Please Remember

/Time
Sometimes the time just sweeps away
And you’re left with yesterday
Left with the memories/

Steph leaned back in her seat, throat tight with misery, eyes bright with tears. Beside her, Vince had buried himself in some business papers, hardly sparing a thought for the way of life he had just torn apart.
Stephanie didn’t move as the plane began to move towards the runway, though her eyes flickered listlessly at object’s flashing past the window. She didn’t see them, didn’t see anything except her memories.

/ I, I’ll always think of you and smile
And be happy for the time I had you with me
Though we go our separate ways
I won’t forget, so don’t forget
The memories we made /

Images flickered through her mind, drawing different emotions. Herself and Chris as they sped down the hill on Big Bertha, fear mingling with excitement, the cold snow-spray on her face, the warmth of Chris against her. The first time she saw him, leaning over the balcony like a regal lion surveying his territory. The security he had given her mixed with love and affection. Blue eyes, sparkling with laughter, dark with anxiety when she woke in the night from bad dreams. He had been her world, her universe, the air that she breathed. The memories flew faster, the silk of his hair, the softness of his kisses, the comforting sound of his voice. He had saved her, given her direction when she wandered, comfort when she was afraid, companionship when she was lonely. And she had left him.

/ Please remember
Please remember
I was there for you
And you were there for me /

What would he do when he came home to find her gone? For a moment Stephanie couldn’t imagine his reaction, then thought of what she would have done if she came home to a flat empty of Chris. Pure and utter panic. First he would assume she was at the Casa, not expecting to hear her welcoming voice when he unlocked the door. Then he would notice the emptiness of the flat as he stepped through the door, and a small twinge of coldness would creep into his chest. He would drop his bags and go through to the living room to ring the Casa, to make sure she was safe and to calm the rising worry inside him. Instantly he would notice the absence of her jewellery, her trinkets, her possessions usually scattered around the flat. The worry would become a fear, knotting itself larger with each passing second. Stephanie imagined his expression of total shock when he found the wardrobe bare of her clothes, unaware the expression was mirrored on her own face. What then? He would search the flat thoroughly, find her note. Tears spilled down her face as she thought of his reaction to that. He would feel the devastation in her soul, only a thousand times worse because he wouldn’t know why, wouldn’t understand how she could casually shatter what they had built.

/ Please remember
Our time together
The time was yours and mine
And we were wild and free

Please remember
Please remember me /

Stephanie closed her eyes against the pain of that thought and against the burning tears which continued to soak her cheeks. The plane lifted with a roar that vibrated through Stephanie’s aching soul.
Vince glanced over at his daughter as the plane levelled out, brief concern in his eyes, but he was confident he had handled the situation correctly. Stephanie was too young to know how to handle life on her own and this soul mate nonsense was clearly something Jericho had invented to seduce. Sure the boy had talent, Vince had been more than happy to agree to sign him onto the roster when his WCW contract was finished. But Stephanie was too good for some no-name wrestler. She would understand one day.
Through lowered lashes, Stephanie saw Vince looking at her. Hate flashed through her confusion and she turned away, staring through tears at the wispy clouds. She had been happier than ever before with Chris, and her father – no Vince, she wouldn’t dignify him with the familiar title – he had shattered the peaceful existence they had built together. Would she ever be able to forgive him for that, when time had numbed her grief? No, she didn’t think she would ever be capable of that.

/ Goodbye
There’s just no sadder word to say
And it’s sad to walk away
With just the memories
Who’s to know what might have been?
We leave behind a life and time we’ll never know again /

Her thoughts took off with her again as she watched the soft, sunlit cloudscape through the window. What would she be doing now, if she had gone to the Casa like Chris told her? Helping Lydia dye her hair maybe, she had mentioned something about green and black. Listening to Integra yell at Lydia for messing up the bathroom again. Chris would walk through the door to find them engaged in full combat, splashed with green and black dye, throwing sponges and water around. Stephanie bit back the sob rising in her throat from the image and half closed her eyes as she thought of what Chris would do. Ghost arms slid around her; imagined breath warmed her tear-wet cheek. The feelings of might-have-been were so strong that she caught her breath, smelling Chris’s unique scent. The scent, so familiar washed over her as the ghost presence faded. Would he be remembering and imagining as she was? Yes, she knew he would, through the haze of confusion and pain she herself felt so acutely. They were so alike, and yet not, different and similar in so many ways. That was what made their relationship so special. ‘Had made it special’ Stephanie thought, the change of tense making the lump in her throat grow.

