Chapter Thirty: Sunday Tranquillity

This chapter is dedicated to my late niece, who was too soon taken from this world. Though she was born premature, I know the true reason she didn’t make it: her heart and soul were too pure. Rest in peace, Kathleen... How I wish I had more time with you...

Upon returning to the castle, Garret was greeted by Angelise Mackenzie. For one of the few times during her stay, she was genuinely happy. She jumped up and hugged her father. Garret returned the embrace. "How’s my beautiful little angel?" he asked. "My sister’s asleep..." she joked. Garret shook his head. "I see you got my self-esteem..." he grunted. "I meant you..." "I know, dad..." Angelise smiled. She then kissed her father on the cheek. Garret grinned. "Finally, someone kissed me on my good cheek!" Angelise hugged her father tighter and giggled. "...and I thought you were depressed all the time when you were alive..." "I was," Garret replied. "I didn’t have an angel like you around to keep me happy." He then saw Setsuna enter the room and knew what was coming. "I hate to do this to you two..." she sighed, "but it’s time for her to go home." Garret sighed and kissed his daughter on the cheek. "I love you, Angelise," he began. He then placed his hands in his pockets, and retrieved his spare pair of glasses. "A souvenir..." He then took the lenses out of the glasses. "...something that you can remember me with. I had something of my father’s when he died..." Angelise then hugged her father again. "Go on home now, angel..." he smiled. "Your grandparents are probably going to rip Setsuna a new one when you get back..." "If they do, they do," Setsuna replied. "All that matters is that Angelise got to see you." Garret smiled. "That’s true. Now remember, Angelise..." he began, "don’t tell your grandparents you were talking with daddy. That will get you sent to therapy for sure." Angelise smiled back. "They’re probably going to send me anyway," she replied. "I started acting like you..." Garret shook his head. "I honestly don’t know how to come back from that one..." Setsuna and Angelise Mackenzie walked out of the castle, and back to New Mideel. Garret sneaked up to his child’s room.

When he got there, he saw the door ajar. He also heard someone speaking. "Angelise..." the voice began, "...how truly blessed you are. You get to know your father while you are young. I can see it in his eyes that he never wanted to give me up..." Garret remained quiet as Jessica continued. "I also see it in his eyes that he thinks I feel he abandoned me. It was his heart breaking and not the wound itself that killed him in that life, I’m sure of it. Having to give up his newborn child was too much for him..." Jess turned around quickly and looked at the door. Seeing nothing, she continued. "Until I found out the truth, Queen Comet always told me that my father died saving his family. She also told me stories of the ancient hero Gatoris. Every night, I dreamt that my father was such a hero. All this time, I had been right..." Jess began to sob slightly. "...our father would be a hero, even if he wasn’t Gatoris. He cares for and protects us. And I believe that is all that matters..." Jess placed her sister back in her crib, and began to walk out of the room.

Garret tried to hide, but Jessica saw him. "I meant everything I said to her..." she sighed. Her father stood silent for a moment, then hugged his daughter. "I have never been a hero..." Garret spoke, "I have been but a father. The love of one’s family makes people do heroic things. That does not make them heroes." Jess hugged her father tighter. "In my eyes, you are a hero. All you have done since I have been here proves it to me." Garret let out a sigh, not particularly in the mood to argue. "If you insist..." he said with a partially cheery tone. "Heroes are what you make them to be. I am just glad you didn’t get my excessive humility."

Angelina Bradford stood in the cemetery in Deadwood, Indiana. She did not bring her daughter Angelise along with her. She felt that her daughter was too young to see her father’s grave as of yet. "If you could only see her, Garrett..." she whispered into the wind. "She is such a beautiful angel... You can already tell who her dad is..." She smiled at the thought. She then laid the roses on his grave and began to walk away. "...your mother said I would find you here..." a voice said behind her. "I didn’t realize you were in town, Cathy..." Angelina replied. Garrett’s older sister smiled a little. "I’m probably going to be in town for a while. The school hired me as the new art teacher." Angelina smiled, as well. To her, it was good to see that a member of Garrett’s family was getting a break. "Now... what’s this that I heard about my niece?" Cathy asked. Angelina could not figure out how to explain how she managed to give birth to Garrett’s child... "The details don’t matter. I just want to see her," Cathy clarified. "...you haven’t visited your mother yet, have you?" Angelina asked back. "...not for a few days... why?" Cathy inquired. "I left Angelise with her grandmother. I felt that now wasn’t the time for her to visit her father..." Angelina spoke. Cathy bowed her head at the mention of her brother. "You’re probably right..." she replied. "Anyway, shall we go pick Angelise up?" Angelina nodded.

"So, this is my brother’s little angel..." Cathy commented as she held Angelise. "At least she didn’t get her father’s looks..." she joked. "She’s already got your brother’s attitude..." Angelina retorted. "There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?" Cathy asked the baby. Angelise just smiled. "...I almost forgot..." a voice came from the kitchen. "Congrats again on the job!" "Thanks, mom," Cathy replied. "I can just hear Garrett laughing now. He always said that we were all stuck in this town..." Cathy smiled at the thought of her brother. "Even though I teased the crap out of him when he was younger, I still loved him."

