SERENA

PART II: Chapter 12 - Bittersweet

Ever since Serena came back after breaking free from where she was kept, Alison has not left her side to make sure she's not taken again. Not that she thinks she could stop those people, but she thinks they're less likely to try to kidnap Serena if she's not alone.

And she and David have accelerated their repair of Serena's ship to try to get her back to her planet as fast as possible.

Serena, on the other hand, isn't too worried about those people coming back for her, since she was able to easily escape on her first attempt. She even discovered powers that she had no idea she had. What she hasn't discovered, and doubts she ever will, is who informed those people about her existence. She's sure it wasn't Alison or David now, but she has no idea who it was actually was. A possibility is that it might have been the boy who did Serena's ID, but she has no evidence of that. Maybe he thought he could gain something with it. Either way, it doesn't matter now, because Serena's ship is almost ready and she's going to go back to Elementia. Back home. Even though it's hard to call it home because, after finding out she's different, people there wouldn't treat her any better than here on Earth. They would treat her worse. Her own parents were ready to have her executed in front of everyone. Her own parents, who know she had never hurt anyone with her powers.

It only takes two more weeks for Serena's ship to be fully repaired. Or at least, Alison and David claim it's fully repaired. They say they can't be absolutely sure before it's tested. With Serena inside of it, flying out of Earth.

Serena knows it doesn't mean anything, but from the outside it looks brand new. The three of them are now standing in the desert, looking at the finished product, and it looks beautiful. It's mostly white, but there are some colorful stripes wrapping around it. The four colors of the elements.

They go inside, and the humans explain to Serena how to use it. They found the coordinates for Elementia in the logs of the ship when they were trying to figure out how it worked, so the destination is already set.

"I don't know how to thank the two of you," Serena tells them. "Not only for fixing my ship but for everything you've done for me. Especially you, Alison. I would not have made it here without you. Thank you for making this planet my second home. And thank you so much for being my friend."

Alison smiles and hugs her. "Thank you for being mine."

"Maybe there is a way you can thank us," David says, and Serena turns to him. "You can let us go to Elementia with you."

Serena now turns to Alison and sees the other girl is smiling expectantly. It seems the two of them had talked about it, and they both want to go.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Serena tells them. "I mean, I would love to have company on the way there, but I don't think it's a good idea for the both of you. The only reason why I'm going back is because I know there is something wrong there. Something kept Nolyn from coming here. I don't think you'd be safe."

"You can protect us," Alison replies.

"I can't be sure of that. Besides, for me the journey won't take too much of my overall time, but for you humans, it will be so many years of your life. Your lives are already so short, why would you want to waste so much of it travelling to a place that might kill you?"

"We want to see the universe!"

Serena holds Alison's hands in hers. "I wish I could show it to you, if it didn't mean you losing your lives. Or, at least, a big chunk of your lives."

"Maybe she's right, Alison," David agrees.

She sighs. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Maybe after I fix whatever's happening in Elementia," Serena says, "I can come back. Nolyn and I can finally come to live our quiet lives here. I know that will take many, many years for you, but hopefully we will see each other again one day."

Alison smiles. "I really hope so."

The two young humans leave the spaceship and drive away from the desert, while Serena follows all the steps she was shown to initiate the ship. When the destination shows up on the screen – only coordinates, but Serena has full faith that they have entered the right ones – she prepares for take-off.

She sits on the chair in front of the controls, straps the seatbelts on, and hits the buttons that will get her off of Earth.

The spaceship gets louder and, after a few minutes, it lifts itself off from the ground. Serena looks out the windows and sees the planet getting smaller and smaller as she moves away from it, until it's only a small blue dot in the sky. And then it's completely invisible.

It's a bittersweet feeling. She came to this place to run away from the people who wanted to kill her, and she thought she could live there forever. And, although she also found people there who wanted to hurt her, overall, she really enjoyed her time on Earth. She made great friends, who she wished she didn't have to part ways with, but she had to keep them safe.

She truly hopes she can go back one day.

Keeping herself entertained is the hardest part. It already was when she was making the opposite journey. Serena read, danced, sang, practiced her powers. She did all the things she could think of while alone and in the middle of outer space. But everything gets boring after a while.

But now, after an almost interminable wait, she can see her destination in the distance. Elementia is just a small sphere in the sky, but it's right of in front of Serena. And it is waiting for her.