It was chaos as battles usually are. Except this time it actually felt like a war. There were hundreds of people on each side battling to the death. Peter split off from us when he saw Tony. I was happy they could be reunited.
We plowed through the army ignoring the alien guts that splattered our clothes. Any time I got tired I just thought of my mom, and let anger fuel me. I still couldn't find Dad.
Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad run passed me holding the Guantlet.
"They have the stones!" I yelled to Shuri.
"Good!" She shot the head off an alien. "I'm getting a little tired."
I cut an alien in half. "Take a breather if you need one."
"In this economy!"
I laughed for the first time that day. I looked up just as Peter went whizzing over my head. He was holding onto Thor's hammer with one hand and the stones with the other.
"Shuri look!"
Then Pepper in an Iron Man suit grabbed him and threw him onto a Pegasus.
"When did this become normal?" I muttered to myself as I rolled under an alien and cut off its legs.
"Peter's down!" yelled Shuri.
I turned and followed her finger.
"Like dead or he just fell?"
"He just fell, but he has the stones!"
We rushed towards him, killing anything that stood in our way. By the time we got there, Captain Marvel was standing in front of him.
"I think you got something for me," she said.
"Yeah." Peter handed her the gauntlet. "But how are you going to get through all of that?"
At that moment figures and suits flew in around us. All the women had come to support. Scarlet Witch, Pepper, and so many more. I wished mom was here to see this.
"She has help," said Pepper.
We cleared the way for her, but honestly she didn't need our help. She flew at Thanos and stared him in the eyes. They were locked in combat for a few minutes, when finally he threw her off. The gauntlet went flying. I was busy battling six other aliens. All I could do was watch.
I watched in horror as he put on the gauntlet and poised his hand to snap.
"I am inevitable," he said.
Just before he snapped, Tony flew at him and grabbed his hand. Thanos threw him off. I stared not daring to watch, but unable to look away. Even the alien stopped cutting at me and watched.
Thanos snapped, but nothing happened. We looked at his hand and saw that all the stones were gone. I turned to look at Tony. He lifted his hand, and showed all the stones attached to the hand of his suit.
He sat up, stoic even with blood trickling from his head. "I am Iron Man."
He snapped. A flash of light covered the whole field. When it was gone, I turned and saw every alien turning to dust. Finally, so did Thanos himself.
Tony slumped to the ground. Peter, Pepper and Rhodey flew towards him. I took a step forward, then hesitated. Did I really want to watch someone else die? Was it my place to be there while his wife cried for him?
"Kendra." Dad appeared behind me and crushed me in a hug. He held me like that for a long time. Neither of us saying anything, but neither of us letting go.
"You're okay, you're okay," he kept on saying. I wasn't sure if he was reassuring me, or himself .
"It's over," I said. "It's really over."
That night I sent an owl to grandmother. I told her that mom had died, we didn't have a body, and that the funeral was in two days. It would be held the day before Tony's.
It was the hardest letter I ever had to write.
Dad and I spent the next two days planning the funeral. It was going to be small. Just the original five, well four, Avengers, my grandmother, and me. We didn't have anything to bury, so we made a little raft and wrote messages on it. We were holding the funeral on the dock. It was her favorite place on the compound.
Two days later Bruce, Thor, Steve, Dad and I stood on the dock. The little raft was sitting on the edge waiting for us to push it in. We were all waiting for Grandma.
I stood behind the raft with dad. Neither of us cried, we just stared out at the water.
After a few minutes, we heard a pop. I turned and saw Grandmother walking up the docks. She was wearing complete black robes. Next to her were Ron, Harry and Hermione.
I stared at them, as did the other avengers. Grandmother's face was creased and her expression full of despair. My friends looked a little awkward, but worried none the less.
Grandma reached me and pulled a strange wand out of her pocket. She solemnly handed it to me.
"You said you didn't have a body."
I nodded.
"This was her wand when she was a child." Her voice was choked.
I stared at it. The wood was light brown, with carving of vines all around it. I approached the raft slowly, and placed the wand inside it.
I turned back towards my friends. Hermione hugged me tightly.
"It's good to see you," said Harry.
"It's good to see all of you too."
"It's time to start," said Dad. His voice was hoarse.
I knelt and pushed the the raft into the water. I stepped back and watched the current slowly push it away.
I pulled out my wand, which I now realized had the same wood as my mother's wand.
"Incendio."
The raft caught fire. It became a beacon of light as the current pulled it farther and farther away. The fire must have reached the wand, because multicolored sparked spewed up from the raft.
It looked like fireworks out in the middle of the lake. The reds and oranges reflected off the lake water. We watched it burn. Eventually the raft sank and the fire stopped.
I sat down on the ground still staring at the spot where the raft sank. I felt numb. Dad, Grandma and the gang did as well. The other Avengers left one by one.
I sat there. I don't say a word. I didn't move. I must have stayed like that for hours, because the sun sunk lower and lower in the sky. Soon colors appeared and bounced off the lake. The sunset had similar colors to Mom's burning wand. Eventually those colors too went away, and everything was just dark.
"Kendra," Dad said softly. "It's time to go inside."
I didn't say anything. Grandma put a hand on my arm, but I still didn't move.
"She needs more time," said Grandma. "Let's go inside."
Dad said something that sounded like a protest, but they left. Harry, Ron and Hermione moved next to me. Hermione on one side and Harry plus Ron on the other.
I couldn't see the lake anymore, so I stared up at the sky.
Hermione touched my hand gently.
"In Greek legends," I said finally, still staring at the stars. "When a hero died sometimes the gods would make them a constellation."
"Your mom was a hero. She should have a constellation too," said Harry.
"That one sort of looks like a spider." Ron pointed to a formation of stars. "Your mom has a thing with spiders, right?"
"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione.
"What?"
Hermione sighed and looked up at the constellation. "It does look like a spider."
"Those are her stars," I decided. "That's her constellation."
I was silent again. No one said another word as we stared up at Mom's stars.
As time passed it got colder. I didn't realize I was shivering until Harry draped his jacket over my shoulders.
"Kendra, it's time."
I nodded and stood up. Arm in arm, we walked back to the compound.
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Hey Everyone, thank you so much for all your sweet comments on the last chapter. You guys are the best!
Forever and Always,
Me.