/ Please remember
Please remember
I was there for you and you were there for me
I’ll remember
Please remember me /

Had she made the right decision? Doubt assailed her as she thought again of her letter. She could have explained herself, could have stalled Vince until Chris arrived, contrived some way to let him know where and why she was going. Could she? Or was it just better, to treasure the memories of the bliss they had had. To remember the good times and block out the pain she had caused them both? No, the pain was as much a part of her as the good memories. Bitter sweet, she thought suddenly. Bitter because it had ended, sweet because it had been so wonderful while it lasted. At the moment all she could feel was sadness, bitter-tainted sadness.

/ Please remember
Please remember
I was there for you and you were there for me /

The plane soared through the clouds, taking Stephanie further from Chris, further from her past life. It was over, she realised with a terrible sense of finality. The part of her life that would no doubt shape her the most, the part she would remember and look back on when she was old, when the rest of her life had faded into insignificance. Would she be sharing that time with Chris? Or had they been torn apart forever?

/ Please remember
Our time together
The time was yours and mine
And we were wild and free
I’ll remember
Please remember me /

"No" she whispered softly under her breath. Chris was her soul mate. She knew, deeper than simple knowing, she ‘felt’ in the depths of her heart and soul that Chris would be with her again. During their time together they had become so entwined that even from opposite sides of the universe they would be drawn to each other. Mere distance couldn’t keep them apart, not in spirit. Stephanie straightened in her seat, ignoring her protesting, stiff muscles. She would cling to the thought that one day, some day, she would be with Chris again. Not in the sweet, innocent way they had, that time had come to an end. But her soul mate would be with her again.
Stephanie took a deep breath and closed her drying eyes as the plane began to circle in for landing. Picturing Chris, with the blond hair falling into the blue of his eyes, the pensive look in his expression softening when he looked at her, his strong build, light dusting of a beard. Mentally she burned that picture into her mind’s eye, unconscious of a wistful smile spreading across her face as she thought of her love, her soul mate. ‘I’m sorry Chris’ she thought softly. ‘But I promise you, I will do everything in my power to hold on until I find you again.’

/And how we laughed
And how we smiled
And how home was yours and mine
And how when our dream was out of reach
I stood by you and you stood by me /

‘I’ll hold onto the memories. I’ll remember you. I won’t betray you more than I already have by forgetting one second of what we shared. Every second, every minute, every day I’ll think of what we had and keep it in my heart. And I’ll tell myself you’ll be doing the same because I know you will. Then the time that we’re apart won’t seem so long, or so difficult’.

/We took each day and made it ours
We wrote our names across the sky
We ran so fast, we ran so free
I had you and you had me /

The plane touched down, the scream of the wheels on concrete cutting through Stephanie’s thoughts. Gathering her resolve, she squared her shoulders and remained motionless until the plane slowed to a halt, eyes fixed ahead on that distant future when she would be with Chris again. Vince glanced at her as they got up, but she ignored him, determination over-shadowing the pain in her eyes. The time ahead would be bitterly hard and bleak, without Chris by her side. But she would remember him, and what they had, and maybe it would ease the passage of time slightly. Her future with Chris was assured; no two people could be that linked and not end up together. All that remained to be seen was when it would finally happen.

/ Please remember
Please remember me /

Stephanie stepped off the plane, blinking in the bright sun. Her pain had lessened slightly. She had her memories, and she had a future to look forward to. She would remember Chris and he would remember her. Surely she could cope with bitterness when she had a future with her soul mate to look forward to?
She only hoped it wasn’t too far away.

The End