*sad funeral march music* Here it is…the very last chapter of the story, the one that you've all been waiting for. I hope.
I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled at the amount of people who have been reviewing and supporting me through this journey. This was my first real fanfiction, and it was an amazing experience. I've started a new story titled "Having Only Hopes for Tomorrow." If you liked this one, then you'll LOVE that one. Check it out sometime! The first two chapters of it should be up.
Here it is…the last chapter. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading.
Review, please! The last hurrah!
Still Sunny POV
Life in the caves became even more wonderful than I had anticipated.
My new body served me well. I was by myself in my head, which was a relief, although I did miss my conversations with Jodi once in a while.
I realized after a while that I had never been meant to be put in Jodi's body. I would touch my red hair, or look in a mirror and see my big green eyes ringed with the silver soul undercurrent, or feel my face, and then I realize that this body feels right the way Jodi's never did. This is truly me.
Jodi and Kyle were happy together, and I was glad. She was my sister, and he was my best friend. I was happy that they were happy.
It was so hard for me sometimes, though. I had been convinced before that I did love Kyle, truly, just me. But now…I didn't know what to feel. I didn't know if I loved him or not. At times I yearned for him so desperately that I shamed even myself, but at other times I felt no desire to be around him romantically at all. It was confusing, but I was working on putting my mood swings behind me and trying not to be jealous. He and Jodi belonged together.
Wanda and I had become nearly best friends, and we talked a lot. We did all the same chores, and we often had long conversations while washing the dishes or doing the laundry, baking bread or making soap.
I was getting closer to all the other people in the caves, too. Ian, for instance, was becoming good friends with me. I frequently saw him when Wanda was around. I was becoming closer to Melanie and Jared, too. I spent so much time with them that I soon forgot everything else.
Finally, though, I began to get back down to earth. I remembered all the confusing questions that had come to mind just when I was waking up.
I knew how they had gotten the body now. They told me how they had brought her home and taken the soul out—the soul who was now on her cheerful way in outer space to the Bats—and how the girl hadn't responded. I knew it was wrong to be happy that the girl wasn't still there, but I couldn't help but feel overjoyed. Not that she had died, but that I was able to stay here.
After a while, I began to observe other people's behavior around me. I was afraid that they wouldn't like me as Sunny. I thought that they would only like me when I was in Jodi's body.
What if I lost all my friends because of my new body?
But that wasn't something that I had to worry about at all. Everyone treated me with kindness and respect. If anything, I had more friends than I had before now that Jodi and I were distinguished as two different people.
Jodi?
Jodi became my very best friend in the world. She was my sister. We were always together. We had long conversations, talking about boys and clothes just like two normal human girls. She always talked about Kyle, of course, but if we saw someone particularly cute on a raid or something, we always discussed him for hours afterward.
We had sleepovers together and talked about almost everything together. When the people in the caves played soccer, I was always on her team. We were a pair, truly sisters, and we had bonded in a way I never knew a person could.
I really did love Jodi, and I was glad that we could coexist without squishing one another because we didn't have our own mental space.
And then there was my last question.
I didn't see Jamie for a long time since I'd become human, but one day when I was washing dishes with Wanda, I heard him enter the bath room and call my name.
"Sunny?"
I instantly got to my feet. "I'm here, Jamie."
"Hey, Wanda, how are you?"
"I'm fine, Jamie, thanks," she answered, and I could practically hear the smile in her voice.
"Hey, Sunny, do you want to take a walk with me?" His voice was casual, but I sensed that he would tell me what had been bothering him on this walk.
"Yeah, that's fine," I answered. "Wanda, can you handle the rest of the dishes on your own?"
"This body can't," she grumbled, but then sighed. "Melanie said that she'd stop by in about five minutes, and she'll be able to help me finish. You two go on."
I smiled at her parental tone when she talked about Jamie, and I stood up and walked out after him.
