the sunshine goes on sleeping (Lennon, PG-13)
Title: the sunshine goes on sleeping
Author: cloudytea
Characters: Cindy/Lennon, Dogen.
Rating: PG-13 for thematic material.
Spoilers/Warnings: Season 6 finale.
Summary: They remain the same, constants among the variables presented in the equation of life. For maribarbola. Also for fanfic100 prompt Death.
Death is not at all he expects it to be.
In fact, it’s quite gloomy compared to the stories one is force-fed in midmorning Mass. It seems his one-way ticket to the golden gates is invalid, but then again, it doesn’t take long for Lennon to remember why he’s an atheist. He wonders if it’s too late to take that back, at least.
Dogen -- on the other hand -- mumbles strings of decrees about curses and redemption, as if this was their punishment: their eternal dwelling on this rock.
They aren’t alone, of course. Many of their neighbors from the Temple are there, too. Every time one of the doomed, gun-toting guards passes Lennon, they give him a glare that would rival demons. He tends to avoid them when he can.
Others among this so-called afterlife include the victims of the plane crashes -- both of them. The Oceanic passengers seem much more at ease (obviously used to this by now) while the Ajira commuters seem confused. They wonder if their souls weren’t good enough for Heaven and Lennon bites his tongue, wanting to say that this is it. There is no Heaven.
But he supposes ignorance is bliss.
Dogen tends to lurk around the spring at the Temple. Lennon watches as the Japanese man pulls out the his baseball from his jacket and tosses it up in the air. Up and down, up and down. The repetition drives Lennon insane, but it comforts him to know that he can’t die twice.
I do not know what has damaged your faith so, Lennon, he muses one day. He always disapproved of his humanistic ways. Lennon answers him with a shrug. Dogen continues. Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star.
Quoting Confucius? Two could play that game. What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. Lennon crosses his arms over his chest, a sign that he wishes to proceed to another topic of conversation. He looks off into the courtyard, where the remaining survivors of their people are busy returning to their normal lives.
Through the columns that made up the exterior wall, he could spot Cindy helping a few others move an impossibly large piece of stone.
Cindy still has faith. What will you tell her when her time has come to join us? Dogen asks, standing beside his friend.
Lennon shrugs and leans against one of the columns, closing his eyes. He hopes that, whenever her time does come, she gets the better deal. It there is a Heaven, there is no doubt she’d get the first class seat. She -- of all people -- deserved the delights of Paradise, whether he was included in the package deal or not. And he expects the latter, of course.
Dogen continues his banters on ethics, morality, atonement. Lennon just nods and pretends to listen, death imitating life. They remain the same, constants among the variables presented in the equation of life.
The years pass. He watches her age, watches her raise the children, watches her marry a man who becomes the father he never had the chance to be. Even though he is dead, he can feel a distant ache where his heart should be beating. Roaming the jungles at night, he whispers his pleas to the God that gave up on him all those years ago. For her sake, he prays with all his being that someone up there is listening.
One day, Dogen finds him sitting on the edge of the pool, transfixed by the bubbling spring water. What’s on your mind?
Lennon does not answer. Dogen sits beside him and leans forward, hands on his knees.
Is this really all there is? His voice is raspy and weathered, despite years of observation and wordless nods. Dogen does not answer in fear of losing his friend to silence once again. She’s dying. She’s dying and I can do nothing to stop it. I can’t let this be the only thing she has to look forward to. She does not deserve this life.
Dogen sighs inwardly and places a hand on his friend’s shoulder. If we don’t know life, how can we know death?
I haven’t known life in years, Dogen.
But you know what it feels to love. And love is the very root of life. I feel that each of us can move on when they accept what they had in life. And you cannot seem to do so.
Yeah? Lennon smirks, completely bemused by this revelation. Then what the hell are you doing here? You seem to have it all figured out.
Dogen smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder. What is Heaven without your best friend?
~*~
Lennon watches the life slip from Cindy in her final moments. He closes his eyes, expecting her very soon. He looks over to see Dogen leaning against the doorframe to the room. He sighs and leaves.
Days pass. She does not arrive and he spends his all of his time circulating around the jungle, walking every path, following every river. She is nowhere to be found.
She’s gone, Dogen says simply. You let her go. And now, you can let go.
And he does.
~*~
In the end, they all find each other again.
Dogen is the CEO of a major corporation, and also the proud father of a musical protégé and baseball star. Lennon is his right-hand man and their friendship rivals even that of their former lives. On a flight to Sydney, Cindy meets Lennon in first class: an irony, because his former self suspected that she was the one who deserved a first class ticket to Paradise.
It takes them longer than the others (Shepherd, Austen, Ford, Burke), but they soon remember each other. Dogen accepts that his son’s death wasn’t his fault and that Lennon will always be there for him. Cindy seizes the opportunity she never had before and Lennon finally allows himself to fall in love with her.
