Epilogue

Comin' down the world turned over,
And angels fall without you there.
And I'll go on to bring you home,
All because I'm--
I'll become
What you became to me.

-"Black Balloon" by the Goo Goo Dolls

The sun was high in the sky when the single life-changing word came over the radio, loud and clear so everyone in the bunker heard. Tighe sat with Jazzy on his lap, his mother tucked beneath his arm. The prisoners were silent, waiting for the week-long battle for the Capitol and the Purple Ocean. None had left when three days were over.

"Victory!" Vey shouted as the enemy surrendered. "DelaKluuger!" he called out in the Soren language. Tighe could imagine him hooting as he jumped up and down as the smoke cleared, but the image was quickly replaced by the celebration of the prisoners.

No, Tighe thought. They weren't prisoners anymore. They were free: Free to return what was left of their lives. Free to start to gather the pieces back together.

It was the same for him, he realized as he watched Jazzy dancing with the children in the group. He would always see Ellyx in her and in their mother, he knew, but it was okay. He had a beautiful little girl to cherish for eternity. And when he died, he would join Ellyx in her throne beside Thęron, laughing with her father at all the good times they had shared.

Outside the bunker, it seemed as if winter had left early. Tighe looked up at the bright sun and knew everything would turn out all right.