Autumn.
The leaves spiraled down majestically, as if swinging on celestial vines; they were dyed every warm hue imaginable, from red brighter than strawberries, to orange deeper than carrot, and yellow, colored like pencils. The trees greedily held a few leaves that the season allowed them to keep, before Winter came along and stole them all. Of course, the colors was not the only thing Molly was admiring; she was mostly just staring at the tree she was sitting directly under. Occasionally, a leaf would fall on her head. She'd take it off, trace its outline with her fingers, wait until a strong wind would blow, then toss it into the air.
The tree above her was towering, covering almost the whole width of the plaza. Every time she sat on the square of bricks surrounding it, memories flowed gently into her mind, so unlike that of the medicine which shoved them into her brain hastily. She closed her eyes.
"You're up early."
"I could say the same to you."
"Why are you up?"
"Just my routine. And you?"
"Nightmares."
"Of what?"
"Nevermind. You wouldn't remember."
"I'm not one to forget things. And what do you mean, remember?"
"I mean, I had nightmares. About you. And everyone in this village. And the whole concept. But you don't know why, do you?"
She was faintly surprised that she remembered every detail of the conversation that happened so long ago, down to the way Liam looked down, gave a harsh laugh, and spoke so bitterly; the way she felt so hostile, so wary of him. Things had certainly changed since then.
"Remember us! Remember yourself! You used to love to draw, remember? Chalk was your favorite! You loved to bake cookies. You hated dust and liked cleaning your room. You had toys and your best friend was Peanut. Don't you remember, Molly Hills?!"
Molly opened her eyes. Hills. The name she had never forgotten. She looked down at her skin, her arms, her lack of wings. She smiled.
"What're you grinning about?"
Molly's head shot up and whirled around. There she saw the subject of her thoughts; the boy on the horizon, pale and slightly hunched, still with a bandage wrapped around his head. Molly smiled wider and stood up.
"Liam!" she called cheerfully. He slowly walked over to her.
"Hey, Molly," he said with all his old fire in his voice. "Check it out. Gayle finally gave me the OK to start moving around."
"Really? You're cured?" Molly felt tears in her eyes. She knew they were going to fall inevitably, considering the smile on his face, promising more news.
"For the most part, yep. I'll still have bad headaches and I'll never be as fast as I was before, but it's all good."
Molly hugged him, still grinning like an idiot. "The cure was there all along. The human race never saw it, did they?"
"I guess not. But they never would have found it, would they?"
"I suppose mixing dandelions with those two drugs Alli invented is a pretty strange idea," Molly mused.
"Dandelions," Liam sighed, shaking his head. "Even the damn plague is a poetic sap."
Molly laughed, her arms still tightly wrapped around his shoulders.
"So, how's the other cure coming along?" Liam asked, trying to unwrap himself from Molly's grasp. She sighed.
"Alli and Gayle are still working hard on finding a cure for Chief and Peanut. The evil alligators did a strange Operation on them, you know; some kind of mutant medicine. It'll be a while before they're back."
Liam nodded quietly, then suddenly winced and sank onto the bricks. Molly sat next to him.
"You alright?"
"Yeah. My head's acting up a little." he glared at the ground. "Stupid concussion. I wish my brain would stop being such a baby and get over it." Molly laughed at this. Then she took a deep breath and tensed. She had a few things to tell him.
"Liam," Molly began carefully. "You were too sick to answer before, but…what was your father's name?"
Liam frowned, staring at Molly, pausing. "It was…oh, damn, don't tell me I can't even remember this." he closed his eyes, then instantly opened them, as if a lightbulb had gone off over his head. He snapped his fingers. "Oh. Right. It was Pironkon."
Molly's jaw dropped to the ground. "What?! He-" her throat suddenly closed up. What?! Why him?!
"Molly? Whats wrong?"
"P-Pironkon…he was one of the alligators who died…"
Liam's cheerful face suddenly hardened. "What?"
"The alligators, they all worked for the government in their past life…and Sly told me…Pironkon…" that was all Molly could get out. "I should've told you."
Liam looked away. "He was alive, even when he died, huh? And I never knew." his voice was raspy. Molly suddenly didn't want to deliver her next news.
"Well," Liam sighed. "I already thought he was dead, so…um, this might sound bad, but…I guess I'm not that shocked." he rubbed the back of his head. "But…he was here the whole time? He was on our side, and I never knew? That seems so unfair!" he pursed his lips and looked down at the cobblestones.
They stayed silent for a while, and Molly braced herself.
"Hey, Liam, I-"
"Well, Molly, um-"
They broke off awkwardly and laughed.
