Making My Own Happy Ending- HfjONE

THREE

"What do you mean you wrote down the codes?! Why didn't you say that earlier! We could have avoided the whole 'We might not be able to go back home' thing!!"

"I was busy trying to figure out the computer. I wasn't exactly listening to what you guys were saying. |"

Liam sighed. "Right, ok, sorry, so we can just.. Go home?"

"Yea. You ready?|"

He should've been. He should've been more than ready to get this all over and done with. But something crossed his mind that held him back.

"...Almost. I need to do one more thing. Hang tight." He shut the laptop, put it away and exited the cave. First stop; The waterfall. He stared down at Airy's head. Did what he was doing mean anything? No. Did he feel like he had to do it anyway? Kind of. He picked it up off the floor, carefully, and headed over to the cabin.

Once inside, he set the head down on one of the beds, just beneath the pillow. Then, he picked the cassette tape off of the table.

He pressed play.

"I'm wishing you a well...mind at peace within yourself..."

He set it down on the bed also. Ok.

Now he was ready.

"Covers up, I cast you off...I'll be watching as you breathe...."

He took the laptop out again, and opened it. "Alright. I'm ready now."

"What's that music?|"
"Just send us there already."
"Ok, rude. >:( |"

-

Being back in The Waiting Room was a relief, especially after thinking you'd be stuck alone in some alternate dimension forever. They weren't home yet though. "So you typed out all the codes?"

"Not all of them. I only got like halfway through Airy's code. Good thing we don't have to go back there lol|"

"...Yeah. Can you show me the codes now?" Liam tried not to sound irritated.

A word document opened, revealing long lines of numbers with large letters above them labeling which codes they were. There was Stone's code, and the code for San Francisco, and what would have been Airy's.

"There. Just use the San Francisco code and we can go hoooome ^•^|"

But Liam couldn't take his eyes off of Stone's code. He hadn't thought about Stone since the first time they tried to find him. Stone had written all those notes knowing they would be needed, didn't he? That's why he knew what to write down. So if he knew they wouldn't find him, why give them the code to go there?

"Liam? Helloooooo|"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Listen, can we, uh, take a quick detour?"
"Where?? To Stone's universe thing?? Why???|"
"Just...because?"
"Not like I can stop you lol|"

Liam sighed and sat down on one of the armchairs. As he was entering in the code, he couldn't help but wonder; What was up with The Waiting Room anyway? Apparently for Bryce, it was his old hometown, for Texty it was..cats. Not important, why was it some weird glowy rainbow room for Liam? What did that mean?

Did the room take shape of something you cared about? Something you missed? Liam cared about things. He missed things. Why did The Waiting Room choose...this appearance for him?

He tried not to think about it for too long. Eventually he had to code and pulled down the antenna.

-

Liam was surprised he got it right first try, and he found himself in the unsettling void of stones for the second time.

"What did you even want to come here for anyway?|"

"I-I don't know, I just..."

He stared down at the floor, and the possibly infinite amount of stones underneath his feet. One caught his eye, not for any particular reason, but he had a thought.

"..Stone knew we'd come here, and leave without finding or taking anything, and that I'd come back a second time, didn't he? And he knew..that's I'd take this," Liam picked up the stone that caught his eye, "I don't know, he gave us the code for a reason didn't he? Like he knew everything was..predetermined?"

"...ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ|"

"Wh- Hey! I'm not crazy, I'm just thinking. I'm taking this with me." He put the stone he had picked up away.

"Uh ok anyway. Is that all you wanted to come here for?|"

"Yeah, I guess so," He sighed, "I'm glad this is all over, you know? It'll be nice to go back to our world, for real this time. It won't be exactly the same, but at least I don't have to worry about breaking my leg a third time, huh?"

"LOL yeah it'll be fun. I won't have to spend my days typing out how to pronounce different Mexican foods, which is GREAT. And I actually have friends now, which is pretty cool :D|"

"Hah, yeah. You ready to send us back?"

"Yea!! San Francisco here we come!!! B-)|"

Liam was left with a sense of happiness, now that he was making jokes and having light-headed conversations instead of the heavy-toned ones he'd been having over the last what, 11 months? Oh jeez, how long had it been? How long had this all been happening for?

But it was over now. There was no more ONE, no more stopping Airy. They could just go back, and keep living. Not living like normal, because after something like that you can't go back to normal, but they could start living again. They could listen to music, they could read a book, they could paint something, they could live. And they would.

Now, they were back in The Waiting Room, for what would be probably the last time not that it was alk over, and Liam took in the new appearance of it;

San Francisco.

He couldn't help but smile.

"..Let's go home."