Separated

Epilogue

MACKENZIE

Music: Memory of Shooting from Gokujou Parodius

A week has passed since the cruise has ended, and as it always seems to, life has sort of returned back to a semi-normal state. It took a couple of days for the news of our disappearance and sudden return to die down, and until today, we haven't really seen much of each other. Mia and I have spent most of our time at home, trying to recover from all that's happened.

That changes today.

Apparently, over the week, Sam located some sort of cabin located just off the outskirts of downtown. Apparently his discovery involved a mouse and a piece of yarn. He decided that until further notice, it would be a "clubhouse" for all of us to hang out at. So he organized a get-together there for today, which Mia and I are being driven to now.

After our parents drop us off, we run up to the front door and I knock. Avery's the one to open it, and we quickly learn that we're the last ones here. Sam gets a song going on his phone, and we begin setting up for a sweet hangout. Sean, Heath, and Luke find a party table in a storage closet and set it out. Sam, Elle, and Mia work on getting chairs set up for each of us. Skylar, Shanna, and Avery lay out snacks on the table, and the hovercraft and I finish it off by setting up the plates and napkins. It's only setting up a snack table, but as they always say, it takes a village.

Right as we finish setting up, Avery randomly stops right as the song in Sam's music changes tempo. Then she proceeds to make her way over to an open space in the living room and starts dancing. Shanna joins her a few seconds later. Both girls are in dance classes, and it's really showing here. The rest of us form a small crowd around them and just watch.

At one point, Skylar nudges Heath and whispers to him, "Come on. Let's go out there."

"Skylar, I've told you already, I don't like dancing in public."

"Oh, come on!" She forcefully grabs Heath's arm and pulls him into the space right as Avery and Shanna exit. Then the two of them start doing a series of randomly selected partner-dance moves. Heath seems embarrassed at first, but he quickly starts getting into it. Sam and Luke are cheering their asses off for the two.

Their little show-off only lasts for about 20 seconds. As they exit, Mia and Sean are next to enter the fray. The song's mood has now slowed down dramatically, and the two of them adapt to this. I've never been too much into dancing myself (I mean, keep in mind, I haven't had a normal life until less than a year ago), so I pay close attention to each of these groups to get a feel for what it's like.

Late into Mia and Sean's showcase, Sam nudges Elle and tells her, "If Heath and Sean have balls, so do I. Come on." Without waiting for Elle to respond, he grabs her hand and walks into the group. Mia and Sean back off to give them more room, and then Sam and Elle start another partner-dance routine similar to the one Heath and Skylar had earlier. In the background, I see Mia roll her eyes but quickly laugh it off. Avery and Shanna go nuts for them.

All of a sudden, a pair of metallic claws brushes through Sam and Elle, entering the circle itself. It's the hovercraft. For a moment, I have no idea what it has in mind.

Then the hovercraft starts "dancing" in its own fashion. Keep in mind that this is a floating machine that doesn't have legs or even a face. The ten of us watch in a mixture of awe, confusion, and shock. It actually looks pretty funny and a bit impressive at the same time. Sam, Heath, and Luke lose it and start cheering loudly for the hovercraft.

Once it finishes, we all give it a polite round of applause as it flies off into another room. Then, we happily stroll over to the party table and each take a seat. I grab a cookie from a small package and ask while munching on it, "So, this is what summer's like, huh?"

"More or less," Sam shrugs.

"Well, now I'm looking forward to it."

I don't know why, but this statement causes a howl of laughter from everybody in the room.

SAM

Y'know, we've been through a lot over the past week. But through thick and thin, one thing has remained true:

Regardless of how many obstacles life may throw at us, and even when put against every possible odd, nothing can truly keep us separated.

"Ending" music: Staff Roll from Gradius V

The end!

And, unless MC decides to make a couple of finishing touches to these last two chapters, that does it! Man, who would've thought that less than a month after coming back to this story, we'd finish over half the story.

No idea what I plan on tackling next. Most likely, I'll go back to Recovery and see if I can finish up the latter half of that, and then after that will begin the series of revisions to older stories in the series. This series is getting a MASSIVE overhaul.

Playlist video and public Google Doc copy coming soon.