Burning Willow

Epilogue

The raven-haired boy sat on a bridge overlooking the water. The sun had just set, and in the distance, city lights were beginning to brighten. But it was so peaceful around him. The trees shaded everything.

Below him, water turned and crashed. The current was angry today.

He saw a pair of headlights flashing directly at him until a car stopped.

"WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" A girl stepped out and slammed the door. "Daniel! Step away from the ledge."

"Relax, I'm not going to jump." Daniel patted the empty spot next to him. Carefully, the girl came and sat next to him, only her legs weren't dangling close to the water. "Although I can't promise I haven't thought about it."

"Daniel." She sighed. "Don't do that. Don't even think about it. I've gone through enough."

Daniel looked at her. There was a certain edge to her that he had ever seen before. Of course, there was the physical – the extreme loss of weight, the dark circles that seemed to accompany her everywhere she went, but today he noticed that there was a tiredness in her voice.

A flash drive dangled in his fingers. "I came here for this."

"You haven't destroyed it yet?"

"I've tried." He said. This flash drive was the whole essence of his being. His DNA, his modified biological molecules... everything that determined who he was, was in this.

"Daniel, this doesn't make you who you are. This doesn't make you bad. You can choose to be good."

He licked his dry lips. She understood.

"It's been three months since the explosion. Two months since...." She trailed off. She looked down at the water. "It's been two months since Zev left." She sighed. "And I'm so tired, Daniel, please don't make Maya go through the same thing I'm going through."

Daniel's brain understood emotions, but he understood logic better. He knew they all tried to cope with what had happened in different ways. Maya took up extra dancing. Daniel went for runs every single morning, just to clear his head.

Kylie... she had tried everything.

"Are you getting better?"

"Honestly, I don't even know." She said. "I tried to hate him, but that was dumb. I can't hate him, no matter how hard I try. Because of what happened... we all tried to forget about it. I guess he just couldn't be here anymore."

"He just needs a break."

"Or a fresh start."

"I get that you're hurt."

"Well, that doesn't really matter. Me being hurt is not going to change the fact that if Zev had stayed, he wouldn't have got better."

"And now you think he is?"

"If he wasn't better, he would come back." Her voice nearly broke, but her eyes were fixed on the water. "That stupid metal thing doesn't define who you are, Daniel. What you choose to do with your life, does. Something terrible happened, but it happened. You need to move on, or you need to try. Otherwise your life will be a constant whirlpool of self-pity and doubt."

Daniel glanced down at the water. "You're right." He said.

The flash drive dangled in his finger. He was going to make things alright.

Today.

Right now.

This moment.

Sparkling in the background of the city lights, he threw the flash drive up in the air. It glimmered in the air for just a second, and then fell into the water.

Later, the girl drove back home. There were no more tears to fall, now, even when she was alone with her thoughts.

You're so strong, my love.

She took a deep breath. For now, distractions helped. But she was working on herself, as hard as that was.

She didn't know what kept her going. Maybe it was the fact that she'd come so far – it made her stop wanting to quit or give up that fast.

She came back to an empty house. She parked the car and entered, making sure to lock the doors. She turned on the lights in the hallway and took her shoes off.

There was a noise in the air – something small. Like the hum of a coffee maker.

She entered the kitchen. Against the moonlight, she saw his shadow. His curvature. His height. Him.

She blinked.

She knew, of course she knew.

She just couldn't decide if he was real, or if it was her imagination.