Chapter Fifteen: "From Despair To Where"

Three Days Later ...

"Are you guys sure this is a good idea?" MacGruder asked as he looked from Jet and Spike to Vash. When none of them said anything, he shook his head. "Linares is wrong – you're crazier than I am. All of you."

"What else are they supposed to do?" Jet replied. "They can't go back to where they belong."

"And leaving a homicidal maniac free is the solution?" He jerked a thumb in Vash's direction. "With this guy's word that he won't go back to doin' mass genocide?"

"Things are different, Mr. MacGruder," Vash evenly said. "Knives is different. He's ... in a position that he might hear what I have to say."

"And you expect me to walk away based on that?"

"Yeah, we do," Spike answered for Vash. He glanced at the blond then focused on MacGruder. "We won't walk away, though."

"We'll drop in on Earth once in a while," Jet put in. "To make sure everything is all right."

MacGruder sighed. "I'm gonna regret this eventually. I suppose I can give him a chance."

Vash relaxed as he smiled. "Thank you."

"If anything remotely weird happens on Earth, I'll be there, pal," MacGruder added, pointing a finger at him. "Not one more innocent person dies because of this guy. Understand?"

Vash extended a hand to him. "I understand."

MacGruder let go of Vash's hand. "What corner do you guys intend on hiding out in, anyway?"

"Vash looked to Jet and Spike. "Well, there's a small orphanage, out of the way, and the sister has already agree to let us stay with them."

"Orphanage, huh?"

Vash nodded. "She helped us once before and was more than happy to offer it again."

"I guess this is where we part ways." MacGruder shook Jet's hand. "You guys are a weird group of bounty hunters. Weirdest I've ever met, that's for sure."

"We've never been average bounty hunters," Spike replied, a slightly smug smile on his face.

MacGruder patted him on the shoulder. "You'll never be better than me, Spiegel. The sooner you realize that, the happier we'll all be." He smiled. "See you around the universe."

Vash looked over his shoulder as Spike and Jet returned to the Bebop. Once they were out of earshot, he turned to MacGruder, who'd begun to walk away.

"Lieutenant Nathaniel James MacGruder, officer in the Martian Army, leader of the assault on Dubois Colony in the year 2072."

MacGruder froze in his tracks. Slowly, he pivoted on his foot and narrowed his eyes on the man. "How in the hell did you know that? Did Linares tell you?"

"No, she didn't."

He grabbed Vash by the coat and yanked him closer. "Then how do you know about that?"

"I'm from the future – your future." He stared deep into the other man's eyes, recognizing something there. "You'll have to forgive yourself for it someday, or you'll never survive."

He shoved him back. "What would you know about it? How can you say that when you don't have any idea what it feels like?" He looked away. "I can't get their faces out of my mind some days. Mostly the kids. They were ... "

"Innocent," Vash quietly supplied.

"They all were." His eyes narrowed again. "You're from the future – do you think what I did was worth it? Huh? Do you think it's okay to kill a thousand people for the sake of progress?"

"This isn't about me, it's about you. Do you believe that?"

"If I did, I'd still be a soldier and I'd be able to sleep at night."

"One day, you'll have to stop living in your past. You'll never have a future that way."

"What? You gonna wave a magic wand and wipe my memory clean?"

"Things aren't that easy."

"No shit," he muttered.

"They never are, though, when you insist on facing them alone."

MacGruder looked up to him. "What are you talking about?"

"Nate ..." Linares appeared a little ways down the dock. Her arms were folded across her chest and she lifted an eyebrow when he and Vash turned to her. "You ready to go? The ISSP issued a pretty big bounty for a guy terrorizing the colonists near Saturn."

"Maybe you should ask her how she deals with it everyday," Vash suggested, nodding towards Linares. "You weren't the only one there."

MacGruder flicked his gaze to Linares who tapped a foot impatiently on the dock. He remembered the first time he'd met her, when she was nothing more than a corporal. She was such a kid back then. They'd been through a hell of a lot in fifteen years. Too much. And they'd probably go through even more in the next fifteen.

"You can soldier through it," Vash offered quietly. "With help." He offered a smile when the man looked to him. "Goodbye."

He watched Vash head back to the Bebop. Since he'd met that guy, he'd never been able to figure him out. It was though he had no concern for himself, it was always about the people around him. MacGruder'd only felt that way about the men and women he'd served with during his military time. And one other person ...

