Work Text:
A Worthy Wait
by Pirate Turner
She stepped away as she felt the warmth surround her. Tears filled her eyes as she gazed at her daughter and her new husband. Piper glowed with happiness. Now was the time, Patty knew. Now, if she could only slip away without being seen and ruining Piper's moment of happiness.
Patty took in the smiling faces of her three daughters, desperately trying to file every detail away in her mind so that she'd always remember them this way, wrapped in the beauty of love and joy, but she felt another staring at her and reluctantly lifted her eyes from their lovely, shining faces.
"You have to go?" Victor mouthed, and Patty lost herself in his gaze for just a moment. His eyes were no longer angry. Now they sparkled with love and unshed tears of unspoken sadness.
She felt herself drowning in his eyes and longing to be able to stay not just with their daughters but with their father as well. She forced herself to pull back, telling herself that that could never be. Victor deserved to be able to move on with his life; find a good, mortal woman; and settle down. She could never be with him again. She inclined her head in a single, silent nod, ripping her eyes away from his as she did so.
He crossed quietly to stand before her and took her hand in his. Her eyes lifted to his again, and in that split-second span, she asked him many of the questions she'd been longing for so many years to be able to ask him.
Victor silenced her rush of questions and emotions by gently squeezing her hand. "We all miss you, but I'm glad you were here today."
Tears glistened in Patty's eyes, and for once, Victor didn't try to hide his emotions. Tears shimmered in his eyes as they spoke to her clearly of his love, loneliness, and regret.
Patty fought to think clearly and then speak, yet again reminding herself that she could not stay. She clung desperately to his hands as she spoke, her voice quavering, "Tell them I love them and . . . I'll miss them."
"They know," he answered her breathlessly, "and they're not the only ones who miss you and l-lov-love you . . . " It was so hard to say the word after all these years, but he got it out and then pledged himself to her as he pressed his mouth to hers. Patty's tender lips parted underneath his, welcoming him.
She clung to him for love and life and all the things their union had ever meant to her, and then she was gone, leaving him breathless, his mind spinning, his heart aching, and his soul grieving for the half that had just been ripped from him all over again. One day, he swore to himself and her though she could no longer hear him, one day, they'd be together again, and this time no one, no one, especially not that damn White Lighter, was going to stand in their way. He touched his lips reverently and resigned himself to a long but worthy wait.
The End