Carrying on the Torch

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie

A/N:

Chapter 45 (One More Song)

June 29th, 'D-Day' far as anyone was concerned. Thirteen years to the day of the accident. Together, as a sign of their reconnecting, everyone had gathered together at the cemetery to mourn the Duncan clan. Charlotte, PJ, Skyler, Ivy, Nana, Emmett, Alice, Spencer, the Dooleys, Regina, and even Spencer's cousin David was there. Jo had arrived as well, to pay her respects. In a way, this was their letting go and moving on.

Charlotte remained on the cemetery bench that she sat on months ago with Jo, she was staring down at her sister's plot and thinking still on that last video she'd seen. It impacted her, yes, but she wasn't wanting to live in the past any longer. Yet, sometimes it seemed living in the past was a lot more comfortable than the present was. Sure it was getting easier, but it was also harder to keep visiting Mason in the hospital, watching him wither away. Five months he'd been in his coma, remaining on life support.

She wondered what her sister would say to this. She didn't want to become like Jo, but she never went that far with her feelings for Mason. She took a moment to pause and smack herself mentally, what was she thinking? She'd let someone from that Tae Kwon Do class get into her head, they were telling her that since she only had a couple dates with the guy and they weren't even tied to each other, the fact that she didn't know whether or not he was going to wake up meant she didn't have to wait for him.

She looked up to her right where David was standing nearby with his guitar, he was playing a very quiet, slow song, as a tribute to the family. She smiled graciously and eyed the black guitar with silver trim. The music he was playing was soothing and it spread an aura of peace through her, as everyone else. People were talking very silently amongst themselves, taking time to observe the graves, and honoring them. David had been playing for some time now, she was a bit concerned his fingers were going to start bleeding if he didn't take a break. "Hey Dave, take five…" He raised an eyebrow and she pat the bench beside her. "You've been playing all day, take a seat."

"All right…" He moved to the bench and rested the guitar in his lap. His arm hung loosely over the front of the shiny instrument, and his fingers tapped lightly as though it were a drum. "What's up?"

"Thought you could use a break. You're pretty good at the guitar, play any other instruments?"

"A little bit of the piano, but that's about it. I took piano lessons before guitar lessons. Switched over because I liked the guitar more." That was cool, though she did wonder if he had done a rendition of any of his cousin's songs. She tapped her fingers on the edge of the bench and gazed off into the sky. The guitar strumming rang in her ears once more and she glanced over, he'd gone back to playing, once more a gentle and quiet tune. He looked over at her as he kept playing. "So, how are you doing? Unlike everyone else, you've pretty much kept to yourself." She frowned and looked down at her feet, kicking the dirt and grass. Everyone else was talking with someone, sharing moments of the Duncan family past and present, but she stayed off on her own almost the whole time they were there.

"Yeah, I've got a lot on my mind, actually. This guy I was dating, I guess we never made it official, but…he's been in a coma for the past five months." David frowned. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the swirling vortex of emotions that was currently spinning out of control inside her. "The doctors say they don't know if he'll ever wake up, and if he does, he'll have so much brain damage…No one even knows what it is keeping him alive." Maybe it was all these spirits he talked about, just holding on until someone said they were ready to let go. "Then this one guy in my class tells me that since it's been so long, and I wasn't tied to him, I shouldn't have to wait for him anymore. I don't know what to think…"

"So don't think." He shrugged and looked down to the strings, still picking at them. She stared, confused at his words. What did he mean, 'don't think'? "Look, it's no one else's business what you do, obviously you care about the guy, so I think you owe it to yourself and him to wait as long as you feel it's necessary. Don't let anyone sway you out of that sort of thing." Her lips curled up sadly. She lifted her head to the sky and exhaled softly as the wind started to pick up and brush against her face. David turned his head to her and lifted his eyebrows. "Did you love him?"

Her heart clenched and her lips sucked inwards as she let a tear start to form. She was young, she didn't know what love was, so how was she supposed to know if she loved him? Hell, she turned fifteen in May. What was the difference between love and infatuation? "I…don't know. I knew him a long time, we were great friends, and I just think I still need time before I actually could move on…don't you think?"

"Sounds fair. You shouldn't have to move on unless you feel you're ready to. Plus, isn't there still hope that he'll wake up?" She bit her lip and turned her eyes downward. Her fingers clenched around the stony edge of the bench and fingered the rough texture with uncertainty.

"I can see it in Skyler's eyes, she doesn't want to tell me, but I know…there's a slim chance he'll wake up, and only a miracle would keep him from being in a permanent vegetative state. It's a brain aneurysm, it ruptured…" David winced and reached over, patting her should gently. She reached over and put her hand over his as silent tears left her eyes. She appreciated the comforting gesture.

