Author's Note: My condolences go out to everyone who was affected by the cowardly attacks in Paris, France. This may not mean much, but this story is hereby dedicated to all of them, to all who abhor terrorism, and to all those who stand up in defense of freedom and democracy around the world. We must go on and live our lives. If we do not, the terrorists win. Enjoy the chapter.
"On a more personal note, the second thing that has happened, which you may have figured out at this point, is that I have left DC for good. I don't know how long it's been since we last spoke in the vault that you are listening to this, but, um, what I said in the vault, I didn't mean it, especially the part about you not caring for me. I was hurting, and I guess, when you're hurting, or angry, you sometimes say things that you regret. I regret every word. I know that what you did, throwing me out, you did for the good of the vault. Just know that I don't hate you. I could never hate you.
As for where I'm going, I'm going to the west coast with the Brotherhood of Steel. You'll know them when you see them. They wear grey power armor. They're the good guys. They helped me out a lot. Probably the only reason that I'm still alive right now. They're going to reconnect with the other chapters they have out there. That's their business. I'm going with them to, um, start over. I just think that it's time. There are too many…painful memories here in DC. We left... what's today? We left at noon eight days after we last spoke." He chuckled. "I don't even know why I bothered to tell you that. It's long since been irrelevant. This house, you and anyone from the vault are free to use it whenever you're in town. Except for Wally Mack. He is not to set one goddamn foot in this house. I think we both know why. However, you are the only one allowed into my bedroom. I left a couple of things on my desk for you to remember me by. You'll know what they are when you see them.
There's also a bag of bottlecaps, I don't think that I got a chance to tell you that bottlecaps are what they use for money now, roughly 2000 of them in the bottom left drawer of my desk. That should be more than enough to get you started. I also called in all of my remaining favors from merchants and such to help you guys adjust to the wasteland. It's all organized through Sheriff Simms, so speak with him if you haven't already. Despite the way we left things, I don't want you guys to have to start out with next to nothing and no help, like I did. Consider giving you all of this, and the book, my penance for being a royal ass. I just hope that it makes up for what I did."
He paused for a moment, and then continued. "You remember how my mom died, right? Well, when my dad died, I did a lot of reflecting. On his life, his work, what he did for me. There's this saying that I always liked. It goes 'every dark cloud has a silver lining,' or something like that. Their deaths were dark clouds, and you- and I didn't realize this until recently, actually- that you were always the silver lining to me. Your smile, how it brightened up every room you walked in, how your laugh made me feel better when I had a bad day. I realized that, if my mom had never died, it is highly likely that I would never have been taken to the vault, and I would never have met you. That would have been a dark cloud that I would never have known was hanging over me.
The vault, we both know it wasn't perfect. I may not have been born there, but you and my dad always made it feel like home. Even when I was out in the wastes, my heart was always back there. As long- as long as you're there, my heart will always be there, in the vault, my home. You know, I find this kind of ironic. Here I am, spilling my guts to a robot, when I probably should have been doing this with you. Maybe if I said this in the vault, instead of going off on you like I did, maybe things could have been different. Maybe I could have stayed in DC, and you could have come to visit anytime you wanted when the vault opened for good. Hell, maybe you could have told everyone to fuck off and let me stay in the vault. Eh, there's no point in wondering what you could have done when you can't change it." Mark sounded like he was having trouble composing himself. "Before I go, I just want to give you some advice. Don't…don't change, Amata. Don't ever change. You were always perfect in my eyes, and you will always be perfect. Oh, just one more thing. Do what makes you happy, be with whoever makes you happy. The only thing I ever wanted for you was for you to be happy. Good luck, Amata, and goodbye."
The message finished playing, and Amata just sat on the couch, struggling to comprehend everything that had just been said. He had just poured out his heart and soul, and now he was gone. "Wadsworth, where- where is his bedroom?" "Up the stairs, to the left, miss." She got up, walked past Wadsworth, and walked up the stairs and into his room. It wasn't much, just some lockers, a desk, and a bed. It was what was on the desk that she was concerned with. There was a picture of the two of them, and a gun. It wasn't just any gun. It was the BB gun that Mark's now-deceased father had given to him on his tenth birthday. He loved that damn gun. He thought it was the greatest thing in the world. He showed her the shooting range his dad had set up on the reactor level, and taught her how to shoot it. The picture was of the two of them, right after she killed her first radroach. She picked up the gun and looked at it. 'It seemed a lot bigger back then,' she thought. She put the gun down, and sat on the bed as tears began to form in her eyes. 'I screwed up big time,' she thought. 'How many times had he sat on this bed, just wanting to come home?'
