Title: Shine
Author: moushkas (cassiels-song)
Artist: artmetica (on livejournal)
Beta: anti-canon
Pairing: Dean/Cas, one- sided Dean/Lisa, Sam/Jessica, John/Mary
Inspired By: Stardust
Rating: R
Word Count: 47,741
Warnings: Fluff, Fluff, Fluffiness...with a dash of corny lines
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or Stardust, I'm just totally in love with both
Summary: Dean just wanted a star to impress Lisa, Castiel just wanted some freedom from the skies
Author's Note: For the dc_everafter community on Livejournal (link in my profile)
An amazing thanks to my beta, Anti-Canon who really pulled this entire story together. Check out the art for this story on livejournal (once again link in my profile).

Shine
Prologue.
In Which a Man finds his Heart's Desire

There was once a young man whose wish was to gain his heart's desire.

Although the idea of a man seeking his heart's desire is not unusual, especially concerning a story of adventure and love, the way John Winchester (and subsequently his children) found his heart's desire was far from normal. It all started in a village called Lawrence and a secret which its most famous landmark, a stone border that spread the whole length of the village and surrounding farm lands, held tight for hundreds, maybe thousands of years.

John Winchester, at the responsible age of 25, had a successful handyman career, a blossoming fiancee, and he was not a romantic. He did not imagine himself as an old man, wrinkled and madly in love with his wife of 80 years. John did not picture the way he'd propose to said wife; candles, roses, diamonds. He did not imagine private dinners with wine under a night sky as a way to woo a woman. John only spent money on enough food to survive, on clothing that would keep him warm. And he asked Katie Milligan, the prettiest girl in the village, for her hand in marriage after he'd offered her father the best wine in the country and asked for permission to court Katie.

John Winchester ran his own business where he repaired carts, worked on roofs, and even farmed a little bit. He was known in Lawrence as a dependable man, he'd stood at the small gap in the Wall when a guard was ill, dragged a drunken Bill Harvelle to bed when Bill's father was too tired of Bill's antics. He was a man who'd yet do more with his fiancee than walk around the village with her father as a watchful escort. They hadn't touched, hadn't stepped closer than a foot closer to each other than was respectful for an unwed couple, and always in the presence of Katie's family. Katie hardly seemed perturbed by the lack of intimacy. She smiled pleasantly and basked in the attention she received on their walks.

In the days leading up to John Winchester's brief but important adventure were filled with exotic strangers cramming into the village's only inn, the Roadhouse, and milling about the Wall, peaking through the cracks to spot a seemingly unsuspecting meadow and the mysterious figures that flicked in-and-out of existence. John spent his days, ones where he was not working or walking Katie about town, lying in the patches of grass in the field just north of Wall, dreaming of adventure. He dreamed of the lands the strangers came from and how they came to land in the remote village. He dreamed of how he'd escape the small village and see the world he'd only read about in his father's books.

John Winchester spent his nights guarding the gap in the Wall, turning the strangers away and explaining, "Tomorrow the fair will come."

Bill and John had always been instructed, as they spent every year around this time guarding whatever it was on the other side of the gap, to tell the crowd that "tomorrow the fair would come", tomorrow they would be allowed through. As far as John knew, that sort of tomorrow never came, but every year the strangers would crowd the town, bombard the Wall, and be turned away for days until John would wake up one morning to a village filled only with its regular residents.

This year, was an important year, the most important in all of John's 25 years, he stood guard for the entirety of a day in the middle of the week. From dawn until dusk, he and Bill stood at the gap and turned away strangers. Usually, once they'd been relieved of their duty by Jim and Caleb, Bill would invite John out for a drink at the Roadhouse and John would politely refuse, explaining he was tired only to retreat to his empty and out-of-the way cottage to dream of worlds beyond. Tonight, at first, had been no exception.

"This is your last fair as a single man, John." Bill laughed as Jim took his place, smelling lightly of wine and a foreign woman's perfume, a strange affair for a man with his nose in the bible all the time, "You should join me."

"Yes, John," Jim laughed, "Many pretty girls down at the Roadhouse tonight."

Caleb snorted, "Most of them hardly interested in us 'guards of the Wall'."

Bill shrugged and began to pull his friend down the small hill towards the lighted village, "John doesn't need to worry, he's got Katie and her pretty eyes to keep his bed warm."

John laughed lightly, hardly arguing with Bill because it was pointless to argue, "I think I will head home, Bill. Katie asked to meet early tomorrow."

