Aspects of Hope

// epilogue //

"The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we've lived a thousand lives before this one and in each of them we've found each other. And maybe each time, we've been forced apart for the same reasons. That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come." - Nicholas Sparks from "The Notebook"

Epilogue

New York City, Central Park, 2012

Charity

It was a full day before we all met up at Central Park for Thor's and Loki's departure. I had been resting for the past twenty-four hours, healing slowly from my injuries while fighting. I received a broken leg and a few broken ribs, a black eye, and a couple of bruises scattered across my body.

Shay, however, was completely fine.

We were all gathered around in a circle, surrounding Thor and Loki. I could feel Loki's eyes on me, but I forced myself to focus on saying farewell to Thor.

The blonde god shook hands with his team, giving me a nod instead seeing as I couldn't take my hand off of my crutch to shake his. I watched as Tony and Bruce prepared the tesseract for Thor. They place it in a glass casing with large handles on the ends of it.

Only then did I allow myself to look up at Loki, who was bound in chains and a muzzle. It pained me to see him go, but I knew long ago that this was going to happen. But being the wild woman I am, decided that it was worth it. And, you know what? It was. It was worth feeling what I felt with Loki. I may never get that again, but to know that I experienced it with my favorite person in all the worlds that could exist, it made me somewhat happy.

The sadness in his eyes made me want to cry, but as soon as I saw the sudden emotion, it was gone.

Thor turned to Loki, holding out the other end of the case the tesseract was held in. Loki looked away from me, and glanced up at Thor before taking the handle.

Thor smiled at all of us once more. Loki looked at me, and sent me a mental message before being pulled away by a bright light from the sky. I felt like crying, screaming, dying. There was so many emotions that I dare not express on the outside. Except one tear. One single tear.

Tony, Kennedy, and Banner said their goodbyes before hopping in Stark's fancy car and driving away. Next to leave was Clint and Natasha, who jumped in a SHIELD car. Steve and Shay both said goodbye to me, along with a kind smile, before riding away on Steve's motorcycle.

I stayed in the same spot for another hour, replaying Loki's words in my head over and over again. I tried my hardest not to cry as I finally turned my back and limped away.

"I believe now that there are little aspects of hope everywhere in this world. We need not to stand afar and watch with glimmering eyes at it, but to live under its roof in protection. You are my roof, my protection, and my hope. And I wish to be the same for you."

And I had a feeling right then, that I would be seeing Loki soon. Because I knew one single thing.

Our dark stars are rising to the surface.

A/N: that's the official end of AOH! I'm so happy!

I really hope you guys enjoyed my book. And I really hope you enjoy the sequel...! yup, I'm going to be working on a sequel. It's going to be called Dark Stars. I'll let you guys know when I post it.

Instead of a QOTD, I was thinking I should do a contest. The prize is a roll in Dark Stars, and all you have to do is answer one question. Just comment your answer, and the first person to get it right, wins the roll. We'll talk about details after.

Here is your tricky question: if you're running a race, and you pass the person in second place, what place would you be in now?

Good luck!

Thank you for reading Aspects of Hope. I really hope you guys enjoyed it. I'll see you for the sequel! :)

Mikayla x

Edited