The Elementalists

ANGEL

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Mark tells me, tears flowing down his face. I can tell that he's trying to hold them back, but he's not doing a very good job of it.

   "It wasn't your fault," I say quietly. "I never hated you...I just...I needed someone...to blame and...and I'm sorry." I look over at Robin, who's sitting next to me, trying to stop the bleeding on my chest, and I force myself to smile for her sake. "Don't cry, Robin... I'll be with Mother and Xander now."

   "No...," Robin sobs. "I...I can't lose you, too, Angel... You can't die on me! No!" She begins to sob harder, and I put my hand on hers to comfort her.

   "Robin...," I say, "tell...Daemon that...I'm...sorry too...all right?"

   Robin nods, tears flowing down her face, and I notice that even John is crying. I wonder why they're all crying for me since I've never done much for any of them, except perhaps Robin.

   I close my eyes as memories flood my head.

   Xander showing me the flowers in the field and telling me all of their names...

   Me seeing a baby rabbit and taking it home to raise it...

   Xander and Mother on my birthday, waiting for me to blow out the candles...

   Me going to play in the snow, and coming back to find the house burning...

   Me crying, screaming for my family, not wanting to believe that they're dead...

   The girl who burned my house...the girl who burned my family...telling me that this was to bring back someone's little sister...

   A boy arriving, screaming at the girl to go away, screaming at her to never come back...

   The boy looking at me sadly, reaching out to take my hand and me running away...

   Me trying to dig a small enough hole to place a headstone I made into...

   The boy showing up behind me and finishing the hole for me... The boy placing the headstone for me... The boy bending down and hugging me, apologizing for the girl over and over...

   The boy becoming my new family...

   Little Robin running up to me with a birthday gift—a snow globe with a miniature forest inside...

   Little Robin hugging me good-bye as she runs off to school...

   Little Robin fading away as she grows older and has less and less time to spend with Daemon and me...but she makes time...

   Me meeting the other Elementalists...

   Me saving Emma...

   The bullet heading towards Mark...

   And me jumping in its path to protect the boy, telling myself it's for Robin's sake...

   But knowing that I have to put the past behind me...

   Me knowing that I can't keep living in the past...

   If only I had realized it sooner...

   If only...I had...realized...it...sooner...

   I hear Robin screaming at me to open my eyes, but her voice begins to fade away. I force my eyes open, wanting one last look at my friends—Robin, John, and even Mark.

   People can't choose how they're born, after all.

   Everything is fading to black, and I manage to choke out, "Tell Daemon...Lilly's message is...to...move...on from...the...past..."

   I mutter what I know will be my last words, and I hope that my three friends can hear them.

   "Robin...ask...Daemon...his...last...name..."

   Everything begins to fade to black, and even Robin's screams begin to fade away. The last things I see are two forms standing above me, smiling and holding out their hands.

   And my final thoughts are their names.

   Mother, and Xander...