Bill frowned, "No, not going to hear of it. See, there was this pretty brunette eyeing me earlier today and I need some support."

John snorted. He'd seen the girl, busty and brunette, who'd called John a 'cocky son of a bitch' when he told her 'little boys shouldn't go near the Wall'. He had honestly been mistaken, she was wearing tan britches and a man's shirt, and her ample assets had been faced away from him. She had hardly given Bill a glance before storming off back towards the village.

John must have been in a good mood, or perhaps struck by destiny, for he'd finally, in all ten years of guarding the Wall during the fair, he'd agreed to go the Roadhouse. Bill slapped him on the back and promised a beer that would most likely find its way into the hands of the fiery woman they'd met before.

Sitting in the crowded, loud Roadhouse, John had been sure that he'd made a mistake. Women barely clothed, speaking strange tongues danced around the bar, flirting with men in odd silks and colors, or even with the young men of Lawrence who smiled and groped at their body when the women were distracted. John moped in his own corner, watching curiously as Bill laughed and then ducked a very quick punch from the woman he'd set his sights on. John knew it had been a bad idea to allow Bill to humiliate himself but when the woman, Ellen, had accepted Bill's pint of ale, which John had generously paid for, and given her name in return, John knew Bill was in love.

John sat alone, longing for Katie to be as daring, as sharp tongued as Ellen in her boy's pants and shirt seemed to be. When Bill 'accidentally' spilled beer over Ellen's ample breasts, soaking the material and exposing the skin, John rolled his eyes and turned his attention to a man in an odd silk coat, electric brown eyes and a smirk that had the two women beside him fondling the collars of their dresses.

The man was short, far too short to be surrounded by all those pretty women. But surround they did, and they stroked his light brown hair and his olive toned skin, their hands found their way into they layers beneath his coat and kissed his stubbled cheek. His thin lips followed and kissed at a young Italian's mouth, nipping at her and smirking when she melted into him a little more. The short stranger then reached across the table, beyond a tall, black top hat, to a plate of sweets, the best the Roadhouse had to offer, and plopped one in his mouth, moaning as though it was the best steak in the world.

It was hardly unusual for a man of common looks to be surrounded by women and food, especially if there was money and drink, but John still stared in surprise. John seemed to stare for so long that the stranger turned to him, the full weight of his bright brown eyes fell on him and John had to swallow the butterflies in his stomach before he could focus again.

The stranger was suddenly standing, attention drawn to a point beyond John and when he turned, he found the strange man in layers of metallic black silk starring at Ellen and Bill. Ellen was laughing lightly and cleaning the beer from her cleavage thoroughly, revealing some of the flesh hidden beneath her shirt. Bill was swaying on his feet, an obvious bulge growing in his pants when suddenly the stranger was in his line of sight, and approaching Ellen.

"That's a shame," The man said in a stiff yet charming way, "Getting such nice breasts wet when I'm not the cause."

Ellen's eyes found the stranger immediately, a very angry retort on the tip of her tongue, about to escape her full lips when she paused. She smiled softly and flicked her brunette hair over her shoulder, "It seems you were just too slow. This young man has already helped himself to soaking them."

Her eyes found John and the glint there was...confusing. It was smoldering with mischief, a smirk that had matched the stranger's as he ate sweets and nipped at the loose women behind John. However, there was something akin to recognition in her gaze, like she'd just come to realize John was sitting there, staring at the interactions. Her stare was cut short when Bill stepped forward, a growl on his lips and a swagger in his steps that was present in every bar fight in the history of man.

"Hey man," Bill hissed, poking the smaller man in his broad shoulder, "The lady doesn't appreciate gawking." Ellen grabbed for Bill's arm but he was out of her reach and in the stranger's face faster than her attempts to stop him. John was standing then as the stranger muttered something that stiffened Bill's spine, "What's your name stranger?"

"I don't think that's very important when defending the honor of a lady," The stranger grinned, something cocky that also seemed natural.

"Oh," Bill pushed the man back and, for a brief moment, John really believed that Bill wouldn't have moved the stranger at all if the stranger hadn't allowed it, "But I must know it, Good Sir. I'll need a name to put on your headstone."

The wind up was faster than the actual punch, if John was honest, and John's footsteps were faster than that. Bill's arm was raised high, fist clenched tightly, and he swung for the stranger, catching John in the shoulder as the unromantic young man stood in the way. It stung, and would probably bruise but it saved Bill from being thrown out of his Father's bar and Ellen took his wrist gently between her breasts so everyone won, somewhat.

