Beetlejuice, Lydia, the neitherworld… They don't belong to me. I just love them so much I want to take them in both arms, rip open my chest cavity, and stuff them inside forever, right next to my heart. Of course, if they were mine, just look what I'd do to them… But that being said, please don't sue me, okay?

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And with this chapter, I break 300,000 words on this site... Yay! Now, okay, only two reviews last chapter? It was the climax people! I know you're reading! :P Oh well, here you go anyway... It's very short, but seemed like the best way to end this.

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It was a beautiful day to be buried. In fact, if Lydia had ever really given it much thought, she probably would have decided long ago that she wanted a spring funeral… Late spring, yes, but it still had that smell. Of new things. Of starting fresh.

She watched the guests, few of whom she actually knew, mill about, shooting glances at the coffin, and whispering. They didn't speak of her, she noticed, so much as how she died. In fact, she didn't think anyone there actually knew her… But word had spread fast in her hometown, and now it looked like half the people there had turned up, to watch her remains put under.

The two most notably missing from the proceedings, she couldn't say were really missed. Not by her anyway, though many people did wonder aloud at their absence from their own daughter's funeral. She on the other hand, knew that their gossip was the very reason… Her parents never liked to be the center of unwelcome attention, and even with the chance to say goodbye to their only child, they would rather sit this public spectacle out.

Of course, they didn't know that she was actually standing there, some distance to the side, Beetlejuice's arms wrapped around her tightly from behind. Watching, with an odd sense of finality, as the wooden tomb holding her spent mortal shell, was lowered into the earth. It didn't bother her, it felt like something she'd simply outgrown, and put aside. But Beetlejuice was noticeably tense, his arms holding onto her like he was afraid she would slip away.

If she could turn, she was sure his lips would be pressed into a thin line, his gaze deliberately noncommittal, as he observed the consequences of his actions, only the week before. After gaining his memories back, he'd fallen into a sort of funk, looking at her guiltily whenever she demanded his attention, though never protesting when she stole kisses, or climbed in his lap. She had the feeling that guilt was a new emotion for him, and he didn't like it. But not once did he complain. And gradually, he'd been the one that started kissing her again, the way it should be.

But for now, he didn't break the silence as the preacher droned on about stuff he really knew nothing about, both what was waiting for her, and even who she had been. He spoke of a breach left in her absence, when she could be certain that no one but her parents would even notice she was gone. And they hadn't even shown up. The only thing he was remotely right about, was that she was in a better place… Though certainly, it was nothing like he described it.

Then the first, ceremonial shovelfuls of earth, before the backhoe interrupted the solemn proceedings, and tucked her body in deep. They didn't even wait for the guests to disperse… If anything, she sensed that this was the reason some of them had come. To see her buried. It made her smile. So much for being the only one who would have come up with the vampire theory… It was nice to know that people with a whole lifetime of experience behind them, were just as 'irrational' as she was.

Even after the fresh sod was rolled over the top of her grave, rather preemptively she thought, still people lingered, giving each other uneasy glances, like someone there knew that a ghost was watching them. Well, ghosts, now. No one came forward to lay flowers at her grave. No one cried. People started gossiping again, moving in tight groups, like it was more a social function, than a funeral.

Lydia sighed, squirming a little in her lover's embrace, and he chuckled, dropping a light kiss to her hair. "This is boring!" She hissed back at him, though she warmed briefly under his kiss. "Why do we have to be here? I already know I'm dead!"

"Enjoy the living world sun, babes." He murmured against the back of her neck, making the little hairs there prickle and rise at his cold breath. "Gonna be awhile before we got reason to come back up here again."

"Good," She grumbled, lidding her eyes against said sun, "It's too damn bright up here anyway." Just the same, she didn't suggest leaving again. This was closure, in some way she didn't understand, not for herself, but for him. So she could put up with it.

It was over an hour before the last of the 'guests' drifted away, leaving the two of them alone. Even the preacher leaving the place of uneasy energy, where two ghosts watched. And finally, Beetlejuice cleared his throat, letting her go, and stepping forward… She didn't know where he'd gotten the slender red rose, tied in a spider web ribbon, but he knelt, and laid it across the new grave with something of a sense of solemnity.

Then though, he ruined the whole thing by laughing, and beckoning her over with a grin. When she obeyed, perplexed, he just indicated her gravestone, looking infinitely amused. Curious herself now, Lydia dropped on the new sod covering her old body, and read the inscription. Her name, the dates of her birth and death… And under this, in elegant letters;

In Death as in Life,

A Mystery.

