Chapter 22
"I'm Lorna Morello. Nicky Nichols and I had been friends since we were sixteen. She was the first North resident to ever talk to me. We first met in the backyard of the Zone, where we held our wedding ceremony. I was her wife for an hour, but it was the… the happiest hour of my entire life…"
The sky was gray, and the wind was mild. Lorna still had the deep cut on her forehead. The widow continued her eulogy, and Piper momentarily closed her eyes as if she could shut out the pain that way.
Dozens of people attended Nicky's funeral, which was held at Litchfield cemetery, located along the southern shore of the island. Nicky's mother actually flew in right after she received the news. Ironically, Red, who had always been Nicky's maternal figure, was absent. It had been 3 days since the incident, and no one knew of Red's fate.
Piper glanced at Alex, who was on the wheelchair next to her. Alex was wearing a white hospital gown beneath the black coat, a gray scarf around her neck. Her left eye was still swollen, a bandage wrapped around her head. Her left arm was supported by a blue arm sling. She suffered a concussion, and Piper had been watching over her day and night. Against Ms. Claudette's advice, Alex had insisted to attend Nicky's funeral. She was allowed to leave the infirmary only on a wheelchair.
Piper reached out and held Alex's hand that was resting on the armrest. It took a moment before the pale hand squeezed back in reassurance. Piper had seen Alex in an injured state before, but this time the woman looked exhausted, wounded deep from the inside. The loss of her best friend had hit her hard.
When the casket was lowered into the grave, Alex tried to get up from the wheelchair, but failed. Piper gently took the flower from Alex's hand, and tossed it in for her.
"Thanks." It was all Alex had said to Piper, or anyone, for the remainder of the day. They both took the same van back to the resident area, listening to Lorna's quiet sob all through the ride. No one had said another word.
"Hi… Good evening… Hello… yeah, I live here…" Piper greeted the visitors and patients along the busy hallways of the infirmary. She walked up to the second floor, passing many beds and chairs. The wounded were mostly Lorna's wedding guests. Ms. Claudette had arranged for Alex to get the bed next to the window in the far left wing of the room, so that she could have more privacy than the others.
"Hey, baby, how are you feeling?" Piper put up a smile as she sat down along the edge of Alex's bed. It was already half past eight. The visiting hours normally ended at eight, but the rules were relaxed, given the high number of recently injured residents.
An open book on her lap, Alex was staring out the window, watching the bright moon in the dark sky. Alex had skipped her lunch, falling asleep for hours as soon as she got back from the funeral. Piper had gotten a pair of sandwiches from the North canteen, hoping that Alex would at least find her appetite now.
Piper frowned when Alex didn't respond. "Alex?"
Alex slightly flinched at the call of her name. She turned to Piper, but suddenly squeezed her eyes shut as she raised her right hand to her temple.
Piper quickly pressed in, cupping Alex's face, holding her head still. "Has the headache worsened? Alex… please, talk to me. Alex, are you all right?"
It took a moment before Alex opened her eyes again. She took in a deep breath and said, "Not well. It's... not worse, but meds aren't helping."
"I'll tell Ms. Claudette-"
"No, I… I'll feel better in a bit. Don't worry." Alex managed a weak smile. Her lips were dry, her face sickly paled.
Piper watched as Alex leaned her head back, closing her eyes again in dullness. Alex's chest heaved slowly as she shifted in discomfort. Piper put a hand on Alex's cheek, and then felt the woman's hot breath with the back of her hand. "Your fever is back," Piper said.
"It hasn't gone."
"But you were better yesterday," Piper countered. "You can't skip meals, Al. You need them. Now, eat the sandwiches."
Alex turned her face towards the window. "Not hungry."
"What are you, twelve? Now, eat," Piper groaned.
A smile crept up Alex's face, but, all of a sudden, she bent over, her right hand clutching her head.
Piper rose to her feet. "Alex!" She gripped Alex's shoulders, urging her to lie down. She kept calling Alex's name, but the woman failed to respond. Alex's eyes remained closed, her skin turning even paler. She could feel Alex quivering under her grips.
"Please, help!" Piper frantically turned to look around. Her gaze met with a quiet infirmary and many pairs of curious eyes. Everyone was staring at them.
