A Portal in the Park, Monday Evening

[rebelseekspizza]

There was a rhythm to this, a known schedule. The children knew it, and the portal knew it. It reignited in the park as the sun sank behind the horizon, and stretched its psychic tendrils into the firmament.

It's time to go home...

[[ goodbye post for kids and parents! ]]

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[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden had tried not to think about this. She had failed mostly, and during this week she had had the knowledge at the back of her mind that Etnys wouldn't stay long. The weekend had been fun though, in a way she hadn't experienced in a long time, and the things Etnys told her about her life had made her laugh a lot.

Even if she had some objections to her mom's parenting skills. And she was going to talk with Amaya about giving children knives, even if she hadn't been able to make herself take it from Etnys.

"Make sure to be safe," Seivarden told her daughter.

[civilized_badass]

Hey. Etnys was promised a cool knife (no, she wasn't), and she had gotten a cool knife, and she wasn't letting it go for anything.

It had been a fun weekend, and it had been interesting to see her mother in this place that she'd been stuck in for so long. She wished her mom hadn't been so weird about it, though, and had stuck around, too, but her parents seemed to be in one of their 'off' periods, so she wasn't really surprised. She was mostly used to it.

It still hurt a little, but she was trying not to think about it.

She was going to roll her eyes a little, shrugging and sticking her hands in the pocket of her leather jacket. It would definitely be nice to get back to a more civilized world again, sure, but she still wasn't really ready to go yet. But it seemed uncool to let that show. "I will," she said. "Don't worry."

[1000yearstoolate]

That eyeroll was so familiar that the corner of Seivarden's mouth twitched.

"Younger Issa is going to miss you."

Younger Issa was happy to have her home back to normal.

[hernando_fuentes]

The children had told him about the portal. Sparkle had told him that no, they couldn't just accidentally on purpose miss the portal and keep the children and had used the logic that they'd be waiting on the other side for their kids back. That didn't make him feel any less like his heart was being physically torn out of his chest but he was trying to keep it off his face. He was smiling, even if it was a little fixed. He was also clinging to Sparkle's hand with a grip that was possibly cutting off circulation. Abney was alternating between them for hand-holding. Quinn was walking along with his hands shoved in his pockets.

[myownface]

"Okay," Sparkle said, as soon as the portal came into sight. "You guys have to promise us that you'll give future us heart attacks again next year and come back to visit, okay? I'm going to make sad faces at you both until you do."

It was hard being the one who insisted they had to let go.

It was easier knowing they weren't necessarily letting go forever.

[forever_family]

"We left a note, Dada," Quinn said with a crooked grin, "We grew up here, we know what it means when a portal opens up in your bedroom unexpectedly. But.. yeah. I'd like to come back. I think Jacen's ..the one here.. is gonna try again. I messed with the phones so..we're gonna try some stuff once we're back home. Don't know if it'll work but it'd be cool if it did."

Abney clung a little, "I don't wanna wait a whole year, but they'd miss us too much. We've never been away from home for more than a week. Two weeks for Quinn when he was on Coruscant. I wanna come back too."

Hernando was going to just.. kind of .. try not to choke up.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra was going to sleep for a week, starting tonight. But for now, he still had too get through this bittersweet thing.

He wasn't looking forward to any of this, and for three fairly different reasons.

[boneyard_girl]

Nor was Ada, though she only had two different reasons this year, with two very conspicuous absences. She'd looked and looked and looked, and there'd been no Gemma or Jainie, not anywhere.

(She wasn't going to admit that hurt, though. Especially not now, when she was trying not to let this hurt shine through.)

She would, however, rest her hand against the small of Ezra's back reassuringly, as much for him as for herself. "Gotta say, havin' an older one's been an experience," she said softly. "Hell, pretty sure Ella's an experience all on her own, no matter the situation."

[glitter_and_mayhem]

"I can hear you, mama!" Note how Ella didn't seem to be offended in the slightest.

[bouncy_foxkit]

It had been a very long weekend. And now that the end was here -

Well. It was complicated. But then, Sagishis did complicated really well, didn't they?

Zeke strolled over, trying to look casual, his hands shoved in his pockets, all teenage ennui.

[smilestopscars]

This had been a long, long, complicated weekend. And now the end was here. And Ezra was trying to look casual, too.