It didn't make her laugh though, as he might have expected… Instead it made her oddly warm, that her parents had actually chosen an engraving that suited her, instead of simply, Beloved Daughter. Maybe they'd come by later to say goodbye. Maybe even leave some flowers of their own. Too bad she wouldn't be here anymore to see it.

Beetlejuice offered her his hand, helping her to her feet, a look of vague amusement still in place. "Guess we left these breathers something to talk about, eh babes?" His hand slipped around her waist, in what had become second nature, only for him to pause, his eyebrows flying up somewhere into his hair. "Oh yeah, almost forgot. Picked you up something… To celebrate the day, you know?"

It was an utterly odd thing to do, getting her a gift to celebrate her burial, or would have been, if it were anyone but Beetlejuice. Maybe even if it were anyone but her. But he let her go, reached into the recesses of his coat, and frowned, making a show of not being able to find what he was looking for. Lydia just grinned eagerly, waiting… When wasn't a good time to receive one of Beetlejuice's presents?

"So I swung by the Pet Cemetery this morning," He noted suddenly, green eyes fixated sharply on her, his mouth creeping into a smirk, "Figured I'd dig you up some company, those days I gotta be out. But, uh…" He pulled the scrawny grey kitten out of his coat, no more than three weeks old, looking cold, scared, and hungry, "Think somehow I got a live one."

Lydia practically snatched the baby from him, albeit it gently, and held the delicate thing in the palm of her hands, it was so small. "Oh, B… Were there others?" She murmured, her eyebrows pressed into a worried knot.

"Not breathing." He said simply, shrugging this off like it was nothing. "Just the one. Found it next to a headstone that said, 'Percy the Python.'" He tilted his head, the eager glint in his eyes waiting for approval. "What d'you think?"

"Percy…" Lydia whispered, her voice just a breath, "Just Percy, I think." Her gaze flicked up to his. "Oh B, I love him!" The poltergeist frowned, and shifted a little, making her laugh. "Not as much as you, of course…"

This seemed to reassure him, but as she was considering the kitten again, she saw just how fragile he really was, and realized sadly that he might not survive. "Oh B, is he going to be okay?" She wrapped him in the front of her worn poncho, hoping that the material would do what she couldn't, and keep him warm. "I don't want him to die…"

"Doesn't make a difference, does it?" He frowned, then shifted once more, uncomfortably, under her gaze. "Hell, don't give me that look, I'm just saying, we can keep him either way! That's what you want, right?"

"Yes…" She agreed softly, reluctant to see the kitten's little spark of life go out, though her own had meant so little to her. "What are we going to feed him? Is there anything back home he can even eat?"

With a humphing sound, Beetlejuice reached back into his coat, and pulled out a slender white bottle, of what appeared to be milk. "Seems to like this shit okay." He noted, pushing the bottle into her free hand. "But from now on, feeding him is your deal."

Lydia blinked, and looked at the label. It read, in what could only be called spider-script, 100% Neitherworld Cat Cream- Collected From 100% Neitherworld Cats.

Well. That brought a number of questions to mind. But for now, she'd let them ride. His little tummy still seemed to be bulging from his last feeding, so they could probably take their time heading back, as long as he didn't get cold. Then she realized that not only had Beetlejuice gone to pick her out a pet, not only had he saved a kitten's life, but he'd even gone out of his way to see it got a good meal, before relinquishing responsibility to her.

She grinned at him, a sort of smile that made him frown, and narrow his eyes at her. "Now what?" He grumbled, like he expected to be berated over something. "I took care of the damn thing just fine, now it's your problem!"

Lydia just drew closer, looking up at him from warm dark eyes, peeking out from under her thick lashes, and murmured sweetly, "You really are soft, aren't you?"

Rather than any reaction she could have expected, ranging from amusement to anger, Beetlejuice just ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, gave her a tolerant look, and noted matter-of-factly, "Only for you, babes. Just keep that straight, and we'll be fine."

Nodding, satisfied by his answer, Lydia couldn't help but push it just a little further. "Does that mean you're willing to share me now?" She teased. "You won't kill everyone I say hello to?" Not that she really cared as much as she supposed she probably should…

This time, the look Beetlejuice gave her was just a little more impatient. "I got you the damn cat, Lyds… I'm making an effort here, all right? Don't push it." When she just beamed up at him though, bright as anything, his sour mood couldn't last, and he draped an arm around her shoulder, turning her away from the grave. "What's say we get back to our place… Maybe pick up a few things to give it that homey feeling."

Lydia couldn't argue with that, dropping a kiss lightly on the corner of his jaw, and saying the words that would take her away from the world she'd never really belonged in anyway, maybe forever this time. "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" She said it with such joy, and more strength than he ever remembered her having before, and just like she loved saying it…

Babes… I'll never lose you again. Never. I'm yours… Forever.

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