Gifted #Wattys2015

Chapter 26

Adult Tula

The day of the wedding finally arrived, and with it, all the tension and excitement of the wedding. Albey, like every other bride, wanted a perfect wedding, so Tula decided to take over the responsibility of overseeing last minute decisions, so that Albey could work on being calm, even though everyone knew she would stress out anyway. So, as Albey tried to stay in her room and put on her ridiculously complicated dress, Tula ran around, making sure everything was perfect.

Fifteen minutes before the wedding, Tula went to check on Albey. She walked into her room and found Albey sitting on the bed, crying. Hoping they were tears of joy, Tula went and sat next to her, hugging her as she exhausted her tears. Tula then led her to the dressing table to touch up her make up.

"Tula?" Albey said, "Thanks for being such a great friend. I couldn't have done this without you."

"I'm so happy for you, Al. You have no idea how long I've waited for this day. I can't believe you're actually getting married to Ethan! You guys are the cutest couple ever!"

"Thanks!" Albey said, blushing and laughing.

A knock on the door brought them back to reality. "It's your cue," one of the many ladies running around at the hall informed them. "Thanks! We'll be right down."

Tula took Albey's hand and led her down the stairs and to the door of the hall, where her dad was waiting for her. "Good luck," Tula whispered to Albey and placed her in her dad's arms, picking up her bouquet and joining the other bridesmaids. The door opened and Tula, Erika and and a girl called Molly began to walk down the aisle, slowly, their feet in sync. Tula could see the eyes of the crowd widen as they saw Albey walk in. She looked gorgeous, she deserved the attention.

Ethan, looking incredibly adorable in his suit was waiting in front, looking slightly nervous. Tula winked at him to make him feel better, and it worked. Ethan laughed silently, standing tall and proud. Tula and the other bridesmaids took their places for the ceremony, among the other teary-eyed onlookers.

Before she knew it, the ceremony was over, and Ethan and Albey left, hand in hand. Albey found Jay and followed to the place that they had agreed to meet to finish up one last thing- Helen and her locket. When they got to the meeting tree, Tula and Jay found Helen, Ethan and Albey waiting.

"Tula!" Helen exclaimed, hugging her.

"Congrats, guys," Tula said over Helen's shoulder to Ethan and Albey, who smiled and nodded. "Helen, the locket?"

"Here," Helen said, handing it to her. Tula took off her pendant, opened the locket and fit her pendant in. It fit perfectly, and began to grow colder and colder. Suddenly, Tula and Jay collapsed.

Tula awoke in her mind, realizing at once that every single Gifted in the world was experiencing this. Mrs. Wentzell suddenly appeared.

"This young lady is the mark of a new beginning," she said. "She will have power over all the Gifted, and she will restart the UCG, but on a larger scale."

Tula looked around. "Me?"

"Yes, you, dear. Good luck."

Just like that, everyone went back to reality. Tula woke up soaking wet and found that her friends had tried to wake them up by splashing water on them. Like that would work. "Tula?"

"What happened?"

"I just became the leader of the organization. I have ultimate command over all the Gifted, and the last chance to revive the UCG lies in my hands."

"You know what, Tula? You're not alone. We're all here for you." Albey said, hugging her. Slowly, everyone joined the hug, creating a group hug that lasted about half a minute.

Then, Jay grabbed Tula and said, "If you guys could excuse us for a minute, I have something to talk to Tula about."

Everyone nodded and Tula and Jay walked away. Tula looked up at Jay expectantly, and he said, "I know we had a failed attempt at dating all those years ago, but we're older and wiser now. I never stopped loving you since that last day in the summer before high school. Will you go out with me again? Just one more try?"

"Yes, Jay! Absolutely, I'd love to!"

Jay hugged Tula as they both laughed. They laughed and laughed until their stomachs hurt, then they stuck to smiling. They walked back to their friends, hand in hand. "We're going out again," Tula said, answering their questioning looks.

"That's nice!" Ethan said, smiling at them.

Tula stood with her best friends, and all she could think about was how lucky she was to have such amazing and supportive people in her life. She smiled randomly and said, "I love you guys."

She was rewarded with a course of "Love you too"s, as Jay said, "Who wants to get back to the wedding? They'll be wondering where we are."

"Nah," Albey said, throwing her head back and chuckling, "The cake will keep them busy. I'd rather stay here with you guys."

***

A/N: That's it. The story is finished. Tell me what you thought.

I'd like to thank all my faithful friends who read my story:

Aleks, Chua, Navya, Ishani, Meghna, Megha, and everyone else who supported me throughtout. Thank you so much!!!!