Epilogue

At the sound of laughter Bluestreak looked up; it was a common sound in the square of small houses that the young mech and his family had called home for the last eight years, but he always took the time to acknowledge it. Years of war, chaos and sorrow had left him deeply appreciative of happier times.

In this case it was Sunstreaker laughing, he and Sideswipe were playing basketball to entertain the small group of sparklings on the sidelines, and apparently Sideswipe had just missed a shot, rather spectacularly if the amusement that simmered through the bond was anything to go by.

Bluestreak gave his lover a playful smile and returned to his task. He didn't really think of it as work; it was one of his simple pleasures. The warm summer evening meant they could all take their energon together at a long table that ran along one side of their courtyard, which also contained a garden and a playground.

In Bluestreak's opinion it was paradise; an oasis of normal life in the shadow of the extraordinary Metroplex, but separate. No thrilling technological advances were made there and the scientists never visited, apart from Chip, and he meant a lot more to the Autobots than just his job, but Bluestreak still considered his home a marvel.

He moved further down the table setting places with care as he went; a cube for each mech or sparkling, smaller cubes of high-grade for Mirage, Wheeljack and Ratchet, portions of energon goodies for each of the sparks and a few for Jazz, which he already knew that Sideswipe would try to steal, but would never get close to.

As he moved he became aware of changes in the bond, concern, anger and sadness pricked at his own emotional sub-routines. He paused to analyse them, they weren't Sunstreaker's feelings, they were too distant, and as his worry started to mirror what he felt from the twins he realised that most of what he could feel must be coming from Ratchet, which left him with one question, why?

Before he could get any further the door to Ratchet and Sideswipe's home opened and two black and white mechs stepped quickly out into the sunlight. The young mech smiled at them, but neither of them looked around. They seemed completely absorbed in each other. Prowl's protective stance and Jazz's rather nervous, possibly even scared appearance worried the young mech more and he quickly crossed the quad, the twins caught up with him before he reached Prowl and Jazz, but Sideswipe only paused to give them a half-sparked smile before he slipped inside.

"What's happened?" Bluestreak asked.

Jazz shied away instantly.

"It's alright love," Prowl whispered before he raised his optics to look at the younger mechs. "Ratchet just chewed us out, especially Jazz," he explained.

"Why?" Sunstreaker demanded to know.

"I..." Jazz began but faltered. "I'm..." he tried again but didn't get much further before he pushed himself closer to Prowl. "I can't say it," he whispered.

"You can," Prowl said calmingly. "You've been waiting a long time to say this. I know Ratchet wasn't happy and I'll find out why later, but they will be thrilled."

Jazz nodded hesitantly and looked back to Bluestreak, who was almost bouncing with impatience by that time. "I'm carrying," he said with some effort.

Bluestreak's grin lit up his face, and he all but jumped in to hug the black and whites. "That's wonderful news Jazz," he beamed. "Truly wonderful, I don't know what's up with Ratchet, but we'll sort him out, and it's going to be fine."

Jazz smiled back and some of his confidence seemed to return. "Thanks Blue. I needed to hear that."

The mechs and their sparklings took their places around the table and enjoyed a pleasant evening until the sun went down and the younger generation went off to their berths. Jazz remained quiet, but smiled regularly much to the relief of his family. Ratchet, however did not join them, and Sideswipe only re-emerged to collect their energon and offer Jazz an apology on the medic's behalf.

And that was to be the way of it for the next few weeks; Ratchet was rarely seen, and when he was he still seemed withdrawn, but he and the other mechs were soon given something else to occupy their processors – something nearly as wonderful as the news of Jazz's sparkling in most opinions.

Despite the splatters of paint and scuff marks that Starlight was undoubtedly leaving on his shoulder struts, Sunstreaker was in heaven. A month earlier, just days after Jazz had announced his was carrying, Optimus Prime had commissioned him to paint a mural right around Metroplex's central courtyard as part of a huge celebration marking ten years of peace he was planning, and with most of the work done Sunstreaker knew that his work was truly something to be proud of.

The last scene was his favourite. It showed Metroplex lit by sunshine, a perfect representation of the idyllic life the Autobots had enjoyed for almost a decade. Above the city Starlight was currently painting wispy clouds and a golden sun, at his feet his son, Skydart, along with Rhythm and Reason were happily creating a riot of flowers, although at some point one of them had managed to paint a string of daisies up Sunstreaker's calf; the golden twin suspected Rhythm, but had no way to prove it.

