Lily grabbed our arms and took us to a waiting room. Inside the room were people like us. Scared and crying people.
The room was terribly bland, the only color was the red door in front of us and the orange of the people's shirts.
I swallowed thickly, fear overtaking me. I gripped Talon's arm tighter, and he glanced over at me, the same way I was.
"Luce, it'll be okay. We'll probably go on the same..whatever they use to take us away," he said, but he didn't sound very convincing.
"...Yeah."
"Luce?"
I stepped forwards a few inches as the line moved. "Yeah?"
"Um, I wanted to tell you that you're probably one of the best friends I've had. We'll get through this, okay?"
I stare at him, my cheeks going slightly red at his words. "Same here, Tal. I know that I was kind of a bitch at the beginning, but..I.." I shuffle my feet, looking down at my feet. "I wouldn't trade you for anyone."
"I wasn't that nice either, I guess."
I look back up at him, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, I guess so."
The line moved forwards again. I tried to look above us, but all I could see was solem people, some sniffing, some crying.
"Honestly, I thought it would be faster than this." Talon grumbled, moving forwards. "Like, how long does it take to ship someone off?"
"Don't you want it to be longer? Why would you want it to be short?"
"I hate the waiting process. I bet you it's the worst part. It's going to be real nice out there. We'll do fine." he said reassuringly, grabbing my hand.
I stare at his hand, and nod slightly.
The line moves forwards more and more, until we're past the red door. We're outside now, the sun just starting to set.
There's multiple large planes with landing strips. I watch as one plane takes off, going somewhere into the sky, to wherever it takes the poor people on the plane.
I watch as people are practically dragged away from each other, screaming, crying, fighting to be with each other. I stifle a small cry, covering my free hand with my mouth. "Talon.." I whisper, hands shaking. I feel sick.
"Luce, please, it'll.." he trails off, not even him able to keep his good attitude. "I don't know what will happen. We'll be on the same plane, okay?"
I nod shakily, shutting my eyes. "R-right..."
Eventually, we get to the front of the line. The female looks at me, and a spark of recognition lights up in her eyes. "Lucy?"
I stare at her, unsure of who it is. "Francine..?" I guess, watching her smile before it faltered, glancing at the clipboard.
"Correct. Uh, Lucy, you're on Plane CB-56. Talon.."
"Plane GH-78." her voice falters, starting to turn away.
I stare at her, grabbing her arm as the team comes to take me away from my friend. Away from him. "Francine! Please, don't them take us away from each other.." I sob as she wrenched her arm away.
Francine grips the board tighter,dropping her head.
"Lucy?" Talon asks, making a grab for my hand.
I reach out in response, my fingers grazing his. "Talon!" I screech, ripping the police's hands off my arm. I start to run, only to fail and fall on the pavement. Hands grab at my hair when I fall, trying to tug my upwards.
Yelling occurs behind me. I heard the thudding of feet, but a warm feeling incases me. My hands are shaking as I stand up, glancing at Talon. The police have let him go, for some reason.
I look behind me, and the people who were chasing me, I assume, stopped at stared at me. The warm feeling subsides, and I look down, eyes filling with tears. The tension on my hair is released.
My heart was glowing. It was glowing. It was glowing a hazy, orange-yellow color.
"Oh my god.." I whisper, knees weak with relief. "Oh my god..Talon..I.." I stutter, unsure of what to say or do. What do I do? I look up, seeing Talon's chest, the same color as mine.
Talon wasted no time in running towards me and hugging me, his eyes red from crying. "Lucy, I.."
I stare at him and smile softly. "Tal, I'm really glad that it's you..."
He nodded, though he was stiff, like if he would hug me tighter I would shatter.
"What is going on around here?"
A shrill, angry voice broke us apart, however our hands linked, and I glanced down at them, smiling softly.
Francine walked over to us, putting a hand on our shoulders, as if protecting us. "Lily, Lucy and Talon have found their soulmates. They are each other's soulmates." she proclaimed.
A cheer raised throughout the team and people waiting alike, happy for us.
"Send them off," she spoke coldly causing a chill to end the happy cheering.
"Lily..that's illegal. You can't send them off for doing nothing.." she froze when Lily pulled out her gun, aiming at her head. "Lily?" she whispered, eyes wide with betrayal and fear.
