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Epilogue

It had been a couple weeks since my stunt during my Advent apology speech, and things were going about as well as I expected. I had effectively gotten myself out of work for at least a month, as Advent scrambled to deal with the fallout of not just my speech, but also the public realization that they were covering up a terrorist attack. They were... let's say, unhappy with what I said initially, that Jason guy looked like he was gonna shit his pants when I returned to the limo. But, I stated my case well enough to some Advent representatives, and they saw things my way to a degree.

Whether or not they'd allow me to run for mayor was still up in the air, but Ron was gungho to be my campaign manager. Mayor Collins of city 4-47 called me before the speech even aired in his city to voice his support and was willing to offer any advice I asked for, in addition to assisting with securing funding for the campaign. I haven't been able to safely speak with my brother since then, but I'm sure he enjoyed the show. I'd have people I could trust to help support me. 11-7 reacted about how I expected, she was supportive, but unsure. Worried that it would bring too much attention to us, but she calmed down when I explained things to her.

Things felt like they were moving in a new direction for me, like I was about to begin a new chapter of my life, for better or for worse. Because Advent was now dealing with my antics, in addition to what they were already dealing with, I had a moment of respite. There was one thing I've wanted to do for a long time, but to be honest, I've never had the balls for it - until now. Me and my brother left our family on bad terms. I had said things to them that I regretted, and I never hated them. Today was the day I'd reconcile with them and visit Camden, the town I had spent most of my life in.

It wasn't easy getting approval to leave the city, but I suppose Advent decided the further I was from the city, the better. I thought the first step would be the hardest part, but it took a lot of willpower to write the communication to ask my parents if I could visit. They accepted, but didn't convey any emotions one way or the other in their response. I had no idea what kind of greeting to expect when I arrived.

I looked up from my feet at 11-7 across from me. She was tinted red from the red lights inside the transport, looking around absentmindedly and flicking her tail around. We were the only passengers on the flying transport. Thank god she was here. I'd never say this aloud, but I needed her presence. Facing my parents alone after four years of silence was going to be difficult. It should've been something I did with my brother, but he already reconciled with them long ago. It was my turn now.

A voice came over the speakers in the transport. "Brace, the transport will land soon."

I held onto the strap above me and braced as the ship landed and powered down. The bay doors slid open, and I was surprised to see what looked like a town official running up to greet me.

He was a middle-aged man who still had all of his hair, and he was dressed like he was going to church. "Howdy, Mr. Hickey. I'm the Mayor of Agriculture Zone 3—" His voice was gravely, and he extended a hand to me. I shook it and he continued. "Let me say, it is a pleasure to have an Advent Official visit during our Easter celebrations…"

He kept talking, but the word _Easter _caught me off guard. Was it already Easter? I already had a hard time remembering the traditional holidays, and I hadn't celebrated any that weren't Advent approved in a while. This mayor guy was going on and on about bringing me whatever I needed, but I wasn't here for that.

"Hey, listen," He became silent as soon as I spoke. "What was your name?"

"Clyde Smith."

"Well, Mr. Smith, you don't have to roll out the red carpet for me. I'm not here to spy for Advent, I'm here to see family."

After I said that, he relaxed noticeably. "Thank God, for a second I thought— Nevermind, welcome home Mr. Hickey."

I looked around at the older buildings and recognized some of them in the distance. "It's good to be back."

"You picked a good time to visit; the town's budget for Easter celebrations has only gone up over the years. Do you need help finding your family's home? I could organize transportation."

I dismissed his offer with a hand wave. "I can find my way, and it's not too far. Before I see my parents, I want to walk around town first. What are the celebrations planned?"

He smiled. "There's carnival games for the kids, an Easter egg hunt, baking competitions, the parade will start soon... oh, and the Highschool's Drama club is putting on a play of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. The school's band will be playing all day. There's other activities as well, I'm sorry I can't name them all. I've been rather busy today, but you just took some weight off my back."

"Don't sweat it. But, I do have a serious question. Is there going to be any trouble if I bring my bodyguard into town?"

The mayor looked at 11-7 and back to me. "No, we're not stupid. Keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong, and you won't run into any problems, you have my word."

His assurance was enough for me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a parade lineup to join. Have a blessed Easter Mr. Hickey."

I waved goodbye to him as he walked off. "You too." He climbed into a classic car outside the chain-link fence surrounding the helipad and drove off. The car kicked up some dust as the gravel road he drove down transitioned into a paved one.

11-7 and I walked away from the helipad towards town. The helipad wasn't huge, but had enough room for multiple aerial transport vehicles to land. Most of the town's exports were transported by truck, so it didn't need to be much bigger, but since it wasn't used much, they built it outside of town.

