One's Saving Grace

Epilogue

Ash's POV-

"You ready to go?"

"Yep, just let me grab my shoes." A voice responded from the other room while I sat there on the couch.

 The voice was quickly followed by the sound of footsteps, as the owner of the voice rounded the corner of the living room, shoes in hand as they looked at me. "Sorry about that Ashy, hopefully you weren't waiting terribly long." She spoke.

A chuckle escaped my lips as I sat up and stretched a bit. "Nah, I wasn't waiting terribly long Lills." I responded as I got up and made my way over to her, grabbing my backpack from the table as I crossed the room.

She let out a sigh of relief as she sat down and started getting her shoes on. "That's good to hear, I was worried that I was taking too long." She said as she double knotted the laces of her shoes.

While she wasn't paying attention, I leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "It's all good, besides, I know that this day is always a stressful one for you." I told her.

She looked up at me and took a deep breath before standing up. "Yeah...yeah it is, it never gets easier no matter how many times it happens, but I'm ready to go now." she said.

A smile made its way onto my face as I extended my arm to her. "Then shall we go?" I asked.

Lillie's eyes met mine for a brief moment, before she reached out to take my hand. "We shall." She responded, before we made our way out the door.

It's been five years since the battle in the depths of Lillie's old home, and the town has changed a lot since then. New policies and regulations have been put in place in response to the incident that claimed so many lives. Policies that will hopefully prevent another tragedy like it.

Though as time marches on, the people left behind must as well.

Though that's easier said than done, and many families still struggle with what happened five years ago.

Despite that though, the city has continued to thrive and grow, with a number of places opening up to provide assistance to the families affected by the tragedy.

In the time since the tragedy, Lillie and I have moved out of Kukui's home, and gotten a place of our own together, just outside of town. Normally it would of been really expensive, but having connections around the island made it a lot easier to secure.

As Lillie and I passed through town to on our way to our destination, we heard the sound of children laughing and playing in the distance. A distinct difference from the silence we normally heard in the past.

I glanced over at Lillie and gave her hand a small squeeze. "It's been a while since I heard kids playing and laughing like that." I said.

Lillie looked over at me and cracked a small smile. "It's nice to hear that when we're out, it feels like the city is starting to move past what had happened back then." She responded as we continued walking.

 We made a brief stop at a store on our way through to grab a couple of things before we continued on our way, and before too long we were ascending the hill outside of town to our destination.

As we crested the hill, we found our destination straight ahead, the sight of the incident.

In what was once a barren and desolate crater now stood a monument. Dedicated to those who didn't survive or were never accounted for.

Even now, five years later, my breath still catches in my throat. 'I will never get used to this.' I thought to myself. Before I could continue, I was pulled out of my thoughts by a shaky squeeze of my hand, causing my attention to turn towards Lillie.

Her shoulders shook slightly as she stared at the monument, tears encroaching at the corner of her eyes as she stood there. Every year the shaking would get a little less worse, but I don't think that it would ever go away completely.

I gently squeezed her hand as I moved a bit closer to her. "Hey, it's alright Lills, I'm here with you okay, you're safe, I promise." I whispered to her.

Lillie looked up at me after a few moments and slowly took a deep breath. "I..I know, It's always hard being here...but it's the right thing to do." She responded in a whisper of her own.

I nodded and let her lead the way over to where the monument was, letting her take her time, until we were finally standing in front of the monument. I pulled my backpack off and reached into the biggest pocket, before pulling out a few flowers that we had gotten at the store earlier, and handing them to Lillie.

Lillie accepted the flowers and looked at the monument once more, before stepping forward and placing the flowers on the pedestal in front of the monument.

I silently watched as Lillie placed the flowers, before stepping back from the monument. "Its hard to believe it's been five years as of today." She said aloud.

"Its hard to believe that this is where I went through some of the most extreme changes and challenges of my life. Its even harder to believe that I've been out from under my mothers thumb for five years." She continued as she looked up at the sky.

"Its been...a difficult five years, and I'm not sure if I would be standing here right now, had it not been for you. Whether our meeting was a work of chance or fate, I'm glad that you were the one who reached their hand out to me." She finished, before looking over at me.

A small smile made it's way onto my face as I reached over and took her hand in my own, giving it a small squeeze before bringing it up to my lips and kissing it.

"I'm always gonna be here for you, no matter what Lills, forever and always. I wouldn't have gotten engaged to you if I had any other intention besides that." I spoke with a light chuckle.

Lillie's face lit up like a Christmas tree as a huge grin made its way onto her face. "You know, It's been a while, but I still haven't gotten used to that yet." She bashfully answered.

"Well, you'd better get used to it soon, because people will be calling you Mrs. Ketchum before long." I responded with a laugh.

"Honestly, I don't mind the thought of that." She answered with a bright smile on her face.

The sun illuminating her from behind, the smile she held that made my heart skip a beat, and the challenges we've overcome together. There was no one else I wanted by my side more than her.

"I can't wait to see what life has in store for us going forward." I told her.

Today was the day that we mourned those that we lost, and the day we celebrated the possibilities of the future and what it might hold.

Today was the day that took that first step forward ever since the tragedy.

Hey everyone, I know it's been a very long time since I posted anything, but life has been extremely busy lately, so It's been hard to find the motivation to finish the book off.

I hope that the ending was satisfying for those who have been along for this ride since the start. A big reason as to why It took me so long to finish the story, was that I wasn't sure how to end it off. But I feel like this is pretty fitting if I'm being entirely honest.

I hope everyone here takes the time to look at the other stories that I've published, and continues to support me in whatever I write next. 

As always, if you have any comments or questions, don't hesitate to post them, I love reading what you guys comment, and if you really enjoyed the book and the chapter, make sure to star it and like it.

And as always, I will see all of you in the next book.

- Pearlshipper332