And here we are. The final chapter of the story. I'm so excited to be able to finally wrap up this story about a teenage girl with superpowers learning to accept herself and realizing that there's nothing more liberating that the truth.

I don't have much else to say. I'll give the final thanks at the end, including the acknowledgement to the reviewers, so stay tuned!

Let's jump right in!

Chapter 11:
We're all in this together.

The sound of sirens reached us like a far-away echo that could be heard through the walls more intensely by the second. I looked around me. The entire audience had passed out. Most were out of their seats, lying on the floor, over each other, against the walls and the doors. Some had been hiding between the seats, and that's where they were at the moment. And then, in the middle of the stage and trapped in an ice prison, Luan. She kept complaining, trying in vain to phase through the ice, and from what I gathered, she had begun to cry.

I clenched my fists and gulped, comprehending right away the seriousness of the situation. It was up to me to open the metal doors to the auditorium so the police and eventually the doctors could get inside to help everyone. And as soon as I did that, it would be game over for me. My secret identity as a metahuman would be revealed. Life as I knew it was about to change forever.

I glanced at Tabby, by my side. She was still recovering, panting and wiping the sweat away from her forehead.

I hated myself. It all happened so fast. I hadn't truly considered the consequences, and in a senseless, irresponsible moment, I'd involved Tabby in all of this. I could allow myself to ruin my life, but there was no way I'd let my sister pay the consequences.

"Tabby… What you did was very brave," I told her, kneeling in front of her and placing both hands on her shoulders. "I'm very, very proud of you."

In spite of her weariness, her face lit up with a smile.

"I couldn't have done it without you," she told me. "My powers were never that strong. I felt like Elsa."

"Yeah, you did great," I said, trying to hide how anxious I was. "Thanks to you, we're gonna save everyone."

"It was teamwork."

"Yeah… but when those doors open up and the police show up, no one can know you were involved in this."

Her smile vanished. "What do you mean?"

"If they find out you're a metahuman, you'll enter the Secret Identity Protection Program, but we all know what happens to all metas in Royal Woods, sooner or later."

She trembled, but not from the cold.

"So what are we gonna do?" She asked as one of her hands closed around my forearm. "Do we hide?"

I shook my head, letting out a defeated sigh. "We captured a villain, Tabby. Someone's gotta take responsibility for it, or they'll make an investigation and we'll both be found out anyway."

"So what?" She said, visibly upset and worried. "You're gonna take the blame to protect me? You think I'm going to let the police take my sister away?"

I wasn't surprised to hear she knew exactly what my intentions were.

"You wanna be a hero, right?" I asked, trying to smile to hide the fear stirring inside me. "If you want to help others, you can't let yourself be caught so soon. I'll be fine."

"No! No, Luna, you won't!" She complained, her hand squeezing my forearm so tight it could leave a mark. "It's just like that weird dream! I'm not letting you go!"

She seemed to be talking about whatever the gas had made her see. I had no idea what it could be, but it appeared to be related to me. What was the uncomfortable truth that haunted her? Had she been able to find catharsis and get over it as I had? Or had my music just put a stop to the hallucination, without letting her find closure? I supposed I'd have to ask her whenever I got the chance, and help her if she needed it.

Right then, however, there were other priorities.

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised her, stroking her cheeks. "Everything's gonna be fine. We'll find a way out of this."

"Luna…"

"But I'll feel so much better if we can keep you out of trouble."

"By putting yourself in danger."

"Yes."

"How can you ask me to do that?!" She complained with a bereaved tone.

"Just let me handle it and don't say anything when you wake up, okay?"

"When I what?"

Not feeling proud at all for what I was about to do, I began to sing a lullaby, closing my eyes and weaving my fingers in the air to focus and manipulate the sound waves at will.

Tabby began to protest, asking me to reconsider, but with each passing moment her eyelids felt heavier, and her fists loosened up on my black blouse.

"Luna… Don't…"

Her words faded away as she fell asleep, sliding forward into my open arms. I sighed, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. Now that my sister was asleep I didn't have to worry about keeping my anxiety at bay. I felt a heavy ball of nerves right in my diaphragm, taking away my appetite and making it uncomfortable to breathe. I stared at Tabby's peaceful face, wondering how it'd be the next time I saw her. How complicated our lives would be then. How many obstacles would arise between us, even if I knew that I'd go through thick and thin to be with her.

I gently placed her on an empty seat, with as much of a natural pose as I could manage, and then I turned in Luan's direction.

Her head was hanging, with her gaze lost on the floor. Her limbs and the lower part of her torso were covered and immobilized by the ice. The only thing moving was her shoulders, shaking because of both the cold and her soft weeping that could barely be heard in the silence of the auditorium and the approaching police sirens.

I didn't know how to feel regarding her. The hate and fear I'd cultivated for the anonymous attacker seemed to be gone, but immeasurable disappointment had taken its place, and I couldn't tell which was worse. Clenching my fists and raising my chin, I approached her, walking onto the stage.

She looked up at me when she heard the footsteps, and with tears still falling down her face, she stared at me in the eye.

"Now what?" She asked, tilting her head and giving me a smile from ear to ear that was as spooky as it was sincere.

"Now… I'll press that button on your costume," I explained, trying to remain calm to have one last talk with her. "The doors will open and police will come in to help everyone."

"Help everyone and arrest me," she added.

I wrung my hands, looking away from her.

