honestly, i had sworn off ff. but of course Maze Runner would catch my eye.
i have no idea where this came from- this is rough and a far cry from perfect or possibly even coherent, but eh.
set after the death cure.
nothing is mine.
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I.
Naturally, Minho takes over what they'd dubbed Paradise- Thomas is cut out to be leader too, no one denies it (and he is, in all the way that counts) but he wants to rest and no one denies that, either. Minho has always been stronger- Thomas thinks it's because he's stupider, jokingly, but they both know that Minho has what it takes to push the small handful of the human race they have left into something akin to actual civilization and Thomas doesn't mind him taking the crown.
Thomas knows that Minho is rash and seemingly more brawn than brain and his rugged leadership qualities leave room for questioning at first glance, but it works so he takes up as the head of their little group. Nobody really comes around to questioning it, because by the time they realize they even have a leader it's become too natural and everyone's quite content with how things are being done, anyway.
They have all basic necessities in place, but they lack seriously in numbers- there are only several hundred of them which means every one of them are precious human resource. Most of them are young adults, some are highly educated like Jorge- many who have survived until now are at least somewhat skilled at adapting quickly to new environments and every one of them are eager to do their part in starting anew, in a beautiful world free of the Flare and WICKED.
(Sometimes, they can almost forget it all. But not quite.)
It's a rough start. Nothing is easy.
But they are alive in relative happiness- most will settle for that.
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Brenda and Thomas date, and it only seems natural. They went through the same things, knew similar people, watched each other's backs in their most troublesome moments.
None of them, none of the residents of Paradise will truly be rid of their shadows and all of them led harsh lives but it's clear that it's the people who went through WICKED's trials that are usually the worst off.
Thomas is always haunted by Chuck, Newt, Teresa, the first man he killed and the last man he killed- none of them ever fade even as the years go by, and even though he never quite remembers his life before he woke up in the box, in the maze (it seems like a million years ago, but everything is still so clear) he remembers just enough to make him miss it- his mom, his childhood.
Brenda is like that too. There is always something underneath her exterior, and sometimes her smiles look a little too strained. They try to hide it and most of the time they're too busy trying to keep their civilization running smoothly to think too much, but when they inevitably lie down at night- Thomas and Brenda, hands intertwine- everything comes back like a train wreck and so most of their nights are spent waking each other up from nightmares.
In all actuality, they've never really left the battleground.
Thomas and Brenda date because it only seems natural, but in truth they are together more in necessity than want.
(He is in the maze, they are trying to hold off the Grievers- they are walking across the barren desert, the sun too hot and the air too dry- he twists the knife into the man, feels the life leave the body- he pulls the trigger and then he's running, running, runningrunningrunning—
Thomas, wake up. It's okay.)
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They end up breaking up after a few years, because even if they are perfect for each other it's never right. Brenda always remains Thomas's best friend, though, and a long time later he even names his second daughter after her.
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(His first daughter is named Teresa.)
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II.
Minho never really dates, because he can never really trust.
There are only a handful of people whom he'd ever trusted anyway, and when most of them end up dead you end up irreparably damaged, he figures.
It doesn't mean he doesn't sleep around a few times, but nothing's ever serious and none of the girls expect it to be. He is Minho, and he is weirdly logical without losing most of his no-filter attitude which means that also he understands himself well enough to know that he could never pull off a serious relationship.
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He finds out later, years later- what happened to Newt. He finds out from an intoxicated Thomas, who knocks on his door in the middle of the night and cries more than talks, who says he's sorry more than Minho can count. Minho is momentarily blinded by rage, but soon it fades until he's just left with a slight pang and familiar tiredness.
He hates Thomas for pulling the trigger but he also understands. Thomas loved Newt too, as much as he did, and while it'll never be okay he forgives him, all the while wondering if there really is anything to forgive Thomas for, anyway. So instead of deforming the shuck's face, Minho settles for kicking the man's torso when he's finally unconscious and dumping his body in front of Brenda's house.
When Thomas asks a few days later, fear and anxiety all evident in his eyes, if he came over to his house in the middle of the night- Minho tells him that no, Thomas was never there and he really ought to get his brain checked out. Relief and sadness flood into Thomas's expression and it's rather funny to know that for all he's good at, Thomas could never lie to save his life.
Minho sees how pointless it is to hate him, and honestly he hates himself more for not doing something than he hates Thomas for killing Newt. There was nothing Minho could've done, he knows that, but sometimes that's not enough.
Once, when he's older and as drunk as Thomas was when he came barging in and crying, he staggers down the beach and searches and searches until he finds a small pebble the exact shade of Newt's blond, blond hair. He never really gets around to putting it back; after all, it's not unmanly if no one knows about it, right?
It sits on his bedside table.
(And maybe he always liked Newt more than he should, but that's neither here nor there.)
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Minho never gets married, never has kids- he's always the leader, up until he can't even walk anymore, and then he gladly hands over his post to Jorge's kid, who's young but scarily smart and manages to talk everyone into electing him. The future looks brighter than any of them could've hoped for, and he is glad to know that he had something to do with it.
"Don't worry, old man. I'll keep this place up and running long after you've kicked the dust." Jorge's kid smiles his signature shit-eating grin. Youth is flowing in his features and his eyes are lit up with the sort of hope you can't teach, and Minho knows that the future is in good hands.
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In the last moments of his long and harsh life, their vivid images burn themselves in the back of his eyes and it's the most weightless he feels in such a long time. His days with Alby and Newt were anything but beautiful, but they were his memories with them and that is what counts. He knows they would've been happy that he's made it this far, when they'd all spent their nights half-joking about their very probable premature deaths, words laced with a bit more truth than any of them would've liked. He knows that they are still his best friends, after all these years. He knows that he doesn't regret remembering them, even if it means that he never moved on.
He spent his nights, right from the beginning of Paradise to the end of his life remembering his friends.
After all, Newt did make him promise and Minho always keeps his promises.
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(So let's say our bloody goodbyes and then you can promise to remember me from the good old days.)
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thanks for reading.