A/N: I thank you again for reading this

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Summary: Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

Chapter 8: The Last Departure

A week later, Ian's time arrived. I personally drove him to the airport listening to him describe where he was going and who adopted him. Listening to him, he was undoubtedly excited about the new family. They were known as the Flores family. Ian informed me the father was a stay at home business man, running his own company while his wife ran an extensive network of floral shops. They have an older daughter who was twenty five, managing her own real estate company. Ian grinned widely every time he spoke of them; I knew they would be good people. I noticed he couldn't stop talking about his soon to be mother. Deep down in his heart, Ian always wanted a loving mother.

Arriving at the airport he gave me his new address. I couldn't stop staring at the yellow post-it note in my hand. So, he was moving to Madrid, Spain. I watched Ian at the corner of my eye placing his luggage into carts, moving them through the automatic doors. Strangely, this felt different from the time I sent off Spencer. Maybe this time I redeemed myself on being there for my friend without the worse happening to me. This time I'm able to stand side by side until it was his time to go.

"Tala, are you okay?"

I looked down meeting Calina's eyes. I nodded, putting on a weak smile.

"I'm fine, little one."

Calina nodded and ran to Irene. I still don't understand why Gregori sent Irene to come with us. Pinching the area between my eyes, I didn't care anymore…

We had exactly two hours to kill before Ian's four forty-five flight to Madrid. We sat at the waiting area playing silly games like, 'I Spy'. Slightly irritated, I excused myself to the coffee shop, ordering a cup of black coffee. Rubbing the side of my face, I thought to myself, was sending someone off made you feel this miserable? Running my hand through my hair, I released a sigh.

Hearing the sound of clicking heels from behind I snapped, "What do you want?"

"Is there something wrong, Master Ivanov?"

"Nothing that concerns you,"

"…I see." Irene sighed. "I may be speaking out of line but you should really cheer your friend up. Since this morning, you've done nothing but act very child-like. Selfish even."

I snapped my head to her. Unknowingly, I instinctively squeezed the coffee cup in my hand as scorching, hot liquid exploded onto my hand and onto the carpet below. Irene didn't flinch; her eyes were as cold as ice, matching mine. She was right; I knew I was acting childish. It was without question I was slightly annoyed from Ian not informing me of his departure. Telling me yesterday was unacceptable! I barely got over the fact Spencer left and now Ian was going to disappear into the wind as well? I was their leader! I demand to know everything. My attention moved to Calina and Ian who immediately stopped playing their petty games the moment I crushed the Styrofoam cup. Everybody's gaze fell on me, questioning my actions.

Irene was about to speak until I cut her off, "Enough. Not another word."

She bowed, retreating to Ian and Calina. Emotions ran through my mind questioning my actions toward my friend, my family and my maid. Shaking my head, I wasn't sure what I was doing! I took me years to put a lid on my emotions, keeping them in check. Exploding like this was unacceptable.

For the next hour and a half, we sat in silence, listening to the sounds of the airport and flight announcements. The sound of adults crying unnerved me; some of it was tears of joy as others were tears of sorrow. Why would they cry, I wondered? It's not like their loved ones would be sent off to the ends of the earth. Technology was advanced enough for online idle chat. I turned my head again laying eyes on a group of girls sending off one of their friends. I observed as each girl hugged her friend one by one whispering 'Good luck'. Tears slid down their cheeks as one of the girls moved away from the main group, wiping tears away with her sleeve. One of the girls approached the girl with a large teddy bear in hand with a note attached to it.

"Have a safe trip," the girl read. She looked up at each of her friends thanking them from the bottom of her heart. "Thank you, my friends. We will meet again!"

I had enough; I turned around back to my group glancing at the large porcelain clock. We still had a complete hour to spare.

Time was cruel; with its quickened pace, Ian's time finally arrived. I could barely bring myself to stand up and face him. I know, I acted like a complete jackass earlier when today I could have been more supportive. Without my knowledge, Calina pulled me up to face Ian. Heh, I could tell he was slightly hurt by my actions.

I closed my eyes and breathed, "Ian,"

"I know what you're about to say," Ian interrupted. "I know you didn't mean to be like this, I know," I watched Ian's hand disappear into his coat jacket pulling out a white envelope. There was a small bulge from inside. "Here are the house keys just in case you wanted to visit."

I raised an eyebrow. Ian's words puzzled me. "Wanted to visit you say?"

He nodded. Placing his bags down, he looked up at me with a sheepish look. "I guess it's time for me to come clean."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember when you asked me this morning why Bryan didn't come?"

"Well, yes."

"It's because he's not here anymore." Ian looked me in the eyes. "He told me not to tell you until I'm about to leave. He didn't want you to be worried and… he didn't like goodbyes anyway."

