Chapter 25: A Bitter Goodbye

They were lying on the floor of a magnificent church. The bells were clanging happily. The daylight was breaking through the windows. Kids laughing happily could be heard.

Lara woke up from her oblivion. She had a terrible headache and felt exhausted. She examined her environment. How did I come here? she wondered. As soon as she remembered, she smiled. She searched around to find Kurtis. He was nowhere to be seen. She searched more carefully and finally found him standing in front of the big gates of the church which were wide open. He was staring at the sunlight. She stepped towards him. She felt a wave of serenity rise inside her as soon as she faced the sunlight. Then she put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's over" she said calmly. "No. It has just begun…" he replied coldly and calmly at the same time. She pulled his arm so he could face her. "What do you mean?" she asked him, alarmed.

Suddenly a man interrupted their discussion. He was bald and wore a brown cassock. "May I help you?" he asked willingly. "Yes! Where are we?" Lara asked in a lively manner. "In… a church…" the man replied confused. "In which country?" asked Kurtis. The man stared at them as if he was talking to aliens. "Italy, of course. Venice" he finally replied.

Lara and Kurtis looked at each other more confused this time. "What are we doing in Italy?" asked Lara. "How am I supposed to know? Ask His angels" Kurtis replied sarcastically, nodding to the skies, referring to the great Lord. The man didn't know what to say. He just stood and stared at them, still confused. Finally Lara and Kurtis walked out of the church.

Then the man wore his hood, revealing the skin of his arms as his sleeves slid. His skin was pale and there were strange symbols on it. The man slightly smiled and walked away, into the church. After a while, he was nowhere to be seen…

Lara and Kurtis were just outside the aircraft base. Kurtis had his contacts. He managed to find a helicopter and with his pilot licenses, he would be given the permission to fly to New York.

There was silence, but it didn't last for long. "What are your plans from now on?" Lara asked him, taking a solemn and a bit sad look. "Not a damn clue" he replied with the same tone of sadness. "What about you?" he asked. "Oh, you know me! I'll stay here to explore Italy for a while. Then I'll return to England and I'll start raiding tombs again. Zip and Winston are already in Surrey" she said with a smile.

The fact that she would return to her Tomb Raider self made her cheerful. In addition, the fact that she would see her enormous home again made her full of joy. But whenever she thought that she would never see Kurtis again, she felt desperately miserable. But they had to move on and live their separate lives. When they decided to become partners, they had agreed that their partnership would last 'till the end of the Shadow War. Now the Shadow War was already over so practically there was no reason for them to be together. Or was there…?

They kept looking into each other's eyes for about a minute. "Look I really have to go now" Kurtis managed to say. "I know, I'm sorry for delaying you" she told him sorrowfully. "No, you're not delaying me" he said.

Lara sighed but she couldn't make the sadness abandon her soul. "Goodbye and… Take care of yourself" she said sorrowfully. He put his hand on her face to comfort her. She looked at him with eyes full of sadness. It was painful for Kurtis to see her so hurt. He narrowed the distance between their faces, but just a little bit. "See ya soon!" he told her like he had just told her a secret.

Suddenly, a wave of hope rose inside her. He took a couple of steps backwards and then he stopped. He looked into her brown eyes. "Take care" he told her and walked away. She kept staring at him until he got into the massive aircraft base. Lara sighed again and walked away from the base.

Lara felt tears flowing on her cheeks. She felt as if everything she loved was taken away from her. She felt desperate and then found herself having the urge to run to him, embrace him and never let him go. But their deal had determined their lives otherwise.

She walked away without looking back. She had to contact Zip again and tell him to schedule a flight for her in a week from now. She had to find a hotel and stay there so she could explore Italy, like she wanted to. No, she had no reason to be sad. She had new adventures to live. She had a new life to live…