A/N: Sooooo. I was listening to the beautiful song above while I was writing this chapter. And it just fitted so perfectly. The song only came out a couple of days ago but I AM IN LOVE. I would really recommend listening to it for this chapter. It's called Superhero by Lauv. You can click the link above and listen if you like :)
It was like she was flying without wings, soaring on pure euphoria as she looked down upon all the darkness below. It was so much brighter closer to the burn of the sun, so much clearer and full of clarity that she could never imagine returning to the ground. The feeling was too glorious, so full of wonder that it carried her over the city clouded by night. She was weightless, nothing to drag her down to earth as the dark thoughts were carried away with the wind. There were wings on her back and the map of feathers held the blueprints to her mind, holding the secrets of all the happiness had had to push through in order to escape.
And then she opened her eyes, and yellow streaked across her vision, blonde streaks of sunshine cutting across the world that surrounded her. All the buildings and cars had become a blur of speed, speeding through the streets so fast that nothing could touch her. Not even all that she had left behind. Which was ironic, really, because the motorbike had been a ghost of the haunting past. And it was proving to be her wings.
Which left one really important lesson that she never expected to have to learn: You can't let the past rule your life, no matter how painful it is. Don't let the past stop you from doing the things you love. And, more importantly, just because the world was dry before it flooded doesn't mean that Noah's Ark didn't float. No, the world became dry once more, but only after ridding itself of evil. Remnants of the past survived on that boat. But they were only the beautiful parts. Not everything is doomed to drown. Because the world deserved a second chance. And so did she.
The laughter bubbled out of her throat, overflowing with an exhausted happiness that got carried away by the wind. And, to her right, Elliot had transformed his arms into wings, wide and free as he let someone else take the direction for once. It was a beautiful, serene moment and the driver's of the motorbikes just shook their heads in amusement, slightly confused as to how taking two teenagers for a bike ride could mean so much. But it was the small, odd moments that brought smiles to so many faces. Because the world was a little odd. And so were the people in it. Which made everything a bit more normal. Just as the shared pain of the world made it a little less painful.
Because unity and devastation were as much soulmates as they were enemies. Both able to destroy and make each other with a single blow.
Climbing off of the bike, Isabella wrapped her arms around Elliot's wings, closing them for rest as reassurance that they wouldn't have to fly on their own anymore.
"Thank you, Elliot."