"Then if there's that hope, hold onto it if you feel the need to. Whoever this guy was that told you that you needed to move on and start dating again right away, don't listen to people like that." He withdrew his hand and once more leaned his arm over the guitar. He had a point, the guy was pressuring her because she was suddenly 'single' again, and she wasn't comfortable with that. She glanced over to see him close his eyes and start strumming a new tune. He seemed so into it, in his own world. He opened his eyes halfway and gazed silently at a grave in front of him. "Should he wake up, if he's got any type of brain damage, would you be willing to care for him still?"

Would she? She didn't know for sure, it was a scary thought. It wasn't that she cared about what others thought of her being with someone that had brain damage, it was the thought of taking care of him that scared her. She could do it, sure, but could she really devote all her time to that? "I'm only fifteen…I know it sounds vain, but I don't know what I would do. Hell, I don't know what to do half the time. Those diaries my family left behind, with all those life lessons, they aren't always a help."

"You look at those for life lessons?"

"That's what they were made for…"

"That, and, memories."

"Yeah. Can't help but to think life is too hard sometimes."

"Maybe…" David glanced off at the grave once more, it wasn't one of the Duncan plots. It was a quaint grave, cross shaped, and made of marble stone. He closed his eyes and picked up the tune on his guitar. "That's just the way life is, you either make the best of it and stay ahead, or you let it beat you until you're nothing. Punches are thrown, curveballs are hard as hell, but you do have the strength to rise above it all. You just have to find it."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It's not easy." He opened his eyes once more and glanced at the people nearby. "Name one person here right now that would think life, and all its struggles, could be considered easy. Who has it easy?" She looked over with a frown and relaxed her body. She knew everyone was suffering from something, hell even Brittany had something going on in her life that had caused trouble for her. "Everyone has something that they carry around with them, whether or not they let it go, it remains a part of the past and a part of who they are."

"I can see that. Everything that happens makes us who we are, right?"

"Pretty much. You can take the good, you can take the bad, and you can either learn and grow, or sit and fade away."

"Or find something to be passionate about?" He lifted his eyebrows up and tapped his foot upon the ground. She leaned forward and looked over to Jo. "Miss Keener took her passion for martial arts and focused on that, using it to keep ahead in life. So she became something, made something of it, rather than moping around twenty-four seven…"

"Exactly. It's good to mourn, but not good to dwell. Do you have any passions in life? Something to keep you occupied?"

"Well, I don't play any instruments. I'm not musically inclined like my siblings were. I'm not acrobatic, not good at sports, and the only thing I really have is my martial arts…although I do enjoy writing and making video diaries for my niece like my sister did for me." David bopped his head and ran his fingers along the strings, forming one long and slow finishing note.

"Well there's three things you have right there. Martial Arts, your video diaries, and then you said you like writing?"

"Yeah." She was actually very passionate about writing in general, but she didn't like to showcase any of it. "Not a lot of people know that I write anything at all."

"Why?"

"Embarrassed. I don't think I'm all that good of a writer."

"Can't improve if you don't show anyone. Whatever it is you do, you learn from tips, criticism, and advice." She chuckled once and lifted her shoulders. "If you were to write this scene right here, right now, how would you write it?" He ran his fingers along the strings once more and Charlotte closed her eyes, mixing the words in her head. Her lips parted for a breath and her eyes opened halfway.

"A girl, lonely and brokenhearted, sits quietly upon a stone bench in a cemetery next to her family's plot. As she listens to the calming music of a guitar, her thoughts travel to that of a dying lover, lost in a coma five months prior after a car accident…" She paused and David huffed out a breath, his strumming deepened for a moment and his fingers continued flicking away at the strings.

"Keep going." She nodded slowly and watched his gaze upon the tombstone in front of them a ways. She sucked in a deep breath of air and continued onwards.

"Her heart fills with confusion and a mournful song that marches to the same tune of the guitar player. They're hearts akin to the music. She searches her soul for answers to the questions that plague her. Hope is lost as she realizes no one else has the answers she needs, for all the people in the cemetery are searching as well for the answers to their own questions. They've come together to help each other, as the only way to make it through, is to make it through with everyone, rather than alone…"

She stopped once more and met David's eyes, she was finished with her tale. He smiled at her and gave her a quick nod. "It's good, and if you put that down on paper, it would be excellent. You'd have something to be passionate about."

"Yeah maybe something I'd be good at, who knows. I can't imagine being good at anything. Which is funny, because when I was a baby, everyone treated me like I was good at everything…" She laughed vainly and shook her head. "I'm not even good at being strong, mentally."

"Why?"