As he worked his contentment seemed to bounce back and forth over the bonds. He wasn't quite sure where Bluestreak was, although he could have pointed out the direction easily enough, but his bond-mate was ridiculously happy, which probably meant he was helping Jazz with something to do with his soon to be separating sparkling. Sideswipe was high above him, on the other side of the courtyard, and occasionally Sunstreaker heard him calling out directions as he helped string up the miles of decorations for the up-coming festivities.

There was still a lot to do, but the Autobots and their friends had thrown themselves into the tasks, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the party at the end would be one to remember.

A sudden feeling of dread sent a chill through Sunstreaker's spark, and the panic that followed it closely was so intense that Sunstreaker was almost certain that he could hear his brother's cry for help across their bond.

A crash somewhere behind him confirmed Sunstreaker's worst fears. Somehow Sideswipe's jet-pack had failed. Without even looking to see who it was he was grabbing Sunstreaker caught a nearby minibot, pointed at the sparklings, snatched Starlight off his shoulder, placed her among them, turned and ran.

"Easy Sides," he said soothingly as he dropped down beside his twin. "It's alright. I've got you."

Something was wrong though, not that he would say so, or even know how to define it. The sensation that came through the bond wasn't like anything that he had felt before. It was a strange, sickly flicker, but Sunstreaker couldn't associate it with Sideswipe. Regardless, he reached through the bond; comforting, fortifying, and encouraging the unfamiliar weakness. There were a few things that even he still didn't understand about being a twin, but he also knew that he didn't have to understand the how and why, so long as it worked nothing else mattered.

Ratchet arrived, vents heaving, only a minute or so later with a stretcher and his medic-kit. "Take it easy sweet-spark," he said with uncharacteristic gentleness. "Keep calm and well have you in the med-bay as quick as we can."

In no time at all Ratchet had done exactly as he'd promised, and with Sideswipe safely on a repair berth the medic deftly started connecting him to monitors.

"Is that really necessary?" Sunstreaker asked. "I mean, it was a bad fall, and it's left a few dents but we've had worse."

"Sit down Sunstreaker," Ratchet ordered.

"It was my fault," Sideswipe moaned, "I reached down rather than lowering myself and starved the fuel-line. Such a stupid thing to do. I'm sorry."

Sunstreaker took his brother's hand and hushed him softly, but the memory of that strange flickering kept the golden twin quiet, although it was long gone and everything felt fine, except for the echo of Ratchet's worry, which kept him from relaxing. This was the first time either of them had been hurt since Sideswipe and Ratchet had bonded, but he doubted at the medic usually fretted so much over something as trivial as a few dents. He couldn't help feeling suspicious.

After a full minute of watching the monitors closely Ratchet slumped against the wall. "You're fine." he said softly, and something in his tone gave Sunstreaker the last clue he needed. Somehow he knew that the medic wasn't just talking about Sideswipe.

"You sparkless glitch!" he snarled, as a long dormant feeling of anger flared through his systems. "This is your fault. You caused this!" He lunged at Ratchet without even stopping to think about what he was doing.

"Sunny!" Sideswipe called out, but he was unable to move with any speed and Sunstreaker already had Ratchet pinned against the wall.

"Stop!" It was Bluestreak that gave the yell as he burst through the med-bay doors and started trying to get between Ratchet and his lover.

"What in the name of Primus is going on?" Prowl demanded to know as he followed Bluestreak in.

"Stay out of this," Sunstreaker growled, "this is between me and Ratchet."

"You know it doesn't work like that," Bluestreak told him firmly. "Tell me what's wrong."

"You remember how I was after Starlight's separation. I was exhausted, worse than Prowl was after he had his twins, and it took me days to get back to normal. I spoke to First Aid afterwards, he said that maybe there was something about twin sparks that made us ill-suited for being carriers, something about a weakness in sparks that have already been divided, I didn't follow all of it. He offered to study it, but I just wanted to put it behind me, and I never thought that..."

"I might end up being a carrier," Sideswipe interrupted. "I guess it seemed pretty unlikely back then, given that Ratchet was dead at the time." His tone was completely neutral, but the sorrow that lanced through the bonds was enough to effect Sunstreaker, Ratchet and Bluestreak.

"You knew what I went through better than anyone," Sunstreaker persisted, "why did you let him do this to you?"

"Because I couldn't do it for him," Ratchet murmured, "I don't know if it's because there's something wrong with me, or I'm too old, or possibly just too grumpy, but three failed attempts proved it to me."