"Get him out of this bar!" Bill hissed as he allowed Ellen and his mother to lead him away, most likely to attend to his swelling knuckles.

"Well that's annoying," The stranger sighed, placing the top hat on his head and retreating to the exit before Mr. Harvelle's burly bouncers made him leave, "I've got no place to go."

John followed, and too this day, he still does not know why. He caught the man out on the road, grabbing his attention just as the man seemed to fade out of existence, "Hey! Wait."

"Oh silly me," The stranger grinned, pulling a candy from somewhere beyond John's sight and turning back to John, "Your reward for saving me," A cake on a plate appeared in the stranger's free hand, "Help yourself."

"Um, no thanks," John frowned and the cake was gone, like he'd dreamed it all along.

"Alright," The stranger grinned, "What would you like?"

"I don't need a reward."

"Oh but I have to give you one, I'm obligated too."

"I just took Bill's punch," John snorted, "Hardly something worth a reward."

He smirked, "Well, I am in need of a place to stay. All the homes have booked their rooms out and seeming as how I was thrown out of the only inn in this village, perhaps in return , you would put me up for a night or two."

John nodded, unsure if he really should be starting something like this, getting involved with a man whose eyes shown like stars and smirk had ladies swooning. What kind of reputation would he have if he allowed a man like this near a home he was to share with Katie Milligan? John shrugged it all off, though, persuaded by the booze or perhaps of something greater.

"Follow me then."

John's home was hardly something ostentatious. It was a moderately sized cottage with two empty rooms upstairs and one below. The one below had been his parent's room but since they long had retired from this home, escaping to a one room cottage in the center of their farm, John was left alone. He took the man to his parent's bedroom, by passing the living area and kitchen, "Here."

The man looked about, eyes flashing to the window, a good view of the Wall in the distance, "Good, I'll take it."

John held back the snort, the man hardly had a choice. He still pretended to be relieved and buckled down for the hard part, payment, "Well what will you give me for it?"

"Gold, two coins," The man flashed two gold coins, enough to last John the rest of his life but something spurred John's greed...interest.

"If you're here for the fair, then it's miracles and wonders you're trading."

The man's deep brown eyes, dark in the low light of night, glinted with mischief, with a deep, profound knowledge, like he'd planned this whole event. He pretended to consider before he shrugged and said, "Very well, if it's miracles and wonders you seek, I shall give you the best of all. Tomorrow, we shall seek your heart's desire."

Hours later, as John lied in the grass staring up at the stars, he wondered why he had agreed to the deal at all.

The man's snoring had shaken the house and interrupted John's sleep enough that he had retreated to the field in his backyard for just a little peace and quiet. He was drifting in and out of sleep now, watching as clouds slowly rolled in from the north end. His mind was somewhere else, somewhere far away where pretty and adventurous girls cursed by witches and flying ships covered the stormy skies and then a body, warm and slightly hairy fell down beside John.

"Looks like rain," The voice was scratchy, masculine with an air of familiarity and accent that eased John's mind from panicking. He turned to the voice to find a man, short, bearded and wearing some sort of rounded hat with an extension that mostly covered his brow and eyes. His sandy colored hair fell down from beneath the hat to the shoulders where the man wore a shirt and pants that were worn and dusty. John spotted gleaming greenish-blue eyes staring down at him, "What kind of idjit sleeps out in the rain?"

John frowned and sat upright, suddenly towering over the short, grinning man, "Well what about you? You're sleeping out here when its about to rain too."

The man's whole head rolled in exasperation and his large hand scratched at the thick, sandy colored beard, "'Cuz I ain't got a place to stay, idjit."

John sighed and fell back against the ground, "Well, if you don't mind loud snoring, I've got a place just down the hill. But it'll cost you."

"Do I look like I have money?" The hairy man grunted but his hands slipped into the pack beside him, "Spent it all tryin' to get my ass out here!" John wanted to ask what he'd meant, how far the hairy man had traveled to get to...where ever he was going but he pulled out a shiny jar of something and interrupted John's thoughts with it. The small jar, a bottle of glass and gold was filled halfway of amber liquid that swirled with the motion of the little hairy man, "Here she is! I ain't got cash but I still got the good stuff!"

John sat up once more and watched as the man loosened and then removed the cap of a crystal jar filled halfway with amber liquor. John had seen jars like that on the high shelf at the Roadhouse, only the richest of the strangers ordered shots of that.

