red↳ thomas shelby

- XV. -

[ B i r m i n g h a m , 1 9 2 1]

Zara King hated funerals.

Funerals reminded Zara of the day she lost her mother, a day she wishes she could forget. When she thought about that day, she remembered the touch of the warm sunshine on her little face, and she wondered how a day so beautiful could be so sad. Zara remembered clutching Theo's own little hand for dear life, as they stood over their mother's grave, some of their father's men stood in a line behind them. Their father had failed to attend the funeral, too busy drowning himself in sorrow, cigarettes, and booze. The funeral of her mother was the first time Zara realised how cruel the world was.

As she stood tucked into Tommy's side, staring at the grave of Freddie Thorne, Zara felt many of the same emotions she felt at her mother's funeral. Even though she wasn't very close to Freddie, Zara felt her eyes water with sadness for Ada and Karl. She wondered what Karl was feeling, and if when he was older he would reminisce on the funeral of his father like Zara often reminisced on her mother's. Zara's heart also broke for Tommy, and although he would never admit it, she knew that he was hurting from the death of his best friend.

Zara tuned out the service as the coffin was lowered into the grave. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Finn Shelby, now thirteen years old, lean over the grave to look. She gently put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him back to stand in front of her and Tommy. "Knock it off." she whispered, pinching the back of Finn's neck in warning.

"Alright, alright!" Finn whined, swatting Zara's hands away. Tommy gave them both a scolding look, causing them to straighten up. Zara shot her lover a sheepish grin, and settled back into his side.

The priest finished the service and gave Tommy a quick nod. Tommy took a deep breath and stepped away from Zara's side for his speech. Zara was surprised when Tommy told her he wanted to speak at the funeral, he told her that he made a promise to Freddie and he intended to honor it.

"I promised my friend Freddie Thorne that I would say a few words over his grave if he were to pass before me." Tommy started.

"Amen." Arthur loudly proclaimed, trying to be supportive. Tommy ignored him as Karl began to cry.

"I made the promise when we were in France. Fighting for the King. But war didn't take Freddie. Pestilence took him. But Freddie passed on his spirit and his soul to a new generation before he was cruelly taken." Tommy gestured to his nephew in Ada's arms. Tommy began to read Freddie's favorite poem, but Zara kept her attention on Ada. Her friend had no tears in her eyes, and clutched her son as close to her chest as possible, shielding him. Zara recognized the look in Ada's eyes, and knew the Shelby girl was planning something.

♔♔♔♔

"Good job, love. Beautiful speech." Zara softly smiled as Tommy came back over to her. Tommy tried to smile back, but only managed a small grimace. He took out cigarettes for the two of them, lighting Zara's first before his. He took her hand as they started walking back to the fleet of black cars waiting to take the family home.

The Shelby family stood smoking near the cars while Freddie's comrades were on the other side of an invisible divider, glaring at the family. Zara was shocked to see Ada stood with the communists, and quickly alerted Tommy. The couple marched past their family and went straight towards Ada, ignoring the looks of disgust from the communists.

"Ada. I want to talk."

Ada rolled her eyes and handed Karl to one of the comrades before facing her brother and her friend.

"How is the boy taking it?" Tommy asked awkwardly, still concerned about his sister and her son.

"He's fine." Ada said dismissively. "When he asks I resort to saying 'heaven'."