OKAY ACTUALLY THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER. No epilogue.
Thank you for reading!!!!!!!!
Chapter Sixty-Four
~Thea's POV~
All of us leave two days later, like Fury had so kindly (sarcasm) told me in his office. The first to depart are Thor, Loki, Leah, and Jane, the latter who is staying in Asgard for about a week to get Leah acclimated and to be with Thor. Apparently, while Jane will be making weekly visits, I am not allowed to step a toe in Asgard.
And this is why I'm annoyed.
I try to hide it though, as, holding Leah's hand, we walk out onto the large, open balcony on Stark Tower just as the sun is beginning to peak over the edge of the world. She is quiet, probably tired, but her small fingers wrap tightly around mine. I try to keep my composure.
Seeing them off are Tony, Natasha, Darcy, Peter, and me. Jack was originally going to be here too, but he had stayed up so late last night, Peter and I had decided to let him sleep.
"Leah," I whisper, kneeling down in front of my little sister as we all congregate in one area, and as the adults begin to say their good-byes. "Promise me you'll be safe, okay?" I blink rapidly. "And listen to Thor. Don't listen to Loki. Thor. Okay?"
"Okay." she says, her innocent little voice nearly sending me over the edge. "When do I get to see you?"
I shake my head. "I don't know. I don't know. Soon though, I promise you Leah. As soon as I can get to you, I'll see you, okay?"
She smiles, then throws her arms around my neck. I smile through my tears too, holding her small body close to mine.
As we separate, I hold something out to her. "I think this is yours." It's the small charm bracelet that Jane had given to Leah on the helicarrier, so, so long ago when I had wrenched it from Leah, trying to protect her.
She grins a toothy grin. "Yay, thanks, Thea!"
I squeeze her tightly again, causing her to groan with over-exaggeration. "Lemme go, Thea! You're squishing me!"
Finally, I let go. "Okay." I whisper. "Have fun, okay? I love you."
She kisses my cheek. "Bye, I love you too, sissy."
Oh gosh, why did she have to call me that?
I struggle mightily with my emotions as I stand- Peter puts his arm around me briefly.
Thor walks up to me. Holding his hand out for mine, he says in his low voice, "I swear I will care for Leah. She will be safe with me."
"I know." I say, thankful my voice has stopped trembling. "I know."
"I have something for you." He holds out what appears to be a normal looking journal. "I will have one similar to it. If you write in it, the words will appear on the one in Asgard, and in this way, we can communicate. It does not always work, and when it does, it is only for a few minutes, but it is better than nothing."
"Thanks." I whisper, taking the leather-covered journal, reminded of the second Harry Potter book.
"This is not good-bye, Thea. We will return. Until then, may the heavens bless you." he leans down and kisses my cheek. "You're a brave girl, Thea. Stay that way."
Jane hugs me tightly, amongst tears, promising that she will be visiting me in Michigan, with Darcy, when work allows time off work.
That leaves Loki, who, as usual, is standing apart from the rest of us. Sort of like me in a cafeteria, looking for a place to sit.
He raises his eyebrows at me as a form of greeting.
"Um. Bye." I say. My voice is, for some reason, beginning to tremble again. "Oh wait." I reach down and hold out the emerald-crusted dagger. "I kept forgetting to give this back to you."
He doesn't say anything for a moment. Then, he puts his hand on mine, curling my fingers back over the dagger's hilt. "Keep it. You may as well have something suitable to practice with so that one day, if we meet again, you may have hopes in at least coming close to beating me."
I put my hands on my hips. "I already beat you."
"And I already told you, Thea, that I let you win."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," I say, mostly because he's probably telling the truth. "Bye, Loki."
I turn away, determined to get out of this without being over-emotional. But of course, I'm always an over-emotional girl.
Running back to Loki, I throw my arms around him. The action is unexpected for him, because he stumbles, having to grab onto the railing to steady the both of us. But then, he hugs me back and I find myself madly blinking back tears.
He leans down and kisses my head, twirling my hair in one of his fingers. "Farewell, Thea." he says quietly.
"Bye Loki." I whisper, because I don't want to let go.
Eventually, of course, I have to let go, because the three of them have to leave. I watch, standing between Tony and Natasha as they are beamed up into the sky, my hair flapping in the wind. Tears are running down my face, but they're both sad tears and happy ones as well.
*
I'm next.
Max, Kyle, and Tony are just finishing loading everything into their truck. Of course, most of my stuff is burnt to a crisp, but some things are fine. Many of my clothes, DVDs, various assorted trinkets, and one photo album survived that horrible night. Additionally, some of my parents' things get packed away too, and some of them, Darcy keeps for safe-keeping, until I have need of them.
Jack and I make our good-bye as quick and painless as possible. But I feel hollow inside as I hug him. When will I see him again?
My phone wasn't recovered, but Tony fixes that up for me, getting me a new one and taking the liberty of pre-programming various numbers down for me in my contacts. He gives me a typical Stark send of ("Stay safe, have fun, see ya later"), although Pepper is more warm.
Clint is already gone, but he has left his good-bye with Natasha. She hugs me and smiles. "Make sure you give those boys a hard time." When Max gives her a look, she winks, adding, "Maybe not too hard."
"I will." I grin. "Thanks for everything."
"Thank you." she replies.
Peter, who has managed to swing by (literally) Stark Tower just in time, gives me a hug, saying, "Text me, won't ya, Thea?"
"HEY!" yells Jack, pretending to be annoyed. "She's MY best friend, NOT YOURS."
Peter rolls his eyes.
Steve and Bruce are last. They are both relatively solemn, but nonetheless, they offer me warm hugs and get the typical promise out of me that I will be careful and not reckless.
