One might have expected the weather to be cold and rainy; however, it was a beautiful day, without a trace of a cloud in the blue sky.  The sun was out, illuminating everything with a bright, warm glow.  The weather was nearly perfect, a light breeze coursing through the air.

Not exactly the kind of weather one would expect for a funeral.

Dana slipped a pair of sunglasses on, both to cut down the glare from the sun and to hide her puffy eyes.  Her eyes involuntarily strayed, glancing across two rows of headstones and finding a freshly buried grave covered with flowers.  It was where they’d buried Lara the day before.

Sighing, Dana turned back and tried to pay attention, feeling guilty for thinking of Lara during a funeral that wasn’t even hers.  However, she couldn’t help herself from drifting off, as she’d still been too shocked and numb to actually have a chance to process everything during Lara’s funeral.  Dana was miserable that Lara had died.  The redhead had once meant so much to her, and Dana knew that on some level, Lara would always mean a great deal to her.  She was thankful Alice had seemed to understand this, too.

Lara had been a great friend and supporter to Dana, both while they were together and even after they’d broken up.  Dana realized that without Lara, she wouldn’t be the person she was today.  The two of them just weren’t meant to be a couple, and Dana had realized that long ago.  Even though she was in love with Alice, Dana knew that a small part of her heart would always belong to Lara.  She also knew that she would never be able to forget the redhead, and would always remember what they once had.

Dana was interrupted from her thoughts by a loud sob beside her.  Her own eyes began to once again fill with tears as she saw Shane break down beside her.  “I should have been there,” Shane sobbed loudly, her knees buckling.  Carmen quickly grabbed her and tried to help her stand, but Shane pulled them both to the ground.  This didn’t faze Carmen, who simply squatted beside Shane in the grass and wrapped her arms around her and wept along with her girlfriend.

This set off Mark, who had before been standing stoically beside Shane and Carmen, his face expressionless but a single tear escaping every so often.  Upon seeing Shane falling apart, he suddenly began to weep openly.  “I’m so sorry,” he began murmuring.  “I wasn’t there.  What kind of man am I?” 

Kit, her face weary and tear-stained, stepped up beside him and began to rub his back.  “It’s okay, Mark.  She’s in a better place now.”

“I couldn’t save her.  I should have been there to save her,” Mark sobbed, hands over his face.

Hearing his comment, Shane began crying even harder, pulling her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth in the grass.

Alice, her eyes red-rimmed from crying, turned to Dana and wordlessly wrapped her uninjured arm around her waist, pulling her closer.  We both were so lucky, she realized.  So many had died in the earthquake, and they both could have easily have had the same fate.  I couldn’t stand to lose Dana like that, Alice thought.  What if she had died? Or ended up in a coma like Helena Peabody?  I’m never taking life for granted again. 

A dazed Bette watched the scene with a lost expression on her saddened face.  Tina, in a wheelchair and casts on both her legs, sat beside Bette, tears streaking down her face.  They had thankfully found a babysitter for the day, realizing this wasn’t the best place to take a baby.

As the casket began to be lowered into the ground, Shane tried pulling herself together, managing to stand up out of respect for the middle-aged couple clutching each other in the front of the group, who had been devastated to lose their only daughter.