I read a bunch of FANG excerpts, and I had to do a fanfic! Takes place 20 years after the day Fang left the flock and Max, where they meet up together. Don't read if you don't like sadness! Fang's POV
I wondered if she had remembered. Part of me thought, She'll never forgive you.
I know that I couldn't forgive myself.
But apparently, she had saved the world. After all, I was still here, wasn't I?
I sat there on the cliff edge silently, swinging my legs back and forth. I heard a faint rustle to my right and whirled around. There she stood.
My heart skipped a beat—no, two beats. Max had grown even taller, skinnier, and "filled out", if you know what I mean. She looked tired, worn, older, and beaten, but she still managed a smile.
"Fang."
"Max?" I managed. "You...you came."
"So to speak," she wryly said, and came and sat by me. Her eyes were filled with pain and sorrow as she studied me.
"I'm sorry," I finally said after a long pause. "I..."
Max looked away. "I'm sorry, too," she replied. "But you caused me...so much pain. Twenty years is a long time to wait."
"I know."
Her warm hand brushed mine as she ruffled her feathers. "I moved on. I have a son. Fang Jr."
"Who's his father?" My heart pounded in my chest.
Max looked straight into my eyes. "I had him nine months after you left."
"He's...mine?"
A tear escaped one of her brown eyes as she nodded. "He has brown wings, black eyes, and black hair. He wanted to see you, but...but I wouldn't let him."
"Why?" Anger filled my veins. "He's my own son."
"Fang..." Max cupped my face with her hands. "I wasn't going to come, but then...but then..."
"What?" My voice was barely a whisper.
"My expiration date showed up," her voice was just as soft. "I'm dying...tomorrow...and I...had to see you one last time. Before I died."
My world spun to a stop. "Tomorrow?!" I'd been such an idiot. Twenty years without knowing she was dead or alive, that she would ever come again.
Max nodded, and kicked a pebble. Her hair was streaked with gray, and I realized she was puffy-eyed.
"Max, you...you..."
Max smiled slightly. "The flock had the same reaction."
"But, you can't...what will...what will I do without you?" My chest felt hollow.
"You did pretty fine by yourself for twenty years," her voice caught in her throat.
"What about Fang Jr.?" The name sounded strange in my mouth.
"He lives with the flock. He'll be f-fine." The way Max stumbled made me understand she didn't think so. "Fang, after you left..." Max swallowed. "I was miserable. I tried to kill myself several times. But then I had Fang Jr., and I realized he had to have a mom. And I had to save the world for you. For him. Then after saving the world...well, I went back to my miserable self. Each day, I'd look out the window, praying that you were alive, that you would come back to me. But each day..." Her eyes welled with tears, "You never did."
My own eyes felt moist. "I'm...I never meant to..."
Max stroked my cheek softly, and I felt a pang in my heart, remembering her loving caresses twenty years ago. "I never meant to, either."
I caught her hand in mine, and she pulled away. "Max...won't you look at me? Can't we get back together again?"
"For one day?" she shrewdly asked, and then looked at her feet. "Fang, I saved your life. I got your heart going again. And...then you tore mine away from me. When you left...well, I lost the person I trusted the most. I lost my right-wing man, my best friend, my soul mate, the only person I'd ever love. I didn't trust anybody after that. Except for Fang Jr."
I felt tears in my eyes again. What the hell had I done to her?
"I never meant to hurt you," I muttered.
Her brown eyes met mine. "I know."
We sat in silence for a while before she turned to me again, tears really streaming down her cheeks. "I have to go."
"What? Why? Can't you stay?" I pleaded.
"I have to say good-bye to the flock too," she said, her voice clogged up. "And Fang Jr."
"No..." I found tears coursing down my cheeks as well. "Don't leave me again."
"No, Fang," she corrected, her eyes red. "You left me. Now I have to leave you."