"What did you expect? You hurt a bunch of people and revealed your secret identity to the whole school. Your powers could have let you escape, but the police would keep looking for you until they'd find you. What did you think was going to happen? That you would run forever? That no one would bother catching you? It's… It's not that I want you to get arrested. But your… The things you did…"

"I just made people face their truths," she calmly explained, like she wasn't half an ice-lolly about to get arrested. "If their truths are hurtful then that's not my fault. It's everyone's fault for leading a life based on lies."

"Don't say that! Don't pretend that you did everyone a favor!" I complained, giving her a stern look. "You hurt my friends! Sully, Mazzy, Sam! They all had to go to the hospital! You ruined our relationships!"

"Did I, though? I wouldn't be so sure."

The easiness she spoke with drove me nuts. "Of course you did! We haven't been the same for weeks! And now my best friend won't even talk to me! And it's all your fault."

"Was it my fault that Sullivan cheated on his girlfriend?" She asked me. "Was I the one that told Mazzy to keep all her insecurities locked up inside? Of course not. You know I wasn't. Their relationship was standing on a foundation of lies they hid from each other. And then what happened? They were forced to reveal and confront the truth, and now they're healing those wounds. When they finally get back together, their relationship will be stronger than before. If you ask me, I did them a favor."

"Don't… talk like you know them," I complained, uncomfortable for not being able to forcefully retort the obvious nonsense she was speaking. Cause there was clearly no way she was right.

"Even without my powers, I'm usually still invisible to most," she sorrowfully explained. "The bad part is that no one pays attention to me. The good part is that it's easier for me to see, and I mean really see. Everyone's too busy all the time keeping up with their routine and ignoring reality, preferring to just look at the fictional construction of the world they made up in their minds. I know more about people than they know about themselves, just because I sit and look at things objectively. I saw Sullivan sitting on his own, but I also saw how he and Mazzy spent most of the lunch hour staring longingly at each other."

How had she seen all that and I hadn't?

"And Sam? I did you two a favor. It was obvious that she loved you. Pretending she didn't only hurt her. Having to pretend that she was okay with you becoming so close with Carol made her build up a lot of resentment and anger. Making her admit her feelings was the best thing I could've done for you two. No more secrets between best friends."

"Sorry, but you won't convince me that you did something good or noble," I said, shaking my head. "No one's perfect… but you can't force people to face the things they did wrong. Even if you think it's for their own good. It's not up to you to make that choice. I don't know what to think of you, honestly. I don't think you're a bad person. But what you did was terrible. And the fact that you can't even see it as something bad worries me."

Luan shrugged, or at least she tried to given the limited movement situation she was in.

"I guess we won't agree on that," she said, so softly that part of my anger went away, and I became aware once again of the trails of tears marking her cheeks.

"But do you realize you're probably going to meta-juvie?" I asked, genuinely worried.

Luan sighed, lowering her head once again. "Yeah."

"Then why did you do it? Did you seriously think you could run away?"

"No, of course not. I never intended to leave."

"Then why—?"

"Luna… Our lives are so different from each other," she said with a sad grin. "You have a loving family. You have friends. A warm home to return to at the end of the day. I have none of that. Every person that ever pretended to love me ended up hurting me. I have nowhere to go, no reason to want things to stay the same. I always knew this play would end with me behind bars. But what does it matter? At least everyone knows who I am. Everyone knows my name. And the best thing is that I made everyone face their lies. Take off their mask, take a step out of the character they play every day, and take a good, honest look at themselves in the mirror."

"You mean humiliating and making everyone depressed," I pointed out dumbfoundedly, once again shocked at her lack of empathy.

"I told you: I'm just reaping what they sowed. And I didn't humiliate anyone. It's not like with the jocks and the cheerleaders. They deserved to get their perfect lives ruined. Here? No one heard their secrets. Every single person had to deal with their own demons. I gave them a chance to confront the biggest problems in their lives. Whether they fix them or keep living their lies… that's on them. My mission here is over. I played my part."

I sighed and rubbed my temples. My head hurt and I didn't even want to keep thinking.

We heard some banging on the metal doors. Police were trying to get in. My anxiousness grew again, and I could feel my hands shaking.

"You don't have to stay," she told me.

"Of course I do," I snapped back. "Someone needs to take responsibility for this."

"Not at all. Just go. I know you think I'm a villain… but I didn't lie when I said I appreciate you. I genuinely didn't want you to be here today 'cause I know you're a good person. I don't care if you disagree with what I've done. I'm not gonna rat you out to the cops. I won't say anything about your sister either."

I squinted my eyes and fixed my gaze on her face as if I could read her mind if I stared at her hard enough. She… didn't seem to be lying, but how could I be sure?

"Why should I trust you?" I asked, desperate for her to give me a convincing reason.

"Cause I don't have any reason to lie to you," she calmly said, smiling and letting out a chuckle as if she found the situation hilarious. "What could I possibly earn from lying to you? I told you, my plan was always gonna end with me being arrested! I was pretty upset when I saw you had powers since I was sure I was the only metahuman in school. But your intervention doesn't change anything. Everyone spent some long minutes facing their truths and lies. When they wake up, they won't be able to ignore it. I've already won, you see? I don't need revenge or anything like that against you."

Her laugh and smile were baffling. There was a serious disconnect between her mind and reality. Her eyes, however, spoke in volumes, and I could see in them a glint of honesty. Against common sense, I believed her. I believed her completely.

I wanted to believe her. There was nothing I needed more right then than finding a way of keeping my status quo. To avoid revealing my secret identity, to not risk losing my family, or having all of us relocated. So I wouldn't expose myself to the Royal Wood's curse that inevitably ended all metahumans. If there was any way for me to get out of that situation without compromising my life as I knew it…

"I can't just stay here and pretend I'm passed out."

