Reflection - Epilogue
Chapter edited 24/05/2018 - another chapter tweak, the others will follow.
Megapolis, Endako, Bogan Galaxy, two years later.
Angela sighed a deep, depressing sigh.
"You okay?" Ratchet asked, turning onto his left side to look at her. She was lying on her back in bed, staring at the ceiling of what used to be Clank's apartment, but was now theirs. She turned her head to look at Ratchet, and smiled. It was a sad smile, and Ratchet saw that her eyes didn't light up the way they usually do when she smiles. He could sense something was off with her, especially since she was terrible at hiding whenever she was upset, instead employing a rather miserable expression.
"I'm okay."
"Are you sure about that? That was a very sad sigh."
"This will probably sound stupid since we moved a year ago, but I miss my place on Grelbin," she said, not letting on that there was something even greater on her mind, hoping this will throw him off the scent.
"It's not stupid," Ratchet said reassuringly, "I kind of miss my workshop too."
Angela turned over to face him, and said, "At least we managed to fix it up."
Ratchet nodded in agreement. "I'm amazed we finished it, it did take a really long time."
"Only because you kept putting it off," Angela said, shooting a look as if to say Really? Ratchet chuckled, before leaning closer to Angela to give her a quick kiss. He broke away and moved back, and looked into Angela's blue eyes. Ratchet couldn't believe how lucky he was. It had been a busy year. After their engagement a year ago, the pair had decided that it was time to move in together. Thankfully, the frantic search for a place was omitted when Clank offered to give them his apartment, saving them precious time. Four months later, they had a quiet wedding with a few friends in attendance. Angela was still working at MegaCorp, whereas Ratchet had opened his own garage in Allgon City, where business had been booming. Many people came by just to express their gratitude towards the lombax for saving their city, despite the fact that the Protopet infestation occurred four years ago, and many more came to have their ships repaired by the best mechanic this side of Bogan.
"You know," Ratchet started, fiddling with his wedding ring as he turned onto his back, "I'm still not used to wearing this."
"Are you serious?" Angela questioned, sitting up and propping herself up with her arm. "You've been wearing that for eight months now."
"Not for eight months straight," he corrected, still fiddling with the ring, twisting it around his finger.
"You take it off?"
"When I'm working with engines, otherwise it'd be pretty badly nicked by now."
"I see," Angela simply said before falling quiet, the brief sensation of dread vanishing as quickly as it rose.
"Did you think I took it off because I'm cheating?" Ratchet asked with a goofy grin, propping himself up on his arm again.
Angela shook her head, trying to hide the small smile on her face, but failing. "Of course not, I know you don't cheat." She leaned closer to Ratchet's ear, and whispered, "You rebound instead."
"Hey!" Ratchet protested, "I thought we agreed to leave that Sasha business behind us!"
"I never said anything about Sasha," Angela said as she rolled her eyes, before laughing again. "Yet you immediately jumped to your own defense, incredible." Ratchet, unsure of how to react, gave a nervous laugh and shrugged sheepishly. Angela shook her head at him, grinning. "I have no idea why I married you, I still think we're too young," she said, testing to see Ratchet's reaction. Were they too young for this? What else were they too young for?
"First of it," he started, counting each point off on his fingers, "I'm 22, and you're 24; it's young, but not too young. And you married me because I gave the best proposal ever," Ratchet cheekily shot back, only to receive a gentle cuff over the head from his wife.
"You're a moron," Angela joked, feeling her face ache from all of the grinning.
"I'm your moron, and you love me," Ratchet replied, giving her a wide-eyed, puppy-dog expression, one she found difficult to stay even remotely annoyed at.
"Don't push it, Rebound." She flicked her hair behind her shoulder, disbelieving Ratchet had managed to maintain his self-assured manner after all these years. But she didn't think he was wreckless, not anymore. Everything he did, dealing with Nefarious and Vox, explained where his developed sense of maturity came from, and she felt terrible for him. The things he had to see and do on DreadZone, like some helpless puppet in a twisted show, it sickened her.
Pausing for thought, she realised there was no point in dwelling on the awful things anymore, especially as things were great - for now.
Plus Ratchet was right: his proposal was the best.
Tundor Wastes, Grelbin, one year ago.
"Good morning," Angela said as she watched Ratchet stir from his usual, deep slumber. Being a heavy sleeper, it took a lot to wake the rocket mechanic up. He once slept through the time a Y.E.T.I. broke into the house and wrecked the place, Angela not daring to venture out to confront it. Instead, she chose to barricade them in her room and hope it wouldn't try to smash its way in.
"Morning," he slurred, rubbing his eyes.
