Hamilton One Shots

Desolation

Requested by: ersantana

Eliza hadn't know what it felt like to be completely empty, until she listened to the sound of her husband's last breath, and the sudden halt in his heartbeat.

And she certainly hadn't know what terror the next part of her life would bring as a widow.

She forced herself to present herself to the children with a composed demeanor, not allowing the emotions to control how she would go about completing her day's routine.

Only that promise lasted not terribly long. She shattered at the sight of her husband's body being placed inside the casket, which was further dug into the ground. Her heart burst when they finalized the burial process, and she gave him one final kiss from a distance.

She remained for hours by her husband's grave, hands clutching the fresh marble, and her eyes gazing out at her son's grave only a few feet away. Eliza wept at the thought of her boy and his father reuniting, in a better world, where there wasn't any dueling.

The sound of her daughter playing the piano solemnly rang in her ears every night she lay down to sleep, for the girl refused to stop her fingers from gliding over the keys in that melodic, beautiful way.

Often times, Eliza heard the soft click of keys followed by a shudder for her father, and then a series of sobs.

Not only her daughter, but the other children were falling apart just as much without the comfort of having a father. Two year old Philip stumbled over to his mother one afternoon, clutching her skirts, and asking where his father was. Eliza could barely form a response.

Of all the tragedies in her life, this one seemed to be a reminder of the others, and it consumed her heart and emotions greatly. Alexander had been her everything.

But of course, his mind got the better side of his instincts and made him duel that wretch.

Normally she wouldn't think of any person that way, but this was a whole other circumstance to be considered.

Her husband had been killed.

Still thinking of all these possibilities and heartbreaking memories, Eliza pushed forward on the road of life. She urged herself to go out in public, to face the world, and continue on. It was what Alexander would have wanted.

For the first time in weeks, almost a month, she went down to the towns square. She brought her oldest child, as well as her twelve year old son. They were for both moral support and to show that life was moving on slowly.

Up ahead, the people seemed to be looking right at the family. Whispers were exchanged and sympathetic smiles, but no words to the three of them. Eliza inhaled deeply, trying to ignore the memories of familiar places she had gone with her husband, and move efficiently.

Suddenly, in the distance, she heard the sound of a voice that rasped and shone through the others saying, "You know, my friend, whom I shot. Remember it well, now don't I?"

That could only be one person, and that person was the one human being who she didn't want to associate with. Eliza felt her heart quicken its pace as she continued to hear his filthy talk about the murder he committed.

How dare he.

She straightened her back, sizing up his figure from afar. Just as she recalled him, but with something a little more to his personality. He certainly wasn't backing down with his talk, which drove her even more over the edge.