"Look at where I am. I lost my entire family when I was only two years old. I went through life never knowing a thing about them, and I tear up every time I watch those video diaries. I got attacked by a stalker months ago and didn't testify against him, like Dee did with her stalker…" Which everyone knew about because of the news media. "The guy I started dating and grew close with, has a car accident and falls into a coma because of an aneurysm he never told me about, and there may be no chance of his waking up…how can I possibly be strong?"

"Everyone can be strong, you just have to find a way to be. It sounds like you're just a perfectly normal person going through normal tragedies, and you have the option to rise above it all, or to let it push you down…" He struck a chord and turned his eyes to the ground, his expression grew tense for a second, then relaxed and let his shoulders rise. "It's like my old girlfriend used to say…it's going to be hell, but if you keep doing the things you love, you can be strong enough to make it through this." She smiled lightly and looked off towards the sky once more.

"Sounds like solid advice. You don't mind if I ask about her, do you?" She didn't want to intrude. He did say old girlfriend, so it was possibly an ex. He smiled vaguely and closed his eyes.

"Erin. She loved dancing." Spencer called out to David and he quickly rose to his feet. "Got to see what he wants. It was good talking, just remember what I said, keep focused on what's important to you and you'll make it through all of this."

"Right…Thanks." She watched him walk off, guitar in hand. She pat her knees and slowly stood up. His words wrapped around her heart, putting her at ease, very much appreciated. As her eyes moved to the grave David had been looking at, curiosity sparked. She casually moved to the grave, pushing her hands into her pockets and eyeing the words with a heavy heart. Beneath the image of a ballerina forever etched in stone, kicking her foot up and holding her arms above her head, was the name 'Erin'.

Erin Marie Rodgers

Born: November 12, 2008

Died: November 2, 2022

Dancing with the Angels, full of heart and love, forever.

She tilted her head to the side and frowned, the girl was just days away from her fourteenth birthday. Was this the same Erin that David mentioned? She was afraid to ask, and was also afraid to mark it down as coincidence.

She did recognize the name, though. Barely. In 2022, she was in the eighth grade. Erin was in ninth, and the school they attended was a three year school, consisting of 7th, 8th, and 9th grade levels. Erin Rodgers was a Freshman on campus, always in the music room with her boyfriend, who would be playing some instrument, most often piano.

She was watching one day, Erin was so beautiful, spinning and bending, touching her toes and moving about the room as a flexible angel that could make the angels cry. Her long red hair moved like passionate fire, sweeping across her face and flying in a circle. She was so into every movement, but one day it all stopped.

One day, late September, she went to listen and watch this fiery dancer, but no music played. The girl didn't go to dance, she never even appeared. The entire Freshman class seemed in tears, this girl had been known throughout her grade for her dancing and her friendliness. When Charlotte asked where she went, some students said she had been dancing in the school auditorium during the talent show over the weekend, when she tripped and fell off of the stage. She was in a coma ever since, but Charlotte always thought she woke up at some time. She never knew the girl passed away.

A silence filled her heart and her eyes started to water as she lifted her eyes and looked around the cemetery. David was once more playing a tune on his guitar, a bit of an upbeat and perky tune. Possibly playing a happy song for the spirits in the cemetery.

She swore she heard the sound of rhythmic clapping and looked in front of her. She wiped her eyes and felt her lips part as she saw the spirits of her father and Gabe standing face to face with a eight foot gap. Teddy appeared in between them, but a few feet back, singing along with the music, adding lyrics. In between them danced the fiery freshman. Her passionate eyes bore into Charlotte's soul, her painted lips were up in a smile, and her hair swept across her face as she tapped her leg and foot on the ground while clapping her hands as she danced one final time.

Was this for real? Was it imagination? She didn't know, but she wanted to join them. All around her, the rhythmic clapping harmonized with the music, and apparitions young and old surrounded them. The music that filled the air, it honored them.

She watched as the flaming dancer slid her hand up and stretched it out, then curled her fingers with a gentle smile, beckoning her. She turned her eyes to her family, their backs were turned towards the family plot. She smiled and made her way towards the apparitions, still certain she was daydreaming all of this.

Erin took her hands and started leading her into a dance, perhaps it was the salsa, she really wasn't sure. Maybe she looked crazy, but she didn't care. Teddy's voice soothed her, the music calmed her mournful heart, and the dancing relaxed her.

After a few minutes of dancing, the spirits slipped away as though they were never there. She looked over, her heart beating still to the rhythm, and saw her family was still gazing down at the plot. She smiled at them and closed her eyes, it all felt real. Maybe the spirits of loved ones didn't want those still alive to be sad, to mourn, but to be happy and move along in life. Was that their message for her?

Seems a somewhat peaceful day. Well what do you think?