Chapter 20

Best Day Ever

Kirsten

Turns out, Clark was a little further away than we originally thought. The town the conductor had been talking about wasn't Clark, but another smaller sea town called Magnolia.

It was a small little town, very idealistic. There were beaches, boardwalks, a lot of things to do pretty much. If we had more time, maybe we could've spent more time here just relaxing.

We did have some time since we had to get the car looked at after the engine gave out, and after getting some cold drinks Sven was looking over a map while the rest of us sort of watched him.

"Man it's hot today," Woodney whined.

"Not too much," I said. "It's still early afternoon, so the weather will still be a bit cooler for a few hours."

"How far away is Clark from here?" Train asked Sven while he went over a roadside map.

Sven traced a finger over the map. "Hmm, not too long now. We should be there the day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow?" Train was not happy to hear this news. "Glen could be gone by tomorrow!"

"We still have time, Train," I added. "Glen said that."

"Still, I don't like this!" Train made a face. "Creed isn't going to just sit and wait for us!"

Eve looked up from her own drink. "Are you going to run off alone again?"

Train froze, then kind of shot me a glance. Then he sighed. "No, I won't. Not this time."

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Rinslet asked.

Sven looked to the group. "Well, either way, we're going to be stuck here for at least the rest of the day. The car needs the engine looked at, and we might as well take the time to gather supplies, fix weapons and… I don't know…"

The group fell silent, and I felt something nagging at the back of my mind. Something dark and twisted. Then I realized with a sort of jolt that this was probably it. This was the last day of peace we'd probably have before going against Creed.

We had fought, bled, suffered all for this moment. And I was hit with the very real fear that the people around me, the people I call my family, could die.

I threw away my empty water bottle. "I-I'll be right back."

"Kirsten?" Sven asked.

"I just need to walk a bit, standing around here is going to drive me insane." I smiled, trying to at least appear like I was happy.

While not perfect, Sven didn't seem to stop me from walking away. Neither did Rinslet or Eve, who all looked at me with some underlying concern.

"Uh, okay? Be back by sunset at least."

"I will!"

Train, on the other hand, seemed to see right through that. But he didn't say anything as I walked away.

I walked a good distance, walking past happy families and other groups of people just enjoying their day at Magnolia. Children on vacation, friends hanging in groups, couples walking through the city.

None of them aware of what was going to happen in a day just a hundred miles away from here. If we couldn't stop Creed, all of this could end.

"You're still a terrible liar."

I stopped and turned; Train, ever the nosey, had followed behind me.

"I'm not a terrible liar." I threw back. "You're just stupidly observant."

He shrugged, not denying the accusation. "You looked worried, so I thought I'd follow and ask what's going on."

"Well, you already kind of hit the nail on the head with that one." I gestured to the people around us, who weren't paying us any mind. "Train… none of these people know what's coming… doesn't that bother you?"

"No, it's better if they don't know." Train looked to the ocean just a few yards away from where we stood.

I sighed, feeling a pang in my gut. "And… I'm scared about how that fight will go down."

He looked over to me. "What?"

"I'm scared that we might fail, and that we might…" I shook my head, not wanting to think about that.

"You have some pretty scary thoughts." Train added.

"Well, when you have few memories to look back, that happens to you."

He made a face. "So… has anything else come to mind?"

I thought about it, going over the memories I did have; Saya, some vague memories of the Doctor, my time being groomed as a Chronos Taoist, but that was about-

Then, in that short moment, I felt the oncoming of another headache. I put a hand to my forehead to wait out the storm, but this time the memory that came to mind was… weird.

It was of Train, Chardon, and a woman with the Roman Numeral One on her forehead. A Chronos number? But when?

"Are you okay?" Train walked to my side, looking concerned.

I nodded. "Just another headache…" I rubbed at my head, feeling the storm subside. "I think my memories will come back soon."

Train made a face, but I couldn't really read his expression. I couldn't tell what the hell he was thinking.

Now, more than anything, I knew that things were going to change. Today was that last day before the inevitable hurricane of disaster that would appear. But if this was going to be the last day before… whatever this is… whether the last peaceful day of our lives or the last time I could be Kirsten Lusk, I wanted at least one good memory to go back to.

I straightened, thinking of something else. "Train, I've got this weird request. And its going to sound like I'm a goofing ass, but… I want you to take it seriously."

"Okay?"

"I… how do I phrase this?" I put my hands together. "I need you to help me give everyone else a really, really good day today. If you can swing it. Not today though, too much time has passed already and this is too important to rush."

"Why?" Train asked.

I made a face. "Because if this is the end… I want us to have something to hold onto. It'll be a safety net when I eventually get my memories back because I… I might not like the memories that come back. But I want at least one good day for us to go back to in case we all… in case we fail…"

Train thought for a long moment, leaving us in the silence of just the ocean waves and the people around us.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked.

"I don't know. But the town here is really beautiful. I'm sure we could find something if we looked long enough." I sighed. "I know this is a lot to ask but-"

"No, I get it." He made a face. "Okay, I'll give you a hand."

I smiled. "Thank you."

He smiled a little as well.

So for the rest of the day, I went through everything I could think of to plan whatever this best day ever could be. Train helped. A little. He spent a good chunk of time just sort of leaning back and listening to the ideas that came out of my head.