"Ms. Claudette! Help! Ms. Claudette!" Piper kept shouting as she pressed on the emergency button. No one responded to her desperation until Daya came rushing through the doors.
"V-A-U-S-E. Alex Vause, please."
"And you are?"
"Chapman. Piper Chapman."
The nurse eyed her for a second. "Password."
Her mind still groggy, Piper tried to recall the secret code that she came up with Howard before leaving the island. It was for Alex's safety. "Sydney."
The nurse nodded. "Room 405B."
"Thank you," Piper muttered as she tried to stifle her yawn. She had just wakened up in the hallway in front of the ER, and had found that Alex had been transferred to a private room. Piper assumed that Alex was out of immediate danger. She had come to the reception desk to ask for Alex's whereabouts.
Piper moved along the quiet corridor, looking left and right for the designated room.
405B… Oh, there it is.
Piper entered quietly. One of the twin lamps on the nightstands was still on, lending the dark room some soft light. Alex was sleeping on the bed, wires attached to her body. She had been urgently transferred out of Litchfield to a private hospital in the city. Howard had made sure that they spared no expenses on Alex, including the secrecy of her stay at the hospital. He also had allowed Piper indefinite stay to keep an eye on Alex, as well as assigning a few other residents to take turn and guard Alex around the vicinity. He wouldn't underestimate Kubra when the man finally had Red's powers in his grasp.
Piper walked up to the side of the bed, studying the resting Alex. It was déjà vu all over again. It felt like that day four years ago when she had confronted Alex, who had been hospitalized after a car crash, with the death of the fake 'Piper Chapman'. She had felt betrayed. She had felt foolish. It had felt like the world was crushing down, and there was nothing Piper could do to stop it. The only thing she could do was to walk away, hoping for a better tomorrow.
But it was a different story now. They were still hurt and broken, but, regardless of the outcome, she had decided to be with Alex until the end. Her body exhausted, her mind spent, she climbed up the bed and lied down beside Alex. The space was tight, but she liked how close they were. She wrapped one arm across Alex's stomach, her eyes fluttering close once more. She listened to their soft breathings, their sighs. It was a dream. Their longest, soundless and colorless dream.
Piper slipped in and out of slumber again and again in a vicious, disrupted cycle. She breathed heavily. In her dreams, she tried to talk, but no voice seemed to come out of her throat. She tried to wake up, but her body stiffened against her will. When she finally woke, her body was sore from the pulling of her muscles. She felt like she had been running many miles, gasping for air.
Piper rubbed her eyes as she sat up. The head of the bed had been elevated. To Piper's surprise, Alex had been awake, watching her in her sleep. For a moment, Piper thought that she was still dreaming. It looked like a good dream, so she wasn't about to complain.
"Morning, sleepy head." Alex's voice was strained, but her gaze was clearer. There was some color on her cheeks even. Alex seemed to recover faster than Piper had expected. They were superheroes after all.
Piper reached out and cupped Alex's face with both hands. "Oh, thank God, Al. Thank God. Please, don't do that again."
Alex had a tired smirk. "I scared you, didn't I?"
"You, asshole," Piper muttered as she planted kisses all over Alex's face, careful to avoid her wounds. She pulled back when she heard Alex's chuckle. She rested a hand over Alex's chest, feeling the breathing rhythm. "You can't do that to me, you know that."
Alex's eyes narrowed slightly as she gazed out the windows, admiring the night view of Manhattan. She had been unconscious for almost two days. "I can't control everything, Pipes."
Piper bit her bottom lip at Alex's admittance. She looked at the cuts and bruises on her lover's face. They were horrible, physical damages, which hadn't even included the emotional toll Alex had been enduring from the loss of Nicky and Diane's uncertain fate. It wasn't hard to understand why Alex seemed so utterly defeated.
Piper reached out and gave Alex's hand a light squeeze. Alex turned to face her, her gaze softened.
"I'll look for a time traveler. They might be able to help," Piper faked a hiss.
"You watch too many movies." Alex let out a chortle. And it had been some times since Piper had last witnessed a genuine smile from her.
"I do? Says you. Really? Your whole career was built on recruiting superheroes."
"I've never come across one. In fact, no one I knew had ever met one. Sometimes, fiction is just fiction. Writers need to add an extra ounce of excitement to their literary pieces. Time travelers don't exist."
