It had been a few days, and I hadn't seen nor heard from any of the sprightly girls, nor their young cohort. I hoped it had nothing to do with the calamitous amount of weapon fire and the army which had paid them a visit, but even I wasn't quite that foolishly optimistic.

I'd been to survey the damage, and was glad I left Tate at home with his chores. The amount of blood and pieces of men on the battlefield, I had to assume the young 'uns had won, because I couldn't imagine any army losing that many and still standing. Robots everywhere, too, belonging to the robot girl. Not sure how she made them, but I wasn't much in the business of asking questions.

But the doors were still on their hinges and the elevator still worked. Things had been taken in a hurry, but taken, and that meant they packed and left. And that meant they were all right, out there now, doing whatever it was Exhumans and robot girls and fighting women did.

I was happy for them. This was no place to live at their age. Young folks had to be out trying to make their mark in the world. I even expected Tate to someday turn rebellious and try out civilized life someday, if I were still alive for that.

Still, I couldn't help but to feel sad. The brainy girl disappearing without a trace, that was just her style, and the other two girls and I were just acquaintances, but I had expected the boy to stop by for a final farewell, at least. I'd miss him, and our long talks where I taught him this and that which I'd picked up over the years. He was a good listener, and had a grasp of what made life important to live.

Well, it was no good ruminating over. If they had gone, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I helped myself to whatever they'd left behind. Plenty of medical supplies, which were a real find, and even some civilized food, which we could put away for emergencies or special occasions. Most everything else just looked like machinery, and despite my ancient experience as a developer, that stuff was way beyond my understanding.

An hour later, I was thinking now might count as one of those special occasions. I had to break it to Tate that our friends were gone. I didn't know if he'd understand, he'd never had friends before, and I worried what the trauma of it all might have on the pup. He was young, tough, and smart, but he was still a young pup all the same.

I warmed my hands over a fire I was starting while he hung up clothes on a wooden drying rack we'd hewn together. His cuts had been clean and true, and he avoided getting a single splinter. I couldn't be more proud.

I stared into the heart of the fire, the red flames making the logs look like a black tangle, and tried to come to terms with it. They truly were gone. I'd taken quite a liking to Saga, and despite how unusual her relationship with us was, I hoped she and Tate would brush off on one another some.

She held so much hate in her heart...a heart older than mine by rights, but still one of a child who'd never grown up. Tate was a pure spirit, and even she couldn't help but to love him, I'd hoped. Meanwhile, the pup lacked confidence in all things, even though he already surpassed my shaking hands as a fisherman and a hunter, and I hoped some of her brashness could inspire him a bit.

But it seemed not to be. I sighed, and poked the fire. A poor habit that made it burn out quicker, but I did love to watch those sparks dance.

[Hey, old man.]

I heard a voice, impossibly. I looked around, like a fool. Even if she were here, I wouldn't be able to see her, in all likelihood.

[Bet I just made you look, huh? Well, if you're hearing this, don't bother looking. You broke my compel, meaning either I'm gone, or you just think I'm gone, in which case you have made a grave mistake, and I will be kicking your ancient ass when I see you again.]

I laughed. Her threats were ever so exaggerated, she poured them out like water, while still keeping a steely eye open to protect us. It was one of my favorite things about her.

[I'm not one for lengthy goodbyes, as I'm sure you know. But you and I...we've spent a lot of time together recently, and it didn't feel right to just leave without saying some kind of farewell. Now, don't get your old-man briefs all twisted, I'm not going to pull a 180 and start getting sappy on you now...I just wanted to let you know...I really appreciated you guys. For humans, that is.]

Silly stubborn girl. As stubborn as that boy, perhaps.

[So with that said, get off your geriatric posterior and take a hike. We're taking a field trip, even if it kills you, which, hey, it might. You're, what, a hundred? Older than me, that's for sure. If you can manage, head towards my favorite tree. Something's waiting for you there.]

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The tree was only thirty feet from where I sat. Her mockery was utterly ridiculous, as ever.

Feeling my old man bones creak and rattle in a way that I'm sure would amuse her, I obediently and slowly rose, calling out to Tate to finish up and come along. He nodded and I helped him with the last few things before we headed over, out the gate, and the twenty or so feet across the grass, the snow here long gone for the traffic of the kids coming and going around the tree.