But by sunset, I had something planned. I didn't know how well it would pull off on its own but damn it, I was going to try.

It was probably the last chance I could ever do something like this.

Train

Truth be told, I didn't expect Kirsten to actually pull off what she kept calling the "best day ever". But I found her enthusiasm a bit cute.

And, sure enough, I got a wake-up call from Kirsten shaking me on the shoulder. We had gotten another hotel room, but this one was nicer and had a functioning kitchen and two beds. It was similar to the apartment room we had during the time I was a bit shorter, but a little nicer. I still slept on the couch though, and I wasn't accustomed to being woken up.

"Go away." I tried covering my face with a pillow, the universal sign for "go away".

"You can sleep in a bit, but c'mon. At least wake up for food."

"Kirsten, I swear to god-"

She made a huffing sound. Then I immediately felt a small static shock go through my system. I lept up, letting out a yelp in pain. Kirsten stood by me, her fingers dancing with electricity.

"I thought you said you wanted to give us more pleasant memories!"

"You have to actually be awake for those memories." She walked in the direction of Sven's bed, carefully stepping over Woodney's huge form.

I made a face and sat up. "Ugh, what time is it?"

"Eight in the morning."

"Too early for me."

After some adjusting and some minor shocks, everyone was rubbing their eyes and giving Kirsten an odd look. Some more grumpy.

"Is there a reason you asked us to wake up so early?" Rinslet asked, looking at Kirsten with a sense of hatred.

She gestured to the table by the kitchen. And from where I sat I could see that there were several pans in the sink. And on the table was actually one of the most amazing breakfast spreads I had seen in months. There was bacon, eggs, both French toast and pancakes, and some other things.

"Holy crap, what?" Sven looked surprised. "What's all this for?"

Kirsten smiled, a little bashful. "I-I realized yesterday that it had been a really long time since we had actually sat down and had a real meal together so… I used some of the extra bounties I got to get ingredients for breakfast, and something for later tonight." She laughed. "It's probably not the healthiest breakfast ever, and some of it's a little burnt, but…"

I shrugged. "I'm good with that, let's eat."

"Hold on," Sven looked back to Kirsten. "Why all this?"

She frowned, looking a bit sad. "Because of tomorrow, this will probably be the last time in a while we'll be able to eat like this."

Eve walked over to Kirsten and grabbed her by the arm. "Kirsten, we're going to win. Don't be afraid."

"I-I know, but I still worry." She sighed. "You're all really important to me, that's all."

The group fell silent, but then Woodney got up. "Well, come on! Let's not let this get cold!"

"I agree! Food is food!" I walked over and took a seat at the table.

Eve smiled too. "I've never had pancakes," She took a seat as well.

Rinslet, after a moment, caved. "Ugh, you're giving me two types of carbs here, Kirsten. But I guess I'll try something."

We looked to Sven, but he soon sat down. "Thanks, it's been a while since we actually had real food that wasn't instant noodles."

Kirsten laughed and sat right next to Eve and I. "Yeah. Though this stuff isn't healthier by much."

"So long as it's not instant noodles!" Sven added.

And, as much as I would hate to admit it, that was probably one of the best mornings I've had in a long time. The food wasn't perfect, it was actually a little burnt mostly, but it was some of the best food I had eaten. Maybe because I knew that it came from a place of love and that Kirsten worked so hard to put it together for us.

That morning, we sat around the table, laughing and talking about things we never really talked about before. Tastes in music, hobbies, dreams and regrets, things like that. Rinslet didn't share much, not surprisingly, but I learned a little more about Sven, Eve, and Woodney at least.

"I was an informant before I wanted to be Black Cat," Woodney explained.

"An informant?" I looked up from my food, surprised. "Did you work with the police or something?"

"I worked for an organization as an informant." He explained. "They'd send me to other organizations usually posing to be a new member, and I'd send back information."

Everyone looked… shocked.

"Isn't that a dangerous job?" Kirsten asked.

"Very dangerous," Woodney nodded, but still chipper. "One false move, and you could risk getting killed."

"But… I didn't think someone like you would take a job like that."

Woodney's expression shifted, a little bit sadder. "No one else would really take me, so it was the only job I could have."

Everyone fell quiet.

"I know I'm probably not the smartest or bravest guy, but I don't like seeing people get hurt. I wanted to help people, but no one would really give me a chance. And after I heard about Black Cat, a vigilante who took down bad people, I was inspired to be like him. I quit my job as an informant and became a Sweeper instead!" He laughed. "Sorry about impersonating you though, it wasn't the brightest thing to do. But I thought I'd take your name as an homage to you since I didn't know who you were before."

Train sighed. "Yeah, not the brightest idea."

"Still, you don't seem like you're really cut out to be a Sweeper," Rinslet added.

"Maybe not. But that's why I wanted to learn from Train. I wanted to learn from the best how I could be braver." He looked over at me. "If you'll keep teaching me, that is."

"I will," I nodded. "But you have to be a little smarter about your decisions."

"Don't worry, I will!" Woodney said, right before eating more food.

"So Kirsten," Sven looked over to her. "What else did you have planned for today?"

