Aurora II (Josef/Sarah; G) 2009

A place for Tam's G to PG-13 stories
Post Reply
User avatar
Tam
Logan's WoW nemesis
Posts: 797
Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:21 pm
Location: Talismen Office, Kostan industries

Aurora II (Josef/Sarah; G) 2009

Post by Tam »

Rating : G
Spoilers : Ep 10 of Moonlight, season 1
Summary : Standalone ficlet – Josef visits Sarah again, going through the rituals and looking for comfort.
First posted : ff.net, April 2009
Comment : I couldn't let the idea of Josef and Sarah go, I so wrote yet another scene between the two of them. *sob*

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, no money is being made and no infringement is intended.
Aurora II
Over the years, the room at 301 Waverly Place had acquired the look of a museum. Whenever Josef saw something that reminded him of her or that he thought she might like, he bought it and brought it to her. Sometimes these things were very expensive; a lady's wristwatch, a golden necklace, a Fabergé egg with a little carousel inside. He had all this money, and no one to share it with but her. But he also brought her twigs of cherry blossom in spring, and once, on a whim, a kitten. The little animal had been terrified of him and the strange smells in the room and eventually his housekeeper Paula took pity on it and took the kitten home with her.

Some of the more expensive gifts mysteriously disappeared over the years - housekeepers, cleaning staff, doctors, Josef wasn't sure but lacked the energy of finding out. With everything he bought, he hoped to bring her back- and after the gifts failed to move her, he lost interest in them.

For a couple of years, he kept a scrapbook for her, cutting out newspaper articles to chronicle the years' events so that she wouldn't have to miss anything - she could catch up when she woke, and helped by the articles to jog his memory, Josef would tell her all about it. But as time passed, he found less and less events worth saving in the book- most years didn't make it in at all. The last clipping was from 1973.

Sometimes he hated coming there, seeing all the things that had accumulated- it was like the sum of his failures. He hated the room, the tapestry, the machines- sometimes he even hated her for it, wishing she'd release him from this guard duty, this eternal wake. Sometimes he contemplated ending it. She had no life like this. But even as the decades passed, he couldn't do it. He still believed in miracles.

"Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like the watery ink on paper," Josef finished, and closed the book. He pulled up a corner of his mouth and shrugged, looking at the sleeping form on the bed. Sarah didn't move.

"I'm not sure this was one of my favourites," Josef said quietly and got up, walking to a bookcase that lined the wall. It was filled with novels, old and new; he had read her through the classics, starting with 'Wuthering Heights', which he knew she loved but he hated, to 'War and Peace' (too many characters for Josef to keep them apart) and 'Gone with the Wind‘ (Josef liked Rhett Butler, who was a man after his own heart). After he had finished everything by Dickens, he continued through to modern novels (relying on Oprah's Book Club to advise him on women's literature). He never found out whether Sarah liked romances, detective stories or historical novels, so he read them all, from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Agatha Kristie and Stephen King. He put the book on the shelf.

"But hey, do you remember this one?" He said over his shoulder and took out a book to hold it up. "Love in Times of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez? I read it to you three years ago. About that man who waits over 60 years for the woman he loves, until they are both old and grey, and die together?" Josef voice broke, and he lowered the book, keeping his back to the bed, and he covered his eyes with one hand, his shoulders shaking with repressed sobs.

"You remember, don't you, Sarah?" he whispered, lowering his hand and blinking away tears. He tugged at the sleeves of his sweater, pulling them over the balls of his hands, and he rubbed them over his eyes vigorously. Calming himself with steadying breaths, he paused before turning to face her. He walked back to the bed, his eyes falling on a colourful cube sitting on the side table. He picked it up, turning it around in his hands as he sat down next to her. It was a faded Rubix cube.

"I brought you this 25 years ago," he said. "It's a nice game. You turn it, until everything of one colour is on one side."

He gave Sarah a small smile, and then started twisting and turning the game, moving at unnatural speed, occasionally stopping to watch the result. He almost had it - and then it broke. One segment came off, and he stared at it, turning it over in his hands.

"I guess the plastic got old from the sun," he said quietly, and put the game down. This was not why he had come. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Sarah... I have met someone," he started, studying her face. "You'd like her, she's very smart and funny and--" he paused when he realised he was rambling. "Her name is Simone, she's one of my lawyers." He smiled at the thought of the beautiful brunette, and immediately felt the pang of guilt.

"Look, I wasn't looking to replace you..." he added defensively, getting up from the bed and moving away from her with brisk steps, "You know I love you, and if you were awake..." He stopped himself before he made promises he wasn't sure he could ever keep. "But she makes me feel-- Sarah, I think I am in love with her." He looked at his childe. She remained impassive.

"I'd still come here," he assured her quickly, "I won't forget about you."

His shoulders slumped. "You don't care, do you?" he asked quietly. "Or you think it's a phase. Maybe it is. You and I will both outlive her and...I will always come back to you, won't I?"

He returned to the bed, and took her hand. "My beautiful princess. My sleeping beauty..." he whispered, brushing his cold fingers over her artificially warm-blooded cheek. He had told her about Simone, he had eased his conscience. It was enough for now.

It was time to go home.
jen
Cleaner
Posts: 6411
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:11 am

Re: Aurora II (Josef/Sarah; G) 2009

Post by jen »

So sad.

For both of them.

Beautifully written!

:flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :hearts:
Mick and Beth--two of the lovely faces of Moonlight
Image
Beautiful banner by the Fabulous Phoenix
Post Reply

Return to “Tam's Office”