A/N: Some of you may recognize the title of this chapter. "We've got tonight" is a song by Bob Seager and I was listening to the lyrics while writing this and I realized that this song was perfect. Don't believe me, try to find it in your music library and listen while you read. If you do like to listen to songs while you read, I discovered a few good songs that would work well with this chapter and they are: The first half of "Say Goodbye" by Dave Matthews Band. Mainly just for the acoustics, you'll understand why. Also by the Dave Matthews Band "Lie in Our Graves" Both are in the Crash album. Another song by Bob Seager would be "You'll Acomp'ny Me" a lovely song. And finally two songs by Coldplay "Life in Technicolor" and "Viva La Vida" again mainly for the acoustics. So yeah if you have those songs try them out. If not create your own. Oh and if you ever reread chapter 9, the one where Marge and Ned go out on a date, listen to "Faithfully" by Journey while they are dancing. Sorry about the long ramble there, enjoy the chapter.
The sun was now setting and the crowds were dying down as everyone began to return home where it was warm. Only a select few were still around, talking over different matters or waiting for their children to finish playing. Marge was not doing any of these; she was standing alone on the nearby bridge over the lake, watching the sun go down and remembering the good old days. She could not believe it had been three years since Homer's passing and another five since he had been at his healthiest. Time sure went by fast.
It had been such a lovely day, friends came out to congratulate her and wish her luck in the future. Everyone had been so kind to her and they all talked about the great times they had with her husband, if only he were here now. All day she wished to see him one more time, to kiss him and then snuggle with him, she missed that most of all. She let out a heavy sigh and tried to think about her kids and their future. Well hers too, especially now that she was in school learning to save lives. It was so strange, one moment she was working at the Leftorium and the next she suddenly decided that making more money to support the family was in order. It was a strange idea for her to suddenly become a nurse but now she felt it was the right path for her. Receiving money from Mr. Burns was the greatest thing in the world, but it would run out eventually and she did not want that to happen.
Tonight, as she tried to think about the future though, she couldn't, only the past and the wonderful twelve years of marriage to the man of her life. She then began to sob quietly feeling the tears fall down her face and then drop into the lonely lake below. Tonight would have been a wonderful night to be together.
"I thought you would be here," a voice called from the far end of the bridge.
Marge looked up to see Ned Flanders standing alone at the edge of the bridge, Reba was not with him and that was fine by her. She did have a short conversation with Reba before coming over here to be by herself. Reba liked to talk and she kept giving Marge ideas on what she and everyone else should have done with the memorial they set up. It annoyed Marge to no end and luckily Ned stepped in and pulled her aside to give her a talk.
"Ned! I thought you left with Reba hours ago," Marge said as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"Reba did, I didn't. I'm sorry you had to deal with her; I don't think you'll be seeing her again. Apparently she didn't like you and I told her that you and I were good friends and that I would never stop being your friend no matter what she said. For some reason she got all in a tizzy about it, we argued for a while until she finally gave up and left," Ned said as he made his way forward.
"I don't think I have ever been defended like that before, maybe once from Homer, but from other people? I don't think that has ever happened," Marge said with a surprised look on her face.
"I guess I've been around you too much, someone needs to make sure you and your kids are happy," Ned said with a small smile.
"And I am very glad you are, but why are you still here I know you have to open the Leftorium tomorrow?" Marge asked.
"I was going to leave but the kids were having so much fun, I bet they will be there all night if we let them," Ned said once he was face to face with Marge.
"Yeah I'm just waiting until it gets too dark to see, then we will go home," Marge said with a sigh.
"Are you alright?" Ned asked.
"I'm fine, it's just that today was so full of memories, so many wonderful memories and now I can't get them out of my head. I makes me feel so alone and I haven't felt this alone since…" Marge stopped herself; she was in no mood to cry in front of Ned Flanders tonight.
"…Since the funeral?" Ned finished.