He holds her close as they are engulfed by the all-consuming light.
Author: cloudytea
Characters: Cindy/Lennon, Dogen.
Rating: PG-13 for thematic material.
Spoilers/Warnings: Season 6 finale.
Summary: They remain the same, constants among the variables presented in the equation of life. For maribarbola. Also for fanfic100 prompt Death.
Death is not at all he expects it to be.
In fact, it’s quite gloomy compared to the stories one is force-fed in midmorning Mass. It seems his one-way ticket to the golden gates is invalid, but then again, it doesn’t take long for Lennon to remember why he’s an atheist. He wonders if it’s too late to take that back, at least.
Dogen -- on the other hand -- mumbles strings of decrees about curses and redemption, as if this was their punishment: their eternal dwelling on this rock.
They aren’t alone, of course. Many of their neighbors from the Temple are there, too. Every time one of the doomed, gun-toting guards passes Lennon, they give him a glare that would rival demons. He tends to avoid them when he can.
Others among this so-called afterlife include the victims of the plane crashes -- both of them. The Oceanic passengers seem much more at ease (obviously used to this by now) while the Ajira commuters seem confused. They wonder if their souls weren’t good enough for Heaven and Lennon bites his tongue, wanting to say that this is it. There is no Heaven.
But he supposes ignorance is bliss.
Dogen tends to lurk around the spring at the Temple. Lennon watches as the Japanese man pulls out the his baseball from his jacket and tosses it up in the air. Up and down, up and down. The repetition drives Lennon insane, but it comforts him to know that he can’t die twice.
I do not know what has damaged your faith so, Lennon, he muses one day. He always disapproved of his humanistic ways. Lennon answers him with a shrug. Dogen continues. Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star.
Quoting Confucius? Two could play that game. What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. Lennon crosses his arms over his chest, a sign that he wishes to proceed to another topic of conversation. He looks off into the courtyard, where the remaining survivors of their people are busy returning to their normal lives.
Through the columns that made up the exterior wall, he could spot Cindy helping a few others move an impossibly large piece of stone.
Cindy still has faith. What will you tell her when her time has come to join us? Dogen asks, standing beside his friend.
Lennon shrugs and leans against one of the columns, closing his eyes. He hopes that, whenever her time does come, she gets the better deal. It there is a Heaven, there is no doubt she’d get the first class seat. She -- of all people -- deserved the delights of Paradise, whether he was included in the package deal or not. And he expects the latter, of course.
Dogen continues his banters on ethics, morality, atonement. Lennon just nods and pretends to listen, death imitating life. They remain the same, constants among the variables presented in the equation of life.
The years pass. He watches her age, watches her raise the children, watches her marry a man who becomes the father he never had the chance to be. Even though he is dead, he can feel a distant ache where his heart should be beating. Roaming the jungles at night, he whispers his pleas to the God that gave up on him all those years ago. For her sake, he prays with all his being that someone up there is listening.
One day, Dogen finds him sitting on the edge of the pool, transfixed by the bubbling spring water. What’s on your mind?
Lennon does not answer. Dogen sits beside him and leans forward, hands on his knees.
Is this really all there is? His voice is raspy and weathered, despite years of observation and wordless nods. Dogen does not answer in fear of losing his friend to silence once again. She’s dying. She’s dying and I can do nothing to stop it. I can’t let this be the only thing she has to look forward to. She does not deserve this life.
Dogen sighs inwardly and places a hand on his friend’s shoulder. If we don’t know life, how can we know death?
I haven’t known life in years, Dogen.
But you know what it feels to love. And love is the very root of life. I feel that each of us can move on when they accept what they had in life. And you cannot seem to do so.
Yeah? Lennon smirks, completely bemused by this revelation. Then what the hell are you doing here? You seem to have it all figured out.
Dogen smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder. What is Heaven without your best friend?
~*~
Lennon watches the life slip from Cindy in her final moments. He closes his eyes, expecting her very soon. He looks over to see Dogen leaning against the doorframe to the room. He sighs and leaves.
Days pass. She does not arrive and he spends his all of his time circulating around the jungle, walking every path, following every river. She is nowhere to be found.
She’s gone, Dogen says simply. You let her go. And now, you can let go.
And he does.
~*~
In the end, they all find each other again.
Dogen is the CEO of a major corporation, and also the proud father of a musical protégé and baseball star. Lennon is his right-hand man and their friendship rivals even that of their former lives. On a flight to Sydney, Cindy meets Lennon in first class: an irony, because his former self suspected that she was the one who deserved a first class ticket to Paradise.
It takes them longer than the others (Shepherd, Austen, Ford, Burke), but they soon remember each other. Dogen accepts that his son’s death wasn’t his fault and that Lennon will always be there for him. Cindy seizes the opportunity she never had before and Lennon finally allows himself to fall in love with her.
He holds her close as they are engulfed by the all-consuming light.