So I actually wrote two slightly different versions of the second portion of this chapter. Due to reader feedback, I have opted to publish this one.

Thank you all again for reading!

Chapter 22: BrightandBeautiful.(tiff)

Through the early evening hush, the trees shifted, and their leaves chattered around us. A soft, warm summer breeze swept from the forests and across the fields, drifting and swaying the tall green grasses in front of old man Aaron's house.

The crumbled home, a shell of its former self, was met with the remaining bright drifting sunlight. The shards of glass from long since broken windows glistened, partially buried under the ground like diamonds, and the old white painted wood grew shadows among the cracks and sharp edges as the sunlight touched what remained. There was a soft smell of pine in the air as the moments of breezes passed us, bringing the sounds and smells of the woods with it as songs of birds met that of our stillness.

It had felt like an eternity since I heard the sound of birds. Something so simple had become important to me as I found life in the real world returning.

Looking at Rachel standing in front of the house, we stood behind her as her red dress moved along with the grasses beneath. Her short buzzed hair had grown out by now, reaching her jawline as her dark curls absorbed and became illuminated by the morning dawn, much like the house that remained.

In her arms she held a small, simple cardboard box. There was nothing special about it: it wasn't an antique vase, or a hand-carved work of art. There was no real means to dress death with beauty and vanity, especially during the times we had faced. Luxuries like that weren't easy to come by anymore. Even after a year had gone by, the world was still building—re-growing. "To spend what we had on something temporary," Rachel had said, "would defeat the purpose of what my granddad would have wanted."

The world seemed to breathe as another soft breeze swept by.

"I'm ready now," Rachel said. We continued to be silent behind her as we watched her open the small cardboard box, waiting for the breeze to return once again in its exhale before she allowed Aaron's remains to be picked up, and taken into the field in front of her.

From behind me, I watched as military personnel and what remained of Calhoun's soldiers form two lines, walking beside and before Rachel as they created a salute and focal point to the home. With the humans and their riffles, and the Hero's Duty Programs with theirs, they shot off a round into the sky, causing the explosive echo to blast around us, but then dissipate again into the world.

To honor Aaron was the very least we could do, but to keep him in our memory would be more.

So many people… so many lives shaken, I thought. I was met though with the new world in front of me, the awakening world… the world with potential.

It continued to change with every passing day.

"It is with my greatest pleasure, and my greatest honor, that I bestow upon you the newly appointed Medal of Daring."

A series of cheers escaped the crowd in front of the stage to meet me in the middle. Standing next to me was Dannen and Steven, and to our right were Calhoun, Ralph, Felix and Vanellope. In our waiting upon the stage, we watched as the general removed the golden medal from a box, its immediate removal from the red velvet internal casing caching the eyes of everyone in the room.

It was the first of its kind: the medal depicted what looked like a star placed among a detailed frame that reminded me of something like the pattern of a silver-metaled snowflake. Along its borders was a knot-like depiction of rope, swirling and twirling around each other, one silver, one gold as well, perhaps to signify two worlds wrapping together. A red ribbon held it in place to be worn.

I was the first the general approached, the motion of the medal being placed around my neck stirring my heart in a quake as I moved through the moment, bowing my head to allow it to slip over around my neck, feeling as the cold metal it was made of hit my chest.

I watched as the general gave one to Steven and Dannen next, the two smiling humbly as the same medal was placed around them as well, signifying to the crowd in front of us of what we had done.

"You are proof of the capabilities of what mankind can do," the general began to announce. "The potential of mankind—of Users, is incomprehensible. Like explorers and warriors before us, let us be daring in the face of uncertainty. Let us all be compelled by your example to continue reaching out to new things, fighting the good fight, and taking the next big leap."

The crowd applauded again, much louder this time. I found my eyes scanning the faces among them, some recognizable, some not. I saw both civilians and military, and Programs of all kinds, both from Flynn's Arcade and Litwak's, and others from different consoles, computers, and devices that had been freed from the confines of their digital world to arrive into our own. Rachel stood out to me in the front, her soft mellow smile refreshing now that she had found peace with the burial of her granddad.

Indeed, the sea of faces completely countered the sea of Cy-bugs I had left behind, nearly over a year ago now.

"I will now bestow a new honor upon our Program heroes," the general added. He had gone back towards a trio of soldiers holding all the boxes containing the medals, and this time pulled out four more. However, the medals in these boxes were slightly different in appearance. Exactly like the Medal of Daring Dannen, Steven and I had just received; this one was colored the opposite. The backdrop of the snowflake-like pattern was gold, and the star was silver. The ribbon that held it all together was blue.

"To say that these Programs are merely heroes would be an understatement," the general began, this time in honor of our Program friends. "You carried our own through the thick of it all, and helped us reach a reality we could only dream of. Like our world, yours is but a reflection of our own, similar but unique in every way." The general began to approach the others, and place their medals on the four of them, saluting after he did so. Calhoun was compelled to meet him in his salute out of habit from her programming, while Ralph, Felix, and Vanellope followed suit out of her example. "We still have a long way to go, but it is my privilege that I honor you for what you have done." The conclusion of the general's last statement sent the crowd up roaring again, my friends standing on the stage with me allowing themselves to smile and pester at one another then as the ceremony came to an end. It was cute seeing Vanellope and Ralph give each other a friendly fist-pump, and watch as Calhoun kneeled down beside her husband to take him into another romantic embrace. Looking over to my left, I even saw Steven reach inside his shirt pocket to take out a handkerchief and begin to gently wipe his eyes down from under his glasses, when Dannen turned my direction to give me a thumbs up.

