CHLOE PRICE-CAULFIELD, FORMER SENATOR, FIRST MAYOR OF ARCADIA BAY, DEAD AT 100
(Arcadia Bay Intelligencer-Electron, April 28th 2094)
[TEXT EDITION. PLEASE SEE ONLINE FOR ARCHIVAL VIDEO FOOTAGE LINKS]
Chloe Price-Caulfield, former US Senator, Congresswoman, and first mayor of Arcadia Bay, was found dead at Lighthouse Point late yesterday afternoon. Local authorities were alerted to her passing when her neural weblink sent out a distress call at 5:46 PM, triggered by the loss of vital signs; her body was recovered ahead of last night's thunderstorm. According to data retrieved from her her link's datastack, she died suddenly of natural causes related to ongoing cardiac health issues. She is survived by her daughter Rachel, along with two grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Known affectionately as 'The Grande Dame of Arcadia Bay', Price-Caulfield was one of the city's most prominent citizens, whom many saw as the mother of long renaissance which began eighty years ago. Despite an initially troubled youth that historians ascribe to the untimely death of her father in an automobile accident, she rose to prominence in 2013, in the tragic wake of Megastorm Azrael, an E6-class tornado that completely devastated the old town, and whose origins still puzzle meteorologists to this day.
Credited with single-handedly convincing, in a passionate and rousing speech, the remaining citizens of the old town to forgo disincorporation, Price-Caulfield spent many months working in the construction crews. During this time, she personally helped to rebuild and repair many of Arcadia Bay's core structures, including the Two Whales Diner and Blackwell Academy. Drafted into the position of Alderman-at-Large in the 2014 local election, she served as a powerful voice for the working and middle classes, helping to reorient the local economy away from the failing fishing industry, and towards green energy production and tourism. In 2019, after successfully leading the town council into reorganizing the local government into a mayoral system, she ran for and won the position of mayor, in which she served for fourteen years, a term of service that remained a record until Kesha Albright began her fifteenth year as mayor in 2087.
Also in 2019, then-Mayor Price married her longtime sweetheart and childhood friend Maxine Caulfield, herself a renowned photographic artist and beloved instructor at Blackwell Academy. They remained married until her death in 2084.
After stepping down from local government to start a family, Price-Caulfield re-entered the political scene in 2042, challenging and defeating Richard Sedac for the seat in Oregon's Fifth Congressional District. Known for a style that was publicly aggressive, but privately compromising, she served in the US House of Representatives for twenty years. Of her various achievements during that time, the most notable was her role in helping to push through and ratify the Twenty-Ninth Amendment to the Constitution.
After retirement, the former Congresswoman was content to live out the remaining years of her life in relative quiet and obscurity until she was convinced in 2086 to run for the Senate. After handily winning that election by the largest margin of victory in her career, she served a single term, steadfast and doggedly focused on leading the cause for ratification of the Thirtieth Amendment. The final end of her political service came in a dramatic fashion, suffering from a massive heart attack while delivering a speech at the Election Night victory party of her successor.
Praised throughout the years as a tough but fair negotiator, a loving wife and parent, and a classic example of the 'American Dream' and the power of second chances, Price-Caulfield was active in the local community up to the day of her death.
Per the terms of her will, her remains are to be ultimately cremated, with both the ashes of her and her wife scattered over the waters of the bay in several months time. A public funeral service is anticipated for mid-next week, with thousands of mourners expected to attend. Governor O'Dally has already indicated he plans to be present, and even the White House is considering sending the Vice-President as part of an official delegation, given the former Senator's unique role in American history. According to the late Senator's family, Senator Prescott-Chisholm will deliver the eulogy.
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Chloe takes a deep breath, not that she has need to, not anymore. But the experience of her new reality is still so new and fresh that she revels in it. Nothing hurts anymore; she feels as young as she was the day she and Max renewed their friendship after five years apart. Looks the same as well, with her blue hair, skater beanie, and white wife-beater shirt, although appearances are merely an illusion to her now. Someday, maybe in a few more decades, or after the first century or so, her mind will have evolved far enough to completely detach from the need for the concept.