11-7 and I made our way to town. We had some privacy for a moment, so she struck up a conversation with me.

"The leader of the town spoke of Ae-ster as a celebration. I've never heard of Eae-ster. Is it a folk celebration to start spring?" She gave me a confused look.

I nodded. "Yeah... kinda. It's a holiday."

She looked towards the town. "Then there will be many people outside?"

"A lot, but not as many as you'd see in the city. Camden has only about 3,000 people living in it."

"3,000? How does it function?"

"You don't need that many people when all you do is farm. Most of the work is done by big machines anyway."

As we got closer, the sounds of people talking grew louder and the human shaped blobs in the distance became sharper. I could tell 11-7 was nervous by how much her bifurcated tongue was flicking out. "You alright?"

She dropped her plasma rifle to her hip and gestured to the people ahead. "Why did you decide to do this on the weekend of a holiday? There will be so many people here."

I shrugged. "Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are. I kinda forgot it was a holiday. I haven't thought about Easter in years."

"We should avoid the festivities and go directly to your parental unit's abode."

"Ah, come on, you heard the mayor. They're not gonna lynch you or anything. I want to _see _what's going on at least."

She snorted in disagreement, but said nothing else.

We reached town soon after and the mayor was right; the town was the liveliest I had ever seen. People nearly filled the streets, walking in and out of the various buildings in town. There were stands set up in the street selling various things and food. They hung purple and red drapes on all the buildings and light poles. Orchestral music was playing, but it was difficult to hear over all the people. 11-7 seemed as enamored with it all as I was, and so did everyone else. Everyone around us didn't bat an eye at 11-7, too caught up in the things they were doing.

As 11-7 and I made our way into the crowd to follow the flow of traffic, we got some looks, and anyone who saw us gave us a wide berth; especially 11-7, whose tail trailed ~7ft behind her. It was so strange seeing the things that had changed, but also how much hadn't changed. I recognized almost all of the buildings. Most were made out of brick and had been with the town before Advent arrived, but some were made out of metal and concrete. We walked and took in all the sights and sounds, but after a few minutes, 11-7 was giving me hints that we should move on.

We walked through the crowd more and ended up in an open grassy area filled with tents. Some were square and white with no walls to them, other's had walls and had vertical red and white stripes on them. I think we had stumbled into the carnival area. The sounds of adults talking had been replaced by the sounds of kids laughing and yelling. We walked around; there were a few games, dunk tank, knock over the milk cans, shooting gallery. Nothing too interesting to me, but 11-7 became enamored with something.

Under one of the white tents, they had set up a few plastic folding tables, and kids were sitting in chairs painting eggs. Her eyes dilated, and she was watching the children paint with a curious intensity. "What are they doing, Lucas?"

"Painting eggs."

"What purpose does it serve? Is that a part of the holiday?"

"Yeah, something fun for the kids to do. You can dye them too, I think"

She looked at me. "Did you do this when you were a fledgling like them?" she gestured to the children at the tables.

"Yeah, it was fun. Good way to keep a kid occupied."

"Is it only for kids?" Her voice got quiet. "Do you think... I could paint one? Do you think people would mind?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Ahhh, I don't know... Might be—"

11-7 eyes darted to something behind me and I heard a woman speak. "You can go an' paint an egg. The kids don't bite."

"Holy—" I turned around to see a semi-familiar face. She had short, earthy brown hair that matched her eye color and was wearing jeans and a striped top. There was a tag on her shoulder that had _Event Organizer _written on it.

She laughed. "Long time no see Lucas, how ya been?"

"Steph? No way," I looked back at 11-7, and the kids painting eggs, "You running the egg stand?"

"Tsk. Yes, I am running the egg stand. You make it sound so technical."

"You're sure it's fine if she—"

"Oh, by all means, we are not gonna run out of paint. Your snake can have at it."

11-7 didn't need any more affirmatives. She coiled up at a table and picked up a brush.

Steph chuckled some more. "You're Advent friend there seems pretty eager, guess it's not as boring as you make it seem."

"Yeah, heh, maybe."

"So, how you been? You still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, um, not bad, not bad."

She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "Really, that's all you have to say; not bad? I heard you were running for mayor, and almost got killed before that."

"It's complicated, but I think I'm doing better. Better than I was doing before." As I was talking, 11-7 pierced the egg she was painting, with her claw, and she grumbled in frustration. Steph and I both chuckled. "How have you been Steph?"

"Oh, you know. Same ol' same ol'. Running the general store with my parents and volunteering to run egg stands."

I saw the glitter of gold on her hand as she gestured to the tent. "I see a ring on your finger. You finally tie the knot with Bruce?"

