Remembering the Dream

by shiki94

It's never easy to say goodbye to those that we've lost. It can be even harder when the one that we've lost has been such an important part of our lives. Join Cody Rhodes, Goldust, Alex Hardy, and Mary Williams as they try their best to stay strong in the face of losing the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes. My own little two-shot tribute to Dusty Rhodes (RIP). Rated T for language.

2. Part 2

And now, after some delay on my part, here's the next, and final, part of Remembering The Dream. I hope you guys enjoy it. =)

(Also, I know I said this last chapter, but...Caution: Have tissues on hand, if needed.)

Monday finally came. And with it came possibly one of the hardest things that the WWE roster would go through this year: the ten bell salute and tribute video packages on that week's episode of RAW for Dusty. While the trip to Cleveland, Ohio had been a relatively calm one, it wasn't until the Rhodes brothers, Alex, and Mary had gotten to the arena that the girls really started to feel doubtful about being able to keep it together once all of the stuff that was planned for Dusty began.

"Guys, I…I don't think I'll be able to make it through everything," Alex said, pulling at one of the bracelets on her left wrist from where she was sitting on top of one of the crates backstage. "I know Cody and Dustin said it'd be okay to cry, but I just don't know how to deal with everything."

"Just let your emotions come naturally," Dustin said, trying to reassure his brother's girlfriend. "That's all that we could really want in this situation."

"Good to know," Mary said, looking over to Dustin from where she was sitting beside Alex. "Because I'm not going to be shy at all about letting my emotions come naturally."

Smiling over to his former student, Dustin said "That's all we're asking, Mary."

While his older brother talked with Mary and Alex, Cody stood in thought over what Dustin just said. Sure, he had been telling himself that he would be strong during the tribute the WWE was doing for his father, but he hadn't really thought about how it would affect him; if it would affect him, at that. After all, the last time he really cried over anything was when the WWE had the ten bell salute and tribute video packages for the Ultimate Warrior last year. And, while that was a pretty sad event in itself, this was a lot more personal to him as it was the loss of his own father; the man who raised him, the man who helped train him and get his legs into the world of professional wrestling, the man who he was honored to induct into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007, and the man who had given him some valuable advice on being the best possible father he could be for his daughter. These were all really strong memories that had Cody feeling his own measure of sadness, but he had yet to really express it to anyone. It wasn't until he heard Dustin say "Come on, Cody. It's time" and he saw the members of the WWE roster heading for the gorilla position and the stage that Cody knew now was the moment of truth. Nodding his head as he got his thoughts back in order, Cody said "Right" as he grabbed hold of Alex's hand.

Walking alongside her boyfriend, Dustin, and Mary, Alex bit one of her lip rings and, in a bit of a small voice, said "You know, Cody. It's…okay if you cry. No one's gonna think any less of you, so…just don't think you have to keep everything bottled up inside."

Hearing this come from his girlfriend, Cody knew Alex was right; the only problem he seemed to be facing was the fact that he wasn't exactly sure how he'd really hold it together during the ten bell salute and the other tribute segments for his dad. But, what he did know was this: If he did cry, he knew he had his brother, his girlfriend, and one of the people that he considered another sister with him to be his anchors.

Reaching the gorilla position, the group of four was allowed through the crowd of Superstars and Divas, many of whom were surprised to see Cody and Dustin instead of their respective in-ring counterparts, Stardust and Goldust. As the group made their way to the front of the crowd, the roster gave Cody and Dustin their own "I'm sorry for your loss", which was already starting to make the younger of the two Rhodes men feel moved that so many people were affected by the death of his father. Biting his lip, he tightened his grip a bit on Alex's hand as the quartet finally reached the front of the crowd; and once the crowd saw the Rhodes men, they erupted in a chant of "Rhodes Dynasty". Casting a quick look behind him, Cody could see that some of the roster was already in tears over what was to come next; even when he cast a quick look out at the crowd, Cody could see fans with tears rolling down their faces and many signs for his dad ranging from "Thank You Dusty" to "RIP Dusty Rhodes" to "Dusty Rhodes: A Real Man's Man" to, signs that he considered his personal favorite, "Dusty Rhodes: The True American Dream". Just seeing this outflowing of support from his co-workers and the fans of the WWE had Cody immensely happy to see that his dad had such an influence on people and had so much love from both wrestlers and fans alike. Hearing sniffling on both sides of him, Cody didn't even have to look to know that Alex and Mary were already starting to well up with tears that were going to flow out of them; and, after seeing all of this, he didn't blame them for wanting to cry at all of the love people had been giving his family over the past few days.

