Chapter 36 - Bye and Bye
Flashback
The room was dark and cool. He could barely make out the faces of his kids where they stood beside his bed. When had they gotten so old? he wondered. Then a hand took his. Clem.
"Hey, Dad," she whispered and leaned closer. "I'm here. We're all here."
The crushing weight in his chest eased long enough for him to try to smile. She was crying. He didn't want her to cry.
"It's okay," he whispered. "I'm okay. Just moving on. It's time."
"Then you go. Go see Mom," Aaron said gently, but his voice was rough and his face was wet too. "We'll be along later, okay?"
He tried to nod, but he was so tired. He closed his eyes to rest for a while as their voices murmured around him. Somebody's hand held his.
-0-
The room was dark now that he'd shorted the light by unplugging the candy machine. The blonde doctor knelt beside it, the glow of the drink machine illuminating her face. "It worked," she said, holding out the chocolate bar with a smile.
Jim reached out in the fluorescent shine to take the candy. As his fingers brushed against hers, a heavy swirl of dizziness ran through him, as if the floor had rolled beneath his feet. He took a step back to steady himself, aware that she did the same thing. But more gripping than his personal earthquake was the sudden, sure knowledge that he knew her. He'd seen her before. He remembered her, but from a place he'd never been.
"Whoa," he breathed. "Did you feel that?"
She looked at him hard as if she were trying to place him in her own memory and moved closer, her blue eyes never leaving his. "We should get coffee sometime," she suggested.
"I'd love to," he answered sincerely, "but that machine ate my dollar. I only got one left." He now stood only inches away from her, drawn to her by some force he couldn't name, but a force that felt so familiar.
"We can go Dutch."
Her words echoed in his ears and in his memory in emotional stereo. He'd heard her say that before. He'd held her in his arms, terrified, and heard her say that before. A strong sense of déjà vu slammed into him and he suddenly couldn't breathe.
He reached for her, and as she touched his hand, something leaped inside his brain. Everything he thought he knew about his life unraveled in an instant. His years on the force, his time in LA, it all just fell away from him like tissue to be replaced by another life. He gripped her fingers tightly as the memories flooded back through him.
Green trees and a warm jungle sun. She was there, his best friend, the one he knew could count on. He'd sat at a dock and asked her to stay with him in that green tropical place.
They'd lived together, cooked together, laughed together in a little yellow house with a tiny kitchen. She used to come home in a blue jumpsuit with her long hair in a ponytail.
He remembered her intimately – the way her hair smelled like strawberries as it ran like silk through his fingers, the way her body felt pressed against his, the way her eyes lit up when he entered the room.
He gripped her hand in the darkness of the little snack room, but he knew in that moment exactly how it felt to touch her bare skin warm beside him in the night. How it felt to kiss her for the first time and for the last. How it felt to love her so much it hurt.
"Juliet." He whispered her name aloud, but his throat burned like he'd been screaming her name in terror.
Dear God, he knew her. He knew how it felt to lose her forever and live without her, the void in his life an aching hole that would never be filled.
She'd slipped through his fingers into the awful darkness, despite his desperate attempts to hold on. He'd held her in his arms at the bottom of a black chasm, as everything he needed, everything he loved, died with her. He'd walked out of that place a different man, an empty man, because she'd left him.
Years of grief and hurt poured back through him, a lifetime of missing her, of trying to be happy despite the empty spot in his heart.
He'd needed her so much. He'd missed her so badly.
Now his fingers touched hers once more.
"Juliet, it's - it's me," he stammered as he reached out to cup her face, to embrace her in disbelief. "It's me, baby."
His breath caught as he considered the miracle he held in his arms - alive, real, just as beautiful as he remembered.
How was this possible? How had he come to this place of mercy and grace that gave her back to him again?
His heart pounded and his breath grew ragged in his chest as he realized that he was not dreaming. That it was really her fingers in his hair, her cheek on his shoulder. She smelled so good. She felt so right against him.
"It's me, baby," he whispered into her hair as he held her. She began to tremble and cry, clinging to him like he might vanish. "I gotcha," he assured her. "I gotcha, baby."
