-1

It had been too long since anyone had been here. Too long. Because it was always too painful. The scars had never healed. The wounds would always stay fresh. But the three of of them agreed that it needed to be done. They needed to come back to this place to say hello to their dear friend. And so Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, and Mary Jane Watson walked the hallowed ground making their way to that familiar stone, with the flowers they would offer as a token to the soul that rested there.

Harry looked over his shoulder at Peter and MJ, and shook his head in disbelief. "I just can't believe that she...and my dad...just, wow."

MJ looked at him, a frown coming across her exquisite face. Perhaps they shouldn't have told him yet. But Harry looked over at her and gave her a reassuring smile, before continuing on.

"I mean, it doesn't change how I feel about Gwen. Nothing can change that. But it's just...everything about that is wrong."

Peter pushed the lump down in his throat as he said to his best friend, "I know. It took a long time for me to get comfortable with the idea myself. You know what Gwen meant to me. But it was a moment of weakness, at a time when she was trying to find herself, and I've learned to move past the shock. Just give it time, Harry. Besides, there's a silver lining in all of this. In some ways, we're all almost literally one family now." He then saw their destination coming into view and said to Harry, "If you don't want to do this yet, it's okay. I mean you just got back and everything. She'll understand if you're not ready for this."

Harry stopped and turned to both of his friends, his jaw clenched and a passionate look in his eyes. "Peter, if I'm not ready for it now, I'll never be ready. I've neglected her too much since...since that day, and I think it's time I make up for that. This whole experience, it's been my chance to start from scratch, and this is part of that. Carpe Diem, man."

Peter and MJ smiled their best smiles at him, and they started walking again. That's when Peter notice something amiss. A familiar hairstyle, much the same as Harry's, only older. A few not-quite-successfully-hidden grays mixed in with the red and black streaks that made up that familiar Osborn hair style. Peter's jaw clenched tight and he shoved his bouquet into his beautiful ex-girlfriend's chest, and his eyes set like stone onto the figure kneeling before that sacred rock.

Mary Jane had seen that look before, and knew nothing good ever came from it. That was one thing she had not missed while she and Peter had been split up. She'd been yearning for him, as she was she he'd been yearning for her, as they both started to try to rebuild their lives after their falling out. She'd moved to California to try to restart her acting career and continue to pursue her modeling, while Peter had gone back to freelance photojournalism, although he was currently considering trying to get a teaching position again. But even with that yearning, she hadn't missed that look.

Harry just shook his head as MJ lead him away. He too knew that bad things were happening, because this was the grave of Gwen Stacy, the three of their's best friend and Peter's first true love, and the man down there right now was his dad, Norman Osborn, entrepreneur and criminal mastermind the Green Goblin, the one who had fathered Gwen's kids during her break-up with Peter about midway through their relationship, and who had later contributed to her death in his maniacal war with Peter.

Peter quickly discarded his coat as he made his way towards Norman, his steps getting faster and faster as his blood continued to boil. As he approached he saw Norman stand up and say, "And so now you know all of it. All of the why. I know that for the things I did to you that there's no excuse, nor do I expect your to forgive me. But after this many years, Gwen, I figured you deserve to know, if for no other reason than pure academics."

With a mighty shout of , "OSBORNE!!!!", Peter charged at Norman, delivering a devastating spear tackle that flipped the old man completely inside out, as Peter rolled through and landed gracefully.

Norman on the other hand landed with a thud. But instead of being knocked out, he just spin himself around into a seated position, looked up at a glaring Peter, and laughed.

"HAHAHAHA! Glad to see you still have $##, Parker."

Norman got up and dusted himself off, yanking on his collar to smooth out his sports coat, but Peter moved into his way. He tried to go around again, and again Peter was there to block him. Then Peter struck out and grabbed Norman's hands, firmly applying a strong grip and locking eyes on his eternal nemesis.

His lip trembled with rage as he said to Norman, "Why are you here, Osborn?"

Norman didn't respond. Instead he tried to break free. Peter would have none of it.

"I said, why are you here, Osborn?"

