed out on the pillow around her head. Her once proud, sharp features, now softened with age, were all set into a look of peaceful contentment. Chloe couldn't help but think that she had never seen the little woman look more beautiful than she did right now.
Chloe took a moment to think back over her life, her childhood, her time at Barden, but most of all, her time with Beca. The had shared quite the wild ride over the years, and anytime Chloe had pictured this moment, this finality of their relationship, she always pictured it much different than it was happening.
Any time Chloe thought about Beca being taken away from her, she pictured a scene with much yelling and gnashing of teeth. She pictured herself screaming angrily into the wind, or to anyone who would listen, that it wasn't fair. That they deserved more time. That their love was too young to die.
This, however, was a much calmer, more peaceful affair than she could have ever dreamed. Chloe had made it to one hundred and four and Beca, her younger counterpart an even one hundred. The laid side by side in their bed, at their home, surrounded by their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. There was a thick hush hovering over the room, even the youngest of their great grandchildren, barely out of the womb, seemed to sense it and sat in his mother's arms not making any of the usual baby noises, opting to simply coo to himself quietly.
Chloe still wasn't crazy about the fact that their time was coming to an end, but she did have to admit that this wasn't a bad way to go.
She had never understood the reasoning behind dying the same day that your soulmate did. At one point in her childhood, she had even wished that she would never find her soulmate. That was she would be able to live out her days as long as she saw fit, but now, lying here next to the woman who was the human embodiment of the beat of her own heart, she understood completely. A life without Beca would not be a life at all, it would simply be surviving, biding her time until they could be together again, or at least until the pain of being without the woman who was her life, would end.
She had decided a long time ago, that she was glad she had met her soulmate and she was even more glad that after finding her, she wouldn't ever have to experience life without her.
Chloe was pulled out of her thoughts by the soft mechanical beeping of the machines that Beca was hooked up to. The once steady, rhythmic beeping, was starting to slow significantly. As Chloe opened her eyes and looked over, she saw all of her children gathered around her wife.
She saw their eldest daughter lean forward and place a gentle kiss to Beca's forehead, whispering, as she did, about how much she would miss her. All their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren followed suit, each one placing a kiss to Beca's forehead and whispering a little story about a special memory they had of the two of them, or simply saying how much they would miss her.
As Chloe heard the last of their great grandchildren whisper his goodbyes, she felt Beca squeeze her hand ever so slightly, give a contented sigh, and then heard the high flat drone of the machine. Chloe closed her eyes and felt a tear slide down her cheek.
"Mom?" Came the hesitant voice of her eldest daughter.
"I'm still here love." Chloe responded weakly.
Chloe smiled lightly as she heard a sigh of relief go around the room. Even though they were all thoroughly prepared for their passing, it was never easy to lose your parents.
"I don't think it will be long now, though." Chloe added.
She felt her daughter softly take her hand and heard her choke back a sniffle as she nodded.
"Why don't you tell me a story love?" Chloe asked.
"A story about what?" Came her daughter's watery voice.
"About our lives." Chloe said with a small smile.
As her and Beca's eldest daughter started telling a story about one summer the family had spent at their beach house in Malibu, Chloe drifted off. She had not asked for the story to be told for her own benefit, but for theirs. She knew that this was a difficult time for them and sitting silently, watching their remaining parent slip away, was not the way she wanted things to happen.
As Chloe drifted, in and out of sleep, or consciousness, who knew really, she saw her and Beca's lives play like a movie in her mind.
She saw the activities fair where they first met. Beca's audition. Their first ICCA win. Their win at worlds. She saw their first kiss on the rainy streets of Copenhagen and saw Beca storm off in a huff confused at what had just happened. She felt the smile that had curled her lips up at the knowledge that Beca would be back, that the kiss had been the start of something that neither one of them could turn their backs on. She saw their first date a few weeks later at some dive restaurant in Atlanta. She remembered the way Beca had been so awkward, not knowing what to do or what role she should take. She remembered laughing and telling her to just be herself, that it had been working for them for four years and there was no reason to stop now.
The movie flashed forward a few years to their wedding day. Beca had opted for a black dress and Chloe the traditional white. She saw her little love stand before her with tears in her eyes, stumbling through the vows she had written as she told her that she had always loved her, from the moment they met and then promised that no matter what came their way they would face it together. Always together.
She flashed forward again to the birth of their first daughter, the one Chloe could still, vaguely, hear telling a story in the background. There had been screaming and crying and lots of pain, but it was all easily forgotten as a beautiful little screaming redhead with Beca's steel blue eyes was laid on Chloe's chest. Chloe burst into tears and Beca wrapped her arms around both of them, telling them that there was nothing to cry about, that this was the happiest day ever, quieting both of their crying with her gentle laugh.
The movie flashed forward more and more, covering the birth of their other three children, which all played out very similarly, and then the births of their grand and great grandchildren. Which saw them sitting tensely in maternity ward waiting rooms, expectantly awaiting news that the newest addition to their ever-growing family was happy, healthy and ready to be showered with more love than they ever knew they had to give.
There was another flash forward to just a few days before. Chloe and Beca sat in the doctor's office, in front of an old white haired man, that had been their family doctor for as long as they could remember.
"I'm sorry Beca." The old man had said.
Beca smiled a sad smile and replied weakly.
"It's ok Doc. I guess it had to happen sometime, huh?"
The doctor chuckled lightly, "Yes it did. I was just hoping it would still be a number of years down the road."
"Me too." Beca responded sadly.
