Chapter Ten

(Note: I was just reviewing the finished chapters, and I realized I left a LOT of stuff out in the last chapter. I'm writing this to apologize to anyone who was confused by it.)

Lisa picked at her dress absentmindedly. Watching the coffin ride past, she tried her hardest to hold her tears back. Next to her, Mattie played with her doll. Lisa didn't want to confuse her by crying. It already confused her enough not knowing where her father was. Lisa knew that, someday, she would have to tell Mattie the truth. But she was only two years old. It was too soon.

Lisa felt a raindrop fall on her head. She knew that it was a bad idea to have the funeral outside, especially when it was in the middle of the rainy season. But Michael's mother insisted on it. Even now, only Lisa and the authorities knew what he had done. They had thought it would be best that way.

But no, Lisa wasn't the only person to know about Michael. Jackson knew, too. He had been let off, the police saying that he had acted in self-defense. Lisa wondered what he would have done if he didn't have a grudge against Michael. She shuddered at the thought. Would he have let her die? Or would he have saved her? She shook the thought out of her head. It hadn't happened like that. She would never know, and maybe that was best.

Lisa felt someone watching her. She looked behind her. There, leaning against a tree, was Jackson, watching from a distance, just like always. She turned around quickly. A deep part of her still hated him-she could never really forgive him for what he did to her on flight 1019. But something Michael had said to her just before he died had stuck with her-I didn't anticipate you falling for him. Was he right? Did she really have feelings for him?

It's like a collision, she thought, a collision of thoughts and feelings. She watched as they lowered Michael's coffin into the hole in the ground. The rain started to hit harder, making Lisa's hair droop. She distantly heard the words that the preacher was saying, how he had been a man of strength, man of kindness-basically everything he was not. But until last week, I thought he was, she thought, feeling sour.

People began to leave. Lisa picked up Mattie and handed her over to her aunt. "Can you take her for a minute? I need to talk to someone," she said. With that, she began to trudge over to Jackson.

"I'm sorry," he said when she reached him. She was glad that was all he said. If there was one person who she could count on to not spill blather about what a great man Michael was, it was Jackson.

"It's fine," Lisa said, looking into his eyes.

"No, it's not," he said, turning away. His face was filled with pain. Lisa looked at him and, for the first time, tried to imagine what his life was like. His wife died, and he became the man that he hated. For the first time, she felt more than pity and hatred for him. Without thinking, she reached up and kissed him.

After what seemed like forever, she pulled away. Jackson looked at her in shock. "I'm..." he started, but didn't finish. He just stared at her.

"Sorry," she whispered. For the longest time, they just stared at each other. Then, Jackson said, "I have to go."

He started down the hill. "Wait!" Lisa yelled, not really sure why. Jackson turned and looked at her. "I...I..." she started, but wasn't really sure what to say. Then, she said, "I've been thinking about what happened. When you...shot him. I just...why did you do it?"

Jackson walked up to her. "Do you want to know the truth?"

"Yes."

He took a deep, shuddering breath. "I did it for you."

Then, without another word, he turned, trudged down the hill, and left.

It is OFFICIALLY finished! No excuses! Well, actually I was planning on writing a sequel, but I'm not sure if I will or not. I'm currently working on another Red Eye fic, and just as an early warning, I'm not making Jackson the fluffball he was in this fic. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and there are more to come. Ta ta for now!