"Then just leave. There's an emergency exit on the back, no one uses it. If you leave now, you might not run into any cops."

"The place's filled with cameras," I pointed out, raising a hand towards the walls, where small cameras were recording every moment of that conversation. "If I do things right, I might find a way to stop them from seeing Tabby. But if there's no one to take the blame, then they'll be forced to check the tapes, and my sister's life will change forever."

"Everyone's gonna be busy arresting me and helping everyone in here," she said, bursting with laughter once again. "Besides, you have experience dealing with cameras! Isn't that what you did when you ran into me that night?"

"What do you mean?"

"The principal said it: someone deleted all records from the security cameras. You didn't want anyone to find out about you and Sam, didn't you? Just do that again."

I frowned. None of us had deleted any files. I was convinced that it had been Luan, but why wouldn't she admit it? Was she trying to fool me? What could she possibly win from doing so?

The banging on the door became louder.

"You're running out of time. If you trust me, just open the doors and go. I'm not revealing your secret."

"Why wouldn't you? Isn't your whole act about sharing everyone's truth?"

She opened her mouth to retort, but her expression suddenly changed, frowning and looking confused at the floor. Like she hadn't expected such a question.

"I… don't know."

"That's not very reassuring."

"I guess I can… make an exception. For a friend."

Our eyes met again. I took a step forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

"If only I'd paid more attention… Maybe things would have been different," I said sorrowfully.

"It wasn't your fault, Luna."

I wasn't in any position to hug her, but I leaned forward to press my forehead against hers.

"Take care," I asked. "I know deep down you're a good person."

She didn't say anything, but I could hear her gulping, trying to silence a sob.

With the relentless banging on the metal doors becoming desperate and knowing that if there was an actual chance of me escaping I needed to do it as soon as possible, I pressed the center of the plastic flower. The metallic doors began to rise ever so slowly, and without skipping a beat, I ran to the back of the auditorium. I could hear the sirens and the police yelling, but I tried to stay alert and not distract myself.

I quickly reached the emergency exit Luan had mentioned. I tried to pry it open, but it was locked. I swore out loud and glanced behind me. I couldn't let this stop me.

I stretched a hand towards the door and then closed my fist tight, holding my breath. A second later, I gave the door the strongest kick I could muster, opening it wide and having it hit the wall on the other side. No sound could be heard. Carefully, I stepped outside and closed it again, leaving it just like I'd found it, except for the broken lock.

I released the silence bubble I'd created, and breathing in once again, I sneaked towards the main building of the school. The police seemed to be on the other side of the complex. If I was careful enough, I might just be able to enter through a window as I'd done with Sam. I knew where the security room was. I wasn't an IT girl precisely, but I felt like I knew enough to delete some files. And if I couldn't, then nothing that a little sonic boom to destroy the computers couldn't fix.

Probably. I wasn't entirely sure how those things worked.

I kept walking, crouched down, right against the exterior wall of the auditorium, looking all around me, praying not to run into anyone. It would be hard to explain what I was doing sneaking away from the place where a metahuman had appeared. I couldn't let—

"Watch out!"

The first thing I felt was a warm breeze hitting from my left, and an instant later, a soccer ball hit the wall right in front of me. I let out a small yelp and I fell on my back. My heart started beating faster, and my pressure went down, leaving me on the edge of blacking out.

"Sorry! My b!"

I looked to my left. A girl —that I could swear hadn't been anywhere on sight but a second ago— trotted towards me. She was younger than me, younger even than Luan, but she moved with a confident, winning attitude: chin up, broad shoulders, puffed chest, her ponytail bobbing with each step she took.

The soccer ball had bounced against the wall and slowly rolled in her direction. With a quick movement of her feet, she kicked it up to catch it in her arms, finally closing the distance between us and extending a hand at me.

"Need a hand?" She offered with a grin.

I stared at her. There was something in her face, in those freckled cheeks…

"Uh, hello? You okay? I didn't accidentally hit you in the head, did I?"

"Oh! No, no, sorry, I'm alright," I said, accepting the hand she offered me.

She lifted me with surprising ease.

"Sorry, didn't see ya there," she said, though something told me she wasn't being totally honest. "If I were you, I wouldn't go there."

She pointed at the other side of the building.

"Why not?" I asked, trying to act dumb.

"It's packed with the Po-Po. Some crazy meta attacked the school, and every cop in town seems to have shown up. They even closed the soccer field, can you believe it?"

"Uh… That sounds terrible."

"It is! Do they actually expect me to go to the park to practice? It's on the other side of town!"

"That's not what I—"

"Anyway," she said, beginning to juggle the ball, hitting it with both feet and her knees to keep it from touching the ground, "I'd suggest you go down that street over there, wait a couple of minutes and then come back to do whatever it is you wanna do."

I looked at the street she pointed to. No one would see me if I went there.

"I, uh…"

"The rest of the block is filled with cops. I don't know where you're going, but they don't seem to be in the mood to just let people pass. Tsk, they act like they own the place."

I glanced around. I couldn't see anyone, but the sound of many people moving on the other side was unmistakable. There was a whole crowd working over there.

"They're also going into the school," the girl with the ponytail mentioned, keeping up her juggling like it was the easiest thing in the world. "I think they're going to check the security tapes to see what the hell happened."

I could feel the exact moment the color drained from my face, and that ball of nerves I felt earlier now weighed too much for my body to handle.

