Beware: This is most-likely a sad ending for all characters EXCEPT Ben and Gwen. However I try to rewrite this, I am never happy with any other ending. This is the way it was meant to be.
I am not afraid to leave it like this.
Chapter 11: The Phoenix
"There's always time to turn back," he said to her as they walked up a neighborhood street, clad in their new attire.
Gwen looked at him briefly. "I never thought I would hear Ben Tennyson say that we should give up."
"This isn't giving up. We are a healed wound in our family. They've probably moved on and seeing us, Gwen, it could tear it open again."
She stopped and blinked – looking completely serious.
He's right, she thought. However, just being right wasn't enough. Ben was feeling a heavy guilt for their parents depression and his feelings, right then, were more important than their state of mind.
"We've come this far," she spoke, "and I'm not turning around. So what are you gonna do?"
He had been a little ways in front of her from the stop, but he stared back at her figure. Dressed in the casual clothes she blended in with society. Before they had left, Gwen had caught his hair with shears that they borrowed from a barber shop. Using only scissors was hard work, but she managed quite well. His hair was similar to as he had it when he was twelve, but looked more mature with his adolescent features.
"I'd follow you, no matter where you go," Ben finally answered.
Thinking back to passed memories, she responded: "I know."
They took hold of one another's hand and walked down the neighborhood sidewalk as if they had lived their together for a while.
A few elderly people were outside of the homes they passed and looked at the two cousins – unknowingly to their relation – and smiled with warmth. Gwen smiled back at some of them while Ben simply waved. Something inside of him burned with envy – but envy of what? The same feeling had occurred when he saw the infant clothing at L's.
. . .
The houses they passed by were average sized – from what they remembered as average – and occurred in different colors. Beige, pink, white – mostly bright colors. However, there was one that stood out amongst the others. And that was Ben's house.
It was made of brown wood with a green trimming to it – resembling a log cabin from Colorado. The windows were always blocked from view by panels or inside blinds.
The two walked up to the driveway – which held one car. It was familiar to the cousins, and that gave them hope that Carl and Sandra still lived there.
"Look Ben," Gwen pointed to the second story of the house near an upper corner. He looked with falling interest and anxiety. The thing he saw was a bit disturbing.
His room window was slid open and they could see into it. Nothing abnormal about an open window, but what was inside of it was that which made him blink. He spotted a few Sumo Slammers posters and a dim light on which flickered wildly.
"It's a candle..." his cousin announced, squeezing his hand.
"Come on," he answered and they walked up the driveway and onto the porch.
Directly before them sat a door, a door which Ben had entered an exited hundreds of times. The roofed porch around them brought memories to him – some that made him smile and some that made him angry.
On a night coming home from his birthday, his dad had became angry with him for continuously talking back in the car ride. After getting grounded, he ran through the front door with tears of annoyance in his eyes. Parents never would admit when they were wrong.
However, other times they had come up to the porch after one of his baseball games and insistently complimented him on his two scores. They even offered to go get him a new drink called a smoothy.
"You ready?" Gwen asked him, as they stood side-by-side.
"Yes."
Moving his fist up towards the heavy door, he gave three loud, audible knocks and then waited with a nervous tension.
They definitely did not look like castaways who had just returned to where humanity made its home. The two were dressed with a natural casualness like they were coming home from school.
Wind picked up and threw Gwen's hair around. Ben couldn't help but look at it as it danced with the melodies of the violent air. Her hair was beautiful and graceful – but kept its carefree look. It really was one thing that had never left them since the island.
Suddenly the doorknob on the door in front of them made a clicking noise and began to turn in a direction. Ben swallowed hard.
Opening slowly, a man, who looked as if he needed twenty cups of coffee appeared. He had brown eyes, but with a slight tint of green, and brown hair which decided to gray on the sides.
His eyes were weary as he spoke. "Can I...C-can I help...you?" He seemed to choke on his words as his eyes moved furiously from one of the cousins to the other.
It's him, Ben thought, I know it is. Even though he wanted to speak to the man, he could not. Ben simply stared as his mouth began to fall open.
Gwen noticed, and intervened. "We're looking for Carl Tennyson."
The sleepy man smiled. "Not many people come here looking for anyone anymore. It's usually us who looks for something...someone." With a sigh, he answered, "I'm Carl Tennyson."
Even though he smiled slightly, Carl continued to inspect the two in front of him. He wanted to say something to them – to tell them he remembers their faces from somewhere. But Sandra had warned him about thinking about it too much.
