Once Upon a Lifetime
AUTHOR: Lisa [LukaCrazy]
EMAIL: kovac_fan@yahoo.com
CATEGORY: Luka/Abby
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: A vague reference to Season 7
ARCHIVE: Ask first. :)
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to their rightful owners :)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My first real start-to-finish fanfic attempt. Feedback
appreciated. Thank you to all who have posted and emailed me feedback
and encouragement...:):)
SUMMARY: Short Abby POV fic about how fate has affected her life by
bringing her together with Luka
Long ago and far away, in a place I barely knew existed, a war raged on.
There was a man there about whom I knew nothing. He was an aspiring doctor;
a Croatian in Vukovar who had a wife and two children...family and friends.
He had a life, one that couldn't possibly be more detached from my own.
He knew nothing of me. Didn't know that I lived and breathed, didn't know
the tormented way in which I grew up. And he didn't know how I turned to
the bottle time and time again.
I was in my early twenties, eagerly discovering the many ways in which
alcohol could numb the pain. It was no wonder I was oblivious to the
current events of the world at that time. Had someone told me then, that
the war going on in this small country would affect my life in years to
come, I would have handed them my bottle and said "Here, have some more..."
I try to follow the trail, however obscure it might be. Who was the person
who fired that shell? Did he ever wonder or even care that the lives he
took that day, and the loved ones they would leave behind, could possibly
affect the life of a girl in America ten years down the road? I doubt it.
But still, that's what happened.
It must take a super human strength to overcome a loss so great. It's a
strength I will never know...but he has enough for both of us, and I've
learned over time to draw my strength from him. It was there for the taking
all the while - I just never saw it. And one day, he made me see it...and I
have never been the same since.
Whatever the reason, I cannot begin to guess. My questions are many and
will probably remain unanswered for all time. This man was brought into my
life as an indirect result of sheer tragedy, yet his presence has helped me
in ways I cannot begin to describe. Why was his loss my gain? Why did a
good woman and two children have to die in order for me to find the only
person on this earth who has ever made me feel whole?
I've asked him these questions more than once, looking to hear a different
response each time. But his answer to me is always the same. He says that
our lifetimes crossed paths at a time when we both needed what the other
had to give. Fate can be cruel but it is also kind.
It makes me wonder, and I stand in awe of this mystery that holds the
answers to all the questions. The only other time I've felt that sense of
awe was at the birth of our daughter - a chance for me to assist God in a
miracle. It was my second chance, and after she was born I felt a sense of
peace...forgiveness within myself for earlier choices. He had forgiven me
from the moment I told him, his understanding demeanor trying to convince
me to forgive myself. I was finally convinced at 6:02 a.m. on a cold
January morning after 20 hours of labor. A labor of love.
-------------------------------------------
A baby cries. "Mommy's coming, sweetie." Abby makes her way to the nursery,
bottle in hand, and smiles at the infant trying to say that she is hungry.
She scoops up her daughter, planting kisses on her forehead.
On her way to the kitchen she passes the fireplace, catching sight of the
picture sitting on the mantle. Abby pauses for a moment, picking up the
gold-rimmed framed portrait of her family. She and Luka smile happily,
their daughter nestled in Abby's arms. Her pretty pink dress a sharp
contrast against the swirling blue background.
There are times when she swears she can see Danijela's image within those
swirls, a ghostly image smiling down at the new family Luka has become a
part of. She often wished she could know Danijela in some way - to know the
kind of woman she was that helped make Luka the kind of man he turned out
to be. The man she had left to Abby, however unintentional the gesture.
Abby wanted to tell Danijela what it meant to have Luka in her life, to let
her know that he was being taken care of and being loved. She could only
hope that she knew.
Seeing Danijela's peaceful soul in the swirl of the picture's background,
Abby whispers a soft "thank you" before returning the picture of four
smiling faces to its place on the mantle...
The End
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