She got up from the table, ran over to the coffee table by the couch and picked up a few fliers to show us. A lot of the fliers promoted some kind of summer festival with wine, food, and other events.

"I heard from one of the locals that this is a yearly thing they hold, and it's a free event open to everyone." Kirsten looked a little sad. "I… Train, I know the last time any of us went to a festival…"

I felt a pang in my gut at the memory of Saya.

"But… I want to try this again. All of us go to this event without worrying about being attacked by any enemies."

Sven picked up the flier and looked it over. "Huh, sounds kind of fun. There's jazz music, so that already sounds good. And it takes place all day?"

"Yeah," Kirsten nodded. "I was thinking maybe we could go for the day? There'll be games and other stuff to do."

Everyone seemed to think about it.

"I'd like to go to a festival again," Eve nodded.

"Sounds like fun!" Woodney smiled. "Count me in!"

"So long as I can get wine, I'll be fine." Rinslet shrugged.

Sven nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Then all eyes fell on me, and this was a bit troubling since everyone knew that I wasn't the biggest fan of festivals now. Especially after what happened to Saya.

But… who was I to spoil their good time?

I sighed. "I'll go."

"Perfect," Sven looked to Kirsten. "Do you need help cleaning up these dishes or…?"

"No, I got this." Kirsten smiled. "If you guys want, you can go back to sleep and I'll do the dishes."

"Oh no, you made breakfast, I'll do dishes." Sven stood up and started gathering up empty plates.

"Sven! Can you not be a gentleman right now?"

"Nope,"

"I'll take your offer on that nap though," I raised my hand. "After a feast like that, I want to sleep it off."

"That's okay, the festival is in town so you can meet us there," Kirsten called from the kitchen.

I smiled. "Thank you."

Kirsten

While Train took a power nap, the rest of us got dressed quickly and headed out towards the festival before it got hot in the afternoon. It was a bit more lively than I was expecting too; there had to be over a hundred people walking around the grounds, which was really set up along the town with several booths and tents. In all honesty, it was very similar to the festival I went to with Saya, but it had a classier feel to it in some places.

Sven and Rinslet seemed pretty content with watching me and Eve go off while Woodney sort of trailed behind.

One of the things I noticed was a booth giving out water guns to kids, so they could keep cool while the day got warmer. Even though I wasn't a kid, the lady passing them out gave me two for both Eve and I. They were cheap, bright yellow water guns that probably could do little more than lightly soak a person.

I also found it a bit funny that such a classy event would have these, but looking back at the flier it did say that as it got later in the evening, the events would be geared more towards adults in some certain areas.

I handed the bright yellow water gun to Eve, who looked at me with a confused look.

"It's only water, you shoot it at people." I looked over at Sven, who had his back to us and was talking to one of the booth tenders. "Like Sven."

Eve slumped her shoulders. "Kirsten, that's Sven. After everything he's done for us, why do you think I'd want to shoot water at him?"

I felt a bit guilty. "Okay, that's fair, you don't have to-" But right as I said that Eve pointed the water gun right at my face and I got shot with water. I screamed out and laughed, and Eve immediately smiled and ran to Sven.

"Oh, you're going down!" I ran after her, and Eve immediately took off running away.

And, to no one's surprise, I got my ass kicked. Eve was too fast for me to get a clear shot on, and I ended up soaking wet. By the end of the hour, my clothes were saturated with water.

"Do you surrender?" Eve asked.

I sighed. "I do."

Sven laughed from behind me. "Looks like you need to work on your aim!"

I smirked. "Sven, have I ever told you how important you are to me?"

And before he could run away, I trapped him in a soaking wet hug, making sure that he didn't walk away completely unscathed.

He did, and there was a huge watermark on his shirt. He gave me a look. "Okay, I might have to join Eve on this next war."

I laughed.

"What the hell happened to you?"

I looked over and saw Train standing to the side. He did come after all.

"Hey, how was your power nap?" I checked the clock in the town; it was already one thirty. "Did you just wake up?"

"Yup." He nodded. "And in all honesty, it was probably the best nap I've had in months."

I had to agree that much, he looked more well-rested than he had been in weeks.

Train looked over at Sven. "Mind if I borrow Kirsten real fast?"

"Going off on your own?"

"Just for a bit, we'll be back by the time it gets closer to when we need to eat dinner."

Sven thought for a moment, then looked to me. "If he tries anything, kick him where it hurts most."

"Sven, be cool about this."

"I swear, it's harmless." Train looked to me. "Well?"

I shrugged and gave my water gun to Eve. "Sure, we'll be back."

I was expecting Train to take me to some other part of the festival, but instead, we ended up walking a lot further away. Really far away from the rest of the activities. We walked through the town, and past the beach until we got to a part of the area that looked more like a forest.

"What the hell is this place?" I asked.

"It's getting demolished later this year, so…" He gestured to a fence with a "No Trespassing" sign on it. "After you?"

I blinked, confused. "Wh… what?"

"Trust me on this?"

I thought for a second, then nodded. "Okay, but we better not get arrested."

He gave me a boost over the fence, and he soon jumped over and we kept going.

After walking a little more, we came across what appeared to be an abandoned docking area. There were a few boats sitting around, along with what seemed to be a lot of empty glass bottles and tin cans.