Seeing that the whole roster, along with owner of the WWE, Vince McMahon, was now gathered on the stage, Lillian got the signal to begin the proceedings. Standing from the chair she was sitting in, Lillian said "Ladies and gentlemen, if you would please. Let us now acknowledge a moment of silence for Dusty Rhodes as we ring the bell ten times." Once Lillian was done, the timekeeper began to toll the bell ten times, each toll spaced out. As the timekeeper rang the bell, the camera panned around the arena to show that several roster members were now crying while many tried to be strong through the ten bell salute, and the fans in attendance were showing a varied range of emotions from silent and respectful to teary-eyed to full-on crying in the case of a good number of the fans.

Hearing the outpouring of emotions from the fans, his co-workers, and bosses had Cody feeling pretty emotional. Casting a look over to Dustin, Cody could see that his older brother was doing pretty well to keep his cool as he looked around at what was happening in the arena and held Mary close to him as the brunette woman had her face buried in Dustin's chest as she could be heard sobbing. Looking back over to his left, Cody saw that Alex was sobbing a bit as she wiped at the tears that kept rolling down her face. Seeing and feeling the range of emotions in the arena had Cody thinking back to what Alex had told him before they made it out to the stage. "You know, Cody. It's…okay if you cry. No one's gonna think any less of you, so…just don't think you have to keep everything bottled up inside." Just the fact that his girlfriend could see right through and see that he was trying so hard to be strong in the wake of the loss of his father, one of his greatest teachers and biggest influences, had Cody feeling that showing how he was really feeling wouldn't be such a bad thing. So, at around the sixth toll of the bell, Cody hung his head a bit as the tears that he'd been trying so hard to hold in finally escaped and began to roll down his face.

Dustin had been the most emotionally strong one between he, his brother, Alex, and Mary; mostly because he felt it was his job to stay strong for the other three, along with his wife, daughter, and the rest of his family. So, when he heard another sniffling coming from his left at around the eighth toll of the bell, he didn't have to look to know that it was Cody. Resting his free hand on Cody's right shoulder, Dustin let this be his way of saying "It's okay, little brother. Don't hold it in any longer. Just let it all out." And this touch seemed to be just the thing to help Cody towards really letting everything he had been feeling over the past few days out. By the time the bell had been rung for the tenth time and the crowd and roster were applauding and chanting "Thank you, Dusty", Dustin had tears of his own that finally rolled down his face as he held a now loudly sobbing Mary close to him, still had his hand on Cody's shoulder as Cody held his head up and wiped at the tear streaks on his face, and looked over to see that Alex was leaning into Cody's hold, as he had thrown an arm around her shoulders, as she kept wiping her face.

Once the bell had been rung for the tenth and final time, Lillian wiped her face and, clearing her throat around the sob that was threatening to escape her, said "Now, at this time, we would like everyone to turn their attention to the Titantron as we will now play a tribute video for Dusty."

Heads turned to look up at the Titantron as a graphic for Dusty that had his picture along with his birth year and the year 2015 was shown before transitioning to a video package that played as Dusty's entrance theme "Common Man" began to play throughout the arena. As everyone watched the video package that was playing, many of the people in the arena, fans and roster members alike, began to clap and nod their heads in tune to the beat of "Common Man"; even Vince could be seen tapping his foot to the beat of the music.

Once the quartet of Dustin, Cody, Mary, and Alex were able to get their emotions in check enough, they joined in with the celebration that was going through the arena. Even though now felt like it should've been more of a time for mourning, the four knew that it was really a celebration of the life and legacy of Dusty Rhodes, one of the greatest wrestlers and men to ever walk the face of the planet. And, right now, in a sea of love and support from fellow wrestlers and fans, the four felt that Dusty's memory was being celebrated in the best way possible: His memory was being celebrated with people whose lives and careers he helped shape, along with many of the people that he served as an inspiration to.

And now, I must say that Remembering The Dream is finished. This has been a great thing for me to write as it's helped me cope with Dusty's passing and it's also helped my muses too as most of them have been taking the news pretty hard. Funny story about this = I was working on this last night before I got close to halfway through it and I stopped. Just what I was typing was starting to make me tear up as I was working, so I was finally able to finish it today with the help of my muses. I hope you guys have all enjoyed reading this and I just want to say Thanks for giving this a read. Don't forget to R&R for the last time on this, please. =)

(Question: I got hit with an idea when I was almost done with this to actually have an epilogue of sorts to go with this that would basically be a time jump to a year later and it would focus on the same four main characters in this, along with Alex and Cody's daughter Isabelle, and Mary's husband Ted Dibiase Jr. and her son Marcus all visiting Dusty's grave to relay what'd been going on with them over the course of the year. Would you guys want to read this epilogue if I type it? Feel free to either answer this question in your review or PM me your answer. I await you guys' opinions. =) )