"You might say that," Marge said as she leaned against the railing of the bridge and stared down at the water that reflected the color of the setting sun. The sky was a beautiful orange and pink along with a tinge of yellow. It was the perfect sunset to watch all your troubles fade away in.
"It's normal you know," Ned said as he joined Marge on the railing of the bridge.
"I know, and to cry for him as well," sighed Marge, even though she was a little sad, she was in no mood to listen to Ned's psychology sessions. He had given her enough over the past three years.
Ned said nothing but stood beside her, ready to talk if she needed any comforting. It was definitely a rough day, sharing memories with friends and trying to be happy all at once. He had done that many times when friends wanted to talk about Maude, even though he had been without her longer, he still shared Marge's pain.
"You know one of the best memories I had with Maude was when we went to that cider mill the first time. It was a beautiful fall day and we had lunch under a cherry tree, can you believe that the cider mill had a cherry tree on the grounds? Not an apple tree but a cherry tree! Of course the cherry's had long since ripened and the leaves were now colored but it was such a lovely afternoon. We had some of the most scrum-diddly-uptious sandwiches from the deli and we just lay under that cherry tree until we were kicked out by the manager. We were young then, only been married for six months, so of course we took our time leaving, drove the manager bonkers. We spent time there more than we could count, sometimes with the kids, sometimes together; it all depended on how we felt. I came back there a few months after Maude passed with the boys and it just wasn't the same, they both agreed with me on that."
"We had a place like that, only it wasn't a place you would expect," Marge said with a little embarrassment in her voice.
"Oh really?" asked Ned who seemed to want to get some juice out of Marge.
"Yeah, we stayed there for a few hours one night after seeing that second Star Wars movie, you know the one where Luke looses his hand, and just enjoyed each others company even if it was really cramped and Bart arrived into the world shortly after. But we continued to go there because to us, it was such a great place," said Marge.
"Might I ask where it was?" asked Ned.
"You wouldn't want to go back if I told you," Marge said a smile starting to form.
"Try me," Ned said with a sly smile.
"The castle at Sir Putts A Lot," Marge said this time trying her hardest not to giggle.
Ned stared back at Marge, at first he had the look of shock, not sure how to respond to the surprising place that Marge had told him. Marge was about to defend herself when Ned began to chuckle a little.
"So you were the two that left their clothes that one day when I took Maude and the boys out putting and we all thought a bear was hiding in there so we tried to gas you out and……" Ned suddenly stopped in mid sentence as he began to remember more of the incident "……Oh dear I think I touched your butt."
"No that was Homers," Marge said before bursting out laughing; now this was a good memory.
Both now stood against the railing of the bridge, laughing hard. As they did so, two couples walked by with their dog and smiled at the widow and the widower remembering something both embarrassing but entertaining.
"Now don't those two look happy together," the husband said.
"I love it when couples do that," the wife said silently as she grabbed her husband's hand. Luckily for Marge and Ned, they had not heard it but continued to laugh.
Finally, Ned calmed down and looked over at Marge who let out a heavy sigh while trying to catch her breath. Marge then looked up at Ned and let out a smile before laughing once more. Ned only turned away to keep himself from laughing, he looked toward the eastern side of the river and there before him was the moon coming up from the east.
"Oh Marge you need to see this!" Ned exclaimed breathlessly.
Marge looked up and turned to where Ned was looking. The moon was at its largest as it rose in a beautiful light red. Now this was a memorable night, perfect to be with the one you loved.
"It's like something out of those Disney movies Maggie makes me watch," Marge said softly.
"Too bad there is no music around, we could dance with the moon," Ned said.
"We don't have to, we can hum and dance. Lets pretend we are lovers tonight, just like Bart thought we were three years ago," Marge said.
"Alright but no hanky panky! Sir Putts A Lot will not be happy," Ned said as he tried not to laugh again.
"I wasn't even planning on that part, it has to be real love for that and I don't love you that way," Marge said.
"I was only testing you," Ned said.
"Nice test there God boy," Marge said as she wagged a finger at his face.
