[Todd]

Viola is tryin' to tell Bradley that was he's writin' on the document don't sound right, and Bradley is tellin' her to please be quiet, just for a moment, and that she can proofread it once he's finished. Ben and Hildy and Lee are with us, too, all spread out in our livin' room while Bradley prepares the document that we've all contributed to in the past hour. If the council is in agreement with it, it'll go into law for our community by the end of the day. Everyone is feelin' good about it, except for Viola, who's still hoverin' behind Bradley and watchin' him write while biting her fingernails. I think about tellin' her to calm down, that it don't have to be perfect, that the settlers are gonna be just as glad about it as we are.

But then I think it wud be a lot more fun to mess with her, instead, and decide to discreetly shoot a small beam of Noise into her thigh. Hildy and Ben are talkin' and laughin' by the window, so they don't notice when I do it, but Lee, who's sittin beside me on the couch, laughs with me when Viola jerks back, immediately takin' her fingers out of her mouth and givin' me a look of warnin.' Me and Lee both duck down when she shoots Noise back towards us, which hits the wall and leaves a singe on the surface. Lee looks at it, laughin' with disbelief, and my jaw drops when I look back at her.

That was a lot more Noise than wut I just used! I say to her, but Viola only shrugs with her arms crossed over her chest.

That's what you get for messing with me when I'm trying to focus. She says to me, a matter of fact.

Yer not focused. I say to her, gently now. Yer worryin', again.

Viola sighs before walkin' over to us, forcin' me and Lee to scoot over so she can sit down twixt us.

"This alliance that the two of you are forming against me? I don't like it." She says, lookin' at us both.

"I mean, you kind of brought us together, Viola." Lee says, then he leans forward to look at me. "Didn't she, Todd? She basically made us work together from the minute we all met."

"It wuz a good idea, tho." I tell him. "Yer good to work with, Lee. And to joke around with. Especially if it's got Viola actin' like this."

We share one more laugh, but Viola's Noise has gone from irritated, to solemn, when she looks over at Lee, and I can already see wut she's thinkin' before she says it, "Lee, you really have been there for me… for us… since the beginning. I don't say it to you enough but… thank you."

She leans over and gives him a hug, and one that doesn't surprise him, cuz it's Viola, of all people, and if anyone is bein' genuine, it's her. He hugs her back, his Noise full of love and happiness, and I feel the need to look away. Lee clears his throat when they pull away, says, "It was really the two of you who did most of the work, tho."

Yer kno Viola; she can never take the credit for anything, so she starts givin' Lee all these reasons for why he's been so helpful to our cause, but then we all look up after hearin' Bradley's Noise, which addresses all of us, before he says with a sly smile, "It's finished."

Me and Hildy and Lee and Ben all make eye contact, slow smiles creepin' on our faces, before we all start clappin' and cheerin'. But Viola is the only one who rushes to get up, stands by Bradley's side, and reads the words off of the paper so that everyone can hear;

From this day and henceforth, all communities of New World, whether human, or Spackle, are to remain at peace amongst one another. Any and all disputes will be brought up with and resolved by the official council of the Land, which will always strive for the safety, freedom, and rights of both sides….

Viola stops reading out loud, but her eyes still move across the page as she reads, anxious and teary. I can hear the words as she reads them in her Noise, and once she nears the end, a smile spreads across her face; but there is relief, there, too. She puts her hand on Bradley's shoulders and he looks up at her, smiling.

"It's perfect, Bradley." Viola says, her voice tearful. "I mean, you spelled some of the words wrong, but it's still perfect."

Bradley chuckles before looking up at her, like a proud father wud. "Well , since you're the know it all, why don't you read it for the community this evening? Before it goes into law?"

I look around the room and watch as everyone nods at the idea. Viola wuz the one who gave the first speech in this community, the one that gave us hope for this New World we were creatin.' But Viola only lets out a sigh, crosses her arms over her chest. I cud tell by her Noise, and the look on her face, that she wuz reluctant to do it.

