~Sara~

"What?" Newt frowned and stared at her worriedly.

Sara held her hands up, stopping anyone from speaking over her. When that didn't work, Newt stepped in to help. She was now ready to continue after having had spilled the first bit of information. 

"Listen, I'm not telling you this 'cause I want you guys to feel bad for how sucky my life's been," she said. "I'm telling you this to prove that we're on the same boat, alright?" Sara looked around, trying to find some sort of approval in their eyes.

"Yeah." Gally scoffed. "Remind me again how you getting to keep your memories is being 'in the same boat' as us."

Sara sent a scornful look his way. "Not like that, genius. I meant that all of our families suffered a similar fate. We're orphans, guys. I was lied to in very similar ways as you. And I'm here to hopefully clear some of that up—at least—with what I know. This is literally what I came here for, when will you understand that?" Sara shook her head and scanned all the faces again. "WICKED isn't even supposed to know that I'm here. If I were actually meant to be here, I wouldn't have my memories—in fact, I'd be in Maze B with a bunch of other girls."

Complete silence fell upon the Council room. She decided to wait for her rant to sink in for a while, given the severity of what she was sharing.

Newt gave her a worried look. "How were you able to keep this all to yourself?"

Sara looked at Newt, then she shrugged helplessly. She was determined to finish her point, though. "My past is my past; what's ahead of us is much worse."

As soon as the words left her mouth, everyone prepared to listen carefully this time, with the exception of Gally—of course.

"No, if we don't know why you're in this mess, I don't want in." 

"You don't want in anyways!" she snapped at him.

But she knew she was compelled to share the entire tragedy of her family. She finally set her pride aside and began telling the whole story.

"...I found out about my mother and Janson's family through a dream right here in the Glade," she finished.

Tears had started forming during her confession, and now they were pouring down her cheeks.

No one knew what to do except stare at each other awkwardly.

"We didn't know, I'm sorry," said Newt, his eyes full of horror.

"The dreams—let's talk about the dreams," Minho blurted out, giving Sara a small smile as he crossed his arms. "Newt and I had dreams two nights ago. And you said that what we saw were real events, right?"

They all had dreams?

It took her a minute to pull herself together, but she finally did. And she sent a grateful nod in Minho's direction for driving the attention away from what she was saying. He knew how much pain it caused to remember and talk about that.

"Yeah, it must've been real," she said, and everyone looked confused. "They're pretty much memories inserted back to our brains," she confirmed.

"Inserted by who? The creators?" Winston asked.

"Well, no," Sara replied. "By Becca. The woman I've talked about already. She wants us to see the truth; the truth WICKED wants to keep from us."

Frypan suddenly stood up. "I didn't want to say anything at first, but I also had a dream that same night."

"Me too, it was so strange," added Zart.

Soon, every single person in the Council room except for Thomas confessed that they had a dream two nights ago like Newt and Minho. Even Gally said he did. There wasn't a doubt Rebecca was behind this. Maybe it would finally let them see the truth, and Sara wouldn't have to die.

"Anything else?" Newt asked her.

Sara nodded affirmatively. "I didn't used to be alone in this. Now I am because of your memories being gone, but we'd started investigating back at HQ, a small group of us..." she lowered her voice and mumbled, "...a small group that chose to believe me back then."

Gally laughed. "We can already imagine who was part of that group." He shot a glance at Newt, then at Minho, only to earn a scowl in return from both of them.

It was her turn to laugh. "Actually, Gally..." she began, slowly but nonchalantly approaching him, "...it's quite ironic."

Newt raised his eyebrows as he glanced from Gally to Sara. Minho frowned, uncrossing his arms and taking a step forward.

"The shuck you mean by that?" Gally asked.

Sara chuckled. "You were all good friends—the four of you. Of course, at the beginning, we had our differences—for obvious reasons—but in the end, I dare say we five worked together better than ever to try and discover what was really going on. And we never finished what we started, so that's why I want to let you all in on it this time."

She smiled, cherishing the warmth of the memory, trying to grasp it tighter right before it quickly vanished, pulling her back into reality.

"Who were they—the other four?" Newt asked with a bit of fear in his eyes. He bit his lip nervously.

Sara guessed he hoped he'd been one of them, or he was scared that he might've been. She couldn't know. Would it really affect him that much if he never knew?

