Last Life Part 1: Homecoming

Unforgotten

Saul

"Oh..." I mused, looking at the two of them, Lance and Marcel who were now wearing concerned expressions. As a place with relatively few individuals of reproductive viability... Their love was a calculated risk. "I congratulate you." I smiled at them, still somewhat in shock, but I knew that they must have feared my rejection.

"Thanks, Saul." Lance sighed, a grin spreading across his face. As sick as he looked, somehow a visage of health and happiness had presented itself over what had once been his ashen visage. "You're the last we had to tell... And I suppose the most important."

I nodded thoughtfully, they could not continue to be together if a single person of the community was against it on the basis that it would jeopardize the future human population. But I suppose they had never expected to ask me. Until today, I was a dead man.  "I hope eternal happiness for you two." I reassured them.

"Thank you." Marcel finally said, wearing a half broken smile "I'm sorry I just thought I would never hear those words." He was tearing up and removed his mask. "Haa... I'm thankful, I'm thankful." he muttered under his breath. 

"I think that you may've taken me for someone of somewhat more conservative views." I chuckled, patting his shoulder.

"Yeah, aha, you'd think that being out in the wastes for all those years would make someone a little more inclined for the continuation of the human race..." Marcel replied, still somewhat surprised.

"Ah well, the humans have had a good run. I doubt a couple of us can really make the difference of a few more centuries of misery." I humored him, then glanced up at Lance for a moment. He was smiling gently down on my brother from his perch. "You deserve your happiness. Spare the human race a few decades more of this decadence eh?"

"Right." Lance got up and stood before us, his wiry, lithe build blocking out the hazy light lending a lurid glow to his shoulders and halo about his tousled hair.  A serene look of pain was set deep in his wide eyes, and it only seemed to grow the longer he gazed upon Marcel. "I thank you again, it was nice meeting you." He turned back to me with a sincere, tired smile. I took my cue to go.

"I'll see you two later." I waved and quickly shrunk out of the room.

Immediately outside I found Alice waiting for me, a grin twinkling in her eyes, entirely replacing the rage that had occupied them before. She peeled her mask from her face to reveal her ruddy, pock-marked skin as well as an unrestrained smile. "I'm sorry we couldn't be properly reunited." I was swept into the shorter, but somehow stronger woman's vice-like embrace.

I said nothing as we held eachother for a few moments in the darkening hallway.

"Let's go see your parents." She sighed, taking my hand as if I were a child again. Silently, I followed her out into the dusky streets. It was balmy out, but I could not help but feel chilled to the bone.

The peachy-blush sky spread out above, peeking in between the skyscrapers cheekily. It was unusually humid and I felt as if I had been blanketed in the sweet evening. The warmth could almost make me forget my dread.

We turned a corner into a small garden. Decorated with a mosaic of shattered concrete and glass, the shaded enclosure almost seemed welcoming. Sprigs of hardy golden lantana and creeping rosemary grew in violent sprays over the multitude of worn edifices.

Some of the stones were of ancient, manufactured design, and others were of a more homemade nature. Roughly worn rounds of granite, inscribed with names sat low in their shaded retreat.

I rested my hand on the nearest, its sun-baked warmth leached into my palm. I missed her.

"In this place rests a great woman, mother, and warrior. Wife of Jason Song. Saved many lives and was loved by all. May she rest in peace. Lara Song.  April 15, 2599 - June 12, 2633"

I winked my eyes away, I had abandoned her as well. I looked just to her left to read the following familiar words.

"In this place rests a great man, father, and hero. Husband of Lara Song. Died an honorable death along with his wife, he will never be forgotten. May he rest in peace. Jason Song. December 20, 2597 - June 12, 2633."

"I'm sorry." I whispered, my words choking on my constricting throat. "I've been a bad son, I promise I'll do better, I've gotta make it all better. I love you."

Alice patted my shoulder gently. I looked down to see that her eyes had turned shiny. I smiled, painfully and remarked, "Though it should really say Lara Bellamy, we know that she would've wanted that." She raised her eyebrows in surprise, gazing at the stone for a moment.

Starting with a slight tremble, she burst into laughter, "My god I never noticed... Well it's written in stone now."

Biting at my lip, I looked at the words ground into the glittering granite. "I suppose I shall just have to take her name then, since it cannot live on in stone, it can in me."

Alice shrugged and grinned halfway, "I think she would've liked that."

"I think so too."

Drops of salten rain dripped onto the concrete and blacked out the sky.