A/N: I just saw the movie and I KNEW that I had to write a sequel, so here it is. I apologize for any book-inaccurateness, but I haven't had time to read the book yet. I'm going out of town for the weekend, but once I get back I'm getting the book from the library and plan to read it soon. Therefore, you won't have to put up with my un-specific, paranoid fic for long! This takes place right after the movie.
Staring at the tombstone in front of him, Jesse couldn't stop the tears that welled up in his eyes. He bit his lip and involuntarily began to sob. He didn't know how long he cried… time seemed to stop somehow while he was in Winnie's presence once again, but he later heard a footstep behind him and turned, to find a young-looking girl.
"Sorry," she said. "Um, who are you?"
"I… my name's Jesse," the boy replied, a bit surprised and worried and even embarrassed all at once.
"Did you know her?" She motioned toward the tombstone.
Jesse didn't know what to say. Yes, he was in love with her as a matter of fact, but he couldn't tell the girl that. Winnie had died three years ago, and Jesse was still "17." If he told her he was in love with Winnie she would think he was crazy. "I… well, no, not exactly. Are you… was she-"
"She's my great-grandmother. My name's Sarah."
Great-grandmother? Wow, Jesse thought. I've been gone a long time. He wiped his eyes to hide the traces of tears, but they were still red. "Oh."
"This is private property, I'm sorry. I have to ask you to leave."
Jesse nodded. "I understand."
"Is that your motorcycle out front?" He nodded and Sarah smiled. "I've always wanted to ride one."
He would have invited her for a ride, but Jesse didn't feel like being with anyone at the moment. "Maybe I'll stop by again sometime," he replied, standing.
"I hope you do."
Silently, he said goodbye to Winnie. How he missed her so. It had been 88 years since he'd seen her, but he had praying all those years that she had listened to him and drank from the spring. Obviously, she had decided not to… for one reason or another.
Jesse walked out of the gates and got on his motorcycle, then drove off. He drove out into the country, where the Tucks had decided to live. His father had bought a house out there, afraid to live in the city. He said that in the city they would meet friends, possibly long-term friends, and in years they would notice that they never changed. That's also why it was quite impossible for them to get jobs, for if they were hired for a couple of years questions would begin arising. But the Tucks had always been good at living off the land. On the farm in the country they didn't need to pay for food, they simply grew their own. They needed to pay house insurance and electrical bills and other things, but that was no more than what Miles could win when he went into the casinos.
Jesse walked in the house and sat down on the couch, tears now coming back now that he had the time to cry. His mother called from the kitchen, "Jesse, could you take off your shoes?"
He wasn't in the mood to do anything but sulk, so he didn't respond. He sniffed and buried his head in his hands, silently praying for her to let him be.
"Jesse, did you hear me?" Mae entered the living room and saw her son crying, so she walked over to him, sat down beside him, and hugged him. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Why didn't she listen to me?" Jesse demanded, his voice sounding a bit more angry than he'd originally intended. "I told her to drink it. I told her I'd come back for her. She died thinking I was a liar. She died without me. She didn't trust me. She…"
"Shh." His mother gently began rocking much like a comforting mother does. "She loved you, and she knew you loved her, too. She just saw advantage in…"
"In death?"
She bit her lip, struggling to come up with an answer that would satisfy her son. "No, she only knew that this is as much of a gift as it is a curse. After Miles…"
"But this would be different. We wouldn't be separated like he was. We could have lived forever with each other."
Angus then stepped into view, and knew instantly what had happened at seeing his son crying. There had only been two possibilities: she drank the water or she did not. And it was obvious which one that was.
"Jesse," he said. "You should know something."
"She had no reason not to do it," he continued bitterly. "No reason."
"She had a reason. I told her not to."
Jesse looked up at his father, his eyes demanding further explanation. "You what?! How could you betray me like that? You knew I loved her!"
"You can't be afraid of death," he responded evenly. "I know that. She knew that. You have yet to find it out."
"Death does not matter!" Jesse snapped. "Not to us! And it wouldn't have mattered to her, either, if you wouldn't have told her it did!"
"I told her that we are cursed with immortality, not blessed with it."
"This is your fault!" he yelled, standing to face his father. "This is all your fault!" Then he raced outside.
He ran into the barn and sat down hard on a hay bale and continued crying. He cried for nearly an hour, then his tears dried up leaving marks going down his cheeks. He then started to remember the days he'd spent with her. He remembered swimming with her, and climbing his own "Eiffle tower." He remembered laying down with her head on his stomach, maybe one of their most romantic moments, and her telling him that she wanted it to last forever. Then, suddenly, his thoughts took a nasty turn. He then began to remember spilling out the secret to her, and then Miles coming and telling her all about his own family. He remembered the look of horror and sorrow on Winnie's face that cursed night. And he also remembered the last time he ever saw her, and the last words he'd ever said to her. "Winnie Foster, I will love you until the day I die."
Miles cleared his throat and Jesse looked up at his brother. "She's gone?" he asked.
Jesse nodded slowly. "Yes," he mumbled quietly.
Miles sat down next to Jesse. "I'm sorry. It's going to be really hard going on without her."
"I know."
Miles had never been a sensitive type, so he didn't know what else to say. "So… I hope you're all right."
"Me, too."
"But, if you ever wanna talk, remember that I've been there. I know how you feel, and I'd be glad to talk to you about it if you want."
"Mom and dad are lucky. They have each other forever. But the people we love, they die. They can't come with us into the future."
Miles nodded. "No, I guess not."
"I'm sorry. I never realized how hard it was on you."
"Don't worry about it."
"And… I wish there was something I could do. We have the entire future, but we can't do anything about the past. That's permanent, but the future isn't."
"Do you believe in fate, Jesse?"
He looked at his older brother in the eye. "What do you mean?"
"Did you ever think she was meant to die?"
Jesse stood. "No, she wasn't. Because if I had been there before it happened, I would have given it to her. I would have given up my own immortality to her if I could."
"Be careful what you wish for. You would pass this on to her? So you would make her suffer missing you? See, Jesse, her dying spares her the pain of loosing you. She would have wanted it this way."
Jesse blinked. This was an entirely new way of thinking. He never realized that he was sparing her pain. Miles had a point that it was better Jesse be the immortal one instead of Winnie, but if they were both either one or the other, that would have been best.
"She still could have drank it," he insisted.
"You know what? You're right. She could have. But you need to deal with what is, not what could have been."
