The Fifth Age
By Glorfindel's Girl
Chapter 13: Time to Pack
Disclaimer: I actually do own them. But they're not making me any money. Oh my. Are you ready for this? Presenting……The Longest Chapter Yet! Enjoy it!
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Isla Morada, Florida
Sean stared thoughtfully at the mostly empty suitcase perched on his bed, reviewing the contents. Socks. Boxer shorts. Favorite picture of he and Julie. Somehow, he didn't think he could get away with just wearing socks and underwear. His stereo was turned up louder than necessary, and Connie Dover's mournful, sultry vocals drifted through the room. He didn't usually like her music – brought back too many memories – but it seemed right tonight somehow, and he found himself singing along in Gaelic. His bedroom windows were open wide, and the late afternoon sunlight bathed the room in golden light.
Deciding that his suitcase wouldn't magically pack itself if he kept staring at it, he frowned, then turned and opened his closet door, and burrowed around through the hanging clothes for a few minutes. Unable to find the shirt he was searching for, he groped blindly above his head for the light cord. It brushed against his hand three times before he was able to get a good grip on it and pull. The light bulb flickered on, but the cord snapped and broke off in his hand.
"Ah, by Eru," he swore, standing up straight and stretching up to tie the broken end of the cord back on, only to find that it had broken off too near the bulb and he couldn't reach it. Muttering a few choice words in Sindarian, he went off towards the kitchen in search of a chair. He was still grumbling with the broken cord wrapped around his hand when he rounded the corner into his kitchen and ran smack into Julie. She gave a short yelp and dropped the backpack slung over her arm as she jumped back. Her reaction startled Sean, and he jumped too.
"Shit, don't do that to me, Sean!" she said, tucking a wayward strand of red hair behind her ear. She was wearing the same pair of shorts she had worn to work, but had changed from her uniform shirt to a purple tank top. Sean frowned.
"What are you doing here, Jules?" he asked, walking past her and picking up one of the wooden chairs from the table.
"Got off work early and thought I'd come help you pack. I knocked at the front door but you didn't answer and it was locked, so I let myself in the back," she explained, following him back into the bedroom. "You broke the light cord again?"
"Yeah," he replied, setting the chair down in the closet. "I didn't hear you knock," he continued, looking back over his shoulder.
"Here, here, let me do that," Julie said dropping her over stuffed back pack, as she walked over to Sean and took the broken light cord from him. She pushed him aside and climbed up on the chair. "Just turn the radio down. Or put something else on. Connie's too depressing."
Sean obediently stood out of the way, watching as Julie had to perch on her tip-toes to re-tie the light cord, even with the chair she was standing on.
"There," she said, jumping down off the chair. "Ta dah!"
"Thanks, Julie," Sean said, as Julie carried the chair back to the kitchen. He then turned back to the matter of packing. Shirts. He needed shirts. He returned to digging through the closet, tossing an occasional shirt or pair of shorts over his shoulder onto the bed. His Connie Dover CD suddenly stopped playing and was replaced by the sound of some local rock station. He heard Julie walk back into the room. Taking one final shirt out of the closet, he turned the closet light off, being careful not to pull the cord too hard again.
Julie was kneeling in the middle of his bed, folding the pile of clothes that had accumulated over the past few minutes, and shoving them into the suitcase. She grinned at Sean as he sat down next to her.
"Y'know, if you folded as you went along, you might get done sooner," she said, throwing a shirt into the suitcase. Sean shook his head, causing several strands of sandy blonde hair to fall in his eyes.
"I hate packing," he replied, setting a folded pair of short in the suitcase. Julie laughed softly, looking over at him.
"You just say that so I'll show up and help you," she said. Sean didn't reply, except for a quick shake of his head. She stared at him for a few minutes as he finished shoving the rest of his clothes in the bag. "All right, Elf boy," she said finally. "I come over here to cheer you up, and get nothing but three word sentences from the time I walk in the door. I'm depressed enough as it is without adding your misery to it. You've got to go and that's it. No use bemoaning the point. Now chipper up, or I'm gonna leave and be miserable by myself."
Sean sighed heavily, throwing the shirt he was holding aside as he looked up at Julie. His eyes were red, glittering with unshed tears, and he stared at her for a long moment. "You wanna go swim?" he asked finally, smiling weakly, his voice betraying how dangerously close to crying he was. Julie smiled as she leaned across the bed and hugged him tightly, planting a kiss on his forehead.
"Sure," she replied, pulling away. She stared at him, a mischievous glint in her dark green eyes. "Race you there!" she said suddenly, and took off. Sean hesitated a split second before he laughed and followed close on her heels. Julie jumped the sofa, and ran through the kitchen, her bare feet slipping on the sandy hardwood floor. She lost her traction and fell, landing on her hip with a thud. She laughed, jumping back up to her feet, playfully shoving Sean out of her way.
