Woohooo finally I update! And here's the end of this threeshot random doodad. It had no point, and I still don't think it does. Just random songficness. It took me so long to update because it really took me this long just to find this entirely unsuitable song for this chapter. Oh well. Hopefully you review and like it no matter how it turned out! ;) Never Meet Again by...dang, forgot his name. By some dude. Lol.
Never Meet Again
Three years. Three years since I'd left.
Well, there's one thing
I'd like to rearrange
But after everything's already happened
There's nothing left to change
I regretted it now. I missed them, missed her almost every single day. The only times I could forget was when I was with Anja, but even she was no replacement to Max, to the flock.
And I couldn't go back. Not after so long. I planned on giving it a few months, but then I couldn't find the flock and I had in-depth research in my future for as far as I could see. Me and Anja, scientists, friends, even lovers for awhile there.
They can take their advice
And use it all on themselves
Everyone—all the other research teams—they didn't know my past. They told Anja to stay away from me. When she wouldn't, they said just up and marry me already. They were a bunch of idiots, though.
Cause when all the talking stops
I want to have something else
Anja knew about my wings, why I wanted to be a scientist, about the flock . . . she knew everything. Eventually. And she never said it out loud, but I always sensed something. We both knew I didn't belong there. We knew where I belonged, what I needed.
I want to have a little faith
I want to know what a boy and a girl
Can do when they're dizzy
Cause they're just not spinning with this world
That was why I was now flying, flying free as I hadn't in months. Last night Anja had finally brought it up, holding back tears, and made me promise that I'd go find them. They—Max, most especially, must've changed by now. She made me promise that I'd fix things with Max.
I couldn't say I really objected. Maybe that's what I needed, was to have the one person keeping me there to just push me, make me go after Max. She and I—we'd been through even more than Anja and I. Anja was just a friend, Max was part of me.
Even if we could never forgive each other—well, I had to see what would happen. I couldn't leave it like that, forever.
Ah, if we never meet again
If goodbyes remain unspoken
Anja had slipped off in the middle of the night, after I'd promised, once I was asleep. No goodbyes. I wasn't sure if I'd ever see her again. I fully intended to come back, but with a life like mine plans could change instantly.
I won't glorify our past
But our bond remains unbroken
If we never meet again
I'd been through so much research, protests, overthrows, everything with Anja. I'd been staying with her, in her one-bedroom apartment, for most of the three years I'd been away from the flock. It wasn't right, I know. It was just me trying to forget Max. But even through all that, we'd bonded as friends. Somehow I think she knew we were never more than that.
I had to find the flock now. More importantly, find Max now. But I knew, somehow, that if I did return, if I ever could return, Anja and I—we'd still be friends.
But even in a good mood, cynicism remains. I didn't honestly think I'd ever see her again.
Well, there's one thing
That I'll never forget
Invariably after awhile, my thoughts turned themselves around, fully on Max. Max, Max, Max.
She was . . . she'd been my best friend. I'd been hers. Before everything caved in, we were friends and nearly lovers. I loved her, truly, with all my heart. Always had. We'd always been able to practically read each other's minds. We knew each other so well.
It's the beauty of a friendship
That's not over yet
I could never forget that. Not if I wanted her back. Sure, she'd gone through some stuff, and sure I'd been there to hold her up. Then things had gotten better in every aspect except our relationship, so I'd run.
But if we could just get back to before that, only better, then maybe we could rekindle what could never be completely lost.
I know how just one smile
Can be planted like a seed
And I want to do that with somebody else
The way it was done for me
The faces of the flock, most especially Max, of course, floated through my mind as I flew. I barely noticed the way the wind coursed around me as I cut right through it. I was tense, uncertain, but I desperately wanted to see them all again.
I want to have a little faith
There's something better
At the end of this path
I was heading back to where I'd left them. It seemed only right that I start there.
Cause these memories
Get old and flat like photographs
My memory was good. But even that was fading. Three years. Three years of trying to forget. That could wear even my memory out. I hadn't forgotten, but I didn't necessarily remember, either.
Ah, if we never meet again
If goodbyes remain unspoken
One memory stood out. The note I'd left, the way each of their sleeping faces looked, the way I'd just flown off with no goodbye, no promise to return. Just gone.
I won't glorify our past
But our bond remains unbroken
That was only one of the things over the years of my youth that I regretted. It was probably the one I regretted the most. I just hoped, right now, hoped as hard as I'd never hoped for anything before, that Max would take me back.
If we never meet again
That I'd even be able to freaking find her.
Now there's one thing
That I don't need to even up
You can be what they've made you into
Or you can make your own luck
After flying for hours on end, I was nearly there. I'd been halfway across the country this morning. That's mutant avian-hybrids for you. Just had to make the best of it.
But I gotta have faith
I got to know that a boy and a girl
I landed in the clearing. I'm not sure if I expected what I saw. I sure didn't expect what I heard. I sat against a tree, listening to a motionless Max as she confessed everything to me, to the wind really because she didn't know I was there. She loved me. I knew she did, but now she knew she did, and that had always been the important thing.
Can still make it even though
They're just not spinning with this world
I couldn't believe I'd left her for so long. So many years. My heart ached to run to her, but I couldn't. Not until she was asleep.
Once she was, I knelt next to her, I slipped my jacket over her shivering form. I held her for awhile, until dawn crept over the horizon through the trees. I figured we'd have to stay here at least a few hours, so I went off to get some fuel for a fire, just like I always used to.
Ah, if we never meet again
If goodbyes remain unspoken
She was trying to leave, Max was, when I got back. I stopped her with words.
"You didn't think you could leave without saying hello, did you?"
I won't glorify our past
But our bond remains unbroken
I finally saw her face, worn, weathered, eyes wide, mouth agape, hair falling all over the place. To say she was beautiful would be an understatement. I could still read her face, her eyes. She wasn't quite sure if she could believe I was real.
If we never meet again
If goodbyes remain unspoken
I think she was crying, I don't know. I couldn't tell if it was her sobs or my heart beating as she was pressed against me, clutching my shirt.
I won't glorify our past
But our bond remains unbroken
I found her mouth and kissed her quickly, holding her too me, whispering in her ear, "I'm not leaving again…"
If we never meet again…
"Ever."