June has never looked more beautiful than she does now, unadorned and honest, vulnerable yet invincible.

You should have taken me with you," I whisper to him. Then I lean my head against his and begin to cry. In my mind, I make a silent promise to my brother's killer.

I will hunt you down. I will scour the streets of Los Angeles for you. Search every street in the Republic if I have to. I will trick you and deceive you, lie, cheat and steal to find you, tempt you out of your hiding place, and chase you until you have nowhere else to run. I make you this promise: your life is mine.

I hope,” he replies softly, “to get to know you again. If you are open to it. There is a fog around you that I would like to clear away.

He loved you.

You're brilliant,"he says."But you're a fool to stay with someone like me."
I close my eyes at the touch of his hand."Then we are both fools.

Day, the boy from the streets with nothing except the clothes on his back and the earnestness in his eyes, owns my heart. He is beauty, inside and out. He is the silver lining in a world of darkness. He is my light.