FicWad

It was a quiet afternoon. The sun was out, its rays playing across the lake’s surface. They were sitting in a small rowboat somewhere near the middle of the lake. The grass and reeds around the edge were just starting to attain a golden tinge, indicating the on-set of autumn. He had just baited his own hook as his husband cast his line out into the water.

Slash smiled over at the other man. His once red hair had faded to a nice white in his old age. Axl kept it cropped short now and it was barely visible under his fishing hat. Slash’s own peppered curls were tied back and pulled through the back of a baseball cap.

Axl looked up and returned his beloved’s smile. “What is it, love?”

“Just watching my beautiful husband. He looks very happy,” the guitar legend answered quietly.

“He’s the happiest man on earth. He’s married to you, after all~” Axl returned.

Slash blushed lightly and cast his own rod out into the lake. “Then he’ll be happy for several years more.”

The two continued on in silence for some time. Axl was the one to break the silence. “Saul?”

Slash looked up, still smiling. “Yes, Will?”

“Is this…Am I still your Heaven?”

The guitarist’s features softened further. “From the time I realized I loved you, you were my Heaven. As I told you years ago, when we reunited and I proposed, I’ll meet you in Eternity.”

Axl smiled and looked as if he might reply, but a tug on his line stole his attention. He gripped the reel and began the process of reeling in his catch. Slash smiled, watching him and laughing softly as he hauled the fish into the boat…

A week later found Slash on his death bed. Axl was seated right beside him, clutching his hand tightly as if that alone could keep his beloved from Death’s cold embrace. The guitarist could tell that the older man was fighting back tears.

“You said last week…several more years…” Axl said quietly.

Slash squeezed his hand weakly. “Little Red…I should’ve died at 35. But I was brought back and given a device to keep me alive long enough to come back to you…I’ve been cheating Death for so many years now. In the end, though, He always wins…”

“I-it’s not fair! I-I shouldn’t…I shouldn’t have to give you up!” The tears were flowing freely down Axl’s pale cheeks now.

“Shh, love…Don’t cry now…” Slash reached up to wipe the tears from his husband’s cheeks, but it was in vain. They only continued pouring forth from the eyes he had so adored all these years. “It’s only…only for a little while…Do you remember where my Heaven lies?”

The older man nodded, incapable of speaking.

“Then when your time comes, just pull back the make-shift curtain and crawl into my arms…I’ll be waiting in our little castle.”

Axl nodded again, laying down beside his beast. He leaned up to press one final kiss upon the soft lips of his beloved.

With his final breath, Slash whispered, “I love you.” Before drifting off into Death’s embrace, he faintly heard Axl return his affection…

It felt as if he had been lying inside the blanket fort for eternity. Slash rolled over and peeked out from the curtains, but the room was unchanged. The bright, unearthly light still shone through the windows. He had no concept of time in the Beyond. He could’ve only been there for five minutes, or it could’ve been several millennia. He would never know. Likewise, he had no way to view the mortal realm he had left behind.

Slash crawled back into the make-shift fort on the bed and sat staring at the myriad of blankets surrounding him. He finally laid his head upon the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. It seemed as though his beloved would not be allowed to meet him in their Heaven. With a sigh, he resigned himself to a lonely eternity.

But just as he closed his eyes to rest, he caught a slight rustling of one of the blankets. He sat up abruptly, a smile spreading across his face. He was no longer alone in his Heaven.

“Hello, my Big, Bad Beast~ Little Red has missed you~”