epilogue. nancy drew.

Dear Hannah,

Well, this is it! We're about twenty minutes away from the train station in Denver and I really can't believe this whole adventure is all over. Of course, I'm glad it's over, but departure always seems to drag out a melancholy side of me that I rarely show. Namely, I'm starting to remember just how hard and painful it is to say goodbye to incredible friends who live way too far away.

This case proved itself a seriously difficult feat, and though I felt like giving up so many times on so many occasions, my pride wouldn't allow it. Honestly, I don't think I would be sitting here writing this letter to you if it weren't for the help and unfailing strength of others, to whom I owe my life. It's hard for me to explain in a letter, but you'll know what I mean soon enough.

As it turned out, our resident "real detective" aka: Tino Balducci was to blame for all of the set-ups, misunderstandings and near-death experiences we had to deal with. However, his forged letters and attempts at justice failed – I guess it's lucky for us that he didn't have a paper shredder. I guess I don't need to go into how desperate Tino's pleas for mercy were as he was being arrested. (More on this when I get home! It's so much easier to explain/re-enact in person.)

Anyway, the important thing is, the mystery is solved! (for the most part – there are some things, as our resident ghost hunter would advise us, that simply cannot be explained even by the best detectives out there.)

At this point, I think we are all very tired (in a good way) and more than happy to be coming home. Looking back at everything that has happened, I don't think I've ever felt more satisfied to close a case. I'm glad to be meeting up with Dad in Denver. It will be great for us both to travel home together in a few days. Maybe I'll have a little time for relaxing before we fly home. (That would be refreshing, right?) I can't wait to see you again and hug Togo! I have so many amazing stories to tell you.

See you soon!

Love, Nancy

I am barely finished penning the last letter of my name when two warm hands that smell lightly of spearmint close over my eyes, making me jump ever so slightly. "Guess who."

I laugh, reaching up to tangle my fingers through his, pulling them away from my eyes so I can tilt my head back and look up. "What are you doing, Joe? Reading over my shoulder?"

"Maybe," he side-smiles a little.

I slap his hand and sit up straighter, pretending to be offended. I start folding up the letter and pushing it into a matching stationary envelope.

"So are you almost ready? The train's pulling into the station now,"

"For real?" I look up, feeling my eyes widen a little. And I finally notice how the train has definitely lost a lot of its speed. "We're early."

He nods slowly. "Yeah."

I seal the envelope—which I had previously addressed—and stand up. "Yeah, I'm pretty much all ready… I think." I throw a glance around the little bedroom all lit up with the bright, sunny wash of morning flooding in through the door which I'd left open.

There is a moment of silence, while I glance down at my bags. I can feel Joe's gaze on my face, but nothing really registers for a few numb seconds. I'm going home. Gosh, I hate goodbyes.

I snap out of it and so does Joe. He quickly steps out into the hallway as I grab my suitcase and kick it out the door, letting it roll a little.

"So, the headache awaits me in New York,"

I look up, throwing the rest of my stuff into my backpack. "What do you mean?"

"Oh just the stupid ATAC Certification Exams I'm going to have to take all over again to get my ID back," Joe yawns, leaning one shoulder against the door frame. "It's a mess, but I'll deal. I guess."

"Yeah, that kind of sucks." I shrug, zipping up the front pocket. "But not as bad as sink holes."

"Definitely," he laughs slightly, straightening up a little. "I'm pretty happy to be alive."

I nod violently, "Me too," and sling my backpack over my shoulder, stepping out into the hallway with him. "You know, I never got a chance to thank you,"

He raises an eyebrow. Just one—like he does. Making me smile slightly. "For what?"

I shrug one shoulder, "For everything. Everything you did for me this whole time. We never really talked about it… but you read that letter just now, didn't you? I meant it when I said that I owe you…" I bring my gaze back up to his blue eyes. "I… owe you my life."

Joe looks confused, "You mean you were talking about.. me?"

