Before we get to the epilogue, I just want to say thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed this story. When I started this, I honestly thought that maybe five people would read it, and maybe one of those people would like it. So I'm deeply grateful for the response to this story, because I loved it so much I had to tell it, and I'm glad you guys have loved it too.

Special thanks to live2rite and mileymadness for reviewing every chapter; to TutorGurlTigger, ShadySkills5, Vanessa Riverton, Bloody Violet Heart, xburningbrightx, lita rocks LbC, croaker001, theshadowswhisper, and Stupid-Lollies for reviewing way more than this fic deserved; to coffeeandcommunity and Kurrent for leaving such insightful comments; and to xburningbrightx and Pink Starship for being awesome. Also thanks to The Milk of Human Kindness, an amazing lover still, Bladed Darkness, loveAngel120, My Personal Rose, ABCCJPTT, And Your Point, FaithIsMyHero, Initiate Six, and every other person who read and reviewed.

If you're interested in a sequel to this or in what else I might be writing, I'll ask you to check my user profile as I've put up some information there. (And, Wannabe, I haven't forgotten and I will put up that character stuff on my website by the end of the weekend, I promise. Sorry I am so slack.)

And on to the end.

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Epilogue: Fade To Black

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the long way to you is still tied to me, but it brought me to you
I keep wanting to give you what is already yours
it is the morning of the mornings together
breath of summer, oh my found one
the sleep in the same current and each waking to you

when I open my eyes you are what I wanted to see.

- W.S. Merwin, "A Birthday"

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August 21, 2014

The underside of the car scraped against a rock and Miley winced. Maria the Third was still brand-new, and last month Lilly had yelled at her for kicking the back door shut when she was unloading stuff and had her arms full. Miley spared a quick glance at Lilly before turning her attention back to the steep dirt road. Lilly was still asleep. Good. Miley didn't see how she could be – the road was beyond bumpy – but she didn't want anything going wrong for the next week and a half, no matter how small.

It wasn't too much farther to the cabin, and within ten minutes Miley was pulling up next to it. The windows were dark and it looked deserted. Probably, Miley thought, because it was.

She cut the engine off, then reached over to shake Lilly. "Lilly. Lilly, wake up. We're here." Sleepy blue eyes blinked open and focused on her, and Miley was struck all over again by how lucky she was. "We're here."

Their car doors opened in unison. Miley got out and shut hers, started for the cabin leaving Lilly stretching and yawning at the car. The cabin door was locked. Miley let one hand settle on the doorknob while she sorted through her keys for the right one. She found it and got the door open, the inside of the cabin grey and quiet and empty.

Miley stopped on the threshold and flipped up the light switch set just inside the door. Weak yellow light joined the whiter, brighter stream coming in the open doorway. Lilly's came up behind her and her shadow melded into Miley's, their outline stark and stretched out across the cabin floor.

"If feels weird, doesn't it?" Lilly said, her chin on Miley's shoulder.

"Yeah," Miley said. Maybe not empty, after all, but full instead, full of absence. "It's just...she's always been here, you know?"

"I know," said Lilly. She hugged Miley from behind, then lightly tickled at her stomach. "Should I carry you in?"

Miley made a scoffing noise. "If anything, I should carry you."

"What?" Lilly said, pretending offense. "Why?"

"I'm taller."

Lilly poked her in the side with a stiff finger. "I'm stronger."

Miley sucked in a breath and let it out very slowly. "It's not our house."

"No," Lilly agreed. Her arms dropped from Miley's waist and one of her hands found its way to Miley's, fingers threading together. "Come on. Let's go in."

The cabin smelled slightly musty, as though Angel had been gone for much longer than two days. It made Miley expect a layer of dust on the counters, the table, but there wasn't. They went around opening curtains and windows, letting in fresh air and the last hour of daylight. The place seemed less abandoned with sun and the sounds of birds floating through it on the delicate breeze.

"Let's keep the windows open all night," Miley said, coming back into the main room from their bedroom.

Lilly pushed up the last of the three windows behind the table, turned and wrinkled her nose. "It might get kinda chilly."

"Then we'll just have to figure out a way to keep warm," Miley said, and grinned wolfishly at her. Lilly rolled her eyes, but Miley noticed she didn't object to the idea. "Do you think she'd come? If we called her?"

"I don't know," Lilly said seriously, her expression clouded. She crossed the room and hugged Miley again and Miley pressed her face into Lilly's hair. "But let's at least wait until after the honeymoon to try it."

Miley laughed softly, let her go. She wouldn't do it, she knew. She wouldn't call Angel, but she'd believe that if she ever did, Angel would come.

They went back out for the luggage. It was only a little past five, but the sun was already dipping down towards the edges of the mountains. Dusk came earlier here, lasted longer. Miley stood on the porch a moment, surveying the woods that surrounded the cabin, the trees thick with the green of late summer.