"What are we doing here?" I asked while Train pulled out Hades.

"We've got something to settle."

"Huh?"

"Now, I know you're a pretty good shot. But are you the best shot out of this group?" He smiled. "Not saying you don't know how to shoot a gun, but some of us are a bit better."

I smirked. "I dunno, Train. A lot of people have seen me shoot. They say I'm pretty good." Then I realized something. "Wait, I don't have a gun."

"You won't need your gun." Train pointed out. "You have your tao abilities."

I hesitated. "Um… is that…?"

"The only way you'll get better is if you use them more." Train looked at me, completely serious. "These are your abilities, Kirsten. Not Creed's, not the Doctor's, yours. And you pick what you want to do with them."

I looked to my hands, a bit worried.

"Try it." He loaded a few bullets into the gun chamber. "You wanted to give everyone the best day ever, now I'm giving you one."

I smiled a little and clenched my fists. "Alright, let's do it."

He walked to the edge of the dock and picked up a glass bottle. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." Then he threw the bottle into the air, it arced through the sky.

I felt energy running through my fingers, and in almost a joking manner, shaped my fingers to look like a gun and focused the energy into a single source before firing a bolt of electricity at the bottle.

It exploded in the air with a bang, and several shards of glass fell into the water.

I laughed, nervous. "I-I didn't think I knew how to do that!"

"Of course you know!" Train pulled out Hades. "Give me a tough one, okay?"

I picked up another glass bottle and threw it as far as I could. Train fired once, and the bottle broke.

"I said give me a tough one!"

"Alright Heartnet, you're going down!" I readied more energy, surprised that I wasn't feeling as sick as I had been before. Maybe the trip to the mountains did more for me than I realized.

Train threw a tin can into the air, but this time I attempted to juggle it in the air with several hits of lightning. If this was a video game, this would have to be some kind of combo.

"Show off." Train laughed, readying another bullet.

"Says you." I picked up another bottle and hurled in the air with a boost of electricity to let it go soaring.

But Train, the natural sharp-shooter, also felt it necessary to show off and got the bottle right before it could hit the water.

While he got another bottle, I readied another electric blast. From what I've seen from my abilities, and from what I remember, I have orichalcum in my body that gives me both armor and a potential weapon. I'd have to figure out how to use this more in a fight later.

Train threw the bottle, but this time I was just a little too late and the bottle splashed into the water.

Train laughed loudly. "This is now my favorite spot in the world!"

I scowled at him. "The wind knocked it off course!"

He was still laughing, ignoring my excuses.

"I'm still getting warmed up!"

"Sure you are," He smiled at me, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

"Give me another one, and I'll prove it to you!"

I wish I could say that after our amazing and intense bottle shooting contest, I came out as the winner. But unfortunately, out of the twenty seven bottles we threw into the air, Train had hit thirteen and I hit ten. The remaining four bottles were a result of me missing.

I lamented in defeat. "Damn it! I was so sure!"

"There, there, there's more things you're good at."

"Like what?"

"Being the second-best shot."

I groaned out loud while he burst out into victorious laughter.

"Okay, you can keep the title of best shot." I held up a hand for a high-five.

He slammed his palm against mine, but in doing so he cried out in pain as a short bolt of electricity shot through his body.

Now it was my turn to laugh.

"Oh that was low!"

"Exactly why I did it, and you fell for it!" And then I proceeded to do a short, goofy victory dance.

He gave me a look, but eventually cracked a smile. Which made my heart skip a beat.

"Having fun, I hope?"

"I am actually." Then I thought of something. "Did you bring me out here on purpose?"

"Yeah, you were so busy planning the "best day ever" that you didn't leave any time for yourself to have fun."

I shrugged. "I didn't really think I needed to."

He sighed, then straightened. "I need some milk, what about you?"

"Milk sounds great, honestly."

But while I followed behind him, I felt a pulling sensation in the back of my mind. It was… weird. Those memories of Train, Chardon, and the Chronos Number were coming back to mind. Feeling less like a dream and more like a memory. But why was it not as painful as it had been before?

I remember feeling energized, and… sad. Like I was going to do something I didn't want to do, but had to. But why?

And… I could see Train standing in front of me, but I couldn't read his expression.

Going back the way we came, the sun was reaching a point in the sky where it wasn't quite sunset, but it was getting close to that time. And instead of going right back to the festival, once again, Train decided to move the party of two we had going to some obscure location. After getting our hands on two bottles of milk from a local grocery store, he ended up leading me up the fire landing stairs of some apartment building that went up about six floors.

"You know benches exist for a reason, right?" I called up at him while following a little distance behind.

"Benches don't have this view. Now keep your voice down before someone calls the cops on us."

After what felt like an hour of climbing, when it was only about six minutes, we reached the top of the apartment building. And, I'll cave, the view was spectacular. From that building, you could see most of downtown and the festival along with the beach.

"Worth the climb up?"

"Okay fine, yes."

Train sat on the edge of the building, his legs swinging over the side, as he took off the cap for his drink. Then he patted the seat next to him, and I, hesitantly sat next to him. Making sure that I was more sitting on the building rather than the edge just so I didn't have to risk falling off somehow.

"So," He started.