A few seconds later, they burst out the back door, chasing each other down the sand dune towards the beach like two children. They shed their shirts as they ran, which fluttered through the air like strange wingless birds, before coming down to rest on the damp sand. They raced towards the old wooden pier behind the house, chasing the wind, leaving their cares somewhere back beside their clothes.
Sean grabbed Julie's hand, pulling her down the wooden pier. They ran together as one, their hair – red and sandy blonde – streaming behind them in a single entity, leaving their backs exposed, his bare and pale, hers sun-darkened and crossed by the ties of her teal-blue bikini. Together they leapt off the end of the pier, and for a split second they were flying, hovering wingless above the earth before splashing down into the green-blue waters below. They surfaced laughing, breathing heavily, and shivering slightly from the shock of the cool water.
"That was liberating," Julie said as she laid back in the water, relaxing completely and allowing it to support her weight.
"Aye, that it was," Sean replied. "I needed that," he continued, leaning back in the water as well. Julie grinned up at the sky.
"I know you did. But right now, I need to get out of these shorts," she said with a laugh, trying to peel the wet denim from her legs, while keeping from sinking. She finally managed to wriggle out of them, and tossed them onto the pier. The shorts landed with a wet smack. Julie stared up at the pier for a moment longer.
"Ah screw it," she said suddenly, "It's coming off eventually too, might as well be now." With that, she turned her back, untied her bikini top and threw it up onto the pier too. "Now I can swim," she said, falling back into the water and doing a lazy backstroke away from the pier. It didn't faze Sean. He'd seen her like that a thousand times before.
Sean watched her glide through the water for a few seconds before diving under the waves and swimming after her. They played together in the deep waters like children in a shallow pool, swimming out and letting the waves push them back towards shore, chasing schools of colorful fish that swam past. By the time they finally tumbled onto the beach to retrieve their clothes, the sun was laying low on the horizon, sending deep red-orange streaks of light through the sky. They were exhausted, their muscles threatening soreness, but they were happy.
Sean watched as Julie fetched her clothes from the pier, the sun glittering upon her damp skin, as though she had been swimming through a sea of jewels. After putting her shorts and top back on, she joined Sean beside the surf, and they sat letting the cool breeze dry the water from their skin, as the sun sank below the horizon and the tide came rushing in.
They spoke no words, but none needed to be spoken. They sat in comfortable silence, Julie leaning slightly against Sean, resting her head on his shoulder. The sun suddenly disappeared from sight below the horizon, the shades of twilight quickly moving in to replace its light.
"We need to make it out to Key West again one of these days and see the sun set out there," Julie said, her words soft, almost a whisper.
"Yeah," Sean replied, putting an arm around her shoulders. "We do. That's always fun. For the tourists if nothing else."
"Do you really have to leave?" Julie asked suddenly. Sean was somewhat surprised to her the tremble in her voice.
"Yes, melisse, I do," he said.
"I don't want you to go, Sean. I don't. I've just…I've got a really bad feeling about this, and I don't know why," she said, losing what little control she had, and breaking into tears. Sean wrapped her in his arms, holding her to him and rocking her like a child.
"Shhh, Jules, I know. I know. I don't want to leave either, but I have to. Please don't cry. Please."
Julie drew a deep, shuddering breath, stifling her tears. Sean gave her a quick hug. "C'mon. Let's get back to the house. We're gonna get cold out here."
He stood, drawing her up with him, and together they walked back to the house.
Julie's voice drifted out of the shower, carrying clear into the kitchen, where Sean stood at the counter dicing tomatoes. He smiled as he heard her singing, glad that she seemed to be feeling better. Putting the diced tomatoes on a plate, he moved to the refrigerator and pulled out half of a head of lettuce. On his way back to the counter, he checked the frying pan on the stove, pausing to stir the sizzling conglomeration of spiced rice, strips of bell pepper, and onion. Setting the lettuce on the counter, he chopped it neatly into quarters, which he then sliced into long strips.
He heard the water turn off in the shower as he removed the frying pan from the stove and raked the contents onto another plate. He then opened the oven, carefully removing the foil-wrapped packages of pita bread he'd been heating. He'd only discovered he was out of tortillas after starting on the rest of the fajitas. Ah well. Pita bread was close enough. Almost on an afterthought, he took a bowl of black beans out of the refrigerator, and some avocado slices left over from his lunch the day before. He made up their plates, piling lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, and avocado on them beside the foil-wrapped pita bread. The onion, bell pepper, and rice mixture he put on the stove to keep warm.
"Hey, Sean?" he heard Julie yell from the bathroom.
"Yeah?" he replied, propping open the screen door so some of the heat from the stove would filter out of the kitchen.
"Will you look in my bag and bring me the vitamin E stuff?" she called back.
"Sure," he yelled, taking her bag from a chair in the living room where she had dropped it after getting back from swimming. He dug around in the front zipper pocket for a minute before finding the bottle of vitamin E oil.