She looked at it and twisted it on her finger. "Not as quick as you might think. If you had visited last year, you could've come to the wedding."

As she finished, 11-7 broke another one of the eggs, which caught the attention of a little boy in a red shirt. He cautiously handed her a plastic stand. "If you put the egg on this, it easier to not break the egg."

She tossed the eggshell into the bucket in the middle and happily accepted the plastic stand. "Thank you, child."

"You welcome."

Steph chuckled. "She seems good with kids."

"I don't know how– kids are so desensitized these days. If I saw her when I was a kid, I would've pissed my pants."

She nodded in agreement. "Things were different when we were kids." Her tone was serious, but before I could comment, she changed the subject. "What brings ya to town? Easter?"

"We'll actually I came into town to see my family. It just happened to be Easter this weekend."

"Living in an Advent city's got your mind all gunked up. How could ya forget it's Easter?"

I looked back at 11-7. "I guess I've just had a lot on my mind lately."

She slapped me on the back. "Don't look so glum, no shame in that. We all get busy. I'm sure your folks'll be glad ya made the trip"

I chuckled. "I hope so..."

"Hey, seein as your friend is occupied, would you mind watchin the kids for a sec while I'm gone? I've got to use the can."

"Yeah, I can do that."

She gave me a quick salute of gratitude and walked off into the crowd.

11-7 had gotten the hang of painting the egg. With the assistance of the plastic stand, she was no longer poking holes in the eggs with her claws. I could tell from here she was painting the egg yellow, and as she worked she started to add orange diamonds to it.

I walked over to her table, chuckling to myself as I did. "Where did you get the inspiration for that pretty design?" I rhetorically asked.

She looked up from her work. "My pattern. No one else is doing the same, so it is unique enough."

"I didn't know you were so artistically inclined."

She continued to paint as she spoke. "It is interesting to experience your cultural traditions. I never read about painting eggs."

"Like I said, it's for the kids. I don't know if I'd call it a cultural tradition."

She furrowed her brow. "You did it, parents did it, these kids are doing it, It is a tradition. _I am having fun, and I am not - a - _kid."

"Look I—"

She continued talking. "I know it is strange that I am enjoying it, but I've never made an egg before... What are these, bird eggs?"

"I don't know, could be turkey or duck eggs. Doubt there's any chickens around here."

"Do they lay them unfertilized like the chickens did?"

"Maybe, I wouldn't know. My family farms corn. We didn't have any animals."

Our conversation was ended abruptly by Steph returning. "Whatcha guys talkin about. Hey, that egg looks pretty good. Might win the contest with an egg like that."

11-7 looked at her. "Contest?"

"Oh sure, there's a whole bunch of em. Egg painting contest, lots of baking contests, a few fitness contests, and plenty more. The egg painting contest is usually for kids only, but I'd be happy to include yours in the running if you're interested."

11-7 nodded once. "Ok."

Steph looked behind herself at the crowd. "But'cha better hurry up. Looks like the parade is gonna start soon."

I looked where Steph was looking and saw the crowd on the road parted and cleared space on it.

Steph walked over to another table to help a kid, and I watched 11-7 paint for a few minutes until she finished.

Before we went to join everyone else watching the parade, I said goodbye to Steph.

"It was good talking to you, Steph. Take care of yourself."

"You too, don't be a stranger and visit us more often won't'cha? Maybe Bruce will be around next time."

With that, we made our way to the crowd to watch the parade. People moved to the sides as we walked up to the road, so we got a good view of the parade. The music playing over the town's speakers had cut out and in the distance you could hear the sounds of the parade: music, sirens and yelling. The first thing to pass us by was a truck pulling a fishing boat with an advertisement for a local business on it.

There were a bunch of kids on the fishing boat throwing out colored plastic bead necklaces. One of the necklaces landed right at my feet. I picked it up and offered it to her; she looked surprised. "These are for us to take?"

"Yeah, they're gifts. They throw candy and other stuff too."

She pointed at the necklace I was holding out to her. "Is that for me?"

"If you want it."

She smiled. "You will have to place it on for me." She sucked in her hood, and I placed the string of red beads over her head. She rolled some of the beads through her fingers and giggled. "You should not be so friendly to me in public."

I shrugged. "Who cares, besides everyone is focused on the parade."

The next few parade floats were also sponsored by local businesses, and some threw out candy. Kids ran in front of us and snatched it up like jackals. I only managed to snag a couple pieces for 11-7. The next float up was a classic Easter bunny float covered in grass and eggs, then the mayor, who was waving to the crowd, was next. He was riding in that car I saw him drive off in, except it now had a re-election sign attached to it. We made eye contact as he passed by, so I waved back at him.

