Her thoughts drifted, recalling memories from the early years of their time together. The kiss in front of Elsbett, in front of Leydon, her confession on Shintaida, the morning when he had surprised her with a confession of his own... "Good morning. Oh Beka, by the way, I love you." So many memories, built up over the years. She had never expected to be so happy, she--
"Mom?"
She looked up. "Ethan, why didn't you come with me?"
"I said my goodbyes before. Seeing his ashes scattered to the wind would have just confirmed that he's really gone." He took a deep breath, his deep blue eyes that were so much like his father's welling up with unshed tears.
"I know." She hugged him, her arms around him still carrying a strong grip despite her age. Together they spent a moment looking out at the sea, remembering the father and husband that they had lost too soon. As the sun set Beka finally spoke. "He got his wish."
"Hmm?"
Beka chuckled, talking half to herself. "We both got our wishes."
"Mom?"
She blinked, looking at her son as if just remembering he was there. "Years and years ago, about four years before your brother was born and seven years before you were born, we won the Engine of Creation."
"On Shintaida, right?" Ethan asked, recalling the history he had been taught as a child.
"Yes, Shintaida. We got back to the Maru and Trance disappeared to the cockpit, leaving your father and I alone with the Engine. At that time, we weren't even sure that it was the entire Engine, so we decided to try it out. Each of us put our hand on it and made a wish. I wished for a guy that I could love that would love me back; I mean a great, loving relationship. Your father later told me that he had wished that he would see the Commonwealth restored in his natural lifetime." She chuckled again, the silver she allowed in her hair glistening in the last rays of the sun. "We foolishly believed that the Engine would grant our wishes immediately, so when it didn't we thought it didn't work. As it appears, the Engine did grant our wishes, just took a little while."
Ethan smiled, his smile so much like hers that people who didn't even know they were related could tell just by their smiles. "So it seems that you and Dad were meant to be together."
Beka looked from Ethan back out to the ocean. "And maybe wishes do come true."
The End