1 month after the previous solo ---

Wyatt let his radio blare loudly as he drove along the long dusty roads of southern Colorado, singing along and keeping beat on the steering wheel. The skies were clear and the weather beautiful. it was hard not to be in a good mood. In the past month his own mood had been clearing up as well. A fog of loss and anger were clearing, and he was starting to see things in a new light.

♫Everybody has a story to tell
Listen closely now and you can hear mine as well
I was addicted to breaking my heart
I couldn't get enough of feeling it torn apart
So conflicted, in feeling the pain
I say I've had enough but still want it all again
I won't deny
I tried to hide it
But it was killing me inside
And now I
Feel un-whole♫

There had been a hidden blessing in loosing one side of who he had been. He got to redefine himself. All that passed was preface to the story to come. Wyatt had a chance to start over. He could throw away the prologue and re-write it to suit his needs.

Perhaps that is what he was doing by setting out on this road-trip. Instead of trying to cobble together an identity in a place and with people who still held expectations of him based on who he had been, with all ties now severed, he could fully embrace that new freedom, and he was finding himself. His new self. He'd had plenty of time to reflect, to process things, and now...he was seeing the light at the end of the long dark tunnel. And he'd gotten there all by himself.

It seemed like finally throwing away his rings had been the last vestige of the past that had been holding him back. A great weight that had been over him had been lifted. And it was now that he could finally look on all this as a blessing. Although Wyatt still clearly remembered his days as Bismuthite, the person he was before that, and in the interim between patrols and battles, was gone. The old insecurities and anxieties instilled by growing up neglected and trying to cover up his short-comings with a false sense of superiority were blissfully erased. He didn't have to remember what an insufferable a*****e 'Billy' had been, and didn't carry the guilt of those past transgressions. He also didn't have to remember and lament the loss of good times...most of which were connected to a certain someone. Now Wyatt was finally in a place to appreciate that.

He even had put ample space between himself and his memories as Bismuthite. As if that person and the memories were all part of some horrible movie that he was remembering watching once. And dear lord did he critique the s**t out of what in idiot that guy had been. 0 out of 10, would not watch again. 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

♫So if you're able to survive
And still you find yourself alone
You will begin to realize
That you are stronger on your own
And when you're able to decide
Then you don't want this anymore
You'll be the one to turn the tide
For you are stronger on your
Stronger on your
Stronger on your own♫

He was finding his sense of humor again. If he had ever had one. Who knew. He did now. The places he traveled to had even greater splendor. The world held more color.
Wyatt looked at the flyer sitting in his passenger seat. Horse Rescue. Well. He may not remember anything about who he was, but he knew he liked horses. And he needed money. The weather was going to be getting cooler soon, and a place to board up and make money, and be around horses? Uh, win. It was the first real plan he'd had since leaving Destiny City. Plus, wasn't there something kinda Hallmark about going to a horse rescue to find yourself? Yeah, probably. Bring it on.