(Commitment)
(The present)
Without any thought or hesitation Needy scrambled onto the bed on her knees and threw her arms around Bridget. She held her as the vampire girl broke down. Needy rocked the sobbing girl, holding her and making little wordless noises of comfort and reassurance. Finally the other woman regained control of herself. She covered Needy's hands with her own and leaned back against the blonde girl.
"What happened then?" Needy finally asked.
"The noise of the fight had finally aroused the palace and the room flooded with guards and servants. I allowed them to take the bodies of the attackers away but fended off every attempt to touch me or disturb where I knelt.
"Had we been human I could have held Ling's body. God, I could have gone to the grave with her. But I had nothing, just a scattering of dust that was all that remained of my beloved. Wildly I managed to gather up what I could. Casting my eyes about the room, I snatched a delicate vase and deposited in it what of Ling's remains I could grasp. Then I rocked back and forth, keening as I remembered from my homeland.
"Nights passed while I remained prostrate with grief. Finally I rose and sought out certain court advisors. They gave me the names of those disgruntled nobles who were believed to be behind the plot.
"I left Beijing two nights later, after a final night that I will not speak about even today. Let it be remembered as a night of blood and rage that left the city quaking, and me shaken as I was once again reminded of the demon that lurked deep inside me. I took nothing with me except for a certain silk gown and two swords; Ling's and the one she had given me."
Needy remained quiet as she took in the story she had just heard. Understanding filled her eyes.
"And that is why you worry about falling in love." The words sounded like a question but they were actually a statement.
The vampire girl nodded.
"If even an immortal lover can be lost than what chance is there for happiness? But at the same time holding back is not exactly my style."
Needy had resumed her position sitting next to Bridget. She had taken the red head's hand, squeezed it and laughed.
"No you DO tend to be rather open about your feelings." She hesitated. "Have you fallen in love since then?"
"Of course, but not the same way I did with Ling. There have been other women and guys too as well that I grew close to." Bridget smiled. "I think I've hinted at a couple. The Woman's Army Corps Lieutenant Colonel I met when I was in the OSS during World War Two. Back in the Civil War I had a love affair with a woman spy for the Confederacy. That was even more delicious because I was a member of the Union Secret Service at the time."
"The very closest I came recently was with a young Army Lieutenant during the Vietnam War. He and his infantry platoon were attached to SOG, which supposedly stood for 'Studies and Observations Group'. In actuality it was the Special Operations Group and was responsible for clandestine operations both in South Vietnam and across the borders into North Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I was a deep-cover CIA operative posing as a free-lance reporter for 'Rolling Stone'." She looked amused. "In fact even after all these years I still have a relationship with that magazine although it's supposedly the daughter of the writer back then who occasionally contributes articles for publication."
"What happened?"
"A bomb blew both of us out of the war. We each thought the other had been killed. By the time we met many years later he was a full Colonel at the Special Warfare Center. He was also married with three grown children and several grandchildren." Bridget looked rueful. "It seems sometimes that destiny takes a hand in making sure I don't settle down. Not that I could forever of course. Any mortal would grow old sooner or later and die while I continue on."
"Have you ever thought about...?
"Walking into the sunlight? I'm much to Catholic for suicide. As absurd as it may sound I still go to Mass, take Communion and go to Confession. Not that I tell the priest everything of course. And, I confess, most of the time I enjoy my life or unlife or whatever word would be the best fit. I might get a little wild about partying, something that has got me in trouble like you wouldn't believe. God, I nearly got burned at the stake in Budapest four hundred years ago because I was too drunk and sexually worn out to escape from a band of Hunters. But that aside, I have a good time and I feel like I have a purpose here. I believe everyone does. But after what happened to Ling I just hesitate about letting my heart go."
"Speaking of Ling, what happened to the vase and her ashes?"
"I buried it on a hill overlooking the city when I left. Centuries later I returned to China to observe the conflict between the Nationalist and Communist Chinese. I found the spot again and retrieved the vase. It was still sealed. I gave her ashes to the winds of the country she loved and brought the vase back with me. I still have it."
"At the headquarters?"
"No, at my home. One of them anyway."
"ONE of them?" asked Needy with a grin and a lifted eyebrow.
Bridget looked embarrassed. "Unlike a certain brooding TV vampire I DO have an investment portfolio. In fact," the other girl's embarrassment deepened so much Needy thought Bridget would have blushed had she not known the vampire girl was incapable of that, "I am very well off. There's a townhouse in Charleston, a cabin out in the woods of Colorado and what I consider my home place back in Ireland."
"A castle?" Needy teased.
"No, but an old manor house overlooking the ocean. The view is quite spectacular. I hope you'll love it as much as I do."
The blonde girl's heart beat faster. "So you're inviting me to visit?"
"I'm inviting you to consider a lot more than just visiting."
"I'm mortal."
"Are you?"
"Well I'm human anyway."
"I am too. Just because I'm a vampire doesn't make me any less human," the red head pointed out. "I'm not possessed by a demon or anything like that. I'm still Michael and Mary O'Brien's last and favorite child. Oh Anita I don't have the answers. I just know something in you calls to me more powerfully than I have felt in a very long time. It may be the more than normal power you have. You may be just as immortal as I am without needing to drink blood. Not that that means you can't be killed mind you. That thought scared the devil out of me when I saw that lamia about to feed on you."
"It may be that the loss you have suffered touches an equal loss in my own heart. And it may be none of those things Anita. It may simply be that in finding a partner I also found someone I fell in love with. Just because you are you."
Needy sat still for a moment. She looked at the other girl and her heart filled. "Needy."
"What?"
"That's my nickname that Jennifer gave me. It's short for Anita of course but it also described me. I clung to her and needed her."
"Maybe then. Not now. Not that needing someone is wrong or a sign of weakness but to me you aren't any clinging vine. You're a self-reliant and powerful woman and I love you for that."
Needy, no, now and forever just Anita needed no time to consider an answer. "I love you too Bridget."
The two girls kissed. It was only the light brushing of lips. No open mouth, no questing tongues, and no hands running frantically up and own each other's body. Yet that kiss held the promise of all that and so much more. They rested foreheads together and smiled in each other's eyes.
"What now?"
"Now we take a couple of really, REALLY tedious days to write reports. And then I think we're due a little vacation before our next case."
"What will that be?"
"No idea Anita darling. But there will be something I'm sure. Not until the final trumpet sounds will the battle between good and evil end. But until then we just will do the best that we can. In the meantime, have you ever been to Ireland?""
Anita knew that love was always a chance. You had to take the chance of losing it in order to gain it, to open yourself up to hurt before you can reach the happiness you looked for. But she was willing to try. Bridget was willing to try. Just for a moment her heart went out to someone else, to the first person she had loved before she turned to the person she loved now. In her heart she spoke to that person.
"Goodbye Jennifer."
(The End)