I gasped a lungful of fresh air, opening my eyes to a canvas of blue sky. White clouds, crisp and bright, surrounded the blinding sun like a halo—a sun that, to my utter bewilderment, appeared to swing back and forth.
A young man...Will...clutched me tightly as silent sobs wracked his body. When he sensed my gaze, the rocking ceased, and he stared down at me with incredulous, swollen eyes. Neither one of us said anything, and I could tell he was trying to decipher who I was. Me, or who I could have been.
"Kingsley?" The voice wasn't his. Another soldier sat next to him, his face covered in soot and tear streaks. And gritz, his hair was like molten gold in the sunshine. "Is that you, welt?"
I opened my mouth and closed it again, scared to hear my new voice.
A third person crouched to my left—a man with beautiful bronze skin and strange, otherworldly eyes. His breath hitched as he inspected my face. "Your irises are green." He reached down and touched the top of my hand, nervously, as though I might burn him. "And your skin's warm..."
Behind them, a girl sobbed into her hand.
Happy tears, I deduced. Thankful tears.
I swallowed the emotions stuck to my throat. After all this time, after so many wounds, I was finally my own person—finally, an independent soul. And I could feel it. It was like I'd been fighting a cold for years, and I was just now remembering what it meant to be healthy and uncongested. For my body to be, after my entire adolescence, at rest.
I took a deep breath, and then I offered my company a mischievous grin.
Will smiled down at me—a big, joyous smile, with teeth and everything. It cut straight through the black line on his face, and I'd never seen something so beautiful in all my lifetimes.
"...You."
I nodded, breathless. "Me."
A shaky exhale escaped him, and he yanked me back into his arms, smothering me in dusty armor. I pressed my forehead against his chest, inhaling the scent of blood and pine and sawdust as I burrowed into his undying warmth.
Valerie and Torian joined us then, pulling Mason into the embrace after them. I wrapped my arms around them all, beaming, shaking. My bare hand clutched the fabric of their clothes—and for the first time in over a decade, free of consequence.
"You would get kicked out of heaven," Mason scoffed, and a teary laugh burst from my lips.
"I'm tired," I confessed, watching a sad, sympathetic smile form on Real Alex's face.
"I know you are. You've shouldered quite the load."
The knife grew heavy in my hand.
A part of me had always known I was an old soul, a spirit who'd seen a different world—a diverse society propelled by the liberation of women. I'd been obsessed with retracted history because I'd lived that forbidden truth, and the political mistakes we'd made had felt repetitive because they were.
But there was an explanation for the worldview that had made me feel so alone, for the traits that had made me an outcast. Ironically, the life of a normal teenage girl was never in the cards for me, in either timeline. And yet, there was still a hand to play—if I chose to return to this game.
The Fates had gifted me another chance at life. This time, with tragedy behind me, ruins before me, and deconstruction ahead. Except now...now I was equipped with so much more than weaponry. Unlike Laurel, I had a family waiting for me on the other end of this thread—a community who shard my vision. And unlike Alex, I wasn't clawing for purchase at the bottom of the barrel.
I'd broken chains here. I'd shattered dogmas. And with Will's help, I'd mended an unmendable feud.
I wouldn't put that foundation to waste.
"But...you're right," I told her. "We've only won a battle. There's a bigger war ahead." There were countless veterans who needed my support, farmers who needed an ear, women who needed a champion, and outsiders who needed a friend. The work wasn't done—just different, and in some ways, even more difficult. "As much as I want to cross with my friends and family...I don't think I'm ready to resign just yet." I cracked a half-smile. "Things just got interesting."
Alex looked as if she'd been expecting this outcome, and as we rose to our feet, she guided Tom's knife to the empty dagger frog at my hip.
"Your family isn't going anywhere," my father assured me. "We'll be here to greet you again when that day finally comes. And I sincerely hope that's a long, long time from now."
I nodded, spilling more tears.
"We're always with you, mi amor," my mother confirmed. "Never forget that."
"You'll need multiple people watching over you anyway," Fudge chimed in. "One guardian angel isn't enough for the infamous Alex Kingsley. Or Ikelos. Or Laurel." He snorted. "Really, just all of the above."
"And she's got an entire army watching over her now," Victor said, punctuating his addition with a wink. "Live long and loud for me, darling. And keep an eye on my girls."
"I will, Victor. I promise."
I met each of their tender gazes before turning to the brilliant woman I'd had with me all these years, keeping me alive, feeding me courage.
"I don't know if I can do this without you," I admitted. "Going back alone after everything we've been through...after everyone we've lost..."
My counterpart shook her head. "You're a fighter at heart, Al. You always have been." She stepped forward and knocked her knuckles against my breast plate. "That strength? That resolve? It's always been yours and yours alone." Her final knock sounded a little too hollow. "Trust in yourself."
The red string tugged against my ankle again—hard enough to make me stumble a bit, and I let out an exasperated sound.
"I guess I'll have to wait a little longer to remember who 'myself' is," I said, forfeiting the opportunity to reclaim Laurel's lost memories. For now.
Alex huffed, a few tears dribbling down her cheeks, and she walked past me with an omniscient grin. "You know exactly who you are, Kingsley. Now go record the history we've made."
***********************************
Back to the grind, Al. <3
Two short chapters left!