We strolled down through the halls together, chatting aimlessly as we waved and passed other people. I didn't know where we were going—actually, I didn't know that we had a particular destination at all. But after a while, I realized that we had ended up in the game room.
He sat down and patted the ground next to him, and I took a seat, too.
I waited in expectant silence as he struggled with what to say.
"Sunny," he said finally. "Just before you went under…you know, when they took you out of Jodi…I ran into the room and told you what was bothering me."
"I saw you run in," I told him quietly, knowing what he was going to ask next, "but I didn't hear what you said was bothering you."
He sighed and turned to me. "I need to tell you now, then," he said, and opened his mouth to continue.
"Oh, it's all right," I interrupted him. "I already know about you and Trudy."
He stopped mid-word.
"What?" he finally spluttered.
"You…you and Trudy?" I was beginning to feel a little self-conscious. I had thought that was what was bothering him…wasn't it?
"What about me and Trudy?" he echoed, his face blank.
"I…I thought that you were…y'know. I mean…the way you were looking at her…"
He burst into a loud spasm of laughter. "You think that I'm in love with Trudy?" He sounded utterly astonished.
"Well, you were acting weird, and you were looking at her weird, too!" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "You don't have to laugh at me for it!"
He stopped immediately. "Sunny, you know that Trudy's nearly twice my age, right?"
I blushed ferociously. "I…um…well…"
He began to laugh again, but more quietly this time.
"You're perceptive, Sunny," he said at last. "I am in love. It's just…I'm not in love with Trudy."
I blinked. "Then…what…who are you in love with?" I asked at last, not thinking of anything else to say.
There was a long silence, and he finally spoke again. All the laughter was gone, and his tone was deep and husky.
"Being so smart and perceptive, I would have thought that you'd figured it out by now," he breathed, leaning closer to me.
And then we were kissing.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Instantly, a fire erupted.
Where the heck did that come from?
Jamie had always been sweet and kind to me, and a brotherly figure. I had inadvertently grown closer to him after I'd been pushed away from Kyle, and he was the one to keep me company when I was trapped in huge gorges.
But suddenly, he was kissing me. His lips were hard against mine, and I felt him with every single fiber of my being.
And I was LOVING IT.
I had no idea where that came from. I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was that I liked it.
And I realized, for the first time, that I was in love with Jamie.
We separated after a long, long time, both of us gasping.
"Sunny, I'm so sorry," he apologized instantly. "I shouldn't have done that…I just…I don't know."
We were silent for a long time, but all I wanted to do was kiss him again. I tried to get my raging emotions under control.
"Sunny," he spoke again after a long time. "I'm in love with you. Ever since I saw you, I was in love with you. I don't understand it, and it didn't make any sense. But I do. Honestly. I know that you don't know me the way I wish that you would. If you don't love me back, I understand. That's fine with me. I just want you to know that…"
And I kissed him again, silencing him.
"Does that answer your question?" I whispered after we broke apart again.
He laughed.
In that instant, I knew that Jamie and I were meant to be together. Just like Kyle and Jodi, this was where I would truly be happy—in his arms.
This was so sudden, so abrupt. One second we were friends, and the next second, we were soul mates.
Earth was the weirdest planet I'd ever been to.
And I was never, ever leaving. Not after this.
"Now we just need to live through telling Melanie," he whispered after a moment.
"And then we have to live through telling Jodi after that," I whispered back.
We were silence for approximately three seconds.
"Crap," we both wailed at the same time.
Yay! Wow, all done. It has been a wild ride. Please, review and tell me what you thought. I just want to give a shout-out to all the people who reviewed for me already—thank you guys. I really appreciate it.
And now, I have a question for you.
DO YOU THINK I SHOULD DO A SEQUEL?
Yes? No? Tell me what you think!
And, once again, check out my new story! It's titled "Having Only Hopes for Tomorrow." If you liked this one, you'll LOVE that one!
Bye! Hostfanatic OUT!