In the here and now, however, she stands, hand in hand with another, in a green and well-manicured park, near the center of Arcadia Bay. They are present in this space, but none of the others, the ones who call themselves 'living' can perceive nor interact with them; compared to Max and herself, they are not quite ~solid~ enough.
But someday, they will be. Someday, they'll understand.
Her fingers are tightly threaded through those of the girl standing next to her; the plaid sweatshirt, the purple t-shirt, and black jeans, the Polaroid camera...they're all affectations now. Symbols of the woman she once was, familiar indicators to make her recognizable to the newly Awakened.
Their reunion was glorious. They've not stopped holding hands since. They may never let go of each other again; certainly, they don't have to.
Chloe smiles, as she peers with gentle pride at the statue that dominates the center of the park. The one of herself, looking the way she did around her late thirties. It's a good period in her life...flattering. The sharp edges of her youth worn away, but her bright spark is still best captured. The statue has an arm wrapped around one of Max; they're both glancing hopefully to the sky, to some part that Statute-Chloe is pointing out.
"Ha! Wow. A statue. That is hella awesome. I mean, not that I was expecting anything like that..."
"Oh shut up!" Max giggles. "You were so expecting that. I mean shit, that was practically the first thing you were thinking, Ms. 'Oh! I'm Dead! Did They Make Me A Statue? Because I'd Really Like To See That.''
Chloe smiles even wider in response. "Well, I was pretty awesome, you know."
Max leans in, resting her head on Chloe's shoulder. "WE were pretty awesome. Just you and me, together. But yes, beyond that...you know, I do think it's so super sweet that they put up a statue of you and me together. Granite, too! That says something, you know? In a society increasingly obsessed with producing things quickly and cheaply, making something authentic and enduring? That's more a sign of respect than ever before."
"Mmmmmhmmm. Yeeeeah. I might have put in a proviso in my will, setting aside some of our fortune for various projects in town. With the requirement that if they were going to put up any sort of a memorial, they weren't allowed to have it just be me alone. It had to be Us."
"Of course it did." Max smiles in response. She doesn't even question. She doesn't have to.
Turning to fully face her beloved, Chloe glances down and asks, "So. Now that I'm here. And you've had more time than me to adjust...can you tell me what it was all about?"
Max reaches up, a coy smile on her lips, idling twisting one finger in her hair, and says, "Whatever could you mean, oh my love?"
"Ha ha. Baby, you know what I mean. The shit with the time traveling. The storm. Why you, why me? What did it all mean? I mean...there was a reason behind it, right?"
Max reaches up, caressing her cheek. Chloe leans into it, as her wife explains, "I'll tell you everything. Someday. When you're ready to fully understand. I'm only just barely starting to truly comprehend it all myself. But in the meantime, will you just accept it, when I tell you that the universe is far more complicated than we could have possibly imagined? That there are higher powers, of an almost inscrutable and unknowable nature? Both as personal in their regard towards us, as the Church fervently prays for, and as aloof as the average nihilist proclaims?"
"Uh...kay. That's deep. I guess I have no choice. But, I mean, getting to that level of understanding shouldn't be too difficult; after all, here I am. Life after Death. No more guessing, now I know for sure."
"Well, you'd be surprised." Max answers. "What we call death is just the beginning, Che. But there are more than a few who come here, and still cling to their ignorance, as they did before. I mean...the only real difference, the most important one, is that it's much easier to abandon those limitations now. Easier to become more than creatures ruled by stimulus response."
"Still doesn't answer my question entirely, you know?" Chloe points out.
