Two years since the war ended

Gemma's private jet landed at the Moudrin international airport. She was with the entire team again. Erik, Brendan, the Harris family and even the woman named Daisy and her daughter Aaria.

They made their way to the arrival hall, looking for familiar faces. It didn't take them long to find some. Gemma instantly smiled at the girl but the metal rail waving at them excitedly.

#

"They're here, Lisa!" Cathy snapped enthusiastically.

Lisa half jogged over to the metal rail. Ana was in her arms. The three of them waved at the people they'd fought alongside two years ago.

#

It went how any get-together like this one goes. They hugged, they kissed. They greeted each other with smiles. Germaine complimented Cathy about her longer hair. Cathy playfully punched Clint in the stomach. "You don't look like a skinny nerd anymore."

Clint winced and grinned. "Thanks, grandma."

Marie put her arms around Cathy and held her for a long time before letting the girl greet the kids. Zack had grown a good head taller since the last she'd seen him. "You've certainly taken after your dad, huh?" She smiled at him before smiling playfully at Aaria. "Aren't you gonna introduce me to your girlfriend."

"She is not my girlfriend!" Zack blushed fiercely.

The girl giggled. "I'm Aaria and this is my mom, Daisy." She nudged the tall women ahead.

Daisy scoffed. "Look at you, acting all grown up and introducing your mum as if I'm the child."

Cathy laughed. "Still nice to meet you Daisy." She shook hands with the woman who hit her with a charming smile.

Then Lisa clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Okay, guys it's time for the surprise!" she called out. "We rented a van just for today. It's waiting outside. We gotta get going now."

"Surprise?" Zack and Erik looked up at Cathy in unison.

Cathy rolled her lips, as if withholding a secret. "You'll see it when you see it. Let's get going now."

#

And quite the surprise it turned out to be. The van drove them for about another hour before they came to what seemed to be a national park that was hosting some kind of event.

When Erik and Gemma saw it they almost couldn't believe it. The big banner at the entrance of the national park read in bright, glowing colors:

MOUDRIN CELEBRATES

THE WINGED PASSAGE FESTIVAL

"Is this..." Erik looked at Cathy. "Is this really...?"

Cathy smiled slyly. "The same bird event your great grandpa used to tell you about."

Before they could say anything, Lisa wheeled over an imitation straw basket the size of a suitcase. "Alright everyone, are you ready for the picnic?" she called out.

Zack gasped. He looked up at Cathy too. "A picnic?"

Cathy nodded. "I'd made you a promise, remember?" She crouched in front of him. "That we'll come together for something like this again."

#

They laid out the picnic under a tree by the lake in the national park. Lisa unpacked the basket and Brendan helped serve everyone. There were a dozen different things to choose from the menu. Three different kinds of sandwiches, apples, oranges and strawberries, cookies, crackers and stuffed mini-peppers and skewered chicken. There were juices for the kids and beer for the adults and Ana joined everyone with her bottle of milk.

They watched the scarlet gulls and golden kingfishers as they zapped by the lake to fly off with a fish. There were also a different species of weavers that sang in the tree above them.

Zack and Aaria played with the baby. The boy even showed off his magic trick to the toddler. The child gazed wide-eyed and astounded as Zack made a silver coin appear and disappear.

After the snacks were devoured and the laughter simmered, Zack and Aaria moved up to the lake, finding the quietness too quiet for their taste. Daisy pulled out a digital camera from her backpack to step away to snap some pictures.

Brendan tossed a can of beer to everyone at the picnic. Lisa was rocking Ana to sleep.

"Two years ago, I never could've imagined we'd come this far," Gemma said before taking a sip of her drink.

Cathy scoffed. "Trust me, it was obvious you thought we were all doomed when you left."

"Gemma had left?" Clint gawked.

"We didn't know about this," Marie said.

"I wanted to do things my way." Gemma shrugged. "I didn't want more people to die."

"It was a war," Erik said grimly. "Death was inevitable."

"Can we not talk about it now?" Lisa said, leaning back against the tree as Ana slept on her lap. "It's not like I already don't get nightmares from that time."

Erik was surprised, "You do?"

Lisa's face was grim as she nodded. "I kept thinking whoever I killed was a monster. The people who'd chased Richard and Cathy and I were nothing but monsters. But when someone tried to take Oriana away from me, I realized I was a monster too."

"Don't they call you a hero here?" Gemma said.

"Only because I killed a hundred people of my country to save the people here. I'll go back to Ardvenia and I'll be called a monster again." Lisa sighed. "I don't know which one makes me feel worse."

"I agree, we should just talk about something else." Gemma said. "This discussion is getting too grim."

Cathy took a sip of her own beer and said, "Why didn't you guys bring Luce and that girl Tracy?"

