Synopsis: They will ensure that her legacy live on...
Disclaimer: Lizzie, Diane and Aiden belong to me. All other respective characters belong to the creators and owners of the Castle series. No infringement intended.
"Hi Nana." The little girl's greeting came with no sorrow. Her smile was innocent and pure, untainted by wistfulness and spite. She waved a little. Shyly.
No one responded, but the little girl was not disappointed. After all, stone did not speak. Neither did the dead.
"We did it, mom." The brunette standing left of the child announced. "We caught him. You can rest now. It's done."
The woman's voice quivered slightly towards the end, and she closed her eyes to hold the unshed tears welling within. She had promised herself she wouldn't do this, wouldn't break down in front of her mother's grave like the past. Today was different. The dark cloud that hung over her family has been lifted, banished, and for the first time in so many years, she can truly feel the sun's warmth caressing her face as she lift her head up to the sky. For the first time in so many years, she allowed herself to breath.
It was a day of victory, of triumph, of a new beginning. The brunette took a deep breath, filling her lungs with chilly spring air, but damn, it felt good.
The waning twilight fell on the alabaster surface of the tombstone. It shone like gold and silver. The child reached up with her gloved hands and touched craftily engraved 'B' on Beckett.
"How come I never met nana?" The girl asked, tilting her little red head to the side in confusion. Such vibrant colour, the woman sighed, must be the Castle genes.
"Because you weren't born, dummy!" The older boy, brunette like the woman, exclaimed. He looked about 12 or 13, unlike his sister, who was 5 at max. Then, in a quieter voice, the boy mumbled, "Heck, I don't know her either."
The woman sighed. In her head, she was having a private conversation with her mother. Somehow it seemed like she was listening, like she was right in front of them, looking back at them with those warm, accepting eyes.
God, mom, I wish you were still here. You'd love it. If you can see Aiden and Di…oh mom, they're both so beautiful…so wonderful…
Dad… He's recuperated well in the past few years…at some points, we all thought we were going to lose him. He just completely fell apart, mom, like bits of him were taken away from his body. He misses you, you know. Even after all these years, he still speaks of you everyday…like you were never gone. He keeps you alive for us, so memories of you don't fade away. I'm so afraid, mom, that I'll start to forget little pieces of you every morning when I wake up. Dad helps with that, he really does. You've become a legend for the kids, grandbabies whom you've never met. Your legacy…it will always live on…
Somewhere in the distance, the woman hears footsteps, and before she could turn around to see the newcomer, Diane and Aiden had broken into a sprint towards him, with the former squealing, "Dadddy!"
Without turning around, the brunette looked towards the older, red-headed woman, the mother of Diane and Aiden. Standing still beside her, she's been silent this entire time. "Lex. Thank you."
"No Lizzie," Alexis née Castle shook her head, "Please don't thank me. Kate was the only real mother I ever had. She affected me, guided me, in ways I can never thank her for. Even before her and dad were married," Alexis looked down at her own badge clutched in her hands, recalling her time as a volunteer at the 12th precinct, "she had been guidance to me."
"Lex," Elisabeth Joanne Castle smiled through tears, "sometimes I think there's more of her inside you than me, even if you weren't connected by blood. The FBI is lucky to have you. Mom would've been so proud."
Alexis hugged her half-sister tightly, saying, "We did it together, Liz. We put an end to the tragedy."
"I'm a New York fashion designer," Lizzie grinned cheekily, "Solving crimes? Me? Not a chance."
"Admit it! You take after Dad – the mind in the background," Alexis teased. Over the shoulder of her sister, she saw her husband approaching with her two kids.
Ashley, now a man in his forties, greeted his wife and sister-in-law with the same familiar smile that Kate Beckett Castle had known when she had been alive. While Rick had always been weary of his daughter's high school boyfriend, Kate seemed to see through the teenage fumbles and understood that Ashley was a responsible, dependable individual. Alexis smiled. Her life with Ashley hadn't been a perfect one, and they've even been divorced for a period of time in the middle, but she quickly learned that just like how her dad was her stepmother's one and done, Ashley was hers.
"Hey," Alexis smiled back.
"Sorry, am I late?"
"No," Lizzie replied instead, "You're right on time."
Ashley placed the bouquet of lilies by the tombstone, replacing the old, withered ones, "Hello Kate."