"Three months ago, if someone had told me that my ex could generate a bolt of lightning out of thin air, I would have laughed, too. Life is strange sometimes. I'm not giving up, Alex. I'm going to find them, and ask them to turn back the time. I'm going to ask them nicely, of course." Piper winked as she caressed Alex's cheek, feeling the coolness of her skin.
Alex leaned her head back, sighing with a tired smile. "I've played God for long enough. Maybe this is the punishment that I deserve… that I am to lose everyone I love. Everything."
Piper held Alex's face firmly, staring into the green pools. "You won't lose me. You won't be able to get rid of me."
Alex narrowed her eyes. "Maybe I should find the time traveler, just in case."
"Asshole." Piper laughed softly. "Seriously, they were never on your recruitment list?"
"If they truly exist, I'm sure that Kubra would have put them on top of the list."
"So it's just a myth?" Piper rolled her eyes.
"It'd be next to impossible to catch them alive, because they'd just turn back the time the moment you get them. They'd change their courses, and we would lose them again and again…" Alex's voice began to trail off. "… again… and again."
Piper remained silent, trying to read Alex's forlorn gaze.
"But they don't exist. You can't undo the past. No one can." Alex gazed out the window into the darkness once again. "They targeted Nicky first, because then there'd be nobody to help the guests escape. Not Red. Not you."
Piper stalled. She felt a stab in her heart. "Alex—"
"I'd known her since I was thirteen. We were best friends even when I was a complete asshole. I joined Kubra's faction, but she forgave me. I've done a lot of bad things—terrible things, but she still forgave me. Every time I got lost, I came back to her, and she'd always welcome me home… Now that home is gone."
For a long moment, Piper's fingers lingered along Alex's chin. She could only listen, but there were no words strong enough to console them. There were no mythical time travelers to turn back the time to take all their agony away. There was nothing else to do but to face it all, and hoped to fall into a dreamless, painless slumber. "It's ok, Al. It's all right to cry."
Green gaze suddenly hardened. Alex stared at her, unmoving. There wasn't any hint of kindness in those eyes. It was as if Alex was watching, judging a total stranger for knowing too much.
Piper contemplated if she should retract her hand, but the lone tear fallen on the back of her hand stopped her. Alex tried to turn away, and Piper tightened her touch on the woman's face. She wouldn't let go, and she wanted Alex to know—to trust her. She opened her arms as Alex leaned in, resting her head against her shoulder. She then wrapped her arms around Alex's trembling body, rubbing Alex's back to soothe her. She kissed her head several times, whispering many words to comfort her.
"Everything's going to be ok. We're going to be ok." Piper pulled Alex in even closer, if that was possible. It was a comfort she needed herself.
"Be careful," Piper warned. "And put your right arm around my waist. Don't let go."
They were already at the pier, back safely at Litchfield. It was already dark by the time Alex was released from the hospital. Piper chose nighttime to fly to avoid being easily spotted.
Alex climbed over the bike and wrapped both arms around her girlfriend. Her hair was messy from the flight from the hospital, but she hadn't bothered to tidy it. Her glasses were foggy from her own warm breaths. She was wearing a black coat, a scarf around her neck.
"I said 'right arm'. Your left shoulder is still hurt," Piper said.
Alex puffed and retracted her left hand. "Fine."
Piper turned back to the road, a small smile on her face. Alex's silent grumble always made her smile. Alex was shivering behind her, resting her chin on her shoulder. It felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, but she somehow gladly welcomed it.
It was freezing up high in the sky, and Alex had complained about it. The fierce wind tonight wasn't helping either. Piper could feel Alex shivering, so she opted for the bike once they reached the island. Piper stared ahead at the road ahead of them. The full moon was the only source of light at this hour. Her knuckles were numbed from gripping the handles, but she wasn't worried. Far from it.
Piper recalled the first day she had arrived Litchfield. The fogged sky. The endless, serpentine road led her into the unspoken world. There was fear, but there was also hope. She had hoped that everything would turn out for the better—that each day spending on the island would bring her closer to her reality. But time only revealed how surreal it all was. She had lost her old life; her fiancé and their circle of friends. If there was a bridge connecting both worlds together, it was perhaps lost in the heavy mist. The road instead had led her to the new, but strange group of superheroes—the outcasts, just like her. The road ahead had somehow led her back to Alex. It was a never ending path with them. It was meant to be.