A smile overcame my expression as I absorbed it all, and a stir of lightness that I could only describe as wonder for my future overtaking what doubt I had once held onto.

I was absorbing it all in when my eyes finally found Turbo among the audience, his small form hidden in the back next to the doorway exit. Finding emotions stirring again, being replaced by those feelings of warm lights in my moment on the stage, I felt compelled to meet him there.

He must've seen me notice him, because he stayed where he was as I walked down the steps of my pedestal and through the crowd, finally up to him in the back. Even behind the crowd and celebrations, it was still fairly lively, although much quieter now to give me room to hear and talk to him.

"Hi, Turbo," I said, easily managing a soft smile. My eyes lowered to the floor almost bashfully for a second before I brought them back up so I could look at him, kneeling down in unison as I leveled myself.

"Hello Kailey," he replied softly. "You look good."

"Oh? Me?" I looked down at what I was wearing: the dark purple dress was hands down the nicest thing I felt like I had put on in years. Even during the passing year, I felt all I could do was put on what I had and get to work on helping people. There had been no time to tend to my personal appearance. I finally imagined how he had seen me for so long in that racing suit, and with my hair a tangled mess. Even after all that, I still sometimes forgot to feel what it felt like to be me before it all—to have a sense of normalcy in my appearance. "Thank you," I acknowledged. I tried to gather my words then as I tried to think of what else to say to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," he said at first with his continuation of softness, but it quickly changed as that smirk returned to his face. "Always good now, it feels like."

"Turbo I want to… do something for you," I started then. For some reason I felt my hand reach up to the medal on my chest, as if I was prepared to take it off, but he quickly must've read my intentions, because instead of his hand reaching for the medal, it met mine on top of it, the other hand following suit to grab my other hand as he looked at me.

"There's'th no need," he said. "Believe me; I've had my chance at winning medal'th's."

"But Turbo, you've done so much," I said.

"Not really," he said. "You did all the work."

"Why do you say that?"

He laughed to himself, shaking his head almost in disbelief, but it was very gentle in how he did so. "You're too much, you know that?"

I felt myself blushing then. "You know why I do it, right?" I began to admit. "I want you to be reminded that you're not alone anymore. There's nothing else you need to prove to me, or anyone else."

"A medal is'th'n't going to do that," Turbo said. "Every time I look at you… I already know."

I felt both my face and the lights in my stomach get warmer as a weightless feeling overcame my senses. It had seemed so long since the first portal opened, to begin the deletion of the Cy-bugs, and even longer when I had first met him. He had never been too far away since then, but I felt like just now I was allowing myself to step away from the constant working, and rebuilding of the real world, and simply to the work in progress with him. I found I begun to treasure those moments with just the two of us.

"So I heard that new Bad Anon meeting Zangief talked about a while back is finally happening," I said then, rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb. "Are you going to go?"

"Oh that." He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

"You'll need to tell me what happens."

"I will," Turbo said with a wink. "Better yet… maybe I can tell you on a drive."

"I could use a break," I said, shrugging. "Maybe we can get away for a while and drive by those new portals going up. A road trip… if you're up for it."

"Yeah… I definitely could do that," Turbo said, almost in a teasing way. One eyebrow rose as he thought to himself for a moment before he continued. "Hoo-hoo! Bet'cha I can make the trip across state in less than 24 hours."

"I wouldn't doubt you, Speed Racer," I joked. "Just… please don't do any weird twists and turns again, okay? I don't think my poor stomach can handle it."

"Hmm… I can probably manage that."

I glared in a joking manner at him, but the more I tried to hide that it was a joke and make it seem serious, the more I found that I couldn't hold the gesture anymore, and started laughing again like I hadn't laughed before. I found it ironic that I was telling the greatest racer ever to slow down for me. Oh the irony.

"I love it when you make me laugh," I said after I had managed to calm down a tad.

"I love it when laugh," Turbo responded quite slyly, a mixture of sincerity and his obvious flirty personality falling through. "You know what I'd like better though?"

"What?" I asked.

"If you'd give me a kiss." Turbo smirked again after his statement, then said, "A kiss for your Racecar Hero."

I felt my cheeks flush again, this time giggling to myself like I was in high school again. In an attempt to be reflective of his teasing, but seemed to fail, I said, "Oh really? Is that what you want?"

He didn't respond verbally that time, but maneuvered my hands in way that removed the one away from the medal on my chest, and seemingly forced my body to fall forward and to where my back would face the ground, scooping me up before I hit the floor to take me into a romantic embrace. He looked at me for a moment, retaining his overly confident expression before he landed a big one on my lips. I found myself chuckling through the kiss for a bit longer as I thought he must've taken a few notes from Fix-It Felix to do this, and then proceeded to give in, and live through the moment as it was.

Even behind the crowd, in our not-so-quiet corner of the auditorium, it was easy to laugh without fear of being seen expressing myself so openly, and kissing Turbo, who was slowly but consistently showing his true colors to me, and all he was made to do, as racer, as a friend, and maybe now among these things as something different. Picturing the two of us there in the present: if I were to describe this moment to myself as I sat in that office chair, and before that life changing phone call, I wouldn't have believed it.

Was it always meant to be this way? Or do we forage our own paths? Whether it was destiny or our own choices, I felt I could finally say I was excited for what was to come.

An ending of an era, but an awakening of a new one.

A world capable of change, and healing.

New friends, new dreams, new discoveries. The possibilities were all there, waiting.

The real world never looked so bright.

THE END