Title: Perfect Moment
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Summary: There's a perfect day that lives in her memories.
There's a perfect day that lives in her memories.
A mother and daughter walking hand in hand across the white sparkling sands of an almost deserted beach; the bluest ocean waves rushing up to meet them when they stand just at the edge. She still remembers the feel of the water, how it tickled her ankles, running smooth and cool over the tops of her bare feet. How the sand felt as it wormed its way between her toes; rough, funny, and as she had shifted from one foot to the other, just a tiny bit uncomfortable.
The water had seemed to go on for miles, making her green eyes dance with wonder. They had traveled over the wide expanse, searching for its ending. And when she had found it, in all her childish innocence, it had thought that the water was falling off the edge of the world, to be swallowed up by a big yellow sun playing peek-a-boo with her over the horizon.
When she mentioned that to her mother, she had laughed, filling the air with music, to Kate the best sound in the whole world.
"This is the perfect moment."
Kate could only nod yes at her mother's statement, staring up at her with wide eyes, because she's never seen her look so at peace. So beautiful. She never wanted that to go away. Her childish faith told her it never would.
Her mother's hand tightened slightly over hers as she looked down, serenity etched into the lines of her face, her eyes shifting with emotions and colors. Just a hint of a smile played with the corners of her mouth. She softly pushed a piece of blond hair behind her ear as a warm breeze swept around them.
But the moment passed by quickly.
"I need you to make me a promise, Katharine." The slight hitch in her voice couldn't be missed. Nor the tiny tears reflected in her eyes. Peacefulness disappeared before her, a haunted look taking its place.
She spoke eagerly. Quietly. Needing to do anything to make the tears disappear. To make the moment from before, the way she had looked, last forever. She tugged on her hand. "What, momma?"
Her mother knelt in the sand in front of her, trailing the back of her hand across a sunburned cheek, her eyes pleading.
"Promise me that you'll never forget today."
It's the only promise to her mother she ever kept.
(She wouldn't understand the why until later.)