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Abby's body was once again adjusting to being on the mattress of Owen's boat. He had lost count of how many hours or even days she had spent on those pillars. She drove for a few hours until Lev woke up and took over. They only had one destination, Catalina Island. And they weren't going to stop until they got there, even if they had to swim.
Abby lay on her back, not even the wounds that the fight with Ellie had caused hurt her then. His body was so tired that he could barely move.
His eyelids were heavy as if they were made of iron, so she slowly closed her eyes. She was so tired, the sunstroke, hunger and thirst had destroyed her so much that she thought not waking up again was an option. Still, sleep overcame her. And she fell fast asleep.
Her eyes slowly opened to adjust to the light. Nothing hurt anymore. She felt light, clean, she had no hunger, thirst or any kind of discomfort. She looked ahead a couple of times while blinking. She seemed to be in a cafeteria, a real one, like the one she was in when she was part of the fireflies or the wolves. She had a coffee with milk right in front of her, there were a couple of empty sugar packets next to her, which made her feel that the coffee would be very sweet, just the way she liked it.
"Abby?"
That voice made her raise her head quickly.
The adult's brown eyes were fixed on her, he had a smile on his lips. He brought his hand towards her which she grabbed tightly, she felt like her tears were about to come out of her eyes.
"Dad? Are you... Are you real" She asked.
"Of course this is me, honey. Who I am going to be? Are you okey?"
Abby looked around, everyone seemed happy, they were drinking coffee, there were children running and playing around. They were all clean, healthy, there were some big, chubby babies in the arms of their parents who smiled, because there was nothing to survive on. There were only people living. Her father was in front of her, holding her hand. And his touch seemed so real that I just wanted to cry.
"Dad... I... Where are we?"
"Wow, it seems like the new vitamins haven't been doing you well. Do you want me to call Owen to come and pick you up?"
Abby's head snapped back to her father. Was Owen there too? His father stood up from his seat, he had some gray in his hair and some wrinkles around his eyes. He was much older than he was when he died at Joel's hands. Abby always thought about how much she would have given to see him grow old.
"To Owen?"-she asked disoriented.
Her father reached up to her forehead, grasped her wrist to feel her pulse, and shook his head.
"Your constants are fine. Are you dizzy? Are you and Owen going to make me a grandfather again?" he joked.
All that information seemed too much for Abby, who couldn't process it all at once. Without wasting a second, the young woman stood up and wrapped her arms around her father. He seemed surprised by the act, but reciprocated it to the second.
"Wow... It's been a long time since you hugged me."
"I miss you so much..." the young woman sobbed as she closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, the light was much dimmer and had a bluish undertone. She looked up, she would recognize that place anywhere in the world. It was Owen's aquarium. But everything seemed new. As if no apocalypse had happened there, the fish swam from one side to the other, happy people could be heard everywhere.
She turned her head to the side and watched a seal swim across the glass. It was a spotted seal, who stopped when it looked at Abby, as if they knew each other from somewhere. Abby took a couple of steps towards the glass, placing her hand on the cold glass.
They both looked at each other for a few seconds. The contagious, uncontrolled laughter of a baby caught her attention. She turned on his heel to realize the turn, then her heart stopped for a second.
"Look, Mike, that's a swordfish, and those over there are sardines. When you get teeth, we'll go fishing and eat a lot of grilled sardines," Owen explained to the baby he was carrying while in his other hand he had an empty baby stroller.
Then Owen's body turned towards her and smiled.
"And look, that's a mermaid, her name is mom."
Abby's hand ended up on her chest, she felt herself fall back, a couple of tears rolling down her cheek. Owen's hand ended up on her arm, stopping her body from falling.
"Abby, are you okay?"
Owen led her to a small bench just below the drifting jellyfish. Abby was trying to breathe gently, but it was all very strange. Words did not come out.
"Where is my father?" was the only thing he managed to say.
"He had an emergency at the hospital and left. You do not remember?"
Abby's eyelids wouldn't stop moving, she was so faze that she didn't know where to start. She felt her heart moving rapidly. She looked at the floor, her baggy pants had been replaced by bell-bottom jeans and his boots by somewhat more polished boots, even with some heels. Her hands didn't have any scars, her nails were kind of long and were painted cream.
"I... Owen," she said as she turned her head to him. "You died here, I saw you. You... And Mel... Holy shit." she said putting her hand to her chest.
The baby began to cry, that brought her survival state back to her body. She tensed completely and turned to the baby. His skin was very white, he was so chubby that his arms were full of rolls and his face was round. He had light brown hair like Owen, but dark blue eyes like her.
"Abby, I think I'm going to take you to the doctor," he said, rocking the little one. "Do you breastfeed him or can I give him a bottle?" Abby's face was completely upset, so he didn't wait for her to respond. "A bottle is fine". he finally said. "Here, I'm going to look for the milk."
