CHAPTER TWENTY NINE: I'M HERE

Death was a tricky thing. It was even tricker when it tried to claim those who could out run it.

Though it had its grip on her fairly well, when Lotus could hear Five's voice demanding she wake up, she fought harder.

She couldn't describe the feeling accurately, what it felt like to be stuck. It was all dark, no sound expect for those she could hear on the other side. She felt so alone, and trapped, the only emotion running through her was fear.

When she surfaced, all she could see was light. Everything was coated in brightness as she blinked, eyes welling with tears.

"Five." She mumbled urgently, trying to see his face in the light. "Five—"

"I'm here." His voice was hoarse, arms wrapped around her tightly. She grabbed ahold him, holding on as if he'd fade away when she let go. A sob escaped her lips, this was real. She was alive, and so was everyone else. "I'm here."

Lotus clung on, "I thought— I thought you were gonna die—"

"You shouldn't have tried to save me."

"What? And let you die—"

"She shot you." His grip around her tightened, "Right next to me. I would rather die than live through that again."

Lotus closed her eyes, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I should've done more—"

"Hey." They parted, but his hands found her shoulders as he held her in place. "Don't you ever say that. Don't you apologize for nothing."

"Five—"

"You have done enough. You've done way more than you'll ever dream and I don't want you saying that you haven't." He stared down at her, "I-I thought you got up like the rest of them— but you were still on the ground and you weren't breathing, I—"

Lotus grabbed his arm and pulled him close, standing as tall as she could as she rose and leaned in, feeling bad he was always leaning down when they did this. His lips grew closer and closer, a mix of built up emotion fluttering throughout her. She felt like this every time, now it was refreshing against the fading fear and sorrow. She pulled him down the rest of the way, whatever words he was about to say were lost against her mouth. He kissed her gently, carefully, because he knew his family was watching, despite feeling like they were the only two alive. Lotus shifted as his hands gripped her hips and she curled her hands around the nape of his neck. She melted against him, the feeling so familiar, the feeling of home. He shuddered as she pulled him closer, the gentleness slowly slipping away—

"I've had enough of this." Diego's voice rang out, followed by the clap of his hands. "That's enough of this. Forever."

They parted, Lotus could feel her cheeks burn up as she met Five's gaze. His eyes were glittery, staring down at her with a hint of a smile.

"Yeah, I'll agree with that." Luther joined in.

Five turned and stood next to her, glaring at his family. "Alright, shows over. And if any of you make any jokes I will not hesitate to chuck your ass back in time and leave you there."

"You've already done that."

"Fine, I'll send you back to the moon. Is that better?" He sent Luther a look, when the man didn't reply he nodded, "I thought so."

Klaus pursed his lips, he made his way forward towards them and smiled at her. "Thank god you're okay!"

Lotus went to reply when Klaus shoved Five away from her side and englufed her in a hug, "You almost made me cry. I haven't cried in years. I hide my pain in other ways, and we haven't seen a liquor store yet which I will happily still abuse—"

"I missed you." Lotus mumbled, "A lot more than I'd like to admit."

"You're staying with us when we get back, right?"

She stepped away, brows furrowed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe—"

"You've seen what happens when you get close to us." Diego cut Klaus off, crossing his arms. "We're surprised you've stayed this long."

"First off, I have no where else to go. So don't feel special, knife boy."

Five snickered behind her, she glanced back at him as he gave her a shrug.

They didn't know anything of what happened before Five went back, they were clueless to what both she and Five could remember. She couldn't dwell on it to long, she didn't want to tell them, not when they all thought they'd won so easily. Whatever happened to her, it was just a glitch. Nothing to think about to deeply, she didn't want to burden them with her own thoughts and feelings.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Five asked quietly, regaining his spot by her side.

It was that stupid night all over again, in the Academy basement trying to get Vanya free. Flinching whenever Luther did anything, a little voice in her head saying to stay away from him. She didn't really die that night, she was definitely on the way but she never got to the other side. Today, here, she had been. Lotus had died. And now she was back, and how any of that worked she'd never know—

"Lotus?"

She blinked, looking to Five who watched with complexity. He too still looked shaken, but he hid it well enough.

"Yeah." She nodded, clearing her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Allison clapped loudly, snapping her out of her thoughts. The woman looked to each of them, "It's good that we won and all, but we're still stuck in '63."

Five sighed loudly, peering out the far barn doors. "There's more."

Everyone rushed to see the two figures standing in the field, amongst their own fallen.

"Herb!" Diego grinned, turning to Five. "Come on, let's go see what they want."

Five grabbed ahold of her hand as Diego took off, them following behind. Without the freak snow storm, it was fairly warm out. The breeze was comforting, and the air smelt fresh, nothing like back home.

She side stepped bodies, grimacing down before Five lifted her chin with his hand. "Don't look to long. It's hard to forget."

She stopped walking, watching as he realized she had and paused along with her. The breeze ruffled his hair, "What—"

"How did you do it?"

His brows furrowed, "What do—"

"Kill all those people for so long." Lotus continued, genuine curiosity laced her voice. "With no morals and no emotions, how did you do it?"

He shifted on his feet, looking everywhere but her. "I... I don't know."

"Look, I'm learning very quickly that having feelings gets you killed." She added, "And I can't hide that very well, you know that. I'm not very good at pretending to be stone cold or just, pretending to be okay all the time and that nothing bothers me. When I saw you were still alive, laying on the ground, I had to get to you, ok? I couldn't let you go out alone, not in a room full of people—"

"I'm not teaching you how hide anything, Lotus."

She shook her head, "No, just to like, mask it— like you do."

"No." He mumbled, meeting her gaze. "I'm not doing that to you."

Lotus fell silent as the voice of Diego floated over, telling them to hurry up.

"Can we still really get back home?" She asked, changing the subject so he didn't have too. "Did we really stop doomsday this time?"

A small smile flickered to his lips, "I guess we'll find out soon enough. C'mon."