"Don't get too excited," The man took a swig then passed it to John, "It ain't the richest stuff, but its probably better than anything you've had."

John followed suit, taking a large gulp of the liquid and tasting the sweet flavor of hard whiskey on his tongue. He gasped and began to cough as it burned down his throat. The hairy man laughed and took the bottle back, taking a swig once more, "I like ya, kid. What's your name?"

Lightning was flashing in the distance and the roar of thunder rolled above their heads. John felt warm in his belly, the feeling of inebriation passing through his tired body, "John," He muttered, feeling the goofy smile spread across his face, he reached for the whiskey again, "John Winchester."

"Bobby," The man allowed John to pull the whiskey from his hands, watched as John took another swig and coughed it up once more. Bobby laughed before taking one last swig and putting the bottle back in his sack, "You shouldn't have too much whiskey, boy. You look like a lightweight. I hoped those two sips were enough for a nights stay in your home?"

John stood on shaky legs and the hairy man, Bobby, stood next to him. He looped John's arm around his shoulder and walked the half-drunk boy down the hill to John's home. The rain began to fall but John hardly noticed, he was already in the house, already in his warm bed above a snoring stranger and beside a hairy man.

"Sleep, boy," Bobby grinned and snuck off to the other available room. John snuggled deep into his blankets, thick and warm. Tomorrow he'd see his heart's desires and neither the hairy man with his burning whiskey nor the stranger and his loud snoring would matter.

When John awoke, his head and bones ached and he struggled to understand all that had happened the night before. However, his home was blessedly empty and a light knocking on his door brought Katie Milligan and her father to his breakfast table.

Katie, a fragile and quiet blonde with fair gray eyes smiled softly from behind her lace fan. She eyed John from a corner and inserted an embarrassing "Oh, Father", when appropriate. Mr. Milligan sat across from John at his table, "We are very pleased to be having a wedding soon."

John tried not to be annoyed that Katie Milligan's father had been subtly nagging John to move the wedding plans along faster. John had proposed to Katie Milligan a little over a month ago, after three months of courting and Mr. Milligan had not cease to stop telling John to marry Katie as soon as possible. Today was no different, telling John that a July wedding, as both Katie and himself had agreed on, was too far away when they were in early April,

"And I have yet to see a wedding present from you," Katie blushed in her corner, Mr. Milligan grinned, "I assume since you are awake today, you may find a present worthy of my daughter at the fair."

John sighed, "Yes, Mr. Milligan. I was thinking of finding something at the fair today. Katie deserves only the best."

Mr. Milligan stood, Katie followed, "Yes, it better be something large and pretty to sooth my daughter, since you insist on making her wait until July to be wed."

John showed them to the door, "Yes, Mr. Milligan."

He left first, Katie a step or two behind him. She turned to face John, "I hope to see you in the evening, John. My mother would like to invite you to dinner."

John responded, "Very well."

She smiled softly and left with her father, turning her hair in a manner that has the sun igniting the blonde curls. John grinned to himself before turning back to his home and seeking a change of clothes. He'd have to find a gift tonight, something small and wonderful, if only to sooth Mr. Milligan's nagging.

John stood at the edge of the village, watching as strangers walked through the Wall. He nervously messed with the edges of his brown leather jacket, a bulky, long thing that blocked the wind and chilly air from freezing him.

"Ah, Landlord," The stranger was suddenly beside him with a bright grin, "It is good to see you waited for me."

"Waited?" John had been so nervous, so set on a gift for Katie Milligan, that he'd forgotten their promise, forgotten the smirking stranger with the sweet tooth all together.

"Yes, our bargain, remember, Landlord?"

"John," He hissed, taking a step towards the Wall. The stranger followed, "My name is John."

"John, then." The stranger grinned, elbowing the younger man forward a little faster, "And I am called Gabriel. Now, we are off to seek your heart's desire."

The walk through the Wall was unremarkable, from one side of a simple meadow to the other side without flashes of light, expressive music or even a lost limb. He was simply on the other side of the Wall, walking towards a group of boring trees, following a mass of boring people.

"You'll have to follow close," Gabriel, the stranger, grinned as he pulled a piece of hard candy from his pocket, "It'll get crowded once we hit the tents."

"Tents?" John frowned but suddenly he was in an open field beyond the line of trees. The ground was filled with people, tents and noise. He squeezed closer to Gabriel and watched in awe as they passed by a plethora stands.

