A/N: I love this series and I have totally fallen in love with the characters. I really hope there'll be another series or something. Anything more. Anything. It was amazing.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Viola's POV.
The Knife Through My Heart
They were dressed the same. Both of their minds were silent to me. They were like twins but of severely different ages. Seeing Todd look exactly like the Mayor... It hurt.
He wasn't free-spirited anymore. He wasn't Todd. He was closed off like a barrier had been placed between him and the real world, exiling him from me and from everyone else. Todd wasn't the same. Some part of him was more professional; he wasn't a child anymore.
Maybe he had killed and I didn't know. Maybe he had become a man. Maybe something had happened, something had changed him from the boy I met to the man I knew.
But seeing him look just like the Mayor was painful. Todd was trying to help the people of Haven and the trapped Spackle and I knew that. He wasn't choosing sides in the same way I had chosen to help the Answer. He was unsuccessfully trying to stay neutral in this three-sided war. He was picking a side without even truly knowing it.
Todd had no concept of how big this was. He saw the world through his narrow mind, creativity practically nonexistent in the little place called Prentisstown that he had grown up in. And now, he was suffering for it, not knowing what was going on or what was happening or who he could become with all that power under his belt. All the knowledge he carried was enough to help anyone overthrow the Mayor. And Mistress Coyle always told me that knowledge was power. Maybe Todd held enough power to even overthrow her rank within the Answer.
I stared quietly at him, taking in the sight of the silver A plastered on his uniform, the sign of the Ask, if they even still existed in this three-way war where only one side could win. He and the Mayor were talking like old friends, like two men who had survived war together. That was how close they seemed to me.
Every second I saw them together, it made my heart lurch. It made my innards twist up in agonizing knots that threatened to rip the life out of me. It hurt to see Todd being someone else.
He could've been a brilliant leader if he weren't such a follower. I could see the personality flaws in him from the very start. He preferred to follow rather than to lead. It was part of Todd's quiet demeanor. It was how he was; it couldn't be changed.
The shiny newness of the uniform reflected the sunlight to me, forcing me to look away from the brightness. It wasn't just because the sun caught me off guard. It was also the pain of seeing Todd be someone else in that uniform. It was like he was sticking a knife right through my heart. Because he wasn't being Todd.
A/N: Please review! I hope you liked it!
~Sky