"Ratch," Sideswipe whispered. "It's okay baby. I've been telling you for weeks that it's alright, when are you going to start listening?"

"How about now?" Ratchet offered, with a half-sparked smile. "I just didn't want to admit that there was a problem."

"I know," Sideswipe said fondly, "you never do."

Prowl stepped forward. He knew he was intruding, but he also desperately needed a few answers for himself. "Was that why you chewed Jazz out about his sparkling?" he asked Ratchet.

"It was," Ratchet admitted, "it was the day after my last attempt, bad timing and my need to be angry at something left me senseless. I know that I should have apologised, I wanted to, I did..."

"Ratchet," Prowl interrupted the babbling medic, "if there is anyone who can understand what you've been through it's Jazz. You can consider yourself forgiven. In the meantime lets concentrate on happier things. Jazz and Sideswipe will have our sparklings and our worlds will be made brighter by them."

"Their sparklings will separate within weeks of each other," Ratchet said with a touch of his usual cynicism, "I just hope that the world is ready for them."

Prowl chuckled and clapped Ratchet on the shoulder. "If it isn't, it's in for a hell of a shock." He moved away, intending to give Ratchet and Sideswipe their privacy, but in the space of a step something changed within the bond, and he started running. The constant awareness that he and Jazz had shared for over half their lives had been blocked, it was still there, but Prowl couldn't feel anything through it.

He heard the others call after him, but only Bluestreak followed. "Prowl to Wheeljack," he called over the comm, knowing that Jazz and the engineer were together. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Wheeljack responded. "Jazz stood up to get something and doubled over. I'm trying to get him over to the med-bay."

"Be careful with him," Prowl warned. "Where are the sparklings?"

"Gears only just dropped them off, but Hound and 'Breaker were visiting and they offered to take care of them. We didn't think that they should see."

"Thank you," Prowl said gratefully. "I'll be with you soon."

They met about halfway between the city and their small community. Jazz was hanging limply between Wheeljack and Mirage and looking terrible, but Prowl was still relieved to see him. "What's wrong love?" he asked softly.

Jazz didn't answer and refused to look him in the optics, which worried Prowl further, but the need to move things along overrode everything else and he changed tactics. "You're doing really well, baby," Prowl encouraged him. "Now let's get you to the med-bay."

Jazz shook his head weakly.

"You have to dear-spark, we need to know what's happening to you," Prowl insisted, and he gently scooped Jazz into his arms. "At least you're letting me help you. A year ago you would have taken my head off if I'd tried this. I'm proud of you."

"He wouldn't really, would he?" Bluestreak asked.

"Well, maybe not my head," Prowl admitted. "Being his bond-mate does give me certain privileges, but I still would have had a fight on my hands, if I'd tried to get him to go somewhere that he didn't want to go while he's in this state. Mirage and Wheeljack wouldn't have gotten near him."

"Wheeljack has experience with approaching mechs who are scared and don't want to be touched," Mirage said quietly. "He and I have been through similar moments of fear over-riding normal reactions. We both know that Jazz can lash out when he's frightened, and what he's capable of."

"I guess you know better than anyone what Jazz has been through," Prowl said sympathetically. "He never told me more than I made him, and I didn't have the spark to force him to relive the horrors that the Decepticons inflicted upon him."

Bluestreak shuddered as the small group headed back to the city. Jazz had only ever mentioned such experiences to him once, but when he had it had been in a serious and haunting tone, a tone that the young mech doubted anyone other than Jazz's closest friends would believe him capable of. We all want to live and see what the future holds, Jazz had told him, but the worst of the 'Cons can make you pray for an end to it all. They can strip away hope, and burn out dreams. It's the worst way to die, but no one wants to live through it either.

Once Jazz was safely on the med-bay berth Prowl sat down on the edge of it and pulled his lover close. "C'mon Jazz," he whispered lovingly, "I can help you, but you have to let me in."

Once again Jazz shook his head resolutely and refused to meet Prowl's optics.

"He's in pain Prowl," Ratchet put in, "and that's the one thing he'll never willingly share with you."

"Can you do anything for him?" Prowl asked.

"I've got this," the medic said as he held up what looked like a thick metal collar. "It's designed to block out pain and inhibit movement, but I don't know how well it will help Jazz. We are our sparks, they are the very core of our beings..."