Norman again tried to pull away, but Peter just gripped tighter. Now Norman was getting annoyed. But still Peter wouldn't let go. Norman started trying to talk Peter down, but that didn't work, so finally Norman just shouted out, the Green Goblin personality starting to show through and his voice cracking ever so slightly into that of his nefarious alter ego, "Parker, you will unhand me, or else I will BREAK both of your hands myself!"

Once that voice slipped out, Peter let go, ready for anything. Instead, Norman just rubbed his hands and looked into Peter's eyes. Once he calmed down again, he said to Peter, "If you must know, I was here to explain myself."

Peter's glare broke a little, and instead a smile broke across his face. A smile that turned into a giggle, then a chuckle, then a full on, derisive guffaw.

"You...you honestly expect me to believe you came here because you're sorry for what you've done? Don't you think we know eachother better than that, Osborn?"

Norman just placed his hand to his temple and rubbed it, saying, "Did I say anything about feeling sorry? No! But I think after what, 10 years, that she deserved an explanation."

Peter's glare came back again, as he said sternly, "Explain what? You killed her."

Norman grinned. Oh Peter. Some things never changed about him. Today he was blaming Norman for what happened all those years ago. Tomorrow he'd be blaming himself.

"We both know the truth, Parker, and no matter who you decide to blame, nothing can change that. What happened to Gwen was a tragic accident. You can blame yourself if it helps you make sense of it. You can blame me if it makes you feel better. But what happened was an accident. Yes, I knocked her off the bridge, but the fall, despite what I tried to convince you at the time, didn't kill her. We both know that. It was you making that split second decision to try to save her. And I can't blame you for that, and I know she doesn't blame you for it either. You did what you thought was best, and really that's all that counts in your line of work, isn't it? Oh, I know you feel that as a science student, you should have known the physics of it and that the sudden deceleration from a fall from that height at that speed would have generated enough whiplash to break her neck, but how could you have thought things through that far when you had such a short time to react? Like I said, it was an accident. Nothing more, nothing less."

Peter softened a little bit. He'd known over the years that Norman had almost come to view him as a rejected son, but he'd not heard Norman be so...sensitive to him before. It was out of character. Then again, Norman was nearing 60. Age softens some people. And Gwen was the mother of his children after all, so maybe he didn't feel like it was right to violently explode here at her grave.

Peter whispered, "So, what did you tell her?"

Norman smiled a little and said, "Well, first of all why I chose her. I'll admit to you that it's taken me years to come to the conclusion that I'm sure you did when you found out about Gabriel and Sarah. It wasn't just to get back at you, even though I convinced myself it was at the the time, but it was also because she was threatening to keep me from my kids. I told I didn't feel sorry for the things I've done. Well, that's one case where I almost feel I do. I wonder how they would have turned out if they had a mother in their life, and what kind of a human being I am to have deprived them of that, especially someone that I know would have been a great mother. I also explained how Sarah broke away from me, which I'm still mad at you for, Parker, and also about why we keep doing this little dance that we do."

Peter shook his head, not just at Norman's surprisingly soft character today, but because he felt there was no need to explain why they did their thing. "What's there to explain? You hate me and want to see me die."

This time it was Norman to shoot the stern, disapproving look as he said, "No, no, no! You got that wrong, Parker. Like Joker tells Batman in The Dark Knight, 'Kill you? What would I do without you?' It looks like I need to tell you the same thing I told her; you give meaning to my life, Peter. This little game we play, it's the reason I'm alive. I'm serious, you and Harry are the only things keeping me alive at this point, and Harry's old enough where I don't have to worry about him anymore. He can take care of himself now. You see, Peter, what all else is there for me to do? I've done everything a human being can do. I run a Fortune 500 company. I've been placed in charge of the Avengers. I've got enough money that Oprah has an alter to me, and Donald Trump licks my boots clean. Adam Smith has wet dreams about me in Heaven. There's nothing more I can do in this life. There's no challenge, no fun, and certainly no meaning to it anymore. But you, you! You bring that challenge into it. You bring structure into it. You challenge my mind and my body in ways no one else ever could. If it weren't for you, I would have killed myself years ago. Ruminate on that tonight. In the meantime, if you excuse me, I have Avengers business to take care of, and a corporation that needs my tender loving care, because I'm going to fire my hiring manager, because I'm sick of him hiring all of these useless tools straight out of college that clearly don't have a ##*$#$ clue what the &*$%# they're supposed to do."

