Sun shines on Despina's skin. It almost brings her to tears. It may not be her body that she feels it in, but it's enough.

Krista Bertolli can have her body back again soon. For now, Despina turns her face up to the sun through the thick green-needled branches of the pine trees surrounding the. She doesn't really watch as the others climb up out of the hole. She just feels the sun on her skin with her eyes closed and her hands grasping for something she can't name.

Breathless, Tiff speaks with a smile in her voice. "We did it. We made it out, we fixed the issue-- we did it."

"Yeah." Denny doesn't seem so pleased. "We did it."

"I'm definitely going to regret all of it later when I inevitably fall into a slump and want to disappear forever, but... Well, we did it! We saved everyone!"

"Yeah. We did. We really did." There is the sound of a hand ruffling someone's hair and breaking up the collected crust there. "I'm proud of you, kid."

"Really?" Tiff's voice is soft, incredulous. "Do you mean it?"

"Yeah, of course. Your bomb may not have worked, but... Well, you did good, kid."

"Uh... Thanks. I don't know what to say to that. Thanks. I'm proud of you, too."

"Thanks, but I don't think I need that anymore. I think I have it all in my chest now."

"That's sweet. That's sweet." Tiff breathes out like shedding a coat from her shoulders. "What's the plan from here? We have to get these souls back to their bodies, but I suppose we can just uncork them and let them loose, right? That'll work."

"Yeah, I guess so. Hey, Tiff-- Do you still have that jacket, or did you leave it in my car?"

"I think I left it in your car. Why? Wait-- no, we did use it in getting down to the basement." A zipper screeches; Tiff gasps excitedly. "I have it."

"Fantastic. Hand it here. Can you do magic?"

"Absolutely not."

Despina opens her eyes, but doesn't turn around. "I can do magic, if you need it."

"No need," Denny assures her. "You just take a moment. I'm sure that you're more than glad to be out of there, and I don't need to interrupt you feeling that." She puts a hand on Despina's shoulder; it's warm; it feels like everything in the world is going to be okay. "Don't you worry about it. You're just fine. Take a moment to breathe and think about what you want to do after this. Memphis is still on the table. I'm going to figure something out with this jacket, because I think I remember reading about something this one time, and... Tiff, figure out a way to wake up Jake Whatshisface. Get it?"

Despina looks around for the first time since she opened her eyes. They're out in the middle of the woods; she can see the lake from where she stands, but it wouldn't be feasible to walk to it. The sun is going down. It's the first time she has seen one in years: a sunset. She almost lets herself cry.

She doesn't, though. The tears don't fall or crash around her. The guilty will never go home.

Despina sits down in the dirt. Something hurts. It isn't a part of Krista's body. It's something deeper down, something she fears she will never get back. The Mop Wizard took something from her. It might have been her dignity. It might have been her soul. Whatever it is, she's never getting it back.

She wishes she had gotten the opportunity to stomp him into the ground, or to hold him under the water like he did to her. Nothing is good enough to quell the rage. She doesn't give in; she just sits there, feeling it.

Despina pulls her knees up under her chin. It's easy to forget that this isn't her body, that she's going to have to give it up soon, that she is going to be incorporeal and nothing. It's a fitting end for someone who was nothing in life, right?

Tiff was wrong. Rage is all she has left.

Somewhere behind her, Denny whispers that she's going to need Tiff's help (so don't object, kid), and Tiff just sighs. Despina doesn't turn to look. She just wants to see the sunset and the stars before she has to leave the world before ever getting to leave Lake Wonder. (Would it be too much to ask to be able to leave Lake Wonder?)

"I don't know what Krista did to him, that he's unconscious like this." Tiff sighs again; there's the sound of flesh gentle against flesh. All Despina can think is that Tiff is half-heartedly slapping Jacob Kezele's arm. "He's definitely still breathing. Anyway, what are we doing?"

