Faith leans down at Dawn's words and kisses her, just as my sister goes limp.
She's gone. My sister is gone.
After a few moments, Faith pulls back and just lets the tears flow, and I can't help but join her. I lean towards her, wrapping her in my arms as we cry.
I didn't want this. I wanted to find a way to save her. To make her see the error of her ways and help her to be happy. But after everything she's done? There wasn't any other way to stop it. Stop her from hurting all of us and turning us into her little play things. She went too far. I had to make a choice between her and the rest of the world. A world that I actually live in and make my own choices instead of the ones that she wants me to make.
Through my watery eyes, I try and look at the carnage around me that my sister left in her wake.
It might have cost me more than just my sister. I may have lost almost everyone I love in the process. How do I even live with that? And the fact that it was my sister who did it to them? I'm not sure if I can. Not after everything that's happened. She's destroyed so much. Ruined so many lives.
I turn back to Faith, hugging her tighter.
But the person she destroyed the most, is the one she loved so much. She might have denied it and tried to force herself not to in so many ways. In the end though, she had to speak the truth. She had to tell Faith how she really felt about her. The last words she ever said, was 'I love you too'. That's something at least. Maybe Faith can learn to live with knowing that.
"She's..."
Faith pulls back from me and I wipe the tears out of my eyes to look at her. She does the same.
"She's gone."
All I can say is...
"I know..."
She wipes some of the new tears coming from her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
She's sorry?
Bringing my hand up to her face, I cup her chin, making sure to look her directly in the eyes.
"You don't have to be sorry. You did the right thing. Even she said so."
She looks away.
"But... I love her... loved, her... you loved her. We should've been able to save her."
I can't let her beat herself up.
"We all loved her Faith. We all wanted to save her. But we couldn't. She wanted to die. There's nothing we could've done to save her from that."
I pull her head to my shoulder.
"It's all right."
Suddenly, a light starts to shine out of the corner of my eye. Faith pulls away when she sees it, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"What's that?"
The light gets brighter.
It's... coming from the seal.
Whatever the white light is grows to fully engulf Dawn and I have to put a hand up to see what's going on.
"I have no idea."
It gets brighter and brighter, until I can't really see anything but the light and I close my eyes. Both Faith and I grip each other tightly. The light feels like some kind of energy is flowing through me. After a while, the energy stops flowing and the light dims. Waiting a few moments to see if anything else happens, I open my eyes slowly.
It's different. Everything's different somehow. This isn't the basement of the school anymore.
My eyes adjust to the normal light again and I let my grip on Faith loosen. That makes her look up too.
"Where are we?"
I think...
"I think it's the hockey rink. The one in Cleveland."
She looks around.
"What does that mean?"
"I think... I think it means... are we back?"
A voice comes from behind us.
"Oh you're definitely back."
I know that voice.
Faith and I turn around to look at who it is.
"But like most things, it's a lot more complicated than that."
It can't be.
"Cordy?"
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Author's Note: Check out the sequel, Absolute Destiny, available now for adding to your reading lists.
