Part 7

Two weeks later

"Aaron!" Emily exclaimed, as soon as Aaron entered his love's apartment. Emily flung herself into his arms and he barely caught her he was so surprised.

"Emily, what's the problem?" Aaron asked.

"No problem," Emily answered. "I remember."

"You do?" Aaron asked excitedly.

"I've been remembering for awhile now, bits and pieces at first. I wasn't sure where my dreams were coming from, but then, they came so slowly, that I only remembered a little at a time. Finally, I started to remember my life from so long ago more quickly. I know I was Berenice."

"I've been waiting for this day for so long," Aaron said fervently, kissing her passionately.

"So were you reincarnated to? You had to be right?" Emily asked.

"No, my love. I was never reincarnated and I'll tell you why, but first I'm going to call Dave, as he'll be better at explaining then I will," Aaron said.

"What do you mean you weren't reincarnated?" Emily asked. "Reincarnation is the only explanation, right?"

"In your case that's true, but not in mine," Aaron said, as he gently held the love of his life in his arms. The smile simply wouldn't leave his face. "I know this is hard to believe, but I'm immortal."

Emily looked disbelieving but Aaron offered to prove it. He got a knife out of Emily's own kitchen and sliced his back of his hand. Emily watched in disbelief as it healed in just a few seconds.

"How?" Emily asked curiously.

"That's why I want to call Dave he'll give you an explanation," Aaron said. "We promised each other that we'd give you an explanation together when the time came."

"What does your friend have to do with this?" Emily asked.

"He's the one that turned me immortal, love," Aaron said calmly. "I would've drunk myself to death after you and our children died from the influenza and if you remember I'd met Dave just a few weeks before."

Emily searched her memories and finally nodded, as she did remember that. "I know you told me about him, but I never had chance to actually meet him."

"Well, Dave told me about being immortal and offered to turn me into what he was. He said he had been looking for companion to help with the loneliness, someone who was just like he was and wouldn't die in a few decades. He wouldn't just do it for anybody though, it had to be somebody that had at least some of the same morals and ethics. He said I was an honorable man and I had a right to grieve for my family, no matter what anyone else said."

"What kind of companion?" Emily asked immediately and also a little suspiciously.

"Not the kind you're probably thinking about," Aaron promised smiling, cuddling his love close, not taking offence, as it was only natural to ask that type of question. "We've simply been best friends for a very long time now. We've never been sexually involved, I swear. I don't swing that way and neither does Dave. I won't say we both haven't had our share of women, but those relationships never lasted very long. He helped me get over my grief, never censored me for crying on his shoulder at the death of my family and said it was only right and proper that I grieved for them. I didn't agree to be turned immortal until after most of my grief faded about a decade later. By then we had become the best of friends, and he certainly stopped me from finding a way to simply die."

"Okay then," Emily said relaxing. She should have known better, Emily scolded herself silently. There had been absolutely no sign whatsoever that Aaron and Dave were more than best friends, brothers born to different parents. "Why don't you call him and you can explain to me all about immortals."

"I'll be glad to," Aaron grinned, as he kissed her passionately, which she returned. Aaron took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. He only spoke a few words into the receiver and then exited the call.

"He'll be here in about 20 minutes," Aaron reported.

"So why don't I get you a drink while we are waiting?" Emily suggested.

"If you have any beer in stock I'll take one of those," Aaron requested. "If not, I'll take a glass of wine."

"I do have wine and I'll buy some beer for next time you visit," Emily promised. "I'm not really a beer person."

"Which is fine," Aaron said. "We are bound to have different tastes after all. Really, I'll drink just about anything alcoholic and while beer is my favorite I'll drink wine or even brandy occasionally. I like whiskey, but also mulled cider on a cold night."

"So none of our children survived the influenza?" Emily asked suddenly, as soon as she had returned from getting the wine.

"No, I'm afraid not," Aaron said looking devastated all over again. "Aart died not long after you. He was only a toddler after all. He never had a chance to develop a stronger immune system and with the poor food and also the fact that there wasn't very much of it there was little chance of that. I know we did the best we could, but children need plenty of food to grow big and strong. One thing I have found over the years, is that children need proper food to develop brain function. Poor food leads to children who are alive but not much of anything else. They don't think properly. In fact, they can't, because they're brain never develop properly because of poor nutrition. Simply, put they're the idiots of the world, ones who can't think, not don't, but can't. People like that might have some intelligence or at least cunning and slyness, but that's all."

"I know," Emily said somewhat sadly. "I miss my children."