They walked into the path of a dark skinned woman with inquisitive brown eyes. Her deep black hair was held tight and high and coupled with a deep purple robe, she looked truly ethnic. She grinned at the two and swirled her hands around a crystal ball, "Is it your future you seek?"

John frowned but Gabriel stepped in the way, "His heart's desire, actually, Missouri. Do you think you could point us in the right direction?"

"That'll cost you, Gabriel." She frowned at him but placed her palm upon the crystal ball, "I expect a lock of your hair." She then pointed a very accusatory finger at him, "And that is Miss Moseley to you young man!"

The man ran his fingers through the deep brown hair and smiled nervously, "Too pricey, we'll find it ourselves. Thank you, Miss Moseley."

"Cheapskate," She humphed. She shooed him off, her hand moving off the crystal ball that was suddenly showing the night sky. John looked closer as a star, a bright burning star began to fall towards him. It collided with the glass of the ball, exploded from the inside and caused the man to jump back in shock. Missouri laughed, "It's just a prophecy, silly boy."

Gabriel took John by the shoulders and led him away, "Come, John."

They walked deeper into the crowd of tents, passing an old man selling bottles labeled "Youth", a young woman in skimpy clothing dancing around him. A small girl was selling flowers that sang, which John considered buying for Katie but the girl had asked for his finger nail, whole and ripped from his fingers and Gabriel had said it was "highway robbery". The finally came across a bright yellow tent and a young blonde milled about its surrounding area.

John stopped, distracted by the attractive curves her deep blue dress showed off and the playful tinkling her agile steps created. Her hair, star-light blonde and heavily, perfectly curled bounced in some odd wind, revealing cat-like ears.

"Young lady," Gabriel called standing in front of a table of crystal flowers. John circled back towards the products, watching as the blonde's bright green eyes found Gabriel and then John. She smiled, a kittenish grin before she pranced backwards towards the trinkets. The tinkling, like bells in the wind, echoed with every step as the girl marched back to the table where Gabriel stood.

"Well, good sir," She smiled, voice enticing, "These are pretty flowers and the use and functions are simply for decoration; they bring pleasure and are simply a token of good favor one may give to a lady-friend." She grinned at John who stood beside Gabriel. She leaned forward in a way John had seen other women who desired his attention and this time, John followed her lead. His eyes found her chest, ample breasts that seemed to ignite heat within John, something not even Katie Milligan and her pretty skirts could do. But John's thoughts were far from Katie Milligan.

The blonde brushed her hair back over her shoulder. Gabriel grinned, "My debt to you is settled." He spoke to John, or perhaps the woman, John had no idea as his attention was solely on the wonderful woman, chained to an ugly yellow cart by a silver chain, selling crystal flowers. He disappeared shortly after his mystic words were muttered between the two, "I shall see your son someday soon."

The woman picked up a small rose, glittering in the sunlight though hardly as bright as her perfect grin eyes, "For those experienced enough, this may bring one's true love around." She lifted up a blue bell, allowing the light wind to allow it to chime, "This one brings children, if the good sir practices magic."

"No," John frowned, "I'm..." He watched the rise and fall of her silk robe against her bosom, the twitch of her blonde furred cat ears. There was no denying that John found this woman...perfect. And he would do anything to be perfect in her eyes as well, "And how much for those flowers, "It could be the color of you hair," Her fingers brushed across his short clipped hair, "or the memories of your infancy, or your magic spells to grant me freedom."

John's eyes fell to the silver chain around her ankle, the cause of the chime that had sung to John's mind, distracted him from thoughts of life and Katie Milligan. He frowned, feeling helpless for the first time in his life, "I'm just a handyman. I have no magic to liberate you."

Her eyes softened though the brightness of them hardly dulled, "Well, that's good enough." She picked up a white snowdrop, it sang within her grasp and she pressed the cool glass to her lips with a coy smile, "Buy this one, even a simple handyman can bring forth its good luck. And all its costs is, well..."

She leaned across the table, her breasts pressed against his chest as he leaned forward as well, "A kiss, and, should my master be gone, a night with me."

John breathed in the scent of her, an airy, flowery smell that left him weak in the knees, intoxicated him, enchanted him. Without thought of consequence, he smiled at her and placed a chaste kiss upon her cheek, "That I'll pay with goodwill!"