"I think you should do it, Bradley." She told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're the one who wrote it, after all. And it's not like I'm the only leader on the council." She looked up then, out at all of us; Ben and Hildy and Lee and me and back to Bradley. All the people who'd been by her side, and mine, the whole way thru. "We all are."

"She's right." I say, but still lookin' right at Viola, until she feels me lookin' and meets my gaze. "Let's give Viola a break from all the leader stuff, for today."

Viola smirks at me, her Noise teasing. So now yer on my side?

I grin at her. Did yer just say "yer"?

It's subtle, but Viola rolls her eyes at me. Laughs a little. It was an accident. I guess after all this time, New World is finally getting to me.

But I only shake my head at her, a small smile on my face. No it isn't. It's always been in you, Viola. It's just that you're finally comfortable letting it out, now.

Viola's Noise is warm and her eyes are glassy and her lips are turning into a small smile, but she don't get to respond when Bradley pulls her attention back to the draft of the document, asking her again if any changes need to be made. Ben and Hildy have gone to join em', readin' over his shoulder and givin' their opinions, and I think Lee may be tryin' to tell me somethin', too, "So what are we going to do once this is really over? I think I might learn how to swim, believe it or not, I never learned! Or maybe I'll finally watch some of those, what are they called, movies? The ones from Earth that Steff is always bugging me about seeing. But what about you, Todd? What've you got in mind for the future?"

I only shrug at him with my eyes still on Viola. She's leaning over Bradley's shoulder, dragging her fingers across the page of the document, a smile on her face as she re-reads his words, and I'm thinkin', there it is, Lee, there's yer answer. The only future I cud imagine on New World wud be spent with my friends and famil, but I mostly pictured it with Viola, wakin' up beside her every morning and goin' for walks to our spot in the forest and listenin' to her read from all the books she'd brought from Earth and listen to her Noise, calm and hummin, every night from where she lay in my arms. Other things wud have to be done, too, like expandin' the community, teachin' more men and women how to use their Noise, learnin' more from the Spackle and them from us. But if all I cud do for the rest of my days on New World wuz watch Viola, finally happy and at peace…. it wud be enough of a future for me.

Well, I really hope you have something a little more productive in mind. Viola says to me with her Noise, interruptin' my thoughts even tho she wuz still lookin' at the document. I smile, laugh, shake my head at her. This girl who never failed to surprise me.

Yer got any ideas, then? I say, and that's when she finally looks up. A hint of a mischevious smile on her face.

I do, actually. She says, and then, Let's skip the speech tonight. I want to show you something.

…

The sky is that color just before the sun sets, a mix of orange and pink and yellow, warm and vibrant like Viola's Noise in front of me. We promised Ben and Bradley and Hildy and Lee that we were gonna meet up with them later for the speech, but really, Viola wants to take me to the scout ship. She's doin' a good job of hiding her Noise from me as we cross the field, and move into the forest, where the scout ship is parked in a small clearing amongst the trees. It's quiet, except for the sounds of bugs and the wind and the stream, and I get distracted, lookin' up past the branches in the trees, watchin' the sun filter in and out. I close my eyes for a moment, grateful for the luxury of distraction, until I sense that Viola has stopped in front of me.

What are you doing? Viola asks, her smiling face in front of me. You look like you're sleep walking.

I open my eyes and look at her, kinda embarrassed. Sorry. Er…I was… caught up in the moment. Then, I look towards the scout ship, standin' tall and reaching towards the sky. Yer gonna tell me wut we're here for, or wut?

Viola nods, then walks up the ramp that leads to the door of the ship. I follow her, and watch as she punches in the code on the keypad. Cool air rushes through once we make it inside, and I look around the front room, as if I haven't been here before, and ask outloud, "Are yer finally goin' to teach me how to fly this thing, or wut?"

Viola tips her head back and laughs, her voice ringing against the metal floors and walls. My heart lurches behind my chest, and I'm thinkin', I will never get tired of hearing that laugh

"No, Todd. What makes you think I know how to fly the scout ship?"

