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There are many kinds of quiet. The held breath of a theater during a performance. The nervous optimism of a test in progress. The readying moment of a symphony conductor raising their baton.
When Jade’s eyes fluttered open to the darkness she instinctively knew as 3:27 am, dozens of familiar aches and smarts sparking in her aged body, she was slow to recognize the weighted silence for what it was.
It had been a long time, after all.
“I can’t see you, but I know that you’re there.”
Her eyes weren’t what they used to be but eventually she became aware of the shape near the foot of the bed. She reached for the lamp and the glasses lying beneath it, but she already knew what she would see.
“Ballantine,” she greeted, as she slid the spectacles into place.
He looked the same, every inch unchanged from the last memory she had of him. Except the faint smile on his face appeared a bit… warmer. She wondered if that was a result of his life or hers.
“Jade. It’s good to see you again,” he replied and when she heard the deep somberness of his voice, she was reminded of how much she had missed him. How, years ago, she had hoped and despaired at the idea of seeing him again.
But now. It was okay now.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Jade gazed down at the body curled against her, its shape the same as it had been every night for more than seventy years. She felt the same boundless rush of joy and love as she had the first time she had held that body against hers. It was followed by pain nearly as all consuming.
“She’ll be sad without me,” she couldn’t help but say, knowing how true it would be. The thought of Kit hurting echoed through her, the way it always had. She brushed a hand over the grey, but still roguish locks she had loved her entire life.
When she looked back to Ballantine, his smile had gentled even further. “She won’t be without you,” he promised. At the same time, she felt Kit stir beneath her touch.
“Hmm… Jade? Did you have a dream?” Kit’s arm tightened suddenly around her waist, strong even now. “Is someone there?” she asked, a thread of alarm sharp beneath lingering sleepiness.
Jade breathed in deep and felt the world shudder into balance. “It’s Ballantine, love,” she murmured in response.
Kit relaxed. “Oh.” Her body tensed again immediately. “Oh.” There was a rustle from the sheets being shifted. “Thank God I’m not naked.”
“You haven’t slept naked in sixty years,” she hissed back, blushing in a way she never imagined someone of her age could.
“Well, who knew you shit a little every time you fart?”
“Everyone in that café in Italy certainly knows, since you felt the need to announce it after reading about it.”
“Are you still mad about that? It’s been sixty years!”
Jade rolled her eyes, so full of fondness she thought she could burst. And yet. “I can’t believe these are our last words.”
Kit paused, a customary moment of thought. “Right. You don’t like, write this stuff down, do you?” she asked, lifting her head.
Ballantine snapped his notebook closed. “No.”
Kit drew her closer, one leg sliding over hers, as if shielding her from harm. “I don’t want to go. And I don’t want you to go,” Jade heard her say with endearing stubbornness.
Jade pressed her lips down onto Kit’s forehead, inhaled the familiar earthy scent of sandalwood.
“I think we’re going together,” she explained softly.
Another second of contemplation. “Oh. Okay, that’s fine then. My back has been killing me.”
“You said it was feeling better?”
“Who cares now?”
The world shifted again, like a page turning over in a book. They were standing beside Ballantine, facing each other, and all the gravity of life slipped away. All around them, in the room that they had made theirs for years, were pictures of the countless places they had been, of the people that had made their lives full and rich. Prevalent among them, the aging faces of Airk, Elora, and Graydon, all gone before them.
Jade took Kit’s hand in hers, beyond pleased she could feel the warmth of it.
“So, what happens now?” Kit asked, giving a squeeze.
Jade shrugged, a thrum of excitement building within. Something new. “I don’t know. We’ll find out together.”
Kit grinned, with all the charm and enthusiasm time hadn’t been able to diminish. Her blue eyes glowed brilliantly in the white light trickling in behind her. “Time for another adventure?”
“Always.” As Kit started to turn, curious about what was to come, Jade tugged at her hand. “Wait.”
Kit waited.
Though she had asked it millions of times, it was suddenly the most important question she had ever had. “What did you like best?” Jade wanted to know.
Kit tipped her head in challenge. “What did you like best?” she countered.
Jade smiled helplessly. “I asked you first.”
Still grinning, Kit lifted their hands and pressed Jade’s knuckles to her lips. “Same time?” she suggested, her voice bright with mischief.
“All right,” Jade agreed, already having a good idea of what the answer would be. As the light grew brighter around them, they leaned together, foreheads touching.
And in the same breath, “You.”