Ned only smiled as he took her hand and both slowed danced together on the lonely bridge, enjoying the cool night air and finally forgetting their problems. With the sky clear and full of stars, it was definitely a perfect night to do so.
Together they danced, not watching the time or worrying about anyone around them. They did not care; it was a night where they could be together for as long as they wanted. Finally, after almost twenty minutes, Marge felt tired and pulled herself up against Ned. Both looked into each others eyes before Marge gave Ned a quick peck on the cheek.
"Will this happen every time we dance?" asked Ned.
"Probably, only this time I wasn't thinking about Homer, just how nice a dancer you are," Marge said as she let go of Ned and leaned back against the bridge looking very satisfied.
On the other side of the bridge, five pairs of eyes hid behind a large bush and watched the scene unfold. They were all tired from playing all day and were looking forward to going home. But now that their parents were enjoying the night, they were in no hurry, they only watched.
"Ewww Mommy kissed him!" Maggie said with a grossed out face.
"What you don't like this?" Lisa asked as she moved forward and gave Maggie a smooch on the cheek. Maggie only pulled her away and wiped her face in annoyance.
"You know if I saw that three years ago, I would have tried to intervene but you know those two seem to need it," Bart said with a satisfied smile.
"Yeah, they look so happy," Rod said in a swooned voice.
"We'll all be like that someday," said Todd.
"Do we have to?" asked Maggie with a concerned face. She was still too young to understand love; she would have a few more years to go to want to know more.
"No but you will want to when you are older," Lisa said.
"I don't think I will, it looks too icky," said Maggie.
"Sure Maggie whatever you say," said Bart as he rolled his eyes. Little kids were so silly sometimes.
"Should we just walk home? They are enjoying themselves," asked Todd.
"Nah its getting dark, maybe if we show ourselves they will get the message," said Bart as he made his way out of the bushes toward the bridge.
Bart moved forward and stood at the end of the bridge watching Ned and Marge talk for a moment before finally letting out a cough to get their attention. Marge turned to Bart and let out a startled gasp.
"You saw that didn't you?" Marge asked her face filled with worry.
"Yup, but that's not why I am here," Bart said with a smile before letting out a yawn. Marge lowered her eyes and sighed, she was thankfully not in trouble for what she had just done.
"Time to go home I'm guessing," said Ned knowing full well what that yawn meant. They were either bored, or tired, or both.
"Yeah Maggie's getting a bit fussy, it's almost past her bedtime, and it is getting dark," said Bart.
Marge looked at her watch and gasped with surprise. "Oh my goodness, it really is, I hope you don't mind Ned?"
"Well I do have to open the Leftorium in the morning, so I think it's good to call it a night," said Ned who then let out a yawn after watching Bart do so. The dancing had made him a little tired as well.
"Thanks Ned, you gave me such a wonderful evening," Marge said as she gave him one more peck on the cheek. Ned only blushed. Then without another word, the two families made their way out of the park, toward their cars, where they would journey home and dream their favorite dreams.
A/N: Aww crap one more chapter to go and then I will be done. Oh well it's for the best. But before I finally shut up I would like to make a quick comment. I have received a few reviews where the reviewers said that the emotions were great and that they could see it almost in an episode but they would never kill off Homer. I just want to sound a little grumpy and say that I am very much aware that the producers, writers and animators of The Simpson's would most likely never do something like this especially to Homer. It was just an idea that came to me one day, I don't know why it did, it just did, so I started writing it, liked it, and kept going before finally deciding to share it with you all. Just letting you all know, please don't yell at me.
Also to Warriorsfreak, I wanted to respond to your last review, but you do not accept private messages. I know something must have happened but is there any way you can disable that, I really wanted to respond and tell you about my dog and "ahem" giraffe. Yeah I know that just sounds weird. And to everyone else, don't forget that I will be drawing some scenes so if you have any suggestions feel free to give them to me, I am open for anything.
Well please review when you get the chance, I will see you all soon for the final chapter.
