RELEASE
By
A.j.
Timeline: Years after
Author's E-Mail: jetfixer@interaccess.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Okay, this turned out different than I'd originally planned, but that's okay. Here's part 3 of my Jayel universe stories. (Dinnae worry, I'm working real hard on stories that happen in *my* 'verse too.) This is the most optimistic of the three I've written. (Don't worry, we'll return to our regularly scheduled -depressing- program in the next one. BTW, I've retitled this and the other one. This whopper was formerly named A Nun, A Cow and A Rooster. Much as I like that name (polite cough) I like this one better. Darkness in Light is now renamed, more appropriately, A Little Fall Of Rain. (Those of you who have seen Les Miserables will know the song, and if you don't *SHAME!!*)*Disclaimer*
These characters are mine. That's right, no typo, they MINE!! *MINE*, I tell you! (*TWUMP*) Um, sorry, ::thanks, Inga:: my brain spasms every now and then. It ain't pretty. Anywho, these characters belong to Amblin Entertainment, Universal, or some strange genetic blending of the two. Tara, (who has yet to appear in person in *any* of my stories,) still belongs to Jayel, and Brennan Pierce belongs to me.
Release
by A.j.
(for some reason know as Amber J.)"God, I feel old." Muttered John Danziger, as he moved carefully through the debris that used to be his living room. Unfortunately, wedding receptions were neither quite, nor clean, as the area plainly showed. There were empty plates, broken cups, used napkins, -how did that tie end up on the ceiling fan?-the carpets were streaked with what looked like cake and there was a fine coating of confetti on every surface.
"Well," John muttered aloud, "You said you'd do anything to make her happy...You just didn't know it involved destroying your home." He sighed grimly, but even *he* knew they weren't his real feelings, but he *did* feel old.
"This morning, I had a single, 20 year-old daughter who was engaged to her best friend. Now I'm a 50-year old man with a son-in-law. Ack! What a life." John threw up his hands, and went to rescue the pictures that were leaning off the mantle, dangerously. As he moved closer, he smiled at the images they held. One was a picture of him in his first squadron in the Army. Around him stood nineteen other fresh-faced recruits, all of them, including he, wore close-cropped hair-dos and neat, green uniforms. 'God,' he thought. 'How long ago was that? Thirty years? Has it been that long?'
Replacing the picture, he moved to pick up the next one. It was of him, holding an infant True. A smile tugged at his lips at the image. There he was, a thirty year old bachelor with no idea on how to hold a baby, let *alone* raise her. But it had worked out okay. His little baby was now married and having her honeymoon in some far-off cabin.
As much as he tried to remind himself that she *was* married and her husband *_did_* have a right to go within five feet of her, John couldn't help but grimace at the thought of his little girl being with a man. 'Well, it's none of your business, now.' The rational side of his brain reminded. <I know, but I can't help it.> Shot back the other side.
Trying to avoid the subject, he moved on, retrieving pictures. There was one of him on *his* wedding day, a picture of True and Uly the day they had been engaged -what, only four months ago?- and a picture of him and Tara on the beach. He smiled at the memory, but his face fell as he picked up the last photo. It was one of the entire Eden Advance crew the day they had reached New Pacifica. Before the colonists arrived, and before he had told Devon.
A familiar wave of guilt and intermingled pain washed over him at the thought of her. He looked down and saw her face, clear and calm, shining up at him. She stood with her hands on her hips, beaming into the camera with a look on her face that just screamed, "We did it! We made it! I am in love!"
It was the only picture had of her, and the only one he wanted. He didn't want to remember her as she was in her last few years with the group, all closed off and cold. He wanted to remember the woman who had slowly emerged from her shell to dazzle all who knew her with the beauty and gentle glory of her soul.
'But what can you do, John?' A hateful little voice nagged him. '*You* caused her to run back into that shell. You basically shattered all the happiness she had finally found. _You_ cut the support out from underneath her, and worse yet, *_YOU_* didn't notice. She had to have been gone for almost two months before you even bothered to wonder where she had gone enough to look for her. By then it was too late, wasn't it John? She left you and the rest of them *completely*. Not as if she wasn't already gone before, but you forced away her physical presence. *YOU* took her away from her son and family all because *YOU* had to fall in love with her, and then fall in love with someone else.'
"*_NO!_*" Three years of emotion and guilt came loose and, unfortunately for the picture frame, released itself from the form of John Danziger. The same act was also unfortunate for John' fingers, as they were sliced by the broken glass.
"Merde." He murmured, under his breath, as he tried to stop the blood that poured out of his thumb with a clean handkerchief. Suddenly, a hand reached out and rested on his injured digit. Surprised, John jerked his head up and encountered two bright, blue orbs.
The blood drained from his face as he gazed into the kind and gentle face before him. 'It can't be. It's just a trick of the light.' Before him, in a soft white shift, stood Devon Adair. Her hair was longer, almost down to her waist now, and it had traces of gray where there had only been auburn before. There were a few more wrinkles in her face, but it definitely *was* Devon Adair, and she looked radiant.
"D-devon?" Was the only word John could form in the glassy haze of his brain.
"Hi, John. Don't you know that throwing glass is a *bad* thing?" A smile flitted across her lips.
This was too much. This could *not* be the woman who had left so abruptly three years ago. And as he looked deep into her eyes, he saw that it wasn't. No longer did shadows hide in those crystal eyes. There was no sign of defeat, yet there was no sign of the tormenting fire that always drove her. Instead, there was a presence... Something deep, but so joyful. In her eyes, there was peace.