Yes, she thought. Yes, it would.

Sara faced Gally. "You're right on one thing, shank. Newt and Minho were definitely two of my closest friends back there... they still are," she added, stealing a glance, full of sorrow, at Newt.

Gally rolled his eyes. "Nothing new."

"Yeah." Sara nodded slowly, then a smirk made its way onto her face. "And the other two were you and Winston."

Gally almost choked on his own saliva, and Winston's eyes widened. Sara wanted to burst out laughing at their reactions, but she stopped herself. Instead, her eyes wandered over to Newt to see how he was taking the news. He was completely dumbfounded, eyes glued to her, and a really confused frown on his face.

Minho actually started laughing, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Wait, wait, wait," he said as he held up a hand. "You want me to believe that me... and this shank..." he pointed his thumb over to Gally, "...were friends? Please."

"You guys were best friends," she emphasized.

Gally scoffed. "Death first."

Minho made a gagging sound, pointing his finger to his open mouth.

Newt straightened up from leaning against a wooden post. "That's enough," he muttered sternly. "Keep in mind that this is stuff that happened before our memories got taken. Anything that happened during that time, or who we were back then doesn't matter anymore."

Although she didn't want them to, his words disappointed her. Yes, she understood it didn't matter anymore for them, but it did for her. Basically, her life with them—with Newt—before they were sent to the Glade, and Sara's life with Rebecca truly mattered to her. And it was the key to get them out.

"Okay, you know what?" Gally began and stood up from his chair. "I'll take charge. With Alby being sick and you clearly being inept for your position..." he pointed at Newt, "...I'll take it from here. You can't handle the last few Greenies, can you? I'll get them all punished, and I'll begin by banishing your little girlfriend, who's always been our biggest problem."

"No, you can't bloody do that—" Newt started.

"Winston," Gally ordered, motioning toward Sara with his head. "Put her back."

"No!" she shouted.

"Agh, that's it. I'm out," said Minho, who drew back his arm and waved it toward Gally with a flick of the wrist before walking out.

"Gally, you can't do that, she's telling the truth—"

That was all she could hear Newt saying before Sara surprised Winston by elbowing him on the stomach as he came up behind her. As he grunted in pain, she grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back.

Gally being much stronger than Winston, he practically yanked him out of Sara's grasp.

"Self defense, huh?" Gally asked suspiciously. "If you know how to defend yourself, why didn't you do so the first time I sent you to the pit, or better, when you were attacked in the deadheads? Did you let all that happen on purpose?" 

Newt, along with the rest of the Keepers, had their mouths agape. The expectant looks were irritating her as she was once again expected to explain an inconsistency.

Sara shrugged and crossed her arms. "I received training, I'll admit it. But you can't expect me to defend myself from two guys taller and stronger than me. And you Gally," she continued, eyeing the Keeper of the Builders, "you would've been an easier rival had I been in the mood to fight you. You were lucky you caught me at my emotional worst, you slinthead."

Gally smiled ironically. "You either let Winston take you to the pit without resisting him, or we can hold a brand new Gathering, accusing you of harming another Glader and posing threats of aggression. You choose."

Newt stepped in front of Gally, "I make the decisions here."

"And we don't listen to you anymore," Gally muttered before grabbing Sara with Winston's help and forcing her to go with them. "If it takes two to subdue her, fine. But if you follow us, Newt, or get anyone to help free her, we'll teach her a lesson." 

They pulled her out of the Council room by the arms, and Sara shook her head at Newt, to stop him from doing anything. Gally knew neither cared about themselves, only the other, and he well knew how to play that kind of game against them.

After they locked her back in the slammer, Gally immediately left, but Sara started shaking the bars and pleaded with Winston before he could leave. "Please listen. You know I'm telling the truth. C'mon, we used to be friends."

He only looked at her briefly before turning around. "I'm sorry, Sara. But you gotta know that what we saw in the dreams was completely different. That's why Gally's taken charge. We can't trust you, and Newt's right about the past. I don't remember being friends with you, so it doesn't matter."

What the heck?

After he left, Sara only felt like sinking down to the floor and cry her frustrations away. 