I shrug, and follow her to a door that's on the far end of the ship. Again, she punches in a code, and we're let into a dark stairway that leads to the lower part of the ship. "I don't know." I say, falling into step behind her. "Yer good at everything, whether you've tried it already or not."

Viola is walking in front of me, but she's still smilin' – I can see it in her Noise. We finally make it to the end of the stairway, and Viola tugs on a door handle that's labeled "STORAGE."

"If you want to learn how to fly the scout ship, Bradley is your guy." Viola says, walkin' into the room, but she stops and turns around when I don't follow behind her, still lookin' at the boxes and crates that fill the room, wondering wut they could be. ]

"Come on." She says, her voice light, a smile on her face. "This is what I want to show you. It's not as cool as flyin' the ship, or anything, but –"

"Don't worry, Viola." I say, breaking out of my trance, lookin' back at her with a smile on my face. "I'm coming. Right behind you."

The space is small and narrow, but that's only because it's full of boxes, and when Viola turns the light on, it's even more crowded. I follow behind her as she shoves them aside, makin' a pathway for us to get to the very back. In front of us are tall metal shelves, and Viola stretches up on her tip toes, cursing under her breath to try to get it down. I reach forward and help her lower it to the ground, and on the top flaps of the boxes, written in black ink, it reads, The Eades.

What's this? I ask Viola, my eyebrows furrowed, Noise confused.

Some old stuff that belonged to my parents. She answered, casually, before opening up the box.

I thought… I started, watching her take out a thick book of pictures and a wrinkled t-shirt and a tiny velvet box. I thought their ship crashed…

Mhm. It did. She says, throwing the shirt over her shoulder, placing the book in her lap, playing with the velvet box in her hands. We lost a lot of our things in that crash, but Bradley reminded me that they probably left their valuables on the main ship, when we left for the separate mission to New World.

I watch as Viola opens up the box, a little red stone sittin' in the cushion. This is my birthstone. A ruby, for July.

I raise my eyebrows at her. Yer middle name is June, but yer birthstone is for July?

Viola nods, reading the incredulity in my Noise. Yeah, I know. Silly, right?

I almost agree, but somethin' is different about Viola as she hands the stone for me to see, goin' back to diggin' through the box. She's calm and relaxed and at ease; as if her parents were really here, with us, lookin' thru all these memories. So I let her show them to me.

This is our little photo album. Most of these are just me as a kid, so don't pay too much mind to that. But some of them are pictures of my parents. On the ship, and on Earth.

Viola hands me the book, and I take it from her carefully, flippin' it to the first page. The pictures are protected behind plastic, and I drag my finger across each one, laughing at Viola's baby photos. There's one of her standin' in the scout ship chair, wearing a cowgirl hat with a big smile on her face. There's another one of her and Steff, runnin' towards the camera in matching pajama's, smilin' and with their little hands outstretched. And then there's Viola again, tucked into bed and leanin' into someone's side, there face cut out of the frame. Whoever it is, they're readin' a book to her, her eyes low as if she were tryin' to keep herself awake. I'm thinkin' that it's her ma who's readin' to her in the photo, and maybe her dad who's takin the picture, and I imagine wut it is they look like, if Viola's got her ma's eyes or her pa's smile –

But I only got to flip the page once more to learn that it's true.

I can feel Viola starin' at me as I stare at her parents, a fuzzy photo of them huggin' and standin' on the steps of wut looks like a school, wearing jeans and t-shirts and happy smiles on their faces. My Noise is buzzin' with all sorts of emotions, lookin' at these two people who Viola came from, these two people from a whole 'nother planet who crossed millions of miles thru space and time, past stars and planets and entire galaxies, bringin' with them the girl I love more than anything, my best friend, my Viola Viola Viola.

"Viola." I say, cuz I can't seem to get it out with my Noise, too emotional in combination with hers, and I can't say wut I want to say, so instead, I blurt out, "Yer look just like yer pa. Yer got his nose and everything."

