Passing the Legacy

[Aura]

Alyx felt extremely out of place. She was dressed up in a black dress, sitting in a room with a bunch of mourners that she had never met before, at a funeral for a boy who she had never met while he was alive.

Or to be more specific, she had never met him in person.

The only things that Alyx knew about Bart Cappotelli were that he loved cartoons, had aspirations to break into the animation industry, and loved discussing such things online. She knew nothing of his personality or appearance offline. He was just the guy with a pun username and a Steven Universe avatar on a forum that they were both frequent users of. And she had no idea what that made her an important enough part of his life to attend his funeral.

That wasn't to say that she felt resentful. Quite the opposite, actually. She was flattered when Bart's mom asked her to come during one of their e-mail conversations. But even so, she felt like she... well, it sounded odd even in her mind, but she felt that she hadn't earned the right to be there. Everyone else had stories of Bart that they could tell, or they could share happy memories about him, but she couldn't relate to any of them. She could listen to any of their stories and respond with an "I remember that" or perhaps even a "good old Bart". She didn't have that base to work with. She felt like a complete outsider.

The idea of just leaving had crossed her mind a couple of times, but she didn't entertain it for more than a moment. For one, Bart's parents wanted to talk with her, so she needed to stick around for that. In addition, bailing on the funeral just felt... wrong. Bart was a teenage boy who had lost his life in a horrible, cruel way, far before his time, and everyone present was there to honor his memory. If she stormed out, it would be as though she were wiping her feet on what this was supposed to be about, and she couldn't bring herself to do that. Bart deserved the respect, so she sat patiently among the crowd and waited through the ceremony.

The picture of Bart that had been set up was the first time that Alyx had seen him aside from the school pictures that Gravekeeper and Great Detective had dug up. It showed Bart sitting at his desk at home and smiling to the camera. Alyx noticed things about him in order as she scanned the large picture. She took not of his Teen Titans shirt, his weight, the messy state of his hair, the open book on the table, and the pencil in his hand. And last, she noticed his smile. She put all of those elements together in her head, and formed a single conclusion.

Seems like a nice kid.

People were crying around her, and she kind of wished that she could cry too. She was pretty sure that she was the only one who didn't have the emotional attachment to Bart that everyone else did, and it felt weird. When the rest of the crowd started to move about at the end of the ceremony, she still waited in her seat at the back of the room for Bart's parents.

After the collected crowd had largely cleared, two other people remained, a heavyset Italian couple, with the woman holding a book. The two of them approached, and they spoke to her, the first people at the entire event to do so.

"Alyx?" The woman said, her voice shaking, which was explained by her puffy eyes. She had definitely been crying. "I'm Lorna, and this is my husband Nick. We talked online."

Alyx stood up and shook both of their hands. "Bart's parents, right? I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Nick replied. "It's been a difficult time, and some days it's hard to find a reason to get out of bed. We miss him."

"I don't blame you. He seemed like a great guy." Alyx empathized with them as best she could. She didn't want to try to wrest control of the conversation away from them, especially during such a tender time, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. "Why did you want to see me?" She inquired.

Lorna held the book in front of her chest with both hands. "You mentioned that you had a job in animation, right?"

"Um... yeah." Alyx was caught a little off guard. "My show got signed after they checked out my work online. Why do you ask?"

For the next few moments, Lorna looked down at the book in her hands, and she seemed to be split between crying and smiling warmly. In the end, she held it out towards Alyx. "This was Bart's sketchbook."

Now Alyx was very confused. She looked down at the book being held within arm's reach. "Are you offering this to me?" It wasn't the most courteous way she could have said it, but she really felt a need for an answer here.

"Bart wanted to make a cartoon. It was his life's goal." Lorna began before tapping the book with her finger. "All of his sketches and character notes are in here."

Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a flash drive. "He also wrote a full episode script, and that's saved on here."

"We want you to have these." Lorna continued. "You work in the animation industry now, so you're the best chance of Bart's work ever seeing the light of day."

Alyx was overwhelmed now. The parents of a dead teenager were entrusting her with their son's legacy even though this was their first time ever meeting in person. "Are you sure?" She asked them. "I mean, do you really want to give these to me?"

"We thought about it for a long time." Nick said, nodding. "We want to keep as much of what we have left of Bart with us, but I think that what he would want is more important than what we want."

"All he wanted was to see his cartoon become a reality. We can't do that." Lorna reiterated, as she and her husband still held out Bart's work to her. "But you can."

Hesitantly, Alyx reached out and accepted the sketchbook and flash drive. To say that she was shocked would be an understatement. She had never felt so strange, yet so important at the same time. She looked up at the older couple and gave them her most resolute look. "I'll do whatever I can, I promise."

Nick and Lorna leaned against each other, and they looked ready to cry all over again, this time with relief. "Thank you, Alyx." Lorna said, blinking away a tear. "And I know that Bart would thank you too."

That did it. Alyx now fully realized the situation. She was holding the legacy of a dead boy in her hands, and his parents had entrusted her with fulfilling the dream that he never got to see come to fruition. And after feeling like she didn't belong for the entire funeral, Alyx finally felt connected. She started to feel tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't let them down after they trusted her with something like this. She couldn't let Bart down.

He deserved at least this much.