Disclaimer: I do not own Tuck Everlasting, though if I did, I would definitely change the ending... didn't like it one bit D
And so~ I wrote this instead! Please read, review, and possibly critique if you want to :]
Jesse Tuck rode through the streets, the wind colliding with his helmet. Without it, it would be as though he was flying, free… but the stupid laws of modern day basically forced him to wear it. It wasn't as if he could actually die, but he supposed that they wouldn't know that, nor should they know that.
He scoffed lightly, before his mind returned to his business. He sobered up as his heart quickened. Even after a hundred plus years, he still longed for that girl he met all those year ago. For her soft, flowing hair, her warm and trusting eyes, and her laugh. God, her laugh was heavenly. Better than even the feeling of the water from the spring.
The Tucks really hated that spring. It ruined their lives, forced them to have to hide from society and completely disappear. On the other hand, however, they should be grateful. After all, without that water, Tuck would have died when he was bitten by that rattle-snake, and he himself would have died a rather nasty and gruesome death from that fall.
And without that spring, Jesse would have never met Winnie Foster, the one he promised, no, gave his heart to. He hoped that God that Winnie had drunken from the spring, had waited for him. He pleaded and prayed while he was waiting for it to be safe to come back. The Tucks had settled down elsewhere, far away from Tree Gap, but even though they had lived there for decades, they all wished to return back to their home, the home that they had all helped make and lived in for eighty-seven years.
Before he left that… place (he wasn't going to call it home since it wasn't home), Tuck had warned him that Winnie might not have waited for him, that she might have had another family. Another lover. Tuck told him to prepare himself in case that she was… dead.
Jesse turned his motorcycle onto a familiar dirt road, smiling gently despite his anxiety. Even after one hundred years, some things just didn't change. He stopped the vehicle in front of the large gates of the manor, got off, and walked leisurely into the small woods, remembering the way as though he walked it just the day before.
The nostalgia hit him with full force a few meters in. The only organisms that, if left to die naturally, lived for hundreds of years were trees, resilient and ancient, older than he was. These were his friends, the only ones outside of his family that lived, rather than fade away like everyone else. Everyone else other than Winnie, he thought, shaking his head, his hair wiping his face.
He stepped cautiously out of habit, the leaves barely sounding under his shoes. He was hardly he breathing as he entered the clearing, and then stopped breathing entirely. There, in the center, sat a young lady with wavy long hair, folding clothes on the grass while humming to herself.
Jesse's weight shifted, causing a stick to crack loudly. The woman stiffened, before turning around hesitantly. Their eyes met, and hers widened considerably. "Jesse?" She murmured, as though unable to believe the sight. "Jesse. Jesse! Jesse Tuck!" she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and practically flew across the distance between them, embracing the man. He was rigid upon contact, so the woman swallowed and nearly let go, when Jesse held her tightly, swinging her around in circles, laughing breathlessly.
The moment when he had to put her down came too soon, and they found that they had managed to travel back to the center.
"Winnie." He breathed out, caressing her cheek. She leaned into his hand and hugged him once more, brushing her lips against his. She pulled back, before he captured her lips again, attempting to transmit to her all the love, passion, and yearning that he had felt over the years.
After a moment of silence, Jesse opened his mouth. "You drank from the spring." He gaped at her slightly, almost incredulous.
She smiled. "You said that you'd love me until you died… and we both know that that would never happen. I would love your for all of eternity, but if I died, then I would be a liar, wouldn't I?" Winnie grinned cheekily, which then turned into a good-natured grin. "I drank from the spring on my seventeenth birthday."
Although she appeared happy, Jesse looked closer at her. "And your parents?" He whispered.
Winnie froze and her eyes dropped to the floor. "Dead. I left home when I was twenty. It would have been suspicious if I never aged, but I wrote letters to mother and father. We kept in contact until father's death. I could not appear at his deathbed, nor at his funeral. Mother insistently wrote letters to me, pleading with me to see him for the last time." Tears started forming in her eyes.
"If I had shown, she would have seen me just as I appeared when I left the house twenty-six years before. When I didn't show… well, later, we stopped writing all together. I don't remember who was the one who stopped writing first, if it was me or her." Winnie stared at something that only she could see. "And two years later, I received one, final letter." The tears started dropping.
"She sent it on her death day, begging me to come and see her. I couldn't. But it was her death day! I walked into the manor with a hooded face. There were less servants in there than there were when I still lived there. I suppose many were dismissed when father died. I told the rest to leave, and paid the doctor was to remain outside, for when she died. I- I spent the whole day with her, and in her final hour, took off the hood that threw a shadow on my face before. She, she was so surprised, but didn't ask any questions, and in the end, she forgave me for not going to father's funeral."
Jesse was silent throughout her monologue, before gathering her into his arms. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I should have given you the idea to drink from the spring. I- I didn't know how much pain it would bring you. I apologize, I really do. Please, forgive me? "
Winnie pulled away, wiping her eyes. "No way. Why should I? I chose to drink that water. And I love you so, so much. So don't apologize. I don't regret my decision. On another note, I now own the mansion… and these woods." She looked up happily. "Where's everyone else?"
He grinned and pulled her closer. "We're gonna go bring them here." She stared at him excitedly. Once he let go, she grabbed the clothes and stuffed them into the basket.
"Let's go put these away first, then we can pack for the journey." They stood up, and Jesse lifted the basket out of her arms. He looked at the clothes, and pulled out a shirt too small for Winnie to wear. He stared at them, before turning his quizzical gaze to her. "They belong to someone that I… took in, if you could call it that. Wait, you should meet her first before you say anything." She grabbed his arm and started dragging him back to her house.
A/N: So this was the first chapter. I hope that you liked it... though I'm a bit worried because Tuck Everlasting (the movie) did come out about... what, 6 years ago? Oh well. Please review!