"They're losing their time; I doubt they'll find anything," she mentioned.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know," she said, looking intensely into my eyes with a cocky grin as she kept juggling the ball without looking at it. "Those computers are so easily hacked. Any brainiac trying to protect a meta's secret identity can delete the records from their home. They could even check the security cameras live, get access to the mics, and quickly send an awesome athlete to tell someone that everything's under control. To keep said someone from doing something dumb that could risk exposing them."

She kept juggling the ball for a little bit more, until she finally let the ball drop, stopping it under her cleats. She gave me one last funny look, like she knew more than me. For my part, I was speechless, staring at her with my mouth agape, trying to process what she'd just told me.

"Anyway, since I can't play around here I'll find somewhere else. See ya!"

She trotted away with the ball, turning on the corner.

It took me a few seconds to react. "Wait!"

I ran after her, but when I turned on the same corner, there was no one on the other side. I barely felt a warm breeze hitting my face, leaving me with more doubts than certainties.

I was probably being too naive. After all, I was already risking a lot by trusting Luan, whom I sort-of, kinda knew. Not satisfied with that, I was now also trusting a complete stranger that had been super sketchy and cryptic about me maybe not needing to worry about the security cameras. Maybe. I was risking my and my family's lives on a maybe.

The doubts and fears kept creeping on me for twenty minutes. Twenty endless minutes that I spent in the empty street the girl had suggested. Twenty painful minutes where all sorts of scenarios played out in my mind until the anxiety of ignorance overrode the fear of approaching the scene of the crime. I walked straight into the entrance of the school grounds.

The place was crowded, filled with police cars, ambulances, and dozens and dozens of people, most of them (most likely) family members of the victims. The authorities had set up what looked like a field hospital, with rows and rows of tents filled to the brim with plastic chairs where students and family members present in the auditorium when Luan attacked were waiting to be checked by a paramedic. Cautiously and cunningly, I managed to sneak in with the crowd, walking around and looking for my family.

As I walked, I paid attention to the attitude and the faces of everyone around me. I saw a variety of responses and moods, but I could safely say that the two emotions I saw the most were relief and embarrassment. People sitting down, staring at their feet, hiding their faces, anxiously rubbing their hands.

No one paid much attention to me. The police and medics saw my black clothes and they correctly assumed I was part of the orchestra. I moved without anyone interrupting me, going almost unnoticed. Everyone around me seemed to be in deep thoughts, with no time to stare at the pianist that walked without a clear direction.

I stopped when I saw a surprising scene from afar. Mazzy was sitting by herself, looking as miserable and worried as most people around her. I was going to go see her and make sure she was okay, but someone beat me to it.

Sully appeared with a bottle of water, kneeling next to Mazzy and offering it to her. She took it, stared at it for a few seconds, and then she opened her arms. I couldn't see Sully's expression from where I was, but the hug they shared was eloquent enough.

I smiled, although as I stared at the cute scene unfolding, Luan's words echoed in my mind. Was it possible that, even with the wrong intentions and the wrong actions, something good had come out of it? Or was my mind trying to justify Luan's actions because of the appreciation and pity I felt for her?

"Luna?"

I heard someone calling my name, and when I turned in the voice's direction, I gulped and mentally prepared myself for the conversation I would, inevitably, need to have with Carol.

She sat on a chair a few tents away, with a medic next to her that wrote something down on a sheet of paper, apparently having finished his check-up on Carol. I raised a hand to say hello to her, a gesture she mimicked, but I didn't walk there right away.

Right then, I didn't understand how I felt. The things that dream had revealed to me were still fresh in my mind, and I hadn't had the time to sit down and reflect on them yet. The two things that resonated the most with me were the things that the ghosts of Carol and Sam had told me. The idea that perhaps unconsciously, I didn't feel like I deserved to be loved. That it was that fear that ruined my relationship with Sam, and that my crush on Carol was nothing more than an excuse to have an unrequited love.

I tried to rationalize it, but have you ever tried to find logic in feelings? They were two different languages, like trying to tune a color. How could I tell apart true love from an infatuation?

Well, for starters, I clearly found her attractive. She was a beautiful, blonde, fit girl. If I had a type, that was definitely it. I could admit that before getting to know her, it was said physical attraction that kickstarted my infatuation with her. But then I got to actually meet and interact with her. Had those been romantic interactions? Had getting to know her made me fall deeper in love with her or did I feel the same attraction as before?

I didn't know. I couldn't tell, not right then at least. I just knew that the more I thought about it, the fewer similarities I found between what I felt for Carol and what I used to feel for Sam. I felt embarrassed when we talked, and every time she mentioned we were close I felt a piñata of happiness blowing up inside me.

But no matter how excited I felt every time Carol smiled at me, there was something missing, and only now was I beginning to comprehend it: the peace of mind I felt when I was with Sam. To feel like I could be myself, that I didn't need to pretend I was someone else. That I could be authentic without fearing rejection. With Carol? I second-guessed myself all the time. And even though I loved playing music with her, our songs lacked the interpersonal connection Sam and I used to have.

I didn't know if these things meant I wasn't truly in love with Carol or if they were just proof that we needed more time together. The only thing I knew was that, what so far I'd taken as a certainty, my crush on her, was now but a big question mark.

Especially considering that I'd heard her mumbling something about rejecting my feelings. That was kind of a little bump in the road.

Part of me would have preferred to walk away and take some time to organize my thoughts and feelings. But if I'd learned something from Luan's wicked plan, it was that not facing our problems was hardly a solution. It was rather a way of making them grow even bigger. So, even though I wasn't so sure about it, I walked towards Carol.

"How are you holding up?" I asked when I got there.