 Garret finally got the chance to sit alone with Angelise. He sat there for an hour, silently watching his daughter sleep. All that time, he thought of her future. He finally got up and decided to hold her. Garret looked at his still-sleeping daughter and smiled. "Angelise..." he sighed, "what a title to bear. Being an angel is hard enough. But you..." Garret began to smile. "...let’s not get into that yet. Not until you are older. Now is the time to do what you want. Youth is a blessing that we don’t realize until it’s too late. ...but I shouldn’t bore you with this. Sleep tight, angel." Garret then kissed Angelise on her cheek as he placed her back in the crib. As he left the room, he was still smiling.

Later in the day, Garret finally rejoined with Zack. "You know, I kind of liked the green hair better..." he heard a voice say behind him. Gatoris turned around and smiled. "I kind of figured you would say that, Michiru. But... forget it. You probably came in with the rest of the Senshi, and I didn’t even notice. By the way, how’s Haruka doing?" "Not too good..." she sighed. "Someone scratched the paint on her motorcycle..." "How much do I owe you for bailing her out?" Gatoris interjected. "That’s perfectly fine, Gatoris..." she replied. "I can afford it. Thanks anyway." "...could the other guy be identified?" Gatoris asked jokingly. Michiru smirked. "They needed his dental records..." she began. "...Just kidding! She only got one punch in." Gatoris shook his head and smiled. "I was headed to the kitchen. Want anything, Michiru?" Gatoris spoke. She held up a sandwich and said no. "I don’t know about you... but christ, I’m hungry!" he said, then looked behind him. "You called?" Setsuna said, trying not to laugh. "I bet you saw that coming..." Michiru said, unable to suppress her laughter. Gatoris ignored this and walked to the kitchen.

Cathy, Angelina and Roberta sat down for lunch. "Such a beautiful spot..." Cathy began. "I’m sure Garrett would have picked that spot if he had the choice..." "Halfway, he did pick that spot." her mother interjected. "He said that if he died before he was married that he wanted to be buried next to his father..." Angelina sighed. "Two good men lay at rest next to each other..." she began, holding back tears. "I always saw his dad as a surrogate father. Jacob Mackenzie was a good man with a pure heart, and none of it was lost within his son..." Angelina took a deep breath and continued. "I see both of them in my dreams every night... along with my father... They give me the strength to keep going every day..." She then looked at the small scar on her wrist. "Garrett even saved my life... I’m sure of it..." Angelina let her tears flow softly down her cheeks. "He has given me all the strength I have now..." Cathy and her mother tried in vain to comfort Angelina. She eventually calmed down and looked over to where Angelise was sleeping. "Our angel..." she sighed, "...she is a constant reminder of why I still live..." Gatoris walked into the kitchen and saw a potential disaster: Usagi within five feet of his stove. "Don’t worry!" a voice cried out. "I’m the one cooking!" He recognized the voice, and got under the table. From his vantage point, he could see Usagi grimacing. "I’m not that bad..." Rini muttered. Just then, the cooking timer went off. Usagi proceeded to open the oven, grab the cake pan, and burn both of her hands. Before it hit the floor, Rini caught it with her oven mitts. Gatoris looked at the cake that Rini had baked: it looked edible... "Mind if I have a bite?" he asked from his hiding place. "I shouldn’t just because you thought I couldn’t cook..." Rini spoke, a little upset. "Just because she can’t cook doesn’t mean I can’t either. But... since I owe you... Sure!" Gatoris smiled. He gulped down the piece of cake and noticed something... "How much sugar did you use?" he asked, with his face doing unnatural things. "Uh... how much is in a bag?" she replied, blushing. That could explain why this tastes so sweet... Gatoris thought to himself. Gatoris then suddenly noticed something that was rather obvious... Rini looked much older than usual... "Took you long enough to notice, Garret...." she smiled. Gatoris would have said something in retort, but he was still overcome by the sweetness of the cake. Then, Hotaru walked into the kitchen. She looked at Gatoris and said one thing: "You ate Chibiusa’s cake, didn’t you?" Gatoris was pounding the table by now. Hotaru rushed and gave Gatoris a glass of water. The drink flushed the excess sweetness out of his mouth. "The last time I had something even remotely that sweet was when I tried to bake sugar cookies once..." he finally spoke. "I always seem to have problems with cooking sweet things..." Rini muttered. "My boyfriend..." she began to say before stopping herself. "Setsuna would beat the crap out of me if I asked, so I won’t..." Gatoris sighed. Cathy Mackenzie sat in what used to be her brother’s room, clutching her pendant. It was in the shape of a butterfly, and contained in the body were a portion of the ashes of her daughter. "Kathleen..." she whispered, beginning to cry. "I..." Cathy could not find the words to speak. She instead broke down in tears. Eventually, she regained her composure and found the words. "...I understand now... I know the true reason your uncle was depressed... it wasn’t over our father, but you. He never got to hold you, be close to you. He..." "He never wanted to admit the pain it caused him..." Angelina finished from the doorway. "So that’s what Kathleen meant to him, and why she is always with him..." Cathy looked puzzled. "In my dreams, he holds a young child in his arms. Her face is always buried in his chest, and she is sleeping. He also calls her the family’s angel... the blessing that never was..." Cathy sighed and clutched her pendant tighter. "From the time our father died to the day Kathleen died, Garrett prayed every day," she began. "He prayed that our family would have a blessed event... something to turn around the tragedy. He kept praying even after Kathleen was born. He prayed that she would survive, even though the chances were slim. Garrett was in the middle of praying for her when he got the news. I had to stop him from tearing up the chapel... He never prayed from that day on..." Later in the evening, Gatoris looked out into the courtyard. He noticed Rini (still the older version) sitting alone. He jumped from the balcony and somehow managed to land, sitting, next to her. She giggled and smiled. "You okay, Usagi?" he asked. She look stunned by being called that name. "You are the first person in my life who has called me that..." Rini began. "I’ve always been called Rini or Chibiusa..." "Well..." Gatoris explained, "I grew tired of calling you Rini, and you aren’t exactly ‘chibi’ anymore." Rini’s smile widened. She then unexpectedly hugged Gatoris. He squirmed a little. "Wouldn’t your fiancée be angry at you?" he asked. Rini looked shocked. "How... how did..." she stuttered. Gatoris pointed to the ring on her finger. "If it was a normal guy..." he explained, "that would be a wedding ring. But sice he’s probably the prince of Mercury or something, he can afford a better ring that that..." Rini became even more puzzled. "How did you know Angelus was from Mercury?" Gatoris fell backwards. "Either I’m psychic, or I took a real wild guess," he replied form the ground. "By the way, what brings you here at this age?" Rini’s cheery mood dissapated, and she sighed. "Setsuna said I colud tell only you, so I will."

