A Farewell to Love - Alistairs Story (Epilogue)

It has now been about sixteen years since Alistair's former love Marie ended her own life. He was still a bit depressed after her funeral, but ever since he started to develop a smoking habit, he's been able to come to terms with it.

In the beginning, the habit was quite bad; with him smoking almost half a pack of them every day. It caused his health to start making a steep decline, so with the help of his best friend Markus, he slowly began to lessen the amount of cigarettes he would smoke on a weekly basis. Now these days he smokes only about one or two cigarettes a week.

The time of this year is about two days before Father's Day. Around this time of the year, Alistair finds himself thinking about his young daughter, who him and his former love Marie named Emily, that they left at an orphanage to avoid her mother's scrutiny. He always felt some remnants of the depression that he felt years ago when Marie passed away start to seep in as he pondered over how differently their lives would be if him and Marie were able to raise their child, instead of what they did. Feelings of deep regret are pouring in as well, even causing some tears to form within his eyes.

"Emily....I...I'm so sorry. We abandoned you...it wasn't worth it... I wish you were home with me...maybe...she'd still be here if you were..." In the middle of the man's depressed thoughts, he starts to feel a vibration in his back pocket.

"Huh? W..Who could be calling me..?" He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone to see who was calling him. As it turns out, it was good friend Markus. Curious, he answered the phone and pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ali, what's up?"

"Why'd you call me?"

"Two reasons. One, I know for a fact that you always get pretty mopey around Father's day. Two, I think I might have just found someone to make you actually enjoy it again."

This statement grew interest in Alistair. "Someone? What are you talking about?"

"I bumped into someone while I was out shopping earlier. It was a girl, and...she looked a bit like you. I asked her what her name was and, she was undersrandably hesitant at firsr. Though, after talking with her for a little bit, she did tell me and as it turns out...her name's Emily."

"!!!?!" The mysterious girl's name was the exact same as his daughter's. This began to catch his interest.

"That's right, Ali. I might have accidentally found your kid. I gotta say, she looked like she's done pretty well for herself since that orphanage.”

“D-Do you know where she lives?”

“She said something about staying over at her boyfriends cabin in the Red Jungle Zone for a little bit. She said you can’t miss it.”

“Markus...I’ll call you back later. I gotta go see her.”

“Gotcha. I’ll talk to you later.” They both then hung up, Ali stuffing his phone into his back pocket.

He had a vague idea of where the Red Jungle Zone was, as he’d seen the edge of it sometimes when he had gone out on walks. He threw on his shoes and headed straight out of the door. After all of these years of regret, he would finally be able to meet his own flesh and blood in person. He ran as fast as he possibly could to the edge of the Zone he was told about. It was a bit of a long run, but the thought of seeing his child was enough to keep him going until he finally got there. He was practically out of breath as he stopped to rest at the Zone’s edge. After a few moments of regaining his breath, he looked out into the Zone. Red and orangish leaves were all over the place, giving it a very Autumn-like aesthetic. The reds of the leaves reminded him of Emily...the girl he was out to finally see ever since she was an infant. After another minute of resting, he resumed his journey and began to walk into the Zone to look for the cabin.

Luckily, it didn’t take very long for Alistair to spot the cabin. Such a structure would stick out of such a red, luscious area such as the Red Jungle Zone like a sore thumb. Ali paused for a brief time to gaze upon the cabin. He has now come so close to Emily, his child. After that short moment, he cautiously walked towards the front door, and then knocked.

He then heard a female voice call out from a different room; one who he was sure he knew it belonged to... “Be there in a sec!”

After a few seconds of waiting, she finally opened the door, albeit, with a slightly confused look on her face once she saw who was knocking on the door.

“Umm...who are you?”

Ali sighed. “Emily...I know this’ll be hard to believe, but...I..I’m your father.”

Emily blinked a few times in obvious disbelief. “Wow...you’re right, I don’t believe you. My parents have been dead since I was a baby! The people who raised me told me so!”

“Emily...what you’re saying is a lie. Your mother and I just said that so-.”

“Just shut it! My caretakers would never lie to me! If you’re REALLY my father, then prove it!!”

Alistair paused. He was very surprised at what Emily had to say about his claims, but at the same time, he understood why. He remembered something that both him and Marie left with her on that same day that they dropped her off at the orphanage. If she still had it, it would be complete proof of what he’s telling her...

“Okay...do you happen to own a locket? Possibly golden in color?”

Emily began to look shocked at what he said. Especially with how specific he was being. “Y-Yeah..I usually keep it in my back pocket..” She then began to pull it out and open it as the man continued to speak.

“Inside, there’s only one photo and a small note. The photo is of you and both of your parents together shortly after you were born in the hospital.”

Emily began to feel tears form in both of her eyes as she gazed upon the photo within the locket. The Echidna’s description was correct! His story about being her father was starting to look more and more true as time went on. She only needed one more thing to believe him completely...

“W-What does the note say...?”

“Ah...well, my memory is a bit fuzzy on the specific words, but I know it’s something along the lines of: “Your parents will and forever love you.””

That’s when the tears in Emily’s eyes started to fall...what the Echidna said was a close enough description of what the note said. She now finally believed that this man was her father... she was completely speechless as she let the locket slip out of her hand and drop onto the ground at their feet.

Alistair began to look down at the photo within the still-opened locket, breathing a sigh. “You almost look exactly like your mother...she would have loved to see you today.” Almost as a knee-jerk response to her father’s words, Emily wrapped both of her arms around him in a tight embrace as she finally started to burst into tears.

“D-Dad..!!” She buried her face into his shoulder as more tears came out. Alistair wrapped his arm around his daughter and started patting her head in response to try and comfort her. He even started to feel a small amount of tears start to form in his own eyes.

“There there Emily..Your dad’s here now. You don’t have to cry.”

Now, reunited as father and daughter, they both stood near the front door, finally holding each other in their arms.