A/N: First order of business: MidnightBlue88, thanks for the info. Also, I want to tell you that you are NOT ALONE in saying that your remember Wild America, as a matter of fact I love that movie (lol, "Don't ever tell me what to do with my little brother, DC. Marshall? Get in the hood." I love that line). And I'm one of those people that recognizes people and can't sleep until I figure out where I've seen them, and I KNEW Scott Bairstow looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out where I'd seen him, so thank you for also saving my grades from suffering due to lack of sleep!
Anyway, Back up 79 years from the last chapter and that's when this takes place. The year is 1923, Winnie is 24 years old, and 1 week away from her wedding day with Nathan Jackson. In my LotR fic (Arwen and Legolas) I put in little memories, and I think I'm gonna do that with this story, too, unless you guys don't like it. This chapter is what the memories would be like. Consider this a "test…"
Winnie finished her stroke on the painting and looked at it thoughtfully. He looked like that, she told herself. She was trying to remember the exact details of Jesse Tuck's features – his hair, more specifically – to get the artwork just right. She bit her lip and tilted her head, then added a few strokes here and there as finishing touches. Then she set her brush down and backed away from the painting so that she could see the entire thing clearly. She smiled a little, more than satisfied with her work.
Suddenly, she felt 2 strong arms around her waist. She yelped in surprise, then laughed when she turned to see Nathan. "Don't scare me like that," she told him sternly, yet playfully.
He smiled and kissed her gently. "How's your work coming along?"
"Beautifully. What do you think?" She nodded to the painting in front of them.
"I think it looks good. It has a very peaceful, natural setting."
"That's the large tree in the middle of our woods," Winnie told him. "And the boy is-"
"Let me guess. Jesse."
She smiled. "I'm sorry. Yes, he is."
Nathan shook his head. "If you love him, don't marry me."
"No!" Winnie said right away. Then she spoke powerfully and firmly next. "I love you. Or, well… I love both of you, anyway. But he is gone, so-"
"So you are going to settle for me?"
Winnie put her arms around his neck and drew him closer to her, then kissed him on the lips. "Quit playing, you know that isn't what I mean."
He smiled a little. "Yes, I know."
"So don't worry me like you do."
"I just think that some day after we're married he's going to come and sweep you off your feet, and then you'll leave me and the children."
Winnie raised her eyebrows. "Children?"
"Yes, of course. Why, you don't want children?"
"It's a little early to be thinking about such things, don't you think? Now back to the subject, do you think it's done?" She looked back to the painting.
"It's perfect. I think it's fine the way it is."
"Good."
"Come, now, it's time for lunch."
Winnie began to leave the room following her fiancé, but when she stood under the doorframe she couldn't help but take one last glance at her painting of Jesse. It was very good, she thought. It looked exactly like she remembered him, and now that it was there, his image would never fade in her memory. If it did, she would always be able to look back at the painting. He was sitting casually under the tree, and he was smirking at her. She smiled back, then heard Nathan call her name. She rushed down the stairs to eat.
When she finished lunch, Winnie went back upstairs to her painting almost right away. Nathan followed her.
"What are you doing now?" he asked. "It's done."
"It needs a name," she insisted. "It's not done until it has a name."
"Name it Jesse."
Winnie rolled her eyes. "Is that your creative side speaking?"
Nathan laughed. "All right, then, fine. Give it a name. I'm going home."
They walked towards each other and shared a kiss goodbye, and after he left Winnie turned back to Jesse. She wondered what to name it for a bit, and during that time she simply stared at it, which was what she usually did until she thought of a creative name. Finally, a name popped into her head: Tuck Everlasting.
No one would fully understand the name except for her, of course, for she was the only person who knew of the spring. But that was part of the reason the name was so fitting. For all artworks, the artist feels something that no one else can exactly feel, and sometimes the artist feels something that no one else understands. This was her way of naming it something that no one would comprehend, to make it a true masterpiece. She put her signature in the courner and wrote the title on the back, planning to frame it someday. Now it was finally complete.
A/N: If you want me to write more of these memories please let me know, because I wanna know if it's worth posting or not. The people that read my other fic liked them, but I don't know if you guys'll feel the same way. So like or dislike, tell me!