"So?" I took the cap off my own drink and took a sip.

"Would you classify this as the best day ever?"

"Dunno, would you?"

"I would, yeah." He nodded.

"Even though you slept through most of it?" I asked.

"That was probably the best nap I've had in years." He said, "I don't think I've slept that well in forever. At least, not since facing Creed."

"I can understand that." I looked out over the ocean. "Man… you can't buy a view like this."

"Yeah…"

Silence fell over us, and suddenly I felt like I needed to say something about Saya. She would've loved a view like this, we both knew that.

"Are you still going to get revenge for her?" I asked.

Train nodded. "Without a doubt." He seemed to fiddle with a pocket on his jacket. "I'll make sure he goes down."

"You're going to use the orichalcum bullet to kill him. We need him alive…?" I trailed off, and Train suddenly looked at me as if I had just grown a second head. "Wait… what did I just say?"

"How… How did you remember that…?"

I blinked. "I… I don't know… I just did."

Train looked panicked. "W-Wait, that's not…!"

And right then in there, more things seemed to become more clear. Not in a painful way, no… it was softer. Like a fog being lifted. And with that… things became more clear. The fight with Sepheria. Of course… how could I forget her? The woman who tried to kill me. And would've if I wasn't a taoist.

But besides the fight… there was something else I had forgotten. Something more important. The last words Train had said to me before I forgot again… the last thing we did…

I pressed my palm to my mouth, shocked. "You kissed me."

Train looked dumbfounded. Then he groaned and put his face in his hands. "Damn it, why did you have to remember that now?!" He looked at me as if he were expecting me to freak out and burn him to a crisp.

I felt my face burning. "You actually kissed me."

"It was in the heat of the moment, I wasn't thinking straight!" Train cried. "I-I know it was messed up to do that, and I wanted to tell you but-!"

"You said you loved me."

His face was bright red. "I'm so sorry, I never meant to keep this a secret for this long! I was going to tell you-" He stopped, and looked defeated. "God… I messed this up… I'm so sorry…"

I blinked. Part of me was angry that he kept such a stupid secret. I wanted to scream and shoot a thousand volts of electricity through is body. I wanted to kick him in the gut or slap him.

But at the same time… I was confused.

So instead of lashing out, which I probably should've done… I asked what I had been thinking for so long, but never had the guts to approach directly.

"Train… what are we?"

He looked up. "What?"

"Are we just partners? Are we friends? Or are we something more?" I felt my face burning. "I mean, we've been through so much. I just wanted to know if… if you were serious when you said you l…" I couldn't say it, it was too embarrassing.

He hesitated. But then, after a long silence, he spoke up. "I don't know…"

"Did you mean what you said?" I asked, taking a sip of milk. "Or I guess… why did you say it?"

He sighed, and looked out at the sea. "I guess… I said it because I was afraid I'd never get the chance to say it at all."

"What do you mean?"

"I…" He hesitated again. "You said you weren't ready to remember who you were yet. I didn't know what you meant by that, and I was afraid that what you were going to do was wipe away who you were again. I was afraid you were going to forget everything. Sven, Eve, Rinslet, everyone, and leave. I mean… I'm not going to say I'm the most loyal person in the world. I'm amazed I'm still here. But right when you were about to forget… I realized that I didn't want you to forget again… I wasn't ready to say goodbye to you. I kissed you, and I said what I said, because I needed to say it in case I really lost you again."

My chest felt tight with guilt. "You… You were that worried about me?"

"It's not just about that." He spoke quietly. "I already lost Saya, and that's something that will haunt me until I kill Creed. But with you? You're the one person I don't want to let go of. Not yet."

I looked away, focusing my gaze on the glass bottle in my hands.

"I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have kept your memories secret, but you… you asked me to."

I gave him a look. "And you decided to listen to me? Train, I'm not exactly the smartest person to ever exist."

He made a face. "Well if I didn't agree, you could've killed me."

"I told you back then, I don't like killing people." I sighed.

"Then why did you ask me to keep that secret?"

I shrugged. "God, why did I ask you that? Of all the dumbass things I could've asked you, it had to be the absolute worst one?! If those are the thoughts that usually went through my head when I actually had a memory, then god help us all when I get them back!"

He laughed a bit. "Yeah, seriously!"

I thought a little more, and felt a pang of guilt in my stomach. "I… I guess I wanted to forget because I was afraid of facing who I was, I guess. I hurt you, I almost killed Sepheria, and while I don't trust or like her, I don't want to kill her." I shook my head. "I was a coward… that's what it was. I was afraid that I needed to be this Kirsten for people to care about me."

"But that's wrong!" Train cried. "I mean, I know taoists aren't liked now. And maybe you did things that you aren't proud of. But you're not the only one with regrets. Sven, Rinslet, myself, we have parts of our past that we don't like."

I looked up, feeling dejected. "Not like this though. I have almost everything I need, and Creed holds the final answers. I just know that when I ran away, I did it for a reason. I was a coward who ran away instead of facing whatever it was I was ashamed of. And… I wasn't a good person, Train. I wanted to forget who I was, just for a while, so I could live like someone who did commit whatever crimes I did."

