Work Text:
A Daughter's Dream
by Pirate Turner
A blonde, young woman was hunched over her school books, working fiercely, when she heard the doorknob to her room turning. She dropped her pencil onto her open algebra book as she leaped to her feet and prepared to kick the entering person if the need arose.
A head rounded the door, and a familiar voice asked, "Workin' late, darlin'?"
Any fear Paige may have had vanished at the sight of that one man. "Daddy?" she whispered, tears welling up in her blue eyes.
"Who else?" He smiled at her.
"B-but you're dead," she whispered, stunned to be seeing him alive before her very eyes.
He nodded. "Yes, Ah am, but Ah'll always be with you. You're mah daughter, an' Ah love you!"
"Ah-Ah love you, too, Daddy," Paige said, quickly closing the distance between them and throwing her arms around him. She hugged him tightly and buried her face into his strong chest. He returned her hug. "Ah hear you're makin' quite a name fer yaself with Generation X."
She continued to hug him, inhaling the familiar and long-missed scents of her beloved father. Tears ran down her cheeks. "Yes . . . Yes, Ah am." She was quick to add, "Ah'm learning a lot."
"Ah know you are," he said with a grin. "Ah'm proud o' ya."
She couldn't help but to ask, "Like you're proud o' Sam?"
"Honey," he said gently, tilting her head up so that he could look down into her beautiful face and baby blue eyes. "Ah'm not just proud o' you an' Sam. Ah'm proud o' all mah younguns."
"Really?" she asked meekly.
"Yes," he nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes in a father's gentle touch. "But Ah'm especially proud o' you, Paige."
"You are?" she asked, giving him the puppy-dog expression she had not worn in years.
"Yes, Ah am. You're growin' up on me, Paige, but you'll always be mah little girl." He looked down at her lovingly, like any good, proud father would look at his beloved daughter. Before either had a chance to say anything else, a brilliant white light filled the room. He glanced over his shoulder at the light before turning back to Paige.
She was forced to stop hugging him so that she could shield her eyes against the intense light. "What's goin' on?" she asked, fear creeping into her voice.
He took her by her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Ah have to go, honey."
"Why?" she asked, not understanding what was happening.
"Ah don't want to, but Ah have to go. They're callin' me," he explained as he hugged her again and tried desperately to freeze the moment in his mind. "Ah'll always be with you," he told her. "You may not be able to see me, but you'll feel me --"
"In mah heart," Paige concluded as she tightly hugged her father back. She, too, struggled desperately to freeze the moment in her memory.
"Ah love you, Paige," he said, backing up into the light and slowly releasing her but still clinging to her hand.
"Ah love you, too, Daddy," she said, the tears welling back up in her eyes. He turned and walked into the light, letting her empty hand swing back to her side. The light faded, and she was left standing alone once again. "Ah love you, Daddy," she repeated, fighting valiantly against the urge to crumple to the floor in a sobbing heap.
She suddenly found she was being shaken by an invisible force. "What the -- ?" she muttered. Paige Guthrie awoke to find herself being shaken by her room mate, Jubilation Lee. "Okay already! Ah'm awake!"
"Good." Jubilee nodded her head towards the bathroom the two of them shared with Monet St. Croix. "It's yer turn."
Paige nodded. "Thanks." She stood up with a yawn and stretched. She walked over to her dresser and started to pull out her pajamas when a picture caught her eye. She picked it up and looked at the picture of her smiling father.
His words echoed through her mind. "I'll always be with you . . . . . . I love you . . . . . . "
She kissed her fingertip and pressed it against his lips in the picture. "Ah love you too, Daddy."
Jubilee gave her a Look. "What?"
"Nutin'." Paige replaced the picture, pulled out her clothes, and went into the bathroom without another word.
The End