"I'm alright," she said, though her eyes, much like many others, seemed to say otherwise. "Where were you? I couldn't find you anywhere."

"Uh… I dunno, everything was so confusing," I said, praying for my stupid excuse to be enough.

Carol nodded, seemingly buying it. "That's putting it lightly. Luan… Who would have thought?"

"I never saw it coming…"

"Me neither. It's nuts… And you tried to stop her."

I shifted, uncomfortably rubbing my arm.

"It wasn't enough," I regretted. "If I'd noticed it before… if I'd been a better friend…"

"Luna, you can't seriously blame yourself for what happened," she told me. "She said… Something like how you were the only one she didn't want to hurt. You did more than enough. It was us that didn't do the same."

Our eyes met, and I noticed in her face and the way she straightened her back that she was getting ready to say something. On my part, I readied myself to hear something I probably wouldn't like.

"I know it's kinda sudden, but, uh, since we're here, I'd like to apologize," she began.

"You don't have to…"

"No, I do. Sam was right. And with everything Luan did… I can't keep pretending I didn't do anything wrong. Even if I wasn't the one doing bad things, I didn't say anything when my friends did. That's just as bad. And because of it, your friend went through something horrible. I should've said something earlier, done something to stop it… But I didn't. So I know part of the blame is mine. And I'm sorry. I really am."

I took a few moments to plan my answer out. "You have nothing to apologize to me for. You didn't do anything to me. But if you want, I can, uh, give your apologies to Mazzy."

She sighed.

"Thanks, I suppose. Luan was right, you know?" She said with a small smile. "You're a great person. And… and I'm glad we're friends. I hope we can stay that way for a long time."

She didn't dare say it, but I noticed it in her eyes and the expectant pause she took after her words. What she really meant to say was that she hoped we stayed as friends. Just friends.

I didn't know yet if I was truly in love with Carol or not, but I can definitely say that the stab to my heart hurt like I was. I had to take a deep breath to try to keep the disappointment from showing up on my face. I quickly forced a smile and nodded vigorously.

"Of course," I told her, closing my fists so hard my nails marked my palm. "I hope we can also stay friends even outside of our music class."

We stayed in silence until the tension became unbearable, at which point I cleared my throat and tried to find an elegant way of saying goodbye.

"Well, uh, I'm glad you're fine."

"Same here."

"Imma… I'll go back with my family. My dad and sister were in the audience too, so, you know…"

"Oh, right, sure. I hope they're doing well."

Carol sighed, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin on her hand.

"I sent a message to my mother to let her know I'm alright, but she didn't write back to me."

I clicked my tongue. "Maybe she's busy."

"She definitely is. She usually has meetings around this time. I'm sure she's—"

"Carol!"

As if she'd been summoned by a spell, Carol's mom, Jeanine, rushed at full speed into her daughter, closing her arms around her and lifting her like a rag doll.

"M-Mother!" Carol said, surprised and experiencing some trouble breathing. "What are you doing here?"

"I came as soon as I read your message!" She said, squishing her cheeks against Carol's. "My princess, attacked during a concert! Oh, what a disgrace! Are you hurt? Are you thirsty? Do you want us to go to the clinic?"

"Mother! I'm alright!"

"I can call Dr. Lopez if you need to talk about your trauma!"

Taking advantage of the distraction, I silently and discreetly walked away, turning my back on Carol and gathering the strength to stay collected. Trying my best not to let the disappointment and heartbreak reflect on my face. Trying to bury that odd feeling in my heart, like nostalgia for what could have been.

Love or infatuation, the pain was real.

I kept walking, searching with my eyes until I spotted a girl with black hair and a purple highlight, and her bald father with a beret.

"Tabby! Chunk!" I called as I ran to them.

They both turned in my direction as soon as they heard me, and Tabby rocketed out of her chair to meet me halfway there. She jumped for me to catch her in the air and we shared an intense, warm hug. I squeezed her against my chest, sighing in relief.

"You're a moron!" She angrily whispered into my ear. "I can't believe you did that!"

"Sorry, sis. But everything's fine now."

My back started to hurt, so I lowered her down. She took a couple of seconds to loosen her grip on me and plant her feet on the ground.

"Does the police know?" She asked, serendipitously glancing around to make sure no officer would come out of the bushes to arrest me.

"No. No, I think… I think we're good. For now."

She sighed, letting out so much air I was afraid she'd deflate to a pulp. She put a hand over her heart and smiled.

"You're still a moron!" She complained, kicking me in the shin. "Making me fall asleep like that… I should fill your pillow with ice cubes while you sleep."

"Not tonight, please. I need to pass out for half a day after this."

"Me too. Can I sleep with you tonight?"

The innocent way she asked it melted my heart. "Of course, luv."

I smiled once again at her, and then I looked at Chunk. He was staring at me from his chair. Unlike most people, he seemed rather happy, at least right then. Without the shadow of fear or disenchantment crossing his eyes as most people did around us. In them, I saw nothing but happiness for seeing me there. And that hurt me even worse than Carol's words.

"You never forgave me, Luna. You could never accept that I forgave you. That I never blamed you. That I continue to love you instead of resenting you."

The memory of the words that the ghost version of my father told me was still present in my head. From all the hard pills to swallow that dream had made me face, that one was the easiest to acknowledge and the hardest to admit. I'd never put it in such… straightforward and concise terms. But it was true. Part of me wanted Chunk to be mad at me. To hold me responsible. To tell me it had been my fault. Knowing he blamed me would have made it easier to accept than the truth. The fact that he held no grudges towards me for being the reason his wife, the love of his life, had died was yet another proof that Chunk was the best dad ever. And that he didn't deserve what had happened to him.

