Summary: An old theatre, a leather book and an engraved ring on a chain.
Word Count: 859
Disclaimer: I don't own The Big Bang Theory or the characters. Only Leonard and Penny's daughter.
She entered the old building, instantly feeling years of it being closed in her nose, but she kept walking inside. In her hand was an item she carried tightly as not to lose it. She finally arrived at the end of the aisle, reaching the stage. She went around it and climbed the stairs.
It wasn't the first time she was up there, she recalls. But it's the first time she does that while no one is watching, with no one sitting in the old, red chairs. She smiles.
Sitting down in the ground, she looks around, feeling her item in her hands, passing her hand in it, feeling its texture.
She finally opens it and smiles. Her dad's handwriting.
"Day 1
She's happy at this stage. She laughs, smiles, giggles. Just to think that in a few years she will look like her mom, maybe even with the same dream. I smile whenever I think about them, my girls. Penny laughs at me when I tell her that our daughters look like her, but it's the truth. If only she didn't have my black curly hair, she would be a total image. I love her so much. And so does everyone else.
She dances around the stage as it belongs to her, and maybe one day it will. If she wants, she'll have it.
She will have everything she ever wants. I can almost promise her that.
Almost."
In that same page is a photo, a small one. It's her, two years old. She was wearing a big, puffy, blue dress and a pink shirt, a big smile playing on her lips. Her mom was nowhere in sight in the picture, but she was sure her mom was behind her dad, maybe on his side smiling at them both.
Just maybe.
She closes the diary, the pain inside to big for her to read. She almost knows the entire thing back to back, having grown up with it.
The girl had grown in that place, even after her mom's passing. When it was closed from lack of resources, her heart broke. It was one of the last things she had of her mom, most of her childhood memories were built in that place. But things change, evolve, grow. But that doesn't make it any way easier, does it?
She involuntarily places her hand in her necklace, the one she had since her eighteenth birthday. Her dad had given her that to her, her mom's heart necklace. It still had her dad's picture, and also one of hers. She always loved that necklace, even before her mom's passing.
Suddenly, she hears a noise. It only passes a moment, but that was enough for her to grab all her things. Eventually, she realizes she knows this person.
"Maya, sweetie, what are you doing here?" Her dad's old voice is heard in the otherwise quiet theatre,
She just smiles and shows him the leather book filled with his words. He gives her a half-smile and climbs the same stairs she had. He sits next to her but says nothing. He just looks around, remembering the way it was before. Of how beautiful it was, how colorful, how his wife would smile when she would enter this place. He sees that his daughter has been staring at him for a while now, so he looks at her.
"I miss this place." He confesses, fidgeting with his ring. Even after a few decades, he still doesn't feel comfortable taking it off. "I miss her, and you and me here laughing and joking around." He smiles at the memories.
Leonard takes a chain out of his neck, one that had a small ring in it. Maya recognizes it as her mom's ring.
"The day she got this one, she said she didn't like it. I didn't understand why, and she just smiled and slapped me on the shoulder. A few days later she shows up at the house and doesn't have her ring. She is looking at me with such eyes that scared me so much. I thought she was leaving me." He stops talking and looks away, just to look back at her. He's laughing. "She gives me her ring and told me to look inside. She had it engraved." He hands her the ring, and she quickly looks inside.
Love you Leonard 24-09
Maya looks at her father confused. "You and mom didn't get married in September."
Her father laughs. "No. We met in September. September 24th." He chuckles. "Your mom wanted the day we met instead of our wedding day. Never asked why, and I regret it." He throws her a sad smile once again and looks down.
"Hey." She calls out, making him look up at her. "She was always happy whenever she saw you. She was glad that you guys met. That was probably why."
Maya leans into her dad, and they hug.
Maybe she wasn't as good as her mom was at making her dad feel better, but she tried. She really did.
The End
Found this one in the hard drive and decided to post. For some reason, I can't find a way to finish any of my stories, but I wanted to post something. Maybe posting this will give me the energy to think of an ending to one of the dozens of stories I started and didn't end. :)