My fists tightened. Son of a—

Scratching the back of his head, Ian continued, "Bryan got accepted into a university in Canada. He didn't say where but he'll contact you when the 'time is right', and I quote that. Bryan left yesterday at five-thirty AM."

I lowered my head. This was nice, I thought sarcastically. All my friends left my side. Why don't they tell me anything? Don't they… trust me? I had a thought assuming they did this because I was the one who left first. True, I never spoke of the matter until it was at least a week before my timed departure. I knew they didn't take it very well but they supported me, regardless of the situation. Shouldn't I support them too?

"Passengers boarding flight to Madrid, Spain please have your boarding pass ready. Gates will be opened in ten minutes. I repeat…"

We looked at each other for a moment, reading each other's expressions. My eyes softened knowing Ian was about to walk through that gate and to his new life. To his new family… to parents who were willing to shower him with unconditional love. Ian glanced over his shoulder watching the gates slowly open as passengers lined up.

"I'll be seeing you," he said sticking out his hand. I tried finding any uncertainty in his voice but came up with nothing. He had no regrets. I shook his hand in return, slightly smiling.

"Sorry for being such a jerk," I said. "It's still all just—"

"It's fine. It's the way you are. I don't expect you to change so suddenly," Ian smiled.

Ian removed his hand from mine. Instantly, Calina leaped onto Ian knocking him down.

"Calina will miss Ian!" she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

Ian's face reddened, "I'll miss you too."

"Really?" she quickly got off, pulling him to his feet and attack hugged.

Ian got onto his knees holding Calina's shoulders tightly, "I promise I'll write to you." Glancing over Calina's shoulder, he spoke to Irene, "If it's not any trouble, can you please read my letters to her?"

"Gladly!"

Ian got up, dusting his suit. Turning his attention to me he said, "All our wishes came true: yours, mine, Spencer and Bryan's. For the things we never had, right now it's a blessing to have it all. And Captain, no, Tala, never forget we're always here for you no matter how far we are. Remember us."

Picking up his luggage he walked to the line without any hesitation in his strides. He waved goodbye to us, glancing over his shoulder one last time before disappearing behind revolving glass doors. I turned my attention to Irene, apologizing for my actions.

"It's alright," Irene said warmly. "Let's head home, shall we?"

I never expected her to reach out her hand and embraced mine. At the corner of my eye I noticed Calina's widening grin. We walked hand in hand back to the car without a single word exchanged. Maybe she thought I was having trouble coping with my friend's sudden departures and it was her duty to calm me down. Maybe… well, that was the only conclusion I came up with.

Arriving at the house, I solemnly greeted my parents before I walked up the stairs, pass the hall of portraits and arrived in my room. With a gentle click, I removed my coat, placing it on the coat stand, pulling out the envelope Ian gave me. Ripping the envelope, I tipped it; a set of silver keys fell into the palm of my hand followed by… a photograph? It was an old, sepia toned Polaroid of us four, standing together in front of our house. There were absolutely no smiles on our faces.

"Look at how much we've changed," I said quietly, observing everybody's expressions. "Look at how much we've grown…"

I walked to the window and leaned by it. I forgot this photograph existed. Moving my eyes around, I saw empty box on one of the shelves. Pushing away from the window, I approached the shelf, removing the box from it; it was a photo frame.

How convenient.

Pulling out the photo frame, it was made from brass. The metallurgy was exquisite; the designs were constructed in a floral pattern twisting and turning, similar to an art nouveau piece produced by Alphonse Mucha. Removing the back, I placed the Polaroid in then sealing it. I moved to my table placing it down next to my laptop.

I wonder if anybody's online…

Switching it on, I sat down with fingers tapping the arm rest. Since everybody's departure I felt things were different; the feeling of isolation grew. Glancing over to the photo frame, I looked at everybody's stoic expressions. My eyes moved to the house keys beside it.

"I wonder if I should go back to the house?" I questioned.

There was nothing left in that house except fragmented memories. I was snapped out of my daze hearing a distinct 'ding' from my laptop. My eyes scanned the sound's origin.

[You have 5 new messages in your inbox]

Hastily I accessed my inbox with high expectations of receiving emails from my friends. My smile turned into a frown the moment I saw spam. Just before I was about to log off, I heard another 'ding' sound. My blue eyes locked onto the subject title: HIYAAAAA! That meant only one moron. I read the message:

Hi Tallie!

