Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this story. I knew I wanted to write it for a while, but never got around to it. I wrote this in about an hour, and I have no clue how to find a beta, so there's that as well. If you like it, please favorite and review! This is a one-shot, so following the story won't do you any good. Feel free to check out my other story, Someone Like You. It's still being worked on, but I have to figure out where I want it to go first. Thanks!
-CastleDancer
He didn't mean to see her again. He only came back to San Francisco for the others. It was their idea, after all.
They had planned to come back together, the three of them. Re-live that night, forget the war that they had survived. Meet a few girls, tell stories, and maybe get lucky. It was all planned out, every last detail.
Only they didn't come back together. No, it was just him coming back, and not to any ticker-tape parade or that sort of fairy tale shit. All he got was just that, shit.
"How many babies did you kill?" "Murderer" "You shoulda died there when you had the chance"
He heard those words, he felt their spit, their garbage, and their looks. That was the worst part. The looks of the people he loved, knowing they had no love for him anymore. Their silence was worse than the shrapnel of a fucking grenade. They had been so proud before, now this? So, rather than going home to see their hatred, he was going back to remember the good times. Some kinda time, he whispered to himself.
It wasn't too bad, San Francisco, but he made sure to avoid Haight-Ashbury, also known as hippie central. God knows what would happen to a man in uniform there. He didn't have a set destination, or a path; he just walked. And there it was, just as it had been all those years ago. The red façade, the wrought-iron gate open, inviting customers in. The smell of coffee, the warm air; he would've stopped by even if she wasn't there. She was different, time will do that to anyone. Her hair was straight and braided. It looks good on her, he thought. Neither one spoke for a long time, or so it seemed.
"Eddie" She said, still not sure that it was him.
"Hi, Rose" He said, confirming that it was him. If she was glad to see him, she hid it well. Her arms were crossed as she walked over to him.
"I never heard from you. I didn't know if you alive or…" She didn't finish, knowing he could figure out the last word.
"I'm sorry" He really was.
"I stopped waiting. I'm okay" For the first few months, meeting the mailman at the curb was something to look forward to. Maybe it's lost in the mail, she pondered. That was her excuse, but letters don't get lost in the mail for three years. It only took a year and a half for her to realize that there was no letter coming.
"I don't know why them; why not me?" showing her his arm. He had to change the subject, it was the first thing that came to mind. They were always there, the three bees on his left forearm: Bolin, Bernstein, and Birdlace. He expected her to shy away, or not care. That's what everyone else did.
"Oh, Eddie. I'm…I'm so sorry." He was frozen, taken aback by her kindness. He had surprised her after the 'party', now she surprised him. He was shaking, stuck staring at the two little bees. It started with his fist, then his arm, then all over.
She saw him shaking, she knew what he'd been through. She reached out to him with both arms, pulling him into a hug; a special hug, the kind of hug that makes things seem okay, if only for a while. His arms snapped around her, pulling her tighter into the hug. He didn't want to let go, he wanted to hold her there forever, to know that someone was there for him. And she whispered in his ear two words that made everything worthwhile.
"Welcome Home"