Anne turns away from us as the ambulance arrives. Kitty is sobbing, begging Rocky to come back. We move out of the way so the paramedics can get to her. Catalina walks over to Anne and places an arm around her shoulders. Anne leans into her as she cries. Anna takes Kitty to one side, and they quietly talk. Jane walks over to me. 'I hope she's at peace,' she says.
'I'm sure she is,' I agree quietly.
'Do you need a hug?' I nod, and Jane pulls me into a hug. I hug Jane back and try to blink back the tears. I see the paramedics lift Rocky onto a stretcher and shut my eyes. I don't want to remember my friend like that. Instead, I think of the night before.

The drive back home is a sombre affair. We don't talk, and no one can think of anything to say. When we get back home, Maria dashes over the road to check on her father. We follow her to make sure that she's okay. When we go in, Maria and her dad are kneeling on the floor. They both quickly stand up when they realise we're there. 'Oh, hello,' he says.
'Hello Alan,' Mummy says. 'We're just checking everything's all right.'
'That's a very neighbourly thing to do.'
'Sorry about leaving so abruptly earlier. Welcome to the neighbourhood.' Mummy shakes hands with Alan.
'It's certainly been eventful. Is it normally like this?'
'No, today was a quiet day.'
'And who's this?'
'This...' Mum and Mummy glance at each other, then they smile. 'This is our son, our adopted son.'
'Hello,' Luke says, stepping forward.
'And what's your name?' Alan holds his hand out for Luke to shake.
'I'm Luke,' Luke shakes his hand.

'Look at you, leaving your front door open,' Maria's mum comes barging in. 'Didn't you hear about the chemicals? Oh, it was a nightmare!' She kisses Maria on the forehead. 'I had Ivan chasing me around the bedroom saying, "Drink it!" I told him to get off, but he wasn't having it.' Alan opens his mouth to say something, but Maria's mum cuts him off. 'Haven't you unpacked yet? Alan, I did say, the longer things stay in boxes, the less it feels like a home.' Alan then nods over to us, and Maria's mum turns. 'And you are?'
'I'm Sarah Jane Smith, and this is my girlfriend, Ruby White. We're from over the road.'
'This is my mother,' Maria says.
'What's he wearing?' Maria's mum asks.
'These are the clothes I was born in,' Luke says.
'Right.' Things have grown awkward. 'Well, thank you very much. But if you don't mind, I've had a bit of a trauma. Family time. Thanks for calling in.'
'Okay, we'll be off,' Mum says.
'This woman is rude,' Luke says.
'I agree with you on that one,' I whisper to Luke. 'But it's not the best of things to say to people's faces.'
'Yes, definitely going,' Mummy says when she realises what happened. 'Come on, let's go home.'
'You don't have to,' Maria argues.
'Oh, come on,' Maria's mum moans. 'Invite the neighbours around, and you'll never get rid of them. Next thing you know, it's holidays together. That's a recipe for disaster. No offence, nice to meet you, Sarah... Lou.' Alan mouths an apology to us as we walk out.

'First thing's first, clothes shopping,' Mummy says. 'Didn't Mr Holbein say he would help us out?'
'He did, yes,' Catalina nods.
'If you don't want to go, I don't blame you. Today was a big shock for us all, and I guess it shows how deadly our lives can be.'

Mum, Mummy, and Luke go to Holbein Boutique, while Catalina, Anne, Jane, Anna, Kitty, Bessie, Joan, Maggie, and I stay at Bannerman Road. We all stand outside Rocky's room, and Anne shuts the door. She unlocks her phone.

BeheadedBoleyn: BraveBoleyn we have some bad news. Can we call you?

We don't get a reply. Maybe he's at school.

BraveBoleyn: Now is a good time

'Can I call my brother?' Anne asks. 'I feel it will be better if I tell him what happened.' We nod and allow Anne to go into her room. Catalina and Jane head into the kitchen, while Anna and Kitty head to the attic. Bessie and Joan follow Anna and Kitty.

I turn to Maggie. We are the only two standing outside Rocky's room. 'I don't think Anne wants me around her right now,' Maggie says, sniffing. 'Maybe she needs some alone time.'
'That might be best,' I nod. 'Do you want to spend some time with me?'
'I'd like that.' She links arms with me, and we go into the garden.

A gentle breeze is blowing through the garden as we walk through, and we sit on the bench with a wooden canopy over it. Maggie quickly hurries inside and returns with her sketchbook. 'I didn't know you draw,' I say.
'It's one of my hidden talents,' Maggie says. 'I don't like telling people about it in case they think it's not worth my time.'
'Anything you love is worth your time. It's your life, so do what makes you happy, as long as your happiness doesn't hurt others, of course.'
'Yeah,' Maggie's eyes begin to mist over, and she looks away. 'Is it sick that I still want to fight aliens?'
'No, I don't think so. Just because Rocky died doesn't mean we should give up. Earth still needs her guardians. Without us, the whole Bubbleshock business would remain quiet until it was too late for anyone to do anything about it.' I look up at the sky. Wherever Rocky is, I hope she's happy. 'While we lost Rocky today, and it will be a hard blow on all of us, I think it's worthwhile continuing what we do. It's what Rocky would want.'
'You're right,' Maggie nods and turns back to me. 'Here, I became much closer to Rocky than I was the first time. In the 1500s, I thought she was a scheming woman who would happily see her husband die for her own happiness. Now, I have a very different picture of her. She was scheming, but only to save herself from a vengeful king. She wasn't happy to see George die.'
'I don't know how anyone could be happy about the death of someone else.' I pull my legs up to my chest as I think. Maggie takes out her pencil and begins drawing.

