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Death, Undying (Highlander: The Series)
Summary: Duncan and Tessa talk about death and dying.
This is a really, really short piece that I wrote and I've been waiting to post. I hope everybody enjoys it...
[author's note: this piece was written for the opening of the Highlander Fiction list, HLFIC on March 8, 1994]
Death, Undying
a Highlander vignette
by Estirose
The hole in the ground was covered once more. There was just the freshly-turned earth against the green grass with the temporary marker proclaiming one end of the area. The mourners were slowly departing, leaving a lone man and woman at the gravesite.
Duncan reached out for Tessa's arm. She offered it to him numbly. Duncan wondered if she was thinking of her own death, whenever it happened. She knew now of his relationship with Linda Plager, how he was unable to tell Linda the truth about himself, about his immortality.
"Penny for your thoughts," he said to Tessa.
Tessa looked up. "Sorry, Duncan, I was just...thinking."
"About what?"
"About Linda, and myself."
Duncan gave her an encouraging look, and she continued.
"I look there, and I see myself in that coffin. I know I'm not that old, but I know I someday will be. And you will be there."
"And feeling empty, and alone," Duncan said.
"Yes, but still there. You told me once that death is a part of your life. But you have gone on."
"I've gone on because I've had to. Just because people die around me doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt to lose the ones I love. I am human, Tess. I hurt. I loved Linda. I love you."
Tessa didn't answer, her mind evidently on other things. Duncan hoped that he had gotten through to her. They walked a little further, and then she finally spoke.
"I love you too, Duncan," she said. "What would I do if I lost you?"
"You can go on," he said. "You're strong."
"I never thought I'd be considering this," she said, trying not to cry, and failing miserably. "Before, all we had to worry about was me growing old. Now, I have to worry about losing you as well."
"I'll try my best to stay alive, Tess," he said consolingly. "But someday, I might be defeated. I might die. But I've faced that fact for a long time."
"Yes," she said. "And I've never had to consider it before last year." He gathered her in his arms, hugged her. "It's not easy for me either. I never thought Darius would die. I thought that he would be protected until the end. But he wasn't. I knew him for half my life. I never thought that he would go away."
"It never gets easier, does it?"
"No," he said. They reached the end of the cemetery. "But you can bear it."
Tessa's only answer was a sob as they reached the car.
-The end
This is a really, really short piece that I wrote and I've been waiting to post. I hope everybody enjoys it...
[author's note: this piece was written for the opening of the Highlander Fiction list, HLFIC on March 8, 1994]
Death, Undying
a Highlander vignette
by Estirose
The hole in the ground was covered once more. There was just the freshly-turned earth against the green grass with the temporary marker proclaiming one end of the area. The mourners were slowly departing, leaving a lone man and woman at the gravesite.
Duncan reached out for Tessa's arm. She offered it to him numbly. Duncan wondered if she was thinking of her own death, whenever it happened. She knew now of his relationship with Linda Plager, how he was unable to tell Linda the truth about himself, about his immortality.
"Penny for your thoughts," he said to Tessa.
Tessa looked up. "Sorry, Duncan, I was just...thinking."
"About what?"
"About Linda, and myself."
Duncan gave her an encouraging look, and she continued.
"I look there, and I see myself in that coffin. I know I'm not that old, but I know I someday will be. And you will be there."
"And feeling empty, and alone," Duncan said.
"Yes, but still there. You told me once that death is a part of your life. But you have gone on."
"I've gone on because I've had to. Just because people die around me doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt to lose the ones I love. I am human, Tess. I hurt. I loved Linda. I love you."
Tessa didn't answer, her mind evidently on other things. Duncan hoped that he had gotten through to her. They walked a little further, and then she finally spoke.
"I love you too, Duncan," she said. "What would I do if I lost you?"
"You can go on," he said. "You're strong."
"I never thought I'd be considering this," she said, trying not to cry, and failing miserably. "Before, all we had to worry about was me growing old. Now, I have to worry about losing you as well."
"I'll try my best to stay alive, Tess," he said consolingly. "But someday, I might be defeated. I might die. But I've faced that fact for a long time."
"Yes," she said. "And I've never had to consider it before last year." He gathered her in his arms, hugged her. "It's not easy for me either. I never thought Darius would die. I thought that he would be protected until the end. But he wasn't. I knew him for half my life. I never thought that he would go away."
"It never gets easier, does it?"
"No," he said. They reached the end of the cemetery. "But you can bear it."
Tessa's only answer was a sob as they reached the car.
-The end