Title: The Only Chance
Author: Delilah Draken
E-Mail: delilahsdarkness@yahoo.de
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Xena/Hercules
Pairing: Cupid/Strife, Hades/Persephone, Thanatos/Erik
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. Any characters, locations or names are the property of their respective owners. I am just borrowing them for fun.
Series/Sequel: This is part of my other story 'Forgotten Destiny'. See it as the epilogue. I seem to write everything backwards.
Summary: After the end of everything one of the Last remembers.
THE ONLY CHANCE
I remember the fist time I met my parents. My adopted parents. It was like going home. Well, of course, it was like going home. I was home.
For the first time in years I felt like I belonged. Even now, years later, I don't understand why. I don't understand why I was happy that day. I don't understand why I didn't cry.
I think it was because I was only a little boy, not much older than six years old. At that age you just don't think about the things that hurt you. You do your best to think about the happy times of your short life. You hide behind a façade and hope the others won't see your pain.
That's what I did. Hiding behind a mask of indifference. That's how Poppa found me later.
He took me down to my Grandfather's house, washed the grime out of my hair and put me to bed. He sang to me, constructed castles in my imagination to help me cope. For a short time, a very short time, he made me forget.
Then came the morning. Or what goes as morning in the eternal darkness of the Underworld. I remembered where I was. I remembered what I saw before Poppa brought me home. I remembered...
But there was not enough time to really think about it. There is never enough time to say Good Bye. Never.
Not so long ago Grandfather told me I was allowed to visit my parents. He said the doors were open for me. I ran away. I ran away from the memories. I ran away from my past. I ran away from the two men who died protecting me.
Now I am sitting here. Alone, but not without company.
Poppa and Father are watching their security tapes in the Bat Cave as usual. They believe they are doing something good. Don't they understand that they can't change history? Don't they realize the prize to pay should their plan work?
I don't want to lose them as well.
I've already lost Grandpa Ares and Joxer. I saw Dad and Daddy Strife die. I never really had Grandfather Hades and Grandmother Persephone. I don't want to be alone. I don't think I would survive the pain.
I see my fathers touching. So much like my parents... before it went dark. Before.
So much love. So much despair. You know, I really understand this kind of pain. I understand how it feels to touch but never to touch. I understand how those two feel.
Since I was a child they try to hide it. They try but only manage to hurt themselves. How I wish my beloved fathers got their one chance at happiness. Just one chance, that is all they want. One chance to touch. But not even immortals can touch Death Incarnate and live. Not even a God of Darkness is allowed to touch Thanatos.
I know they envy my parents. I know they dream of being like Love and Mischief, even if only for a day.
That is why they sit in this dark and cold cave. That is why they try to change what can never be changed. I know it is hopeless. Hades and his wife know there is not a chance that Asphodels second in command will ever be like the others. And my fathers know it, too.
I see them watching the first kiss of Love and Mischief. I see Poppa close his eyes to hide the tears threatening to fall. I see his love stretch out a hand to wipe away the moisture only to stop a centimeter before contact. Hopeless.
Hopeless like the love of two men who died to protect me.
My Dad went through Hell and back to get what he wanted. He did the impossible just for ne kiss. One kiss. That is all they got before it went dark. One kiss, one beautiful moment of purest bliss and happiness before they went away.
It is my job to bring happiness. It is my duty to make people smile. And all I give is grief and pain.
War and his Lover died to protect the Lost Twins. Love and Mischief died to protect me. And the remaining Twin, the one shrouded in eternal darkness, wishes to leave this world but is denied his rest because Death Incarnate is in love with him.
It will end now. The ones I love can't help themselves. Now it is time for the me to right a terrible mistake.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Once upon a time there was a planet named Earth. This planet was the home of many happy memories. It was also a place of much despair.
One day a mourning child decided to give the world a piece of happiness.
Once upon a time there was a planet named Earth. But not anymore...
End