"We could have gone to Hawai'i," she said, taking the steps off the porch. Dust stirred in her footsteps as she walked to the car and helped Lilly lift their bags from the trunk. "Or Bermuda, the Bahamas. The Virgin Islands. We could be lying out on a beach right now with waiters bringing us smoothies."

"We live on the beach," Lilly pointed out, because they did now. "Besides, this is better. Just us."

"Yeah," Miley said. "Hey, we could go camping while we're up here."

Lilly shouldered one of their bags. "Don't push it, Stewart," she said, and went around to get some of the groceries from the back seat.

"It's Truscott," Miley said. She was keeping Stewart professionally, but she knew the value of having a name to use that wasn't instantly recognizable the world around.

Lilly laughed. It sounded silvery in the clear mountain air. "I haven't gotten used to that yet."

"You will," Miley said. She slung the other bag over her shoulder and shut the trunk, walked around to help with the groceries. "We only got married yesterday. We've got time." They'd spent the night at the new house, left early that morning to drive up here. The wedding had been simple, just what they could put together in a couple months. Small, mostly family, a couple friends, Angel.

The ceremony had gone perfectly, and if the paparazzi had found the reception at Robby Ray's and made a gauntlet she and Lilly had to run to get to the car, well, Miley just hoped they'd gotten some good shots. It had been dark by then, but they had much better cameras than any of the invited guests, probably even than the hired photographer, so they must have. She'd call Jenny in a few days and have her get her hands on some of them.

They made two trips to bring everything in, put the groceries away, and unpacked. They weren't staying for too long because school started for Lilly at the beginning of September, but Miley was through living out of suitcases. She started putting dinner together while Lilly changed, a light, simple meal: sandwiches, salad, some of the fruit they'd brought. She had a bunch of other, more involved things she wanted to cook for Lilly while they were up here, things she knew would make Lilly moan and close her eyes and say they were better than sex until Miley proved her wrong, but today she was tired from the drive. And hungry, and willing to bet that if she was ready to eat, Lilly was doubly so.

Miley finished slicing a pear and raised an eyebrow when Lilly came out of the bedroom, taking in her tank top, capris, and bare feet. "I thought you were worried about it getting chilly?"

"I thought you were gonna keep me warm," Lilly smirked. She sidled up to Miley, pressed herself against Miley's side, and stole a slice of pear off Miley's plate.

"Hey, that was mine!" Miley protested.

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Lilly said. "We're married now, so what's yours is mine." She bit off half the slice at once and chewed with satisfaction.

Miley put an arm around her waist, kissed the top of her head. "That's always been true."

"I know," Lilly said. She turned further into Miley, tangled her free hand in Miley's hair, and tugged her head down, resting their foreheads together for a minute. "I know." She kissed the corner of Miley's mouth, then pulled away and offered Miley the other half of the pear slice.

Miley ate it from her fingers. "You're so easy," she chortled, chewing happily. Lilly pinched at the skin above Miley's hip, but she was smiling.

After they ate, they went out on the porch and sat on the bench out there, which wasn't as comfortable as even the wooden deck chairs, but it held both of them. There wasn't much to see, just the cloudless expanse of sky and the woods slowly filling with shadows. The inside of the cabin glowed gold behind them as the sunlight faded and the air outside turned blue.

Lilly propped a foot on the bench and sat back against the wall of the cabin. Miley reached out, lightly drawing her fingers across Lilly's calf where it stuck out of her capris. "You trying to start something there, toad?" Lilly asked, amused.

"Maybe," Miley drawled, but she wasn't. She moved her hand lower, her eyes following its path. She just wanted to feel Lilly's skin, to feel Lilly, just wanted –

Her hand stopped. She could feel her heart beat faster, her pulse jumping in her temples and her wrists. "Lilly," she said. "What is that?"

"It's, um – " Lilly cleared her throat. "Angel did it for me," she said, looking at Miley, watching for her reaction. "The night before last." Miley kept her hand on Lilly's calf, stared at the tattoo. It was hard to see in the low light, white against the bare skin of Lilly's ankle, a shooting star.

"I got it because..." Lilly paused, took a breath, searching for words as her eyes searched Miley's face. Miley held herself still, waiting. "It means...it means that even if I could, even if I had another wish, even if I could wish for anything, no restrictions, even if I could wish for anything at all, I wouldn't."

Miley slid her hand down, her heart calming. She wrapped her fingers around the inside of Lilly's ankle. Her thumb moved over the tattoo, back and forth, tracing it.

"What about you?" Lilly asked.

Miley looked out at the dark woods, at the first few stars appearing in the sky. She thought about everything that had happened, everything that she'd gone through, everything they both had. Everything that had brought them here, to this place, together.

Everything was connected. You changed one thing, you changed all of them. She knew that, she'd learned that lesson. She leaned against Lilly, laid her head down on Lilly's shoulder, felt Lilly's cheek come to rest on the top of her head. The night was turning a little chilly, but sitting like this they were warm.

"No," Miley said. She put her thumb over the ink etched into Lilly's skin, covering it. "I wouldn't wish for anything. I love my life exactly the way it is."

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END

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