The baby jumped into Abby's arms, who grabbed him by the armpits, pulling him onto her lap. It was the baby she had always imagined having. Completely a mixture of the two, physically very similar to her, but with Owen's personality, the little boy smiled in his mother's arms as he stretched out his arms to reach her with his mouth open, as if he wanted to eat her. He still had no teeth in his mouth.
Then Abby smirked. She knew that none of that was real, everything was too perfect. She looked at her hands and saw a ring, it had a blue diamond, Abby's favorite color, it was white gold just like she had always dreamed of. He looked at Owen's hands, he also had a white gold wedding ring. She never told him that.
She looked back at the baby, who pounced on her almost like a hug. Then Abby wrapped her arms around him too, a couple more tears rolling down her cheeks.
"I'm going to give this goober a bottle," Owen teased, grabbing the baby again.
Abby wiped away her tears as she watched Owen give him the bottle. It was an image that, despite being a parallel reality or simply a dream, she wanted to keep in her memory. To turn to it when life was too difficult.
Then she realized that all that touch seemed real, it didn't seem like a dream. What if she was really there?
Owen's eyes returned to her, and he grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. Abby was silent for a few moments.
"Am I dead, Owen?" he asked in a whisper.
Then Owen's face changed, he looked at the baby, his eyes also passed over the aquarium and ended up back on Abby.
" It depends. Are you tired of fighting yet?"
A pang ended up in her heart, making her hair stand on end. She looked around, that place was perfect. She couldn't ask for anything better. She wanted to stay there, with Owen, with her father, even with that baby.
A small smile appeared on Abby's face. A couple of seconds passed like this until the smile disappeared from her face and another tear fell down her cheek.
"Lev needs me. I can't leave him alone. Not now." she muttered. "But..."
She felt Owen lightly squeeze her hand and slide down the bench until he ended up next to her. He ran a hand around her waist and kissed her head. Owen's body odor mixed with manly perfume was like a drug to her.
"I don't think your time has come yet, Abigail. You have much more to live... I have... Created this for you. I thought you would like it," he said, looking at the aquarium.
Abby sniffled a little as her eyes swept over the entire aquarium.
"I love it... I wish I could stay here."
A few seconds passed before Abby's eyes landed again on the baby, who had his hands on Owen's as he drank from the bottle.
"Is this goober also a figment of my imagination?"
Owen watched him, the little boy moved his feet as if he wanted to run, which made them both smile.
"No. Well, something like that. You... You were pregnant before... Those guys kidnapped you and Lev... You lost the baby in Santa Barbara."
Abby closed her eyes heavily, but opened them quickly, afraid she'd be back on the boat when she opened them.
"I miss you so much, Owen... I hate myself for wasting so much time. For having let you escape, you... You are the love of my life and..."Abby began to cry. "Is it you? Is it you for real? Or am I speaking with my own imagination?" she asked with a broken voice as she grabbed his cheeks.
Owen's eyes glazed over as well, and he placed his hands on her cheeks too. Before she knew it the aquarium was just as she remembered it, completely broken and abandoned. There was no one around them, not even the baby. Abby again observed that her own hands were full of dirt and scars, Owen was also back as she reminded him, dirtier, the burns on his body timidly appeared on the collar of his shirt.
"It's me. It's me, Abby. I hadn't left. I wanted to see you one last time."
"Will I see you again?" she whispered.
"Don't know. I still don't know what happens when we die. But I know I have to go soon. I hope to see you again, when you die of old age and having many children and many grandchildren. They will all wear firefly necklaces and learn from you," the boy laughed.
Abby's eyes were overflowing with tears. She blinked a couple of times, letting the tears fall down her cheeks. She felt like Owen's body was disappearing more and more.
"I don't know how I'm going to do it without you."
"You can handle everything, Abby. You are a warrior. The strongest person in this world. You will get it."
They both stared at each other for a few seconds. They leaned in for one last kiss, a long, slow one, even though they knew they barely had time.
After the kiss they wrapped their arms around each other and Abby snuggled into his neck.
"I love you very much, Abby." Owen said for the last time.
"Me too, goober."
When Abby woke up, she was on the ship's mattress, her arms hugging the pillow tightly and she felt her eyes fill with tears. If she concentrated, she could still remember Owen's scent on her nose.
"Abby!! Abby!!" she heard Lev's voice.
Which caused the young girl to quickly stand up, making her slightly dizzy.
"Lev!! What happened?" she asked with her heart beating at full speed.
"The fireflies! "They're here!" he shouted as he went down to the ship's room. "I've contacted them by radio! A boat is coming with the symbol of fireflies!! We have found it!" he shouted euphorically while hugging her body with his arms.
Abby hugged him too and a few more tears fell down her cheeks. She looked up, she didn't believe in spiritual or paranormal things. But in her heart, she felt Owen hugging the two of them before leaving. And he could never prove or deny that he was the one who guided them to the fireflies. What was clear was one thing. When she got lost in the darkness, she would always look for the light.