"Have you met me? I've killed at least a hundred people, I know what that's like to shelve that guilt." Train frowned, looking saddened. "Kirsten, I don't know what you did, and I don't care what it was. But you have people who care about you! Eve cares about you! Sven and Rinslet care about you! You've done so much more good in this past year, and the people you helped care about you! I know that might not change your mind, but think about it! I just- I… I don't want to lose you too."

I felt my face grow warm, and took a drink of milk. "Is it because you lost Saya?"

"Not just because of Saya, but because I care about you!" Train cried. Then he froze. "I…" Then he kept going. "You know what? Screw it! Yeah, I care about you! Yeah, you can be obnoxious, but I still care about you! And that's not going to change that!"

I smiled and laughed a bit.

He looked to me. "But I get it if… well, you could probably find someone who doesn't have a body count so huge the list fits in a novel."

"I've killed too, Train." I pointed out. "I'm not proud of it, but you're not the only one with a body count." Then I thought for a second. "You never answered me."

"What?"

"I asked you something before. What are we?"

He was silent. "I… I really don't know. We're not a… a couple, I don't think. But I don't want to just say we're friends… I just don't know… "

"I don't know either." I laughed. "But I know that when your life was in danger, whether it was by Creed, Kane, or whoever the villain of the week is, I… I knew that I had to make sure you survived. We've had our moments, and they've become the things I hold onto when times get hard. Seeing the stars with you, giving you my terrible candy, so many little memories that made me think not having a past wasn't all that bad…" I felt my face burning. "You asked me once, a long time ago, if you were apart of my good memories. And… you are. There may not be a lot of them… but they're the most precious things I have. And I wouldn't dare forget them again."

Train looked… surprised. And his face was a little bit red. "I-Is that so?"

I nodded, feeling like I was going to die. "Yeah, I couldn't really be any more honest than that."

He laughed, a bit nervously. Clearly neither of us were used to being honest about love.

Train took another long sip of his drink. Then he looked back to me. "I don't want anything keeping us from enjoying this feeling. That's why I have to kill Creed."

I looked to the sea for a second, knowing that out there was Creed. The one thing holding us back. If we didn't defeat him, I just knew that neither of us could really be free. Not even free to be together.

"Train," I spoke again. "I agree with you. So let's make a deal."

"What do you mean?"

I felt my hands shaking. "We defeat Creed. And when we do, we pick up where we left off on that cliff. Maybe, once everything is at peace… we could… " I cleared my throat. "I-I know you said we weren't a c-couple but… could we be with enough time…?"

Train laughed, clearly nervous. And I realized how close we were sitting to each other, and felt like I was going to freeze. His face was inches from mine, and I could feel the heat radiating off him.

"I-I…"

I hesitated. Oh crap, I'm losing him. Should I kiss him? We're so close now, should I kiss him?

Train's eyes darted, a bit nervously. "U-Um, we should… we should go back to everyone…" He was starting to pull away.

Oh for the love of god, at least kiss him on the cheek or something! Damn it, just do it!

And then without even thinking, whether that was a good thing or not, I leaned forward, almost slamming my head against his, and pressed my lips against his cheek.

At least, that's what I was hoping to do.

But no. He had to move his head at the wrong time, juuuust a little too far to the left. And instead of me kissing his cheek, I ended up kissing his ear.

Oh dear god, that's not what I wanted to do.

He froze as I pulled away, feeling like I was going to burst into flames.

He said nothing, and just stared at me.

This was a mistake. I've ruined everything. Oh my god, I ruined everything. I should go bury myself on the beach or something.

I tried laughing nervously, attempting to smoothly brush off this grave mistake. "Ha, sorry I uh… it's really hot out and I wasn't really thinking so…" I immediately shoved my face into my hands.

He looked… shocked. "You… you missed."

"I know I did." I mumbled through my hands.

"Like, that was so bad it will probably go down in history as one of the greatest mess ups ever."

"Rub salt in my wounds why don't you!" I cried.

"How could you miss? I was a few inches away from you."

"You jackass, you're the one who moved his head at the wrong time!" I cried.

He laughed, but his face was bright pink. "I-I mean I'm flattered, really!"

"You're making this worse!" I wailed.

"I'm sorry!" He cried.

I sighed, feeling dejected. "Let's just go back to everyone."

"Yeah, we should go."

The rest of the walk back was… awkward. We didn't really talk… or look at each other… or so much as breathe in each other's general direction.

Wonderful, I just ruined everything. And probably just shot our relationship as friends in the foot.

When we returned to Sven and the others, they didn't really seem to notice the awkward tension between the two of us.

At least, Sven didn't. Rinslet took one look at me and asked, "Hey what's up with you two?"

"Nothing, don't ask!" I cried, a bit too loudly to the point that people looked over at me with concern.

And Train facepalmed.

Rinslet laughed a bit. "Smooth. Real smooth."

But besides that, once we were all together as a group again, we ended up spending a bit more time just shooting each other with water guns, eating free food, and just enjoying our last day.

And while I was awkwardly avoiding eye-contact with Train the whole time, I still felt pretty good about how things were going.

Then the day started to end, and I stood against the railing separating the street from the beach. It had been closed off by the authorities, as apparently there were going to be fireworks that night. As if today wasn't already a disaster.

