Epilogue

Mario and company gave one last goodbye to Vallus and Amori in Silentium Amoris. After the final battle, the people had finally returned to the town and could once again live in peace. They entered through the gate in Tempora Hall, and emerged on the other side in Tempora Town, only to be surprised by half the town, including Toadsworth, Kolorado, Merlee, the penguins from the mountain, Merlee, Bella the queen of beauty, Oliver McCormick, who had been briefly let out of jail for the special occasion, Chris T. the great Toad Detective, the Boos from the Autumn Forest, Maurice and Moe from Verion, some random shy guys from Insula, and a whole lot of other characters that they had met on their journey.

"Thank you, great heroes!" shouted everybody inside the echoic walls of Tempora Hall, which had been recently renovated and was much more cozy than before. They formed a line along the aisle and out the doorway, and they walked through.

"Looks like you finally found that special someone," said Merlee to Jennifer as they walked by.

"Rrreow rreow rreow!" chanted three shy guys.

"Hello, there, old chap," said Chris T. "Great job on saving the world and all. But let it be known that, without the aid of The Great Toad Detective, you would never have-"

"Good job, old bean!" said Kolorado as he patted Mario on the back.

"Princess!' yelled Toadsworth, who ran from out of the crowd and straight towards Peach. He gave her a rather tight hug. "THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE ALRIGHT! I've been having a heart attack from the moment you were gone!"

They bumbled their way through the long line of congratulations and out of Tempora Hall to see that the weather had finally returned to normal. Sunny blue skies, temperate weather. All was finally back to normal, and a hot air balloon was waiting for them in the central square where they had arrived at so long ago.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," said Peach. Mario, Luigi and Toadsworth boarded the hot air balloon after her. Thomas, Antony, Violet and Thomas stood below them, waving goodbye.

"Thanks for the adventure, Mario!" said Jennifer.

"Yeah, saving the world was pretty cool!" said Antony.

"I, um...thanks for everything!" said Thomas.

"What he said!" said Violet.

The balloon rose slowly into the great blue sky, drifting slowly east back towards the Mushroom Kingdom. It would be a long time until they would be home once again.

"Wait for me!" shouted Kolorado from the top of a nearby building. He jumped towards the balloon, barely managing to grab the basket and tumble inside. "Cant...huff...keep the wife waiting much longer...Oh...I'm in trouble..."

Well, it's finally finished. After nearly a year, I've finished my second fanfiction to completion, and it's been a wild ride. I don't think I ever could have found the motivation had it not been for all of your support and helpful reviews. I really appreciate it!

I could write a whole new novel right here just about my thoughts on finally completing this story, but I'll keep it brief. I never would have known how therapeutic writing this could be for me. We've all got things going on in real life, and I am by no means immune just like everybody else. When I look back at my writing, I see myself in every character (at least the main ones). It's fascinating to me how I see parts of my own character leak out into these characters that I've created. Some, more than others ;)

I had a blast writing this, even though at times I struggled to keep writing, and at other times was wracking my brain trying to figure out how to keep things straight and avoid plot holes (which, did not go entirely perfectly, but that's okay). At the end of the day, this is just a hobby. A hobby that I enjoy learning how to improve, and as an added bonus, get to hear reviews from awesome people that (for some odd reason) enjoy reading what I've written :)

Thank you so much for everything, and here's hoping I continue writing with another story in the near future. Cheers!