The Time Turner Society { Undergoing Edits! }

Chapter 20:

Evaline and I continue walking for a while along the cliffs, talking about much happier things than war and Vessels and death.

She tells me a little about what her life was like after I left. After her parents died, she says, she pretty much lived at the Society. How else would she have been able to make money? She had no interest in working for the Dominion who, at the time, she had thought killed her family. It wasn't until two years after their death that Net told her the truth about who did it, and by then she was too deep into the Society to get out without serious repercussions. So she worked, and kept working, not wanting to be around anyone else - maybe for fear of losing them, maybe for fear of being betrayed by them.

I can't even begin to explain to her how sorry I am. I have no idea how I'd even start. When I got my mission to enter the war, it didn't come from Ai; it came straight from the future, from Verino. I couldn't turn it down, not with the possibility of a better world so close to me. I didn't want to leave Evaline - to this day it's still the hardest thing I've ever done - but I knew this was bigger than us. So, I did. But I left a trail for her to follow, a trail that lead right back into my arms. I made sure she didn't get the safebox until long after I left. That way I would have time to travel back and set up all the other notes for her to find. A couple of times, I almost ran into her.

It seemed like I should, at first. The easiest option was really just to travel back and get her myself. But she needed this; the journey. She needed it to prepare her for what we would eventually have to do. Hopefully, by that time, both of us will be willing.

"You remember, when you first landed in the war zone?" I ask her. Evaline nods, leaning her head against my shoulder.

"I thought I saw you,"

"You did see me," I admit as we loop back towards the city. "I wanted to make sure you got there okay, to be sure that the girls would find you and bring you inside before you got hurt. I didn't mean for you to see me, and when you did... You have no idea how much will power it took to run the other direction, Evaline, when all I really wanted to do was run to you. To take you backwards, forwards - any time, any place, as long as it was you and me and safe. But you needed more time. Time to find all your pieces,"

"All my pieces?"

"Your brother, your questions, your answers, maybe even your dad. You would never have encountered any of them if I just traveled back to Ward One and picked you up. I thought about it - every morning I seriously considered it, just going for it, going to you. But every night I had to remind myself that this is all bigger than us," I look down at her, hoping she understands what I mean. I'm not trying to demean us; my relationship with Evaline is and always will be the most important thing to me, but this war... If the Society wins, we're all dead. If the Dominion wins, we're all dead. The only way for me to be with Evaline is to win this thing.

"You know I'd do anything for you, right?" I give her hand a gentle squeeze as we hit the path that leads back through the center of the city. Evaline looks up at me, her sweet face looking so innocent - unbelievably innocent, once you know her.

"Of course," she says softly. I smile. I always do that. It has as much to do with me being happy about her as it does with me trying to hide everything else.

Net catches our attention from across the street, and I tell Evaline to go ahead.

"I love you," she wraps her arms around me, squeezing tight. I return her hug, and her I love you, and watch as she runs off to my brother. Our brother, really.

After she's out of sight, I let out a deep breath and turn back to the cliffs.

When had our lives become so fragile?

~ ~ ~ ~

I watch Evaline move through the crowd, marveling at the simple creations of the Eastern people. Bracelets; necklaces made of sea shells; dream catchers woven with gull feathers, and so much more. Indiana, the owner of the bead shop Evaline is so captivated by, strikes up a conversation with her.

"Anything particular you're looking for?" I hear her ask. Evaline shakes her head.

"I actually don't have any money with me," she laughs nervously. "But your jewelry is just beautiful."

"That means quite a lot, coming from a Chosen One."

"Is that what they call us?"

"Most people. But, if you'd like, I can just call you Evaline." I'm not sure what passed between the old woman and Evaline just then, but I could tell they'd made a connection.

"How much is this?" I ask Indiana in a low voice, once Evaline is at the other end of the store.

"Oh, a beautiful piece! Normally seventy nickel," she taps her long fingers against her chin. "For her? It's free. You never meet pure souls nowadays. At least not here," Indiana wades away to help another customer. I take the piece and slide it into one of the little boxes sitting open on the counter. Then I drop the seventy nickels on Indiana's register and call to Evaline.

She seems so revived after her talk with Nethanyel. I don't know if it was his confirmation of her father that made her happy, or something else. All I know is that I see the old Evaline in her eyes again. She changed, after I left and her parents were killed. I could tell the instant she stepped off that plane. But she's acted the same, at least towards me.

"What is frel?" Evaline suddenly asks, squinting at the price of one of Miriam's pastries.

"Just part of the Eastern currency," back home, American currency had been converted to stunns, sparks, and nickels. Stunns were equivalent to ten-dollar bills, sparks to five-dollar bills, and nickels to one-dollar bills. The Dominion had completely cut out the need for change. A few collectors still have some - or at least did, before the war - but those are rare.

"Here," I say to Evaline. "Frel is like nickels. We have nickels, too, but we use them as sparks. We don't have any equivalent to stunns yet, but we do have coins. Cops and alims," I reach into my pocket and pull out my wallet. "I don't have any coins on me, but here's fifty frel," I hand her the blue-tinted paper, watching as she tilts her head at it. Before the war, we've never had to handle actually paper bills; we had credit cards from the Dominion, which paid us every month as compensation for our parents' deaths, since we were minors when it happened. We also each had a credit card from the Society, with payment from our missions.

"You can keep that by the way. I have to go, so why don't you wander around? Buy yourself whatever you want," I kiss her, sliding a few more bills into her hands.

"Blayke, I really-"

"Believe me baby, if you don't spend it, I never will." I tell her I love her and, when she finally (reluctantly) parts from me and heads into the crowd, I turn for the headquarters again.

I've made up my mind. It has to be done; I've known that for almost four years now.

And it has to be done with every possible precaution towards Evaline's safety.

"Eryl!" I call to her brother, who's just about to enter the building. He turns, halfway into a bite of sandwich.

"Just the man I wanted to see. We have to talk,"