"You heard me, Francine. You might be second in command, but I am still the captain."
"Earl, Veronica, Gabe, get her on the ground." she commanded, the fear gone from her eyes.
Three officers moved out of the crowd, and Lily whirled around. She glared at them, threatening to shoot her gun. The smaller male started to sprint towards her and tackled her legs.
Her legs buckling and falling to the ground, Lily screamed as the two larger ones put her arms behind her back. The smaller one put a foot on her back, looking at her with contempt.
I stared at Francine with question, and she turned towards me with a small, weary smile. "The majority of us hated Lily. We have been planning this for a long time. Thanks to you, we can stop her now." she grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the woman.
I glanced at Talon, who followed behind her, his eyes flicking around the circle of police members. Only a few looked truly shocked from the events.
She held out a gun, and I shied away from it. She pushed the gun into my hands.
"She is your mother, afterall. I was going to kill her myself, but if you want to, you can do the honors of ending her life,"
Talon placed a hand on my shoulder, staring at Lily coldly. "If you don't want to.."
I drop the gun, flashes of Lily holding the gun on Jessica, Halton, and Brinley, shooting. "I can't do it. Even if she's a terrible mother, a murderer, a killer of her own daughter, I...I can't kill her. Doing that would sink to her level."
Francine stared at me for a moment, nodding. "I agree with Lucy. We can't sink to her level." Francine brushed back her red hair from her eyes, picking up the gun. "Gabe, take her to the higher ups in the system."
During this, Lily stayed silent, sneering at me. "Typical. My own daughter is weak and spineless."
I stare at her as Veronica and Earl, yank her up to begin her walk of shame. "No, you're weak and spineless." I counter, watching her face go pale. "You solve your problems only by killing people. You don't follow the law, and you kept it hidden. You stored away half of the non-soulmate population in the force, while you then sent away the others who wouldn't join your little reign of murder." I snarl, pointing a finger at her. "I say again, dearest mother, you're the one who's weak and spineless."
She then goes visibility limp, the two dragging her out of the vicinity.
"Francine. What...will you do with those who don't have a soulmate?"
"Well, I'll probably ship them out. It's terrible, but it's the only way to restore balance to our force here. Including Julian," she spits out, glaring at the boy who hadn't said a word, his face pale. "Juniper, take him away. Kaiden, help her."
Two more people shuffled out of the midst of people, and Julian reluctantly followed.
"Lucy, I have to ask,"
"What?" I ask, placing a hand on my shoulder where Talon's hand resided.
"Would you like to join our force? You're the bold but kind type, the kind we need for the stop of the violence we've been having throughout the years of Lily leading us. I'm not asking you to lead us, but we'd love to welcome you into our ranks."
I stare at her, thinking about her proposition. "I'll think about it. I might."
She nodded, turning around. "Cara, lead these two out please. Inform the people outside that they're both safe, as well."
A young, brown haired girl stepped forwards shyly. "This way, please,"
We followed her through the halls, and soon enough we were stepping outside onto the stairs of the station. "Thank you, Cara," I say softly.
She blushed at my words. "I'm hoping you can take care of telling them you're all safe? I'm a bit frightened of them."
I nod. "We'll take care of it. Goodbye, Cara."
She shut the door, and we turned around, facing a bunch of people leaping at us.
"Lu! Oh my god--are you hurt?"
"Lucy! Talon! You're alive and..not dead!" Charlotte and Quinn exclaim, throwing their hands in the air out of relief.
"Lucy! Good to have you back..who's this?"
"Lucy, next time you frighten my sister like that, I'm going to kick your ass." Dustin warns, but it was teasing in nature.
I laugh, hugging each of them.
"Lu, hey, is..oh my god, it is. I'm so envious! Great, now me and Dusty are all alone!" Killian wails, pointing to Charlotte and Quinn, who were also glowing with a light pink-blue color.
Once the exuberance of everyone coming back together faded, I swallow, glancing at the group. Everyone was here. Except for one person. "Is..is she..?" my voice waivers, tears pricking at my eyes.
