Death Do Us Part

IV

The winter wind blew softly through the crevices of the dress shop where a vigil was held for Luffy. Lovely cleared the racks of clothing and moved a couple of displays to the sides of the large shop to make room for the casket where her husband lay. He was dressed in his daily clothing with his hands resting atop each other on his belly. His eyes were closed and his lips were slightly parted to create a peaceful scene where he appeared to be sleeping. Lovely could walk over to him and wake him up so they could be together again with their friends and families, but she knew it was just a fantasy now. There was no use in wishing for the impossible to happen anymore. He was truly gone.

Why?! Lovely wanted to scream at God. I asked you to heal him!! Why didn't you listen to me?!! You listen to everyone, don't you?!! Why me?!! Why him?!!

She places a rosary on her lap, finishing a prayer before looking up at her husband. She hugs herself, picturing his arms around her. For a moment, she thought she could feel the presence of his spirit next to her, trying to comfort her. She leans to the side until her head touches Zolo's arm. He looks down at her and lets out a soft breath before wrapping an arm around her. Alice, who sat beside Lovely, cried silently with her and lay her head on Zolo's arm.

"I'm not ready for tomorrow," Lovely whispers. "I'll have to let him go. Forever." She weeps into Zolo's chest bitterly.

"Love brings pain, Lovely," he says. "The stronger the pain, the stronger you loved him."

"Don't say 'loved,'" Lovely said. She thinks back to the vows she had spoken at their wedding. I take you to be my husband. . .until parted by death. "Why did death have to part us so soon? We just got married. It's like a mother having a miscarriage." She cried more at the mention of motherhood.

Alice hugs Lovely tighter and looks up at Zolo. He looks back at her and nods.

"Lovely," Zolo says. She looks up at him, wiping away her tears. "If you want, Alice and I can stay with you and keep you company in your home so you won't be lonely."

Lovely didn't say a single word. She simply nods and returns her gaze to her love's casket. 

_____

A dark, snowy night made Lovely's heart colder and colder by the minute. She kissed her husband one last time before the casket was closed and then handled by pallbearers with Zolo being one of them. A procession of red rose petals guides the attendants through the cemetery a short distance away from town, where other victims of the attack and other deceased persons lay. Luffy's grave remained untouched with a giant mound of dirt beside it. Lovely was afraid his casket wouldn't fit into the ground because of how small the hole looked from where she was standing.

She had a handkerchief and Luffy's hat in one hand and a single red rose in the other. She also had a gardenia flower but she wanted to save it for the top of his grave. She stood by his casket even when it was being lowered into the ground. Zolo and Alice wrapped their arms around her as they were afraid that she would try to jump into the grave once the casket reached the bottom. Lovely didn't struggle, shout, cry, or scream for her love. It seemed as if she finally understood that she could do nothing to bring him back. His soul had parted the living and joined hands with the dead.

She tosses the red rose into the hole and waits there until the gravediggers began to shovel dirt onto the casket. She looks down in defeat as Alice quietly leaves Lovely in Zolo's hands. She didn't want her friend to see how distraught she was at the sight of her sadness.

"We should be heading back," Zolo says to Lovely. "You don't have to watch. It's getting cold out here and I could start a fire when you're home."