The Weaponsmaster

Epilogue

Drea woke up and got herself ready like usual. It had been two months since she’d been back, and she was adjusting back to her regular schedule easily.

She looked in the mirror like she did every morning and brushed her hair, wondering what Danny saw in her. She never thought she was anything but average, but every time she was around Danny, he made her feel beautiful. She smiled and got dressed. Now that it was winter, her school uniform was navy pants and with a long sleeved dress shirt.

Drea went downstairs to meet Jackie and her parents. Jackie was as tall as Drea’s shoulders now and was thirteen years old. Her brown hair was just like Drea’s. Drea hadn’t grown much, but she was sixteen now, only one year younger than Danny.  

She made her regular cream cheese bagel and sat down to eat. She and Jackie still walked to school together, but now her parents trusted them enough at least to let them be alone sometimes. They’d kept a closer eye on Drea since she “left” but they were starting to loosen up a little. Of course they didn’t know about Danny yet….

Jackie and Drea left soon after they finished eating and walked down the streets to school. They talked in the morning about pretty much everything, including Drea’s role as Weaponsmaster. Jackie seemed incredibly interested in her stories, but there was never enough time in the morning to get through all of them.

Drea also kept in touch with Danny, Toni, John, and Shena by using that device they gave her. It surprised her how well it worked, but it did make her weaker. Mike had visited her a few times in her world too, talking to her about agreements between the Kaienshi and Lori. Since Drea was the Weaponsmaster, she was required to participate in all Kaienshi-Lori discussions. Karen met him too, and to Drea’s surprise, Karen was speechless.

Despite her defeat of Alka, Drea also continued to train after school sometimes by herself at the waterfall and out in the forest sometimes. She even transported herself to a rocky region to train with Zen sometimes too. If she used the fire anywhere else, someone was bound to get suspicious of the scorch marks.

As Drea and Jackie were on their way to school, Drea stopped suddenly. She felt the dark feeling of the Lori’s aura nearby. Jackie looked back. “I’ll see you at school,” said Drea as she jumped off.

She did a quick change and formed the black horse mask for her face; she couldn’t risk anyone recognizing her. She saw the Lori up on a rooftop a few blocks away and killed it with her needles. As she threw them, she felt Korena in her. She always felt like Shawn and Korena were with her, helping her through her days.

Drea rushed back to the school just in time. She’d been late more and more, but Karen and her always came up with some sort of excuse for her lateness and need to leave class. 

Drea was even teaching Karen self-defense tactics and how to use a dagger. She had been against it, but Karen begged Drea to teach her. She wanted to know that she could protect herself if need be. Karen would never admit it, but Drea also suspected that she wanted to impress Mike the next time he came.

After school that day, Drea left to go to the waterfall to do some meditating. She’d started doing it more frequently to deal with all the stuff she had going on. Between the multitudes of Lori, her family, friends, school life, Danny, and being Weaponsmaster, she got a little stressed out.

When she got to the waterfall, she stood and looked around. Suddenly, she felt someone’s arms around her and jumped before she realized who it was.

“Hey,” she said smiling. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

Danny let go and she turned to face him. “I wanted to surprise you.”

They kissed quickly and sat with their feet in the water. The two of them talked for a while, and even trained a little. Danny loved to do battle with her and she loved having a real sparring partner.

Drea had to go home after a few hours though since she couldn’t stay out without her parents freaking out. She hadn’t told them about her and Danny since he didn’t actually live on earth, even though they’d be elated to learn that she’d found someone. She wasn’t ready to tell them about Danny yet, but depending on how things worked out, maybe she would.  

After dinner, she usually went up to her room and studied for a little while. Danny came to her room through the window when he was around though and spent some more time with her. Sometimes he’d stay overnight, but he made sure he was careful about it. Nothing crazy. Not yet, thought Drea. She loved waking up and seeing him there anyway, even if she was getting up in the middle of the night to deal with some Lori.

One afternoon when Drea was done with school, she went to the waterfall and looked out into the water, mesmerized. It flowed constantly, new water repeatedly replacing the old water, the little fish moving to and fro in the current. As she stood there, she smiled. There was one fish that had gotten blown away, but it used all its energy swimming back to the start of the current and into still waters. That fish reminded Drea of herself. She’d been swept away so easily when she began, and how she never stopped trying until she reached her goal.

She turned to see Danny standing there, looking at her as if he was in a trance. Drea stepped towards him and put her hand on his chest, looking into those pools of fitted green that always drew her into their trance. Every time she looked into them, all she wanted was to pull him in close and kiss him.

Danny smiled and pushed her hair back out of her face tenderly, his touch sending chills through her.

“I have to go back soon Andrea,” he said quietly with his sad green eyes. She knew it broke his heart every time he told her he’d be leaving.

“I know, but it’ll be alright.” Drea looked up at him and smiled. “I know you’ll be back though, and when you come back, we can celebrate.”

He chuckled and they kissed passionately. She was beginning to feel more and more pain each time he left. She wasn’t sure how long she could live without him, since being with him was becoming necessary, like breathing.

They continued kissing as they moved towards the waterfall. Drea’s back was to the water as Danny pushed her closer and closer to the edge with neither of them realizing it. She felt the edge with her foot and fell backwards suddenly, grabbing Danny’s sleeve and pulling him down with her mid-kiss. They hadn’t even noticed how close they were until they both fell in laughing.

Drea sizzled a little when she hit the water. She popped up from under the surface first and came up laughing as Danny wiped his hair out of his eyes and she pushed her hair out of hers.

Drea couldn’t remember a time when she felt happier as she splashed around with Danny in the water. She’d never been with anyone, and now she couldn’t even imagine being with anyone else. Danny just made her happy, happier than she’d been since her brother died.

He could never replace the love she had for her brother, but he gave her a new sense of love that perforated her, swept through her like a storm. She felt elated, and for the first time since her brother died, she felt like she’d changed herself for the better. She felt at peace, like the last bits of the puzzle pieces finally found their place.

Drea knew she could change everyone else too; make them feel that same happiness that she had come to feel. She was strong, she was powerful, and she was ready. It was her time, and she would be the sister, the daughter, the girlfriend, the friend, the hero, everything and anything that everybody wanted.