It's only eight in the morning when I climb into the back seat and we drive away from Stark Tower. I refuse to look back at it, but when I do, it's gone.
*
When we pull into the quiet cemetery, I take a deep breath.
"Want us to stay here?" asks Max gently.
"Um, either way is fine." I say.
Kyle turns around in his seat to look at me.
"They're near the back, under the tree." says Max, his voice annoyingly soft. "By your brother, I guess."
"Okay." I say in a tiny voice.
My sneakers crunch on the slightly-frozen grass, and I pull my jacket over my body, tighter. The grave where Bryce is buried is easy enough to find, because I came here once a week at least. It's a simple headstone, with the inscription GONE FROM HOME, BUT NOT IN OUR HEARTS. There are some fresh flowers, probably from his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie, who still comes by and has not dated anyone else since his death.
"Hi Bryce." I whisper. "I miss you. A lot. And I want you to come home. But I guess you can't. That's okay, I understand. You're with mom and dad now, you wouldn't want to leave. I beat up a demi-god for you. I hope you are proud of me for that." I smile tremulously. "Love you, buddy. Nobody is ever going to replace you."
Putting my hands in my pockets, I walk over, very, very slowly to the two graves about ten or so feet from their son's.
I swallow hard, very very hard. Their funeral had been when I was still on the helicarrier. Darcy had been there, in request from Jane, and had told me that she was going to wait for me to decide on the inscriptions.
So on the graves, the only thing that is etched out is this:
ANGELA JOY FOSSIL
JANUARY 25 1970- DECEMBER 14 2013
ERIK JAMES FOSSIL
MARCH 30 1969- DECEMBER 14 2013
"Hi Mom. Hi Dad." I say, sitting down between the two graves, on the freshly overturned soil. "I love you."
That's all I can say for a couple minutes, because tears are running down my face just as the snow is beginning to fall. I reach out and brush the flakes from their graves. I touch the stones, my fingers trembling.
"I miss you." I say, crying hard now. "I miss you so much. I wish you didn't have to die. I really do. I'm sorry. I hope you're proud of me, but if you're not, I understand." I sniff, wiping my eyes. "I'm taking care of Leah. I'm trying, I really do. Hopefully, you can see her in Asgard right now. I wish I could. She misses you too."
I reach down and from my pocket, take out a single flower, crystalized. "This is for you." I whisper, settling it down between the graves, amidst all the other flowers. "I got in the Mantra cave. He told me that it will stay like this forever."
I sit there for about fifteen minutes, ignoring the snow blowing around me, sobbing my eyes out. Finally though, I stand and briefly, quickly, kiss the very tops of the stones. "I wanted you to be at my graduation, at my wedding. But you can't now. In person, I mean. And if there is something in the world that I could fix, it would be that. I love you. I miss you. Bye."
I turn and very slowly walk away, back across the graveyard, towards Max and Kyle, who are still in their car, waiting for me.
*
It's nearly eight at night by the time we get back to the house. Nothing seems to have moved since we got here last. It even smells the same.
After I help get all my stuff into the corner of my room, I eat half of a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich. I'm not very hungry at the moment.
Now, I'm in my room, by myself. The two men are downstairs, eating, because apparently, they are hungry.
Kyle had told me that we're going to the lake tomorrow. Just for fun, to show me around the town before I have to go back to school. I'm excited to be going. I've always liked water.
I take out the photo of my family, the two letters, Thor's journal, and the emerald dagger from my rucksack and put it on the nightstand next to my bed. The dagger makes a short clanging sound.
Sitting down at the window seat, I look out. In the yard, in the limited light, I vaguely can see one of the horses in their pasture, grazing. It's snowing here, too, the flakes dancing around me, onto the window. My breath makes little clouds on the glass.
The journal is in my lap. There's probably no point in doing this, but I write out, with a pen from my bag, Good night. The words vanish from the page, just like Tom Riddle's diary, probably floating up into Asgard.
As I close the journal and look outside, the moon is shining above me. It's a sliver of a moon, originating from the blue moon that had nearly cost me my life and the lives of those I love. It looks like it's smiling at me.
I smile back at it.
There's a scratching noise coming from the journal and frowning, I open it, flipping through some of the leaves.
Then, I smile even bigger.
Good night, kitten.
-------------
So.
That's it.
That's the end of Blue Moon.
I have a sort of numb feeling inside me, like whaaaaat. It's over???? I'm shedding a few tears over here. But yes, it is.
Funny enough, on my Pages document, this story was precisely 600 pages. Cool.
And now for the the typical author's note.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the support, all the comments, all the reads, all the votes, the fanning, the emails, the edits, the EVERYTHING. You guys have made me feel special, which is a feeling I do not get that often in my 'normal' world. Your sweet comments make me smile or laugh, and I can't thank you all enough for my little Wattpad family.
I was going to do a shout-out for everyone, but there are too many wonderful you's to be able to do it justice. But here are a few.... (in no order) (sorry for spelling mistakes)
AnnieVail----- thank you for being my first real fan of this story. I love talking with you- stay wonderful!
LadyHiddlesLoki- ---For my first follower I LOVE YOU
lokidottir----- oh thankyouthankyouthankyou for everything. The edits, the sweetness, all of it.
_Mischief_----- for all the votes and comments and your wonderful heart
_The_book_thief---- THANKS for giving Blue Moon a chance, and I'm so happy you love it :D
Free_Crazy_Wild---- Thank you for finding Blue Moon, being so sweet to me, and leaving such nice comments
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bookwriter12356789----- I LOVE YOU but I have one question- why did you skip 4?
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STAY TUNED FOR THE THREE TASKS!!!!!!!!!
To infinity and beyond!
~Sierra~