She thought this would be her chance. She thought she could actually escape death. That she could live to have a chance to fix things with Newt, and to escape the Maze with everyone. But not even Rebecca's threat, nor her attempt to make them remember why Sara was there could help her. It was useless. She was getting banished tonight, no doubt. And whatever happened between her and Newt would become history. It was hopeless to think any of it could be saved.

There was only one thing left for her to do. 

She looked behind one of the rocks inside the slammer, where she'd hidden the pieces of paper and the pencil Chuck had given her the other day. It was time to finish what she'd begun.

As closing time drew near, after shedding a few more tears and finishing up what she needed to finish, Sara called Chuck over. She handed him the now folded papers and instructed him to give them to the targeted individual right away. 

The boy seemed stressed, and she knew he was aware of the situation without her having to tell him anything. With a sad smile, he took the papers and broke into a run, heading towards the homestead.

~Newt~

He couldn't believe this was happening.

With Gally taking charge, Minho and Newt practically got kicked out of the Gathering. He was filling everybody's heads with lies. Not even Zart nor Frypan, shanks that would do anything for Sara, not even they decided to follow them out.

The thing Newt dreaded the most, the thing he feared the most, was now inevitable. Sara was getting banished in less than two hours. Gally didn't leave any other options.

This was all his fault.

He should've listened to her before. He always wanted to protect her, and he even went as far as keeping things from her to do so, and then got angry at her for doing the same to him. He would understand if she couldn't forgive him, because he couldn't even forgive himself.

But he also couldn't let her die.

Newt was outside with Minho, Thomas, and a few other Gladers that weren't part of the Gathering to try and plan how to save her. Hopefully it wouldn't be too late to come up with something.

Minho was in the middle of trying to encourage Newt when they saw Chuck jogging over to them all of a sudden. He had something in his hand, and his expression was worrisome.

"Newt!" he called out. "Here." Chuck handed Newt the folded papers, then walked away.

Newt looked down at the papers in his hands labeled with his name in beautiful letters. It was noticeable that there was a lot of writing. Almost every inch of every paper was filled with words.

He excused himself from the group and found a peaceful place to sit near the deadheads so he could read it. An anxious feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, and something told him he was going to hate himself even more after reading.

Nonetheless, he unfolded all the papers, and began reading the beautiful handwriting:

Newt,

I know you recognize my handwriting really well, so hi. 

First of all, I'm sorry if the amount of writing scares you, but as you can tell, time is all you have when you're locked up. I know this doesn't matter anymore, but I still want you to know that I memorized every word in that first letter I wrote, because I used to read that thing over and over again. And since you never got to know everything I wrote on there, I'm glad I was given the chance to write it all back out for you. I was planning to tell you everything and give it to you as soon as I saw you, but seeing how hurt you were that day made me rethink my decision. I'm sorry.

His heart warmed up at the thought of her going through with all that writing just for him, as if she were willing to get to the very end and prove to him that all of it was true. And she still made a joke about her handwriting, which made the guilt settle back onto his shoulders.

He chuckled bitterly, regretting going about the situation the way that he did. He could've just talked to her, and the argument would've ended. His eyes scanned the paper again, picking up where he left off, and he continued reading.

Dear Newt,

Look, I know you don't remember me, and everything I'm about to say will sound crazy, but you have to believe me. I want you to know that I'm here to help you and your friends, because you're all important to me. We're all good friends. Actually, we're the closest thing to family. One big, dysfunctional, but loving family. And whatever happens, we'll be together, because that's what family does. They stay with you through the good and bad times too.

Why am I writing this letter to you? You must be asking yourself that question. Well, I trust you the most. And that's because you're nice. Your kindness is your best quality. And you have a lot of it, trust me. Maybe even more than you think you have. You bring people together. You brought my life together, at least in the short time we had. Our past is sad, but you somehow made things less painful, and I hope I did the same for you.

But you left. I've missed you every day since then. You made a huge impact in my life.

But why does it matter now? Your memories are gone. The times we talked, the times we laughed, how we became friends, and the times we said goodbye; every memory you ever had, and me. It's all gone.

I just hope that by reading this, you could see a little bit of what they took from you. And I will make it my goal to make sure you get it back, and to bring all of you to safety. To make things right again, because this world is a mess. I promise you'll come back to me, because I really need you, and I miss you. And then, we'll finally be at home.