"Do it," Prowl interrupted him as he felt Jazz tense in his arms, if it was anyone else on the berth they would have been screaming, but the former Special Ops mech rarely, if ever, cried out in pain.

With the inhibitor in place Jazz seemed to become a little more lucid. His optics searched every inch of the room before finally meeting Prowl's. "I'm sorry," he said simply.

"It's fine, my love," Prowl assured him. "Will you let the guards down on the bond now?"

Jazz nodded and Prowl felt a wave of relief flood through him before Jazz's fear really made itself known, but even with his bond-mate in his current emotional state Prowl still felt as it he was coming back to life. He concentrated on reassuring his lover and slowly felt Jazz relax a little. Then he nodded for Ratchet to approach again.

Bluestreak followed the medic, and climbed onto the berth to support Jazz in the same way that he had held Prowl up when he had been going through his own separation.

Deftly Ratchet opened the panel that protected Jazz's spark and looked inside. "It's definitely time," he announced before he softened his tone, "it's going to be fine Jazz, just try to relax."

"He's better than he was," Prowl informed the medic. "Believe it or not."

Ratchet shot him a quick smile and hurried off to collect everything he would need for the imminent separation. Wheeljack took his place at Jazz's bedside, he was determined that one of them would be a calming influence for Jazz's sake, although deep down he was as excited as the rest of them, with the possible exception of Bluestreak who was practically bouncing as he sat behind Jazz.

Ratchet returned and Wheeljack moved out of his way, but he kept his hand on Jazz's shoulder.

"Okay," Ratchet muttered. "Here we go. Three, two, one..."

Everyone in the room, apart from the medic, seemed to freeze as a small orb of pale blue light came away from Jazz's spark. It was a hypnotic thing to watch and quite beautiful.

"Well done Jazz," Ratchet said with a smile. "I'll be right back." He turned away began uniting the new spark with it's frame.

Prowl pulled Jazz close to him, and his lover immediately buried his face in Prowl's shoulder. "It's alright Jazz," he said soothingly, "you did it."

"I know," Jazz whispered, "but I don't quite believe it."

"Easy Jazz," Wheeljack said gently, "keep your revs down."

Prowl gave Wheeljack a grateful look. He'd recognised the engineer's deliberately calm manner as soon as he had taken up his position beside Jazz's berth, and been incredibly thankful for it as his own excitement and Bluestreak's natural enthusiasm had made it difficult for them to help. The engineer smiled back and removed the inhibitor slowly, watching Jazz carefully to see how he reacted and sharing Prowl's relief that the separation had not left any lingering effects.

"There's someone here that wants to meet you," Ratchet announced, and he deftly handed the tiny femme back to her creator.

Jazz's optics met his daughter's and he knew instantly that the difficulties of the separation were meaningless, the pain and fear he had experienced were rendered obsolete by the warm, unconditional love he felt for her. "Hey, baby girl," he cooed softly. "Welcome to the world." He sank back against Bluestreak and let his emotions flow freely across the bond so that they didn't overwhelm him. Prowl wrapped his arms around everyone the berth and grinned broadly.

Seeing that their work was done Ratchet collected Wheeljack and left the little family to it. He flopped down next to Sideswipe. "Well," he said with a wry smile, "that's your lesson on how not to do it, are you okay?"

Sideswipe nodded without taking his optics from Jazz and the tiny femme in his arms. "It seems to me that the separation itself doesn't matter, it's just a moment in time, and when it's done there's a sparkling and a whole lifetime of wonderful experiences to look forward to."

"Wise words Sides," Jazz agreed cheerfully.

"Hey, I may not be among the great thinkers of our time, or the deepest of mechs, but I defy anyone to see what I am and not see the beauty in it," Sideswipe shot back.

"There is something missing from this perfect picture though," Jazz realised.

"Hound and 'Breaker are bring the sparklings down," Prowl assured him. "They won't be long."

A moment later, and almost on cue, the med-bay door opened and Rhythm and Reason peered around the frame, Jazz beckoned them over and with a little help from Prowl they scrambled onto the berth.

"That's better," Jazz grinned as he managed to get his sons into comfortable positions where they could both see their sister.

"What's her name?" Rhythm asked as he reached out and took her tiny hand in his own.

"Her name is the promise your father made me, the prayer that sustained both of us through the war, and the word gave us hope," Jazz answered him. "Her name is Peace."

"Perfect," Reason grinned, although his brother made a bit of a face at his creator's sentimentality. "And even better I now have a sister, which has to be loads better than a brother or more of my friends would have one."

