Chapter 60: Legacy

Morning came all too soon for the glowing mother-to-be Salene. And now as she stared at her best friend, reality brought her to tears. She was leaving this place, a place of happiness and peace, and May wasn't coming with her.

"Don't forget about me," May hugged her tightly, rubbing then kissing Salene's growing baby bump and backing away. She was remaining strong, but Salene knew her well enough to know she was crying inside.

"Me either," Liv stepped forward giving Salene a brisk, gentle hug.

Salene had to laugh through her tears, "You're unforgettable. You had better take good care of May or baby and I will be back to skin you alive."

Liv pretended to shake in her boots as she took May into her arms, consoling her girlfriend who had finally cracked and the tears began to flow.

Salene couldn't bear the goodbye any longer and turned to head up the ramp onto her assigned Techno boat. It was Bray whose outstretched hand reached out and helped her on board. Without asking, with his under hand, he brushed a thumb under each eye, wiping at her tears. "Thanks," she muttered shyly through a sniffle. As she went to release his hand, a fluttering like a thousand butterflies coursing through her stomach brought fresh tears and a huge grin to her face, leaving Bray confused until she pulled his hand down on top of hers to her protruded abdomen.

His face went from desperately seeking acceptance to one-hundred mega-watts in a millisecond. It was exhilarating for Salene to watch. There was a life inside of her, a baby who gave her hope that she could have a splash of the sun, even in the darkest of times.

"It is destiny, you know that?" Bray asked, not removing his hand from her mid-section. "This baby is our hope."

And Salene knew right there he was right because no matter how much distance she put between Bray and herself this baby kept bringing them right back together. She could not even tense as Bray wrapped his arms around her, holding her firm yet gently as they pulled away from the dock, watching the tearful faces of the friends they were leaving behind.

It felt right; even after all those years, to be wrapped in his embrace. She never wanted to lose this feeling of protection and warmth.

~0~

Trader stared funnily at the abalone shell on the neck of Lottie, it was fashioned similarly to one he had worn long ago. It was what had caused him a sleepless night and a fight with Amber. It was a symbol he had branded on his chest, though now it was just a light outline. It meant fighter, the symbol, and it was from a time of his life when he was Trevor, his actual name, the trader; slave trader to be exact. But he had overcome those times.

Seeing the necklace hanging around Lottie's neck last night had stirred up in him old memories of how he went from slave trader to slave and how he had to fight his way out of a prison camp to become free only to become an Outkast, slave to the streets, hunger, and desperation. But one day he made up his mind to trade in the names outcast and traitor for just plain old trader, supplier of everything you need, for a good price.

He was a sleaze; he'd be the first to admit it. And then May had broken his heart running him straight into the strong, diligent, and beautiful Amber who had grounded him. Oh how he loved that woman. He hoped, as they began this journey that she wouldn't slip through his fingers. That even now that she knew the truth, she could forgive him, like she had Jay, for taking away the one person still missing in her life, her sister Solaris.

Of course he wasn't directly responsible, he had told Amber that last night. He had never met Solaris, but he had been a slaver and he knew of a fighter named Solaris, a slave, who had literally fought to the death for her freedom.

When he couldn't sleep last night Amber had dredged it out of him, what was bothering him. And he had sung like a canary, leaving out only the horrific, gory details of his life as a slaver and slave.

Amber was upset, of course, even still this morning she couldn't look him in the eye, but she stood by him now, needing him, he sensed as she stared forlornly into the distance, Bray junior on her hip. Taking a leap of faith, he slowly wrapped an arm around her. She was tense at first and then she relaxed.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head, knowing what he was about to say. He looked at her, searching her face for something…anything.

Her face remained impassive, but she muttered, "What's done is done. The past cannot be re-written only learned from. Just promise me Trevor, no more secrets."

It was weird, hearing his name being spoken aloud after so many years. It humanized him, unleashing from him nearly a decade of guilt. It sounded like honey coming from her lips and he held her a little bit tighter as he finally relaxed, answering her, "I promise."

~0~

The Mall Rats had stood on deck, standing closely with one another staring at the figures, their friends on the dock and beach and the growing distance between them until there was nothing but horizon.

