Heaven Help Us // Thomas (The Death Cure)

XV

Thomas woke up sometime later. He sat up with a gasp and saw Ariella sitting in a chair. He started to get up and groaned. "Hey, hey. Take it easy. How are you holding up?"

"Where are we?" Thomas asked.

Ariella offered him a hand. "Come see for yourself."

He took her hand and the two of them exited the tent. They were on a beach. About 20 feet away was a camp with kids from different mazes all around.

Minho stood up as soon as he saw the couple. He walked over to them and all was silent for a moment before they hugged.

That evening, around a campfire, Vince gathered everyone together. "We have come a long way together. So many have sacrificed so much to make this place possible. Your friends and your family. So here's to the ones who couldn't be here. Here's to the friends we lost." Ariella bit back tears thinking of Chuck, Alby, Newt, Winston, and Teresa. "This place is for you. It's for all of us. But this, this is for them." There was a huge rock surrounded by sticks behind Vince. "So, in your own time, in your own way, come make your peace. And welcome to the Safe Haven."

"Yeah!" The crowd cheered. "Yeah!"

Thomas pulled Ariella close and kissed her hair as Frypan asked, "You all want some food?"

"This is gonna be a good home for us." Minho said.

The couple nodded. "Yeah."

Minho held up Newt's necklace. "You had this on you while you were passed out. Ariella handed it to me for safekeeping."

Thomas smiled. "Thanks, Minho. Thanks, Ari."

"See you out there."

"See ya."

Thomas opened Newt's letter and Ariella cuddled into him.

'Dear Thomas and Ariella...This is the first letter I can remember writing. I figured I'd write it to both of you, since you know, you two are always together. Obviously, I don't know if I wrote any before the maze. But even if it's not, it's likely to be my last. I want you two to know that I'm not scared. Well, not of dying, anyway. It's more forgetting. It's losing myself to this virus. That's what scares me. So every night I've been saying their names out loud. Alby...Winston, Chuck. And I just repeat them over and over, like a prayer, and it all comes flooding back. Just the little things, like the way the sun used to hit the Glade at that perfect moment right before it slipped beneath the walls. And I remember the taste of Frypan's stew. I never though I'd miss that stuff so much. I remember you. I remember the first time you came up in the Box. Just a little scared Greenie who couldn't even remember his name. And I remember the look on your face when Ariella came up in the Box. There's no other way to say it but love. Even before you two got together, I could see there was something there. You loved her, and she loved you, and that hasn't changed. But from the moment you ran into that maze, dragging Ari along with you, I knew I would follow you two anywhere. And I have. We all have. If I could do it all over again, I would, and I wouldn't change a thing. And my hope for you two is that when you're looking back years from now, you'll be able to say the same. The future's in your hands Tommy and Ari. And I know you two will find a way to do what's right. You always do. Take care of everyone for me. Take care of Ariella. And take care of yourselves. You two deserve to be happy. Thank you for being my friends. Goodbye, mates. Newt.'

Ariella brushed back tears and smiled.

The next morning, the two of them, together, carved Teresa's name into the stone.

They took a moment standing silently on the beach to look at the vials of their blood that Teresa had given them.

While they walked along the beach, Thomas turned to his girlfriend. "Do you remember what I said on the roof?"

Ariella nodded. "You said you loved me. I love you too, Thomas."

He kissed her, and they walked hand-in-hand on the beach in the warm rays of the sun.

[Newt's letter :'( (with a few additions for the story)]