"We need to talk to you...may we come inside?" Gwen questioned.
Typically, a man in a house would not let complete strangers inside, but something about the two on his porch made them feel known – almost like family.
Carl stood aside and offered his hand outwards – directing towards the living room. "Can I get you...anything?"
The two walked inside and instantly gazed around like they were health inspectors. Ben remembered everything, and nothing seemed to have changed. The walls were still a dull white color and the big-screen TV still existed in the living room. He and Gwen even took to sitting on the same couch that his mother had wished him her last goodbyes. Years ago...
Finally, Ben gained the will to speak once more. "No thanks, we're kinda in a rush."
Gwen looked at him with a curious expression on her face. A rush?, she wondered, for what?
Just as soon as the words came from the teen's mouth, Carl's mind flew in different directions. That voice...her orange hair...their eyes!
Right before he was about to yell a name that he had not said for years, but which had once been common to him, a shattering sound came from the kitchen doorway.
"My god..." a woman's voice, familiar to both Ben and Gwen, said just after glass cups fell to the floor.
"Sandra," Carl cried in surprise when he heard the sound of glass hitting the wooden floor. "What's the matter?"
She ignored her husbands furtive question and stared at the two visitors with interest. For moments she stood, speechless. Though soon the happening subsided and she scrambled for a broom behind the kitchen door frame.
"I'm so sorry," she apologized, "the two of you startled me. Is there anything we can help you with. Oh and would you like a refreshment?" Her voice was sweet just as Ben had remembered it.
"No thanks," the teenage boy started – who notably did not look like much of a teenager anymore, "... uh, "Mr. Tennyson already offered us something." Ben inwardly sighed as he dodged almost calling the man dad. Gwen gave him another look of confusion. Something wasn't adding up to her, by now she was sure Ben would have confessed something to them. But he obviously was struggling with something.
The three of them, save for Sandra who was cleaning up the glass, sat in the living room with silence. Both Carl and Gwen looked outwards as if waiting for something to be said. Ben, however, looked slightly harmed by emotional battles. His eyes were on his mother and father consistently.
The entire moment would have been awkward if anyone but the two cousins had shown up. Something about them sent the two parents a message saying everything was normal.
In Carl's mind he was sure something was naturally familiar about the two people before him. Years had gone by in which he believed that the familiarity would never return to him, but the two strangers in his living room were sparking that feeling back up. The pain him and his wife had to shut out was returning. And he couldn't stand it.
"Well if there isn't anything that you two need then I guess we wouldn't be of much help. You remember where the door is?" That was the polite way of saying leave.
Nodding, Ben stood, but his arm was latched onto by Gwen. She stared him down in wonder – not being able to talk about their private matter in front of other people. They looked at one another until she could tell that he was pleading with him to follow his lead.
The cousins walked to the front door, followed by Carl who showed them out. Gwen headed out first and Ben tailed behind. They stood on the porch and Carl gave them one last glance.
"Goodbye," Ben said to Carl with sincerity. It was the one thing he had wanted to say to him and his family for a while.
Gwen shot back around to face the inhabited doorway. Knowing what she was about to do, Ben took hold of her – whirling her back around to him – and finally kissing her.
Surprised, Carl shut the door with a light click – saying to himself, It wasn't them...they would never have done that.
Pulling away from him, Gwen could only watch as a pitiful tear came down his cheek.
"What happened back there?" she questioned. "Why didn't you tell them who we are. Why didn't you explain to them that we're alive."
"Gwen, can't you see? Their still healing from what happened to me. To all of us. The pain is there, and presenting ourselves to them will just patch up that pain. Bringing their son back cannot heal them. Time will and can."
"No," she said to him, furrowing her brow, "can't you see? They miss you, Ben. And by the looks of it, your room has never been touched since you left!"
He let go of her and turned away – to face the warmth of the midday sun. It was then Gwen realized he wasn't going to answer and that Ben Tennyson had finally came up with his own philosophy.
Moving beside him, she took his hand as they started down the driveway and onto the sidewalk.
"You really have changed, Ben." She bit her bottom lip. "Where are we going now?"
"Off to your house."
Catching on, she answered, "So I take it we're not going to admit anything to them either? Just saying goodbye?"
Ben shook his head.
"I understand saying goodbyes and all, but I really can't go through with that. I'd rather be a bit less intimate this time."
