The weddings were over.
The cake was cut and eaten.
The dancing was done.
And the Sheriff’s department’s scheduled hazardous waste disposal exercise — a full hour of confiscated illegal fireworks set off over the lake in a truly glorious display — was complete.
It was time.
“So you never committed any, like, major sins, right?” Sophia asked.
“For a person who thought death was the end of everything, you’ve gotten awfully worried about the rulebooks,” Dillon said, following Akira up the path to her front door.
“Hey, if I’m going to join you in your afterlife, I’d like to make sure it’s not gonna be any place too weird,” Sophia said as they reached the porch.
“It won’t be,” Dillon assured her. He hoped it wouldn’t be, anyway. He glanced over his shoulder at the reassuring soap-bubble shimmer of his doorway. It didn’t look like it would lead somewhere horrible. And Rose had promised him it would be okay.
“So when are we going?” Sophia asked.
“As soon as I say good-bye to Rose,” Dillon replied as Akira unlocked the door and they headed into the house.
He was surprised that Rose had left the reception early, but baby Helen had objected — strongly — to the fireworks and so Zane had taken her home. Rose had gone with them.
Akira had stayed to translate for Dillon which meant he had a chance to say a full good-bye to everyone — all of his family members and friends. It was one last opportunity to talk until they met again, someday down the road.
It had been an amazing day, The best part had been seeing his parents holding hands as they promised each other forever. Or maybe the best part had been watching Grace sparkling with happy energy as she danced with Noah. Or... well, it had all been good.
“This is it, then?” Akira said to Dillon, as she set her keys down on the table by the door.
He nodded, chest swelling with certainty.
This was it.
From upstairs, the impassioned cry of an angry baby carried through the house. Akira glanced at the stairs and sighed. “She wants me. I should go rescue Zane.”
“Good luck with that,” Sophia said. “That baby has good lungs.”
Akira gave a wry smile. “Rose says Henry’s just mad about being so helpless. Apparently she’s starting to forget, though. She’s beginning to sleep more.”
“Will Rose be upstairs with her?” Dillon asked.
Akira shook her head and gestured toward the kitchen. “Not if the baby’s still crying. She’ll be out back. She doesn’t like it that she can’t comfort her.” Akira yawned widely, then covered her mouth, blinking. “Sorry.”
“You’re tired. You should go to bed,” Dillon said.
Akira nodded, but she didn’t move. Her eyes were on Dillon. She bit her lip.
“Thanks for everything,” he said. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. It felt like there was so much more to say, but a universe of words wouldn’t be enough to tell her how he felt, how grateful he was for everything she had done for him.
She ducked her head in an awkward nod. “You, too. I’m gonna miss you.”
Dillon grinned at her. “Never know, I might be back.” He tilted his chin up toward the sounds of the wailing baby. “I’ll try not to be quite so noisy if I make it back that way.”
She chuckled. For another long moment, they looked at one another, wordlessly saying all the things there were no words for, and then Akira exhaled, turned, and headed up the stairs.
Dillon headed toward the kitchen, Sophia trailing him, and through the back door. The yard was dark and shadowy, but the streetlights and moon provided enough light that the pool area was clearly visible.
Rose was sitting on the edge of the pool, feet dangling in the water, her back toward them.
The backyard boys were playing, the way they always did, running across the surface of the pool as if it weren’t there. They were faders, all the color gone, but their bodies still distinct enough that Dillon could see their shorts and wide collars and the suspenders over the shirt on one of them
He sat down next to Rose.
“Oh, hello,” she said, but she didn’t look at him. Her head was tilted to the side, her eyes on the boys. “How were the fireworks?”
“Good,” he replied.
“Really colorful,” Sophia said, sitting down next to him. “And really loud.”
“Mmm.” Rose gave a murmur of acknowledgement.
“Who are they?” Sophia asked, nodding toward the boys. It was the first time she’d ever been in Akira’s backyard. Noah had never had a reason to visit during the time he’d stayed in Tassamara, and Sophia had been traveling with him ever since he left.
“They’ve been here since before Rose,” Dillon answered.
But Rose pointed, first to the one in suspenders, then the other. “That’s Willie, that’s Charlie.”
“You know their names?” Dillon asked, surprised. The boys didn’t talk. If you listened hard, you could hear them laughing sometimes, but mostly they just ran, spending their eternity in a perpetual game of tag.
“Oh, sure.” Rose sighed, then turned to look at him. She smiled. “It’s time?”
“Yeah.” Dillon nodded.
He’d tried to think of ways to convince Rose to come with them, but none of the risks of being a spirit in the material world mattered to her. She wasn’t in danger if a vortex opened up and she knew how to manage her energy. He’d been worried about her fading, but ever since they’d saved Noah, she just seemed to get brighter and brighter. These days she almost glowed.
And if she stayed, she could keep an eye on Henry, and maybe help Kenzi. He understood why she wouldn’t come with them.
He still wished she would.
“All right, then.” She scrambled to her feet.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Dillon said, following suit.
She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t be silly. Of course I’m coming. But not alone.”
Dillon blinked in surprise as Rose stepped out onto the water. Walking across the pool, she stopped in the middle of the boys’ game of tag and spread her arms wide. The boys kept running. Past her and through her and then back again, and with every time through, they grew more solid, until she grabbed their arms.
“Is she coming with us after all?” Sophia asked as she stood up.
“I think she might be,” Dillon said.
Colors flowed into the boys’ forms, their hair growing dark, skin turning brown, shorts deepening to blue, shirts to white and beige.
With a laughing protest, one of them said, “No fair, Rose. You’re not It!”
The other said, “Rose, Rose, are you going to play with us again?”
Smiling, Rose slid her hands down to hold hands with them and tugged them both toward the side of the pool where Dillon and Sophia stood waiting.
“Hello!” Willie, the younger of the boys, offered a gap-toothed smile to Dillon and Sophia. “Are you going to play, too?”
“Oh, jolly fun.” Charlie swung on Rose’s hand. “What are we playing?”
“Good question,” Rose said. “I think it’s time for a new game.”
She smiled at Dillon and if her smile was a little wry, her eyes a little sad, he understood.
Leaving was hard.
But he grinned at her as he grabbed the closest boy’s hand and said, “Let’s go be butterflies.”
It was time.