Julie had the door to the bathroom open, and clouds of steam were still floating out into the bedroom. She was standing in front of the mirror with a brightly colored beach towel wrapped around her body, running some kind of leave in conditioner through her hair. Sean tossed the bottle to her.
"Thanks m'dear," Julie said, catching the bottle. She unscrewed the top, set the bottle on the counter, and pulled the top of her towel down, exposing the large, fading scar across the side of her right breast. "Can you believe it's been three years already?" she asked, rubbing some of the oil onto the scar. "It seems like yesterday."
"Elbereth Gilthoniel, don't I know it," Sean replied, shaking his head and sitting down on the edge of the bed. That had been one of the worst scares he'd ever had. He remembered all too clearly the day Julie had come over with that panicked look in her eyes, and grabbed his hand, laying it on the side of her breast.
"Do you feel that?" she had asked, her tone toying with hysteria. "Sean, do you feel it?" And he had. He had felt the hard mass below the surface of her skin, just as she had earlier that day. Sean remembered the subsequent doctor visit, and his orders for emergency surgery. He remembered the surgeon's words all too clearly.
"It looks like it may be cancer."
But in the end, it wasn't. Julie was down and out for about two months after the surgery, too sore to do much of anything. Of course, she had made a full recovery, and in three years had not had any other problems. The whole experience had made her grow more mature, and left her with a really lovely scar which she'd spent the better part of the past three years trying to fade.
"Whatever you're cooking in there smells wonderful," Julie said, suddenly bringing Sean back to reality.
"Yeah," he replied lazily, standing up and stretching. "It was supposed to be fajitas, but naturally I get half way through grilling the stuff and realize that I don't have tortillas. So I guess that means we're having pita fajitas."
"Hey, it's all good," Julie replied with a laugh.
"Yeah, I suppose so," Sean said. "I'll go finish up in the kitchen and let you finish getting dressed."
"All right, be there in a minute," Julie said to his retreating back.
There really wasn't much else to do in the kitchen, so Sean sat down at the table and waited for Julie to get done. After a minute or two, he decided to get the rice mixture off the stove and onto the table. He hoped it wouldn't get cold before Julie was finished. But he didn't need to worry. Before too long, she came padding through the door, wearing an old tee shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms that Sean recognized as the pair he had long ago given up for lost.
"So that's where those got to," he said, gesturing to the pants. Julie just grinned.
"They're my favorite pair," she said, sitting down in the chair next to Sean's. "They got thrown in my pile of clothes when I was over here one time, and I accidentally put them in my bag," she explained. "Just never got around to giving them back."
"Eh, just keep them," Sean replied with a smile.
"Talked me into it. You ready to eat?"
"Go ahead," he said, laughing. "I didn't fix our plates just so we could stare at them all evening." And with that, they began their meal.
They had a very pleasant time, overall. They talked and laughed about things they had done together in the past, and things they might do in the future. Somehow, the topic of Sean's sudden departure was not brought up. After they finished off all the fajitas, Sean rummaged around in the freezer and managed to produce a half-gallon container of Oreo ice cream, which had maybe a pint and a half of ice cream left in it. They grabbed spoons and ate it straight out of the carton. It was late by the time they finished drying the last of the dishes, and they both got ready for bed.
Sean turned back the sheets on the bed while Julie was brushing her teeth, and was already in bed when she finally came out of the bathroom, wearing only her old tee shirt. Julie flicked the light off, and crawled into bed next to him, snuggling against his body. After a few minutes, she finally settled in, resting her head on his chest, with one of her legs thrown over his. She could feel a tension to Sean's body as they lay there in silence. It was Julie who finally spoke first, her voice magnified in the quiet room.
"Sean, please, please tell me. What is going on? God, the anxiety…the fear is just radiating off of you. And the waters…I mean, my God, Sean, the earth itself is trembling in anticipation. Is this the Apocalypse that we're looking at here?" Her last words would have been amusing, if not for the serious tone of her voice.
"No," Sean replied finally. "If it were that, then we would need not fear, for you know that come what may, it would end well. That evil would be conquered once and for all. But this…" He broke off, sighing heavily. "Something is happening, Julie. Something truly horrible is just below the horizon, and when it makes itself known, it's going to be hell. And I don't know how, or why, but I do know that we've got to do whatever we can to stop this. Because Eru only knows what we'll have to endure before overcoming this."
Julie sighed, and tightened her arms around his chest. "I don't want to lose you, Sean. For all my teasing, you are like a piece of my soul. I love you. And I don't want anything to happen to you."
Sean kissed her once on the top of her head, like a parent comforting their child. "I love you too, Jules. Now sleep. We'll talk again in the morning."
Julie nodded against his chest, and said no more. Eventually, she did fall the deep dreamless sleep of those drained emotionally and spiritually. But Sean did not sleep. He lay awake, praying that come what may, he could find the courage to fight it. He had promised Julie he'd come back to her. And he had no intention of breaking that promise.
