A few days after the incident, Anita was sitting in her flat. She had nowhere to be until 1, currently being re-evaluated to see if she could keep her job. And her boyfriend had just passed away, so even if she wanted to go to work Lestrade wouldn't let her. If Anita lost her job, she didn't know what she was going to do with herself. It was all she had left of both Sherlock and her dad. Anita glanced down at her watch and sighed before standing up and walking towards her room. Anita reached into her closet and pulled out the black dress Mrs. Hudson bought for her, knowing Anita didn't want to go shopping anytime soon.
Anita pulled the dress on and looked at herself in the mirror that was in her room. Anita's eyes were puffy and bloodshot, her hair was messy and knotted, and to be completely honest she looked like shit. Anita sighed before grabbing a brush and brushing out her hair. After finally brushing out most of the knots, Anita set the brush down on her bed before flattening out her dress. Anita stared at herself in the mirror for a minute before there was a knock on her door. She walked over and opened it to reveal John, who was in a full suit. He gave Anita a soft smile as she peeked around the door.
"Hey," she said, softly, returning the smile. She gestured for him to come in so that she could grab her coat and shoes.
"Hey," John replied, walking in and closing the door behind him. He watched her grab her coat and felt his heart sink. John was sure that he'd never actually seen Anita grab her own coat, that was Sherlock's job. Anita slipped on her flats before holding her arm out to John, who took it, and the pair left the flat.
The two of them caught a cab before heading to the funeral. Anita had been dreading this day, that's why she told John to pick her up. She would have never gone if John hadn't pushed her to. Lestrade, Molly, Mrs. Hudson, and some of his homeless network showed up. Lestrade figured Anita needed some good news and told her that she still had her job. Anita cried, partly due to the fact that she still had her job, partly because she couldn't tell Sherlock about it. Mycroft didn't show up, which pissed Anita off. Later, after the funeral, Anita called him and gave him the shouting of a lifetime. Mycroft didn't argue back, knowing she needed someone to yell at. He didn't mind too much.
A couple of days after the funeral, Anita had plans with Mrs. Hudson and John to meet at the graveyard. Anita arrived early, walking past the 'H' section and to the 'O' section. She walked until she found her dad's grave. Anita didn't normally visit unless it was a special anniversary or she had good news. This time, she arrived with bad news. Anita stood in front of her father's grave, staring at the headstone.
"Hey, dad," Anita mumbled. She knew it stupid, talking to a headstone, but she didn't care anymore.
"I know he didn't believe in that stuff; the afterworld or heaven or whatever. But if you see him, just tell him that I love him," Anita said, her tears pooling already. Anita sniffled, wiping her face even though none of her tears had fallen yet, before bringing two fingers to her lips and pressing them to her father's headstone. Anita heard a car approach the graveyard and looked up. John and Mrs. Hudson, who had a bouquet of flowers in her arms, hopped out of the car and looked around for Anita. Anita walked over, trying to give them a big smile like she used to. She didn't want to be sad anymore. John pulled Anita into a tight hug, Mrs. Hudson doing the same.
Finally, the three of them made their way towards the black marble headstone. Anita took a shaky breath, grabbing John's hand. He glanced at her before squeezing her hand. Mrs. Hudson placed the flowers at the base of the headstone.
"There's all the stuff, all the science equipment. I left it all in boxes. I don't know what needs doing. I thought I'd take it to a school," Mrs. Hudson said, before glancing over at John and Anita.
"Would you two...?" she trailed off.
"I can't go back to the flat again- not at the moment," John replied. Anita, needing a distraction anyways, turned to Mrs. Hudson.
"I'll come by tomorrow, see what I can do," Anita told her, softly. She had no idea what she was going to do when looking through the stuff, but figured she'd think of something.
"I'm angry," John stated as he took a deep breath through his nose. Anita reached a hand over and rubbed his shoulder, trying to comfort him the best she could. She had to agree with John, Anita was pissed at Sherlock. She knew you shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but still.
"It's okay, you two. There's nothing unusual in that. That's the way he made everyone feel. All the marks on my table; the noise- firing guns at half past one in the morning! Bloody specimens in my fridge. Imagine- keeping bodies where there's food! And the fighting! Drove me up the wall with all his carrying- on!" Mrs. Hudson said as her voice started to break.
"Yeah, listen: I'm not actually that angry, okay?" John said as he turned to her and it earned him a small smile from Anita, which he was rather proud of. John really was trying to keep his promise to Sherlock, but it was a bit hard when he was also working through it all. Anita helped him too, though. There were days when John didn't want to get out of bed and Anita would drag him to the couch, just to get him moving. They needed each other.
"Okay. I'll leave you two to, erm...you know," Mrs. Hudson said and she walked away. John and Anita shared a glance before they turned back to the headstone. Anita swallowed, not ready for what they were about to do. But she had to.
"You...you told me once you weren't a hero," Anita said, once again feeling like an idiot for talking to a headstone. John wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his side.
"There were times I didn't even think you were human," John commented, drawing a chuckle out of her. He smiled down at her. Anita took a deep breath
"But let us tell you this: you were the best man, and the most human...human being that we've ever known," Anita said, trying to find the right words. John nodded his head in agreement.
"And no one will ever convince us that you told us a lie," John stated, and then he let out a breath and whimpered slightly. Anita patted his shoulder, gently.
"I was so alone, and I owe you so much," John said as he unwrapped his arms from around Anita and approached the headstone, placing his fingertips on top of it. Anita smiled softly at the scene, wrapping her arms around herself. John turned and started to walk away but he stopped, turned around and raised his head, coming to attention in front of his friend and nodded in salute. John then reached out to Anita and squeezed her upper arm.
"I'll wait for you, whenever you're ready," he told her before walking off. Anita watched him go before turning back to the headstone. Anita sniffed as she took a step closer to the headstone.
"You know, I never thought I would be without you. It was impossible, me without you. You were always there; I don't even remember what it was like before you. I don't- I don't want to say goodbye yet," Anita sobbed, bringing a hand up to her mouth in hopes of quieting her sobs. She didn't want to worry John too much.
"One more miracle for me; for John. Don't...be...dead. Would you do...? Just for me, just stop it. Stop this," Anita begged as her voice broke. It was a stupid tradtion, something she and her dad started when one of her cousins passed away. She was eight maybe, but when her dad took her to the grave the day after the funeral, he taught her to do it. Anita sobbed, but brought two fingers to her lips before leaning forwards and pressing them to the headstone. Anita walked backwards a few paces, before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.
"Goodbye, Sherlock Holmes. I love you," Anita whispered. That was the hard part, saying goodbye to her best friend. That's what he was to her first, her best friend. Anita let out one more sob before turning and walking towards John. He noticed that state that she was in and quickly scooped her into his arms, leading her towards the car.
Unknown to John and Anita, some distance away under a tree and obscured from their view by other headstones, Sherlock Holmes watched as John Watson led his grieving girlfriend, Anita O'Malley, into a car. Sherlock looked around reflectively, Simon O'Malley's grave catching his gaze for a moment before he walked away.
author's note !
So that's it for this book! Good news is that Sherlock is very much alive, bad news is that he will now have to explain to Anita as to why he faked his dead. Which will certainly not end well for him lol. Again, I just want to deeply apologize to you guys for leaving but I hope to quickly bang all these books out so I don't forget again lol. The next book to this one will be posted almost immediately after this so you don't have to wait long to see Anita kick Sherlock's ass over this lol.