"You first," Molly said good-naturedly, when really she didn't want to say what she had to.
"Well, you know how Isabelle, Alli, and Gayle were running the town behind the scenes while I was…sick?"
"Mhm." 'Sick' was a gross understatement, but they didn't call attention to it.
"Well, since Isabelle has the same kind of Operation on her as Chief and Peanut, the alligator scientists are taking her away. And since Alli and Gayle know the most about it out of the survivors, they're going to be working with her. Which means I have no co-mayor with me." he took a deep breath, and suddenly Molly knew where the conversation was turning. She felt dizzy.
"Molly, I-can we be mayors…together?"
He sounded like a child, his voice hopeful. Molly steeled herself once more.
"Liam, I…I'd love to, and I'd say yes right away, but…"
Liam's eyes widened at her next words.
"…I'm leaving."
It was as if she had stabbed him. He jerked back and he even gasped slightly, which made Molly feel worse about it all the more.
"L-leaving?! Why?"
"I need to travel around this world, Liam. I need to distribute these cures out. Everyone in Solaris has already taken them, but no other town has it yet…we've waited so ridiculously long! And this isn't some place humans have created, Liam. There's probably new laws here, laws that didn't apply back home. And maybe there are other people like us who need help. There could be villages, maybe even cities…there's so much out there, and I can't stay here. I'm sorry." She said it all in one large breath, wanting it all out of her system. Liam just sat there, looking slightly shell-shocked.
"And who says I can't come with you?" he said slowly.
"You're the mayor of this town, Liam. You can't just leave."
His face was pained. "Leave…indefinitely?"
Molly shook her head furiously. "No, no, no! I'd visit! But for now, I have to go. My train, it's leaving this afternoon."
Liam's face fell. "This afternoon?! But I just got up! Molly, what-"
"Wait for me! I promise I'll come back to you, so wait for me!" Molly snapped. "While I'm gone, research as much as you can! See if there's any way to go back home. See if there's a better cure for the plague. See if you can get Pippy to stop bragging that she's dating Jacques, do whatever you can!"
"I can't, Molly! I need someone there, and you're the only one who can do it!" he fired back rapidly. "I'm still not a hundred percent! What happens if I get sick again? What will happen to Solaris?"
"Don't say that," Molly whispered.
"I need help. I've never been one to play hero, and you know it." his voice fell. "I could die, and you wouldn't realize, because you're off in some town, with-"
Molly stood up and yelled at him. "I will always help you! I will be by your side even if I'm on the goddamn moon, Liam! Don't be so selfish; you can't have me all to yourself."
They both fell silent, staring at each other.
"I'm sorry," Liam said softly.
"No…I'm the one who should be."
"You're right, Molly. I just realized something." Molly froze, waiting for a stinging remark, but he just jerked his head up with a wide grin. "I still have all my friends in Solaris. They can help me up, even if my best friend is gone!"
Best friend. "You got it. We'll be friends for as long as we live, even if we're in different dimensions, or not even the same species."
Liam got up and hugged her again. "So go out there, okay? Go out there and give everyone the cure. Go out there and reverse the curse that we put on ourselves."
Molly laughed. "Geez, talk about mood swing."
Liam pulled away, a mock hurt look on his face. "Concussion, Molly."
"Right."
They gave each other a thumbs-up, and Molly started moving towards the train station.
They never noticed the tears that had collected in both of their eyes.
And so, for the second time, all the residents in Solaris gathered at the train station. This time they weren't welcoming someone in; they were waving goodbye. Molly walked into the train station as their shouts of 'goodbye' and 'we'll miss you' trailed her from outside.
"I'll need your TPC," Porter said cheerfully. Molly handed it to him. He glanced at it with a frown.
"I'm sorry, but the name is blacked out."
Molly took it, puzzled, then looked at it closely. There it was; black marker scribbled where her name was. How on earth did that get there? Who did that?
"Sorry about that," she said cooly. She took the water bottle from her pocket and managed to wash it off. She handed it back to Porter. He looked at the name once more, just as the train started rolling in.
"Molly?" he checked. Molly nodded, a determined smile on her lips.
"Yep," she confirmed. "My name is Molly."
And so ends the epic tale of some kid and a duck getting into trouble. Holy moly, I can't believe it's actually over. It's been SEVEN MONTHS since this story has started! This story has been an absolute joy to write and I appreciated every single review. But since I'm a poetic sap, I want the story to go for just a bit longer; I've neglected to answer most of your reviews, and here's why! The 'final' chapter will be a Q&A, where I will answer ANY question you have about the story as long as it fits the T rating. Why? Because, knowing myself, I probably left fifty loose ends untied! Ask away!