The next few floats were things I had seen before: old men in tiny cars, the school's marching band stomped by, but what caught me off guard was the next float. There was a guy with long hair, wearing a crown of thorns, tied to a crucifix. Roman centurions and people in peasant garb walked with the float.

11-7 squinted her eyes and looked at the float. The next float depicted an empty cave and had a sign with the words he is risen written on it.

I felt anxious as she looked between the floats and back at me. "What is this referring to? The scenes depicted - who is He?" She pointed at Christ on the cross.

"Him, oh - uh, that's Jesus, messiah of Christianity."

She looked confused. "The people here still worship figures of old human religions? Is this the subject of the holiday? This would explain why I have never heard of Easter."

I nodded. "Yeah, Advent may have managed to stamp out most Human religions inside the cities, and replace Human holidays with their own, but outside the cities, the old traditions are still alive and well."

She didn't seem upset, curious more than anything. Looking back at the Jesus float she asked another question. "Is it not gruesome to depict him that way? Why do that on His holiday?"

"Emm, that's what the holiday - is - about. He died as a sacrifice to save us from the bad things we've all done. Save us from ourselves in a way... or so the stories say."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you believe the stories?"

"Uh, it's not something I think about much these days, I'm busy with - other things."

"I see." She returned her attention to the parade.

We continued to watch the floats go by, and eventually, we both got bored. I noticed off to the side the bar Spigot Spoons was wide open, and it didn't look like anyone was inside.

I poked 11-7's arm and pointed over to it. "Let's go get a drink, I'm thirsty."

She nodded, and we slunk off from the crowd into the bar. My initial assessment was correct: there was no one in here at all. The lights were on, but there wasn't anyone around or tending the bar, and at the back I saw my old nemesis looming.

We walked up to the bar and I sat down on one of the leather bar stools. I yelled "Hello!", but no one responded. "Hmm, must be empty." I waited a minute and looked around. When no one showed up, I hopped over the bar and helped myself to a bottle of beer in the clear fridge. The label on the bottle didn't have Advent in the name, which made me think it was bottled locally.

11-7 looked appalled at my behavior. "You just stole. You cannot do that. We will be getting in trouble because of you!"

I popped open the top of it on the bar and said, "please, I've spent plenty of money here, they won't go out of business over one beer, and it's their fault for not staffing the place," then I took a swig.

As I drank my beer in silence, I could not help but gaze at my nemesis. Its mere existence taunted me.

11-7 saw my intense glare and followed it. "Why are you staring at the false bovine?"

"That isn't just a fake cow with a saddle on it... that's a mechanical bull."

She still looked confused. "What is a mechanical bull?"

I walked around to rejoin her on the other side of the bar. "It's a game, you ride it as long as you can until you get thrown off."

She looked from the bull to me. "Is it difficult?"

I nodded. "Very."

"How long can you stay on it?"

I took a swig from my beer. "My record was 30 seconds."

She scratched her chin. "What is the longest someone has been on it?"

"Last I heard the record was still held by Wilbur Pierce, and it's like 2 minutes or something."

"That sounds difficult."

"Ah, fuck it. It's been a while, I'm gonna ride it."

11-7 flicked her tongue out and looked around. "Are you going to get in trouble for this?"

"Probably would get punished less for riding the bull unsupervised, than for stealing the beer." I said, as I walked over to the bull.

The floor surrounding the bull was covered in padding. The bull itself was made to look like a realistic bull, but the horns were made of foam.

Outside of the padded ring that surrounded the bull there was a green button and red button. I pointed them out to 11-7. "Ok, so you push the green button once I'm on it, and the red button when I fall off. Make sense?"

She nodded. "I understand."

"Great."

After taking off my tan suit jacket and red tie, I ran over and hopped on the bull. As soon as I was on it, the bull rocked forward and I slid off of it.

11-7 remarked. "That wasn't very long?"

I groaned and stood up. "Yeah, well, you have to give me a second to get situated."

"Oh, I apologize. You should have been more specific."

"Mhmm."

This time, I was able to climb on and get ready for the bull. "Ok, you can start it now."

The bull bucked and spun around; it took all of my focus just to hang onto the damn thing. It had been a while, but I remembered how to center my weight so I wouldn't fall off immediately.

I heard 11-7 start clapping, so I let out a "Yeeeehaaaw!" as it whipped me around.

My hand got sweaty after a bit, and slipped off, once I lost my grip the bull effortlessly tossed me aside.

She kept clapping. "That was amazing. You were like a genuine cowboy."

I looked up. "What's my time?"

"The timer says 35."

I hopped up off the floor. "Holy shit, I beat my record! It took me weeks of practice to even get 30 seconds."

She smirked. "My turn."

I chuckled. "You really want to show me up in my hometown's bar, huh?"