"Well yeah!" I let a smile out with the words. Then looking back to his eyes, my voice comes a little softer. "…Yeah. I was."

For a few seconds, he seems lost for words—distracted by my eyes. "Uh, it's not really.." he swallows. "It wasn't really anything."

"Yes it was and you know it. Don't be all modest."

He exhales a slight smile, too—then meets my gaze again. "What I meant was that.. if I had to do it all over again? I wouldn't do anything differently." he pulls in a shaky breath—and I don't know if I can hear it because the train has slowed down so much, or because the quiet, sunlit gap between our faces is actually really small. "I would do anything for you, Nancy."

I nod slowly, feeling a kind of tingling, overwhelming warmth wrapping me up, causing my heart to beat a little faster. "I know,"

He looks up again, his eyes having somehow wandered slightly from mine. Blue. "No, you don't." he almost smiles—and he probably would if he didn't look so much like he was dying inside. "I meant what I said when we were escaping the mine, when... I had you leave without me. I meant it when I said that... that you mean everything to me."

I thought he was hoping I'd forget those words. Not like I ever could. They were ringing through my head constantly, like echoes. I'd wrestled with them, listened to them, stared at the ceiling all night and tried to understand them and the attack my heart was under.

I nod again, trying to not smile too much for his sake, but feeling like I can't stop myself. He looks so much in pain.

"I know you meant it, Joe."

He just stares at me for a long few seconds. "Why are you laughing?"

"I'm not—I'm sorry." I kind of lie, hiding it with my fist.

Joe doesn't seem to care. Like if nothing could possibly put him in more anguish than he's already in. "Look, Nance—you're making this so freaking hard. But I've got to tell you something."

I brush a strand of hair away from my face, meeting his gaze and wondering if I can possibly wait for him to finish his sentence.

"Nancy, I…" he takes a short breath, "I don't think you know... how much I—"

But he never gets to finish. Because for the first time ever, I'm the one to interrupt him. I'm the one to put an end to my loud heartbeat pounding out of my chest. I'm the one to crush the sunlit space between our lips.

And that's when everything sort of just slows down and goes silent. And all I feel is warmth. And his hands slowly slip around my waist. And my hands slowly fall around his neck. And something tastes of faint spearmint. And for those few long seconds, everything is absolutely perfect.

I start to wish that we'll never have to breathe, but of course we do. And when our faces do separate just slightly, I pull in a breath. His hands still around my waist, my eyes still shut, our foreheads still touching.

I smile and finally let go of the words. "I love you, too."

He doesn't say anything in reply at first. He just lets out a short breath, reaching up to let his fingers run softly through my long hair.

"Are you real?" he whispers. "Am I seriously alive right now?"

I smile. "I hope so. Either that, or this is heaven."

Joe opens his eyes, meeting my gaze. Laughing and wrapping his arms around my waist, lifting me off my feet in the sunlit hallway. I can't stop myself from laughing too, until he sets me back down. I smile, my fingers immediately finding the spaces between his.

"We should get going, or we might be left behind in Denver."

He smiles, "I don't mind."

"No seriously." I press a kiss into the back of his hand.

"No seriously." he does the same with my other hand, kissing it, and then resting his chin on my knuckles.

I smile, shaking my head slowly. "Come on."

I force myself to reach down and grab my suitcase from the floor. And then I turn and lead the way down the sun-washed hallway, letting one of my hands stay wrapped up in his, as the train pulls itself to a complete stop. I push open the door and let us both outside into the station.

FlightFeathers: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you liked that chapter. And that you feel like you've been stuck in the mine with Nancy and Joe! I felt the same way when I was writing this. Hehe. I hope you like the ending and how I wrapped things up! :) Also, I'll miss posting this too. But I'll let you know that I just wrote another AE (for The Phantom of Venice) that I'd love to post on here! I'll probably be posting it in the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys crossover fiction threads though. So keep an eye out! :D And thank you again for reading this whole story! Your comments mean a lot to me. God bless!