"What was that about?" Linares asked as he joined her on the dock. Her brow furrowed when he looked at her with an expression on his face that she'd never seen before. "Are you all right?"

He glanced over his shoulder, thinking on Vash's words. Eventually, he would have to move beyond it, and it wouldn't be easy. He turned to Linares then, after a moment, he smiled.

"So ... how much money are we lookin' at here?" he asked as he threw an arm around her shoulders as they headed for their ship. "I'm thinkin' – if you and I start saving – we could retire from this pretty soon."

She blinked. "Retire? You?" She laughed. "Those are terms I don't put together, Nate. It's just not ... you."

"Maybe I've changed, Linares," he replied. "People can do that."

"Again, not you."

"Yes, even me."

She blinked again as she came to a halt. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked, placing a hand to his forehead.

"Never better," he assured her. "Let's go help somebody."

Linares shook her head as she watched him walk away. Whatever had gotten into him, she hoped it would stick around. For a long time, too.

Meryl placed the cup on the stand behind Faye's bed then sat down on the mattress next to the other woman. "You sure you're well enough to go down to the surface with us?"

Faye nodded. "I feel fine."

"You've only been out of the hospital two days, though."

She shrugged. "The miracles of modern medicine."

Meryl smiled. She had a suspicion that it was more than just 'modern medicine' responsible for the change in Faye's attitude.

"What do you think will happen next?"

"I don't know. Vash isn't even sure what Knives will do. Everything is so different between them ..."

Faye noticed the look on Meryl's face. "Something else is bothering you, though."

She let her gaze settle on the floor. "It's Milly. You remember her, don't you?"

"Yeah. Ed loved to play with her. What's the matter?"

She sighed heavily. "Vash and I ... she never knew what happened to us, about the time travel. If she ever came after us, she probably thinks we're dead." She closed her eyes briefly. "She has her own family, but it's ... "

"It's not the same as the family she had with you," Faye supplied when Meryl fell silent. "I understand how it is."

"I thought you ... remembered everything?"

"Not everything. I remember faces, places and events. My name – my real name – hasn't come back to me. Without that, I can't locate anyone who might still be alive. Anyone who would know me ... "

"In time, it will. Have faith."

Faye smiled a little. "Don't worry, I do." Her gaze shifted to the beta tape sitting on top of the monitor on the other side of her quarters. "Meryl ..."

"What?" She noted the the expression on Faye's face. "What is it?"

"I have an idea about how you can let Milly know you and Vash are still alive."

Earth - Sister Clara's Orphanage

"We can't thank you enough for this, Sister," Meryl said as she eagerly shook the nun's hand. "We'll do anything we possibly can to help out with the children."

Clara kindly smiled as she looked from Meryl to Vash. "You needn't worry about anything. We're more than happy to have you stay with us."

Vash cast an uneasy glance towards the corridor. In one of the back rooms was Knives. He'd been isolated within it since they'd arrived ten minutes ago.

"You shouldn't trouble yourself about him," Clara said as she placed a hand on Vash's arm, gaining his attention. "These things are in God's Hands. He wouldn't have brought you to me if the children would be in danger."

Vash weakly nodded. Certainly Knives' behavior had changed in the last week, but that didn't mean he couldn't fall back to his old ways. "Thank you, Sister."

Clara let go of him. "You should say goodbye to your friends. I'm sure they don't plan on staying here with you." She gave him one last supportive smile then went outside to join the playing orphans.

Spike eyed Vash as he and Meryl approached. "Guess this is it for a while?"

"For a while." Vash looked from him to Jet then, finally, Faye. "Thank you. I don't know how to repay you for everything you've done."

Spike took a drag off his cigarette. "You could cough up 300 million woolongs, for starers," he deadpanned. He saw the look Jet gave him. "What? I'm kidding. A joke." He rolled his eyes.

Jet shook his head then put out a hand to Vash. "You ever need anything, the sister knows how to find us."

"I know." A moment later, he gave Jet a hug instead. "I appreciate it."

Hesitantly, Jet patted Vash's back. The overly-touchy nature of the man still made him uncomfortable. Apparently, it still made Spike laugh, too. He ignored the chuckling beside him. "Take care of yourself, Vash." He looked to Meryl. "You'll keep an eye on him?"

She smiled. "Of course."