"Kirsten," Eve walked up to my side, looking at the sun that was just barely starting to duck beneath the horizon, leaving the sky in a dark, inky violet. "I really enjoyed today with you."

I smiled at her. "I'm glad you did."

She looked up at me. "Tomorrow is the day we go after Creed, right?"

"Yeah… but at least we threw one hell of a party."

Sven walked up beside Eve. "One last hurrah before the going gets tough…"

I nodded. "One last hurrah."

He looked over at me. "But it's not going to be the last one."

"Huh?"

"Because as soon as we kick Creed's ass, we're going to have to throw the next greatest party to celebrate."

I smiled a little. "Is that so?"

"You bet it is."

Rinslet walked up next, holding a wine glass. "So when are the fireworks going to start?"

"Probably not too much longer now." Sven shrugged.

I looked over and saw Train walk by my other side. Silence fell, but then he looked over at me and we made eye contact for the first time after the whole kiss failure.

I felt my face burn from embarrassment.

"You okay with sticking around for the fireworks?" Sven asked, looking genuinely concerned for Train.

"Yeah, I think Saya would've wanted me to enjoy this in her place." He shrugged.

"Fair enough."

Train looked to me. "Hey, want to grab some ramune?"

"Huh?"

"You know, the marble drink?"

"They have that here?"

"Yeah, follow me." He started to walk away.

"You two have been going off alone quite a bit." Sven added. Then he looked to me. "If he tries anything, do not hesitate to scream or knee him in the-"

"Sven, be cool about this!" I cried. Damn hypocrite for saying he was already betting on the two of us being a couple only to turn around on that. "Look, I'll be right back!"

Before there was any more arguing, I ran after Train. Eventually we got to the stand that had drinks, and we both ended up with ramune. Fun to open, but the flavors were a hit or miss.

As we walked back to the beach, we ended up walking back a little slower.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have tried to…" I tried apologizing, but couldn't even bring myself to say the words.

Train stopped walking, and I ran right into his back. "Ow!" He cried out and stumbled a bit.

"Sorry! You okay?"

"Yeah," He turned to look at me again, golden eyes glowing in the light of the street lamps.

We didn't move. We didn't speak. It was just more awkward tension.

"Um…" I had no idea what I could say.

"You wanted to make a deal before."

"What? That stupid thing I said without thinking?" I asked, feeling like a dumbass.

He swallowed a bit. "Kirsten, I'll be honest with you. I don't know what I'll do after we defeat Creed. I… I don't know if I want to stick around for long."

Right, the whole freedom thing.

"But… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't open to the idea of us being more than just… us." He looked away for a second, though he looked back at my gaze. "Come with me then."

"W-wai-wait, what?! Go with you?" I was stammering.

"Yes. Go with me when this is over. It'll probably just be the two of us for a while, traveling wherever we want to go, not a care in the world. We can be free, but we don't have to be alone."

"For how long?"

"As long as you want." Train paused. "I… I don't want to force you to go. You have Sven and Eve to worry about, so I understand if you want to stay with them. But I… I can't just stay in one place."

Weirdly enough, I could sort of understand that. Though his logic was stupid, as usual. Now it was my turn to hesitate and be even more awkward.

"Wh… why?" Was all I could ask.

He rubbed at his head, nervous. "Are you going to make me repeat what I said on the cliff? In front of this crowd?"

"No, uh… you don't have to…"

"Kirsten, I don't know if what this is can be called love… but if there's one thing I know about this, it's that I don't want to let it go. I… I don't want to let you go. I don't want to lose you ever again, and I know this is selfish but… freedom with you is one thing. But I would rather be free with you by my side."

I felt my heart beat speed up in my chest. "I… I don't know what to say…"

"You can think about it, of course. And I'll respect whatever you choose. But I hope that, when this is all over, and in the midst of us dancing on the beach celebrating our victory… you'll at least consider it."

I was stunned into silence. Then there was a whistling above us, and several fireworks burst across the sky in brilliant colors.

Train turned to look at the sky, his back facing me for a second. "We should probably go back."

In that small moment of opportunity, I felt like this would be my only chance to do this. A chance to do what I know I had been wanting to do for so long now, but never admitted that I wanted to.

But then I could end up with another mess up on my resume. Then again.

I sighed, and thought to myself just one sentence.

You know what… fuck it.

I walked up to Train, right as he was turning back to look at me. I put my hands over his shoulders, not forcingly no, just enough to get a proper angle this time.

And before he could really process what I was doing… I pressed my lips against his for a soft kiss.

The world seemed to go a little foggy, and the noises from around us seemed to fade. And I probably would've collapsed if I didn't have Train's shoulders for support.

He thawed faster than I thought he would. Almost instantly, I felt his arm wrap around my back and pull me closer to him with a sort of longing that, I imagined had been starved for so long now. His lips were desperate and starved as he leaned into the kiss, and I gasped as he deepened the kiss, threading one hand into the hair at the base of my neck.

I actually shuddered, and felt a surge of energy shoot through my spine. Though, I imagine it had nothing to do with my taoist abilities.

That sweet moment passed, and I pulled away, wanting more.

"You… You didn't miss that time." He muttered.

"Oh shut up." I gave a breathy little laugh. "That was to make up for the last two times."