"I do too, but my grief has faded," Aaron promised her. "I still think about them from time to time and wonder what they would've grown up to be, but I don't dwell on them too much as it only makes me sad, mad and grief stricken all over again. I've had centuries to get over my grief at the death of my family, but you haven't. It'll get better after awhile I promise you. I'll help in any way I can."

"We could have some more," Emily suggested.

"I would love some more, but we need to get married first," Aaron said practically. "I don't want your mother causing problems, because you got pregnant before you were properly wed. She would and you know it."

Emily had told him a lot about her mother, so he knew what he was talking about.

"She would," Emily said in contempt.

"We will be married if that's what you want and have many children as you want. In fact, I want to turn you immortal as soon as possible, but that decision is yours and I won't force it on you, as much as I might want to. I'm actually not sure if you can have a child, until you are immortal like I am. We'll have to ask Dave that question. My guess on that is probably not, because I never had a child with any female that I had sex with and every single one of them was mortal. Of course, most of them were only one night stands and the odds of getting some women pregnant while not low exactly, it was still not very likely, especially since so many females are on the pill."

"That's a good point," Emily admitted.

There was a knock on the door just then and Aaron opened it knowing it was Dave.

"Come on in," Aaron told Dave, as he opened the door.

"So I hear you finally remember," Dave greeted Emily smiling, kissing her cheek.

"Yes, I did," Emily said accepting the affection. "I'm still trying to absorb a lot of it, but I certainly remember Aaron."

"You should," Dave agreed calmly. "Aaron was a central figure in your life for many years before the influenza struck. Since you were married to him, it shouldn't be surprising that you remembered so quickly just from hanging around him. Your children, of course, would be next, in the amount of time you spent. You would've spent plenty of time with them, because they were yours and not someone else's. You weren't rich enough to afford a nanny or just someone to help look after them, so that meant you looked after them yourself. Basically, your family should have been the first thing you remembered, when you got your memory back of being Berenice, since you spent numerous hours with all of them."

"That makes sense when you think about it," Emily said. "As Berenice, I spent most of my time with my family, so I would remember them first before anything else, especially since I was so close to them."

"That's right," Dave said surprised at Emily's understanding. On the other hand, he knew Emily had a sharp intelligence of her own and likely so had her former incarnation. If that had been the case, as Berenice, Emily never would've dared show how intelligent she was. Females with intelligence like the men back then would have been looked down on.

"So are you going tell me about immortals?" Emily asked after she had gotten Dave a glass of wine at his request.

"Why don't you bring that bottle of wine, as it's going to be a long explanation," Dave suggested calmly.

Emily nodded going into the kitchen to get the bottle and returned only a minute later. All three of them sat down Dave in a comfortable chair, Emily and Aaron on the love seat.

As if he needed another example of how close the two were, Dave snorted in his thoughts amused, sipping his wine. Sitting together like that spoke of unity, but also love and affection. Emily was practically on Aaron's lap and Dave was sure she would be if not for his presence. He couldn't really blame them he supposed. They had just been reunited after all, after centuries of being apart.

Dave started his explanation without having to be prodded again and Emily listened closely.

"So if I'm understanding you right, you have no idea where immortals come from originally," Emily said.

"There are plenty of myths and legends about where they come from, but whether they have any basis in fact I don't know," Dave shrugged. "All I know is, that immortals, have been around for very long time. Several thousand years at least."

"So how did you turn Aaron immortal?" Emily asked.

"I fed him my blood," Dave answered honestly. "They were no needles back then, except sewing ones of course, much less IVs. It was about 10 years after his family deaths and we had been traveling together. He's the one that decided to let me turn him immortal, as I didn't force it on him. We were close by then, though not as close as we are today, but we'd only known each other for a decade by that point, instead of for centuries, so its understandable. We've been through many trials and tribulations since then, and we have remained close for all that time."

"So it's blood that will turn someone immortal," Emily said.

"That's only one way to do it, love," Aaron said speaking for the first time.

"What's the other way?" Emily asked seriously.

"I'm surprised you haven't guessed," Dave said with twinkling eyes.

Emily thought about it and then it hit her like a bolt of lightning.

"Sex is the other way. It's the only other way to get someone's DNA inside their body, other than the blood," Emily realized

"Correct," Dave said smiling. "I couldn't do it that way, because I'm not into other men, just like Aaron isn't. In your case though, I'm sure Aaron will take great pleasure in turning you immortal."

"You're right about that," Aaron grinned pouring everyone another glass of Emily's excellent wine.