"Come, sit. I need to look at that finger. Who knows what you've done to it. Knowing you that piece of glass hit an artery." Her eyes danced at the friendly sarcasm that permeated her voice, but John was unable to rise to the barb. His brain was still in cryo-sleep.
Devon lead the confused man over to a relatively clean chair and knelt in front of him. She carefully examined the wound and reapplied the splotched hanky. John looked down at her russet head and started to think. Question after questioned popped into his brain. Where had she been? What had she done? Was she going to stay? Did she know Uly and True had been married the past afternoon? He opened his mouth to speak,
"Devon--"
"Shush, John. I have something to tell you. I know what you want to ask me, but I have to give some back-ground first." She raised herself gracefully from the floor, and moved over to a chair, which she cleaned of garbage before sitting. After she had settled herself, comfortably, she opened her mouth and started to talk."First of all, John, I *have* been in contact with Uly and True over the past few years. I've visited them often, and they have come to visit me. It seems that my son has many hidden talents. Yes, I *did* come for the wedding. How could I miss my only son's wedding?" She asked, redundantly.
"That's why I'm here you know. But that's not the only reason." Devon looked down into her hands. "I've come to set some things straight. That message I left you, three years ago, that *wasn't* a recording. I had set my Gear up to tell me when someone found it. I had hoped it was you, but not for the reason you think."
"John," Devon raised her eyes again, but this time, they were shaded with regret. "I never meant to hurt you. I said the things I said, completely unexpectedly. I had meant only to say goodbye, and give you a rehearsed speech that went along the lines of 'have no desire to stay with group, new horizons, etc.'. But instead I broke down and told you everything. Not only things you didn't know, but things *I* didn't know. John, after I had finished, giving my speech that is, I sat down and thought. I had been denying my pain and hurt so long, that I hadn't realized how much of it there was. John, what I'm trying to say is that not *all* of the pain I felt was from you rejecting me. A lot of it was from things I hadn't dealt with and things that had just built and festered so long that they just had to be released."
Devon slowed a bit, and John's mind began to work, a little. Did this mean that she hadn't loved him? The thought hurt more than he wanted to admit.
But Devon continued. "John, I want you to understand that I *did* love you, hell, I _still_ love you, but I've accepted that you and Tara belong together. It took me a long time to realize that. But when I did, I felt...whole." Devon smiled sadly at John's shocked expression.
"I've said what I came to say. I have to go now, John. I *am* leaving. I still cannot stay here. Besides, I've found a life for myself. I am happy in my own way. Don't worry about me." She set her hands on the arm rests of the large padded chair and heaved. She was on her feet instantly, and was set to dash out the door. Unfortunately, John stood at the same moment and was intent on coming to talk to her more. They collided, and to keep them from falling, John wrapped his arms around her waist. But as they steadied, he noticed something odd about her. Her waist seemed thicker, harder. He looked down, brought his hands to her front, and placed them on the slightly noticeable bulge on her abdomen.
He looked up sharply to confirm the life that grew within her. Slowly, Devon raised her face and met his astonished gaze. She nodded once and he released the breath he had been holding. Amazement mixed with shock and just twinge of anger and jealousy.
She turned immediately away from him and moved over to the large picture window that gave a beautiful view of the sea. The moonlight washed over her and gave her an ethereal air. The white gown turned silver in the light, and it caused her hair to glow amber.
"Who?"
Devon didn't ask what he meant, she just answered. "Last winter, I found a man, half frozen in the snow. I brought him in and warmed him up. His name was Brennan Pierce. Yes, he *was* part of the original Advance crew. I recognized him right off. He and his wife had been comm techs on board. I nursed him back to health, and slowly, he told me his story. It seemed that the fourth escape pod *did* make it. Luckily there was a leader in the group, Brennan. He and his wife made it down with twelve others. They survived the best they could, but since there was no cargo pod near them, they were forced to survive by their wits and lots of trial and error. They made it, but then Eve malfunctioned. None of them had medical help, so all but Brennan died. He lost his wife and some very good friends. After that, he tried to find New Pacifica by himself, but he was only one man on a planet full of dangers. Luckily, he stumbled onto the Elder's colony. They took him in and helped him out. He stayed with them for eight years, but he got in a fight with one of the other men, and was forced to leave. I found him a week later. I won't lie to you, John. I didn't love him, but he didn't love me either. He loved and missed his wife, just as I did you. He left almost a month ago. Don't be sad. We parted on good terms. We just knew it was time for him to leave." As Devon ended her narrative, she turned to face the silent man behind her."Yes, True, Uly, and Julia know. She's coming to deliver the baby. I'm almost five months along now. I have to leave now, John. Ama told me she would take me home." Devon turned and walked toward the door.
"Devon! Wait!" John raced across the room and grabbed her arm, forcing her around to face him. "Devon, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you, sorry I mislead you, sorry I--"
"Stop, John. None of this is your fault. You're in love, and that's the way it should be. Don't feel guilty about that. Love is the greatest gift in humanity. Be happy, John." She pulled back from him and opened the door. But before she exited completely, she turned around and faced him, one last time.
"Farewell, my love." Was all she said, and she was gone.
He watched her walk away, and he felt something leave him. It was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It was okay to love her because both of them knew nothing would or could ever come of it. And for the first time in thirty years, John felt release.
-The End-
Well? Did it suck? Did it rule? Somewhere in the middle? Comments welcome at;
jetfixer@interaccess.com(Looks like I'll have to wait on that Valentine's Day thing.)
Chronology;
Look Away
Weakness
Release
A Little Fall Of Rain
Sun
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.