We’ve finally done it. It’s over.
As we exit the old, decrepit building we have grown to love so much, we are greeted by the bright, morning sun. We can tell it’s early morning; the birds are chirping, and the river beneath us gives off a bright reflection. I feel as though a heavy weight has been lifted off of me, and I laugh.
I look around at us as though this was the first time I saw us. We walk at a brisk, refreshed pace – a pace we haven’t walked in since forever. Our faces our bright, despite or obvious lack of sleep, and Ulrich and Yumi are holding hands. A flush is faintly visible on Ulrich’s face.
They catch me staring at them, and they join in my laughing. Eventually, Odd and Jeremie join in too. Nothing is funny, no one has cracked a joke; we are just happy.
We return to school and sit at our normal bench, still smiling and laughing. The school has just opened, and we are the first few on the grounds. We talk about the battle we just fought, but already, to me, it feels like yesterday.
The fact that our mission is over hardly settles in. I clutch my phone as we head to class for the day. I find myself constantly checking it, making sure I haven’t missed any messages for emergency. Ms. Hertz catches me, and I have to turn it in to her.
The next day we situate ourselves on our bench during lunch, and we talk about how strange it is knowing that XANA is no more. Odd laughs, and remarks how that now and forever, if something goes wrong, he’d call us up and urge us to the factory. We laugh along. It’s a fact that all of us can relate to.
Days go by, and I find that normal school life has turned out to be surprisingly boring. The amount of sleep I get on a normal basis astonishes me – eight hours every night. While we fought XANA, six was the most. I sometimes find myself waking up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. I don’t tell anyone, though.
As these days turn in to months, we slowly find out that we have less and less to talk about. We eventually resort to sitting in silence on our bench, watching the younger kids playing. One of us may occasionally bring up how obnoxious a teacher is, or how ridiculous schoolwork is, or Odd may crack a joke, but we end up silent again, staring.
The day finally comes when Yumi arrives at school with a sad face. We inquire about family problems. She shakes her head and sadly informs us she’s moving back to Japan – this time, it’s definite. Ulrich clings to her, and begs her to stay. She blinks back tears and regretfully says her dad’s work here is done, and they’re moving back. We move forward into a big group hug. None of us wants to let go.
The last day of school arrives and we all say goodbye to Yumi. We walk her back home and she thanks us all very sincerely for the most exciting years of her life. We all laugh. If we can only stay just a little longer, linger in the moment, but she leaves tomorrow and her father rushes her inside. She and Ulrich share one final kiss, and that was the last we saw of her.
I spend that summer with my father, refurnishing and fixing the Hermitage. We talk about my mother. I don’t remember her too well.
Summer draws to an end, and school is once again back in session. This is my last year at Kadic, but I try not to think about it. On instinct, I go towards our bench to find the others already there. Odd has changed his hair, and I’m a bit surprised. I ask why he changed it, and he bluntly replies that it was getting too obnoxious. Jeremie seems offended, but I don’t ask why.
School continues in the same mundane routine it did in the latter half of last year. We wake up, go to class, eat lunch, meet at our bench, go to class, go to afterschool activities, eat dinner, then go to sleep. I can’t even tell what day it is anymore; they’re all beginning to blur together.
One day I arrive at the bench after lunch and find that Ulrich’s not there. I ask where he ran off to, and Odd and Jeremie explain that he re-joined the soccer team, and that they practice after lunch and before dinner. I am surprised, slightly.
We go to see one of Ulrich’s games, and he is an incredible player. The three of us cheer him on heartily, and are satisfied to see him score Kadic’s winning goal. We call to him as he walks off the field, but he pays no mind to us. He is greeted by Sissi, who takes his arm and he doesn’t seem to protest. Rather, he smiles at her and she smiles back. I am in shock, but I say nothing of it.
Odd comes to me and Jeremie during study hall one day, complaining how he and Ulrich hang out less and less nowadays. He explains how they barely speak anymore, and how Ulrich is always away, sneaking out with Sissi some nights. Jeremie just rolls his eyes, but I sympathize with Odd. Letting someone precious go is very difficult.
Days and weeks and months go by, school’s end draws closer, and we slowly drift apart. Odd is too busy bringing up his GPA last minute, Jeremie is too busy vying for that one hundred percent he never received, and I am too busy wondering what happened to our little group.
Graduation day finally arrives. Everyone is appropriately dressed, and everyone is present – teachers, parents, siblings… The ceremony is held, speeches are made, gifts are exchanged, and soon, it’s time to go. I exchange hugs with Jeremie, Ulrich, and Odd. Odd thanks me for spicing up his life for a while, and I thank him for introducing techno to me. I wave good bye to them.
Soon, the gymnasium is cleared, and I’m the only one left. The sun is low in the sky, and I determine my father never showed up; he must have forgotten and worked all day. With a sigh, I slowly work my way towards the grounds exit, taking in everything and anything for the last time. As far as I am concerned, this has been my home for the past several years. Now I must travel to an unknown place to unknown people and begin a new life, once again.
I pause just outside the gates as they roll shut slowly behind me. I glance back and the groundsman waves to me, and I wave back before heading off in the opposite direction I should be.
I pass Yumi’s old house, and I give it a small smile. I still remember the summers I spent there, and the five of us spending time there when her parents were out. My eyes begin to fill with tears and I quickly look away, wiping them from my eyes.
Finally I reach my destination only to see that my goal is no more. The magnificent, old factory where seven years’ worth of my father’s hard work rested is gone. All that remains is a long, flat island and the bridge that connects the mainland and the island. I give a startled gasp. I wanted to say one last good bye to my home, to my history, and to thank it for introducing me to such wonderful people. I stand there, dumbfounded, before I make my way on to the bridge and sit down, feet hanging off the edge.
All of a sudden, I begin to laugh. But it’s not the same as the laugh I had on this very bridge so long ago – this one is a slow, sad laugh, one that wants to return in time just one last time, just to see us all together again, even for a split second. One that wants to deactivate just one last tower.
I think of how life-changing and fateful that one October ninth, two thousand and four was. I try to image what life would be like had Jeremie not discovered me; it probably would be similar to how it is now. I am amazed to think that us five were brought together and were made the closest of friends just because of one common mission. One would assume that such a long period of time and such a dangerous task would have made us close friends for life, but in the end, we are different.
All that is left are the people who started it all, poor little Aelita and her father. One would think that the one trying to keep us together would be Jeremie or Ulrich, but in the end, it’s me. I’m the one sitting here, near what was once The Factory, clutching my phone in hopes of a text message reading, “SOS XANA.”
Slowly I stand, and dragging my feet, force myself away as the sun sets. I think of how I now need to move on, to go to university and possibly follow in my father’s footsteps, and of how I need to start over, and pretend as if none of this had ever happened. I think of how, “Can you keep a secret?” had brought us together in a close-knit group, spending hours and hours on end with each other, confident we would never lose touch. But the simple deletion of a program has undone the knots keeping us together, and we drift apart.
And that’s all it takes.
All It Takes by Lani
Story Notes:
Mmm, I was bored late at night. What else to do?
I do not own CL~
Author's Chapter Notes:
...Enjoy?