"So can I have children before Aaron turns me immortal," Emily asked.

"No, you can't," Dave said shaking his head.

"That's what I told her, but I wasn't sure," Aaron said.

"Well, now you know," Dave said smiling. Dave knew there would be many explanations in the future, but right now, things were definitely looking up. Emily definitely seemed to be accepting the situation, but having her memory at least partly back, from when she had been Berenice, had a lot to do with it he was sure. Hopefully, things would continue going well for Aaron's sake.

~~~Criminal Minds~~~

Part 2

"Congratulations, on your engagement you two," Taro congratulated Aaron and Emily, raising a glass of wine in a toast to them.

"Thank you," Emily said blushing.

"Yes, thank you, Taro," Aaron grinned, feeling so incredibly happy.

"Yes, this is a great day," Dave said also raising his glass of wine. "I'm very happy for you. You'll be married and start having those children, that I know you both want. I expect to be named Godfather for every single one of them."

"You're likely get your wish," Emily laughed. "Now, all we need to do is to find you someone to marry so I can name them the godmother."

"I wouldn't mind," Dave said. "Unlike Aaron however, I've never been married, so there won't be any reincarnations of my dead wife out there waiting for me to find."

"Having children is something we're both looking forward to," Aaron grinned.

"I don't blame you there, Aaron-san. Having children is such a blessing," Aiya said.

"Yes, they are," Emily agreed wholeheartedly. "I remember having them in my past life, though I've never had any in this one. I'm actually glad I wasn't around to see my children die one by one, since I was the first to go from the influenza. I remember having a high fever and throwing up a lot, for what seemed like weeks and then nothing. I know it was very hard on Aaron, but I'm sure it would've been worse for me, since I was the one that gave birth to them."

"That would be a mother's worst nightmare," Aiya sympathized.

"At least for the ones that love their children," Dave said, taking a sip of his wine.

"So once you have children they'll go to almost a normal childhood I'm assuming," Taro said.

"Yes, except for things like catching colds," Dave answered his friend's question. "They'll be absurdly healthy from the minute they are born, they just won't be able to die from any disease. That doesn't mean they can't die from being run over by a car for example. Immortal children have no more sense than mortal ones, as that takes time to develop, so you still have to keep your eye on them. Also they will stop aging completely at thirty."

"There just won't be things like doctor's appointments, because they won't be able to get sick, which will be a great relief," Emily said. "They won't be dying from diseases that kill off thousands of children, every year, especially in poor countries."

"I certainly won't miss that part of parenting," Aaron admitted idly. "We never had the money for the doctor and medical technology, really medical knowledge in general was so primitive back then, that there very well might have been nothing the doctor could do, depending on what was wrong."

"These are different times, Aaron-san," Taro said.

"Yes, they are and I know that," Aaron said. "I'm still glad whatever children Emily and I have can't get sick, as that's one experience I don't care to repeat. Not after what happened the first time."

"I don't think anybody here can blame you for that, not after what happened to your first family," Dave said. "Even if they could get sick I doubt it would be anything more dangerous than a cold."

"Well, let's worry about getting married first. Something I'm letting my mother plan, even though she's going to turn it into a circus. It made her happy and got her off my back. She's actually happy with me for once."

"Why wouldn't she be happy with you?" Aiya asked confused.

"It's complicated," Emily sighed. "My mother is very domineering. She tried to arrange a marriage for me a few years ago and I told her no thanks. I wasn't polite about it, because that wouldn't have worked and she would have rolled over all my objections. Nobody ever tells her no and gets away with it, except for her headstrong children. I told her that if I was ever going to marry, I was going to do it for love. I would only be miserable if I'd allowed her to choose whom I married, probably to someone I'd only met a handful of times at parties or other events and it would be more than likely someone I couldn't stand. That would've been the road to disaster. Most of my mother's friends who have sons around my age are political animals and all they know are politics. There are no other thoughts in their tiny brains and I have no interest in politics whatsoever. We would have absolutely nothing to talk about and I would be driven insane in no time. Mother wouldn't be likely to choose someone that could possibly make me happy, just someone that had plenty of connections, a good job and probably a trust fund."

"Yes, I see your problem," Taro said finally. "Arranged marriages are still quite popular in Japan for some of the wealthier families, though that has been declining. At least the parents try their best to choose someone their child can fall in love with and that are compatible."

"They are some families that still do it," Aaron said.

