Regona City: Tempest (BK3)

No Boundaries (final)

If Sahara had to explain her feelings at that moment there were no words to do so. It was as though a hurricane had come in and torn her heart to pieces before moving on. And before the pieces could even begin to be put back together, a tornado followed right after.

She sat in Drake's cafe at the bar, staring lifelessly before her. Her face was pale from lack of sleep. Her eyes were dry, for no more tears would come; she had spent them all.

Before her stood a glass filled with pink strawberry milk. Beside it was a second.

She stared at it...waiting.

I want to go back, her mind pleaded. If she could see herself but two months ago; if she could send a message to the past, if time travel were possible she would change everything. She would warn herself, stop it all before it escalated out of control. She would avoid the pain, the betrayal...the loss. In fact...she wasn't sure if she would have ever come back in the first place.

Reaching a hand out, she grasped the glass and turned it in her hands, examining the liquid inside. Still, she made no move to drink it...waiting.

A door opened, a bell jingled. Footsteps sounded and a figure slipped into the chair beside her. She recognized who it was without looking, yet she made no move to turn. There was a moment of silence.

"Say..." Sahara murmured, still examining the glass. "Do you think we can ever go back to how it used to be?"

The figure beside her didn't respond. Then, a comforting hand went around her shoulder. Sahara put the glass down. She let her head drop on the familiar shoulder next to her. She was spent.

"Of course not," Sahara murmured. "Can you wake me up when this nightmare is over?" she added in a whisper as she closed her eyes.

The figure didn't reply but instead the arm around her tightened.

Just drink a glass of strawberry milk, who knows...it may solve everything, a voice echoed in Sahara's head.

The door to the café jingled once again and footsteps entered. For the fifth time in the last four minutes, Sahara's bracelet vibrated with the sign of an incoming call. She reached over and shut it off.

"You're such a liar," she whispered as her eyes slowly opened and she lifted her head from the shoulder. Her fingers tightened around the object she held in one hand. It was her way home. The twins had found it when they had sifted through what remained of their demolished home.

Across from her, Jack cleaned a glass. Beside her, Alegra stared into space, her eyes heavy from lack of sleep.

The conversation, the Omegas had with the Phantoms before the rebellion, surfaced in Sahara's mind.

"How does Alegra fit into all this?" Calvin asked. "Last I heard she was locked up in Lithium and is getting shipped out sooner than later."

"Not if we can help it." Noah spoke. "If we can cause a big enough distraction she can get to the main control room in Lithium. She's sure that if she contacts the royal city from there that she can get a direct line to his majesty. She says if we give her that chance then she'll take it from there."

Silence.

"So...she just wants to tell him to call Lithium off, is that it?" Glen asked.

More silence.

"From what I've heard, he isn't exactly one to give favors, not to mention that if the royals are the ones who sent the WIS in the first place..."

"No," Terrell cut him off. "We don't know if it'll succeed. But as of right now it's our best shot." He looked around at the gathered group. "We cannot go up against Lithium by ourselves and hope to succeed. Alegra is our best option. She'll come through."