Scooby Doo and the Pilgrim's Way
Chapter Ten: Departure
The night came quickly in the mountains above Paradise Lake. The air was clean and crisp without the dry stale smell of old dirt in the cave. Stars twinkled in the heavens above the two lovers that walked out of the cave. Velma took a deep breath, relishing the noise of insects, the hoot of an owl in the distance. At a signal from Shaggy the saucer made it's appearance at the edge of the opening, slowly making it's way out of the entrance. The craft settled near Crystal's ship with Crystal and Jasper returning to Shaggy and Velma.
"Velma," Crystal placed her hand on Velma's arm, "I need to talk to Shaggy a moment before we leave. I promise to return him to you."
"You better." It implied that if her Shaggy wasn't returned there would be a battle as yet unheard of in the history of men.
Shaggy and Crystal moved away, Crystal speaking in a low whisper. Velma moved closer to Jasper, "Do you know what they're talking about?"
"Yes," Jasper offered no more, smiling.
"And you aren't going to tell me, are you?"
"No, I think Shaggy will. Don't worry, Velma, Crystal just wanted to say goodby." Jasper headed for their transportation home.
"As long as that's all she wants," Velma murmured.
Shaggy and Crystal returned, Crystal hugged Velma and walked toward her ship, disappearing inside. Moments passed in silence then the ship rose into the air. In seconds the craft had aligned with the crippled ship; it too rose, being lifted by an unseen, unheard tractor beam. Both ships rose higher, slowly at first then faster and still faster still until they were only another light among others in the darkening sky. And then the light went out.
Velma and Shaggy had been looking into the sky the whole time. Velma took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, "Safe journey, my friends." She turned to face Shaggy, "Shaggy, I know Crystal meant a lot to you. I'll understand if you want to keep what she said to you private."
"Velma, I don't want any secrets between us. Let's sit on that log, you might want to sit down for this; I know I do.
"She gave me this," Shaggy declared, holding out an unwrapped square box. It was made of some transparent material with seven dots in an unusual design. "It's a cutting from my daughter's hair."
"Shaggy, you just said your daughter, right? As in you and Crystal...have a daughter?" Velma asked disbelievingly.
"Her name is Celeste. She didn't like being left behind on Zukor. Crystal said she is the only Zokorian with hair; she said it is really unruly."
"Imagine that. Shaggy, being married to you is going to be an adventure in itself; if you ever ask me. I think I need to sit down."
"Val, you are sitting down."
"Oh, so I am. Do you think we will ever be able to meet Celeste?"
"I asked the same thing; she said to keep watching the skies." They both looked up into the sky in time to see the explosion. The bright white light expanded outward then winked out. Seconds later a long cigar shaped light was seen and then in a heartbeat it too disappeared.
"With no star drive it would slow them down too much." Shaggy offered, then Velma added, "they couldn't explode it inside the cave so they towed it a safe distance before destroying it. So what do we do now?"
"It's too late to walk out tonight, we could stay here until morning. Val, will you marry me?"
"Yes, Shaggy!" Velma cried triumphantly, a whimsical smile playing along the edges of her mouth.
After a midnight swim and now, lying in the arms of her lover, Velma slept soundly. Their drawn-out love making had left both relaxed and satisfied. In this heavy sleep, a thought invaded her dreams. Her eyes flew open. She jerked to a sitting position.
"SHAGGY! Wake up!" She pushed on his shoulder. Jolted from a particularly pleasing dream, Shaggy slipped off the small bed, landing hard on his backside.
"What's wrong, Val?" Shaggy looked up into the smiling face looking down over the edge of the bed.
"Shaggy, my step daughter is an alien! How am I going to explain that to my mother? Family reunions are going to be out of this world!"
True love stories have no ending.
A/N: Homer's Nose and the stream mentioned in this story is real. I could see the mountain from the back yard of my youth and spent many happy afternoons roaming the foothills of the Sierra mountain range. The Pilgrim's Way cabin and caves are fictional.