When Ayden leaves Anorev, Zoe watches him. She doesn't get a choice; she is taller than Fabre's clocktower. She watches as Devick and Reece see him off. Zoe and Ayden said their goodbyes the day before, and still she wishes she could be with the others.
That was the downside to being the Angel. She got to look out on the people she helped, but she couldn't interact with any of them. She couldn't visit Dear, she couldn't talk to Devick, and she couldn't tell Fabre and Harmony to Just. Stop. Arguing.
She couldn't see Ayden off. And use strongly worded gestures to tell him how incredibly stupid he as being. What did he think he was going to do?
"Zoe," Ayden had said, his voice set and his eyes dark. "I'm leaving Anorev."
Hundreds of questions jumped to the forefront of Zoe's mind, the most important being:
When? Where are you going? Who are you taking with you? Why?
Just as he had when they were kids, he read her mind.
"I'm leaving tomorrow." Nearly twenty years and the word still felt foreign and awkward. "I'm going on my own. I don't know where I'm going." He paused, and Zoe waited for his final answer.
"I'm gonna go find 41."
The determination took Zoe aback, and if she were able to blink now, she would. She went for hoping he understood her confusion.
She had sort of thought they were done with this. The passing of the Last Man To Question had been heartbreaking, certainly, especially since she had known him much longer than Ayden had. She had spent a good portion of her life waiting for the Dapper Men to return and restore some sort of order to the chaos of the Infinite Day, and Ayden spent most of the short time confused.
She knew, of course, that a bond had formed. It was to be expected. The Last Man to Question and the First Boy to Think would naturally become each other's Mentors- Ayden to teach 41 how some things worked in Anorev, and 41 to teach Ayden everything else. But they had had their tears the Night the Angel Fell, and everything he taught them was only meant to launch them forward, not lock them in another Infinite Day, so how was Ayden carrying on this way?
"I just have to do it, Zo." Ayden broke through her thoughts, placing a hand on her knee. "Besides, I've always wanted to go farther than Anorev. Wish I could bring you with me."
Zoe, surprisingly, sort of did too.
And here they are, Zoe towering above Anorev and keeping time in check, Ayden setting off to explore and find, and with every find, unearth hundreds of questions. Zoe wonders, as the others return to their business and Ayden's pinstriped form is merely a spot on the horizon, if this was the destiny he resisted all those years ago. If he comes home, no, when he comes home, she will be certain to ask him. In a way, though, she sort of hopes it isn't.
She hopes it's greater.