"Apparently, he is not very social." Erik shrugged. "I don't know what's up with that man, he was the most sociable, sweet talking guy during the war and now he is just all cold."

"I guess he is just that kinda guy," Gemma said, laying back on the picnic blanket. "He thrives more in a war and less during peace."

"The kind you need to drag to a cafe as if it's a dentist appointment?" Lisa grinned.

"Kinda like Erik," Gemma grinned back.

Erik pouted. "Hey, lemme just remind you, I have the charisma to convince a hundred simpletons to riot against the government."

"Yeah," Gemma said, still grinning. "Just like Luce."

Erik rolled his eyes.

"Stop being the annoying sister, Germaine," Lisa said. "I bet, just like Cathy and I, Erik is also finding it hard to be a normal person with a normal life, right Erik?"

"Don't lump me with the likes of you." Cathy snapped playfully. "If you don't remember, I'm the one who came up with the plan for this picnic. While all you adults were too busy brooding by yourselves."

Gemma looked at Lisa. "Is that for real?"

"I wish I could deny, but unfortunately, the credit goes to her." Lisa chuckled.

"Did you really manage to do this all on your own?" Marie raised an eye brow at Cathy.

Cathy smiled smugly. "You see, I'm kind of a big deal around here."

Lisa groaned. Cathy kept going.

"So because of that I just called president Leo and asked if he could restart this event from the past. Not like it was gonna take a lot out of the national budget," Cathy said.

"It's certainly beautiful." Clint nodded.

"Forget about the event." Cathy turned to the Harrises. "You guys just disappeared on us right after your mission with Eli."

"Look, there's a good explanation for it." Clint raised his hand. "I made a powerful friend. He told me we could wait it out in his safehouse until the war is over. So we went."

"The powerful friend is Eli," Marie added. "God rest his soul."

"That's a story I've always been curious about." Cathy squinted. "What did you even do that Eli became such a big fan of yours?"

Now it was Clint's turn to be smug.

And Marie rolled her eyes. "Please, not that story again." Marie turned to Cathy. "He won't shut up if he starts about it. Stop him!"

It was too late. Clint told them the story anyway.

#

That night, when everyone had fallen asleep back at the mansion, Cathy was still awake in her room. She sat by the window, gazing up at the dark cloudy sky when she heard the padding of footsteps out in the hallway.

She walked out to find Erik going down the stairs. She called out to him.

"Hey," he said, turning to her. He didn't look groggy at all.

"So you didn't fall asleep either, huh?"

He gave her his usual smirk. "Neither did you, though."

"I'm staying up on purpose."

"Well, I was gonna go grab–"

"A beer?"

Erik kept smirking. "Some water. I'm trying to kick the habit of drinking in the middle of the night."

"That's nice."

"What are you doing staying up so late? Did you–"

"I'm gonna go to the backyard."

"Oh, okay."

Erik joined her in the backyard while she was sitting by the pillar. He'd brought a glass of water too. She thanked him and took the water.

None of them said anything for a long time.

Then Erik broke the quiet. "You know why I didn't sleep, don't you?"

"I don't."

"You're lying." He looked out at the shadows beyond the trees on the vast lawn. "It all came back to me. When we were all together at the National park. It was like the old times. And I remembered that I'd used you all for my own schemes."

Cathy looked at him with a serene face. "You did, Erik. You used us like pawns. You lied to us. You lied to your sister. And now the ten year long war has ended. Two enemy nations became friends. A divinely destructive weapon is now sealed away and out of the reach of greedy hands. I know we all played our parts. But without your so-called lies, none of it would've come into being. The question is, in this grand scheme of things does the fact that you lied even matter?"

Erik swallowed hard. "I guess not."

Cathy shrugged. "I hope that will help you sleep."

"Cathy," Erik said. "Do you still think about the day you shot your father?"

The girl remained quiet for a minute, gazing at the sky. Then the first drops of rain started to water the ground. Cathy got to her feet and looked out at the night. "I'd gotten too used to being surrounded by death. It got to a point where even after I came away from death, I felt incomplete without its constant whispers. I guess I tried to convince myself Milo's soul was actually talking to me. You tried to convince me it was the EpiFeeeze. But I never tried to make myself let go of what happened." She looked at him over her shoulder, "I haven't had those nightmares about shooting dad ever since I buried Milo."

It started to rain harder. "The worst thing about suffering isn't that it never ends, Erik," Cathy said. "The worst thing is we get used to it."

And without waiting for a response, Cathy took off her slippers and stepped out into the rain. She felt the wet grass under her feet and dug her toes into the ground. She looked up at the sky and let the cool shower pelt her face. She smiled.

Mom, dad, Milo, I hope you can feel this rain, too. I hope you all are at peace. 

THE END