"Happy anniversary," she beamed. Angela couldn't believe that it had been a year since she took Ratchet back, and she was convinced that this first year was even better than the one from their previous relationship. However, her smile faltered when she noticed the look on Ratchet's face - a mixture of embarrassment and guilt. "Is something wrong?" she asked, cocking her head in concern, her curls tickling Ratchet's nose.
"This is our second first-year anniversary," he explained, "and I still feel terrible."
"Ratchet," she said softly, "we both agreed to leave all of that behind us. It doesn't matter anymore because you're with me, right here, right now. So let's just focus on today and enjoy it. Deal?"
He slowly smiled, and said, "Deal." The last year had been a rocky one for Ratchet, given that he still hadn't forgiven himself for what he did to Angela. Instead, he focused his energy on being the most attentive, loving, and caring partner he could be, because he was convinced he had to make it up to his girlfriend and her year of work stress, isolation and sleepless nights. Despite her resilient nature, she had to endure the heartbreak and all of its devastating complications at such a young age. And it seriously screwed her up, she claimed.
He often did sweet things to surprise her when she had to work late, often ordering a take-out, or, better yet, cooking her favourite foods, and then settling down in the evenings with a HoloVid boxset, watching shows such as The Stalking Dead, or, Angela's personal favourite, Companions. She loved watching the highs and lows of six young adults in living in Allgon City, dealing with crazy situations and failed relationships. It always made her feel good, and snuggling up to Ratchet made it tenfold better. She often fell asleep watching it, resulting in Ratchet having to gently scoop her up and take her to bed. Once she had started sleeping easily again, Angela took great satisfaction in throwing out her medication.
"So, what do we have planned today?" Angela asked, gently caressing Ratchet's cheek. He sat up, joining Angela, and leaned in for a long, lingering kiss.
"We can do whatever we want," he replied, "because today is all about us."
Angela jokingly groaned. "And here I wanted today to be all about me." She laughed, twirling a lock of her hair with one hand, while tugging at the collar of her nightshirt with the other. Her nervous fidgeting made Ratchet's chest stir. It seemed to him that every day he was able to fall in love with Angela all over again, usually caused by her quirky little mannerisms: the way she talked, laughed, walked, and fiddled with things while thinking or speaking. He adored it all.
"That's too bad, because we're gonna have to share," Ratchet said, smiling at his girlfriend. "But first things first, you want breakfast?"
"Absolutely, I'm starving."
"Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back," Ratchet said, kissing Angela one last time before getting up, scooping clothes off the floor and pulling them on as he navigated his way out of the bedroom. He closed the door behind him, and then darted to the kitchen. He pulled open the fridge door, pulled out various different ingredients, and got to work. He had a special surprise waiting for Angela, and he wanted it to go perfectly.
The smell of cooking food coming from the kitchen was driving Angela crazy! She was so hungry, she felt like she could go outside and eat a Y.E.T.I. and was seriously considering doing so. Thankfully, Ratchet came in at just the right time, carrying a tray filled with many tasty treats. Ratchet walked over to Angela's side of the bed, and gently placed the tray on her lap, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek as he did so, causing her blush slightly. Even after dating this man for two years, albeit not consecutively, he still made her feel giddy and overwhelmingly happy.
"This looks absolutely incredible," Angela exclaimed, scanning the tray. "I mean, there's pancakes, eggs, fruit," she listed, as her eyes drifted over to a small, black box sat in the corner of the tray. "What's this?" she asked, reaching over and gently picking up the box.
"Before you open that," Ratchet quickly chipped in, moving the tray off of Angela's lap before sitting beside her on the bed, "I just want to say a couple of things. Again, I know after a year of dating is a bit early to be doing this, but I want to do this."
Angela looked up at Ratchet in amazement. "You didn't..." she whispered upon realising what her fellow lombax was doing. She couldn't believe this was about to happen, and she knew that the object contained within the box she held was one that Ratchet had had in his possession for the last two years. In her mind, it felt as if time had almost stood still.
"Angela," he started, "we have been together for the last year, and have, yet again, had an incredible time and made some wonderful memories, all of which I will cherish for the rest of my life."
"Don't do this," Angela laughed, "you'll make me cry." And she meant it, she rarely cried at anything even remotely soppy.
"I'll admit that the first time around, I messed up big time, but I am so grateful that you gave me a second chance to make you happy. God knows why you did, but I vowed to make sure I would never, ever hurt you again." Ratchet gently took the box from Angela's hand, and cleared his throat before continuing. "And I vowed to never leave you again. To make sure of that, I have one thing to ask you."
"You're making me cry," Angela said, grinning while a single tear ran down her face. She couldn't believe this was happening! It was happening! This was real!
