Threshold - Severus Snape

Chapter 21 - This Man's Life

"Does this mean I would never see you again!? And if you use your Ether Stone for Professor Stone, does that mean you would have to die!?" I asked, and I felt the tears from earlier returning with a vengeance. I didn't expect to be shedding tears today, especially for both of the men that I had grown to really care deeply for. Reu, being ever perceptive, stepped up to me and pulled me into his arms. All of my emotions flooded over, and I sobbed quietly on his chest.

"Avia, it will be alright. I promise you. I will do everything I can. I'm sure we will work through it," he said, stroking my hair as he spoke softly. He held me until my crying quieted, then pulled away without letting go. "You know, I can come back. I intend to," he said, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"How?" I asked, not trusting myself to say more.

"It depends. You know how you took the previous Traveler's place...? I could return in the same manner. But, I would have to return to take either my own place again, or Professor Stone's, depending on who dies, and who uses the Ether Stone. If we can kill Professor Stone to activate his kill-switch, then I can use my Ether Stone and return as if I had never really left. But if I have to use my Ether Stone on Professor Stone, then I would have to die, and then return as Professor Stone," he said, and I had to think about it all for a minute to make sense of it. "And either way will be fine, right?  Just imagine, we can still fool around, just with me in Professor Stone's body," he chuckled, and I couldn't help but smile at his ever present humor and optimism.

"He is kind of hot in a big, beefy sort of way," I joked back, sniffing as my tears subsided.

"That's my girl," Reu said, grabbing my shoulders and giving them a squeeze.  I didn't really care what Reu looked like, as long as he was still here with me.

"What about Severus?  He thinks Professor Stone is the real Professor Stone. What if you take his place and all of a sudden you're nice?" I asked, maybe thinking too far ahead at this point.

"Then maybe I will enjoy playing the bad guy for a while until I can find a reason to transition into more how the original Professor Stone was in this Realm," he said, and I remembered that Reu had been doing this a long while, and had assumed the form of numerous Etherworlders. I hoped one day we would have time to talk more about it all, and I really just didn't want to have to miss talking to him at all. "I just feel like I should have done something sooner. I saw red flags early on, even before you came here, and I didn't react quickly enough. Maybe I had even become too complacent my last couple Occasions, and now that I've met you, and I can finally see myself again, the real me, it might be too late," he said, and I could see the depth of emotions in his eyes, and the tears that started to form in them. I reached up and brushed a tear that had spilled over on to his cheek. "This is the first time I've even cried in several lifetimes, and now that I really feel alive again, the whole of the Ether Realm might be at stake," he said, and I felt so much love for my friend, and I felt like I shared his pain.

"Will you tell me, Reu?  Will you tell me who you are in the real world... our world?" I asked, not sure why I needed to know. Maybe I was afraid I would never see him again after he left, and I wanted to share that with him. I also wanted him to know the 'real' me, and I even had hopes that we would one day meet in the real world. Reu smiled and took my hands in his.

"Yes, I will share that with you. I didn't want to risk you treating me differently because of who I am. I feel like, now, you have accepted me for me, so I'm willing to take that risk," he said, looking at me with sincerity in his eyes.

"I promise, Reu.  I don't care if you are the Queen of England, I will always love you as my dearest friend," I said, and I meant it.

"Ha!  You are a doll, Avia. Ok. Here it is... I'm Alan Rickman," he said, and I looked at him long and hard. I knew I recognized him from somewhere... the flash of his eyes, the charming smile that started in his eyes before it reached his lips...eyes with the warmth that could melt any iceberg... the hearty laugh...along with the legendary humor. I also knew that Alan Rickman was supposedly deceased, because I had taken the news especially hard when it was announced several years ago. Hope welled up in me at the chance that he had possibly been given the opportunity to surf the Ether Realm these last few years. Maybe after he had found out about his illness, Jo had brought him into the fold instead of seeing her dear friend pass away.

"No idea," I said without changing my expression, using a line from Movie Snape's character in good form. He paused, nonplussed that I didn't recognize his name. His eyebrow rose and his mouth dropped open like he didn't know what to say. I held my neutral expression as long as I could before bursting into laughter. It was immensely gratifying to see the realization of my humorous deception reach his eyes, and then see his eyes start to laugh before he erupted into the hearty, heartfelt laughter that I had grown to cherish.

"Oh my Lord, Avia!  I love you so much!" he said, pulling me into a tight hug before pushing me back out to hold me at arms length to really look at me.

"I love you too... Uh, Mr. Rickman," I said, tongue-in-cheek.

"Call me Al, please, but really, you can call me anything... and you can call me anytime," he said, and he gave me that flash of his eyes that I would never forget. "Actually, in this Realm, I really enjoy being called Reu. Especially by you... And I'm just going to ignore that that rhymes," he said, and I could see and hear his relief at finding that we were the same ol' quirky friends, even with the revelation of his true identity. "And what of you, Avia?  Who are you?" he asked, his tone turning more serious.

"I'm not quite so interesting, or famous. I'm a mother first, and I've raised two wonderful children. I'm a widow, but I was a good wife. I'm a professional, but my work never defined me. I'm 40, but my age never defined me either. And... my name is Katherine, but you are welcome to call me anything...as long as you don't call me late for dinner," I said, using one of my father's numerous corny sayings, to which he smiled adoringly.

"Thank you, Katherine. I truly appreciate our relationship, and I hope we have many more occasions, so to speak, to spend time with each other, in whatever form that may be," he said, and I felt my eternal optimism returning along with his. I would ask him later about how all of this was possible, but for now I felt in awe of this opportunity to be a part of this man's life, knowing that we may indeed get to share many lifetimes together in the future.