After a long moment, she pulled back to look him in the face, her eyes bright with tears, but she was smiling now and laughing. "Kiss me, James?" she asked tremulously. The request tore through him. He never dreamed he'd get the chance to kiss her again.
"You got it, Blondie."
Their lips met gently at first then with increasing passion. He couldn't get enough of her. He wanted to just take her into himself and relax into her presence. He'd finally come home.
Time stood still as they held each other in the light of the drink machine.
"I can't believe I found you again," she whispered into his neck.
"I never stopped missing you. For all those years, I never stopped missing you," he admitted, and emotion suddenly gripped him with an undeniable hold. He couldn't stop shivering and clung to her tightly as she murmured comforting words and stroked his hair.
It had been so long. So much had happened to him after she died, so many things he wanted to tell her about, so many things only she would understand.
"I wasn't the same man after I lost you. I tried to go on, to do what I ought to do, but I wasn't the same," he sighed.
"It's okay," she replied gently. "We've got to let go of the past. It's time to move on to something new, something for both of us, okay?"
He nodded and took her hand with a smile. They had to go. But he couldn't leave without doing a few things first. He checked his phone to see if Miles had texted him again. "I've got to see Miles," he stated as he dropped his partner a quick message to stay put at the concert.
"Miles is here? You know him?" she asked.
"I've been his partner for the past six years," he replied with a grin. "And in all that time, neither one of us remembered a thing. Weird, huh?"
She gave him a smile and an uneasy laugh. "Weird."
They headed back down the hall to the elevator, only to be hailed by an older woman with long curly hair. An older man in round glasses and Birkenstocks followed close behind. "Wait! Dr. Shepherd, wait!" the woman called.
"Shepherd?" he asked Juliet, but she just gave him a look, a look he remembered so well. Suddenly he felt completely at home despite the fact that an older, much older Amy Goodspeed was calling her Shepherd.
"Hey, you guys," Juliet said with a smile.
"Have you seen Ethan? We were supposed to meet him for dinner tonight," Amy asked.
"He had a patient go into labor, I believe," Juliet answered. "He'll probably be a while. You might want to let him call you later."
"We'll do that," Horace stated. "Come on, Ames, the boy will surface when he's done."
James couldn't help but stare at the couple who'd once been such good friends. Seeing them again brought back so many memories.
"Do we know each other?" Horace asked him. "You seem really familiar."
James shrugged. "Jim Ford, LAPD," he replied with a smile and a handshake. "I don't think we've met before. You don't look like the criminal type."
Horace and Amy laughed. "Well, Dr. Shepherd, you be careful with this one," Amy teased. "He might like handcuffs."
"I'll be careful," Juliet assured her and led James down the hallway to the elevators as the Goodspeeds walked the other way.
Once the older couple turned the corner out of earshot, James let out his breath with a whoosh. "That was just freaky," he stated. "They were so old. And Ethan is like a good guy here?"
"James, he wasn't a bad guy there," Juliet corrected him. "He was just in a bad position. So was I."
"And what's with this Dr. Shepherd business?" James asked, a surge of jealousy running to the forefront of his brain. "
"I was married to Jack for about nine years," she admitted wryly as the elevator doors opened.
He followed her inside and leaned back against the wall, frowning.
Jack. She'd been married to Jack here. They'd been together for nine years. He tried not to think any more about what that meant.
"Did he make you happy?" he asked at last.
"We had some good times," she sighed. "And some not so good times. We just weren't right for each other."
The almost forty years he had with Claire surged into his consciousness and he knew he had to let it go. "I'm glad he was here for you," James said, taking her hands in his. "I'm glad you weren't alone or married to that asshole first husband of yours."
She gave a bitter laugh. "Oh my God, I am so glad I didn't get stuck with Edmund Burke again!" she exclaimed. "What about you? Any skeletons in your closet on this side?"
He shook his head, then guilt hit him in the solar plexus. "Son of a bitch!" he groaned. "I slept with Ginger - Charlotte - Daniel's Charlotte! Holy shit. Why her? Why couldn't I have found you last week? Why did it have to take so damn long?"
To his relief, she just laughed and leaned into his arms.
The elevator opened and they stepped out into the parking garage. Bernard and Rose still stood there beside their car, arguing.