"I told my mother again and again I don't need anyone to take care of me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself thank you and if I never get married and never have any children so be it. I'd rather be single for the rest of my life then be miserable with someone my mother chose for me. Unfortunately, for Elizabeth Prentiss, she birthed headstrong children, as my three brothers are the same. We all got her domineering personality, but we use it better than she does. Luckily, for me, I met Aaron, just when I was giving up hope of ever having a family," said Emily.

"I have to agree with Emily's opinion here," Aaron said. "I met her mother just once and she is indeed very domineering. We had dinner with her not long ago, so Emily could introduce me to her."

"Luckily, for me, she approved of Aaron, so that's one roadblock out-of-the-way," Emily said matter-of-factly. "She wouldn't stop us from getting married, even if we had to elope, but at least this way she'll basically leave us alone and not try to convince me I made a mistake and she would, trust me on that."

"Letting her plan the wedding makes her happy, keeps her busy and out of Emily's hair, which means she doesn't get frustrated having to deal with her," Aaron said.

"Which is a great relief to me," Emily said with profound relief in her voice.

"I've known some Japanese parents like that," Aiya said. "Ones that insist on interfering in their children's lives, even when they're 40."

"I have to in the past," Dave agreed taking a sip of his wine. "Some people are just meddlers and try to prevent what they see as mistakes. The thing about mistakes is that you learn from them and if somebody prevents you from making them then that person never learns. A parent or relative or even just a friend might have the best of intentions, but it's just better to stay out of it unless asked for advice or unless they are in genuine trouble. Parents in particular, are guilty of that. They want their children's lives to happen a certain way and try to make that happen a lot of times, instead of letting a child be themselves."

"They want their child to go to college and get a good education, which I'm sure we can all understand," Taro said. "Perhaps they want their child to become a lawyer or a doctor, but it's the last thing the child wants. The child of course, has other ideas for their future."

"They might want to become an architect, an engineer or an artist, or even want to enter the Navy or the Air Force, something a parent might disagree with."

"If I wanted to become an artist for example you would've heard my mother's screams on the other side of the city," Emily chuckled. "Luckily for her, I have absolutely no talent for any type of art and would have starved if I had gone that route just to be contrary. She wanted me to go into business like she did and it was the last thing I wanted."

"Family expectations are often heavy and hard to refuse," Taro said. "In my case, that wasn't a problem, because I came from a poor family and they wanted me to better myself. I was the oldest son, so they had high expectations for me."

"I would say you suppressed them Taro," Aaron complimented his friend.

"You can do a lot with determination," Taro shrugged.

"Yes, you can, just look around you, I would say you succeeded. Of course, it also takes the right type of intelligence along with that determination to succeed in whatever field you have chosen," Dave said.

"You are correct, Dave-san," Taro said rising his glass of wine in a salute to the point.

"I was so glad when Aaron told me that we could talk around you," Emily told Taro and his wife. "That you knew their secret."

"It is hard to keep such a secret from somebody you know well," Aiya said in understanding. "I admit I don't know them as well as my husband does, but even I had noticed how they hadn't seemed to age, as I had seen them enough times over the years to know that something strange was going on. I had only met them perhaps, half a dozen times, but still, I have a good memory and I noticed that they still seemed as young as they had when I first met them."

"A lot of people do not have, Aiya's good memory," Dave said. "Or they aren't observant or are incurious about why someone looks the same or even all of the above. Until recently, we knew Taro much better, but that has changed now and I'm glad of it. Keeping such a major secret from your spouse can be rather detrimental on a marriage, especially if they sense that something is being kept from them. We had no idea that Aiya had noticed that we hadn't changed at all from the time she first met us, because of those things I mentioned a minute ago."

"We were careless, something we usually are not, but we feel safe here, which is certainly part of the reason," Aaron added.

"And I shouldn't have listened outside the door to Dave-san's room," Aiya admitted looking rather sheepish. "I just heard something that made me curious and instead of going on my way I stood and listened."

"It's in the past," Dave promised with a smile. "We're both rather relieved you do know so there'll be no keeping it secret whenever we visit again."

"I think it's about time we moved on," Aaron suggested looking at Dave nodded. "We've been here a long time now."

"I think you can wait until after your wedding Aaron-san," Taro said firmly. "You might as well stick around for that."

"It'll be months before that event with the way Emily's mother is going," Aaron said. "It's probably going to end up being the event of the year."

"Knowing my mother that's a definite possibility," Emily said rolling her eyes in exasperation, making everyone laugh, though anyone who had met Elizabeth Prentiss would have agreed with the daughter's opinion.

~~~Criminal Minds~~~