Chapter 1: "Goodbye, Forever"
The next few days seemed to creep by for the Loonatics. They spent most of their time shutting down everything and packing up thier stuff. But, for Cassidy, every day that passed showed. She became jumpy and nervous again, and refused to eat. Her fate was still undecided, and it was driving her nuts. Tech watched over her worriedly.
The affects of their new fate showed on all the Loonatics. Everyone was very quiet, even Rev, who almost never ran out of something to talk about.
Everyone jumped when Zadavia's hologram appeared, but Cassidy, weakened by the combination of little food and even less sleep, fainted.
Tech layed her on the couch. Within a few minutes she came to. She glanced up at Tech, an unvoiced question in her eyes. Tech's grim expression was all she needed to realize that her nightmare had come true. She was going back to Sari.
.BLUE TRIANGLE.
Cassidy faced Ace first. She held out her hand. "Ace, it's been an honor working under you"
Ace took her hand and pulled her into a hug. "The honor's mine. You've been a great Loonatic"
She smiled at him before turning to Lexi. Lexi reached out and hugged her. "Take good care of yourself"
"Thanks, Lexi. For being a great friend." They broke apart and Cassidy faced Duck. "Duck, I honestly don't know what I'll do without you around to make the wrong comment at the wrong time"
"Of course you won't." Duck said.
Cassidy giggled and hugged Duck. "And thanks for being understanding when you learned that I was an orphan, and a princess"
Duck frowned nervously. "Yeah, understanding." Just then, a flash of voices returned to Duck:
'Why don't you tell her?'
'I just don't want to screw things up between us, she's... well...'
'Special to you?'
'Yeah, special.'
Before Cassidy could move, she was scooped up by large, furry arms. "I miss you, Cassidy." Slam sobbed.
"I'll miss you too, Slam." Cassidy replied. Slam set her down in front of Rev. "I will never forget you, Rev"
"I won't either, and here, I made something for you to remember us by." He handed Cassidy a picture frame of all seven of them.
Cassidy's eyes welled up with tears. "Thank you so much, Rev. This means a lot to me." She hugged him.
Cassidy faced Tech. For a moment, she couldn't breathe. She forced herself to say something. "Well, I... I guess this is goodbye."
'Come on, tell her.' Tech's mind urged, but all that came out was, "Yeah... I guess so." Without even thinking about it, he stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her.
Cassidy hooked her arms around Tech's neck. "I don't want to leave, Tech." She sobbed.
"I don't want you to, either. Don't worry, everything will work out." He tried to sound hopeful, but inside, he wasn't so sure.
Cassidy pulled away from him. Tech gently pressed his thumb under her eye, wiping away the tear that was falling down. "I promise you, no matter what happens, I will not rest until we see each other again. I promise."
Cassidy smiled. "Goodbye, Tech."
"Goodbye, Cassidy."
Tech took her hand and helped her into her father's awaiting spaceship. Cassidy slowly let go of Tech's hand. As it left, Ace, Lexi, Rev, Duck, Slam and Tech waved goodbye. Cassidy waved back.
When the ship disappeared, Tech's head hung, looking at the ground. Lexi and Ace exchanged worried looks. Rev set his hand on Tech's shoulder.
'You blew it, Tech. Now, she'll never know'
(End chapter)