Jet gave the pair one last glance then left the orphanage.

Faye raised an eyebrow when Vash stepped in front of her.

"I never thanked you for what you did in the church," he said.

Her face flushed as she looked away. "I don't even know why I did it -" She stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, she lifted her gaze.

"Thank you, Faye. You have no idea how much that one act changed things, especially where Knives is concerned."

She swallowed. "Guess it was bound to rub off, all of that stupidity of yours," she casually replied. She managed a small smile. "Look at Wolfwood." She felt the tears stinging her eyes.

He nodded. She didn't need to explain it – he knew what she'd meant. She now understood what that day meant for the priest.

Quickly, Faye placed a kiss to one of Vash's cheeks. "Goodbye," she whispered. As she stepped back, she exchanged a knowing glance with Meryl. Over the course of the last two weeks, they'd come to understand one another very well.

Meryl nodded in response. She watched Faye slip out then looked to Vash. Her gaze shifted over to Spike, then she cleared her throat. "Um ... I'll see where Ed is ... " she quietly murmured. With that, she left the two men alone.

Spike exhaled a cloud of smoke as he looked from the open doorway to Vash. He chuckled. "Ironic, huh?"

"What is?"

"All of this." He gestured to himself then Vash. "Everything." He took one last drag on his cigarette. "Years ago, when I left the Syndicate, I never imagined my life would turn out like this."

"Hardly anything ever does."

Spike nodded thoughtfully. "So ... you're fine being stuck in the past with no chance of ever getting back to where you belong?"

"I don't see it that way." Vash looked around the room. "The past is now the present. As for being where I belong ..." He met the other man's gaze again. " ... the place doesn't matter, not as much as those who are with me."

Spike dropped the cigarette butt to the floor and snuffed it out with his shoe. "I'll give you this, Vash – your sense of optimism is unbelievable."

"And what about yours? Will you finally have a future?"

Spike shoved his hands in his pockets as he considered the question. The slate of his past was nearly clean. Not completely, but enough to allow him to move forward. And his present, well, it had fallen together better than expected.

"I'll let you know when I get there," he answered.

Vash smiled.

"Vashy?"

He and Spike turned towards the doorway when they heard Ed speak. The girl stood just inside of the room, an expression of guarded apprehension on her face.

Spike used a hand to clap Vash on the shoulder. "See you around," he casually said. As he walked by Ed, he ruffled the girl's hair on his way out.

Ed glanced over her should then turned back to Vash. "You're really staying here?" she asked as she came closer.

"Yes."

"Does that mean I can see you anytime I want?"

Vash knelt to her level, a more solemn look on his face as he shook his head. "No, Ed. You shouldn't come here too much. It's not only dangerous for us, but it might be dangerous to your friends here."

Ed frowned. "Why? I thought your brother was gonna be a good guy now?"

"He might. Knives isn't the real problem. If you visit a lot, other people will notice. Meryl and I have to stay out of the way of history. If something else is changed because we're here - " He paused when he saw the look on her face. She didn't understand, not fully. "It's just safer that way."

She nodded, but that didn't stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. "You're here and then you're not. It isn't fair."

"I'm sorry it has to be this way, Ed." He managed to keep his own tears at bay as he took the girl's hands into his. "But you had a life all ready for you before you ever met me. You have to find it and live it." One hand rested on a tear-laden cheek. "Do you understand?"

She sniffled. "What if my life was supposed to have you in it?" she inquired, her voice catching in her throat.

His face softened even more. "It doesn't." He stopped her from looking away. "I will always care about you, Ed. That's why I'm telling you this. You can't keep coming back here – your future isn't on this planet."

The girl threw her arms around his neck and she hugged him. Fresh tears fell from her eyes. "I love you, Vashy," she whispered. "Not like I love anybody else ..."

He knew that tone, how she meant those words: I love you. A girl he'd known on Gunsmoke, Jessica, she had that same tone in hers whenever she said she loved him. Ed wasn't the same girl anymore, she was becoming a young woman, one experiencing new feelings.

"You'll love someone else," he quietly assured her. "I promise, you will." He felt his heart sink when the girl wriggled away from him. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say, but she couldn't ruin her life. He couldn't let it happen, either, not because of him.

"Do you ... love Meryl?" Ed's voice, barely above a whisper, asked.

He lifted his head and looked the girl in the eyes. "Yes, I do."

