Just Another Ending

Title Just Another Ending
Rating PG-13

They say that in the last few seconds before you die that your life flashes in front of your eyes. That's not quite the way it happens - it's not like you remember being born and relive every breath you ever took.

No, it's more like you see the moments that matter - not even always the 'big' moments. I mean, sure, I saw the moment I knew I was in love, the moment I learned of the disease, the moment Ben first looked up at me with absolute trust in his eyes. But I also saw the time I ate spiced karkan ribenes in a prison cell, the sight of speeders weaving their way through the Coruscant underworld, a green planet vanishing as the ship leapt into the swirls of hyperspace, an oddly familiar man whose name I can't recall collapsing into a flower bed as a man and woman looked on.

It's only now, so close to the final end, that I figured it out. Each of those moments, every scene replayed, is an ending.

And this? I should be afraid, fighting this every step of the way. I thought I would be, this is it - The End, capital letters mandatory. But I'm not scared. I'm not fighting this. Warmth, love, acceptance - all those things I once ran from surround me. As I draw what I know will be my last breath the pain fades, the smell of scorched flesh lessens and an overwhelming brightness fills me.

This isn't the end. It's just another beginning.