Ava frowned as she watched Ray and Nora say goodbye to everyone.

Today had been hard.

She knew that everyone was trying to put on brave faces and be happy for their friends, despite being heartbroken about them leaving.

Ray and Nora had been important members of the team for years. It was hard to imagine things without them.

Ava had already said her goodbye to Ray and was now waiting for Nora to be done with her goodbyes so they could have theirs.

She was trying hard not to cry, knowing if she did, she wouldn't be able to stop.

Nora was one of Ava's first friends outside of the Legends.

She was one of the only people Ava felt comfortable enough to talk about her origins with.

They've spent countless nights together just talking about their pasts. Over the time they've spent together, Ava truly started to bond with Nora.

She loved her like a little sister and the reality of her leaving made Ava sadder than she'd felt in awhile.

She watched as Nora hugged Behrad, then Charlie, before turning to her.

She held her breath, fighting back tears as her friend went over and hugged her tightly.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." Nora whispered into Ava's ear, closing her eyes as her tears started to fall.

Ava was the Legend that she was closest to besides Ray. She'd never really had a best friend before she met Ava.

Ava's heart clenched as she returned the hug, holding Nora close as tears filled her eyes. She could feel the eyes of the Legends on them but she didn't care. She was only focused on Nora and their last moments together.

"You're going to make me cry." She whispered and sniffed, her breathing a little shaky as she held Nora closer. She closed her eyes tightly when her tears started to fall. "I don't want you to go."

Nora heard footsteps retreating and assumed that the Legends left to give them some time alone.

She was feeling a lot right now. She was excited to start her new life with Ray, but she didn't want to leave Ava. Ava was the only person besides Ray that Nora opened up to about her past.

She loved having someone like Ava in her life. The blonde was so fiercely protective of her, she'd always been, and Nora felt like Ava was the big sister she never knew she needed.

Ava choked out a sob as she hid her face in Nora's neck, hugging her as if it would be their last time.

"Hey," Nora whispered when she heard Ava crying.

The sound and the wet tears she felt on her neck broke her heart. This was harder than she'd thought it would be.

"This isn't goodbye. It's just... a 'see you next time'."

Ava shook her head and sobbed more. She couldn't figure out a way to voice how she felt, her thoughts racing, so she just cried.

Nora frowned. "Now you're making me cry." She said. She tried to chuckle, but it came out as a quiet sob.

Ava took a minute or so to calm down a bit before she forced herself to pull away. She put her hands on Nora's shoulders to look at her.

"Promise me you'll stay safe? And that you'll take care of yourself?" She said, unable to stop herself from being protective of her friend.

Nora smiled tearfully. "I promise." She whispered before pulling Ava in for another hug. "I promise I'll try to call at least once a week to update you on what's happening." She added.

Ava nodded, relaxing a bit at that.

She stayed quiet for a few minutes, trying to get her breathing under control. She couldn't believe this was happening. She didn't want to believe it.

"Do you really have to go?" She whispered, voice small and a little shaky.

Nora's heart clenched. "Yes." She said. "I do." She held Ava tighter. "But I will call you and I'll even send you pictures of our new house if you want."

Ava nodded. "Please do."

She was never this clingy. The thought of being that made her uneasy. But this was something different.

It felt like she was losing one of her only friends, her best friend.

"I will. Promise. And you promise me that you'll take care of yourself too? Please." Nora whispered.

She knew how Ava got sometimes when she was distraught, how she would overthink so much about things and start to spiral.

"I will." Ava promised. She held onto Nora tighter, as if that would delay the inevitable.

"Book club won't be the same without you."

Nora didn't know what it was about those words, but as soon as she heard them, she broke down. S

he'd truly seen the Legends as her family and looked forward to book club every week. It hurt to picture her life without them.

"Oh, hon." Ava frowned when she heard Nora start to cry.

"It's okay. It's like you said, r-right? It's not a 'goodbye'... j-just a 'see you next time'." She could feel herself getting emotional again. She couldn't help it as she felt Nora shaking in her arms.

Nora took in a shaky breath. "Please don't f-forget about me." She said, so quietly that Ava could barely hear her.

Ava frowned at that. The last thing she'd do is forget about Nora.

"I could never." She pulled away to look into Nora's tear-filled eyes. "I could never forget about you, okay? Never." She repeated herself, wanting Nora to believe her.

Nora searched Ava's eyes for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief and nodding, reaching up to wipe away her tears.

"I just..." she sniffed and glanced down at her feet before looking back up. "I really love you, you know?"

A smile came to Ava's face at the admission. They'd always known that they loved each other, but had never said it aloud before.

"I love you too." She replied, without hesitation.

Nora almost broke down again, but forced herself to take a deep breath to calm down.

They stared at each other for a minute before going in for one more quick hug.

Ava didn't want to let go, but reluctantly did when she felt Nora pulling away.

"We should go find the others." Nora suggested, voice a little weak from crying.

Ava nodded, "yeah." Is all she said before they went onto the bridge where they found the rest of the team.

Sara's gaze was immediately on Ava. Her eyes were filled with worry when she saw how upset her girlfriend looked.

Ava ignored it for now, knowing that if she didn't, she'd start crying again.

Once everyone said their goodbyes for at least the tenth time, Ray and Nora left through a portal.

The Legends stayed in silence for several minutes, looking at the space their friends had once been.

There was nothing to say, nothing would make this any less awful.

Nate left first, Behrad following him when he noticed that his friend was crying. Charlie and Zari soon followed, and then so did Mick and John.

Sara was quiet for a moment before she decided to say something.

"Are you okay?" She asked, frowning at the look in Ava's eyes.

She knew Ava and Nora were close and that it must be hard to say goodbye. She knew what that felt like. She'd felt like her heart was ripped in half when she said goodbye to Ray.

Ava opened her mouth to maybe try to stall or change the subject, or at least get her emotional under control before she spoke, but when she saw how worried Sara was about her, she couldn't stop herself from shaking her head with a frown. "N-no." Her voice cracked. "I-I'm not."

Sara frowned more and looked down, trying not to cry. Losing a teammate always hurt, but she couldn't help but feel like maybe she was to blame for not keeping her team - her family - together.

"You?" Ava asked, already knowing the answer. No one was okay right now.

Sara shook her head. "It hurts so much." She said, unable to stop the tears from filling her eyes.

"I-I'm..." she tried to say more but was cut off by a sob that quickly turned into more. She'd tried to stay strong all day, but here, alone with Ava, she couldn't hold it back anymore.

She felt herself being pulled in before strong arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly.

"I know, love. I know." Ava whispered. Both women were trying to comfort each other, but eventually they couldn't talk anymore due to how much they were crying.

Maybe that was enough, they realized. They didn't need to talk, enough had already been said. They just needed someone to hold them through their tears.

Sara sniffed. "I miss them already." She said, her breathing slightly shaky against Ava's neck.

"I do too." Is all Ava said before they both dissolved into sobs, not being able to talk anymore.

The hole in Sara's chest from losing Ray was echoed in Ava's from losing Nora. Both of them were feeling so much pain that they couldn't focus on anything but their friends' departure.

They just held each other through their sobs as they tried to process it. They didn't want to believe that Ray and Nora were really gone, they couldn't believe it.

This couldn't be happening.