She presented her cheek once more, tapped it gently and moved her hand to place the snowdrop in his breast pocket. Her hand stroked his chest, filled it with warmth that burned down his gut. John presented his lips for another kiss and then the girl had turned to him, their lips meeting. He kissed her rightly, the first real kiss in all his 25 years and stars burst behind his eyes. He heard a moan, distinctly masculine, and a purr, distinctly feminine. She pulled back first, tongue peeking out to lick his taste from her lips, he followed the motion with his eyes.

"Well, John Winchester," She smiled gently, straightening the lapels of his leather jacket, "I'll see you back here tonight. When the moon is high in the sky."

She shooed him off just as a thin, short man with yellow eyes and yellow robes stumbled out of a bar to John's left. He nodded and stumbled away from her, back to the man approaching them, unfazed by how she'd known his name for she had taken it from him along with certain other things, such as his heart, when he had kissed her.

Mind dazed with thoughts of a captured princess in need of him, John forgot about lunch, about dinner, about the Milligan family invitation. He had stayed in his room until the moon rose high in the sky, then he jumped the Wall, ran through the trees and found the woman amongst closed-down tents and sleeping carts.

"About time, John Winchester." She frowned, pale hands on her skirted hips, she stepped behind her yellow cart, to a patch of tall grass just behind the it, "You had me frightened you would not keep your oath."

John shrugged, feeling foolish for not having crossed hours earlier, when he had wanted to. But he had not wanted to seem desperate, had not wanted the cat woman to realize her hold on him, that her spell had successfully seduced him.

She smiled, coy and cat-like, "Do you think you are under a spell?"

"I...I don't know." He had planned to be more charming but her bright eyes, her dazzling features, the bright warmth that pulsed out of her left him dumb. He could agree to no longer make fun of Bill for being so foolish in front of Ellen the other night.

She laughed airily and leaned into his shoulder, "You are free from any spells, John. For if I could enchant people, I'd be free of Azazel years ago." She paused, a wistful smile, and then her eyes found the dark sky, free of clouds on this night, "What are your stars like? Are they bright like ours? Do they sing to you at night? Do they grant you wishes?"

"If you want them too, if you believe in things like that." John shrugged, fingers stroking the woman's pale shoulders.

She sighed, "I wish for my freedom, I sing to the stars every night, hoping they will grant me an escape. But they don't and they may not for many years."

"Well, of course," John fell back to lie in the grass, beyond the sight of any passing by, the woman followed, "They are many lightyears away. They won't hear you sing for a few more decades."

"Decades!" She gasped, "Well, if I have to wait that long, maybe you should amuse me!"

John laughed and watched as she rolled to lie across him, bodies perfectly aligned, entwining like lovers, "And how will I amuse you, young lady."

"Mary," She smiled, fingers finding the skin beneath his collar, "My name is Mary Campbell, and I think you can figure that out."

They kissed again, their most intimate parts aligning and joining in everything that was perfect. The stars burned above them.

It was early morning when John stumbled out from beyond the Wall, dazed and grinning like a mad man. Katie was there to meet him, deep frown upon her face. She marched up to him, "John Winchester! Where have you been?"

His eyes, spell bound beyond what she could see, found her and the haze and glassy look frightened her. He smiled, fingers running up her arms and lips following the path until both fell upon her cheek. She gasped in shock and embarrassment, then pulled away from his grasp. She felt cool glass brush her cheek again and her fingers found a small trinket in her hair. When she pulled it away, she found a tinkling crystal snowdrop and she smiled.

"This is very beautiful, John Winchester." He nodded to her and moved in a clumsy, weak kneed stumble to his home. She followed to his front door, which he slammed in her face. She called to his window, "Mother is upset with you, John! Please come to my house for dinner."

When no sound came from the home, she returned to her own. And several hours later, a distraught John was sitting at the table, talking of a stand beyond the Wall, that hadn't been there this morning. Katie Milligan, for the first time in her life, understood what losing her husband to a younger woman felt like, what wives whose cheating husbands left them for mistresses felt; and they were not even married yet.

The two married in June, after John bought her chocolates imported from Germany, wine from France, and a diamond ring forged from some distant land south of Lawrence; all of which that had been a acquired by Ellen and Bill on their honey moon trip around the world. Bill had been John's best man and had an array of excuses as to why the groom seemed dazed, distracted, upset; it went mostly ignored for the bride was as glowing and lovely as ever.

And it is there we will leave them, in a falling flurry of rose petals, scarlet and yellow and pink and white.

Or Almost.