She was an old tree, and a beautiful one. A rowan, of exceptional age and height, probably as old as the ruins here, and rare in this area. They had a hard time competing with the evergreens. This one stood alone by these mines though, and grew tall and strong.

[Rowan, right? Of course it is, I learned that from your own thoughts. Seems you have quite an arboreal background. Makes me wish you'd shown up sooner in my life, I might have had a greater interest in the trees around here instead of just the animals.]

[If I'm not mistaken, your fancy in trees comes from your past, and a woman named Ash? I hope you don't mind me rooting through all your memories, but you know how boring it can get up here, and I figure, you aren't doing anything with them. Well, here's a fact I happen to know you never learned, Rowans are also called a Mountain Ash. So, in a weird sort of way, your Ash is right here with you, no matter how long ago she may have left the two of you. And she's a tree, which I think she would have liked.]

I smiled and felt a little glistening in my eyes. Ash would have indeed loved to spend the rest of time with us as a tree. And it was uncharacteristically sweet of the girl to try to make reference to it. She had to be gone for good, she'd never be able to look me in the eye or threaten to kill the two of us after this.

[She's a good tree, she and I spent a lot of time together there at the end, and I want you to take good care of her. I know caring for plants is kind of your thing, so I probably don't even need to ask, but just knowing that you have something even older and more obstinate than yourself to take care of, well, it seems fitting to me.]

[But I didn't have you come out here so I could give you a tree. If you check at the roots, there's a hollow. Check what's inside.]

I moved forward, Tate obediently in my wake. We advanced to the base of the great tree, where it was somehow warmer, as though this great beautiful tree somehow protected a piece of spring under its boughs. The roots were large and twisted, and there were a great many little hollows where a small trinket could be waiting. Tate and I searched them methodically.

[Find it yet? I doubt it. There's nothing there, you old buzzard! Made you look!] I heard an echoing laugh, and couldn't help but to smile. [Nah, I'm kidding. It's on the northeast side, largest hollow there. I'm sure you'll find it without issue.]

I walked around the tree a quarter to the left and found the largest hollow. Bending slowly and reaching inside, my fingers touched something cold and solid. Scrabbling in the darkness, it was a box, of some reasonable size. I had Tate help me pull it out, his eyes wide with fascination.

[So, this is just a little something I made...actually, you made. I borrowed your woodworking skills while you slept. Hope you don't mind. I noticed your boy didn't have any toys, on account of you being a really shit parent, and thought...maybe he might appreciate having some. I'm no toy designer, so I just copied the things I had when I was a kid. I never really got to finish being a kid and playing with my own...so consider these my hand-me-downs. Make sure he plays with them and enjoys them with the childhood I never got, okay, old man? I'm counting on you.]

Eyes bright, Tate diligently opened the corroded plastic bin almost as large as he, and one by one, pulled out a cornucopia of wooden toys, crafted and painted with painstaking, loving care. Wooden blocks with letters and animals, pieces of a train which could link together and roll on their smooth wheels, little cars and brightly-colored animals, a bear, a doe and a stag, an owl, a boar, all animals which lived in the area, animals I knew she loved.

Finally, there were a handful of little figures, little people, crafted with the same loving attention to detail. People I recognized. A small boy in furs and a waterproof coat with a large pack, and an old man dressed the same. A girl with a mask and little white specks of armor on her black suit. A girl in a yellow dress with impossibly long red hair. A little girl dressed all in black. A boy with short hair holding two yellow sticks.

And finally, a small girl in a blue jumpsuit with black hair and an enormous, friendly, welcoming smile. How she wanted us to see her, how she wanted Tate to remember her. I didn't know that I'd ever seen a smile on her, but on the figure, it looked so right.

[So yeah. That's all I've got for you. Probably the last time you'll hear from me, so cherish the memory, all right? Take care of the kid. For a human...he wasn't so bad.]

And then she was gone. Tate was already putting the figures on a train and pulling it along the grassy roots of the tree.

"Let's bring these inside so they don't get dirty, hmm, pup?" I asked him. He nodded enthusiastically, and helped me as I packed and picked up the box.

I got dinner started alone and left Tate to enjoy his present, finding myself getting lost staring into the fire more than usual.

I would miss her. Like Ash, like all the others, she would hold a place in my heart until it beat its last. But while the sadness of her departure washed over me, I could take solace in the fact that she was still out there, doing whatever it was that Exhumans did.

But now she was doing it with just a little bit more compassion, and the thought of that just made my heart sing.