She coiled up her tail. "I have a strong grip; this game should be child's play for me."

"Give it a go, tell me when you're ready."

I picked my beer up off the table and drank it as she got ready. She coiled around the mechanical bull, taking care to evenly disperse her weight over it.

She raised a hand up in the air. "I'm ready!"

I hit the green button, and the bull began rocking back and forth. I cheered her on, but it didn't look like she needed much support. For one thing, the bull was rocking slower than when I rode it, and for another, she really did have a death grip on it. Half way through, she let go of the bull with her hand, and waved at me with it. After three minutes, she told me to stop it.

She slithered up, looking quite smug. "How was that?"

I spoke in a cowboy voice. "Well, you gotta be the most rootin' tootin' cowgirl in all the west."

She tightened up her hood and looked away out of embarrassment. "Since when did you stop being a sore loser?"

"Watching that bull suffer was all I needed. Come on, let's get out of here before people notice we're fucking around." I finished my beer and threw it in the trash as we left. The parade was still going on, so it took us some time to squeeze through the crowd.

As we walked towards my parent's house, I was taken down memory lane. We passed by my old school, the corner store I bought candy at, and so many more things. I pointed them out to 11-7 as we walked by them.

As we reached the outskirts of town, the corner store reminded her of the candy I had fought the children at the parade for. I handed them to her as we walked.

She looked over the candy. "These look strange, not like Advent confectionaries."

"Most everything here is made in town, including the candy. The agricultural communities don't import stuff from the cities unless they have to."

She flicked her tongue above the candy. "What kind are these?" She held them out so I could see them.

"Looks like a couple of caramels and apple and strawberry hard candy." I snatched the red one out of her hand.

She closed her hand up and pulled it away from me. "Hey!"

"Sorry, inspector's fee, and strawberry is my favorite." I pulled open the plastic and popped it in my mouth.

11-7 did the same for each piece of candy, swallowing them one at a time. She smiled when she was finished. "Good taste."

I chuckled. "How would you know? You're supposed to suck on them, not swallow them."

She got a mischievous look on her face and analyzed her surroundings. I looked around too, there didn't seem to be anyone. She grabbed my shoulder and leaned in to kiss me. I was expecting a quick peck, but she slipped her tongue in.

When she pulled away, it took me a few seconds to realize what she had done.

She smirked, and held out my candy with her tongue coiled around it, before pulling it back in to suck on it. "You're right, Lucas! This is better. I understand why you like the strawberry."

I laughed and wiped the dopy look off my face. "Remind me to buy a bag of that candy before we leave tomorrow."

We kept walking towards my parents' house. It was gravel roads and empty fields. The walk took a lot longer than I expected. Seemed a lot shorter distance when I was riding my bike as a kid. Eventually, I saw the roof shingles of my house in the distance. It had been painted a green color, but I still recognized the layout.

I stopped 11-7 for a second. "Ok, you remember what I told you?"

She sighed. "Yes, I remember."

"I'm just making sure. You know neither of us is going to get a warm reception, and I might just have to say my piece and le—"

"You worry too much, Lucas. These are your family. They forgave your brother, didn't they?."

"Yeah, I- I don't know how they're gonna react, but we won't find out standing here."

In front of my house was a short wooden bridge. Actually, calling it a bridge was an exaggeration, it was five thick planks of wood you could drive a truck over to cross the creek. I stood on it and looked at my old house. People were talking and laughing inside, it sounded like they were having a good time.

What was I thinking coming here? My family and I lived in two different worlds. My brother forgave me, but we had been living in the same world. Standing in front of the house I spent most of my life in, wearing my Advent suit, I was reminded how much I had changed. It's not that I didn't want to see them, I just got the overwhelming realization that I'd be ruining their day.

Maybe it would be better if I left... I saw a little girl lounging on the porch swing. She had been observing me since I walked onto the bridge. She waved at me and shouted, "Guys, it's Lucas! I think Lucas is here!"

Before I could react, she hopped off the swing and ran to me. 12 people stepped out of the house and stood on the porch: my parents, some of my siblings and their children. They were wearing the typical attire for this town, one might even call it the town uniform. The men were in plaid button ups and jeans, and the girls wore the same thing or dresses.

The girl ran up and hugged me around my midsection. "I knew you were gonna come, Lucas! I was waiting on the porch for you."

I knelt down and returned her hug, trying to hold back some tears. "I missed you too, Lucy." Hugging her tight for a moment, I released her. "You're a lot bigger than I remember."

She giggled. "Well, duh, I started high school this year."

Her gaze drifted to 11-7, who was standing behind me a few feet. I could tell she was concerned, so I said, "Don't worry about her. She only bites the people I tell her to," as I stood up.

