A Happier Ending

[tokyobiohazard]

READ THIS FIRST!

 

My eyes slowly fluttered open. The light, however, burned them, so I closed them again.

 

I reached for my face, noticing that my sunglasses weren't there anymore. The second thing I noticed was that there was a body next to me. My own body shot up, my eyes widening, as I stared down at Seras' thin frame lying broken on the ground.

 

The small amount of basic first aid training I had received back when I was with the NCR came to my mind. I checked her pulse. It was slow, barely there, but she was alive.

 

"Where's your bag, Seras?" I mumbled, knowing she couldn't answer, but talking to her nonetheless to stay calm.

 

My eyes scanned the area and I spotted the pack about three feet away from Seras, probably tossed away as she ran to me or something. I shook my head, "Seras, you really should keep your antivenom in your pockets."

 

I rummaged through her bag, finding the pouch she kept all her medical supplies in. There were around twenty stimpaks, but no antivenom.

 

I felt panic rush through me for a quick second, but I pushed it down inside of me. Staying calm in situations like this was important if you wanted to survive and keep your partner alive, too.

 

"Well, Seras," I grumbled, "Things just got interesting."

 

I shoved a stimpak into her arm, noticing empty Med-X syringes near her hands. One had a broken needle. I looked around for it, noticing that it was in my forearm.

 

"You must have panicked. Carla panicked easily, too. One of the reasons she didn't want me in the army," My heart ached as I thought of her.

 

I picked Seras up and threw her on my shoulder. She would probably kill me for this later, but I hid her pack in a hollowed-out rock since it was so heavy, and headed toward nearby Jacobstown.

 

Every few minutes, I injected her arm with a stimpak to keep her heart going. My math skills weren't very sharp, but I figured out that at the rate I was running at, I would have enough to get her to Jacobstown safely.

 

I grumbled as a horde of giant mantis nymphs rushed out at me. I wasn't about to put Seras down, so I stomped them until they died. It was pretty easy, and the only thing even close to an injury I received was a rip in my NCR Veteran Armor trenchcoat.

 

I injected Seras in the shoulder with a stimpak and was so surprised to see her eyelids jolt open that I dropped my jaw in wonder.

 

"Craig..." she mumbled through her cracked lips, her sunburned skin unusually pale.

 

"Yeah?" I answered calmly.

 

There's a lot of snow in Heaven," she remarked.

 

I sat her down on a fallen tree in front of me. She started examining her arm where the Cazador had stung her.

 

"This isn't Heaven, kid," I said, not bothering to hold back a grin, "You're just the luckiest girl in the world."

 

She smiled, "I am lucky. You love me. And you tried to kiss me before you died."

 

"We're not dead," I said.

 

"I know," she laughed, and attempted to throw her arms around me.

 

I stepped back, "How are we still alive?"

Seras was picking at her fingernails now, her dark blue eyes fixed on the ground at her feet, "I'm no Arcade, but I'm guessing the poison just... wore off... Why did you save me?"

 

I already knew the answer to that question, "Remember what you said to me back when the Legion attacked Bitter Springs?"

 

"I said, 'I wasn't going to let you die."

 

"There's your answer, then."

 

She looked puzzled, "But you don't understand. I said that because I was trying to let you know how I felt..."

 

I didn't respond. I was trying to put a sentence together that would tell her how I felt toward her. My eyes gazed at nothingness.

 

"Boone," Seras said, smiling sadly, "I'm sorry. I took it the wrong way when you said I looked like her... You probably were thinking of her when you tried to kiss me. Or maybe the poison was just-"

 

"Kid," I interrupted, "You really do look like her. And, God strike me down if I'm lying, I have become... fond... of you since that night you helped me in Novac. But Carla is the only woman I can ever love."

 

Seras looked off into the distance, the wind blowing her chestnut mane slightly, a faint smile on her lips.

 

I left her to her thoughts and began to think a little myself. Remember is a better word, really. I thought of my Carla, how she would look the same way when it was just us and she stared at New Vegas in the distance...

 

"Boone," Seras said quietly, in nearly a whisper, "I kissed you when I thoughtit was over. I'm sorry. It was the romantic in me taking over one last time."

 

My fingers unconsciously moved to my lips, my expression becoming shocked, "I... it... you..."

 

She just sat there smiling while I searched for words, amused by my inability to speak.

 

"I can't love you... Carla-"

 

"Craig," Seras cut in, "I think Carla would have wanted you to move on. From what I know about her, it seems like she wouldn't like the idea, but she would want your happiness more than hers. And so she would get mad and tell you not to dwell on how things used to be like she did... The point is, you can love more than one person, Craig. And-"

 

I put my hands on her shoulders, "Alright. I love you, Seras Victoria. I admit it."

 

She smiled and leaned in toward me, closing her eyes. She kissed me, her cracked, dry lips on mine for a moment, and then pulled away slowly. Her nose crinkled, "You're a bad kisser."

 

I shrugged and ran a hand through her hair, my eyes focused on how the sunlight glinted off it.

 

"Now!" Seras clapped her hands together, smiling, "What the eff did you do with my pack?"

Edited May 27, 2011 by tokyobleach

[tokyobiohazard]

this story is told from boone's perspective, and seeing as how he isn't the brightest crayon in the box, i wrote using words and expressions that he would know. just letting everyone know :)

[LordWushin]

I thought it was very good. Keep up the good work! :thumbsup:

[LeviTheMetalGuy]

i liked it

[darkedge42392]

Nicely done, tokyo. :) Keep it up.