"What's up, you two?" James asked genially, suddenly full of delight that he knew them. He had been good friends with the both of them for decades.
"He insists that we know you," Rose sighed. "I keep trying to tell him we don't."
"Oh, but you do, Rose," Juliet assured her. "The last time I saw you, you offered me a cup of tea. I wish I'd accepted it. I needed to take a few minutes to think. Maybe it would have turned out differently if I had."
"Doctor, I am sure I have never seen you," Rose declared. "And no matter how convinced he thinks he is, Bernard doesn't know your friend either."
"Husband. I'm not her friend, I'm her husband," James corrected her, then he placed a hand on Bernard's shoulder. "You were right. I was looking for my wife."
Bernard looked at him long and hard, then frowned sadly. "You two never got married," Bernard mused with a shake of his head. "She died. We used to talk about her though."
"Yes, I died," Juliet agreed gently, putting a hand on Rose as well. "We all did."
"Bernard?" Rose called to her husband in a weak voice. "Bernard?"
Bernard stepped closer and put his arms around her. "I'm here, Rosie. I never left you. Not once. I stayed right by your side and you stayed by mine."
Suddenly realization broke over Rose's face and the uncertainty gave way to a smile of pure joy. "Oh, Bernard, we're free," she sighed in soft exultation as she rested against his chest. "We made it. We're free!"
James glanced at Juliet to see she was wiping her eyes. He pulled her into his embrace. "I guess we're free too," he whispered.
She hugged him hard and kissed his cheek with a huge smile. "Then let's go be free!"
Bernard laughed out loud, a big merry booming laugh. "That's a great idea. Let's all go be free! We'll see you there!" he called as he took Rose's hand and put her in the passenger side. "My Rosie and I have got stuff to do before we go!"
"See you later!" Rose called happily out the window as the couple drove away.
"We have all the time in the world," Juliet declared joyfully. "So what do you want to do?" she asked, taking James' hand in hers and skipping ahead of him.
"I've got to see Miles. And Claire." James felt in his heart he needed to be sure of them. He'd spent too many years taking care of them both not to look out for them now. "What about you? Do you need to find Jack?"
"David," she said softly to herself, then shook her head as if she'd made her mind up about something. She wiped at her cheeks, then smiled again. "Let's go find Miles."
They ran to her SUV, a big expensive thing full of leather and wood. He glanced into the back seat to see a soccer ball and a bookbag. "What's this?" he asked curiously.
"Jack and I had a son here. His name is David. But I don't think he's still around," she sounded confused and a little sad.
"Where do you think he is? We can look for him," James suggested, still a little unhappy at this concrete proof that Jack had been there. Son of a bitch.
Juliet shook her head and pulled out of the parking garage. "I think he's gone on. It's strange though. He's mine. I know he's mine, but I always wondered how he could be Jack's."
James suddenly thought of a piece of paper he found in a dead file in Dharmaville. "Maybe he was mine," he realized in a quiet voice. "I found the letter after you. . . You were pregnant."
She sucked in her breath and slowed the SUV to a crawl. "I thought so. I was almost positive," she remembered. Then she looked at him with that clear vision and determination he loved so much and missed so badly when she was gone. "If he's ours, then he'll be there. He'll be waiting for us there."
"Do you want to go on now?" James asked, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. "We can. We can go right now without everybody else."
"No. We need to see Miles and you need to find Claire and be sure she knows," Juliet answered as she accelerated again. "Where are we heading?"
James called Miles and verified that he was still at the concert, keeping an eye out for Jarrah - Sayid, James thought with a smile.
"Keep looking. I'm on my way there," James advised him, putting him on speakerphone so Juliet could enjoy Miles' confusion.
"Hey, and I saw that pregnant chick – the hot blonde from Australia. She sat at my table, can you believe that?" Miles laughed.
"Is she still there?" James asked.
"No, she's not," Juliet interjected. "She's there!" She pointed out the window at the hospital's emergency entrance where Charlie whistled for a taxi, Claire standing beside him holding something in her arms.