She grabbed the pillow off his bed, held it close to her, and smelled it. It was definitely his scent. "Mark," she said out loud, "if I could turn back time, I would just let you come and go as you please." She sat there for a few minutes, wallowing in despair, when something occurred to her. "Wait, what did he say about time? He said…they left at noon eight days after we had our fight." She looked at her pip-boy. "It's only been a week. That means…he hasn't left yet." She perked up. "Of course. He didn't think that I'd be here this soon. He probably figured it would take months before we started trading with the outside world." She thought of what to do next. She needed to get to the Citadel, but there was no way she could get there by herself, even with the map in the book. Then she realized that the answer was in Mark's message. "I need to find the Sheriff."
She ran downstairs and out the front door. Coincidentally, Sheriff Simms had been passing by at that exact moment. She knew it was him from Mark's description. "Excuse me, Sheriff Simms?" "What can I do for you miss?" She spoke frantically. "My name is Amata, and I'm a friend of Mark's. He's leaving for good tomorrow at noon, and I need to get to the Citadel. I have two thousand caps upstairs, and they're yours if you can escort me there. Please, I am begging you." He looked at her. "So you're Amata, huh? You know, he never shut up about you. It was always 'Amata' this, or 'Amata' that. Look, um, keep your caps. I'll take you, but not tonight. I don't like traveling in the dark. We'll leave at 8:30 tomorrow morning, ok? And go see Moira at Craterside Supply, and get some better gear. That vault suit and those shoes ain't gonna cut it out here." "Thank you Sheriff," she said giving him a hug, "you have no idea what this means to me." As she turned back to the house, she thought, 'I'm coming for you, Mark.'
(11:50 AM the next morning, the Citadel)
Mark stood in the Citadel courtyard with a duffel bag in hand. He looked at the two vertibirds that had been emblazoned with the Brotherhood logo. This was it. He was about to leave everything that he had ever known, again. "Franklin, you ready?" someone said to him. It was Sarah Lyons. He sighed and looked at the sky. "Yeah, I guess it's that time." She was about to say something else when a paladin came up and whispered something in her ear. She listened, nodded, and turned to Mark. "There's someone outside the gate who says she needs to speak with you. Says her name's Amata. I'm guessing this is the same woman you told me about?" 'Amata? What is she doing here?' Then he remembered the message. 'Oh, hell this isn't going to be good.' "Let her in." A couple minutes later, he saw her walking towards him, a determined look on her face. She was carrying a blue and gold duffel bag, and wearing some leather armor and brown combat boots over her vault suit. Interestingly enough, that look turned Mark on. 'Most likely from Moira,' Mark mused. 'Wonder if Moira asked her anything about the vault, like she did to me.'
"Amata, why aren't you in-." He never got to finish, because she came up and kissed him. When she pulled away, Mark was at a loss for words. That was not what he was expecting. "That's for telling me how you felt," she said. Then she smacked him across the face. That's what he was expecting. "That's for how you acted in the vault." She smacked him again. "That was for thinking you could leave DC without saying goodbye to my face after everything we've been through together." Then she smacked him a third time. "And that's for not fighting for me if that's how you felt about me." Mark got his voice back. "Never fought for you? Amata, I have always fought for you." "How, exactly?"
Mark pulled out his pistol. "Do you know what this is?" "It's a pistol. So what?" Mark sighed. "Amata, this isn't just any pistol. This is the same pistol you gave me the day I escaped. Look at the grip. What does it say?" She held it up and looked at the grip. "It says… dad." "Turn it over. What else does it say?" She turned it over, and when she saw her name, she couldn't speak. "I etched those names in the grip to remind myself of why I was fighting: to find my dad, and to see you again. You want to call me a jerk, an idiot, fine. You want to keep hitting me, go ahead. I deserve it for the way I acted in the vault. Never say that I never fought for you. When my dad died, you became my only reason to fight. I always fought for you, in more ways than one. I fought for you, Amata, because," Mark was struggling to contain his emotions, "because I love you." She was shocked. "You…love me?" "Amata, I have always loved you." He started to cry. She took his hands, and he looked at her. She was crying too, but with a smile on her face. "I love you, too." Then they kissed.
This kiss was different. The world seemed like it ceased to exist. It was just the two of them, locked in a passionate embrace. After what felt like forever, they were brought back to earth. It was Sarah. "Hey, lovebirds, break it up. Franklin, you coming or not?" Mark looked at Amata. "I guess since you brought a bag, you didn't just come to say goodbye." "Nope. You said you wanted to start over. We're going to start over…together. Besides, you forgot something." She unzipped her bag, and pulled out the BB gun. He took it from her, put it in his bag, and gestured towards the vertibirds. "Shall we?" "We shall." She held his hand as they made their way towards the vertibirds. Two minutes later, the vertibirds took off towards a brighter future.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It was a little longer than the others because I didn't want to drag this whole sequence out any further. Until next time.