Got Smoke?

Till We Meet Again

By the time we got there, the construction site was up in flames. The smoke was rising quickly, and we couldn't see anything below. However, there was a helicopter that was just about to leave the site. At first, I thought that it was one of the Ganados or maybe even our backup. That's when I saw the red and white symbol on the body of the helicopter. I scowled as the same femme fatale popped her head out. She waved at me, holding the Plaga sample in her hands.

"Ada!" I yelled.

The Umbrella helicopter left. We weren't able to pursue it because of the rising smoke and our damaged tail rotor. Unfortunately for us, Ada had gotten her hands on it. I knew she had to be here for something, and she just got what she wanted. As much as I wanted to chase after her, we couldn't and we still had a bigger and more important thing to settle — saving Leon and Ashley.

"Luis! Is there anywhere they could've escaped to?" I asked, getting the helicopter out of the smoke so we wouldn't be inhaling too much of it. Cigarette smoke was fine, but gasoline smoke was not.

"There's an underground canal! They should be exiting from the other side!"

We made our way to the opposite waters, trying to spot Leon and Ashley. Hopefully, they were on some kind of boat and not in the water. Not long after, we found the two of them on a speedboat. Leon was dry, but Ashley was completely soaked. She must've fallen out of the speedboat.

"Amara!" Leon shouted.

Luis dropped the ladder, and both of them climbed up. Once they got in, Ashley shivered from the cold. Leon took over as the pilot, and I went to check on Ashley. It was a good thing that our helicopter had several blankets stored inside. I took one out and draped it over Ashley. She thanked me, pulling the warm blanket and hugging it tightly. Leon apologised for not being able to take the Plaga sample, but Luis shrugged it off. There was nothing we could've done anyway. Leon had finally gotten bearing of the place and was about to head all of us back to our motherland when the entire island blew up. It rocked our helicopter. Leon tried to get us out as fast as he could, but another debris hit the tail rotors and we went down spiralling. Ashley yelled.

"Leon! You need to put her down now!" I shouted, trying to hold onto the bars inside the helicopter while preventing Ashley from falling out.

"I'm trying, Amara! All of you, brace yourselves!"

Leon didn't exactly do a good job at crash landing. He did more of the crash rather than the landing. He put the helicopter down on a large field of grass on the next island. All of us came running out of the helicopter just in time before it exploded. We let out a huge breath and laughed.

"I think I finally have enough of explosions for a day," I stated.

Just then, Leon's radio rang. He picked it up, revealing Hunnigan on the screen. I went up beside him.

"Hey, Hunnigan. No glasses," he said, smiling widely.

Hunnigan and I had the same reaction as we chose to ignore Leon. In a rushed but relieved voice, Hunnigan said, "It's nice to finally hear the two of you and not have any interferences. Is the subject okay?"

"Yes, she's fine," I replied.

"You're not gonna ask if we're okay?"

Hunnigan sighed, "Are you two okay?"

"Amara's injured, but I'm alright," Leon spoke, tilting the radio down so that Hunnigan saw my bandages that needed to be replaced as soon as possible.

She gasped, "Oh goodness. Amara, hang on. There'll be a medic on the chopper that's coming to your location in 10."

"I'll be fine, Hunnigan. Thanks. We'll be waiting for the ride home."

"I'll see all of you soon," Hunnigan signed off, and the call ended.

Ashley beamed. "We're finally going home!"

"That's right," Leon said smiling.

I smiled too until I turned to look at Luis. I knew he had to go. Using an excuse, Luis told Leon and Ashley that he was unable to come along with us and that he's going off to Madrid. When Leon asked how Luis was going to get out of here, Luis told Leon that he would find a getaway vehicle on this island. He assured us that there were a few more boats in this area and he could easily get onto one of those. Leon understood what he had meant so he nodded. Ashley, on the other hand, was surprised that Luis would want to go off by himself after this whole incident. Luis apologised then said his farewells to Ashley and Leon.

"I'll miss you, amigo," Leon said, clapping Luis' shoulder.

"Yeah. I will too, amigo," Luis muttered, giving Leon a half-smile and a bro hug.

Leon caught my eye and led Ashley away from us. Now that it was just the two of us left, I suddenly felt like I couldn't say anything to him despite having so much to say.

"I don't want to go, but I have to. I hope you understand," Luis said.

"...I know. It's for the best, right?" I whispered, trying to hold back my emotions from overflowing.

He nodded slowly. He grabbed hold of my right shoulder and rubbed it gently. I stared up into his eyes and I could see the same look inside them. The tension between us had been going on for too long, and Luis knew that too. He let out a shaky breath. His hand fell back to his side briefly before both hands made its way around my waist and pulling me close. "I'll be damned if I don't get to kiss you."

"Then kiss me." 

I closed my eyes and pulled his face towards mine. We kissed for what seemed like an eternity until he pulled away first.

"Did I make it up to you?" he asked cheekily.

"Damn right, you did."

He kissed me again, softly and slowly. His warm touch was still lingering on my lips as he rested his forehead on mine.

"Amara... can you promise me something?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Promise me you'll find love someday and that you'll love him like no other."

I hesitated for a moment before I agreed. He smiled, thanking me.

"I want you to promise me something too," I said, and he waited for me to continue. "Promise me that you'll be safe no matter what. You'll settle down somewhere with someone and stay safe."

He wanted to protest, so I quickly cut in, "Do it for me."

He nodded. "I promise I'll be safe. Don't worry about me."

"...I doubt I can."

"I know... but just know that I'll always be safe, okay? I can't promise you any letters or any sort of contact, but as long as you believe and trust me, I'll stay safe. Just for you."

"Okay."

"And take care of yourself," he said. "Better get that treated properly."

"Yeah, okay. Take care of yourself too, Luis."

He smiled, giving me one last wistful but chaste kiss on the lips. He let go of me and started walking off, waving to Leon and Ashley. He gave me a warm smile before he turned around. We watched him walk off deeper into the island. At that moment, the sound of motors overhead us caught our attention. We were finally going back home.