"But that was only one." His face was still a light red.

"The second kiss is for when we win." I smiled, feeling like I was going to collapse. "You'll get that when we kick Creed's ass."

He sighed. "Really? You're going to make me wait even longer?"

"It only seems fair after you kept that secret from me."

"But you told me to!"

"Ah, nope." I was determined. "You'll just have to defeat Creed before you get another kiss from me."

"Why?" He almost whined.

I looked back at him. "So I can make sure you don't go running off suddenly once the fight is over."

He made a face. "Fair enough."

I held him a little closer. His warmth was more comforting than the dying summer heat. "You have to promise me you won't just vanish."

The hold on me tightened a little. "I can't make that promise."

"You have to. That's the rules."

"What rules?"

"The ones I just made up."

He laughed softly. "I'll promise that if you promise you'll think about what I asked."

"Deal." I mumbled into his shirt.

As the fireworks exploded overhead, we just stood there. Holding each other like it was the last time we ever would. And… it probably would be.

I felt like I wanted to cry now at the possibility of him dying. I… I never wanted to cry before, but now? The idea that he could die was just…

"Can I at least leave you with this?"

I was half-expecting him to kiss me and void the whole deal. But instead of another intoxicating kiss, he ended up just giving me a lighter kiss on the forehead. I laughed a little as he let me go.

He was smiling too. "We're going to win. You know that right?"

I wiped at my eyes, trying to make sure no tears fell yet. "I know… but I still worry."

"Well, we still have a few hours not to worry." He held out his hand. "Let's go back to the others and enjoy the fireworks."

I nodded, and took his hand.

And we kept holding on as we walked back. Even when we reached Sven and the others… we kept not letting go.

I never wanted to let go… never again.

As the best day ever slowly marched to an end… we kept holding on to each other.

And by the time the sun rose the next morning, and as we drove to Clark, I was determined to defend this.

Creed's defeat would come. Our freedom would be earned. I was determined to make it so. For Saya, and for Train.

For all of us.

Author's note:

Hello again, everyone! I'm back after a very long time. I'm so sorry I was gone for so long, the past two years have been really difficult.

I had to take a break due to some mental health stuff. Nothing serious, just some mild depression that I'm getting the help I need for with counselors. Unfortunately, what brought on the depression was a bit more complicated.

Without getting extremely personal, two people I knew passed away around this time last year only a month apart from each other. One of them was a very sweet theatre friend that I still miss. I can't say exactly what happened since I want to respect their family's privacy, but needless to say that the circumstances for both were very tragic. I had a hard time coping, and I still have a little difficulty with the grief, but I'm getting the support and help I need.

On top of all of this, I transferred to a new University to get my BA in Theatre, and a second major in Creative Writing. It's been a bit of an adjustment, but I'm doing alright. I've also been working on my writing a lot, and have been working on a few side projects.

Back in my last announcement, I said that I was trying to write a book with my best friend. And actually, the first draft of that book is going really well! We have it posted on Wattpad for those who have a Wattpad account and who want to give feedback! And you can look at our work by this ID code! You'll need a Wattpad account to view it, but it's free and you can also look at other great stories by aspiring authors!

Unfortunately, I can't post the URL, so just type wattpad and the .com along with this URL code:

story/148086137-enter-the-shadows-book-one-of-the-rts-series

We're very close to finishing the first rough draft, so we're looking for beta readers to give critique! It's a dark fantasy novel with ghosts, magic, a coming of age theme, and some horror. Just saying it now though, it's a little spooky. There is some mild body horror, nothing extreme but it could still be uncomfortable for some people. It can be a little dark, so if you are going to read it, just know that.

And yes, you'll actually see my real name. It's weird for me as well, so please don't stalk me. I've already had to escape a bunch of cultists. Not even kidding on that one. I'll tell the story if anyone's interested. X"D

If anyone's interested, I'm on Twitter at ReneeDenim, and Instagram zodiacrunner1. I'm mostly on Instagram, and I have drawings and other little photos there. I love saying hi to you guys, so feel free to follow me and chat me up!

Thank you all for your patience, and as we get closer to the end of 2018 I want to put aside more time to finish Bad Luck. Now that I've been improving on my writing, I want to go back to my first project and put this baby to rest!

Hope to see from all of you soon!

(Also, here's the synopsis for our book just to give you an idea of what it's about!)

Leala Ariosto just finished her junior year in high school and is about to start the final summer vacation of her childhood. She expects it to go by as quickly as the last, but that is proven false with an event that reconnects her with a friend she thought she'd never see again, and a car accident caused by a nightmarish beast that the rest of her family doesn't remember.

Daniel Marchand is about to come of age, and in order to prove his worth to his family inheritance, he must undergo a series of trials. As the heir to a family of sorcerers, he must use his gifts and knowledge to succeed, but he is warned by many that the prize he seeks isn't all he makes it out to be.

Robin Barnett is still recovering from the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother and sister. Things are tense between him and his guardian, and he can't help but be convinced there is a ghost following him around, despite the fact no one seems to believe him. Well, almost no one.

Three seemingly unrelated people leading different lives, who will all be brought together by one unseen danger. A danger that will shed light on a side of the world most are never aware of.