Ultramarine | The Darkest Minds Fanfic

Epilogue

"Lilac, I'm home." I said aloud as I dropped the keys in the bowl by the door, and hung the rifle on the peg. Our home smelled like...burnt pancakes, and maple syrup.

　　She ran out of the kitchen to greet me. "Cole, you're home!" Her hair was stained white by the flour; her hands, too. My heart still swells a little every time I see her like this.

　　I went up to draw her into my arms, and kissed her in her hair, tasted a lip-full of sweet flour. "Ah, ah. I believe we have an agreement on my name—?"

　　"Yes, Honey." She blushed, and I lifted her chin to kiss her on her lips this time. She still hadn't got used to calling me by pet names, and I don't really blame her. It hadn't been two months since our wedding.

　　Everything is fine after we moved here. No one comes to bother us, except for some bears and wolves occasionally. Oh, yes, and Liam. He and Ruby moved to the town closest to us, and they'd come visit us every now and then. But most of the time, it is just the two of us, and it is perfect for me.

　　I feel the burn much less vigorously now. It could be the weather, or the environment in the mountain, but most likely, it was her. She still gets nightmare from time to time, though. She'd sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, and started sobbing relentlessly. Everytime that happens, I could only hold her in my arms and tell her everything is fine.

　　It did take me a while to get used to this new her. She was more assertive, and even a little cynical since I took her back from that bunker she was in. She'd caught herself after some snarky comments on whatever bad news we might have received, and I'd know that was the Eve in her showing, so I'd smile, and so would she. She didn't kiss me for maybe the first six months we were back together, and I didn't mind. I let her take her time.

　　Since she remains the only person with the cure, once in a while, President Cruz would have her people send kids that really wanted the cure to Chubs, and he'd take them to us. Sheena would talk to them, and give them cure if they truly want it, and if there was no way for them to live with their abilities. Still, fewer and fewer of them came our way since the government—with the relentless effort of Chubs—established the Psionic Youngster Training and Education Program, aiming to help Psi kids adapt to their abilities, and learn to live in peace with them.

　　After living here for four years, I thought it was time to ask her to marry me. Liam might not have proposed to Ruby because she find getting married in this circumstances meaningless, but I'm just old fashion in that way—if you love a girl and want to spend the rest of your life with her, you marry her. I went to town, picked up a simple engagement ring—no diamond; she's not a diamond kind of girl—and came back home. The next morning, I put the ring on her finger and woke her up.

　　She said yes, after staring at the aquamarine on her ring finger for a solid five minutes. The first thing she said after 'yes', was that the stone was the same color as my eyes.

　　We held our wedding a month later. It was a small ceremony. Ruby came to be Sheena's maid of honor, and Liam was my best man. Cate came all the way from D. C.; Mom and Harry, Vida, Chubs, and Zu came, too. With a couple of local people who we acquainted in the past few years, and a few of my old friends back from Wilmington, we have a total of twelve guests.

　　She wore a flowy white dress—one of our guests, Georgia, an old lady in town, very kindly gave it to her—as wedding gown, and that was the most beautiful picture I had ever seen. I'm pretty sure I forgot how to breath when she walked down the aisle.

　　And now we are here, her in her apron and sweet flour, and me in my flannel shirt, jeans and a gold wedding band.

　　Everything is perfect.