She wiped away her tears with one hand and let out a shaky breath. "I thought so," she sighed. "Does she make you happy?"

"Yes."

A nod. A moment later, something resembling a weak smile appeared on Ed's face. "Then ... I guess it's okay ..." She sniffled again. Even so, it didn't mean she wasn't hurting inside. But if Meryl was who made him happy, that's who Ed wanted him to be with forever.

Outside, Meryl brushed tears of her own away upon hearing Ed's response. Not only because the girl seemed ready to deal with life without Vash, but she was so mature as to put his happiness before her own. Ed truly was a genius child.

"Vashy?"

She leaned against the wall as she continued to listen to them.

"What?"

"Is it okay if ... I love you for a little while longer?"

A hand went to Meryl's mouth and a smile came to her face when she heard Vash laugh, a real laugh, for the first time in weeks.

"Yes, Ed. It's okay if you do."

Meryl backed away from the door as she heard footsteps approaching. A moment later, Vash and Ed exited the building. She smiled at them. Judging by the look on Vash's face, he knew she'd been listening to them. He didn't seem to mind, though.

"Goodbye, Merry-Meryl!" Ed called out. The girl kept waving as she ran across the desolate wasteland to join the rest of the Bebop crew, who were waiting by their personal spaceships. "Bye!"

Sister Clara joined the couple. They were understandably in a better mood than when she'd first met them. Especially Vash. She knew they would be all right, it was a feeling she couldn't explain.

"We should go inside," Clara said after a moment. "You two must be hungry."

As they entered, the rest of the children filed in behind them, chattering and laughing noisily.

"Get outta my chair, Kit!" one of the boys commanded as he tried to force the girl out.

"Jack!" Clara sighed. "Excuse me," she apologized to Vash and Meryl. She approached the table, scolding the boy for his behavior. "Haven't I told you that young gentlemen don't treat young ladies that way?"

"She ain't a lady, she's in my spot!" the boy declared.

Meryl couldn't help but laugh and it felt good to do it. The last few months held so little joy for any of them. As she looked to Vash, she found him staring in the opposite direction. She followed his gaze until hers settled on a young, dark-haired boy, who stared at Wolfwood's cross leaned against the wall.

"Vash ..." she softly said as he moved towards the boy. Her mood changed, reverting back to sadness, as she watched him. Even after everything, he still hadn't come to terms with the lost off the priest.

How long are you going to torture yourself, Vash?

The boy turned his head when he noticed Vash beside him. The dark eyes met the blonde's and Vash saw familiar pain in the child's. "Who did it belong to?" the boy inquired.

"A friend of mine."

"Was he like Sister Clara?"

Vash paused, thinking on his friend before answering. "Yes."

"Then he must've been a good person. The sister takes in any kid who isn't wanted anymore. Or who doesn't have a home." He pressed a flat palm to the spine of the cross. "Is there something inside?"

"Something that should never be used." He looked down on the boy again. The child had a strange expression on his face. "Are you all right?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't know ... I just feel like -" He stopped and bowed his head. "Never mind."

Vash squatted down so he was on the boy's level. "What did you want to say?"

He sighed heavily. "It's too weird."

"You can tell me."

He lifted his gaze to the cross and tilted his head to one side. "I feel like ... it belongs to me ... somehow."

Vash's brow furrowed. What would make the boy think that? Then, as he started at the child's profile, he saw something else familiar. Before he could say anything, Clara spoke.

"Nicholas ..." She offered a kind smile as the boy looked over his shoulder. "You're going to miss lunch. Come along." She held out a hand to him, smiling a little more when he accepted it.

Wide-eyed, Vash rose to his feet as Clara sat the young boy down in the last open chair at the table. Did she just call him ... He blinked. No. It's like the girl, he's only similar in look and name. It couldn't be ...

"Is everything all right?"

He snapped out of his daze when he Clara appeared in front of him. "You called him ..."

"Nicholas. Is something wrong with that?"

"N-no." He glanced at the child. "He ... reminds me of someone I used to know. He ... he had the same name."

"Nicholas isn't uncommon." Clara paused, the added, "If I told you his last name is 'Wolfwood', would that make a difference?" She nodded at the reaction that garnered from him. "It would seem so."