"Keep your voice down, Tiffany May. It's a surprise for Despina," Denny whispers, like nobody can hear her. (She is very bad at whispering.) "I'm trying to do some sort of binding thing to the jacket so she can wear it and stick around if she wants once she's out of here."

"Oh. Interesting. Can you do that with magic?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm trying. Keep your voice down. Kepler, take one of Tiff's water bottles and run down to the lake. That'll help."

They stop talking for a moment-- blessed silence. Despina lies back on the cool spring grass, looks over at wildflowers blooming near the head of the boy Janus possessed.

She misses him. Even after all this time, even after what happened, she misses him. A better girl wouldn't, right? Despina reaches one hand out toward him and looks back up at the sky through the branches. She doesn't expect him to take it.

A few minutes later, he does.

Wide-eyed, she looks over at him through the tall grass. She clutches his hand as tight as she possibly can. "Janus?"

"I'm here. I'm here, Dez, I'm here." His voice is strained and is not his, but it's him; she can see it in his eyes, can feel it past his hands. That is not his shaved head or his jacket, but it's him nonetheless.

It's a soft goodbye, when the two of them stand together in the field near the hatch. It's almost poetic, if she can ignore the fact that two other people are kneeling over a jacket just a few feet away. The sun is swirling down to night, and her head is against his chest just like old times-- and she never wants to let go of this.

She has to, though. All good things must end.

Janus is the one to break the quiet. His voice makes her realize that she has been crying and didn't even realize it. He has been, too; it's hard to tell, but he has been. His voice breaks. "I missed you. I didn't think I would ever see you again, I-- I just wanted to see you again. But I have to move on. I can't linger more than I have. What I had to do... It's done. Once I'm out of Jacob, I'm gone. I have to go."

"Can't you just stay inside of him forever, then?" she pleads, hands on his arms.

He shakes his head. "That wouldn't be fair. Not to him, not to us. We had our chance, right? And it's not right that it was cut short, but... Well, I'm glad I had what I had. I had you, at the very least. One person in this whole godforsaken town who didn't think I deserved to be dead in a ditch. It wouldn't be fair to him. But, god, I'm tempted."

Despina gets it or, at least, she tries to. "I don't think I can leave. I can leave Krista, sure, but-- I think there's something keeping me here." As she says it, she knows it's true. "Will you kiss me one last time?"

"Always." He pulls her closer. "Always and forever."

When it's over and he's gone, she doesn't know what to do with herself. She pulls away before Jacob can come to and get any ideas about what exactly happened here (somehow, she doesn't think that Krista would appreciate implications like that).

It's convenient timing, at least; when Despina walks away, Denny holds up a dripping-wet leather jacket like it's a hard-won carnival prize. "Hey, Despina, look what we did!"

She raises an eyebrow, hands deep in the pockets of Krista's jeans. "What did you do?"

"I'm not sure! But I think it'll work-- like a binding spell working on your side instead of against you, like a way to make you... Tiff, what was the word you used?"

"Corporeal," Tiff says, not looking up from what she's writing in her notebook. A huge grin cracks her face.

"Right! Corporeal. So, that way, you can get out of here. Out of Lake Wonder. Or come back if you want, or-- Well, it's really up to you. It won't last forever, but it might last long enough."

Despina nods, solemn. She doesn't want to get her hopes up. "Are you up for Memphis, then?"

"Absolutely! We'll see every place we can between here and there. Believe it or not, I know my way there and back so well that I don't need a map."

Despina smiles, trying to warm her own heart. "I would like that very much. Thank you."

"It's your jacket, kid. I'm not leaving for another week, though-- fair warning."

"That's fine." She nods, making sure she's okay with it before she repeats, "That's fine. I have to say some goodbyes first. Play the road ghost and all. My uncle..."

"My boss," Tiff whispers; Despina ignores it.

Denny holds out the jacket more insistently. "Go on, then. Do what you never got to."