Ashes to Ashes (Pg-13) | Page 1 | Fan Fiction | Guild Forums

Death_Valley_Queen
Vice Captain

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Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:37 pm

Title: Ashes to Ashes
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: V for Vendetta
Summary: He thought once that life couldn't be better...
Disclaimer: I don't own V and I'm not making money off this.

Act One

There was a time, before the civil war, before the world he knew was thrown away, that life was perfect. There were sweet, rare moments with her, with his sweet, loving, Laly, when he would sit that and know that that was as good as it was going to get. He remembered one late summer's after noon. They were sitting on her farm in Kansas, out in the flint hills. The sky was clear, not a cloud to be seen. He lay there, under the clear sky, his head on her lap.

As the years went by, he would forget a whole lot of things about her. He couldn't remember her birthday, or where he took her on their first date. He couldn't remember where they had their wedding. He couldn't remember her favorite color. But he could remember her eyes, so deep and green (just like his). He could remember her hair, the brown, light color, and the way or curled ever so softly against her shoulders. And he remembered her smell. It was like rain on a spring morning, or the wild flowers he remembered picking for her that day that had sat under the sun.

Her hand took his and she hummed her favorite song (he couldn't remember the name). "I love you," he whispered. She smiled, leaned down, and kissed him. "I love you, too," she had said. And he could remember that her voice was like the wind. Maybe, he thought, maybe we can just stay like this forever.

Three days later, the war had broken out. He remembered they had just gotten to Chicago to visit his parents. They were getting into a taxi and the radio had boomed out that the attacks had started early that morning in NYC. They sat on the sofa, watching TV with his parents. She reached over and took his hand, tears running down her sweet face. He had kissed her but he knew it was meaningless to try to help.

For weeks, they couldn't even fly home. No flights in or out of any big city. Finally, they were going home. It had been three months since the war had started. They were standing in the air port. He remembered that Laly was looking upset. He took her hand, and promised everything would be okay...

She died in his arms when the shooter was aiming for the Governor, dressed up as a beggar. After that, he knew that life was going to get wrose.

It seemed funny to him now. Once, he had thought that life couldn't Get better... now he thought it couldn't be worse. He sometimes wished he had died with her. He remembered her funural... small, and meaningless to anyone but the people who knew her. He remembered the preacher saying "Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust." Her mother had given him such a dirty look. He hated his name after that and thought about changing it. But she had loved his name. "Asher is just so cute!" She used to say. He cried whenever he thought of it.

"Attention please, we will be landing in Nottingham in a matter of minutes. Please make sure your tray tables are away and your seat is in the full upright position."

Asher looked around and then did as he was told. He was moving to England, a country that seemed to be doing a hell of a lot better then the states. He had a friend there.. he was going to be staying with him. He remembered how lucky he was that he had had a passport before the war broke out. It had taken forever to get a ticket. Plane rides in and out of the states, let alone the country. He hated the war. As he sat there, watching the plane go down, he wondered if life would be any better here.. but somehow he doubted that.

End Act One

Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 11:30 pm

awsome start! oh i can't wait to read more ^_^
it was very sad crying his wife sounded like a very pure soul. its always destressing when those are the ones lost in war

Blood_Goddess
Vice Captain

Supreme Roisterer

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Death_Valley_Queen
Vice Captain

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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 12:31 pm

aww thanks, blood. Yeah it is depressing when stuff like that has to happen... but there really is not story without his wife dying... you'll see why.

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:07 pm

Act Two

"Asher..."

He woke up to her voice again. He was covered from head to toe in sweat. He ran his hand through his long red hair and cursed. He looked at the clock. It was still early. The sun hadn't even come out yet. How long had he been staying in Nottingham? Had it really only been four months? It seemed like much much longer. Sometimes it was hard to make himself wake up in the morning... now the dreams did it for him. He moved his feet up to his chest and put his chin on his knees.

He had been taken in by his friend Kyle and his wife Sasha. It was hard to watch the two of them. Sasha didn't look anything like Laly, so Asher didn't know why she made him think of her all the time. He looked at the clock again, willing time to move faster. It didn't work. Too awake to go back to sleep, he got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He ran the water nice and warm. Stepping under the spay, he closed his eyes and thought about his life.

There was talk around that the government would soon be rounding up all Americans and shipping them back to their country, no matter how long their visa was for. If that was true, Asher didn't know what he would do. He washed his hair. Would he really obey and go back? No. He couldn't do that. There was nothing left for him there. Laly was dead, and he could never go back to the place she died in. The place that had screwed him over. Even then he knew that he couldn't even pin the blame on the "former" USA. They hadn't pulled the trigger.

With a long, deep sigh, he turned off the water. At first, he didn't move. He just let the steam roll around him. It was relaxing. Finally, he got out and dress. He looked at the clock. Well, he had managed to waste an hour. He could hear Sasha in the kitchen below him, and could smell the scent bacon coming up through the vents. He smiled, really feeling happy for Kyle. At least he had what Asher didn't.

"Good morning, Sasha," he said as he walked into the kitchen. She looked up and him and smiled.

"Good morning," she said, her voice chipper as always. "Tea?"

"No thanks. I'm in a coffee mood this morning." He walked over the coffee pot and poured himself a tall glass. "Kyle awake yet?" He got himself some milk and sugar.

"Yes, he'll be down in a bit. Eggs and Bacon alright, then?"

"Always." He lowered himself into a seat and picked up the morning paper. He sighed, and put it down. He didn't know why he picked up the paper any more. It was never anything good. The front page was always about the war back home. He downed his cup of coffee and then got more. Sasha looked at him.

"Bad news?" She whispered.