"That's fine," he said to her as they rounded a corner. "I don't think you would really want to know what it feels like to stare at the people that you once spent your entire early life with. Just to have them think you're a ghost. That you're dead."
She winced at his obvious feeling in the statement. It had been a while since Ben had acted so unfocused and so serious. Although she knew there were some things he wasn't telling her – it was only a matter of time before he did.
Through their years together, Gwen had realized that there were no more lies – no more cover ups and no more tricks between them. Not many people could honestly say that about a loved one and believe it.
His attitude, though, she knew it was different in the city. Even hers, she could admit, was different and more assertive now that they were back...home. In her mind, it wasn't for the best. As they had witnessed – people had moved on. Ben's parents seemed to still draw back to that one day, but they would eventually move on as well. And forget...
. . .
They now sat atop a rooftop of a house just across where Gwen's parents used to live. They watched the house with patience as their bodies felt the warmth of the falling sun.
"Do you think they still live there?" she asked.
"I don't know, and I can't really guess. Someone planted shrubs and bushes along the driveway, but that could be just your mom's professionalization taking over."
Gwen and Ben were lying slanted on the tar-tiled roof – just watching, waiting.
After a minute or so, Gwen came to his side and put one arm around him, sighing. "I don't like this, Ben. It doesn't feel like I thought it would. I don't feel anxious about seeing them again, or even happy. They've been away from my life for so long..."
"It sounds like you're getting angry at them. Don't. It wasn't their fault."
She scolded him slightly."I know that, it's just...did they even bother to look for us? Did they ever find out what happened to Grandpa?"
He sighed, and ran his hand through her hair. "I don't know if you want my opinion, but I think it's best if we don't know."
Lights lit up the left side of the street they sat overlooking. Moving at about 20mph was a white van, which looked quite new. It started to slow down as it approached Gwen's old house.
"My parents never owned a white van..." she looked down and across at it with worry. What if her parents had moved? They would have no idea where they could have gone.
Ben simply waited until the vehicle pulled into the driveway and finally stopped – releasing the strain on the engine.
Whoever was in the car certainly took their meticulous time in whatever they were doing, as it was taking them minutes just to open the door.
After another moment, a faint clicking sound hovered lightly in the chilling night air. The sun strained just to keep a small amount of light amongst the Earth.
A woman stepped out of the car. She was dressed in light business attire and on her cell phone – carrying an extravagant purse with her.
"Is that her?" wondered Ben.
Gwen squinted. "I...I'm not sure. I mean...it kind of looks like her. And if it is...they must have gotten a new car. My mom's always been really business-like. Just remember how much she used to make me work on my school work..."
Ben smiled. "Yeah I remember you saying how she actually printed you a work packet to do over the summer when you were 11."
They continued to watch the woman walk up the front lawn sidewalk and up to the front door. What was really odd was that she didn't pull a key out to unlock the door. She knocked.
"Maybe she's some saleswoman," offered Ben.
Then, the door opened and someone who the cousins saw as familiar appeared. It was Frank Tennyson – no doubt.
"Dad..." Gwen whispered.
Her father had given her a bit more freedom. He was a timid man who usually had taken Gwen places when her mother was working or simply too busy. They had done a lot together, and if he had wanted to, he could have raised Gwen himself. He meant a lot to her. Seeing his face again brought a tear to her eye.
Frank gave the woman in front of him a warming hug, which was obviously Natalie Tennyson. She pulled the phone away from her ear and returned the gesture. The two of them walked into the house and shut the door.
There was a silence on the rooftop that the two onlookers were sitting upon. They had witnessed a slight enigma. There were a few pieces that didn't seem to fit.
"They could have bought a new car..." Ben nudged her.
Sniffling very slightly, she returned, "Yeah...they just might have." Sitting up, and leaving Ben lying there, she continued. "But they...they don't seem as sad about my disappearing as your parents did. I mean...your mom and dad have never even touched your room since you left. My parents look so happy and accomplished...and they probably don't even remember I had a room..."
"That doesn't mean they don't miss you, or didn't feel hurt when you left, Gwen. If anyone, just think about how much it had affected your dad – the guy who put down his paper work for his job to take you to the park. And the guy who would sometimes sit down and do his best to help you with your homework when you were having trouble. He loved you...they loved you. And I'm sure they still do."
The words meant a lot to her, as it was Ben saying them. He was doing his best to recall memories and put them into a statement.
"But why don't they seem like they miss me?" she wondered – still staring at the house with a sense of disbelief.