Love, Sara.

His hands were shaking by then, and the words were more difficult to read with the constant shuffling caused by his trembling hands. Newt still had the old letter with him. The same one he used to cast all the blame on her and send her to the pit. He pulled it out, and he didn't even have to go back and reread the few words that weren't yet smudged to know that it was the exact same message. She memorized all of it for him.

His eyes rapidly swelled with tears, and he had to wipe them off to continue reading the rest. With each word his eyes scanned, his heart progressively broke more and more, leaving a dark and desolate space in his chest.

Of course, now I'd change a few things due to the turn of events. The part about being together will only apply to you guys now. I considered all of you my family, and that we'd be with each other through the good and bad times. But that's not happening. My so-called family turned their backs on me. Maybe because I did it to them first, and I hate myself for it.

Shuck, Newt thought. It was true; he deliberately turned his back on the only person he ever loved. His insides dropped, and the guilt tied a knot in the back of his throat.

That still doesn't mean I don't want the best for you guys. I want you guys to leave this place and live in peace. And I tried to help you cope with pain, Newt. I thought I could do it and that it could work. I'm sorry I failed you.

No, you didn't fail me. I did. I failed you.

The tears fell down his cheeks as he shut his eyes tightly.

She was sorry? If it weren't for her, he'd be dead. Literally. She went through a lot to make sure he stayed alive, and he was crumpling all that up and throwing it out.

I'm sorry that I broke your trust. You still have a kind heart, though. Hold on to that, because it's a valuable treasure. When I said I missed you, I meant it. But I lied when I said that I considered you a close friend. Truth is, I'd already fallen in love with you before I even realized it. The first times we ever talked in HQ weren't the best, but I was totally intrigued by you. I didn't know what it was, I kept denying it to myself, but I loved you.

At that point, Newt couldn't suppress the sobs that escaped his mouth, shaking his entire frame.

I'm sorry for ever doubting your love for me, he pleaded silently, as if she could hear him. I'm sorry I can't remember anything... Useless... Useless bloody brain!

But he knew he must've loved her too back then. He saw it in the dreams he had. 

I loved you... and I still do.

Although it was tearing him apart, he had to continue now that he was already several pages in. And whenever he would finish, he'd be going straight to see her.

You came back to me when I got here, but now I'm the one who needs to go. I'm sorry I have to break my promise of getting you guys out. I won't be able to fulfill my greatest goal, but someone else will. Becca will do me the favor of finishing what we both started. I'll go in peace knowing that you guys will escape and be free. You'll be at home, I just won't be a part of it, but I guess I deserve it.

Stop bloody saying that! Newt cried even harder. Bitter sobs continued to embrace the profound sadness her words were causing him.

"Newt, you okay, man?" he heard Minho's voice. The Keeper of the Runners came rushing over to him, kneeling in front of where Newt was sitting.

"No," Newt mumbled, his voice quivering. "I'm sorry, Minho, but please... just leave."

Minho stared at the letter in Newt's hand for a couple of seconds, and it seemed like he understood what was going on.

"Hey." Minho's voice softened. "We'll get her out of this, trust me. I'll give you some time, but then I'll need you to come with me. There's not much time left."

The imminence of what was to come, and how quickly time was passing, sent another wave of panic in Newt's direction.

After Minho left, Newt finished off the letter and his anguish only increased, but so did his determination to save her life. He couldn't give up hope for her, for anyone, and even for himself. Enough of that pity party.

He couldn't believe her and her good wishes despite everything. She said 'goodbye' like if she were going for a trip rather than walking to her death.

He didn't deserve her forgiveness.

My dad once told me to promise him I'd escape and survive. I tried my best, but I guess my promise ends in the Maze. Don't worry about me. I'm okay. But now I want you to make me a promise to survive. Live. Be that incredible leader I know you are and lead these boys to meet with Becca. She'll help you. Just do whatever you can to end WICKED.

And thank you for the good times. You made me the happiest I could ever be, and I know I didn't do the same for you, but I hope you'll understand someday. Goodbye, my love, my sweet Newt. Don't forget that I love you with all that I am. I love you, my beautiful boy, I love you so much. Always.

–Sara D'Angelo Callan

P.S. You're the first one to know my full name.