𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄
— 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 —

𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐔𝐏𝐎𝐍 𝐀 time, there lived a boy; one who could project himself anywhere he pleased within seconds, and whom held no remorse for the mistakes he had made in the past. He held only vivacious inconsideration in his heart, and allowed no one to come near it— and if they did, he was sure with every judgmental bone in his body that the very person would cower in fear. He was careless. He worried not of what the future held for others, but for what it held for himself.

But that was before he fell in love with the girl who could bend water.

She was a hurricane; one that destroyed all of his previous morals and made him feel again. She sought him out from the depths in which he had buried himself, and showed him the light that reflected upon the surface of the earth. She showed him things that he had never seen before: the way the rays of the setting sun ever so slightly brushed upon the effervescent tendrils of grass outside, the sounds of feverish rushing water as it crashed against the shore of a small riverbank, and the way the passions of her heart reflected within her eyes. In the earthy hues of her eyes were her soul, with the kind of beauty that expanded a moment into a personal eternity, a heaven he wished so desperately to be a part of. They reminded him of rich, golden timber with so much strength remaining, despite the years of weathering she had endured. The deep brown of the winter trees at twilight, a delicate cinnamon, the color of soft brown sugar.

And he fell in love with her.

So sitting here, with her unwavering hand placed within his, Five decided that he couldn't let her go.

The boy blinks past his tears, his gaze finding his siblings in an instant. "We're not leaving her here, we can't. One of us need to get through to Vanya— it's our only shot to get out of here."

Klaus stays crouched on the opposite side of Mariana's still body, his hand firmly holding hers as he stares of into a distance of nothingness. He doesn't comply to Five's request, sounding vulnerable and completely lost when he finally spoke. "There's no point in saving a world that doesn't deserve it," he murmurs.

"No, no," Diego stands from his spot, running his fingers through his hair as he closes his eyes. "She wouldn't want you to just sit here Klaus— you know that."

The man stays firm, blinking down at the girl on the floor. Her soft skin had gone pale, her the natural flush drained from her cheeks. She looked at peace— almost like a doll, Klaus thought. But no doll could ever compare to the girl beneath his fingertips, the one who had saved him in a way that no one else ever could.

"I'll do it for her," Klaus decides, giving in as he presses his lips to her forehead. His lip trembles as he draws back, removing his jacket to place it over her blood-stained torso. If he looked at her from afar, it seemed as though she were sleeping— yes, he smiled, she was only sleeping.

And he would wait for the day that she'd wake from her peaceful slumber.

"I'll take stage left," Luther begins, pointing at his brothers as he continues. "Stage right, and you take the back. We need to stop Vanya."

"I'll meet you at the stage," Five tells Luther, nodding to Allison and the others.

The family disperses, despite the cold sensation they felt the second they couldn't see Mariana. Her warmth was gone now, and it made the world a darker and colder place. It seemed that Hell was empty now, and all the devils were here.

Five rises to his feet, gently bringing Mariana's limp body into his arms. He leaves the jacket covering her stomach, pretending as though she were napping; as though she had been exhausted after long day of being adventurous, and gravely needed the rest. After this was all over, he would find a way to bring her back— surely there was someone in the world with the gift of bringing someone back to life. To think about losing Mariana would tip the Hargreeves boy over the edge, and he knew Mariana wouldn't want that for him— so, just for her, he kept his composure as he made his way to the stage.

The roof of the theater was beginning to collapse from the intensity of power that was conjured as Vanya continued with her violin, and Five began to worry that his siblings wouldn't stop her in time. But, just as he looked up, he watched as his brothers simultaneously raced towards Vanya, only to be ascended into the air with the quick swipe of her bow. Her eyes, now glowing with a white that matched that of the power radiating from her suit, would have petrified Five if he could see them any clearer. Allison, positioned behind Vanya, stood still for a reminiscing second as she questioned her upcoming actions.

She positions a gun at the back of her sister's head, her heart beating from her chest and tears streaming from her eyes. But instead of killing Vanya, she aimed the weapon in a different direction and pulled the trigger. And although the scare was enough for Vanya to drop Klaus, Luther, and Diego from her powerful grasp, it only averted her target to the sky.

The white glare of light burst through the ceiling of the theater in an instant, and Five nearly fell to his knees in relief— they were safe now.

Vanya falls into the arms of Allison, blacking out as the remaining siblings rush into the stage. Five keeps his grip on Mariana, looking down for a moment to look at his sister's physical state. "Is she alright?"

Allison, touching Vanya's pulse, nods quickly in response. The group visibly relaxed, although Diego's stayed stiff, his eyes settled on Mariana.

"We're going to be okay," Luther says, his voice soft as he bends down to embrace Allison.

