[June 4th] [Perry Mason] Lux Aeterna, 4

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Title: Lux Aeterna, scene 4
Day/Theme: June 4th - Sing and rejoice
Series: Perry Mason
Character/Pairing: Hamilton Burger, Howie Peterson (OC)
Rating: K/G

Let it be duly noted that I have never seen the animated Return of the King film. So hopefully when it's referenced I haven't given incorrect information about it.

Takes place in no particularly specified time.


By Lucky_Ladybug

Hamilton glanced up periodically from his work to view the television screen, more out of idle curiosity than actual interest. With the Petersons working late tonight, and Mignon also at work, Hamilton had been asked to stay with Howie for a few hours. Howie was more than happy to spend some time with his godfather.

Hamilton was pleased as well; they had not had much chance to visit since Florence’s takeover. In between regular work and trying to overthrow her, there was rarely any time.

The seven-year-old already had a healthy fascination with action and adventure movies. He was currently watching the animated version of The Return of the King, made some years before. Of course it had heavily condensed the story and even removed some characters entirely, but Howie had wanted to see how it had been made in comparison with the more recent live-action blockbusters (which he loved watching over and over, in spite of their length). Hamilton was not terribly impressed by it. Howie had not yet offered a concrete opinion.

He frowned at the screen as the framing story of Bilbo’s 129th birthday party concluded the film. “It’s a lot different from the other movie,” he proclaimed matter-of-factly. “Even though Frodo’s still going to go away.” He looked to Hamilton. “Which one’s more like the books?”

“The other one,” Hamilton said.

Howie nodded, thoughtful. “It’s really long,” he said. “And more exciting. I like it better.” He picked at a piece of fuzz on the couch. “This one’s more happy, though. Everybody’s having a good time.” He watched the Hobbits at the birthday party. “. . . Is it ever going to be like that again here?”

Hamilton’s heart twisted at the plaintive question. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

“Florence is like Sauron,” Howie said. “And we’re all like the people of Middle-Earth who wanna be free from him. Are we gonna have to go on a big quest like Frodo to stop her?”

Hamilton set aside the laptop. This conversation was going to need his complete attention. “Well . . . you know we’ve been gathering people together to fight Florence,” he said. “Perry’s contacted his friends in the Air Force to help too. Sooner or later we’re going to have to storm Florence’s castle.”

“Like what Aragorn wanted to do in the big movie.”

“More or less,” Hamilton said. “Although Aragorn just wanted to distract Sauron so Frodo could get the Ring to Mount Doom.”

“Are people going to die?”

Hamilton sighed quietly, sadly. “They might,” he said.

“You might die.” Howie spoke matter-of-factly, blinking away forming tears.

“Yes,” Hamilton answered.

“I don’t want you to.” Howie shuddered. “It was awful enough when that Vifa lady tried to kill you. You were lying on the floor and you didn’t move and I was trying to get you to wake up. . . .” He turned away with a sniffle.

Hamilton laid a hand on Howie’s shoulder. There was not much more he could say on that subject. Even now, he or Howie had the occasional nightmare about that time. It had affected them both very deeply.

Howie was silent for a bit as well. Then suddenly he rocked back against Hamilton’s shoulder, looking up at him. “Mr. Burger, why does Frodo always go away at the end? Why doesn’t he just stay in the Shire with Sam and everyone? The Ring’s gone and everyone can be happy again.”

Hamilton stiffened. This kid always picked the most difficult questions to ask. How would he even explain it in a way Howie could understand? He struggled to collect his thoughts. He could not wordlessly ponder on the matter for long; Howie was watching him with expectant eyes.

At last Hamilton sighed. “Do you remember when he said the Shire had been saved, but not for him? And how his wounds from the quest still bothered him?”

“Yeah.” Howie nodded. “But wouldn’t they bother him everywhere?”

“I think the idea was that he was going someplace where they could heal,” Hamilton said. “And only a special place could do that, so he had to leave to go there.”

“Oh.” Howie frowned. “So that’s why he didn’t want to stay in the Shire, because of still being hurt?”

