𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗛 ✔

𝟕𝟒. 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐊𝐈𝐂𝐊-𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓

The next day came and went. Soon, the bright daylight that was once the afternoon was now fading into a deep livid color, with the golden amber hues of the sun slowly losing radiance.

"Are you ready?" Aiden was saying as their final meeting for the day wrapped up.

"Yes," Taelyn replied for the inth time, her tone growing impatient. "You know, you don't have to ask me sixty times, I really got the question the first time-"

"Yeah, but I noticed that you seem to like to close off a lot and put on a persona," he cut her off, "which is why I'm just making sure you're really sure and you won't suddenly break down or something."

Cara raised an eyebrow, butting into the conversation. "You really think Tae's going to break down during the mission?"

"We've seen it happen," he muttered. "And like you said yesterday I would really not like history to repeat itself."

She turned to Taelyn. "So...you ready?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..oh, and I forgot that other time....that's a yes too," Tae deadpanned, counted off numbers with her fingers. "So all in all, yes."

"Great!" Cara said, an overly cheerful grin displayed on her face. "Okay, no seriously, that is great. Alright, meeting over. Let's get ready, we're leaving in..." - she checked the time - "...an hour, tops."

She and Aiden left the room, heading for their own.

"You want to go to the bathroom or-" he immediately looked away as she had already began to change. "Well, never mind then."

Cara laughed, slipping on a long-sleeved back shirt. "Sorry."

She put on a pair of matching black cargo pants, and strapped on the leather thigh holster that she had requested. After carefully scrutinizing her appearance in the mirror, she hastily pulled on the pair of heavy-looking combat boots that, thankfully, weren't as heavy as they looked, and tied her hair into a tight high ponytail.

In a minute, Aiden entered the room again, fully dressed in a shirt and pants that were very much similar to hers, his holster strapped somewhat loosely on his hips.

"Here's your vest." He handed her a dark green vest that was rather hard to the touch.

"You're not wearing one?" Cara questioned as she zipped it up.

"No, who wears vests?" he half-joked, putting on a jacket in a dark cerulean shade. "I'd rather wear a real jacket."

"A vest is a real jacket," she huffed. "And besides, it's going to be hot if you wear that."

"It's already hot because of you," Aiden quirked.

"Oh, shut up."

There was a slight pause as they shuffled around, making sure everything was set.

"Can you believe we're about to bring justice, once and for all? To think after all this time...it's going to be worth it." Cara sighed. But her expression became dark. "But...what if we...what if everything goes wrong? What if we aren't able to finish the mission? What if we di-"

He frowned. "Cara, don't think like that. Sure, not everything's going to be sunshines and rainbows but....it's always nice to be optimistic.""

"I'm just...scared." She got up, breathing in slowly. "Weren't you always the pessimistic one? What changed?"

"I know you're scared," he brought her into his embrace, securing her. "This is something that, in theory, would go perfectly fine, but knowing this reality, could go very, very wrong. So yes, I'm scared too, and I'd bet you Taelyn is too. But I like to think positively, because in the end, even if the clouds close in on us and the storm begins, the sun will always be there to shine afterwards. That's what I learned from you, Tiger. You made me believe."