Asher nodded. He didn't want to talk about it. He rarely spoke about his old home, and tried not to think about it... but of course, he had already spent the whole morning thinking about it. It was all so.. so pointless and stupid. People were dying, and for what? No one could ever change anything. What could people do against a whole government? Nothing. he thought to himself. Not a damn thing. But they'll never listen. They'll never learn.

"Morning!" Kyle came into the kitchen, a big grin on his face. He kissed his wife soundly as she handed him his cup of tea. He took a long whiff of it and smiled. "Thanks, love." He kissed her again before walking over to the table and sitting down. "Sleep well, Ash?"

"Fine, thanks," he lied, sipping more of his coffee. He watched Kyle's hand reach for the paper. "Wouldn't if I were you." Asher said. "Nothing good in there. Besides, you'll hear about it on the news anyway. Why let it ruin your morning?"

"I like your logic," Kyle nodded and looked up at the clock. "Well we are gonna have to hurry. Church wont wait you know."

Sasha shook her head. "I cannot," she said, "make the bacon cook any faster. But you may pray to God that He changes the laws of physics to better suit your lifestyle."

"I'll do just that then." He smiled at her as she put the plates in front of them. A few minutes later, they were all sat down. They took hands and lowered their heads. "Bless this food." Kyle said, his voice ringing in Asher's ears like a gong. "And bless us."

"Amen," Sasha gave Kyle's hand the slightest of squeezes. "Kyle... maybe today we should go to the--"

"Sasha," he sighed and put down the fork he had only just picked up. "The government can tell us to do a lot of things. It cannot tell us, however, that we are not allowed to attend a bible Church instead of the Catholic Church."

"But they don't need a reason to arrest people any more." She pleaded with him with her eyes and Asher had to look away. He remembered that same look of pleading in Laly's eyes. "Just this once it might not be so bad."

"I can't.. I wont." Kyle sighed and looked at his wife. "You know how I feel about the changes in this country. I won't sit back and let them take everything, because they will. Sooner or later.. they will."

They didn't talk about it for the rest of the meal. They didn't talk about it on the drive to the Church. They moved into the pews and waved at the guests. Asher didn't talk about it... but he thought about it. The more he was there, in England, the more things were starting to look bad. He sat there through the church service thinking about how everything had changed... and how he didn't much like change.

Church had never been the same for Asher after Laly had died. It lost all meaning. He prayed little, and didn't even own a Bible anymore. It seemed pointless now. But looking at Kyle and Sasha, he did wish there was a little faith left in him, so he could bow his head as they did. Maybe if he had faith, things wouldn't look so hopeless. But he didn't have faith. All he had was a memory of faith.

~~~

They were gathered in in Kyle's living room. The sun had long since set. They were watching BTN (because there was nothing else to watch and that wasn't an understatement). "The Voice of London" was on. No one in the house liked the show. But they watched it none the less. What else was there to be done?

"So what if we kick the Americans out?" Said he over-weight face on the screen. "I say, the sooner the better. You wanna know what I think? I think every American here is a cowered. They are afraid of going back to their own country. I say, they started their mess, they should have to pick it up."

Asher heard Sasha mutter something along the lines of "that monster," and she grabbed Kyle's hand. Asher could agree with her on that. The man was a monster.

"And you know what else I think? I think they are here to try to get us to pity them. They want our help. But I say, they don't get it. They are like children, aren't they? They go off to University and only come back when they want money. Well I'm sick of it. I'll tell you what--"

Kyle switched off the set and put the remote down. Asher stared at the black screen for a moment. He felt Kyle's hand on his shoulder. He didn't move, or blink. "It'll all be alright." Kyle's voice seemed distant, almost like a memory of the words instead of the words themselves.

"Yeah.." Asher answered. "It'll be swell." He stood up. "I'm tired. Think I'll turn in early."

"You sure? We could--"

"Really, it's alright." He tried to smile. "You need some alone time with Sasha anyway. You still haven't taken that date you've been talking about. I told you I would be fine by myself. You should go out tomorrow."

"We'll think about it." Kyle said, but Asher knew he didn't really mean it.

"You really should. You need it. Night." He walked upstairs and into his room. He pulled off his shirt and pants and put on his pajama pants. He sat down on the bed and picked up the book he was reading: The Giver. He knew it was only a matter of time before a lot of books would be banned. He wanted to read as many of them as he could before that happened. Besides, this had been on of Laly's most favorite books.

After a about an hour, he heard movement downstairs. He put down the book and shut off the lights. He felt like a teenager, pretending to be asleep while his parents check on him. He heard his friends' voices.

"What'll we do, Kyle?"

"We wont give him over to them. It wouldn't be right. He's our friend."

"I don't want to kick him out. I don't want them to take him. I don't know what I'll do if they take people away."

"Maybe they won't. We just have to wait and see. Don't get stressed, you'll hurt the baby."

"When are we going to tell him about that?"

"In the morning."

Asher closed his eyes tighter and when he heard the door closed he sat up in bed. Sasha was going to be a mother. Well that was that. He didn't have a choice. He would have to leave soon. Any day now, the law would be passed and there would be nothing for them to do but turn him in. He would not save his life and kill the baby. Not if he could help it.

So, silently, he packed up his things. He left them a simple note, telling them he loved both of them and he would see them again one day. He told them to give the baby his love when it was born. And so he left the second home he had known. It wasn't as hard as he had though it would be. As he slipped out the window and down the tree, he knew that once again things were changing all to fast. And soon he would be an outlaw, on the run from a government that showed no mercy. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind he would be dead within a year and a half. It didn't bug him, though. Because if he was dead, at least he would have his Laly again.

End Act Two