He opened the ring box, revealing a simple, silver ring with a small diamond embedded in it. Angela gasped as soon as she saw it, her mouth hanging slightly open. The simplicity of the ring showed that Ratchet knew, even two years ago, that Angela resented anything even remotely flashy (when Ratchet first complimented her house, she was clearly and painfully embarrassed by her comfortable financial situation). She thought the ring was absolutely perfect. "Angela Cross, you are the love of my life. Will you marry me?"
"Yes, of course I'll marry you," she said calmly, before the uncontrollable wave of happiness that swept her caused her to burst into tears. So much for playing it cool, she thought, smiling all the while.
Ratchet gently eased the ring out of the box, unable to restrain his uncontrollable beaming, and placed it on the ring finger of Angela's outstretched hand. He then leaned forward and took Angela, his fiancée, into a tight embrace. She wrapped her arms around Ratchet's finely toned torso, struggling to register what had just happened.
"I love you," she finally said from within the hug.
"I love you too, Ang," he replied, feeling like the luckiest man in the world. He had won her, lost her, and won her again. This time, there was absolutely nothing that would tear them apart.
Endako, Megapolis, Bogan Galaxy, present day.
"I'll be right back," Angela said absent-mindedly, before getting up and leaving the bedroom. Ratchet watched her as she walked out and rolled onto his back.
He wondered how Clank was doing. He was probably filming for Secret Agent Clank, which was still as popular as ever. Now that Ratchet was no longer a member of the cast, he found he could now watch the show without getting embarrassed. He watched each and every episode as it was aired every week, and avoided reruns like the plague. Angela, in an attempt to wind Ratchet up, would deliberately watch the reruns, laughing at Ratchet's bumbling chauffeur role. To this day, Ratchet had no idea if his character was written in for comic relief or not. It didn't matter now, as, thankfully, his days as an actor were long behind him. He still couldn't understand how saving two galaxies would land him a role in a television show; he didn't even like acting!
Angela came back into the room with a worried expression on her face. An expression that never delivers good news.
"Is something wrong?" Ratchet asked, immediately bolting upright as he saw her.
"That depends," she said sadly with a sigh, before going to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Depends on what?" Ratchet asked soothingly, shuffling over towards where she was sat.
"On your reaction," she replied, looking at Ratchet with tear-filled eyes that were threatening to spill on her face. She took a deep breath, and said, "I'm pregnant."
Silence.
"You're pregnant," Ratchet repeated, looking at Angela blankly. She nodded solemnly, as if to emphasis that this was genuinely happening. Yet she was in a state of disbelief, waiting for her husband to freak, bracing for the fallout.
"So... we're going to have a baby?" he asked, running his hand through the tuft of fur on his head. She nodded again, albeit very slowly. Ratchet felt the biggest smile grow on his face. "That's... that's... that's incredible, Ang!" he declared, leaning on his knees while placing his hands on top of his head. "I'm gonna be a dad!" he shouted before laughing. Angela felt a wave of relief fall over her. Ratchet was happy with the news. She figured he would walk out on her, breaking her heart for a second time and leaving a baby without a father. Luckily, that wasn't the case, a thought which comforted her greatly.
She crawled onto the bed, leaned on her knees to meet Ratchet's embrace, and joined in with his laughter.
"You're not mad?" she asked, as she moved away from him, locking eyes with him.
"Are you kidding?" he questioned. "This is the best news I've ever heard! We're going to be a family!" He laughed again, 'overjoyed' being an understatement for how good the lombax was feeling. He felt on top of the world, unstoppable.
"Don't you think we're too young?" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice, her smile faltering.
"Maybe a bit," he admitted, his smile not fading, "but that doesn't mean we won't be great parents!" His response made her smile grow again. He was right, they would be great. They would have their own child to raise, a child who will know who its parents are, whose parents will always be there to take care of it. She felt her heart melt as she watched Ratchet kiss her stomach, hearing him say, "Hey there little fella, I'm your daddy, and I'm going to teach you to build so many cool things."
She knew that this would be the best thing to ever happen to her, and that this was just the beginning of something wonderful.
So, this is the end of Reflection. Despite having some initial difficulty continuing after the first chapter (debating whether or not to start again and do a long one-shot was not fun), this little project had been one of my favourite things to work on for the last few weeks, and I'm really pleased by how well it's turned out. The response I've got from this has been awesome, and reading the various reviews has been both encouraging and hilarious. Now that we're here, I'm quite sad to see it end, but this is a story of Ratchet and Angela (Rangela anyone?) after Locked and Loaded (Going Commando for those not from Europe or Australia, I'm from the UK, we got the boring, non-euphemistic title ;)). Thanks to everyone who took time out of their day to read this, favourite/follow it, and drop a review. Even if you've made it this far, thanks for sticking to the end.
~TWRSB
Pssst... anyone want a sequel?