She relaxed a little, but not completely. "Ok." She started walking up to the house and gestured for me to follow.

As we got closer to the house, I was surprised to see most people seemed happy to see me. Some were neutral, namely my Dad, but this was looking way better than I imagined it would.

When I got up to the porch, everyone just kind of stared at me. Lucy stayed by me. It started to get awkward then my older brother Rodney stepped forward to greet me, "Hey man, it's been a while." he said, extending a hand for me to shake.

A bit obvious, but what could anyone else say? I shook his hand. "Yeah, it has. How are things on the farm?"

He chuckled. "Well, you know it's almost planting season, so it's all hands on deck."

"Oh, I know how that is..." I looked down at Lucy. "You got a sharp daughter. Can't believe she recognised me."

Rodney scratched his head. "You look like you've done well for yourself, but you still got the same face, dumbass."

We all shared a good laugh after that comment.

My Mom spoke up from the crowd. "Oh, pardon my language, but to hell with all this formality, come here and give me a hug, boy."

She was still wearing her cooking apron and walked forward to hug me. We embraced for a few moments. "It's good to have you back in town. We missed you." She released me from the hug and backed up. "Oh, dear! I'm sorry sweetie, I got flour all over your nice suit."

I waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, it'll wash off."

"Why don't you come inside and throw it in the washer and get yourself a glass of my Tasty Quench, dinner is almost ready, I started the pies when you showed up."

"I'm excited to hear the menu."

As we all started walking inside, everyone was trying to talk to me at once, but my Dad's voice cut through everyone else's. "That thing isn't coming inside."

Most people in my family shared his sentiment, judging by their reactions. "Of course." I looked over at 11-7. "Stay outside, but do not go far."

Everyone else looked at 11-7 as I spoke to her. "Affirmative, Mr. Hickey."

And that was it, we all walked inside. The house looked the same as I remembered it, with only a few changes: newer furniture, different colored walls, but the wooden floors were the same.

My Mom said, "You can leave your jacket on the washer. Do you remember where it is?"

"Yeah, if you didn't move it."

"We didn't. I'll clean it for you after dinner."

"Thanks."

Everyone had so many questions for me, as I sat down in the living room, about what I was doing, and about my run for mayor. My Dad didn't ask anything, but listened to the conversation. A few of my brothers and sisters shared his sentiment and didn't say much. The kids ignored me and went back to running around the house and playing their games, not even Lucy stuck around once I was inside.

It was so strange. As I talked and laughed, it almost felt like I had never left this place. Not everything was perfect, my father and some of my siblings were distant; every time I tried to talk to my Dad he would respond, but he didn't want to carry a conversation. Judging by my Mom's reaction to seeing me, she had to work at convincing everyone to even allow me to be here.

After a while, no one had any more questions to ask me, preferring to talk amongst themselves, and since I didn't feel like watching the game, I walked into the kitchen to see what Mom was doing. Our kitchen was quite large, it was a necessity with how big my family had gotten over the years. Every surface was covered in food, and the smells of ham, potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin pie filled the room. A couple of my older nieces were helping my Mom around the kitchen, and I was surprised to see 11-7's head poking through the window above the sink. She was looking intently at my mother, but offered me a sly glance to indicate she had found a workaround to what I told her to do.

My mother was using a rolling pin to roll some dough on the counter, "...the secret is to flour your surface and the roller, so that the dough doesn't stick to either—" She looked up from what she was working on and saw me. "Come to help out, Lucas?"

I shrugged. "I could if you need some. I was just checking up on the pie progress."

She went back to rolling at the dough. "They're almost done, made the fillings and dough, and all that's left is to assemble them. Why don't you give Jessie a break, she's been helping me all day."

Jessie was cutting up strawberries in a bowl, and set her knife down. "Thanks Grandma!" She handed me her apron and ran out the door.

Grandma looked at my other niece and said, "You can go play with the other kids too Anna, once that chocolate filling is good and mixed." Anna began to mix the filling twice as fast as she was before.

There were only a dozen or so strawberries left to cut, so I got to work. "None of the women helping you out?"

My mom chuckled. "Believe me, they helped out when I was making dinner, and everyone brought a little something. I'm too old to be makin all this by myself anymore."

"It all smells delicious, so you haven't lost your touch."

She chuckled. "Awww, there you go, buttering me up." She looked over at me struggling to cut some of the strawberries, and chuckled again. "It's a good thing that alien of yours knows a thing er two about cooking. You still ain't got chef's hands."

I sighed. "It's been a while, I don't get a lot of practice."

"It's that city life and going out to eat all the time—" she poked me in the side with her rolling pin, "makes you soft. You stay here for a few weeks, I'll teach you how to cook, then your bodyguard won't have to work so hard."

