Chosen Quest - 4 - A Time to Remember
One hundred years after Milliways, William smiles. And remembers.
Time passes.
The Earth is not enough and mankind climbs to the stars and when they go, William Batson goes with them.
By now, he is merely called Marvel by most. And none of those who were there when he started still are. Some of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are. But not them. Even so, he is not alone. He has been adopted, some time back, by quite a few families, as he helped teach their children and pass on gifts and dreams. Marvel is a man who gives. For, somewhere along the way, he learned to live, and, in living, he learned to love making people smile.
One Hundred years has passed since he was at Milliways, last, and, in truth, after everything that happened there the last two times he had been there, and after a few years of sometimes wishing the Door would open again, and sometimes not, he stopped thinking about it on a regular basis.
Somewhere in the past, he learned to wish his friends well, and to hold them in his heart. He learned to know when it was time to let go, and he learned that he had to just love without holding them.
He has lived these last hundred years without aging at all. That was startling at first, but in time, he knew it was what he expected. The destiny he had forgotten wasn't so easily escaped. He wasn't immortal exactly, but he was very hard to kill, now, and he didn't age.
Ironically, though he couldn't catch any disease, he still got bad allergies, every single year. it became something of a joke in time, with Kleenex's being a popular gift. He took it in stride, and with good humor,
He had to. Otherwise, he started thinking about what he was losing, and that was something he wouldn't do. Instead, he loved, and lived, and kept going.
One hundred years after Milliways, he smiles at the thought of the place as he hovers over New Earth, watching the careful negotiations of the two fleets of Teraanis and Comela Ten. After making sure none of them died in a misguided war over his home, he wasn't about to let it all go to waste.
He smiles as he remembers the tavern with all his friends, and with those he didn't call friend.
He remembers Rachel, with both a smile and a grimace. He remembers Ace and Faith, and Barry and Sara, and Zuko and Stephanie, and Cassie and Mel, and Max and Hank, and all the rest. He remembers them all, and smiles.
The Bar is long in his past now and he knows he will never see it again. Why would it not have appeared before now if it would ever?
He smiles anyway, for those he saw there, those he learned from, he will never forget.
There is a shriek as two soldier ships from opposing sides try to close the distance and start the whole conflict over again. William sighs, and then goes to work.
As he dives towards the trouble makers, he smiles. He remembers Milliways, for the things he learned there, and will always love it, but he lives on.
And that isn't a bad thing at all.
Time passes.
The Earth is not enough and mankind climbs to the stars and when they go, William Batson goes with them.
By now, he is merely called Marvel by most. And none of those who were there when he started still are. Some of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are. But not them. Even so, he is not alone. He has been adopted, some time back, by quite a few families, as he helped teach their children and pass on gifts and dreams. Marvel is a man who gives. For, somewhere along the way, he learned to live, and, in living, he learned to love making people smile.
One Hundred years has passed since he was at Milliways, last, and, in truth, after everything that happened there the last two times he had been there, and after a few years of sometimes wishing the Door would open again, and sometimes not, he stopped thinking about it on a regular basis.
Somewhere in the past, he learned to wish his friends well, and to hold them in his heart. He learned to know when it was time to let go, and he learned that he had to just love without holding them.
He has lived these last hundred years without aging at all. That was startling at first, but in time, he knew it was what he expected. The destiny he had forgotten wasn't so easily escaped. He wasn't immortal exactly, but he was very hard to kill, now, and he didn't age.
Ironically, though he couldn't catch any disease, he still got bad allergies, every single year. it became something of a joke in time, with Kleenex's being a popular gift. He took it in stride, and with good humor,
He had to. Otherwise, he started thinking about what he was losing, and that was something he wouldn't do. Instead, he loved, and lived, and kept going.
One hundred years after Milliways, he smiles at the thought of the place as he hovers over New Earth, watching the careful negotiations of the two fleets of Teraanis and Comela Ten. After making sure none of them died in a misguided war over his home, he wasn't about to let it all go to waste.
He smiles as he remembers the tavern with all his friends, and with those he didn't call friend.
He remembers Rachel, with both a smile and a grimace. He remembers Ace and Faith, and Barry and Sara, and Zuko and Stephanie, and Cassie and Mel, and Max and Hank, and all the rest. He remembers them all, and smiles.
The Bar is long in his past now and he knows he will never see it again. Why would it not have appeared before now if it would ever?
He smiles anyway, for those he saw there, those he learned from, he will never forget.
There is a shriek as two soldier ships from opposing sides try to close the distance and start the whole conflict over again. William sighs, and then goes to work.
As he dives towards the trouble makers, he smiles. He remembers Milliways, for the things he learned there, and will always love it, but he lives on.
And that isn't a bad thing at all.