Finally

Song: Careful by Paramore

(A/N: Working on the continuation of that one chapter...)

Maya

I flapped my wings. Dylan was trailing me. Angry, I spiraled left. He followed me. He'd been acting odd lately. I landed and took off in a run. Dylan did the same. Regretfully, I stole a glance backwards. Dylan's ever-beautiful turqouise eyes pursued me. The sadness in them seeped into my steps. I halted.

"Maya, please." Dylan begged. I turned.

"Please what?" I snapped back. Dylan reached out a hand and, unwillingly, I let him clasp mine. I knew what was hurting him. But after Fang, I couldn't let myself fall. When you fall, you eventually hit the ground. It was all a matter of how fast you dropped and how hard. Bruises on your heart aren't easy to forget.

"I'm sorry for...Fang."

I winced.

"But you can't let him rule your life. I get it; you're hurt. Don't forget... I love you."

The words were the ones I wanted to hear from Fang most. He couldn't say them. I guess that deep down, I didn't want Max to get hurt, for Fang to chose me over her. I supppose that he had felt the same way. Painfully, he had left me. Dylan enclosed me in a wrap of his large, perfectly aligned wings. I squirmed out of his grasp. He looked at me, asking me why?

"I can't leave the memories behind so fast."

"It's been a year-"

"I know. I think that, now, I'm finally free. I really love you, Dylan. I hope you'll wait for me."

With that, I leapt into the air again. Suddenly and breathlessly, the base of what I had just done hit me.

I was free.

Maybe that's what I needed all along. I may look like Max, but in the end, one thing alluded the others:

I wasn't her.

Her two loves had each chased me at one time. Both were looking for the Maximum that I would never be. She was everything that I couldn't even aspire to be. The sun seemed to shine brighter, acclaiming the idea of being alone, and free. Alone wasn't desolate, as I had once formulated. It was independence. Truthfully, I couldn't be too careful with who I chose to love. Max, who had long hated me, hadn't even scratched the surface. She had no idea what it was to be a clone, just a copy. Not unique enough to be considered seperate, not similiar enough to blend with the original. Water droplets hit my arms and face, warming as soon as the sun hit them. The warm air greeted me like an old friend. I embraced it. The idea still struck me as a novelty, as a theory never to be proved. But it was.

I was finally free.

I was finally...me.