"Can we go now? I'm freezing," Alex muttered sleepily, her right hand clinging to Piper's coat.
Piper straightened up and began to bike down the road. Alex was admitted into the hospital for five days, and even though the doctor had assured them that Alex's condition was now stable, Piper could see how tired her girlfriend was. Alex was slower than usual, and had lost several pounds during her brief hospitalization.
Down the dark, windy road, Piper began to hum, befriending the starry sky. She could hear her own voice echoing softly. She could hear Alex's sigh next to her ear. They were together, and nothing else mattered to her now.
The heavy poundings in her head eventually pulled Red out of her exhausting nightmares. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. The dreams she had were an epic mixture of her own fears and the endless memories of the people she had stolen from the past. It felt like a truck was running over her a thousand times over. The pain intensified each time, never numbing, sending her mind deeper into the chaos that she had once created. Her powers had backfired her at last.
Red feebly clenched her fists, trying in vain to feel her own body. She needed her body to fight her aggressive mind, but she was too weak. She gasped for air as she glanced around the dark, square room. A lone source of light was mounted inside the wall, a thick glass sealed its outlet. The concrete was cold and damp. The walls were thick, but she could hear distant screams and shouts from adjacent rooms. She knew right away that she was incarcerated. But by who? What happened?
Red groaned at the back pain that gnawed at the back of her mind. It took her a moment to finally being able to focus on the urgent questions.
Nicky.
Her heart sank at the first clue to all of the current predicaments she was facing right now. Red recalled how guests began to stumble and fall, drunk or unconscious. She herself had consumed quite a fine amount of champagne that morning, and had quickly fallen deep into a slumbering state. She would have defeated the effects from the drugs, if not for the wounds inflicted on her body by Stella.
Red froze as she eventually realized the consequences of her recklessness. She recalled the fire and smoke, Lorna's screaming in tears, while holding Nicky in her arms. Amidst the chaos, there was Christopher dragging Piper out of harm's way, and the blade that cut deep into Red's own limbs. She was paralyzed by the drugs, and her body wounds only plunged her deeper into the abyss of helplessness. She had never felt so powerless like that faithful morning, where everything had turned wrong, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. It was her fault. Her arrogance and contempt ended in miscalculations and disasters. She had hurt Litchfield by letting Kubra's gaining her powers. She had damned her loved ones into ruins. She had lost Nicky.
Oh, Nicky. Nicky! For the first time in decades, Red felt her tears, fresh and warm, rolling down her face. She almost couldn't believe it herself.
"You feel sad." A man's voice slipped into room, and Red looked up, tears bathing her wrinkled face.
The metal panel was slid open, revealing a pair of dark eyes through the narrow, rectangular window on the door.
Kubra Balik.
Red's jaw clamped shut. Rage boiled within her. She could only see his eyes, but she knew that he was smiling. It was in his cold gaze. He was ridiculing her with his simple stare.
"Devastated, I'd say," Kubra further remarked. He briefly glanced away. "It's somewhat overwhelming, you see. I've never captured a telepath before. It's an entirely new experience. We used to have to work so hard, and risked so much. We've lost many friends, just like you have. We had to be the muscles, doing the dirty works, when Litchfield chose to play the government's ally. Now, we could be the brains. You're one of the most extraordinary gifts I've ever had, Red. It was so hard to get to you..., but I always win, one way or another. Welcome home. You're right where you belong."
"Fuck you. You're nothing but a leech. You have no powers of your own. Your whole gang are full of leeches that do nothing but live off other people's powers or wealth." Red spat out some blood. It tasted heavy in her mouth.
"The interesting thing is that I could actually hear those words before you even opened your mouth. How did you survive your own powers? How did you keep your sanity? It must be mad." Kubra sounded genuinely excited. His eyes were wide, and his laugh was loud, echoing down the corridor. "You could read through us. Yet, you let us in. You were so sure of your powers that you wouldn't even listen to Howard. Your friends died because of you. How does it feel?"
Pain. That was all Red felt, or what she could ever feel for the rest of her life. It was as if she had gained another supernatural power, and that was to constantly feel pain. It hurt so much that tears weren't enough to express it.