We stay silent for several minutes, me thinking, Maggie drawing. Anne soon comes out and sits on the grass. Maggie looks up, then back down at her sketchbook. She erases something, then begins drawing again. Catalina and Jane walk out the back door with a plate of biscuits and glasses of lemonade. They hand them out to everyone. Anne dips her biscuit in the lemonade before eating it. 'That tastes nicer than I expected,' she says as she finishes it.
'Anne!' Catalina bursts out laughing. 'You're not meant to dip the biscuit in the lemonade!'
'Anyone who dares suggest that gets a biscuit thrown at them.'
'No, don't throw my biscuits!' Jane yells. 'I didn't make them so you could throw them at others.' Jane dips her biscuit in the lemonade and tries it. 'Mm, that is nice.'
'Jane!' Catalina laughs. 'No one else dips their biscuits in—mierda!' The other half of her biscuit dropped into her lemonade. I dip my biscuit into my drink and try it.
'It tastes really nice,' I say. I drop the rest of my biscuit in.
'Emma, you'll end up with a soggy mess at the bottom of your glass!'
'I don't care!' I start drinking my lemonade.

We hear someone knocking on the gate. Jane unlocks it to reveal Maria. 'I came to make sure everything's alright, but I guess after today, that seems a bit stupid.'
'It's not stupid,' Maggie calls over. She starts shading in her drawing.
'I've made biscuits if you want one,' Jane says, inviting her into the garden. Maria helps herself to some lemonade and a biscuit and sits down beside me. I put my legs back down. Anne stands up and stretches. She walks over to a seat and sits down.

Soon, the car pulls up. There is still no sign of Anna, Kitty, Bessie, or Joan. We hear them go inside; then Mum walks outside. 'Is this where most of you got to?'
'Anna, Kitty, Joan, and Bessie went into the attic. We haven't seen them since.'
'I'll go and talk to them, then.'
'I made some biscuits,' Jane says, holding the plate out to Mum. 'Do you want one?'
'Thanks,' Mum smiles and takes one. She heads inside. Jane sits between Maggie and me as Maggie finishes her drawing.
'Do you mind if I have a look?' Jane asks Maggie. Maggie turns it towards us, and I have a look as well.

Maggie drew Rocky. Some of her dark hair is in space buns, while the rest of it hangs loosely around her shoulders. She is wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans as well as her favourite pair of trainers. 'It's great,' Jane smiles. Anne walks over and looks over at the drawing.
'It looks exactly like Rocky.' Anne smiles.

That evening, Anna, Kitty, Bessie, and Joan join us. Mummy brings out more lemonade and more glasses so we can all enjoy some lemonade and some biscuits. 'How's Kelsey doing?' Mummy asks as she sits down.
'She's backtracking like mad,' Maria groans. In all the madness that happened, I completely forgot about Kelsey. 'She says it's all hallucinations, no such thing as aliens.'
'We know better,' Catalina says. She glances at the open gate, and we all turn.

Luke walks through wearing a grey t-shirt, a darker grey jacket and dark blue jeans. 'That's much better,' Maria smiles.
'This is good?' Luke asks.
'Yep.' I pat the seat beside me, and Luke joins me. Mum passes him a glass of lemonade.
'How are you going to adopt him?' Maria asks. 'You need forms and things. Who are you going to say his birth mother is? The Bane Mother?'
'Mr Smith sorted that,' Mummy assures her. 'All done and dusted. Luke Smith-White.'
'Wow, you're mums again,' Anna says.
'We are,' Mummy says, sounding surprised. 'Did you know?'
'We knew,' I confirmed. 'The queens told me, and my older self must have told them.'

'When I was your age, I thought; "Oh, when I'm grown up, I'll know what I want, I'll be sorted,"' Mummy says. 'But you never really know what you want, you'll never feel grown up, not really, you never sort it all out.'
'Maybe Rocky felt like she lived a good life,' Anne says. 'She lived a fantastic life.'

'Emma, I never got to ask,' Maria says. 'At the factory, Davey said you'd end up eating yourself. I know that probably won't happen, but what did he mean by that?'
'I'm a soul stealer with a soul,' I explain, placing my lemonade on the table. 'That's what happens when you're a human-Qetesh hybrid; you are a living contradiction. Sometimes I think it would be easier to live as a human, but then I wouldn't exist. So, for me, I can't live without both halves. Besides, I love my mums, and I wouldn't change them for anything in the universe. So, I'm happy to live as a soul stealer with a soul.'
'I see,' Maria nods. 'But wouldn't that cause a problem in the future?'
'Maybe,' I shrug. 'But I'm not so worried about that. All that matters is that I'm living a happy life, and I couldn't ask for anything more.'
'You won't be saying that when Henrat marries you,' Catalina warns.
'Who's Henrat?' Maria giggles.
'Henry,' we chorus.
'I should've seen that coming.'

We all look up at the night sky. Maybe Rocky is looking down on us, watching over us until we're ready to join her.