"No. It doesn't. But...hmmm. How best to put it in such a limited form as words...?" Max taps her lips in contemplation, for a moment, for a century, before continuing. "Sometimes these powers that I mentioned...they get it in their heads to give little tests. And no, you're starting to envision a scientist poking at a mouse, running it through a maze. It's nothing so simplistic. Still, I guess the metaphor works a little bit, even if it's totes ham-fisted."
"God, this hurts my head. And I don't even have a real head anymore!" Chloe half-complains. "So who was being tested, then?"
"Everyone." Max smiles. "But some more than others."
"Fucking hella weird."
"Yeah!" Max laughs. "Fucking...hella...weird." She wraps her arms around Chloe's neck, and pulls her down, nuzzling her face against her neck, then whispers in her ear. "Doesn't matter for now. There's time enough for understanding to come. Now? I'm just so happy we're together again. And we'll never be apart."
Chloe closes eyes that don't actually exist and sighs. Already she understands enough to know that someday, there won't be a need for words. She and Max will be in perfect simpatico.
"So what do we do next?"
"Anything you like. Everything. But you should really say hi to your parents, first. And Kate and Victoria. They're all here, and they'd love to see you."
Chloe nods. She's eager to see them all as well, but still can't bring herself to fill the time, whatever that concept even means anymore, with anyone's company but her Max's.
"One more kiss. Then we'll be good and say our hellos. I just wanna get my fill of you, first."
Max laughs low in her throat. "That could be a while."
"I think we got a while, don't you?"
"I know we do."
Max tilts her head, mouth finding her beloved's. In their kiss, they become as one, intermingling a lifetime of experiences, sharing perspectives, attaining greater and greater understanding of each other, and what they are, together.
They kiss for a moment. They kiss for an eternity.
THE END
A/N: Whew. Well. That's it. That's all of it, more or less.
Hard to believe it's over and done with. There's always a certain sense of the surreal whenever you finally finish up a long piece. When you take all those disparate scenes you dreamed of in your head, over and over, and make them real, at long last. I always find it fascinating to see how the initial platonic ideals change as they get put to electronic paper, because there were definitely some things that changed on the fly from my vision of them five months ago; Chloe was going to die on the porch of her house, with a ghost-Max holding her hand...Max's answer at the very end, about the Why, was going to be far more definitive, and less mysterious. Sometimes it's a huge disappointment, but I feel ilke this time, it came out a bit better than I first envisioned.
I'm glad I pushed through to the ending so fast. I hadn't realized how emotionally draining the last three chapters would become. So much of it was drawn on my own experiencing with loved ones aging and dying, and I suppose to a certain extent there is a bit of my own personal musings and ruminations on life, now that I've reached the midway point at 40.
Anyhow: thank yous! I want to thank each and every one of you who took the time to read my words. I want to double-triple thank everyone who took even more time to review. Theodur, Candle in the Night, Guardian of Azarath (who caught a goof I made in the first section of this chapter, thanks!), GrumpyCat42, and Alpenwolf, thank you the most. And everyone else who I probably should have thanked more for, and stupidly forgot.
And thank you, White Story, for more or less convincing me that someday down the road, probably weeks or months from now, I ought to put out one last coda, to answer the question I seem to have left everyone with: Did Rachel ever find out, somehow, about what really happened in 2013? Rest assured, I already have a significant outline plotted out in my head.
Thanks to NuQueerWarhead and Corentin IV, my writing sisters from another misters, just because I never turn down the chance to thank them for their support, ever. :-)
An apology to a certain someone, if they are still reading. They know who they are. I still regret the way things ended between us.
And finally, last but not least, I want to thank LilyGHall again for the lovely piece of fanart that she sent me, which became the cover image for this story. She seemed to have dropped off the face of FFN, so I hope she's doing well. It's the first and only bit of fan tribute I've ever gotten, so it's still very precious to me.
So that's that. Black Swan starts back up next Saturday. Riotgrrls in Love will...get finished up eventually, though I'm still sadly more or less out of ideas. But I think I have a good ending at the very least. See you around!
...
Hitting "Completed" is always the hardest part.