They pulled over and James felt his heart skip a beat at the sight. Claire had been dead for six years, dead of cancer way too young. But there she was looking twenty-one again. When he stepped out of Juliet's SUV, her eyes caught him. She murmured something to Charlie and carefully passed Charlie the bundle she held.
Then she ran toward James. "Hey!" she yelled as she threw herself into his arms. "You're here! Oh, I'm so glad to see you again!"
"Where you been, Sheila?" he asked with a teasing laugh. Then he planted a big happy kiss on her lips. "I missed you. I never would have made it without you. And it just wasn't the same with you gone."
"Have you heard from Miles?" she asked, taking a step back to talk. "He was at my table at dinner tonight and I didn't even recognize him. Then after I remembered, I couldn't find him again."
"He'll be along, I'm sure. We're going to see if we can't turn him up," he replied, giving her shoulders a squeeze as they walked back to where Charlie and Juliet waited, looks of confusion on their faces.
She took the bundle back from Charlie and pulled aside the blanket to reveal a tiny baby's face. "It's Aaron," she crooned. "Can you believe it? He's just a baby again."
"Hey, sport," he greeted, doing his best to hide the way his heart lurched with tenderness. He reached out a finger to let the tiny hand grip it. "It's so crazy to see him this little again. He's supposed to be forty."
"So just how did you know Aaron at forty?" Charlie asked suspiciously from the side.
James considered the best way to answer that question. In his heart, Aaron was his son. That little boy had called him Daddy for decades. But this was a new place, a new time, with a new potential.
Claire answered instead. "Jim and I were married after we got back home. He was Aaron's dad," she stated gently.
"So you two?" Charlie took a step closer, his eyes fixed on Claire as a look of desperation began to cross his face.
James turned to look at Juliet, to be sure she understood. She wore that familiar cool expression that meant she was waiting to hear more, her mind was weighing the information and delaying emotion until she determined whether to kiss him or kill him.
A huge grin broke over his face as he watched her. The tumblers of the universe rolled into place in his heart and he knew he was home. He took two quick steps in her direction and looked her straight in those cool, appraising eyes. "I waited over forty years to have you look at me like that again," he stated. "So kiss me. Or slap me. I don't give a damn which one. Just don't leave me."
She kissed him.
Somewhere behind him he was aware that Claire and Charlie were doing the same thing.
"We're headed to find Miles," James announced a short while later. "You guys want a ride to the church? We can drop you off on the way or you can come with us."
"I want to see Miles again. And Dakota," Claire pled with Charlie, who kept a possessive arm across her shoulders. "Please?"
He nodded and his eyes softened a little as he looked into her face. "Yeah. Let's go," he acquiesced.
As everyone jumped into Juliet's vehicle, James took out his cell and dialed his partner.
"Where are you?" Miles asked. "I've looked all over for that Jarrah character. No sign of him."
"You still at the concert?"
"I'm watching the pianist make moon-eyes at your date from the other night. I think his mom is about to blow a gasket," Miles quipped.
"Give me ten minutes."
Ten minutes later, they pulled into the side street next to the stage. The crowd had thinned, but there were still a number of dressed-up couples milling about making small talk.
James spotted Miles across the parking lot and couldn't help his delighted laugh at the look of confusion on his face as the four of them descended on him.
"I see you found the Australian chick," Miles noted dryly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You've been my partner for six years here, right?" James began. "In all that time did you ever think that maybe you knew me before then?"
"Let's see. Before we were partners, I was in the academy and you were working homicide in Memphis. So no. I never once considered that I might have known you before then," Miles declared sarcastically. "And why is she looking at me like that?" he gestured toward Claire, whose smile practically radiated happiness into the air.
"What about me, Miles?" Juliet asked, her face so calm but with a touch of wistfulness. "Do you remember me from somewhere?"
Miles gave her a blank look, a very blank look.
"Risk. Taco night. Jin." James tried to jog his memory. Then he remembered. "Hey, I saw Jin!" he declared happily. "And Sun! At the hospital!"
Juliet laughed out loud. "I did too! I did a sonogram of their baby. Ji Yeun! They remembered!"
"Okay, you people are freaking me out," Miles interjected, taking a step back.
"You're not going anywhere until you remember," James declared and took his friend's shoulder in a firm grip. "Miles, you were my best friend. Both there and here. That's got to mean something to you."