"You've been talking with her?"

She nodded. "It has been asking me questions, your alien has manners, which is more than I could say for you and your brother when you were younger."

"What kid is born with manners? At least we didn't burn down any buildings like the neighbor's kids."

"Mmmhm, finish cuttin up those strawberries."

It didn't take me long to finish cutting the strawberries. I put them on the pie crust my Mom had been rolling out, along with a can of cherry pie filling, and she threw it in the oven. Going to watch the game still wasn't appealing, so I stayed and made small talk with my Mom, it wasn't anything important. 11-7 stayed by the window and observed, making occasional polite comments. My Mom never tried to chase her off, so she somehow made a good impression on her while I was in the living room.

Once the pies had finished baking, it was time for dinner. We all sat around the enormous kitchen table that my great grandfather had carved from a single tree when this house was built, we all spoke the Lord's Prayer, and ate supper together. The food was good, but the company was better. In my time in the city, I had grown to miss these big family meals, hell - I rarely used my table at home. I immersed myself in the moment, and was content knowing anytime I wanted this I could come back here to my family, who had accepted me with arms more open than I could've ever hoped for.

While everyone was distracted, I snuck a large plate of food out back to 11-7 who swallowed it greedily. I offered to bring her more, but she didn't want to get me in trouble. The rest of dinner went well. We all hung out in the living room and shared old stories. As it got dark out, a lot of my family left. They said their goodbyes to me, and I feel like I was on relatively good terms with everyone but my Dad.

It was just me and him now, my brother Rodney and his wife went upstairs to get an early night (apparently they ran the farm now that my Dad couldn't do much physical labor anymore), I had a chance to talk to him one on one, so he couldn't ignore me.

"Dad?"

He was still watching the game and paid little attention to me. "Hmm?"

"Are you still mad at me for leaving?" He didn't respond. "I know we left you in a rough spot, but we were - younger then. If you want to hear it, you and Mom were right about everything. It sucked, it was an urbanistic hell that took everything we had and almost killed both of us..."

I paused for a moment to see if he wanted to say anything, but he was silent, watching the game, but I could tell he was actually listening to me now. "I'm sorry for what I did. You'll never realize how sorry I am. But, look at how far me and Randy have come. We've both become stronger for it. I've made more mistakes than I can count, but I've learned from them and become someone I never would have if I stayed here. If I win this race, I can make the cities more liveable, and do good things for Camden. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

He cleared his throat and leaned over in his chair to look me in the eye. The wrinkles in his forehead shifted as he furrowed his brow. "When you left your Mother and I, we thought we failed you and your brother. We can all watch the TV. We've seen what you've become. You never cared about power when you lived here. You didn't even want to join the scouts when you were younger. What changed?"

"I realized power is the only way to make changes, that I would never be left alone if I sat around and did nothing."

He took a deep breath. "Doing right by the community is well and good, but are you sure it's what you want and not something Advent made you want?"

"Advent _doesn't control my decisions anymore, _I do."

He nodded once. "Your mind's made up, then. It took guts to come back to me and your Mother, to apologize and still show respect to us. We've never hated you son, your mother and I hated your decision. Your mother and I have prayed for you and your brother every day you have been gone from our lives..."

"Dad—" I got up and hugged him, he hugged me back harder.

He looked down at my feet, "I thought I lost those shoes." and back up at me. "They fit you well... You can do good things for people, don't screw it up for yourself."

It was a good heart to heart, the most emotion my Dad had ever shown me. I stayed in the living room with him for a while, talking about my life in the city. The dark of the night had really begun to set in at this point, and there was still something I wanted to do tonight. I told him I was going to go out for a walk for a bit and borrowed a flashlight.

11-7 was outside sitting on the porch, she was holding a stick and drawing something in the dirt. When she noticed my approach, she swept the drawing away with a swipe of her tail before I could see it.

"Bored?"

She nodded. "It has been lonely out here..."

"But you're not alone out here. Don't you hear the crickets, frogs, and coyotes?"

"I can smell them too."

"Do you want to go somewhere cool?"

She perked up after hearing that. "Yes."

"Then follow me." I clicked on my flashlight and led her behind the house to a trail that led into the woods. She followed me closely. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise, but you'll like it."

"Is there anything in these woods that I should worry about?"

"Nah, just coyotes, might be bears around, but nothing you couldn't handle."

After a few minutes, we entered a huge clearing in the trees with a sizable lake in the middle. I turned off the flashlight now that the moonlight lit up the area enough to see.

"I was not expecting a lake to be here." She sounded surprised.

"Yeah, it's one of the town's reservoirs. Cool, isn't it?"