Klaus stares at the hole in the ceiling that Vanya created, a smile settling on his lips as Five, too, finds the exposed night sky. It was beautiful; the stars glistened against the dark and the moon shown brightly down— almost as if it, too, were smiling. Had Mariana been there, she would have painted the scene. Although Five was holding her in his arms, he imagined that she was doing just that; sitting in her room with a paintbrush in her hand, scrunching her button nose in concentration as she tried to capture each detail before it faded away into the dark.

"Guys," Klaus hesitates, his eyes narrowed as he backs away from the hole in the ceiling. "Do you see that big moon rock coming towards us?"

The family stares at the asteroid that had broken away from the moon, and was now on the path to colliding with the earth. Five's heart nearly stops in his chest, and he holds the raven-haired girl closer to his chest, as if to protect her from what was coming. Each of the siblings stand as Klaus tugs at his shirt, "So much for saving the world."

"If only Sir Reginald could see us right now," Diego chuckles, no humor in his voice as Five stresses behind him. "The Umbrella Academy, a total failure."

"At least we're together at the end," Luther sighs to himself, turning to Allison, "as a family."

But Five had already resolved a plan.

"This doesn't have to be the end," he assures them. "I think I have a way out of here, but you guys have to trust me on this." They turned their backs to him, wary of putting their trust into his hands. "Then we might as well accept our fate, because in less than a minute we're all going to be vaporized."

"What's your idea then?" Diego demands, his eyes unyielding.

"We use my ability to time travel, but this time I'll take all of you with me." Five resolves, glancing down at Mariana. "And if I'm right, we might get Mariana back too."

Klaus nods immediately, "I'm in, and so is Ben."

But Diego had other plans, which involved questioning the statistics. "Can you even do that?"

"I don't know," the boy admits. "I've never tried it before with so many people."

"I'll do it," Diego agrees, with Luther and Allison following in tow. "Why do you think it'll bring Mariana back?"

"I'll take us back in time," Five explains, "but since Mariana is . . . gone, the process should reverse what's been done."

"But what if she wasn't born in that time period?" Klaus asks, wary of getting his hopes up.

"All of the energy going to her will be drawn to bringing her back to life, so it shouldn't rewind her age. When she wakes up, she'll look the same." And, with every ounce of his heart, Five wished that it would work— that he wouldn't have to spend another aching, agonizing second without the love of his life holding his hand.

Luther picks up Vanya, before hesitating. "Should we take Vanya? Since she's the cause of the apocalypse, wouldn't she be a ticking time bomb?"

"The apocalypse will always happen and Vanya will always be the cause unless we take her with us and fix her," Five says.

And so the family gathered into a circle, each one holding hands with another. Five holds Mariana in his arms while simultaneously focusing on the core of his powers— he could do this, he had to.

Electricity crackles above them, the conjured energy forming as the boy concentrates. He stares at it, urging it to grow bigger, just enough to fit the group. The wind coming from it whips at their clothes, tugging them farther apart as it surrounds each of them.

"Hold on, it's going to get messy!"

And as he looked around just before the asteroid hit the earth, and the siblings were transported through time, he noticed that the age rewind had already taken affect. His siblings were no longer their usual age— they were young again, each looking exactly the way he remembered. Their eyes were wide with fear of the unknown, all of them grasping onto one another for their lives. But something else had changed; the previous weight of Mariana no longer resided in her arms, and as he glanced down, he realized that she was no longer there.

His heart broke.

But then, he noticed a shift in the group, and saw that his siblings were focused on something beside of him. A new hand replaces Allison's, and the familiar soft palms that touch his are enough to make him look, too.

Mariana's hair blew in the breeze, a smile gracing her lips. Her cheeks were rosy and her skin was vibrant with life— something that he had missed so dearly. And her eyes offered him a gaze that welcomed him into their own little piece of forever.

The truth was that Five Hargreeves had no idea how to stop the apocalypse, nor did he know how to save his sister from the impending doom that she placed upon each and every person he cared about. He was terrified of what was to come, and worried that he didn't have the strength to save the world. He was no superhero, after all.

Because once upon a time, there lived a boy; one who could project himself anywhere he pleased within seconds, and whom held no remorse for the mistakes he had made in the past. He held only vivacious inconsideration in his heart, and allowed no one to come near it— and if they did, he was sure with every judgmental bone in his body that the very person would cower in fear. He was careless. He worried not of what the future held for others, but for what it held for himself.

But that was before he fell in love with the girl who could bend water.

And although he knew nothing of what was to come, he knew that he should spend this moment, suspended in the middle of time, cherishing the touch of Mariana Carson; the girl whom had saved him.

So for now, he was just going to hold her.

_______

❝ honestly, i'm so glad i added this
because now i'm happy and i have
closure. perhaps i'll write a part 2 when
the next season comes— but at the
same time i think that i'm happy
because this is mariana's story
and i'm happy with where this leaves
off. let me know what you thought! ❞