12th June 1999
'I don't want Uncle Edwin to be dead' Astrid whispered suddenly in the silence of the backseat. Up front, Happy and Tony glanced at one another sadly, unsure how to comfort her. Beside her, Aunt Peggy took her little hand.
'None of us want him to be dead, darling. But death is a part of life. Everyone dies, someday' she gently wiped a tear from her flushed pink little cheek 'it's important that we remember the love we had for Jarvis, and the fun times. And you must remember that Uncle Edwin loves you so very much, as much as you love him. We can remember him always, in our hearts, can't we?'
Astrid nodded, and silence fell again.
'Do you think that all the atoms that were Uncle Edwin will remember us too?'
No one was really equipped to answer that in the moment, but Tony swallowed his own grief and answered as best he could, his own grieving mind in overdrive at the possibilities the question opened.
'That's a nice thought, isn't it? I think if the iron in our blood remembers being in a supernova, then the atoms that were Jarvis will remember us. Probably long after we're gone too. Maybe one day our atoms will meet his atoms again and say "Hey, I remember you. I love you''. And then no love, no person, and no memory ever really dies, does it? All the atoms of people we love and have loved, and will love- they're spreading the memories and stories of being loved through the whole universe' Tony had got caught up in his own story to comfort her, and wiped a stray tear away 'a million years from now there won't be a single speck of this universe that hasn't seen memory of our love in a billion, trillion ways'
Happy's hands tightened on the wheel, swallowing hard, he hadn't expected so much emotion in the car of usual stoics.
'Do you think he'll find Ana?'
'I'm sure that's probably his very first mission' Peggy squeezed her hand.