Sorry for not saying anything about me leaving since I knew you'd kill me. So, Ian probably told you by now that I'm in Canada right? I just got here and it's cold! Well, not as cold as Moscow but I'll live. Right now I'm in Toronto! Awesome city, I tell ya! So many pretty girls and—

I just stared at the email. I really felt like flying over there and kicking him so hard, he couldn't sit for days! Albeit, his email brought a smile to my face knowing he's happy. I continued reading the email and viewing the pictures attached to it. Maybe it didn't come as a surprise most of the pictures were of girls from his classroom or pub… I was glad to see Bryan took pictures of other things in Toronto as well: CN Tower, Drake Hotel, Hockey Hall of Fame and so forth. Heh, I guess he wasn't as closed minded as I thought. I think I remember Bryan telling me vaguely he wanted to try and play hockey. Good luck with that.

I spent the rest of my afternoon replying his emails and by surprise; I got an email from Spencer as well. It seemed both were doing extremely well in their new environments, adapting properly. Spencer sent me pictures of his new family and it came as a shock how beautiful Spencer's adoptive mother was. Just as Ian put it, he couldn't describe her beauty and now, I think I knew why. Attached to the email were pictures of London itself, mainly images of Big Ben, River Thames, The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and the shopping districts. I was excited to see a picture of Spencer and his parents in front of Big Ben.

"He's smiling."

Yes, Spencer was smiling. Leaning back into my chair, I guess I worried too much about them. Thoughts erupted in my head one by one thinking about my friends. During the time we've been together, I've been extremely protective of them. To let them go was… difficult.

'KNOCK, KNOCK'

"Who is it?"

"Irene,"

I heard the door creak open listening to Irene's footsteps approach me. She stood next to me with a large wooden tray in her hands.

Placing down a teacup she asked, "Would you like some Darjeeling tea?"

I nodded. I watched her pour in the orange-golden liquid into the porcelain cup. I could not describe the aroma filling my head. Now I understood why this particular tea was highly sought after during the era of British imperialism in India.

Placing the teapot back onto the tray, I quickly snatched her hand. Her hand immediately tensed from my grasp.

"Y-Yes?"

I made sure this time I didn't mean any harm to her. My grip softened, allowing her to move her wrist freely within my grasp. I stood up and without thinking, I removed the tray from her hands. Holding her hands again I looked at her straight in the eyes, "I'm sorry for my actions earlier. I was out of place. Forgive me."

All she did was smile. Although she didn't say a word, her smile was proof enough, telling me she had forgiven me. I was a fool, acting out of selfishness. Removing her hands from mine, she picked up the tray and left. Again by myself, I felt my cheeks turn red.

Running a hand through my hair I cleared my throat, "That was embarrassing."

Walking to the window I noticed snow began to fall. One by one, the white substance danced with the wind spinning from left to right. Things fell quiet around me; not even a single sound was heard.

I pressed my hand into the window watching the heat spread from my hand and onto the window. I think I'll invite Irene to the house tomorrow.

And without thinking, I did just that. After supper, I located Irene in the maids' quarters. She was folding laundry, humming a song to herself oblivious to my presence.

"Irene."

Startled, she dropped the folded table cloth. Spinning around, we were inches away from each other's faces. Her face turned red as she quickly diverted her eyes from mine. Picking up the cloth she spoke, almost in a squeak.

"Y-Yes?"

Rubbing the back of my neck I asked, "Would you like to come to my old house tomorrow?"

She stopped. Standing up, her beautiful, sapphire-like eyes met mine. Her lips curved upwards into a small smile and nodded. It was extremely rude of me to stare at her, absorbing her features; she almost looked too similar to my mother, features that only angels possess. Shaking my head out of the clouds, I apologized for gawking at her. This wasn't like me.

"I-I'll be going now,"

As I walked out the door, I heard Irene resuming humming her song. Closing the door behind me, I made my way through the house; my mind fixed on tomorrow's outing. Walking up the stairs, I had no clue why I invited Irene. I stopped at the top of the stairs thinking about my actions. I've changed a lot. Since I arrived at the Murin household my demeanor changed for the better; I began accepting people, opening my heart and learning to smile. Accepting new people in my life was probably my biggest accomplishment I gained but in the same time, losing friends was a new feeling I had to deal with. I always had to remind myself they were going to better places, to a better life, leaving everything behind.

"And leaving me behind…" my hand pressed against my pounding heart thinking of tomorrow. "I'm almost afraid to walk through those doors again."

I turned my attention to the hall of portraits asking them, "What should I do?" The happy faces in the portraits provided me with no response. Of course, it was expected from inanimate objects. I stuffed my hands in my pockets; I walked down the silent hallway listening to the sound of my footsteps coming in contact with a 1920's Persian rug. Arriving at the window, a blanket of white shielded me from the outside world, forcing me to understand, to question my own feelings: my wants and needs.

"I want my friends to be happy. I want them to live their lives the way they want to… but what are my needs?"