Griffin this time steps forwards, wrapping me in a hug. "She is. I promised her that I'd take care of you." he said, his voice cracking. "I'm going to miss her, Lucy."
I nodded, my cries muffled by his chest. "I am..I am too," I sniffle, wiping my nose when he pulls away. "I.." I swallow, feeling Killian grab my hand and squeeze. "I can get through this. Griffin, I'll help you but..I'm still going to need my alone time, okay?" I ask.
Everyone nods at this, and Griffin grabs my shoulder. "We'll be there for each other, alright?"
"Yeah, we will," I jump as the door swings open, and red-face Francine comes running out.
"Lucy, Talon, and...friends!" she declares, standing up. "Do you guys have anywhere to stay?"
We all shake our head. "Not really," I answer.
"Then good news! We're opening a new station in Lunarin soon enough and..well, if you join our force, I can get all of you separate houses anywhere in Lunarin." she exclaims, a grin on her face.
"Are you bribing me?" I ask, though my voice still tainted with sadness.
"No, I can still get you all houses, but..it'll be a lot of money," she winced, rubbing her arm apologetically.
I shrug at this. "I'll think about it, Francine. A lot has happened. I'll let you know in a few weeks, okay?"
She glanced at us worriedly. "I'm sorry. About Brinley. God, if.." she stopped herself, shaking her head. "Anyways, uh, here!" she said, handing me a piece of paper with an address. "This is where you all can stay for the time being. It's my house."
"Francine, you don't have to,"
She shakes her head and presses the paper into my hand. "Nonsense! You'll be fine! Just make sure to not make it too much of a mess." she shuts the door, leaving us standing there.
We all turn around, staring at eachother. "So, Quinn, how did you and Charlotte happen?" I ask.
Charlotte huffs and Quinn blushes. "Well, you see.."
I listen intently, laughing as we pushed through the beginnings of a crowded city. I stare at the two as they chatter on. Grabbing ahold of Talon's hand, a pang of sadness appears through me of the thought that I've lost everyone that I've been related to.
Killian grabs at my shoulder and squeezes, giving me a bright smile. I shoot one back, hurrying to catch up to the two girls. It'll be fine.
***********************
Killian and I sat on Francine's balcony, outlooking a field in Lunarin. "So what did you want to ask me?"
"I wanted to ask about you and Talon and just..soulmates in general. Since you've been soulmated..is that even the word?" Killian wondered aloud before waving her hand. "How did it feel?"
"Feel?" I wrack my mind, reminding the full, warm feeling that had entered me once my heart started to glow. "It..it was warm. Like..kind of an embrace from someone you love. I guess that's the best way I could describe it,"
She nodded at this, thinking and going silent.
"Are you okay? You usually aren't quiet."
She shrugged, tugging at her black hair. "I don't know. I just..am worried I guess. I mean, do you think I should continue to travel around and come back when I find my soulmate? I'm almost 18," she said softly.
I look at her sideways, a small smile on my lips. "You've never been worried about this before. What's with you?"
"I don't want to be deported."
I sigh, grabbing the railing on the balcony and lean on it. "You'll be fine. You still have a few months. Plus, I'm friends with Francine now, so, maybe I can talk to her about it to give you an extension. I doubt you'll need it, though," I say with a knowing smile.
"What do you know?"
I shrug, leaving the balcony for her to think alone. One great thing about having a soulmate is that you can tell when two people are soulmates. It's kind of sad though, seeing them so desperate and in reality they'll be fine. "Maybe you should see Dusty," I suggest, yelling out to her.
I watch her rush past me, glancing at the sleeping Talon on the bed. I watched him for a moment,as if he would disappear and smiled, taking my place next to him. His arms wrap around me and I shut my eyes.
You know, I'm glad I went on the journey. I wouldn't have ever met Killian, Talon, Dustin, Quinn, Charlotte, Griffin, or even Brinley if I just listened to my mother. Maybe it'll be hard, Brinley's gone, but so is my mother. After all we've been through, everything can work out just fine.
A/N: So this is the end of Traveling Souls. It's kinda sad, but I'm so grateful it's over, honestly. I decided this didn't need a epilogue. So I didn't give it one. You guys can decide any way if it ends with Lucy joining the force or Lucy moving away. It's up to you.