Withering Wishes . • . X-Men Fanfic . • . BOOK 2

épilogue

Epilogue:

"If you don't hurry, we’re going to be stuck in traffic, Ekka," Lucas called at the bottom of the steps.

"I'm coming!" Ekka replied, pushing her suitcase down for the final time, zipping it up successfully. She grabbed it by the handle and raced down the steps, her long, box-braids twisting behind her.

Lucas leaned against the wall and smirked as she stepped down. "Look at you! My little baby's all grown up!" Ekka laughed ran up to Lucas, wrapping her arms around his neck. She was nearly as tall as him now --- she certainly inherited Mandla's height.

"Is that the last thing?" Adrian called from the front hallway. Ekka peaked around the corner and grinned at him.

"Yep! That's the last of it!" Adrian smiled and walked over. His hair had transitioned from a jet black to a more salt-and-pepper over the years. He claimed that it was because of all the stress she caused him.

Lucas, however, hadn't lost his blonde locks, although now it was cut short and he had a few bald spots --- but he always denied, and called it 'spots of potential sunshine'.

"Where's Cocoa?" Ekka asked, looking around. Cocoa was Brownie and Blanca’s baby they had a few years ago. It was a hard ordeal, a lot went into making sure the baby was stabilized, but in the end they had Cocoa, the new addition to their family. Brownie and Blanca had passed away a few years after that, so now it was just Cocoa and Ekka.

“I’ll be right back!” Lucas said, “Don’t go anywhere!” Then, he ran up the steps, taking them two at a time. For an old man, he didn't seem to lose his nimbleness.

“Cocoa’s in the backyard," Adrian said. "He tried to eat the table leg.” Ekka scoffed, shaking her head.

“I told him to stop doing that,” She said, and grabbed her suitcase to drag to the front. “He likes the taste of mahagony.”

“He has really expensive tastes then,” Adrian muttered and Ekka laughed. “Are you sure you have everything?”

“My room is completely cleaned out,” She promised. “You can check, if you want.”

“I trust you,” Adrian said as Ekka set her stuff beside everything else at the door. The several boxes labeled various things almost made her sad. Soon, they would either be put into storage or hung somewhere else, far from the home she had known for the past nine years.

“Okay!” Ekka turned and Lucas was speeding down the steps, a home-camera ready in his hand. It was bulky and a bit too comical, but Ekka didn’t really mind. He fiddled with it for a few minutes, before pointing it towards Ekka. “Now go!”

“And do what?” Ekka laughed, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at Lucas. “This isn’t a movie scene. I can’t just start acting on the spot.”

“No,” Lucas agreed, “But, this is college. You only get one college move day.”

Ekka shook her head, but smiled nevertheless. She made a grand motion to all of the boxes and suitcases. “Well, here. This is me, moving my junk from one room to another room. If you so desire to help me, then be my guest.” With that, Ekka turned and began to pick up boxes.

“This almost feels like a cheap way for you to get out of having to move stuff, Luc,” Adrian stated, crossing his arms. Ekka had the first box in her arms and awkwardly opened the door. Adrian was kind enough to have the car moved closer to the house, via the front yard, so that it would be quicker to move the boxes. Ekka left the door open, the late summer breeze felt good on her dark skin, and the occasional bird whistling made her smile.