Peter didn't know what to do or say at that point, so just let Norman go. He was just too stunned. He had no idea that he'd earned Norman's respect over the years. With the violence of their never ending struggle, he'd just always assumed the worst.

As Norman faded from view, Peter snapped out of his trance as Harry and Mary Jane came over. While they'd kept their distance, they both had heard. Both were stunned too, but seemingly not as phased as Peter. Both had suspected as much over the years, because they were more distant from the action. They could analyze the changes in Peter and Norman over time because they were outsiders for the most part. Sure, Harry had gone through a phase where he'd become the Goblin, and Mary Jane had been wrapped up in the madness too, including an incident not too long in the past where Norman almost pulled the same stunt on her that he had on poor Gwen, thankfully unsuccessfully. But for the most part they'd remained outside the main action.

Besides that, now wasn't really the time. Harry just put a hand on Peter's shoulder to let him know that he was there for him, and MJ wrapped her slender but strong arms around him and pulled him close to her, before handing him his bouquet.

"Forget him, Tiger. He's not what we came here about. I don't think we should keep her waiting."

Peter nodded at her, then flashed a smile Harry, before turning around to face the resting place their friend. He walked over and laid the flowers down, followed by the other two, before they stepped back and looked down that chiseled rock.

MJ cleared her voice, and said, "Hello, Gwen. It's been a long time. I'm sorry I haven't been here in so long. I guess...I've just needed some time away from the city to sort out my life. I hope you understand. Anyways, what can I say, especially when I'm trying to speak for 3 people because these two wussied out of coming up with their own speeches. Typical, ain't it? They can party, and yak to eachother, and shoot hoops, and even fight with eachother, but when it comes to being opening up, they decide to hide. Then again we've known that about them for years."

MJ looked back at them and gave them a little playful wink, before continuing on.

"I have a story I want to tell you, Gwen. You remember after you and Peter broke up? Because he kept defending Spider-man even though you blamed Spider-man for your father's death? To be honest with you, I really wanted to swoop in and take your place. But I just couldn't. When I saw you that heartbroken, when you came to me with those tears, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't know what it was, but something told me that you and Peter deserved all the happiness you could get. Something inside of me just knew that it was right. And it was. Because you meant that much to me. I was willing to put aside my happiness for yours, because you were my sister, Gweny. That's what we became. We were more than just friends. You were my groovin' little soul sister. And I think I can speak not only for the three of us here, but for the rest of our friends that couldn't make it today, that the feeling was the same for all of us, and for Peter you became so much more."

MJ stopped for a second, the tears welling up in her eyes. Peter and Harry wrapped their arms around her. She smiled at them softly, before going on.

"Gwendolyn Stacy, you were the kindest, most beautiful person I've ever met. You taught me how to love in a time where I wasn't sure I could. You taught me how to trust at a time where I wasn't sure I understood the meaning of the word anymore. We started out as rivals, but by the end, the tragic end, we became tighter than any two people I've ever seen. And believe me, believe us, when I say that I love you with every ounce of my soul, and I always will."

Everyone stood there for a long second, smiling and scrubbing the tears from their eyes. They all knelt down together and said a little prayer, before standing up and giving the sacred stone one last look, and then slowly made their way off.

Once they were out of sight, a lone figure slipped from a nearby tree and laid her own offering to the alter to this most beautiful of goddesses, as she sat down in front of it. She reached out and touched it, tracing the inscriptions with her hand, before saying, "Welp, this was an interesting day, wasn't it? Hi, Mom. It's Sarah. I'm sorry that I've never been here to visit before. But I'm here now. And I promise you I'll watch over everyone, and that I'll make you proud. I'll be back soon. Of that you can be sure."

Sarah Stacy stood up, and walked over to her mother's gravestone, before leaning down and kissing the top of it, and walking away. And at that moment, right as the setting sun hit the horizon to shine right over this holy spot, the solar disc seemed to shine brighter than it should. Because somewhere at that moment, a lovely angel, with her golden locks of hair and her shining blue eyes, was looking out over the day and nodding in approval.