II.

"Victoria!" Victor said again, taking a step forward. He wasn't sure how to proceed. His mind felt all jumbled up. The only coherent thought getting through was the most important one: It's Victoria!

The group of young men, sensing a "moment" about to ensue, quickly scattered to various tables, leaving the area around the pinball machine to Victor and Victoria. Victoria took her hands away from her face, clasping them in front of her as she tilted her head and smiled at him. Victor knew those gestures so well...he loved her so much...he'd missed her so terribly...Oh, drat it all, he was going to cry. Victor pressed his lips together and blinked a few times, trying to avoid making a complete spectacle out of himself.

Her skin was the same color blue as the dress she'd been buried in, her hands and the lower part of her neck were already almost skeletal, and a bit of her nose was gone--but it was Victoria. She was blinking furiously too. Finally she held out her hand to him. After another moment of staring, Victor reached out until he was touching her fingertips with his.

"Oh, Victoria..." Victor couldn't say anything else. He just kept alternating between blinking back tears and smiling what must have been a huge, rather moronic-looking smile. Victoria smiled back.

"Oh, Victor..." she replied, sounding choked. "I...You're here!" Victoria came closer, grasping his hand in both of hers as she did so. She looked up at him, and then, without warning, sprang up and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Apparently her arthritis was gone too.

On instinct, Victor returned her embrace just as fiercely, leaning down to put his cheek on her hair. Oh, how many times they'd hugged like this during their six decades together...

"Victor, I've missed you so much...I don't know whether to be happy or sorry that you're here," Victoria whispered into his ear. "I'm terribly sorry that you died, but...I'm so happy to see you again." She kissed his temple, right next to his ear. How he'd missed those kisses--they were a relatively new development. For the first thirty years they'd been married, Victoria had given up trying to kiss him on the temple--she always ended up with mouthful of his permanently mussed hair. Eventually Victor had started to go bald, so his hair had ceased to be a problem. As soon as Victoria kissed him, though, Victor remembered that they were standing in the middle of a crowded pub.

"Victoria, I've missed you terribly too, but...well, darling, we're in public," Victor said, a little embarrassed. Even so, he didn't find himself moving. He even pulled Victoria a little closer.

Without loosening her grip, Victoria replied with a teary laugh, "Victor, we're old people. We can do what we please."

Victor chuckled into her hair. He remembered the first time she'd said that to him. It had been just a few years before the second war started, when both of them were sixty-five. Victoria had made the executive decision that it was time for them to start sharing a bedroom. With separate beds, though, of course. Victor had been all for it, and had gone out that same afternoon to buy a pair of twin beds. Although, Victor had soon realized that he should have just saved forty pounds and bought the double bed, considering how often the beds were pushed together...Victor sighed. That was a nice memory. He'd gone there often over the past two years.

"And we're dead, besides," Victor said. Maybe that had been a bit too blunt. Still he continued, "You're right--who cares?" With that, he leaned down and gave Victoria a kiss full on the mouth. They'd never, ever kissed in a public place while they were alive. At that moment, Victor couldn't imagine why not.

"Hey, nobody wants to see that!" someone yelled. Soon enough, it seemed as though the whole room was shouting.

"Honestly, some people!"

"You know, there are small children in here!"

"Do you two mind? It makes some of us very uncomfortable to watch our elderly in-laws go at it."

"Yeah...Ted says he's going to throw up."

"How can Ted throw up?"

"Rent a room, why don't you!"

Oh right. That was why one never indulged in public displays of affection--everyone else found it utterly revolting. Sheepish, Victor and Victoria pulled apart, and settled for holding hands again. The rest of the pub's patrons went back to what they'd been doing, shaking their heads.

"Shall we find a table?" Victoria asked. She smiled at him. "It's been such a long time. We have quite a bit of catching up to do, I think."

Victor reached out and touched her cheek. "Wonderful idea," he replied. He turned around to scan the room, looking for somewhere to sit. Victoria tugged his sleeve gently.

"Over there, Victor," she said, nodding to a small table near the fireplace. Victor looked. The small table was tucked into a little niche made where the fireplace protruded from the wall. It seemed cozy, if a bit too close to the billiard table.

Victoria led the way as they wound through the throng of people. Finally they seated themselves across from one another. A lamp burned low on the wall above them. Victor took Victoria's hand across the table. He was at a loss for words. Had it really been two years since they'd sat together like this? Victor wondered how he'd managed.

There was so much to say. Wherever to begin? Victor opened his mouth, preparing to speak, and then quickly shut it again. Nothing he could think of seemed like the proper thing to say. Victor was incredibly pleased when Victoria took the initiative, just as she always had when they were alive.

"Oh, Victor, I have so much to ask you!" she said, beaming. "I hardly know where to begin." She paused for a moment, gazing at him. Victor gazed back, feeling the happier than he had for the past two years. Perhaps ever. The only degree of happiness he had in his memory to compare this present feeling to was the way he'd felt when their daughters had been born. And that was a difficult feeling to match.

"I was wondering something," Victoria continued. She dropped her gaze to the tabletop. "I'm just not sure how to phrase it politely." When Victoria looked at him again, Victor noticed that she was staring at the left side of his head. Oh, no. My eye again? He lifted his hand to check. Everything seemed in order. For the time being, anyway.

"It's all right. Go on, Victoria," Victor said slowly, wondering. He thought he knew what was coming. Victoria seemed to consider before she finally asked with concern,

"Victor, dear--What in the world happened to your head?"