She stared at the moon's reflection in the water. "Yes."

"Do you want to sit by the water? I brought a blanket." I held it out for her to see.

She smiled. "I would enjoy to."

Still working on her English, I see. I walked over and laid the blanket down close to the water, but not close enough for the waves to get it wet. The beach at the edge of the reservoir comprised small rounded pebbles rather than sand, so it was comfier to sit on, and made a pleasant noise when the waves rolled against them.

11-7 joined me on the blanket and sat behind me, using her tail to support my back. I gestured to the lake and the sky. "Man, the sky is so clear tonight, only way this would be better is if we had a full moon."

She looked around, taking in the sights and sounds. "The sky and the water are so beautiful. I did not know there were so many stars in the sky at night."

"Yeah, when you get outside the city there's no light pollution. You can see almost everything. You know, some of those stars have names too."

She looked at me with wide eyes, and her pupils were dilated because of the darkness. "Do you know their names?"

I pointed at three stars in a line. "Those three are Orion's belt, I think, and the others around it form the Orion constellation."

"Wow... Do you know any others?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "Not really, heh. I don't know much about astronomy."

She rubbed my shoulder with the tip of her tail. "That is alright, they are pretty to look at, even if I don't know their names."

I leaned back against her body more and sighed happily. "They sure are."

"It is strange to look at the sky for me, as beautiful as it's appearance is."

"How so?"

"I see the stars and I know around one of them is my home planet. Maybe I am looking at that star right now, and I do not know it."

"I can see how that would be weird... You think you'll ever get to see it someday?"

"I hope so." She paused for a moment and looked into my eyes. "If I ever went to visit it, would you come with me?"

"Another planet no human had ever set foot on before? You'd have to try and stop me, but I'd go anywhere as long as you were there?"

She leaned forward and gave me a peck on the forehead, garnishing it with a flick of her tongue before turning her attention to the stars again. "What do you think my planet looks like?"

I gestured around. "Probably a lot like Earth. I bet it's got plants and animals, it probably has lakes and a beautiful night sky. Maybe it has more than one moon in the sky at night, or even a glittering ring that surrounds the planet, like Uranus or Saturn."

She snickered. "It sounds like a lovely place." She looked at me. "Why did you bring me here? It is nice, but not like something you would do."

"I, eh - used to come to the reservoir when I needed to think, day or night. I know this place about as well as my bedroom. When I was younger, I fantasized about bringing a cute girl here to share its beauty with her, and maybe even steal a kiss from her while we gazed at the moon together. Never got around to doing that." She said nothing right away, so I continued. "It's childish, I know, but it's as picturesque as I imagined it would be. Even more so with you here."

"It is not juvenile, you charmer." She smiled. "I am honored you would share this place with me, but you do not need to steal a kiss from me. I give them for free."

"And not just to anyone?"

She pounced on me. "No, they are only your kisses."

As we added yet another passionate kiss to the growing number we had shared, I hoped this moment would last forever. That we could stay here until the beach pebbles turned to sand, and the lake dried up, but I'd have to settle for making a memory I'd never forget.

Perhaps our hero has finally found what he had been looking for his whole life. Maneuvering his way through this new world, he has wrestled control over his life and destiny back into his own hands. He has mended the bonds that were broken long ago. He's got friends in high, and low, places. While his future may seem uncertain, nothing in life is ever truly certain, and no matter what troubles come his way - he won't have to face them alone: he's got a loving girlfriend to help, who just so happens to be a snake shaped alien from outer space.0-

*The End * (For real this time, thanks for reading)

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Future Plans:

I'm gonna keep writing, it's as simple as that. Also working on a short Viper comic with an artist, I might get the writing work done for that at some point. Currently, I've been enjoying exploring topics involving romance and Human male x Sapient Female alien/creature/monster/whatever, so it'll be more of that. If you like that, awesome; if not, why the fuck did you just read an entire story about it, you sicko? Or, if you just skipped over everything to read this brief paragraph about my future plans: you should really go do something better with your time.

Teaser:

I've already started work on my next story, which is another Xcom story, which takes place in a city after the Xcom Advent War. It involves a bunch of characters, including a guy and... a viper. Surprising, I know, but it gets better, these two will do something crazy in this story: they work at a fast food burger chain for minimum wage. If that hasn't reeled you in yet this will: they hate their jobs, but they make the best of it by joking around at work so they don't want to off themselves when they get home. Super relatable, and it is definitely something I don't have some personal experience with. Jokes aside, there will be romance and seggs in it as well as an interesting(maybe) plot. I don't know when I'll finish the first chapter, but keep your eyes open for it. Until then, keep it real my gamers (got tha g word pass), and thanks for all the feedback and shiz.