HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! IT'S THE FOURTH OF JULY, AMERICA'S BIRTHDAY!

{those of you in other countries reading this story just smile and nod, 'kay?}

So, for the USA's birthday I'm gonna give you all another chapter :) (that I wrote waiting for the firework show to start, so forgive its uneventfulness and shortnes. ;) )

I got a review asking what the heck Dylan and Max were talking about. Let me put it shortly/bluntly/summarized. This was hinted, and will probably come up again.

Before The Migration grew so big, back when it was only Dylan, Storm, Ebony, and Flair, Dylan promised Max that he would leave and find his own mission. Well, then came Gwen and Kale and before you could count to three new members came pouring in, leaving Dylan overwhelmed and stressed. To top it all off there was the attacks, fights, and captures piled on by the School. Dylan's promise was long forgotten and Dr. Martinez, being the nice loving motherly figure she is, kept the groups together, using the CSM's help. Now that everything is calm and safe Dylan's promise resurfaces, and after his little "arrest" Max pushes it at him harder. Dylan agreed to leave...and never come back, taking The Migration with him. Dr. M, however, still supports The Migration and doesn't feel right just letting them go...but promises will be kept, leaving us here...

Goodbye

Gwen's P.O.V.

The morning hit hard with stomachs turning and thoughts swirling. Today we were leaving. We were actually leaving. We were leaving the nest, and I didn't know how Dylan would do through this. Leaving Max was not his strong point. We decided last night that we were going to Miami, either because the boys like beach bunnies or the girls like shirtless men tanned and doused in suntan lotion. It's a win-win either way.

We grabbed our packs, which were practically empty, and suited up. We said goodby to Selene, Ryan, Sparks, and 24. Redneck spent the night last night. She hugged each and every one of us goodbye saying that Selene and the tiny group could come back to us once she's gone. That hit hard, like freight train caught me up under its wheels. Marigold said bye by biting Ice and leaving a little present on his shoe.

Those of us flying to Florida turned and sucked in a shaky breath, walking away from the cave and our old friends. We turned to go to the house and we ever so slowly ambled up to it. Dylan knocked and Gazzy answered, staring at us all like we were a military group coming to storm the house.

"Max!" He called. And then the whole Flock and The Humans were standing there stunned.

"You're really gonna go then, huh?" Max asked, her arms somewhat crossing over her belly.

Dylan only shrugged.

"Where are you going?" Dr. M asked, bewildered.

"Miami!" Flair said excitedly.

"That far?! That's a long flight! Have you all eaten? Where will you sleep?!" Dr. M looked stressed and panicked. I guess it's been a long time since the Flock was on the run and she forgot that kids could live like this.

"Um, yah that far. It's not that long of a flight. No, but we'll find something to snack on. We can sleep on the beach or on a roof or something," I said answering each question.

"We had to leave Ryan, Selene, Sparks, and 24 here. They'll be gone once cancer wins over Redneck," Dylan said bluntly.

"You don't have to leave," Dr. M began.

"Yes, yes I do. I'm going to keep an old promise," Dylan cut her off, sending a glance Max's way.

Dr. M looked like she was fighting with herself, but she eventually just gave up and stared at us sadly.

"So this is it," I said as I put my hands in my pockets. Fang nodded, showing no emotion. Did I feel bad for leaving my brother? Would I miss him? Well I've been looking for him my whole life so why don't you just answer those questions. I already lost Carl, practically, and Mom was in her grave at peace for once. All I had left was Sylvia, Fang/Zachary, and Dan. Lets drop Dan. So yah, family isn't my strong point. I was going to hold on to the new family I had, even if that meant leaving a piece of my old one behind.

We all pretty much just said goodbye short, sweet, and simple. Dylan told us WSV: wings, sky, and the shape he wanted us in 'V' , and we took off, not looking back.

"Be sure to put on sunscreen!" Dr. M called after us.

Yah, sunscreen.