Viola laughs, tears at the back of her throat. She's wipin' one away with the back of her hand when I finally look up at her.

"We used to get that a lot." She says, smilin' down at the picture from where the book still lays open in my hands. "They'd call us twins."

I look back down at the photo, seein' her resemblance to her pa more and more. Then my eyes shift to her ma; same curly hair, same brown eyes.

"Yer ma wuz beautiful." I say, then furrow my eyebrows, lean closer to get a better look at the shirt she's wearin'. "Is that…"

"My mom's shirt?" Viola answers, already readin' the question in my Noise. She takes the gray shirt off of her shoulder and holds it up for me. I have no idea wut it says.

"Coca-Cola." Viola answers, lookin' at the shirt as she holds it up. "It's a type of soda. A dark, fizzy drink. And it's really sweet."

"Did she really like it, or somethin'?" I ask, and Viola laughs.

"Um… I guess?" She says. "She just liked wearing the shirt, I don't think it had anything to do with the drink. My dad said she wore it all the time when they were in college together. Said it was her, 'Thinking shirt.' They're standing in front of their college library in that photo."

Viola is sayin' things I barely understand now, 'soda' and 'college' and what not. I may have learned some things about Earth after the settlers got here, but I apparently have a lot more left to discover.

"Good thing we have plenty of time for that." Viola says, and now, she's throwin' everything back into the box. I scrunch my eyebrows at this.

Wait. I say to her. How come yer so… relaxed about this?

What do you mean? She asks, and I look down at the photo album she's puttin' back into the box.

I don't kno. I say, carefully, and then, But… when I found my ma's journal? I wuz a lot more… shaken up about it. Yer seem to be okay tho. More than okay. Like you've seen all this already.

Viola bites her bottom lip, looks away from me for a second when she says, That's because… I came here earlier today.

My Noise goes still, but before I can ask why she came here on her own, without telling me, she says, I… I wanted to know if what Bradley said was true. If they had some stuff that really was here. I didn't want you to see me disappointed if it wasn't.

She's lookin' at me genuinely, her eyes soft and apologetic and glassy, but how cud I blame her for wantin' to learn about this on her own, first? This whole time, we've been discovering things about Noise, about my parents Noise, about our Noise. Viola has dedicated all she is, and all she has, to New World. She deserves to learn about what's still left of her own.

Don't worry, Viola. I say to her, reaching out for her hand. It's warm and soft, just like her Noise. I understand. And I'm not upset. I'm just glad yer thought to show it to me, once you found it. Yer got anything else from yer past we can look at?

Viola only shrugs, lookin around the storage room at all the boxes and crates, full of belongings, lost or forgotten, tucked away in the bottom of the scout ship.

Who knows what else is down here. She says, lookin back to me. But there's too much for there not to be anything.

And a pause sits between us, and soft yellow light forms between our interlocked hands, as Viola gives me a look, and I give her that same look back – the one that we share whenever we're both thinkin' the same thing –

Another little adventure –

Something new for us to discover –

A journey we'll go on together.

Authors' Note: Well my friends, this has officially been the LONGEST hiatus that I have taken from this story. I've been working on other projects, reading a lot of novels, and preparing for this upcoming school year…. But I did not want this summer to end without concluding this fic. Some of y'all have been here since I started this fic back in 2019 (2 years ago! Isn't that insane?) and you've been nothing but the absolute best. It's been so fun talking with you and gushing over CW with you (and let's not forgot that CW movie adaptation anticipation, lol!) and it almost feels like we were all writing this together. It's super messy and ridiculous and all over the place, but I'm so grateful that you guys stuck around to support it! This next chapter will be a fun little epilogue to wrap things up, where Viola and Todd get a driving lesson from Bradley ;) and I'm thinking I'll start a separate one-shots fic that I can write in from time to time, exploring their life in New World post-craziness, and so that we all have a place to keep gushing over CW whenever we feel the need. I hope you guys like this chapter, and I'll talk to ya real soon! Stay safe and happy out there!