He turned to the cross. "He told me that it felt like it belonged to him. Sister ... he couldn't be -"

"No, it isn't." Her expression softened, becoming more sympathetic. "We all have our crosses to bear. Some must do it alone, either by choice or not." She placed a hand on his arm. "Whatever guilt you continue to carry for your friend, you have to let it go."

"I can't."

"I don't mean for you to forget him. Take it and turn it into something else. You've done so much for every other life you've touched that way. Are you able to do it for yourself?" She placed the hand to his left cheek. "Stop carrying his cross for him – he gave it up, in his own way, by choice."

Vash shifted his attention back to the boy, Nicholas, who absently poked at his food while the rest of the children enjoyed themselves. "Turn it into something else ..."

"Yes." She let her hand drop to her side. "He's a lonely child, abandoned by a father who refused to care for him. Maybe ... you could help?"

He nodded. "I could try."

"That's all you really need to do." She went back to the table. "Samantha, leave Daniel alone. I won't tell you two to behave again today."

"Yes, Sister Clara," both children murmured in reply.

Vash looked to the corridor which lead to the back room where Knives was holed-up. Yes. He would have to turn it into something else. He had too many important people counting on him ...

Knives' head lifted when the door opened. He already knew who it was long before Vash ever reached the room. It was the mixed blessing of being so closely connected to his brother.

"Are you ..."

"I don't know," Knives answered before the whole question could be asked. He looked away. "How do you think I ... feel?"

"I can't say. But since you do feel, that's a good thing." Vash closed the door behind him. "It means you're not completely lost."

"I'll never be like you," Knives simply stated. He stared at his opened hands, shaking his head. "I'm still sickened by the fact that I share a similar form with ... them."

"No one expects you to change overnight. It took longer than that for you to become this way."

"And if I don't change into what you want me to be? What then?" He lifted his head again, his eyes settling on Vash. "What will you do? Give up?"

"I'll never give up on you, Knives."

He stared at Vash for a long moment. Part of him wanted to laugh at his brother's naïve optimism. But another part, one that had been awakened in the past week, was rather ... touched by it. "No, I suppose not. It isn't in your nature. You always were ..."

Inwardly, Vash cringed as he waited for the inevitable deriding comment. He was surprised by what he heard, instead.

"... the strong one."

Had Knives said that he was stronger? Was it another mind game? A new, cruel plan to torture him? As he looked into his brother's eyes, he still saw the malice within them, but it wasn't as concrete as before. His new feelings had him in a turmoil.

Knives sat up a little as Vash unbuttoned and removed his dust-covered red coat. He eyed his brother as he approached, wondering what Vash intended to do. He had his own surprise when Vash draped the coat around his shoulders.

"What are you ...?"

"She told me the color represented 'determination'," Vash explained. He put a hand on Knives' shoulder. "You need it more than I do."

Knives looked from the coat to the face of his brother. Vash had that glimmer in his eyes, the one he'd seen in Rem Saverem's all of the time. The girl, the one who resembled her, she'd spoken of the importance of family. He never truly understood what that mean until that moment.

"Thank you ... brother."

Gunsmoke - The Future

"It's official!" Milly Thompson brightly beamed as she and the young nun, Sister Ana, gazed up at the orphanage. "After so long, we finally have our new building!"

"And it wouldn't have been possible without your help, Milly." The nun looked to the woman. "Really, the last seven years have been such a blessing for us here. I thank God every day that He sent you to us."

Milly flushed. "I haven't done that much."

Ana nodded her head. "You've have and more." The nun gazed at the children playing in the yard of the new orphanage. "So many children will have a nice and loving place to live until they find homes."

"Anything I can do to make their lives better." Milly's smile dimmed as she remembered her friends. "It's what they would've wanted."

"Your friends, the ones you lost?"

"Yes." Life had been hard without Vash and Meryl. She never thought she would emerge from her depression, until she found a place she was needed - with Sister Ana and her struggling orphanage in the old Iowa territory.

"You know," Ana said after a few moments of silence. "We haven't a proper name for our orphanage yet." She slid her gaze to Milly. "Why don't you do the honors?"

"Me?" Milly blinked, stunned. "Oh, I couldn't! I mean ...you should."

"No. This place wouldn't be here without you." Ana gestured to the building. "You've earned the right. What should we call our haven for lost children?"

The tall woman considered it and only one possibility presented itself. "The Nicholas D. Wolfwood Memorial Orphanage," she quietly said. She nodded, satisfied. "Yes. That's the right name."