She took a deep breath and looked downward. "...I had a falling out with Hotaru... about Angelus..." Gatoris returned to his seat and asked what the argument was about. "It all started before Angelus or I were born..." she began. "...late one night, Ami’s husband died in his sleep. It ripped her heart to shreds... She tried to do herself in by poison..." Rini began to cry. "She didn’t know she was expecting..." Gatoris bowed his head in silence as he listened. "When Angelus was born, he was blind..." Rini continued. "I remember my mother telling me that Ami locked herself in her chabmers and refused to speak to anyone." "She blamed herself for what happened to Angelus..." Gatoris chimed in. Rini nodded and continued. "When Angeuls wa about three months old, Hotaru came to visit Ami in an attempt to get her out of her room. She heard Agelus crying in his room, and went to him..." Gatoris think he knew what happened next, but he let Rini say it. "She looked down at him, and that is the last thing she has seen since..." Gatoris was in awe. She gave up her sight for this child... he thought. "Instead fo being happy, Ami was furious. She said, in her own words, ‘He was better off not seeing his monster of a mother’... Horatu didn’t know at the time that Ami had gouged her own eyes out..." Gatoris began to squirm a little. "...where do you fit in with this?" he asked. Rini sighed yet again. "Before I came here, I went to see Hotaru..." she spoke, on the verge of crying. "...you were going to offer her what she gave to Angelus, right?" Gatoris butted in. Rini nodded slowly. "She refused..." she growled. "She said that she did not wish to see again... She said that Angelus would not want me to... to..." Gatoris grabbed Rini and hugged her tightly. "Hotaru has seen many horrors in her lives. I would understand if she wished not to see..." Rini sighed and hugged Gatoris back. "I never thought of it that way..." They hugged for a few minuted before Rini spoke again. "You have always been like an uncle to me, Gatoris..." "...and you’ve felt like then niece I never had..." Gatoris replied, holding back his tears. "Kathleen, wasn’t it?" Rini said unexpectedly. Gatoris could not contain the tears after that. "She’s right there..." she said, pointing up to the sky. She pointed to one of the brightest stars in the sky...

"...There it is... that’s Kathleen’s star..." Cathy pointed out to Angelina. "It was the first star out the night she died..." "...and there’s Garrett’s..."Angelina pointed to another star next to the one Cathy was pointing to. "...it’s the same one as his father’s..." Cathy sighed. The two sat there for two hours, with Angelise resting in her mother’s arms. Gatoris smiled. "Of course she is. She was a little angel..." Rini smiled, as well. "I forget when it was, but I always called you ‘Uncle Gatoris’ when I was younger. It always made you smile." She then stood up. "Thank you for helping me out..." she said as she began to walk out of the courtyard. Before Gatoris could get a ‘you’re welcome’ out, he heard a noise from Angelise’s room.