War Hero to War Villain(Completed)

The Story

"My brother was a hero." Maura's eyes glitter and her chest tightens with an attempt to keep herself from breaking down as she listens to Jack's sister speak. "He- he saved so many people that day. He saved us all. And I-" Jane lets out a sob, her voice cracked and hoarse. "I'm sorry, I can't-" she struggles to compose herself.

"I can never, ever thank him enough for the things he did for me. He's.. Jack was so.. When I first met him on the streets, he was trying to steal from me. I guess- I guess he succeeded, this war hero," Jane smiles gently as she sets a rose down on his grave. "He stole my heart, he did."

Maura is next, and she steps up to the small podium with tears in her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Jack Summers was the love of my life." Silence approaches her, but she continues. "He and I were good friends, long before we met each other truly. We kept our distances, both of us standing on the other side of a glass wall. And when Jane came looking for us, we started to realize how- how our time was almost up. We separated," Maura says with a hard swallow.

"I think it was because of the little time we had left, the pressure of it. We kept fighting- so he left. And I-" she looks to the tombstone- "We didn't know what to do anymore." Maura sighs.

"By the time either of us apologized, it was.. Too late." She still remembers Jack's last words to her. I love you.

"What?" Maura winced as Jack squeezed her shoulders.

"I wish- sorry. I don't have time to explain. Don't worry, Mau, I have a plan." Jack smiled at her and let go, but she grabbed his hands.

"I can do it, just tell me what you need to do and I'll do it," Maura pleaded, but Jack pulled away.

"Don't worry about me, Maura. You'll be fine. I have to do this." He took a shaky breath. Nervous.

"Jack, I-"

"I love you!" Jack interrupted, dropping something silver into her hands and turning, running off with a last glance over his shoulder. Maura stood stock-still, watching Jack sprint into the fiery distance. A tingling numbness settled over her in the silence.

"I'm sorry, I love you," Jack had whispered to Maura the night he'd left before.

How..? Maura sighed. How could I never have realized..

"And I wish I could have told him how I felt for him," she continues, blinking tears away. "I'll just have to settle for telling his story instead."

Loud applause ends her short speech and she takes a shaky breath, finally stepping off the podium.

The funeral was over, and Maura sat against the willow under a blanket of silence.

She looks up at the rustle.

Maura looks at her surroundings, barely breathing. She can't make a sound.

"Miss Maura Steele?" A girl her age steps out of the forest, both hands in the air. One holds a notebook.

"Are-Are you a Fia?" Maura finds the courage to ask. The girl smiles.

"You observe things well," she notes, writing something down in the notebook. "Yes, I'm a Fia. A storyteller. I've been following you for a while, really." Maura exhales slowly.

"You saw Jack disappear," she says, unsure whether it is a statement or a question. The Fia shakes her head, but hesitates.

"I.. No, wait. I'd like to know something.. Where'd you get the necklace from?" She asks. Maura purses her lips.