His love and infinite patience were unbearable for me. They just made me feel even guiltier. And it wasn't a problem with him, not at all. Like that vision had shown me, the problem was all mine. The fact that I craved some sort of penance for what I assumed had been my own doing did nothing but ruin all my relationships. Including my relationship with my dad, who adoptive or not had always been a beacon in my life. Someone that, because of me falling prey to my guilt, I'd neglected and hurt for so long.

To think back to the accident on that fateful night put me in a weary emotional state. I thought about the vision of my mother, as warm and beautiful as I remembered her. I reminisced about the brief hug we'd shared. Maybe it had all been in my mind. I was almost sure that it'd only been real in my mind. I doubted that memory was anything more than that: a remembrance, a mirage of the past.

But, oh, how much did I need it, and what wouldn't I give for another chance like that.

The piled-up stress of the entire day was beginning to wear me down. Each passing second made it harder for me to stay collected, to keep my composure instead of bawling my eyes out like my body screamed for me to do. I didn't wanna do it though, at least not there.

I walked towards Chunk, with a dry throat and a numb heart. He stood up and somehow, by looking him in the eye, I understood that he knew exactly what was going on in my mind.

"Dad?" I said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"But you gotta be honest. You need to tell me the truth, okay? You can't lie to me."

He softly nodded, like I was saying exactly what he expected me to say. "I'd never lie to you."

I breathed in and readied myself to ask the question I needed to get out of my chest.

"Why did you give me so much space?" I finally asked with a shaky voice, and even though I was only planning on asking one question, the rest came out before I could stop myself. "Why were you never angry with me? Didn't you think I was being unfair to you when I distanced myself after the accident?"

Chunk sighed, scratching the back of his neck as he took a couple of seconds to think.

"I've never been mad at you," he said with absolute honesty. "I've always known you loved me, I never doubted that. And whether it was unfair or not… Luna, you've always blamed yourself for the pain we all felt, but you never realized you were the one that suffered the most. I've never been mad at you 'cause I knew you were dealing with grief in your own way. I just wanted to assure you that, if you needed me, I'd be there."

"Didn't it hurt you though?"

He grimaced.

"What truly hurt was seeing you blame yourself. Everything else… I'd take it if that's what my girl needed."

I don't know what happened first: my legs moving forward or my tears falling down. I just know that I suddenly found myself hugging my dad, and for the first time in a long, long time, I allowed myself to cry out all my repressed anguish and grief. He wrapped his strong arms around me in a warm embrace, and Tabby jumped right in a few seconds later, with her love and tears joining my own.

It took a while for any paramedic to check on us and make sure everything was fine.

The sound of soft knocking on my door woke me up. I groaned, tired and still dizzy from my sleep, lazily sitting up. I rubbed my eyes as my senses came back to me. Judging by the daylight that sneaked from the window, it'd only been a couple of hours since we got home. Feeling absolutely wrecked and exhausted by the stressful day I had, I laid on my bed without even changing my clothes and quickly fell into a nap.

I heard more soft knocking, and I let out what probably sounded like a momma bear groaning to get her cub's attention. I stood up and stretched my arms, feeling several bones in my spine cracking. I yawned one last time, put on some sandals, and went to my room's door. I opened it, expecting to see Chunk or Tabby.

I definitely didn't expect to find Sam.

"Sa—!"

"Please, hear me out, I've got a lot to say and if I don't say it now I don't think I'll be able to say it later!" She begged me, closing her hands on a pleading gesture in front of her face and talking so fast I had trouble understanding all the words. "I know I messed up! I know I was an idiot, stupid, a moron, and inconsiderate! You didn't deserve what I did! I was jealous and mad, and angry, and I didn't know what to do, and when I saw you hanging with Carol and Luan something in me snapped and what I did was very, very wrong! And then I said something I never wanted you to know, but now you do, and I don't know what's going to happen between us, but I don't want this to ruin our friendship! You're the most important person in my life, you're my best friend, and I don't wanna lose you! Please forgive me, forgive me for getting mad and for ignoring you, and for not going to the musical today! I knew it meant a lot to you but I didn't feel ready to see you and I didn't know how to talk to you, but then I heard about what happened and I wasn't there to help you, so I came 'cause I needed to see you and make sure you were okay! I'm sorry! I'm so, so, so, so, so—!"

If I hadn't hugged her right then she would have kept apologizing, and to be honest, those were too many words a minute for my recently-awake brain to process. That's not to say I didn't want to listen to her, or that I did it just to shut her up. I hugged her because I thought that would be for the best. She didn't need me to tell her I forgave her: she needed me to show it.

She went quiet the moment I wrapped my arms around her, and she didn't waste a second before corresponding the gesture, burying her face in the space between my shoulders and neck, holding me like she never wanted to let me go.

"Sam, did you really think you'd get away from me so easily?" I said, hearing her chuckle. "You know you're super important to me, too. I don't wanna lose you."

"You won't," she assured me, though she sounded incredibly embarrassed. "And… And… Fuck, I feel like I'm gonna pass out."

I grabbed her hand and led her to my bed, where we sat next to each other. I kept holding her by the hand 'cause I wanted her to know that she could count on me, that I was there to support her.

"I guess we need to address the elephant in the room," she grimly said.

I looked at her fondly. "Come on, you're not that fat."

She raised a hand but stopped before hitting me, trying her best not to laugh and squeezing my hand tight.

"You're terrible."