Chloe sat, clinging to her wife's hand, in shock. The doctor had just told them that Beca, and therefore she herself, didn't have more than a few days to live. Beca was in complete organ failure and despite the advancements that had been made in medicine in their lifetime, there was nothing that could be done.
On the ride home, the back of the chauffeured car, where Beca and Chloe sat, was tensely silent.
"I'm sorry." Beca's small, frail voice finally broke the silence.
"For what?" Chloe asked immediately, her confusion ringing clear.
"For all of this." Beca said motioning around herself with her hand "For dying." She finished weakly the first sign of tears obvious in her voice.
"Becs, no. You have nothing to be sorry for." Chloe said seriously, reaching over and taking Beca's hands as she did.
"Yes, I do Chlo." Beca said, the tears that had been gathering in her eyes starting to fall steadily down her cheeks. "You could have had another lifetime of years to live, and now because of me, you only have a few days." She added before dissolving into sobs that shook her thin frame.
Chloe decided against words and simply pulled Beca into her side and held her, as she had done so many times over the course of their lives. She stroked her hair and pressed small loving kisses to the top of her head, rocking her gently until her sobs started to quiet.
"I wish you had never met me." Beca said, almost too quiet to be heard.
Chloe jerked back and pushed Beca up and away from her, making Beca jump at the sudden motion.
"You listen to me Rebecca Ann Mitchell-Beale," Chloe started, pulling out her harshest mom voice "Through all the false starts and ups and downs that we've seen, I have never once regretted my decision to spend my life with you. You have given me four beautiful children, ten grandchildren, and twelve great grandchildren, you have taken me on more epic adventures than I can even count and you have been by my side through things that I never thought I would recover from. Every moment that I have had the privilege to spend with you has been an absolute joy, so don't you dare discount the time we've had by saying anything like that again ever again."
As Beca looked at Chloe through the veil of her own tears she said quietly "But Chloe you're going to die with me."
Chloe, softening her expression, once again wrapped her arms around Beca, pulling the younger woman tight to her chest and saying as she did.
"Beca when we got married you promised me that no matter what life threw at us we would handle it together. Always together. This is no different and I don't want to live anymore if it means living without you by my side." They both fell into quite tears, knowing that the preparations that would have to be made weren't going to be easy.
Chloe opened her eyes suddenly, she wasn't sure how she knew, but she did know. It was time. She squeezed her daughter's hand, stopping the story she was telling. Chloe looked into her daughter's dark blue eyes, the ones that reminded her so much of her wife, and said.
"Take care of yourself love, and the rest of the family. We've always been so proud of you, all of you." She added addressing the whole family.
"Mom?" Her daughter asked with a quiver in her voice.
Chloe spared a moment to take one last look at her lost love, hoping beyond all hope that she would see her again soon. She gave her family a small smile and closed her eyes. She was gone.
Chloe opened her eyes, at least she thought she had, but all she could "see" was pitch black darkness. She felt around herself for a moment and found that she seemed to be sitting on the ground, or at least something that resembled the ground. She pushed herself up and was happy to find that she could stand solidly on whatever was underneath her. She put her arms out in front of her hoping to be able to get the layout of where ever she was, without bumping into anything.
She had taken a few steps when she felt something grab her hand. Her first instinct was to pull away, but before she could move, she realized that who or whatever was holding her hand felt almost… familiar.
Not more than a second after she had decided not to pull away, the brightest light she had ever seen assaulted her eyes. She squeezed them shut, but slowly started to open them again, when her curiosity got the better of her.
The beauty of the sight in front of her would have stopped her heart, had that not already been taken care of.
Before her, silhouetted by the bright light, holding tightly to her hand, was Beca. Not the frail, whitehaired Beca she had seen just moments before, no, standing in front of her was the fire-eyed eighteen-year-old she had met at the activities fair, at Barden, over eighty years ago.
"Beca?" She asked in disbelief.
"Help make my dreams a reality?" Beca asked back in lieu of an answer and then quickly added with a laugh "Did I ever tell you how frikkin cheesy that line was by the way?"
"Oh my God, it is you!" Chloe squealed before throwing her arms around the smaller woman's neck.
Beca laughed and Chloe continued "But you're young again. How did that happen?"
Beca gave a shrug and then let go of Chloe's hand to pull a small mirror out of the pocket of her skinny jeans, holding it up so Chloe could see herself.
"I dunno, but you don't look so bad yourself, Red."
Chloe gasped as she took the mirror and examined her face, she looked just like she did her senior year, well her first senior year anyway. Her curly red hair was unruly as ever and there wasn't a line anywhere on her face. She smiled at her reflection and then handed the mirror back to Beca as the reality of the situation started to settle in on her.
"So where are we? What do we do now?" Chloe asked.
Beca shrugged again before saying "I dunno really. I guess, as cliché as it sounds, maybe head into the light?" she suggested.
Chloe threw her head back and laughed, Beca's snarky side had tempered with age and Chloe found it actually quite refreshing now that it was back in full force. "I guess that sounds like as good a plan as any." She finally said once the laughter had died down.
Beca smiled "Ok that's what we'll do then. Although honestly I guess it doesn't really matter what we do, as long as we do it together." She said with a smile, holding her hand out.
Chloe took the offered hand and smiled sweetly at her love. She didn't know what would happen to them, or where they would end up, but feeling the comfortable warmth of Beca's hand in hers, she realized that her young, again, wife, was right, no matter what happened to them to the only thing that mattered was that they were together.
"Always together." Chloe said with a smile as they both took the first step into their next journey together.