Jazz chuckled, like their human friends his sons didn't quite understand why there were so few female Cybertronians, and while Jazz was happy for his creations to grow up at a rate similar to their human counterparts, he hoped that the conversations about relationships and such things was still a few years off.

"You need to rest now my love," Prowl said softly. He could sense that Jazz's thoughts were becoming even more scattered than usual and recognised that as a sure sign that his bond-mate was exhausted. "We'll be here when you come back online."

"I know I'm not dreaming," Jazz whispered. "If I was dreaming then the separation would have been easy and I wouldn't have had half of Metroplex's population watching, but I guess it's only right that they're here, we're a family after all."

Bluestreak gave his surrogate father a squeeze as he helped him to lay down. With Jazz comfortable, and the small twins removed for the berth Bluestreak turned to Prowl. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"More than," Prowl answered brightly, as he cradled his daughter for the first time. "This is one of the million moments that Jazz has given me that I will treasure forever."

"Sure is," Bluestreak agreed. "Just let me know when I can hold my little sister."

Two weeks later the celebration of peace began, and a festival atmosphere seemed to rise over Metroplex. Everyone was on a high, and none more so than Jazz. Despite the strains of Peace's separation he had thrown himself into the preparations for the event, and not just behind the scenes; one of the high-lights of the week was a concert that he and Blaster were to host.

The week went amazingly well. Humans travelled from all over the planet to see the Autobots and the wonders their city held. The Autobots, for the most part, enjoyed themselves immensely while showing off their technologies, and their specialities. The scientists took centre-stage; Perceptor, Skyfire and Wheeljack, who usually kept to themselves, were suddenly world news, and much to the amusement of Wheeljack's friends nearly every photograph of the engineer also featured a flash of blue caused by Mirage slipping out of shot.

There were complications of course. No one really wanted the world news poking around in their private lives, but the press was fascinated by the scores of sparklings that lived in the city, and the question 'where did they all come from?' soon became tiresome.

At one interview in particular Prowl, who was supposed to be talking about how the Autobots were helping in the world's peacekeeping negotiations, got so frustrated with a reporter who was determined to get more information about the city's younger inhabitants, and Jazz who was teasing him through their bond, had he coolly ordered his lover to escort the journalist from the room. He couldn't have cared less about the reporter, but he did make it up to Jazz later.

On the whole though the week was a huge success, and most of the Autobots agreed that they didn't feel too much like a tourist attraction, but the big event for them was after most of the humans had returned to their homes.

Only a few close friends were invited to the private party so there was no need to worry about personal moments being splashed across the front pages. No speeches were given, even Optimus Prime relaxed completely and spent most of the evening talking with friends or dancing with Elita One.

Jazz took the stage to a roar of the crowd and the flash of fireworks. He was in his element, and any trace of nervousness he had felt soon disappeared. Prowl watched him from a table just the other side of the dance floor. His optics occasionally flickered between Jazz and the nearby sparklings; Starlight and Rhythm were imitating the dancers and laughing, Skydart and Reason were sat on the table either watching the show or playing a game that made no sense to anyone but themselves, while Peace's optics dreamily watched Jazz as she lay in Prowl's arms.

Bluestreak and Sunstreaker, Wheeljack and Mirage were all dancing and smiling without a care in the world, while Ratchet and Sideswipe sat with Prowl and enjoyed the company of anyone who stopped by, but Sideswipe looked tired, the separation of his sparkling was only a few days away, the strain of it was showing, and he had refused to let Ratchet go beyond arms reach for over a week, but he was happy.

Eventually Bluestreak and Sunstreaker returned to the table. Sunstreaker flopped down next to his twin and grinned. "When we were younglings we would have given anything to be at a show like this," he reminded his brother.

Bluestreak took Peace from Prowl with a fond smile, the black and white returned it, stood up and moved away.

"So we came back here to babysit?" Sunstreaker asked.

"It's just for a few minutes Sunny," Bluestreak said disarmingly. "Now hush, I want to watch this." Sunstreaker gave his lover a slightly puzzled look, but he subsided and sat back to lean against his twin.

Bluestreak watched keenly as Prowl took an unobtrusive position against a column, close to the dance-floor. The younger mech had seen him do the same thing countless times, even Prowl's stance was the same as it had always been, casual awareness was how Bluestreak defined it. Prowl looked completely relaxed, but Bluestreak knew for a fact that Prowl wasn't missing a thing. Bluestreak smiled, it had been far too long since his had seen his two oldest friends play this game.