"I learned from the best," I innocently replied.

"I'm trying to get serious for a second, y'know?"

"And I'm just showing you it's all good. Don't be anxious. We're like soulmates, everything'll be fine."

That seemed to calm her. She stared softly at me, and even though she still looked embarrassed, I could see her relaxing.

"I… What I said when I was under that trance… You see…"

She didn't seem to find the words she needed, so I decided to help her, bringing up the most complicated issue we had to discuss.

"You said that when you broke up with me, you did it for me, not for you," I said, and she shivered. "Is that true?"

Her lips began to shake, and her eyes shone brighter.

"You didn't realize… but when you sang to me, I didn't feel the same love as before," she confessed once again. "You never said anything to me, but I felt it. I knew that our thing would end sooner or later. And… And I was afraid that if I didn't end it in good terms, if we didn't end it while there was still something in there, it would ruin everything."

"Sam…"

"I didn't wanna lose you," she said, using her free hand to rub her eyes and keep the tears from falling down her cheeks. "I… I was afraid we'd drift apart."

"That's never gonna happen, you hear me?" I reassured her. "You're the beat to my drum. We'll never break apart. But… You also said…"

I tried to remember her exact words. They'd been playing over and over again in my mind the entire weekend.

"You asked me if you'd done something wrong. If it'd been your fault. If maybe you weren't dedicated enough to our relationship, or if you hadn't loved me enough."

She blushed, covering her face with her hand. "Oh, crap, did I really say that?"

"Yeah. And the answer is no. You didn't do anything wrong. I need you to know that. You… The time we had together… Those were the best times of my life."

She looked up to me, and her teary eyes focused on my own. If anyone had been watching us, they'd seen the sparks in the air.

"You did nothing wrong," I assured her. "You were a great girlfriend. It was… it was me who ruined everything. It's crazy that you don't hate me."

"Of course not!" She said. "Listen, I know that… maybe it sounded like I was pissed at you or that… I dunno, that I'm holding grudges against you. But I promise you that's not the case. I know things change. Feelings too. And I don't blame you. At all, seriously. I…"

She sighed.

"I just… The only thing I want is for this to not change anything between us. I'm super ashamed of the way you found out, but… I don't want it to make things weird between us."

A single tear sneaked out of the corner of her eye. I turned around to grab her hand with both of mine, and I leaned forward so our foreheads gently touched.

"Sam… I'll be honest, alright?"

She nodded.

"These past few days were crazy. Just today… You have no idea how much happened. I'm super confused, and honestly? I don't know how I really feel about anyone. I don't understand my feelings anymore. I can't tell if I have a crush on Carol or not. The only thing I'm sure of is that I need you in my life. And nothing's going to change that."

This time it was her turn to initiate the hug. And just like Chunk comforted me as I cried, this time it was my turn to stroke Sam's back as she unloaded, apologizing for everything and releasing all the stress and locked down emotions she'd been storing for months.

She eventually moved away, and feeling much better, she asked me about everything that had taken place in the musical. I grabbed my guitar to chill as I told her everything I'd been through in the past few days, from Luan's surprise visit to that random girl that warned me about the cameras.

"So wait, a younger meta was the one that deleted all the security camera footage?" She asked, trying to make sense of what had happened.

"That's what it looks like. Though I'm not sure whether it was her or someone else. She made it sound like there was someone else involved," I commented, carelessly strumming my guitar.

"Wow… And she said she didn't want you to out yourself if you weren't ready, right?"

"Something like that."

"So, are you?"

I played a chord and let it hang there. "What do you mean?"

"You know… Now that you've embraced your powers," she mentioned leaning closer with a wicked smile. "Will you turn into a hero?"

"Pfft, yeah, right, like my powers are actually any good for a hero."

"Your powers are awesome! I bet you can do a bunch of crazy stuff if you practice. Sonic booms, making villains fall asleep, using the sound waves like you're a living radar to find hidden criminals… You have all sorts of utility powers!"

"You're talking nonsense, Sam. I'm not ready to be a hero."

"Duh, of course not, you need a costume. Don't worry, I'll design it myself. Dattebayo."

I chuckled.

"Sam, you suck at designing clothes. Remember that time you tried to turn an old skirt into a vest?"

"The sewing machine had a malfunction!" She complained, raising a finger.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Sorry, but I'm not gonna become a hero yet."

"You can call yourself Sonic."

"You can't possibly be serious."

"Banshee."

"Isn't there one already in Wisconsin?"

"The Siren!"

I laughed again, this time as I began playing a new song on my guitar.

"You know, now that I think about it, I'll let you design my costume as long as you're not in charge of picking up my name."

She made a fake, angry pout, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah? Then you pick a name if you're so good at it."

I frowned, trying to come up with a good name as I kept playing my song. Nothing came to mind. I tried to think about Tabby and the way she picked different names for her potential hero career. I had to choose something related to music, right? It seemed logical enough.

I couldn't figure anything out until I strummed a power chord to end the song. I then looked at my fingers on the neck of the guitar.

"What? What is it?" Sam asked me.

I gave her a conspiratorial grin.

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And thus I bring this story to an end, the first page of the book of Luna Morrison. It's hard for me to write a short story, as you may have noticed haha. My idea with the Heroverse was to write short stories, with chapters made out of 4K words (40K-45K in total), but so far the two stories of the Heroverse average around 90K words. So yeah, I suck at short stories.

Luna has learned a lot in this story. She's learned to accept herself and not run away from or reject her powers. When will she take the first step into becoming a hero? How will her relationship with Sam continue moving forward? What's going to happen with Tabby? All that and much more will be explored in the subsequent entries of the Heroverse.