It was beginning to sink in; they were truly leaving the security of Fleur Isle for the lifestyle of Technos on an island far away from here. Nobody could bear to speak, though Ellie, awarded a camera for her new position awaiting her on Techno Island, kept silently snapping pictures. She felt it was her duty, like Jack with his birth certificates and yearbook journal, to start documenting their lives. The Mall Rats were going to be talked about for generations to come and she was going to make sure everyone knew everything they stood for, everything they fought for; the truth.

Together the Mall Rats were a force unstoppable because they believed in one another. They dared to dream of a better future than the one they had been living and they wouldn't stop until light shined on every dark corner of every place life carried them.

The Mall Rats, while they were family, were more than just a tribe, they were a legacy.

~0~

Jay stood on board the Poseidon gazing up at the night sky. The day had gone exceptionally well. The days were growing warmer which made for low winds and calmer waters, but now they were anchored for the night and everyone on each boat had disappeared from deck to settle in the cabins below. Except Jay who couldn't even begin to think about sleep.

He had always found wonder in the night sky, the celestial heavens above providing him with comfort and faith that if something so extraordinary could still shine bright after an apocalypse then so could he. As his mother would say, "Where there is life, there is hope." That is why he had joined the Technos; they were a powerhouse, a strong unit that had the intelligence to turn a dark world around. And what had they done with it? They had lost more than they had ever won; he had lost more than he had ever won.

Now, on this warm night, the heavens were giving him the chance to redeem himself with a simple star shining brighter than any other. The shooting star shot across the indigo canvas of a most starry night, just barely catching Jay's glance as he set to tear his glance away. If wishing on a star had worked before, surely it could work again.

All he wanted, all he ever wanted, before Amber, Ebony, and even before Sarai, who supported him to her last breath before dying in his arms, was to survive and help others survive in this dark and cold world the old adults have left them in. The young generations left in existence had the opportunity to re-write humanity, to fix what the adults got wrong across centuries.

As Jay closed his eyes that is what he wished to help him be an advocate, to do everything possible to restore people's faith in his tribe so that their world could be a better place. And that maybe, just maybe he could find happiness in the process. "That's all I wish," he uttered aloud.

"I didn't peg you for a wish on a star kind of guy."

Jay turned with reddened cheeks. "Kyra," he acknowledged her, smiling that half-smile that never really quite brightened his face any more, leaving his eyes sad. She herself was wearing the same smile. It was something like looking in a mirror for Jay. "I figured you would be in a slumber of relief by now."

She looked at him sadly, "One would think." She sighed going to stand beside him. "Everything is just—all wrong. This voyage was never about cleaning up Mega's mess or finding Tai San, all that was to come later. This trip was about following my heart, my very stupid heart and finding a man who doesn't even love me. How very lame, right?"

"No, not at all. Everything, though it may seem clear is never as it seems. The wind blows us not where we want to go but where we need to go. Had you not come looking for Bray, Dragon wouldn't have found Èowyn and you'd not have stopped Leilani or found Tai San, nor figured the keeper of the antidote was Shadow. Not to mention Shadow could've died and then where would we be?"

Kyra had not expected anyone to be awake at this hour and had come to deck for some soul-searching. She had wanted to be alone but she didn't mind he was there. In fact she rather enjoyed the talks two of them had in the past few weeks. It was good to have her old friend back. They had never really been great friends, but Jay had a good head on his shoulders.

She nodded in agreement at his last statement. He had made a valid point there. Wasn't it once Bray who had said everything happened for a reason? This journey had filled in so many missing puzzle pieces and now they could all move forward, even Danni who had the coldest heart of them all was smiling more genuinely these days.

"Do you know why I wish upon stars?" Jay asked in her silence. When she just shrugged he went on, "Because we have to believe in something. When our faith is kept alive so is our hope. And if we have hope we can keep the dream alive."

"The dream?" she asked.

Jay smiled, an enthusiastic smile bringing light to his face in the dim light of the moon. "The dream," he answered, "That even in this hell we can survive; the dream that all is not lost. That even if some girl or guy breaks our heart that we can go on because where there is life, there is hope."

Kyra understood then why it was so easy for him to be bewitched by The Mall Rats. Everything they stood for was everything her tribe had once stood for. It was the legacy of their ancestors re-born in this generation left to fend in a dystopian universe.

Faith, hope, and dreaming were the coattails that humanity rode on for centuries. "If we're going to survive the dream must stay alive."

He grinned watching her glow with enlightenment. "The world depends on it."