The Dream is Over
Just a little something whipped up for a shuffle challenge, which was also my way of stretching my way into some fandoms I haven't written for before... including here. Hope you enjoy.
Theme: Jillian – Within Temptation
Jillian,
Our dream ended long ago.
All our stories
And all our glory
I held so dear.
~*~
It's another month before Miles returns to Paris, his heart lighter than it has been for two years. The look on Dom's face as he held Phillipa and James was one he will long remember.
There was a finality, almost palpable, in the air.
The nightmare had come to a close.
The scars will remain. He doesn't know if Dom will ever stop blaming himself. Phillipa and James are going to grow up without their mother. Miles and his wife have had to bury their only child.
(He tries not to dwell on Phillipa, who has made comments that indicate she remembers Mal's breakdown, or the ache that had gone through his heart when Dom first admitted that Mal was haunting his dreams. Or the gnawing fear at Mal's worsening psychosis, the horror and pain that followed. The frustration of explaining again and again to the authorities that Dom did not kill his daughter, that Mal's mental state had not been stable no matter what those shrinks had said, of watching his grandchildren waiting for their father to come home).
For now, it was enough that their family has a way forward again.
When he sees Ariadne in his classroom again, he invents an excuse for her to stay behind.
He owes this young woman so much. She accepts the thanks with a small smile. "I'm just relieved it worked out in the end," she tells him. Miles eyes her and asks her if she thinks she'll return to dreamscapes.
He's relieved when Ariadne says shakes her head. "I don't think so," she murmurs. "I feel like creating there... spoiled me, in some ways. I want to have something tangible I can put my name to before I go back there."
Miles is almost unreasonably proud of his student for this, and he hugs her once again before she leaves.
He's left alone in his classroom, surrounded once again by papers, and he looks at the photo on his desk.
Mal, back in her college days. This one was taken just after her and Dom started dating. Her face was pink from the winter wind, her hair peeking out from under her beanie. Happy and full of life.
"My girl, I wish you were still here," his voice is thick. "I wish you could share your stories with your children yourself." He kisses the forehead of his daughter's image. "I love you, my girl."
Thoughts are always appreciated!