Most people would find it surprising that a guy can hold so much reverence for his stepmother-in-law, but Ashley wouldn't blame them for thinking so. Indeed, when he was 17 and clueless about life, this wasn't exactly the scenario he had in his head of himself 25 years down the road either. But Kate Beckett had saved Ashley's life, and solved the murder of his best friend after the said friend was suddenly gunned down on the street. She wasn't like other cops; she didn't declare his friend's death as a 'random act of violence.' Words can't describe the gratitude he felt for the woman. The Castle family just wasn't complete without its matriarch.
Alexis looked down at her watch, "When is Nathan getting here?"
"Soon probably. He called around noon, said he was just leaving MIT. He had classes in the morning, and the drive from Massachusetts to NY is pretty long," explained Lizzie.
Nathan Castle, their little brother, the last child of Richard and Kate Castle, was the brain of the family; even Alexis admitted it was true, though she had been a Yale law graduate herself. At only 18 years of age, Nathan was already on his last year of university. Out of all of them, he really did resemble Kate the most.
Ashley glanced towards the gate, "Speaking of the devil…"
Lizzie couldn't hold it any longer. She raced towards Nathan figure, bombarding him with a crushing hug. Her little brother, who was only 8 when Kate passed away, can still recall his mother's face. However, he didn't recall her voice, the warmth in her eyes, or her laugh. But Lizzie, elder to Nathan by 4 years, remembered many, and she is reminded of Kate every time her brother laughs, every time he stares at her with his green eyes.
"Is it true? God, Lizzie, please tell me it's true! Tell me Lex caught them!" Nathan pulled back and held his sister at arm's length, urging earnestly.
"It's true, it's true. Mom's death. Grandma's death. It's solved." Lizzie's furious nods comforted Nathan's frantic heart.
The two of them came to Kate's grave alongside Alexis, Ashley, Diane and Aiden. "No more Beckett women would have to die because of them." Alexis said aloud, "They took Joanne, and then they took Kate. But now it's over. For good."
"What are the sentences?" Nathan couldn't help but ask. He was never supportive of extreme measures, but damn it, he'd be lying if he said there wasn't even the tiniest part of him that wished the capital punishment on his mother's murderers.
"Probably won't be capital." Alexis sighed, "But definitely life-time imprisonment with no rights for parole. The Attorneys from the Supreme Court personally promised me this much. Those bastards, no matter how high up they were, will get what they deserves."
"Rot away in the cells." Lizzie lamented, "A fitting end to those miserable lives."
Diane gazed at her parents and aunt and uncle in confusion. Aiden understood somewhat, but he stayed quiet.
"We should go now, Mom," Lizzie said finally, wiping away tears, "We'll come to visit you some other time, okay?"
"Aiden, Di," Alexis ushered her children, "Say bye to Nana."
"Bye Nana." Aiden smiled.
"Bye Nana." Diane waved again.
"Bye Kate."
"Goodbye Kate."
"Goodbye Mom."
As the family then turned away from Katherine B. Castle's grave stone and walked towards a better, more peaceful future, Elisabeth lingered a bit longer. She watched as her family stopped at another tomb stone down the row, lamenting a few words. Joanne's. She knew.
"You coming, Lizzie?" Alexis asked.
"No. I'm gonna stay a bit longer, then I'm gonna drop by Dad's later."
Nathan and Alexis regarded their sister wearily, "Okay, then, Liz, bye for now."
After they were gone, Lizzie said to her mother's tombstone, "Oh, mom? Dad says hi. He can't be here today; the doctors said he shouldn't move about too much after that last heart attack. But, uhm, he started writing again, you know. About you. Not Nikki Heat," Lizzie chuckled, "You. Kate Beckett. If it ever gets published, I'll bring a copy here, but I don't think he'll ever finish this one…"
"Hey, sweetheart."
"Dad!" Lizzie jumped back, "What are you doing out of bed? The doctor said –"
"Don't worry about the doctors, Lizzie." Rick grinned at his daughter, "I just need some alone time with your mother. Don't stand around now, go home. I'll be fine."
"No! I can't leave you here! H-how did you get here in the first place?" Lizzie put an arm around her father.
"I walked." Rick's eyes twinkled, as if Lizzie had said a really silly thing.