He drew an unsteady breath.

"So."

[foxmeetsrebel]

"Are you sure you're gonna be on the other side?"

Tiger hadn't wanted to ask, but... he kind of had.

[whenshewasnice]

This had always been Envy's least favourite part. This year was no exception.

She was half-glaring at the portal.

[lockestheway]

Peter tugged Lilith gently along with him. He really wasn't looking forward to it, and it showed in his face. "Are we sure this portal is FDA approved?" he joked. Weakly.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve was getting more concerned that every time kids showed up for him or Tony, someone on the other end of their line was dead. It didn't speak well to long-term longevity.

But Tesla seemed pretty well adjusted, despite being named Tesla? He'd miss her.

[imafuturist]

Well, Steve was a good parent. Tony's go at parenthood involved clones, so....

"I really hope you left a note with your dad, you know."

[built_fjord_tough]

Fjord hadn't asked for kids. Had no damn clue what the hell to do with kids. But he supposed at the very least he ought to see the tiniest one off. Didn't want her getting lost on the way in and getting eaten by squirrels or whatever little kids these days did, after all.

"Yeah, that's a portal," he noted, looking at it.

Whelp. Good, then.

[misshapen_spark]

Yang didn't want to be here. As much as she was sure she was never going to be a parent, she wanted to send this little girl back to some uncertain future even less.

Especially since she'd seen how quickly Prompto had taken to her, and she didn't want to watch his heart break in real time.

"Okay, Princess Pigtails, you're gonna go apologize to your parents, right?" she checked, focusing on the mundane. "What's the rule about going through portals unsupervised?"

[little_spark]

"Don't," Lucy repeated, so emphatically yet simply that Prompto lad to laugh, but it was definitely a laugh-or-do-something-else kind of laugh. He was also going to set the little ketchup monster down now, too, because if he didn't, he might try to hightail it out of here with her or go charging through that portal with her, and how would that be for a time paradox, huh, bud?

Almost as soon as she was down, Lucy threw her arms around Yang in a hug. Sure, she spent most of her time with her mom, so it wasn't as big of a deal as spending time with her dad, but she'd still miss this version. Both of them were just so much happier and....complete. It was going to start totally bumming her out.

She looked up at her mom apologetically. "Sorry."

[notallbluemonks]

Beau, at 22, wasn't cut out to be a full-time parent and she knew it, and to be perfectly honest she'd be relieved to get back to her normal routine. That didn't mean there wasn't a small part of her that would be sorry to let Jamie go, because that kid was proof that somewhere, in some reality, there was a version of her who wasn't a complete fuckup. There had to be, right? Because Jamie really seemed to love her, and that was the only viable explanation as far as Beau was concerned.

"Hey," she said quietly, crouching down in front of Jamie. "Your real mom, the other me -- is she really a good mom? You can be honest. I mean, you don't have to be polite. You've met me, right?"

She might be stalling a bit.

[firstofitskind]

This year was almost harder than last year, when his relationship with Verity had still been so new that longing for a family aside, he could acknowledge that kids were far from being a possibility just yet.

Now? So much had happened between them that it didn't seem like such a far-flung fantasy anymore. Especially given what William had told them about how- and when- he'd come into their lives. If this timeline was anything like the one he'd come from, that was soon.

But as much as it hurt to say goodbye, they had families on the other end waiting for their safe return. So they were making their way to the portal, the kids trading off holding hands with himself and Verity in different configurations that made sense according to some sort of mutually-agreed-upon kid-logic.

[nextoftheirkind]

"I'm sad about leaving this time," Hayley announced. "I don't want William to have to go home and be lonely."

[spin_kick_snap]

Funny how this didn't get any easier. This weekend and the weekend of the dead, both of them hurt so much when they ended.

But they all had to. Kathy knew that much better than anyone on the island. The magic was too strong to deny. So she came with her kids, uncertain which, if any, she'd ever see again, to say goodbye.

That was probably the worst word in the world.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante wasn't far from her. The closer they got to the portal, the closer his hand drifted to her.

Until it slid into hers.

[seas_visions]

Zia was clutching her book to her chest as they made their way to the portal. She had tried to dream if she would come back again, but her dreams were filled with the ocean again.