Chapter 63

                                    

                                          
Luna and Colin stood together at the mouth of the cave, shivering in the evening breeze. Luna studied his expression, unable to figure it out. He looked apprehensive, like he was waiting for something; but also disappointed, like he had been tense for something with an anticlimactic result.
                          
She turned her head with a concerned expression spreading across her face.
                          
"You can stop trying to read me," he said with a sigh, sitting down on the ledge. He gestured for her to do the same.
                          
She sat beside him, staring at her hands. He was looking at the sunset, the reds from the vanishing sun making his dark hair almost glow. "I'm sorry," she replied, her voice small and uneasy. "I can tell that something's wrong, I'm just trying to figure out what." she looked back up at him, his usual warm smile nowhere to be found.
                          
"At the start of everything, it was just us, our small group of friends, fighting to get through school together. Never quite fitting in, always having each other. You've always been here for us all, keeping us together. You're like a sister to me, and I want to protect you, and everyone..." his voice drifted off as he scoffed at himself.
                          
"...but?"
                          
"But—I don't know. I don't know if I can. How the hell am I supposed to keep everyone alive when I can't even keep them happy?" he scoffed again.
                          
"It's not up to you to keep everyone happy, or alive for that matter." she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "We protect each other, we always have. We keep each other happy. We're still just a little friend group, just fighting for each other a little more now."
                          
He cracked a small smile. "This is what I mean," he said, his tone changing to match his grin. "You're always lifting everyone up when they fall, no matter how high they fall from. I can't imagine my life without you guys. Maybe without wars and terrorist groups, but never without you guys," he pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him, a smile rising to her own lips.
                          
"Guys!" Lloyd's voice was frantic as he emerged from the mouth of the cave. "Guys they found Trae!"
                          
☆★☆
                          
"The White Sand had him, Luna. They were trying to turn him into one of you." Grant said, a grim expression on his face.
                          
Luna felt her heart lurch, her breath heave. "Is he okay? Can I see him? Where is he?"
                          
"He should be fine, the trials were unsuccessful and he is otherwise unharmed. It was quite different from the results of the other test subject." He set down the files he was holding on the desk. He turned and sat back down, watching Luna carefully as she paced around the makeshift hospital space.
                          
"Why him? Why did this happen to him?"
                          
"He was friends with you, the White Sand knew that. He was deemed 'extra'. One who wouldn't be missed if something were to go wrong."
                          
Luna let out a short gasp. "Didn't they know he wouldn't fight for them even if the trials had worked?"
                          
"It doesn't matter who's side he would be on, they were prepared for it."
                          
Luna swallowed the lump in her throat. "Where was he—they?"
                          
"He was found at an abandoned laboratory out in the woods. It looked like they had left hastily, not even a day before."
                          
"How long was he there?"
                          
"A few weeks."
                          
Luna let out a shaky breath, running her hands through her hair. She gripped it at the base of her neck, letting it fall as she heard Lloyd's voice.
                          
"Are you really going to greet Trae's parents dressed like that?" Lloyd asked her as he walked into the room from an office in the DoSD building. He had pulled on a hoodie over the uniform, making it look more normal. He was holding another one of his hoodies, handing it to her. "I'll take your sword into the other room."
                          
She took the hoodie and handed him her sword absentmindedly, waiting for the front doors to swing open. She slipped the hoodie over her head as Lloyd left and Trae's parents walked in. His mother was a tall woman, with long dark hair to her waist and light brown skin. Rafael looked so much like her. Trae however, got his blonde hair and his hazel-green eyes from his father, but the pigmented skin from his mother.
                          
They both looked exhausted, as if they hadn't slept for a long time. The man walked them over to the room where Trae was. As they stepped in, Luna strained to see into the room, but she couldn't see anything.
                          
The door swung shut behind them, and Lloyd walked back over to her from the other room. He put a hand on her shoulder, comforting her as they waited.
                          
Trae's parents walked out without him, a cascade of tears of relief and happiness. His mother walked over to Luna and hugged her, muttering about how Trae was okay and how she was happy that Luna was there. Luna patted her shoulder, then headed towards the door when Trae's mother waved her toward it.
                          
She pulled the door open glancing into the white-washed room. She saw him sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, staring at his hands. He looked up as she entered, and a wave of emotion hit her like a train.
                          
His hair was like melting gold mixing with liquid iron, spilling down to frame his face and covering his forehead. His eyes glowed like burning forests, the brown turning to red and the bright green darkening. The light wash of freckles across his nose was invisible under the dirt that coated his face. It was in his hair too, streaking through it as it clung to his face and scalp, unwashed and matted. He looked horrible.
                          
"Luna," he choked out finally, the sound of his breaking voice shattering her. He stood up on unsteady feet, his whole body shaking.
                          
Her breath trembled and her knees gave out as she stumbled towards him. She didn't even notice the tears streaking her face until she felt Trae's shirt growing wet where she had buried her face.
                          
He chuckled through his own tears, clutching her tightly and digging his face into her hair. She smelled just as she always did, like honey and hazelnut, but with a hint of the scent of dirt. Not that he minded, he probably looked as bad as he felt. He felt his own knees give out, falling against her she struggled to keep him from slipping from her grasp.
                          
He leaned back against the bed he was just sitting on, pulling her closer to him. She moved her face from his shirt, raising her gaze back to his face. She pressed her lips to his softly, another sob escaping them when she pulled away. She squeezed him tighter, sobbing gently against him.
                          
"I thought I had lost you," she cried, clutching at his shirt. "I thought I would never see you again... I-I—"
                          
He stopped her by kissing her again, then whispering to her softly. "I'm right here, you didn't lose me. You won't lose me. I promise, you won't lose me."
                          
I love you.