Chapter Text
Epilogue
Of Alexis and Leonel
Leonel had been surprised by how welcoming Alexis’ family was, and he had found his place in their little bubble faster than he would've ever thought possible.
Alexis kept studying and after a few years, got his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, and with the help of his parents, created a small business for himself.
Encouraged by his closest friend's success, Leonel tried to study but was quickly overwhelmed with the noises and activity buzzing around university.
He found a job at a local library, and decided to give free English courses to students and foreigners, remembering the help and hope that Clarence had brought to them and trying his best to give it back to the universe.
He became much more cheerful and his soft smiles were known to be reassuring to the ones he taught.
Alexis and Leonel got married a decade after the end of the reforming centers, after many an argument about how they were simply trauma bonded, and after several failed attempts at dating other people.
They got a small house in Alexis’ hometown, close to the library, got a dog and two cats, and never spent more than a month without seeing their family.
Of Ernest and Misha
After the initial shock of their meeting, Ernest started developing a massive crush on the smaller man who had the audacity to slap him. Misha ended up apologising profusely, explaining how nervous he was arriving in such a dreadful place.
They started dating after a few months of living together in the temporary apartment that the government had given all reformed citizens.
Together they ended up first studying, then teaching self defense techniques in a dojo. They became a power couple and everyone who studied under them had only good things to say about them.
Of Adam and Maddox
They left the center together and stayed together until their last breath, probably a giggle cackle, and most people who knew them would call them soulmates.
Adam studied harder than ever and he did manage to become a therapist, and a symbol of success for the reformed, as he kept many of his acquaintances close and made new ones, charming each and every person on his way.
Maddox struggled to find his purpose for a while but ended up becoming a private investigator, using all of his skills for what he thought was right.
Of Tanguy
Tanguy had to constantly fight himself to stop from becoming a vigilante. After many anger fits and close calls with violence, Adam ended up helping him find his way.
With his gentleness and strong sense of justice, he ended up making the best aid at a local care unit, helping many patients both physically and mentally, whether they had a way to recovery or were on their deathbed.
He cried with many families at funerals, held many hands, gave a lot of hugs and received tons.
Tanguy married the sister of a patient. He met her at the unit and spent many days and nights supporting her through the pain and uncertainty of her sibling’s illness. The patient made a full recovery and the sister came back with coffee and a date a few days after their release. They dated for a year before having a beautiful ceremony where all of Tanguy’s reformed friends came and stayed on their best behaviour while his bride’s friends and family partied much more loudly and with much more alcohol.
They had two daughters, Clarisse and Helena, both inheriting their father's red hair and strong sense of justice, and their mother's hazel eyes and sociability. Needless to say, they were a popular family wherever they went.
Of Clarence and Orfeo
Clarence learnt P7’s real name, Orfeo, the day of the release. He took him in as a roommate in his own apartment and helped him find therapists and doctors that would help him get back to a healthier state.
It took years for Orfeo to relax a tiny bit, and he never got comfortable in crowds. But he smiled more and more as the years went by, he learnt to trust more people and made a few friends of his own through a gardening club nearby. One night, he admitted that his fantasies were of a stronger, heroic man that would sweep him of his feet and out the center.
After years of living together and beating around the bush, Clarence and Orfeo started officially dating, they got a house with a garden that soon became the most beautiful one of the neighbourhood.
Orfeo wrote a lot, for a blog and then a few books, about gardening, about self esteem, about growing and becoming the best version of yourself you can be.
Clarence kept helping. He actually got employed by the government to help the reformed find suitable learning programs and jobs. He helped them find therapists and social workers, school tutors and even some lost family members that wanted to connect.
Of the reforming centers
They closed. There were a lot of heated debates about what to do with the reformed and how to keep an eye on them.
There was prejudice and discrimination for a while, but the number of reported perfect committing crimes grew and with it the skepticism around the reality and credibility of the science that had brought those centers into the world, calling back to the importance of nurturing that the scientists had once preached.
The tests at birth were stopped, the children were given equal opportunities to grow and become whatever they would become.
Some said that it was a waste, that the reforming centers had prevented children from being abused, that some families didn't deserve to have those children and that they would be better off in centers.
But many decided this needed to end, for everyone had the chance not to be judged on what science had decided for them from genetics and family history.
All things considered, it all ended with a good intention.