She pulled me into a hug, sobbing into my chest. "I missed you...so much..." she whispered with her sobs subsided. "Each day...I dreamed of you. And some nights it'd hurt so much, I'd go back to each place we'd been together."
"Me too," I said into her hair, which softly shone in the moonlight.
"At least stay another half-hour," I begged.
After a pause, she relented. "All right."
* * *
I hugged her to my body, stroking her back. I could feel her heartbeat, her breathing, every movement she made.
We didn't say anything. But I treasured each moment we were together, knowing that it would never happen ever again.
"Where did you go?" she finally asked.
"Hawaii," I answered. "It reminded me..."
She squeezed her eyes shut. "Nudge tried to get me to date other guys," she said in a low voice. "But I'd tell them that I was still waiting for you...Nudge eventually snapped. She said I was being unrealistic, that you were dead, that you would never come back. She left that very night. She came back last week when she heard I was about to die."
"Angel knew I was in pain, but she couldn't help me. She said I had to heal by myself. It never happened..."
"Iggy and Ella got together. He had surgery, and his sight was recovered. But you should see his eyes, Fang. They're dull, lifeless...he was really affected by your leaving, too."
"Gazzy...he's an pyromaniac at this bomb-making government site. He's making lots of money. He told me to tell you he misses you, and if you don't come back, he's going to blow you up."
I smiled in spite of myself as Max plowed on. "Total and Akila...well, they had, like, five puppies! It was a total mess around the house, and then Akila died, and Total was heartbroken and ran off."
She stopped and her face fell. "And Dylan...well, we kinda kicked him out...he came back and tried to kill me. But we captured him and threw him into prison."
Max looked carefully at me. "I got a job," she finally continued. "I needed to work to keep Fang Jr. alive. I worked for the CIA. Mission specialist. They only sent me on the toughest missions."
"Worked?" I asked, noting the past tense.
"I quit after a few years. It reminded me too much of...you know."
Her eyes turned misty again. "So what did you do?"
"Killing as many 'bots as possible," I said. "And otherwise kicking back and relaxing."
Max's face turned to stone. "So you decided to help me save the world by breaking my heart and chilling?"
I winced. It had been the wrong thing to say. "Well, I was helping Pearl Harbor. Kinda like the CIA thing."
Her face smoothed out. "Oh. Okay." Then she glanced at her watch and turned to me, pain etched on her face again. "I have to go."
"Wait!" I grabbed her arm. "Tell me about your...our son."
Max sat back down. "He's...so like you," her voice got faraway. "Gothic, silent, strong...very, very protective and stubborn. Angel taught him at home. He grew to love flying...but hated his father for leaving his mother and breaking her heart. And his mother," her eyes searched mine, "Told him to forgive his father."
We both started crying again. I wrapped my arms around her. "I'm sorry," I repeated.
"Me too."
She pulled back, her lips at my ear. "I love you," she whispered. "I have always loved you."
She then kissed me gently, and it brought back waves of memories and pain...
Max pulled away again. "I'll miss you," she murmured. "Take this." Reaching behind her, she pulled out a feather from her wing, wincing a little at the sting. She handed it to me. "If you miss me...at least have part of me."
"You're wrong, Max," I quietly answered. "I have always had part of you. You have always been part of me. And when I left, I lost that."
She nodded in agreement, and kissed me once more. "I love you, Fang," she said again. "Take care."
And with that, she took off into the night.
* * *
Third person's POV
The next day, Max never woke up.
The flock and her son buried her with much tears and prayers.
A hundred years later, an archaeological dig occurred there. They found, to their surprise, two sets of avian-human bones. One appeared to be male, and he had his arms around the female. There was a stone in their hands, and it read:
I lost my love,
She came back to me.
I left my love,
He went back to she.
We met again,
On a rocky cliff,
Our memories intertwining,
Sharing our gifts.
I lost her again,
I lost her heart,
And now we are together forever,
For a fresh start.
Fang + Max
May our love last for eternity.
I cried while writing this. R&R!