“Something like that,” Hamilton said, all the while wishing Perry were here. Perry would be much better at this literary conversation, especially with a kid. “But it wasn’t just those wounds that were hurting him. He was hurting inside, too. He carried the Ring for so long that it had damaged him all over. Destroying the Ring didn’t take that away.” He paused, drawing on his remembrance of the books. “The books tell a little more about it. They also mention that most of the Hobbits in the Shire didn’t understand what Frodo had been through. They couldn’t figure out why he’d ever left the Shire. Most Hobbits didn’t like to wander, you know. And they thought Frodo and the others had just been on some crazy adventure that didn’t have any real meaning or purpose.”

Howie scrunched up his face in thought. “That must’ve been really awful, if he was hurting all those ways too and they didn’t get anything at all. It was to save the world, and all of those Hobbits, that he felt like he had to go away and destroy the Ring. He wanted to go home all the way when they were in that Elves’ place!”

“That’s right,” Hamilton nodded. Seeing a way to tie it back with the current situation he went on, “A lot of times people do what they don’t really want to because they know it’s the right thing. And because they care about what happens to the world and the people in it, even if they themselves might never be able to be part of it again.”

“I guess so.” Howie looked down at the couch, then up again with an alarmed start. “But if you don’t die and everything’s going to be okay when Flo’s gone, you’re not going to go away like Frodo, are you?!”

Hamilton regarded the boy in surprise. Then, slowly, he smiled. “Of course I won’t.”

“Good.” Howie snuggled against him. “. . . Did Frodo and Sam ever see each other again?”

“Yes, they did,” said Hamilton. “The books say that when Sam lived a good, long life, he set sail from the Grey Havens. And I’m sure he found Frodo again.”

“He’d better have,” Howie declared.

He stared off into the distance. “We should have a big party when everything’s normal again, like they were having in this cartoon movie.” He jumped off the couch with a grin. “And we can have games and sing and dance and stuff!”

Hamilton smiled. “We probably will,” he said. “Although I don’t know about singing. . . .”

Howie tilted his head to the side. “You can sing, can’t you?”

Now Hamilton was being put uncomfortably on the spot once more. “Well . . . yes, I can,” he hesitantly admitted. “I just don’t do it too much. People don’t sing in court.”

“But they can if it’s a party.” Howie gave a firm nod. “So you should sing there.”

“What would I sing?” Hamilton asked. This train of thought was starting to amuse him.

“I don’t know.” Howie gestured. “Something cool. Maybe you could make up a song about beating Flo!”

“Maybe,” Hamilton said, unable to keep from smiling now.

Howie grinned. “Yeah!”

He looked at the clock. “When are Mom and Dad coming home?”

“I’m not sure,” Hamilton said. “You know sometimes it’s later than other times.”

“Yeah. . . .” Howie looked at him with hopeful eyes. “Could we watch one of the big Frodo movies?”

Hamilton raised an eyebrow. “That would be three hours, at least. I think you have a bedtime coming up long before that.”

“Awww.” Howie rocked back and forth on his feet. “I probably wouldn’t sleep anyway.” He glanced to the window. “Flo’s guards are right here on this street tonight.” He turned back to Hamilton. “And this is the first time we’ve had any time together in eons!”

Hamilton wondered if Howie even knew what an eon was. But he could not help his gentle amusement. And it was nice being able to relax for a while and not worry about what Florence was planning or what they could do to stop her. He had been wearing out.

“Alright, we’ll try it,” he said at last. “But if you start getting tired, we’ll turn it off. The same thing goes if your parents come back before it’s over.”

“Okay!” Howie ran to the case and grabbed the much-watched copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. “We’ll watch the first one.”

Hamilton watched as Howie hurried back to the entertainment center and fed the disc into the DVD player after removing the other one. “Why do you like these movies so much anyway?” he asked. It seemed to him that Howie had been watching them a lot more since Florence’s takeover.

Howie shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re cool.” He hopped back on the couch as the disc loaded.

Hamilton glanced down at him. “And maybe because you like seeing the good guys winning against the evil trying to take over their world?” It ran an interesting parallel to their own situation, as Howie had already noted.

“. . . Yeah,” Howie said with a nod. “That too.” Lowering his voice he added, “I want us to win.”

“I do too,” Hamilton said, quietly as well.