"Because they've learned to move on. My parents haven't yet, but they eventually will. They can't be sad their whole lives...they've mourned and now it's time for them to go forward."
Gwen turned to look at him. He was still lying on his back comfortably on the rooftop, enjoying to higher view.
"I think there's been enough serious Ben Tennyson for today. And what I really miss now is my goofy cousin."
He smiled at her, and moved his Omnitrix wrist up to his face. Turning the dial and transforming into XLR8, he held his arms out to her.
She went into them and he jumped off the roof with no trouble, and, using the alien's speed, they dashed down the road and headed back to the shore.
Passing by streets and congested stop lights, he finally felt the air get a little cooler as they came onto the rough, sandy beach.
Putting Gwen down and pressing the Omnitrix symbol, he transformed back into his human self. As soon as he felt the air upon his skin, he also felt his cousin fall into his arms.
They stood like that for almost half an hour. Simply reminiscing the past events and what could never be. Maybe it wasn't how they planned everything to go about – everything to happen, but it was satisfying. There was no need to bring ghosts into the real world.
The winds picked up and caused their skin to form goosebumps. The sun had dissipated to another side of the planet and left Ben and Gwen in slight darkness. The docks that were a quarter of a mile down the shore kept a little light for them to see.
"What do we do now?" Gwen asked as her head rested upon Ben's shoulder.
"You sleep..." he said to her, stroking her hair and running his fingers in circles on her back.
She was a bit weary. "And what will I find when I wake up?"
"As far as I know...you're birthday is tomorrow. And I want to give you a present that will last a lifetime."
A smile stretched upon her face and she released herself from his grip and fell onto the sand. Looking out at the void-like ocean and starlit sky, her eyelids began to close and cover her vision. It seemed as though she was leaving a life – completely this time – and being reborn into a more blissful one.
After ten minutes, when the watch had recharged, Ben turned into XLR8 and dashed into the city streets to take care of unfinished business – and then head out into the ocean, alone.
End of the story Shining so Bright
. . .
Epilogue
Ken was leaving for college. He had turned eighteen and graduated high school just a few months back. Now it was time for him to carry on with his life.
Frank Tennyson heard the boxes in his son's room being taped up and things thrown into empty ones. He sat in his study on the second story – looking at a picture of his beautiful daughter that had been snagged away from his life.
She was gone and now his son was leaving. He had grown up.
Keeping his eyes on the picture tucked comfortably in the picture frame, a pair of hands found their way into his as his wife sat beside him on a spare chair.
Frank laughed softly. "You know...if she were here...she'd be driving now."
Natalie returned his half-hearted smile. "Yeah...she would."
. . .
Sandra Tennyson made her way up the stairs of her dark home. It was just before 10:00pm – Ben's bed time. Her hands trembled as she walked towards a place that she hadn't entered for years but to simply relight a candle.
Turning the doorknob, she stood and looked inside. Was it really time to do this? she wondered.
Another set of footsteps made their way up the staircase and eventually behind her. "He said goodbye," Carl said.
Sandra nodded as they bother walked in their lost son's room. Kneeling down, she blew out the candle – wiping away the pain of a memory, but never the memory itself. To her, it felt as though someone was finally leaving her instead of distantly lingering around.
The flame was gone.
. . .
Her eyes opened to witness a bright blue sky and white puffy clouds reigning freely about the sky. A warm breeze brushed up against her skin and caused her hair to fly in different directions. It reminded her of the island.
However, something was a bit overly familiar. She was still lying down, but the sand wasn't rough or grainy. It was soft and powdery as well as welcoming. Behind her she heard the comforting screeches of animals and noises of gulls. Almost like...
"Happy birthday, Gwen Tennyson," Ben said, standing over her with a grin on his face.
She sat up and looked around. A warm feeling arose in her chest as she witnessed what was around her. Water...sand...and a small jungle in the very center of it all. Her eyes obtained a happy, as well as surprised look that made Ben laugh.
He sat himself next to her and gave her a heart-warming kiss.
"This is the best birthday present I have ever gotten. And I would have never thought my dweeby cousin would be the one to give it to me. Thank you, Ben."
"You're welcome."
Maybe they were delusional. Maybe they were both crazy for wanting to live like their hearts wanted to. It's even possible they were lost in a fantasy. However, none of the skeptical opinions mattered to them. They were there, with each other, and they were happy.
. . .
Story dedicated to Alice Sebold and her Susie Salmon. They might not know what happened, but we do.