"You. Walked." Lizzie sighed in disbelief. His full weigh was supported by his cane; Rick looked like he could barely stand. "Dad. Please."
"No worries, Liz, your old man is a tough bird. I'll be just fine. Now go home." Rick nudged his daughter with his hand.
"I won't leave you."
"Well, I can't go home with you."
"What…Dad, what do you mean?" The young woman stared frustratedly at her father. The old man couldn't meet her eyes. He sighed, gluing his gaze on the grassy ground. There was a long silence, before Rick lifted his head and beheld her with his heavy gaze.
"Sweetie, I died, remember? I had a heart attack," Rick stared at his child as if he pained him to tell her the truth.
Lizzie stumbled back a step, "What? No…no…" Her father started walking away from her, towards the tombstone her siblings had stopped by on their way out.
Tears ran down her face as Lizzie read the name across the stone, in the same font as her mother's had been engraved.
Richard Edger Castle.
Husband. Father. Writer.
1973 – 2035
She remembered then. Her father had left them last September, almost exactly half a year ago to the day. She had been in Paris for the fashion week, and Alexis had called her in the middle of her work. She had dropped everything and took the first flight back to New York, but it was too late. He was gone.
Lizzie dropped to the ground, sobbing, "Daddy…" She cried. "Why…why…."
Now she knew why Alexis and Nathan had worn such forlorn expressions. When she finally calmed down, Lizzie looked up; her father was standing behind his tombstone, as young as he had been when he first walked into the 12 precinct. "Oh Lizzie. My sweet baby girl."
"I wish I was like Lex, Daddy, strong like her."
"We all have our weaknesses, some more than others. Alexis might be strong, but she has her own worries too. Her primary worry right now, sweetheart, is you." Rick brushes the brown curls on Lizzie's head, but for the first time, she doesn't really feel it. "Will you be okay now?"
"I will be," Lizzie smiled. "That book you started…"
"Keep it save, Lizzie. I never intended to publish it. I thought, if I could just capture every inch of your mother's being into those pages, then I'll never really have to let her go." Rick smiled sadly. "But we all have to let go sometimes, don't we?"
Lizzie swallowed thickly, her voice cracking again, "I don't think I can..."
"Lizzie, letting go doesn't mean forgetting. We'll always be with you, right here." Castle pointed to his chest. "The dead is dead. The living have to go on. That's how it's always been. Your mother that to learn that when Johanne died. I had to learn that when your Grandma Martha died, and then learn it again when your mom left too. Now it's your turn."
"I understand, Dad." Lizzie asked hesitantly, "I-Is mom happy…I mean…are you…"
"Your mother is great. Don't you worry."
"Can I see her?" Lizzie's eyes brightened for a split moment.
But Rick shook his head sadly, "It doesn't work like that, sweetheart."
"It's okay," she smiled back, "I understand."
"You should go, Elisabeth. I need to go to."
"Willll I ever see you again? Or mom?"
Rick was silent.
"It's okay," Lizzie stood up. "I love you, Dad. If this isn't a figment of my tortured mind, and you really exist, when you see mom, can you tell her I love her too. And I miss the both of you so much."
"Of course I will." Rick smiled widely. "Goodbye, Lizzie."
"Goodbye, Dad."
In the light, Kate watched as her daughter walked away from her dark past. Rick, her husband, joined her upon Lizzie's departure.
"It's really too bad you couldn't see her." Rick said.
"You know the rules. If they see one of us, some parts of them will still think it was the workings of their mind. But once they see me, they'll ask to see Martha, and then Lincoln, and then Ghangis Khan….there will never be an end." Kate chuckled.
"Will you two hurry up?" Martha's familiar voice floated from behind, "The light gate is about to close."
"Coming, Martha."
"I don't know." Rick hesitated, "Maybe I should stay behind, to watch over them for a while."
Martha sighed and dragged her son from the edge, "Oh, give it a rest, kiddo. You and Kate raised a nest of capable young birds. I'm sure they'll be fine."
Rick yelped as Martha pulled on his ear, and Kate laughed.
Author's Note: Originally, I was going to make Kate stand in front of Johanne's grave, but strangely it turned into this. Kate died trying to find her mother's murderers, but it was Alexis who completed the job in the end. Somehow, it seems like a fitting link across 3 generations of capable women. I hope you enjoyed my fic. Thank you for Reading. Reviews are always welcomed.