Her Brother's Best Friend

57

Anastasia sat quietly beside Ariel and Aaron, in the front row of the stadium. Along with her, many other celebrities, friends, and family. All their eyes fixed upon the rose covered gold casket. Where an angel laid peacefully.

"When is he gonna wake up, Annie?" Ariel asked Anastasia, curiously.

Anastasia closes her eyes and exhales softly. She looks down at Ariel."He's not, sweetheart. Remember I told you, he's in heaven. With the angels. Dancing and singing around."

"So...I won't get to see him again?" She questions with sad eyes.

"You may not be able to see him again, but you can always talk to him whenever you like."

"Really?" Ariel whispers, confused."How?"

"You might not know this, but he's actually watching over us right now." Anastasia answers before glancing at the casket."He'll always be."

Ariel looks around before asking."So he can hear me?"

Anastasia lightly smiles and nods her head."Yes."

"Hi applehead, I miss you." Ariel spoke to Michael and tears immediately roll down Anastasia's cheeks.

When Whitney's beautiful, heartwarming performance is over, The Jackson family gathers onto the stage.

After Jermaine speaks, Marlon comes next and tries to gather his words together. Every time his voice would crack, Anastasia tried to keep herself from falling apart.

Once each of Michael's brothers and sisters say their farewells, Anastasia is welcomed onto the stage. Bringing along Ariel with her.

Janet hugs her tightly and whispers in her ear."Breathe. You'll be just fine."

Anastasia rubs her lips together and nods her head. Once she stood in front of the microphone with Ariel by her side, she opened her mouth to speak until her eyes moved to one of Michael's pictures on the big screen.

"I-I-I..." She stammers with her eyes connected to the picture."Michael, was..." Her sentence trials off. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath then tries again."Michael was unbelievably beautiful. On the inside and out. He was unique, creative, generous, loving..." She slightly shakes her head."He was everything you could imagine." She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and sniffles."As I think back to all the days Michael and I spent together. I realize he really has had a big impact on my life. He taught and showed me many wonderful things and ideas I could've never learned or thought of without him. One important thing he taught me, and I will forever remember, is how to love." She looks to her left and sees a different picture of him. In the picture he was covered in food, making a silly face."I--Um," She points at the picture of him."I actually took that picture of him." She smiles wearily at it."That day I took it, we were cooking dinner and he decided to throw a handful of mashed potatoes at me then had the nerve to say it wasn't him when we were the only two people in the kitchen." Soft laughter breaks out among the audience and Anastasia softly giggles."A massive food fight broke out that day and it took us several hours to clean it all up. That's one of my favorite things about Michael. He knew how to have fun. How to hang loose." She rubs her lips together."He loved to joke around with people. Mostly with me." She chuckles, shaking her head."He also loved to make people laugh and smile. Especially children. Whenever he would see a child smiling, he would smile even bigger. His smile would make anyone smile actually. It was just so heartwarming and comforting. So contagious." She lightly smiles, thinking about him."I think Michael would love to be remembered for...not only his music and creativity, but his big heart. He showed so much love and affection around the world. And he cared for everyone. I don't think I've ever met someone with a heart so pure." A single tear rolls down her cheek and she wipes it away."He always used to say, his purpose on earth is to give in the best way he could through a song, through dance, through music. He was committed to his art. He felt he was chosen as an instrument to give music and love and harmony to the world. And he did. It almost seemed unrealistic. You would often wonder, 'how did he do that? How did he write that?'" She sniffles."Apart from Michael being the King of Pop, an astonishing dancer, a celebrity, a legend. He was a kindhearted son, a caring brother, a wonderful friend, a passionate soulmate." She looks down at Ariel."And a loving father." Whispering breaks out among the audience and she says."He will forever be in our hearts and loved everywhere." She looks down at the casket and blows a kiss at it."I will always love you, Michael. We will always love you. Forever."

The audience applause and Ariel tugs on Anastasia's dress.

Anastasia leans down to her and she asks."Can I say something in the stick?"

"Sure, why not?" Anastasia lightly smiled then picked her up.

"Applehead, I miss you...a lot." She spoke sweetly into the microphone, warming everyone's hearts.

She placed Ariel back on the floor then took her hand and walked down the steps to her seat.

***

The next day, Anastasia was at Neverland, laying in bed. She stood up then walked into the walk-in closet and flicked on the lights. She pulls one of Michael's jackets off the hanger and held it close to her body. She inhaled his leftover aroma on the jacket then threw it on.

"I miss you." She whispers, closing her eyes and imagining him holding her.

As she turned and walked out the closet, she tucked her hands in the pockets of the jacket and paused. She slowly pulls out a velvet small ring box and holds it up to her face. She opens it and her eyes meet two different rings.

One ring has the date when Michael and her first met with an infinity symbol engraved in it. The other was an engagement ring.

Anastasia slaps a hand over her mouth and gasps. She closes her eyes as the tears start to roll down her cheeks. She slips both rings on her fingers then falls to the floor and curls up into a ball.

"I would've said yes." She mutters, sobbing."I would've said yes."