Lying on her back, Red breathed for the thin air in the tiny cell. It was the first time in her entire life that she only listened with her ears. The world was much calmer now, more direct. Everything was so much simpler without her powers, and now she was simply waiting to die.
"No, Red. Nothing is ever simple."
Red glanced up at Kubra again. Now, there weren't just flashes of old memories. There were new memories Kubra was showing her. Police forces had stormed into houses and slaughtered anyone who crossed their paths. There had been chaos. Cries and screams. Blood and curses. Not even women and children had been spared. Kubra had used her powers to make a brutal statement to the public. It had completely destroyed what Litchfield had been trying to achieve all through the decades. It had completely divided the superheroes from the ordinary humans, a cut so devastating that no comfort could ever erase the scars.
The breaking news continued to display on the huge TV screen mounted on the wall, but the sound was now muted. The disastrous incident was covered by every news channels for the last thirty-six hours. Kubra's mind control over the police forces had successfully started the war he had craved for years. He was no longer just a thug running a fearful syndicate. He was now the commander of outlawed superheroes, armed with an incredibly frightening weapon. Even the president didn't feel safe anymore. Sources had said that he had gone underground with heavy protections. There had always been a good reason why Red had kept her presence on the island for many years. If she wanted to live, she had to abandon herself to the isolated island, where the others wouldn't fear her, or worse, use her.
Sitting at the head of the long table, Howard spun on his chair to meet with several worried gazes across the conference room. There were at least forty people present, Piper and Alex included. Alex was occupying a chair in the far corner, while Piper stood next to her, arms across her chest. Everyone was listening attentively. They could feel the incredible tension through the silence.
Howard took off his glasses and sighed. "I'm not going to lie. There's no use… Litchfield is in a very bad position right now, and things don't seem to be improving anytime soon. The government wants to shut us down, and they want every resident here quarantined," he said.
"What? No, that doesn't make any sense! We're not criminals!"
"They can't do this to us! We're humans, too!"
"Where would they put us? Litchfield is isolated enough! It's Kubra's faction that needs to be put down! They can't just group every gifted ones together! We have to speak to them. This is unthinkable!"
Yells erupted, and people were trying to shout out their opinions. Howard pinched the bridge of his nose before putting on his glasses again.
"We have to fight."
Howard paused. He looked up, and found Piper's blue eyes. The whole room went quiet as everyone turned to follow Howard's gaze.
"There's no other way. We have to fight Kubra," Piper said, reluctantly lowered her arms to her sides.
"That's just crazy! He has Red's powers now! We're going to get ourselves killed!" a woman countered.
Piper shook her head. "The government will shut us down, if we don't fight Kubra. They will treat us as one of the bad guys. We have to take the chance. We have to risk it, if we want to keep Litchfield."
Howard had to look away, resting his chin in his palm, seemingly deep in thoughts. "A lot of people will die," he said.
"We'll die anyway, if we don't fight. Where exactly do you think the government will lock all of us up? I doubt that they'd want to spend tons of money to shelter us and keep us fed. I'm pretty sure that there wouldn't be so much protest right now, if the government would just execute us. We're dangerous in their eyes. We're outlaws to them… unless proven otherwise," Piper said. Her cheeks flushed as she could feel every stares in the room fixing on her.
Alex cleared her throat and said, "The tough part would be breaking the front gates of the headquarters. There used to be roughly 60 men guarding around. But, given the faction's recent losses, the force should be reduced in half. It shouldn't be as bad as before." She glanced at Piper, and smiled lightly. "We might have a chance to break through it."
Piper was struck by a pleasant surprise. She grinned back.
Some residents murmured in disagreement. "You have an agenda, Vause. We heard about your mother. Don't try to trick us into fighting for you," a North resident spoke up, arms across his chest.
"Yeah, let's surrender to the government. Let's save what we have left," another chimed in.
"I have no interest in other people's family business," someone from the other side of the room added.
"Count me in, Vause. I've got a matter to settle," Lorna said, her gaze determined.
"You can't be serious! This sounds very much like a suicide mission! Who wants to go first!?" One of the South residents blurted out. He had every reason to be afraid since it was always the poor who had to take the risks first.
Many others nodded in agreement, and the chatters grew louder in both fear and confusion.
"Maybe Morello will take charge and lead the attack. Please, Captain," another resident snide.
