The Final Storm
Epilogue
by Scarlet Eve
Eight Months Later
Relena looked down at her hand and the small, glittering band on her finger. It was simple, yet lovely, and she loved to stare at it. It was a symbol of love, when her last ring had been a symbol of status and money. That fact alone made her love it all the more.
The other fact that she loved the ring was seated beside her on the train. Heero, dressed in his own style of a traveling rouge, was reading a newspaper that he'd picked up off a bench in the train station. The media was still speculating about the Darlian company, which had declared bankruptcy with no prospects of a buy-out. Reading about their troubles had become one of Heero's pass times.
The door to the carriage opened to allow more passengers on, and a bitter cold wind blew through the compartment. Relena pulled her fur lined coat closer to her chin. Across from her sat Marge, who'd lost a bit of weight since she'd have to leave the estate. Marge was playing with nine month old Elizabeth, who'd begun to sprout a crop of blonde hair, like her mother's. Relena was grateful for the hair, as it would cover the little burn that Elizabeth had sustained in the fire.
Relena closed her eyes, and the images from that day reared up from the back of her mind. She trembled slightly. A hand closed over her's.
"Relena?" She opened her eyes and met Heero's, who was looking at her with concern. "What's wrong?"
"Just bad memories," she replied, trying to smile. Heero wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him.
"It will be alright," he said quietly. Relena leaned her head against his and looked across the short space to her daughter and Marge. Her new family. Heero had already told her that he wanted to adopt Elizabeth as soon as they reached St. Louis. The thought lifted her heavy heart and made her smile again.
"Do you really think a new city will help?" Relena asked, as she had a million times before their plans to move west were made. Since the time after Elizabeth was born, Relena had been unable to shake the horror that plagued her, the depression and the ordeal with the fire and James being declared dead during the investigation. Even returning to her childhood home in the city did nothing to improve her spirits. Though she was happy with her marriage to Heero, she still felt the pains of her past.
"I think it will give us a chance to make new, happy memories," Heero replied, stroking her loose hair. He kissed her quickly, and a moment later, the train began to rumble down the tracks. Their new life was beginning.
-/-\-
A room lit with only a candle was occupied by only one person. The door to the room was open, letting in a bit of light from the electric lamps in the hallway. A lone figure lay on the bed in the room, wrapped in bandages and looking nearly like a mummy dug up from the earth in Egypt.
An old man shuffled into the room, wearing a long white coat. His gray hair was wispy and thin, and his face was sagging with age. He reached the bedside and lifted up the arm of the person in the bed, feeling for a pulse. As he was counting, another hand reached up and gripped his arm tightly, tugging him down. The old man let out a yell, and he was met with a single eye staring at him.
"Who are you?" the figure on the bed asked, the male voice raspy and unused. The doctor wrenched his arm free and shuffled from the room as fast as he could. A moment later, two sets of footsteps sounded on the hallway floor, and the door opened wide, letting in more light from the electric lamps. A man and a woman stepped inside the room, moving to opposite sides of the small bed.
"Who are you?" the raspy voice asked again, his single eye switching from one side of the bed to the other.
"James, my old friend," the man said, a smile on his face.
"It is about time you woke up," the woman said. The man in the bed tried to rise, but his skin pulled painfully. He lifted his hands and saw that they were completely mangled and scarred.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Why, my friend, you were nearly burned to death."
-/-\-
The End.
-/-\-
A/N: Just wanted to say thank you to all my readers! I appreciate all the feedback you've given me! Keep a look out for some more stuff I've been working on!
-Scarlet Eve