Claire also reached out a hand to his arm. "You and Dakota used to come over and we'd grill by the pool. Remember?"
"There was a J&J on the inside of the Risk box on the island. You used to win every time," Juliet added in a gentle voice. She took his hand in hers and looked him straight in the eye. "We let you win."
"You didn't!" The flash ran over him like a bolt of lightning. "There was no way you guys let me win."
"It was so much more fun when you won," Juliet explained. "You'd be this benevolent dictator for half an hour, fixing us all drinks."
He looked at Juliet, his eyes wide with memory. "You're back! He got you back!" Then he hugged her as hard as he could, his dark eyes beginning to rim with tears.
Then he looked over at James and Claire. "You guys left me. You both died. It was just me and Dakota then," he complained. He hugged Claire, mindful of the baby. "Is that Aaron? That's not right."
Claire nodded, her eyes bright with happy tears as she smiled. Then he shook Charlie's hand as well. "She loved you a lot," Miles told him. "Sorry I never got a chance to get to know you before you drowned." Charlie just shrugged it off, but kept one arm around Claire's shoulder.
Then Miles turned to James at last. "Man. How could we work together and not remember?" he reached out and gave James a serious man-hug. "You were my best friend. I knew I could always count on you. Thanks, man."
James fought against the emotion threatening to creep up on him. "You too. Thanks for everything." He patted Miles on the back one more time then declared, "We've gotta find Dakota. Everybody is meeting at the church. It's time to go."
"Go where?" Miles asked curiously. "What church?" He looked around at the group, obviously lost. "I don't even know where Dakota is right now. It's 2004, right?" He paced a few steps, then looked up at them in disbelief. "She's in Prague. She studied abroad in the Czech Republic her last year of college. She's in Prague."
They all looked at each other for a moment. Then Miles spoke up. "I think I'm supposed to stay a while longer. She'll be back in the U. S. in a couple of months. That'll give me just a little more time with my mom and dad before we go."
James started to say that he and Juliet could stay, but he knew they couldn't. It was time. They had to go. He wiped at his eyes and stated, "We'll be waiting, okay? We'll be watching for you guys. Come as soon as you can."
Miles sniffed once himself and nodded. "Yeah. As soon as we can." Then he gave everybody another big hug and griped, "Why did you have to wake me up in 2004? Why not next spring?"
"I'm going to miss you, man," James said as he gave him one last handshake and embrace.
"Nah. You won't. I don't think there's any missing people there. Besides I'll be there before you know it." Miles smiled one last time and pushed them off on their way. "See you guys later!" he called as they drove away.
They headed down the freeway and into a quiet neighborhood. The streets were dark and peaceful now, only the glow of the occasional streetlight marked their path. Then they pulled into the parking lot of a lovely white church. The stained glass glowed with illumination from within.
"You sure this is it?" Charlie asked. "We're in the right place?"
Juliet nodded. "Something just tells me this is it."
James agreed and they headed in the side door of the building and into a large sanctuary filled with warm wooden pews. Several people stood around the open area at the front. "Jim!" a voice called. He looked across the room. Jin. It was Jin.
"Hey, Jinbo!" he called back and the two men met with a hug.
"I see you made it," Jin commented as he slapped him companionably on the shoulder. "Told you we'd see you."
"And look who I dragged with me," James laughed, taking Juliet by the hand. "I got her back. I got her back, Jin."
Jin and Juliet hugged, then Sun saw them and came running. "Did you remember in the hospital?" Sun asked her as she hugged them both. "We remembered when you showed us the baby."
"I remembered when I touched James's hand," Juliet sighed. "I spent years here with Jack and never remembered a thing. But the minute I touched him I knew." She turned to him, her face warm and loving. He cupped her cheek with his hand and leaned his forehead to hers.
How had he made it all those years without her?
They milled around for a few minutes, meeting and greeting. He was especially glad to shake Sayid's hand and see him with Shannon. James had carried a sting of guilt with him for years over the way Sayid had died, a sting that faded in the light of Sayid's genuinely happy greeting.
Hugo came in the door with a big laugh and bear hugged him and everyone else as usual. "So you finally hung it up at the island?" James asked.