In the front was Dylan, to his left Storm. The rest of us just fell into place. Kale sent me winks and stupid faces across the formation. I just sighed and shook my head. At least Jes was enjoying the idiotic faces. I could barely hear Alex shriek, "BIRD!" over the sound of his hysterical cackles. Dylan ordered us to angle up to avoid a huge flock of geese. Up we went, right into the path of an oncoming plane. Now we were scrambling to dive and duck out of the way of the massive machine.

I saw streaks of feathers dive down, and I copied. I managed one peek behind me, to see Melee just hovering there, watching. I instantly pulled back, throwing my feet under me and unfolding my wings. Stroke after stroke I rose back up, just in time latch onto Crenshaw's foot and pull her down. I was soon diving, the wind whipping my hair and causing tears to stream from my eyes, with Melee pulled close. Finally, I got myself stopped and I began panting. Crenshaw looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Close," she sighed.

"You're telling me! You just froze!" I exclaimed. She only shrugged it off and began looking for the rest of the group.

"Ice? Ice!" I heard a voice call. I glanced back to see Flair searching in worry for her sarcastic boyfriend.

"Yo Flair!" I waved at her and she looked like she loosened up a little at the sound of my voice. She shot over and started searching again.

"We can't see through these clouds!" Flair announced, exasperated.

"Maybe we should start screaming?" I tried.

Flair grinned devilishly and started screaming bloody murder, causing me and Melee to cover our ears.

"Whoa!" I heard what sounded like Jace yelp. Then a hand flew over Flair's mouth and she bit down. Jace growled and jerked his hand away.

"I hope you're not rabid!" He grumbled as he wiped his hand on his pants.

"Do you know where the others are?" I asked, hoping he had run across the rest of our merry gang.

"No..." He sighed.

"Dangnabbit!" Flair frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, I guess we should keep looking?" He tried.

We kinda just zipped around, through the soggy clouds, and tried to stay under the current. I spotted three rather large birds. We hurried over to find Storm, Alex, and Ice huddled together planning something.

"Civilization!" Melee cheered. They spun around and the widest grins inched up their lips.

"Four down, four to go," Storm mentally checked something off in his mind.

"Um, guys, are clouds…red?" Alex asked, pointing to a cherry red cloud.

"JESTER!" Flair called as we all rushed over, busting through the colorful cloud with the highest expectations.

"Ooh! And make that one aqua marine!" Kale mused, pointing to another fluffy cloud. Jes nodded and concentrated real hard.

"Kale!" I cried, literally crashing into him in a giant bear hug.

"Hey Gwen!" He chuckled as he pushed me off his wings.

Jes giggled and did a loopy-de-loop.

"So now we have to find Ebony and Dylan," Storm said with a slight sigh.

"Don't over-work yourself there," I heard Ebony's sweet little voice carry a tiny tone of sarcasm, something very rare from her. Storm only grinned and shook his head.

"So now we have no leader…" Jace started.

"Hello! Right here!" We all glance down to see Dylan with his usually perfectly combed hair (he's really picky about it. I'm talking a whole hour just to make the "swish" go in the right direction) jumbled and knotted up.

"Oh my gosh! Your hair!" Flair teased, gasping dramatically for effect.

"Shut up," he rolled his eyes.

"Dylan," I almost laughed out loud. He looked so weird!

"What?"

"You aren't leading this time," I finish while shooting past him.

"Why?" He whined.

"Lets see…you lead us right into a flock of geese and then made us pull up in front of a plane, that's why," Ice explained as the rest of the group continued to fly forward.

"Whatever," Dylan rolled his eyes as he fished around in his backpack for the his signature black comb.

"Oh gosh," I heard him mumble.

"What?" Storm asked, thinking it was something bad.

"I left my comb at the cave."

And again, sorry for the shortness! Thank you all for your reviews!

The poll results came in: 2 girls! SO SEND IN NAMES, or maybe even a OC form for them. I'll pick the two I like best {but I might have to tweak a few things} and they will be the babies, ok? So you need a NAME, APPEARANCE (hair, eyes, wings [if they have wings] and etc.), SOMEWHAT PERSONALITY, AND A POWER!

So, get to reviewing and have fun :)