Howard straightened up in his chair, waving his hand. "Lorna, I'm sure you mean well, but this is a very serious matter. It involves life and death—"
"Are you serious, Mr. Bloom? Life and death? I've just lost Nicky." Lorna glowered at him, her lips trembling.
Howard sighed. "Lorna, I—"
"Come on, Mr. Bloom, we need her fire powers," Christopher interrupted. He was standing in the second row next to Jessica. "We're not forcing everyone to fight with us. That's why it'll be great if we could have Lorna there."
Jessica rolled her eyes at her friend. Piper should be glad that she had at least two more residents to join her cause, but she caught the woman's brief glance at Alex. Piper forced herself to look away. She didn't want to overthink things. Certainly, getting jealous was the last thing she needed right now.
When Howard finally gave his consent with the plan, the tension cooled down considerably. The meeting continued with more volunteers, and they began to draft their attack plans. It had to happen before the government would take action, before Litchfield would be shut down, and everyone scattered, powerless. It had to happen soon. A few days. A week at most. It was their final fight to maintain their place in this 'ordinary' world.
Piper climbed up the slanted roof of the South Mansion, a wine bottle in her hand. She carefully moved along the ceramic-tiled roof towards Alex. Bathed in the moonlight, she lied down next to her girlfriend, looking up at the starry sky. Alex had been unusually quiet since the meeting was over. It was almost midnight now, and Alex hadn't come down to her room. Piper knew that her girlfriend must be exhausted, but there was something else keeping her up.
"That went well," Piper said, and took a swig from the bottle.
Alex smirked. "The suicide mission? Pretty impressive. You've changed, Chapman."
"We're all just trying to survive here. Kubra really left us no choice. Or the fucking government… Right, we're fucked." Piper groaned to herself.
"I gotta say that I'm pleasantly surprised by the change." Alex chuckled.
"They were trying to kill you, Alex. I'll do anything to prevent it from happening again. Anything."
Alex watched Piper for a moment. "I thought that we're going to do it for Litchfield."
"That, too. But, you're my priority. You'll never be safe, if Kubra is still alive. He has to go."
Alex raised a brow, pulling the collar of her jacket closer. "I'm touched by your concern."
Piper took another swig of wine. "You did it for me. You've killed for me. I'll do the same for you."
Alex sighed before looking up at the sky. "Once you killed, you could never take it back, Pipes. Never."
"I—I know that." Piper forced out a shrug. "That didn't stop you, did it? You still did it anyway to keep me safe."
"It was very different for me. I didn't have much to go by back then. I did what I had to. I was just—"
"Enough with the bullshit, Alex. I know what I'm doing. We have to fight, because there's no other way. We need to keep Litchfield running. I'm never going to end up in some concentration camp."
"They'd never put you in a camp, princess." Alex laughed.
Piper lightly punched at Alex's arm. "It's not a joke. It could get worse."
Alex rolled over Piper, her weight pinning the blonde down, and Piper slightly yelped. "I know how money talks. It's the easiest language in the world. Everybody understands it."
Piper stared up into the green eyes. "I… I don't… well, maybe…"
Alex smirked. "Well, you don't sound so sure now."
Piper reached up and cupped Alex's face. "You're cold," she said. "How's the headache?"
"Still there…, but better."
"I doubt that you'd admit the truth even if it's worse."
"You're right. You know me." Alex sighed, nuzzling her nose in Piper's warm, soft palm. She breathed Piper in, and the blonde shivered.
Alex's condition had improved considerably, although not perfectly. Piper wouldn't try to stop Alex anymore, because they were at the dead-end now, and the only way was to fight their way out. Although Alex did surprise her that she didn't try to stop Piper at all. It was time like this that she wished to possess psychic powers instead. She wanted to know what Alex was thinking.
Alex stared down into the deepest blue eyes as she kissed Piper's palm. "Promise me that whatever that might happen, you'll take him down. I know you can do it."
Piper frowned in confusion.
"Promise me."
It wasn't a question, but rather a command. Piper closed her eyes when Alex dove down to capture her lips. Her hands slipped up to the back of Alex's head and neck, pulling her down closer, her fingers running through the silky, raven mane. Their kisses deepened, hot and feverish against the harsh and cold of the night. Piper would promise Alex anything.
Anything at all.
AN: one more chapter and epilogue. Thanks y'all for following this story! xoxo