"Yep. Turned it over to Walt. He'll do good." Hugo sounded equal parts relieved and regretful.
"Ben here anywhere?" James looked around. The two of them had been like Laurel and Hardy for decades.
"He decided to stay here a while longer. I think he wants to work through some stuff with Alex and her mom," Hugo answered. "It seems funny not to have him around though."
"So. I bet you've got an inside line on all this crazy stuff." James pulled the big man off to one side to ask, "Just where are we going?"
Hugo shrugged. "I have no idea, dude," he replied. "I just know it's a good place. A new place. But we all get to go together so no more looking for each other." He looked across the room where Libby was laughing with Bernard. "It's good not to be looking anymore."
James agreed. He looked around for Juliet. She was talking to Kate. Then the two women looked back at him at the same time and laughed. "What the hell?" he wondered aloud, patted Hurley on the shoulder, and walked toward the pair.
"What's so funny over here, ladies?" he asked. "By the way, good to see you, Kate," he added politely.
She laughed and gave him a big hug. "Good to see you too, James."
"Where's Richard?" James asked.
Kate gave him a wistful smile. "Richard moved on a long time ago. Isabella was waiting. I'll catch up with him there, but I know he's fine."
"It's strange, isn't it?" Juliet asked. "So many of us ended up with someone we liked a lot but didn't love."
"Yeah, and poor Hurley got stuck with Ben," James commented, putting his arm around Juliet's shoulders. "So what were you two giggling about at my expense?"
"Well, I knew you'd been with Claire," Juliet began, "but I'd wondered if maybe you and Kate had rekindled the flames once you were back home." James and Kate both took an involuntary step apart.
But before either of them could deny it, Juliet finished her story. "Then I decided it didn't matter when Kate hugged me and said she was so glad I was back. She said you'd been no fun at all ever since I left."
"I'll agree with that," Claire added as she stepped into the conversation. "No fun at all."
"No fun? Seriously?" he couldn't help but ask. He thought he'd been happy.
Then he looked back at Juliet and realized, no, he hadn't been happy. He'd been content and productive. He'd been comfortable and responsible. But he hadn't been happy.
"I love you dearly, Jim," Claire sighed, "but you belong right here," and she pushed him so that he stood right next to Juliet.
Juliet put her arms around his neck and smiled. "I'll take him."
"Excuse me, you guys," Kate interjected. "But Jack just came in and he still looks a little mystified."
"He always was slow on the uptake," Juliet commented and the two women laughed. James watched from his spot beside Juliet as Kate pulled Jack into the room.
Several of the folks he'd already greeted walked forward to embrace Jack and welcome him.
James hung back for a while, his hand resting at the small of Juliet's back. He wasn't sure how he felt about seeing Jack. After all, the man had been Juliet's husband here for the past several years. They'd had a kid together.
"It's not fair," James commented at last with a sigh. "He got to marry you and have a baby with you. That was supposed to be me."
"I feel the same way, mate," Charlie's voice came from behind him. He turned to see Charlie staring across the room wistfully at Claire, who had stepped up to Jack to show him the baby. "You got all those years with Claire that I missed."
"I was just trying to take care of her for you," James explained with a shake of his head. "She never quit missing you. She kept your ring. I buried her with it."
Juliet's hand went around his waist as she said, "I'm glad you and Claire had each other. I'm glad you found a way to be happy. But now it's time for something new. Okay, guys?" she encouraged and kissed James on the cheek.
He nodded. Time to move on, he said to himself. Time to let bygones be bygones. He crossed the room and stepped up to Jack with a genuine smile.
"Good to see you, Jack," he said and gave the man a hug. "Thanks for taking care of Juliet for me."
"Is she here?" Jack asked a little anxiously.
"Yeah, she's here," James replied, glancing across the room to see that Juliet had pulled out her phone.
"And she's okay? She's okay with all this? It makes sense to her? Because it still doesn't make good sense to me," Jack tried to smile but James could still see the shock in his eyes.
"Jack, you need to just relax. Take a look around you. We're all here. We're all alive and well. There's Boone and Shannon and Sayid. Look, Sun and Jin are right over there. We all made it, Jack. We all made it here okay," James assured him. "Be glad. Be glad it's time for something new."