The sister smiled once more. "Then that's what it will be."

"Excuse me."

The two women turned when someone addressed them. Standing behind them, with a tattered bag slung over her shoulder, was a very pretty young blonde woman.

"Would one of you be Milly Thompson?" she hopefully inquired.

"I'm Milly," Milly replied, raising her hand slightly. Who was this girl? She was sure she didn't know her, she would've remembered such bright blue eyes.

"Great! I've been asking all over the last three towns about you!" The girl sighed in relief. She saw the expression on Milly's face. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't even introduce myself. My name is Jessica." She glanced at the nun. "Could I speak to you for a moment? Inside?"

"Y-yes, I suppose so." Milly looked at Ana, a bit confused at what was going on. "Come with me." As they headed for the building, she asked, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Jessica shook her head. "No. You don't know me. We share a friend, though. Vash."

Milly stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide. "Vash?"

"Yep. He used to stay on the ship with us from time to time. I know a lot about you, Ms. Thompson."

It made sense now. This young woman was from the ship that had hovered in the sky until about a year ago. The power source keeping it aloft finally gave out and those aboard were forced to join the world on the surface. They'd established a town of their own several hundred iles to the west. The only town on the entire planet absolutely free of crime.

"Have you ... seen him?" Milly cautiously asked. What if he was alive? Did that mean Meryl was too? She could only hope ...

"In a way." She dug into the bag slung over her shoulder and held up a small disc. "I'm here to show you this. It explains everything!" Jessica smiled as she headed into the orphanage with her. Once inside, she sat down at the rectangular table, pulled a small computer with a monitor from the bag and slipped the disc into the machine. "Just give it a minute to start up."

Milly stood behind Jessica, glancing from the computer booting up to the woman. "How did you find me?"

"Just asked around. You'd be surprised at how many people know you or know of you. Anyway, I finally ended up here." She looked to the computer as it beeped. "It's ready. You ... you might want to sit down."

Milly pulled up a chair and watched the monitor. A moment after Jessica hit a button, Vash, along with Meryl, appeared onscreen. Gasping, her hands flew to her mouth.

"Hi, Milly!" Meryl brightly greeted as she waved. "If you're watching this, that means Vash's friends on the ship found our message in the computer's memory banks and you!"

"We're alive!" Vash chimed in.

Meryl looked over to him. "I think she can figure that out for herself," she grumbled.

"Oh!" He laughed. "Sorry."

Tears filled Milly's eyes as she gazed in disbelief at the screen. "But ... how ... where ...?"

"You've probably been wondering what happened to us that day," Meryl continued as she looked back to the camera. Her expression became more melancholy. "I can't imagine how you must've felt ... when we vanished without a trace. We never meant to leave you alone, Milly ..."

"It's a long story," Vash said. "One you're about to hear."

"I hope you're doing all right, whenever you are," Meryl picked up. She sighed. "Luckily, from where we are, we were able to do this." She gestured to the camera in front of her. "To give you a message and let you know that we didn't die. Well ... since we're in the past and you're in the future ..."

The tears streamed down Milly's cheeks as she listened to her old supervisor, her friend, her family, speak. She wondered if she might be in a dream. For so long, she'd mourned the loss. Despite the fact she could've gone back to her job, to her family, she didn't. She stayed a part of the world they'd introduced her to, she wanted to do something "out there". Now, after seven long years, she had them in front of her again. Alive.

"We'll explain everything," Vash assured her.

The woman pulled her chair closer to the monitor, her undivided attention on Meryl as she began their story.

"It all started when we ended up in the past ... "

The End

Song Title Used: "From Despair To Where" by Manic Street Preachers

Author's Note: After over a year of working on it, I've finally finished it! I do hope you enjoyed the sequel and that it was worth waiting for. Believe me, the story you just read was a FAR cry from the one I'd originally planned to write. Much better storywise, IMHO.

You probably noticed I left no real closure or even an Epilogue. I don't believe in Epilogues, as it's more fun to leave it open-ended. Also, I haven't written myself into a corner if, later on down the road, I come up with a fantabulous idea for ANOTHER sequel!

I thank you for taking time out of your life to read my fic, any of it, really. I appreciate the comments and feedback. I hope you continue to enjoy my stories because I certainly love writing them.

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