Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 49th cycle. Now cycle 50!

CYCLE 50 SPECIAL FAVORITES CHART - So I've done 'favorites' cycles before, and this is another one, but since it's cycle 50, I wanted to do something special for it. So instead of the usual top 16 with a 6-chapter Boston Britt installment for Brittany (who has always been and remains number one ;)), this is how it will be: It's shift days through the cycle. Shift B will be a 21-chapter/day Boston Britt. In shift A, after the first day's 'extra' dedicated to New Directions, there will be four Top 5 lists, working their way down (all the number 5 spots, all the number 4 spots, number 3, 2, and finishing with all the number one spots)

The Top 5's are as follows (all are my 'top 5 favorite...'):
* Top 5 Series (my series)
* Top 5 Friendships
* Top 5 Characters
* Top 5 Relationships

TODAY: Top 5 Characters: #4 - Emma

This is a double shift day. There will be one more upload today: Those Are Wooden Wings, chapter 8.

"Open and Fly Away"
Emma

Every year she told herself she shouldn't make a big deal out of it. It wasn't as though she didn't know it was coming. The kids had done their time, now her seniors were graduating, heading out into the world, that was a good thing. Only… she'd get attached.

It wasn't like she knew all of them, not beyond the basics. Some kids were never sent to her, or never came to her. If they saw her, it was routine, nothing to concern themselves with.

But then there were the others. There were those she'd seen on repeated occasions, those whose cases she had to follow, and those… They were the ones making her dread this time, because while there'd always be one or two where things didn't come through, in most cases she'd see the progress, and she'd see that she had helped. She would see smiles and know part of it was thanks to her.

Her parents didn't see the merit in her job, not like she'd expect them to. She tried not to hold it against them, tell herself they couldn't see what she saw, but she knew it was more than that, it was them and how they were with her. They couldn't get it… they were the problem.

But she did get it, and if she ever needed proof she was making a difference, all she had to do was to look into those kids' eyes when some of them would come to her near the end of their senior year or at graduation, and they would thank her. She was always just happy to have helped, but then before she knew it, she'd start crying. She always had extra boxes of Kleenex stocked in her office as soon as that period would start.

If the usual crowd wasn't enough, this year… this year she had them to deal with… the New Directions. Eight of them were heading along that stage in red caps and gowns to get their diplomas and leave McKinley. They had become such a presence now, it couldn't be denied, in no small part due to the fact she was growing closer to Will this whole time, but regardless…

Being a part of their journey, she had felt like, for all the help she might have given them, they had become something to her as well. These last three years, they had brought so much joy into her life, in ways she wouldn't have expected, being they were the students in this scenario.

She knew things hadn't been easy for them, and she had fought for them every step of the way, in any way she could. She could see Figgins flinch any time she went to his office now, even though he hadn't listened to her alone that one time… She had fought for them, and Will had fought as well. More important though, they had fought for themselves, and for each other. They had been carried through these years by many hands, and she knew they were stronger for it. Not many others supported them, but they had each other, and that worked.

Graduation was fast approaching, and she was just losing it more and more. If her own feelings weren't enough, seeing all of them dealing with their imminent departures, the unknowns of the world, the separations from friends, and boyfriends and girlfriends… She couldn't see anyone crying without starting herself, and when she'd feel it coming on she'd have to excuse herself and go sit in her office… or any dark, isolated corner…

Every year she'd have to go through this, and she'd remind herself it was a good thing, that she'd done her job, and they'd done their job, and they were supposed to leave… If they didn't, then they'd just be overcrowded, everyone would grow old and not go anywhere… It had to happen.

But then there were those who didn't get to go when they were supposed to… like Brittany.

Emma realized the girl would be a challenge, but it didn't mean she'd give up on her either, only now here they were, graduation, and the blonde was not going to walk that stage. Instead she'd be sitting in the audience with parents and friends… Now Emma worried for her, at the same time trying to stay optimistic that the next year would end well for her.

Summer would be here soon, defying her with overbearing heat and sweaty people… And then fall would bring relief, along with new students, new relief, along with new students, new people see through the next few years of their lives. That was always the thing that would turn it around for her, get her out of her 'senior blues.' New students brought new promise with them. She knew it wouldn't be a smooth ride for them either; there never was a year like that, unfortunately. But she would be there for them, as she'd been for all the others.

She'd focus on that, rather than reminding herself that, with one senior class gone, the junior class would take its place, meaning she'd be going through the same emotions again come graduation time. This was her job, and she liked to think she did it well. This wasn't about her work performance. No, it was just her… She got attached. But she had to let go. They weren't all gone forever, she knew. Some came back to see her, and others, special ones, well they were as good as part of her life now, as McKinley students or not.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!