Jack's eyes met his and James saw some of the fear slip out of them as something that looked a little like relief took its place. Jack nodded and went off to greet more of their party.
"That was good, James," John Locke commented from behind him.
James turned to face him, memories of another man wearing that body surging to the forefront of his mind. Then John smiled at him. That other guy's smile had never looked like that. But John Locke had still been a colossal pain in the ass the entire time he knew him.
"Thanks," James replied, shaking his outstretched hand. "And who's this lovely lady?" James gave the redhead at John's side a big grin. She wasn't unaffected by it.
"Helen," she said, putting out her hand with a wide smile of her own.
He took her hand and gave it a light squeeze, calculated to deliver just the right message. When she smiled at him again and giggled a little, he let go of her fingers with a wink.
"What are you doing?" Juliet asked quietly as John led Helen away from him with a little frown.
"John Locke had that coming," he tried to explain, but she tucked his arm firmly in hers and led him far away to sit on the opposite side of the church.
"When we get there, you're going to have to behave you know. No more flirting with other women," she instructed.
"I'm still not exactly sure where 'there' is," he replied.
She frowned in thought. "It's the next thing, the new thing," she tried to explain. "I just got off the phone with Rachel. She said she's known for years. I don't know why she didn't leave already."
"I know. She wanted to wait until you were on your way too," James answered. "She's going to meet us?"
"She said she'll be along later," Juliet sighed. "It's been so good to be home with her. It was almost worth being married to Jack just to be back with her."
He put his arm around her as they sat side by side and waited. "I'm just glad to have you back with me," he whispered in her ear. "Even when you have no idea about something, you manage to sound like you do. It makes me feel better." Then he gave her ear a little nibble, something for her to think about.
It was Juliet's turn to giggle at that. But just then, a tall silver-haired man wearing a black suit and a pair of white tennis shoes entered the room, gave Jack a solemn nod and walked to the back of the church to the huge double doors.
The man opened them and the room was flooded with light. His hand gripping Juliet's tightly, James turned to look. He could see shapes in the brilliance but he couldn't make out what they were. Everyone stood and began to walk slowly down the aisle toward the glowing event ahead of them, but James held back a little.
At the front of the line, Rose and Bernard paused momentarily at the entrance, then gave them all a huge grin before launching themselves through the doorway into the great beyond. Emboldened, one by one the others went through until only Jack and Kate remained behind with them.
The silver-haired man spoke softly to Jack, then hugged him and passed over the threshold. James watched as Jack took Kate's hand and nodded. The two of them vanished.
"Now us," Juliet whispered. "It's okay. I've got you."
Suddenly he was afraid. He could feel the power coming through that door, a flood of love and forgiveness and peace rolling over him.
"I'm not sure I can," he replied. "I did a lot of awful things. I am a thief and a liar and a murderer. I know that. How can I go in there?"
She pulled him a little closer and held her hand into the warm light. It curled around and over her fingers like a living thing. "Feel this," she instructed gently. "Touch it. Know what it is."
He tentatively reached out and could feel only acceptance, a promise that all things had become new. A second chance.
"That's grace," she whispered. "It's for you. It's for both of us. Trust it."
Grace.
He took a deep breath and with Juliet at his side walked through.
THE END
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Well, that's it. I'm done! To all of you who've been reading for the past year, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you haven't popped over a review yet to let me know you've been along for the ride, please do. We don't make any money writing fanfiction - at least not as of this writing - so your review is the only reward I will ever get for doing this.
If you're reading this and it's been years since it was posted, let me especially thank you for finding it! It meant a great deal to me to write it and I hope you'll let me know you're still reading. Trust me, I am still checking my fanfiction emails. I have fics that are over five years old right now that it thrills my soul to hear that somebody's read them. So please review!
Thanks again for your support and encouragement.
Oh and yeah, please do check out my non-fanfiction works as both YA/Fantasy author Arley Cole (The Blacksmith's Daughter) and romance author Leigh Daley (Storm Duty and the upcoming Lifebound). I'd love to make writing books my full time job. A few sales will just help me along the way!