My next story will be Nova: Homecoming, and we'll put the teenage drama aside to focus back into a true superhero story… with teenage drama! We'll see Nova, Eclipse, and even Ace Savvy once again. I'm so excited to write that story, and I'm even hopeful that it may not be as long as these two hahaha.

Thank you everyone for reading this far into this small project. And as always, special thanks to the readers that leave their reviews:

EggsOnToast: Thank you!

wollyworld: Great timing indeed!

Bryan Pacheco: Thank you so much! Hope you liked the ending!

STR2D3PO: That was one good thing indeed!

Jeff: Thank you so much, man! I'm glad you liked the payoffs.

U. : A redemption arc is not off the tables at all, yup.

decade2009: I guess we'll have to wait to see!

Deku: Thank you!

Imagaco: Thank you so much, it was definitely a different climax than one would expect, especially since there was barely any action involved. And yes, True Colors really fits the themes.

FanficFan920: Luna's mom in her dream was her stepmom, Chunk's wife, yes.

And that's everyone. Thanks a lot as always.

Alright, well, yeah, thank you all for coming to the theater tonight. You may leave your seats and the room.

…

Why's everyone still here?

Oh, I get it. Y'all googled "is there a post-credits scene in Power Chord by UnderratedHero" and you spoiled yourselves the answer. Alright, as you wish.

Here you go.

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Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Lying face-up on her bed, she stared at the hands of the clock moving with each passing second, coming full circle to the place they started, over and over again. With the exception of the three daily meals and the designated hour of TV, the ever-moving hands of the clock were the only sources of entertainment outside of her own mind.

Not that she complained, in all honesty. The peace and quiet of the silence were relaxing. Not having to go to school five days a week to face a horde of teenagers that hated her —or even worse, ignored her— was the best of rewards. She missed her doll, Mr. Coconuts, and also the long, slow walks she took around the park, sitting on a bench to stare at people passing by. Aside from that? Life in a cell was in many ways an improvement over her old life.

Any other teenager would have gone insane, for sure, but Luan wasn't a regular teenager.

She was already insane, and she embraced it. But now everyone knew her name. She saw it on TV when they allowed her to watch it: she was the talk of the town. People wondered what measures they could take to avoid alienating others like her. They put her face on TV and had debates with psychologists, with teachers, with experts on metahuman behavior. For the first time in her life, she was popular, and even though she wasn't free to enjoy that fame, simply knowing that she wasn't being ignored anymore kept her happy.

Lost in that peace and serenity, her mind didn't pay attention to the vibrations on the walls. With her eyes and mind focused on the clock, trying to determine whether the hour hand was always in constant, slow movement or if it jumped forward after short intervals —Every minute? Five minutes? Ten minutes?—, she didn't realize there was an echo coming from outside her cell. Not until the hands of the clock trembled.

Only when she noticed it she sat up on her bed and began to look around her. Her cell was a double cage. The first room was a glass cube, with the walls and the ceiling made out of tempered glass, surrounding a bed, a table, a chair, a flat-screen TV, a clock, and a small bathroom. The radiant floor heating was covered with planks of wood, always warm to the touch and keeping the temperature in the room comfortable for her.

The crystal cube was, at the same time, placed in the center of a much bigger room, one she could see through the glass, letting her know why she would never be able to escape. In simple terms, she found herself trapped inside a freezer, with an extremely cold liquid flowing inside all sorts of tubes that covered the walls, keeping the surface frozen and coated with ice and frost.

Luan felt flattered. She'd decided in her mind that her cell had been designed specifically for her and no other metahuman. It made her feel special. Like people cared about her.

A new sound caught her attention. A sound like she'd never heard before, like the steel itself was screaming. Then she saw something. A red spot, growing bigger and bigger.

When the ice began to melt and evaporate, she realized that the red stain was actually the metal heating itself to incredibly high temperatures. The lights began to flicker, there were explosions of sparks coming from inside the walls, and with a thunderous roar, the wall blew up from the outside.

Metal splinters flew in all directions, and Luan instinctively activated her powers to protect herself from any projectile that might hit her, but the tempered glass endured the hits. There was a smokescreen, and moments later, the whole chamber was filled with a red, living light as a humanoid figure stepped forward. It had no head, a spherical torso, and its body was made out of magma and fire.

"Sup, Laura," a voice said, too sharp and cheerful to belong to that fire golem, "nice to meetcha."

"My name is Luan," she cautiously said, taking a step back from the glass wall that figure approached. She wondered how such a strange creature could sound like a boy until she noticed some sort of communicating device on its chest.

"Yeah, whatever. So anyway, I came to free you 'cause I think you and I have a lot in common, and we can help each other."

She eyed the golem up and down. "I find that hard to believe."

"What if I told you there's a way to open the eyes of everyone in this town?" The voice said with a teasing tone like he was planning on pulling the greatest prank in human history. "To show ourselves to the world and make them face the truth of metahumans? The reality they've been trying to hide for so long?"

Luan stayed in silence, considering those words.

"Come on, Laura. You have a special part to play in this plan. The lead role, the chance to make this town face its lies. Are you really gonna tell me you're not interested in becoming the face that forever changes this unfair society?"

She turned back to look at the clock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

A diabolic smile spread on her face when she turned back towards the fire creature. Ever so carefully, she advanced to the glass wall, phasing through it like it wasn't even there, and stopping in front of the monstrosity.

"What do you have in mind, hot-head?"

Luna Morrison and Luan DiAngelo will return.