From the stage Jazz watched Prowl move, and smiled to himself. He'd missed every moment of performing; from the buzz of stepping out to applause to the effect that watching him had on Prowl. His lover had always enjoyed watching him, even if he was just walking into a room, but on stage was special, it was as if Prowl thought that the show was only for him.

He finished the song and bowed low. "My friends, it has been my honour to entertain you this evening, and a true pleasure, but now it's time for me to leave you in Blaster's capable hands."

The audience made noises of disappointment, but applauded him heartily as he hopped lightly off the stage and crossed the dance-floor without taking his optics off Prowl. He barely noticed the crowd, except for the way it parted as he walked. He didn't rush, he wanted to savour the moment of anticipation, and to feel the effect that his swagger had on his lover.

Prowl didn't move until Jazz was within arms reach, Jazz extended a hand, took Prowl's and guided him gracefully onto the dance-floor.

"Give the mechs some room guys, you've had your turn," Blaster instructed the rest of the crowd. "They've been waiting all night for this."

"More like a lifetime," Prowl whispered, "but our waiting is over, and our future, the lives we dreamed of are ours."

Jazz spun him around without responding, but the joy that Prowl could feel through their bond was all he needed, and was probably enough to render Jazz speechless anyway. Those silences were the last remnants of the traumas that Jazz had suffered during the was, they were becoming briefer and less common. Prowl knew that this one, like the others of the last few years, was caused by extreme circumstances, and now that they had more or less settled down into a normal life those moments would become few and far between.

"I love you," Prowl whispered as he moved closer and rested his head on Jazz shoulder.

"I love you too," Jazz sent through their bond, and even after all their time together Prowl still felt those words light up his life like a sunrise; beautiful, glorious, and never quite the same twice.

Back at their table Bluestreak grinned as he watched the two black and whites. He leant back against his own lover, let the contentment he felt flow across his own bond, felt the echoes of his own emotions bounce back from Sunstreaker, and more distantly, Sideswipe and Ratchet.

"Take a good look kids," he told the sparklings that surrounded him. "It's from watching moments like this that I learned what real love was, one day you'll have to decide whether or not you want that for yourselves."

"I'm glad you did," Sunstreaker whispered in his lover's audio. "The romantic in you is one of the many things I love."

"How could I not with those two around?" Bluestreak asked seriously. "But it's not just those them that I'm grateful to have in my life; it's all of you. You've all showed me that there are days that you just get through anyway you can, good days, bad days, ones that change your world completely, others that knock you sideways, and then there are the ones that you will treasure your whole life, but the important thing is that we live through them together. I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you, all off you, my life wouldn't be worth much without you in it."

"We love you too Blue," Sunstreaker said softly. Ratchet and Sideswipe echoed the golden twins words, and they all moved a little closer. All of them, from the oldest and most cynical of medics to the youngest of sparklings, and the crowd beyond, watched as two mechs danced.

Author's note – and I guess we'd better leave them there. I hate endings, my fascination has always been beginnings and ends, the snapshots of normal life before and after everything else happens, but this does have to end because without an ending it is impossible to start anew.

This whole story arc has taken up so much; I count eight notebooks, dozens of pens, two computers, most of my waking hours, some of my sleeping ones, a little over five years and somewhere around 220,000 words, but I'll beg your indulgence for just a little longer.

As I understand it from my stats page my readers come from around the world and I just want to say thank you very much, muchas gracias, merci beaucoup, vielen dank, grazie mille, and dziekuje bardzo, (hope I spelled them all something like right) I'm out of languages but not out of gratitude. Some of you have been with me for the beginning, some have started reading my stories recently, but you've all made writing this worthwhile and kept me going, comments have lifted me up, questions have challenged me and it's been wonderful.

There are too many people for me to thank personally, but firstly I'd like to thank everyone who asked me a question, there are quite a few of you and I can only hope that somewhere in these pages I have given you an answer. Secondly to Silveriss who as far as I can tell has been reading my stories from the start, five years is a long time, and I know that you are one of those who has challenged me about some things, and I love that, and lastly, but by no means least Daebereth, who gave up a lot of her time to edit some of my stories for me, it's been a while babe, but you helped me so much, thank you.

Well, I guess that's it. I do have another story that I will start posting soon, pretty much the same cast, different plot and I look forward to sharing it with you. Until then, thanks again and take care. Love F.B.