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(On with the show!)
"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Scarlet asked.
Fang was about ready to blow his top. Still, he was determined to not give Scarlet the satisfaction of giving up. Even though he wanted to. Just a little.
"NO! NOW WOULD YOU SHUT UP SO I CAN AT LEAST LIMP ALONG IN PEACE?" Fang yelled.
Scarlet was quiet for a few minutes and Fang was almost back in his corner of neutrality instead of his chamber of anger, but then Scarlet said, "It's going to rain."
"What?" he demanded.
"It's going to rain. Precipitate. Water fall from sky," Scarlet made little motions with her fingers like rain coming down.
"Yeah, I get it. But how do you know?" Fang asked.
"I'm in cahoots with the author if you know what I mean," Scarlet said.
Fang was utterly confused by this comment and started to think about it but decided to ignore it. He kept walking, pretty darn sure that there was no way in heck that the beautiful sunny, cloudless sky was going to suddenly pour rain.
"I sincerely doubt it," he said.
"Just give it a few minutes. You'll see," Scarlet said skipping along behind Fang.
After about 5 minutes Fang was about ready to make a smug victorious comment to Scarlet. There was still no sign of even a sprinkle. The sun continued to shine and the sky remained free of all except a few random puffs of cloud.
Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud crack of thunder. Dark clouds suddenly filled the sky and there was a flash of lightning. It began to pour.
"Where did that come from?" Fang had to shout over the wind.
"Aren't we in Montana?" Scarlet asked.
"Yeah," Fang answered.
"Well, around here they say, 'if you don't like the weather just wait five minutes,'" Scarlet said.
Fang yelled out in frustration. Scarlet appeared right next to him and whispered in his ear, "Better find cover before a bolt of lightning electrocutes you." Then she disappeared.
For a minute, Fang kind of pondered the idea of just staying out here and getting hit by lightning. It seemed a lot better than the idea of sitting in a cave getting nowhere for at least five minutes. In the end, an extremely loud crack of thunder changed his mind and he began looking around for cover.
He soon spotted a small opening, only about 3 feet wide and 2 feet tall, in the edge of a nearby cliff. Fang ran for it, stuffing his backpack in first and then sliding in after it. He just barely fit. His hurt wing throbbed in pain.
Inside, the space got much larger, endlessly high and 10 feet wide. Against the right wall sat Scarlet. "I thought you were gonna stay out there and become barbeque, bird brain."
"Yeah, well," Fang said and he slumped against the cave wall. Another crack of thunder shook the cave.
After a few minutes of silence that was filled by the storm outside, Scarlet said, "So where are you going anyway?"
"You don't know?" Fang asked suspiciously.
"Uh, no, not really," Scarlet admitted.
"Well, I put a note out in my blog calling all mutants. I'm trying to get another flock together," Fang said.
"Is that why you left?" Scarlet asked. "Wasn't the old flock…good enough for you?"
"What? Of course they were!" Fang exclaimed, outraged at her comment.
"Then why would you leave them?" Scarlet asked.
"Because I had to! Well…because…because I was endangering the flock. Back in Africa Angel said that I would be the first to die. Then this moron named Dylan shows up and Max's Voice supposedly tells her that he's her soul mate. So…I left," Fang explained in one deep breath.
Scarlet pondered that for a minute. "So…you ran away?"
"I didn't run away! Dylan said as long as I was around, I was endangering the flock! And whether I like it or not, he's right! The safety of the kids always comes first. It didn't matter that I was losing my family, the one love of my life, leaving her with some jerk that practically came gallivanting in on a white horse who's supposed to be her soul mate! It wasn't my choice to make!" Fang practically shouted.
Scarlet let him calm down for a few minutes before saying, "Ah, I knew there was a little love story in this!"
Fang sighed. Scarlet smiled mischievously. "How long?" she asked.
"I don't really know. Time doesn't…seem the same with us," Fang replied awkwardly.
"I'd say at least six months." Scarlet nodded wisely.
"Well, we, Max and I, have known each other all our lives. From dog pen, to Jeb, to blowing up the school, to now," Fang said, getting lost in his memories.
"Ah. Friends for life become something more. I can definitely see it," Scarlet said and then was quiet for a while.
Meanwhile, Fang was lost in his memories. He was thinking about Max. Thinking about how tough she could be at the worst times, how protective she was of the kids, how open and jubilant her face looked as she was flying, her sun-streaked brown hair windblown and crazy, her feathers catching the light of the sun just perfectly, her chocolate brown eyes glowing…
He remembered all the hard times, when they were sleeping in subway tunnels, when the erasers first found them, when the flock split up. He remembered all the good times too: seeing the kids splash around in the ocean, helping people in need, flying…kissing Max under the stars, seeing her put on a tough face as she swam through the freezing water to save her mom, watching her laugh when they saw the birdseed they'd been given, seeing her smile at him…
He was suddenly aware of Scarlet sitting next to him. "I'm sorry," she said simply, squeezing his hand. "See why you need to go back?"
Though Fang was aching inside with loss and heartbreak he said sadly, "If I go back, the flock, Max, everyone I love will be in danger."
Scarlet's eyes lit up with disbelief. "Are you…like, freaking kidding me? Who cares?" she demanded.
Fang was silent with shock.
"What's the fun of love if you don't hang on the edge a little? Isn't she worth it? Do you love her or not?" Scarlet shouted.
"Of course, but-" Fang began but Scarlet interrupted him.
"Than man up! You can't give up love just because it gets a little hard! Fight it! Don't leave her with some…some…phony, fake-ass Ken doll! Sometimes, you need to put yourself out in the open to survive this world. If you quit now, you'll lose everything and you probably won't get a second chance!" she shouted.
Fang stared at her.
"FIGHT BACK, DAMMIT!" Scarlet yelled and shoved Fang.
He stared back at her in total shock. Outside, the downpour had turned into a drizzle that was turning into a sprinkle. Neither of them noticed.
A tear ran down Scarlet's cheek. "If you love her like I know you do, you'll fight for it, for her," Scarlet whispered. "Don't give up on love Fang. I know what it's like. I know. I closed myself off to the world and went into my shell. I turned bitter and I am the luckiest girl alive to have gotten a second chance."
Fang stared at her. Even though she had really been ticking him off earlier, he kind of felt sorry for her.
"Lord knows I didn't deserve one," Scarlet murmured barely audibly. "Don't give up Fang. Don't make my mistakes over again. Please…please fight it," and with that she went silent.
Fang scooched over to her and awkwardly patted her leg.
"I want to. I will. But I have to do this first. I at least have to try. I wrote a note before I left. I planned to meet Max somewhere we both know," Fang said. He didn't mention that he was talking 20 years in the future.
Scarlet looked up at him, "Well, so much for the pity approach. Back to annoying you to death."
Fang looked outside. It had completely stopped raining. "Let's get going," he said.
Scarlet nodded and Fang went to get his backpack, thinking about what Scarlet had said. Then he remembered that was exactly what she wanted and he remembered she was just acting. Or…was she?
Meanwhile, Scarlet grabbed a smooth rock from the center of the wall. There was a rumble and then a landslide. The whole opening closed over.
Fang ran over, "What happened?" he demanded.
"Oops," Scarlet said innocently.
So much for the pity approach indeed, Fang thought.
Note from Alice: Hi everybody! I'm really proud of this chapter so-
Scarlet: Thank you! Thank you! I know, I know I deserve an Emmy.
Out of the way you! *pushes her off the stage* Okay, so please review!