And at last we come to the final chapter. It's been a good run and I'm glad to have done it. I'll miss this story, but there are other ones out there just waiting for me to write them. I hope everyone has enjoyed this story as much as I have. I'll really miss all your wonderful reviews and suggestions. Thank you for the time it took you to read this. Especially you, Drippingly Sarcastic, for all the work you did to help me complete this. And also thanks to Dejia, Daemon, and Michael, for the constant amusement and inspiration. I love you guys and I'm eternally grateful for you, your friendship, and all you do for me.

Blessed be.

SIX MONTHS LATER

I met Fang along the bluffs above the sea. My blond hair was pulled back in a braid and I was wearing a white cotton dress and my bright blue Converse high-tops. Mom had tried to get me to wear sandals, but a dress is as far as I'll go.

Even for this.

"Thank you for coming," Fang said. His dark hair was growing back out. He'd shaved it off when he left the hospital, as support for his mom, who'd had to have her head shaved so that the doctors could get access to the wounds on her scalp. He was wearing a dark striped down and dress pants with a black tie and dress shoes. The look in his eyes was mournfully serious, but strong. We had all come through this stronger, but him most of all.

He reached out and I took his hand. We walked along quietly, our destination leading us up a rarely used footpath, away from the main road. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He'd changed so much since he'd moved in with us just barely a year ago. Gone was the scared kid who didn't talk, and in had come a strong, dedicated young man who spoke his mind and would do anything to protect his family. A brother who doted on his younger sister and tried to be a dad to the baby brother who would never have one. A wonderful young man who worked hard to support his mother and siblings, and to always do his best. Finally, it seemed, he was, if not yet happy, then on the road there.

We reached the spot they'd chosen at last, still in silence. Sheena came forward and took my hands, her short hair pulled back in a bright red kerchief. "Thank you so much for coming, Max. This really means a lot to us."

"Of course," I said. "When Fang called me and explained, I certainly wasn't going to say no. It's great to see you, Sheena, though I wish it was on better terms."

She nodded sadly and kissed my cheek. A week ago, Fang had called me from their apartment in L.A. and asked me to come out to California.

"For six months my dad's urn has been sitting on our mantle. We've dealt with the pain, though. We work on it every single day, and now Mom, Shaia and I agree that we've come to terms with it enough to help him move on. It's time to let go of the past. Will you help me?"

"Of course," I promised.

Sheena opened the box of ashes and took a handful. "Mickinnit Ride," she said softly. "You were a good man, when I met you. It was only after we lost the house that you turned bad. No, bad isn't the ride word…lost. You were lost. I spent years trying to find you again, but at the end I just couldn't do it anymore. I'm sorry I gave up on you, and I'm sorry you were too lost to find your way back to me." A tear slid down her cheek and she choked out a sob. "I wish I could've done something, but I was so scared. Always so scared you'd hurt my-our- babies, that I just didn't know what to do. Maybe if you'd gotten the help you needed…" she shook her head. "I only ask that you move on, and that in your next life, you find the strength to make better choices. And I hope we find each other again, my love. This time in a better situation." She opened her hand and tossed the ashes over the cliff.

Shaia took the next handful. "Daddy," she whimpered. "You were really mean. But sometimes you were really nice. You hurt me. And you hurt Mommy and big brother Fang. But I'm still gonna miss you a lot. I wish you coulda been a real Daddy to me and Jordy." She sniffled, tilted her hand over the cliff, and then buried her face into her mom's side.

Fang nodded to me to go next. I took a deep breath and scooped up some ashes. "I didn't know you, Mr. Ride, and when I did, you were…you weren't a good person. You did horrible things to my family, and you took James away from me in the most brutal way possible-through cold blooded killing. But God says you're supposed to forgive people. I don't know if I can, but I'm gonna try." I tossed the ashes into the air.

Fang finally stepped up to the box, taking out the last handful. "Dad," he said brokenly, after several moments. "Mom…Mom thinks you were just misguided, lost. I don't know. I don't know if I can ever forgive you for what you did. But I can't hate you. I tried. For years, I tried to hate you, and for a while I convinced myself that I did. But the thing is…you were still my dad, and I still miss you sometimes." He choked, losing his words for a moment. "I love you, Dad." Then he opened his hand, but unlike us, he didn't dump the ashes. He waited patiently for the breeze to carry them away. When at last they did, he stayed standing there, staring out to see. Sheena guided Shaia away, nodding to me and glancing at Fang.

When they'd gone, I walked over to him slowly. Reaching out, I put my hand on his arm. He flinched and looked down at me. I stared up at him wordlessly. He didn't speak, his eyes said it for him.

It was the wrong place, the wrong time, the wrong circumstance, the wrong everything, but I said it anyways. "I love you."

He smiled sadly, some part of him managing to shine, despite the broken despair in his eyes. "I know." He took a deep breath. "And I love you, Maximum Ride Martinez." Then he bent down and kissed me.

Like I said, it was the wrong everything, but that one moment, that one kiss, was all I needed for Perfect. When he pulled away I said, "Have you ever heard of muirn beatha dans?"

He shook his head wordlessly.

"It's something I read about once. It's the idea that for every person out there, there is exactly one other person in existence who is exactly right for them, who they are meant to be with." I looked up at him shyly. "It basically means Soul Mates."

He thought about this. "Do you realize," he said slowly, "That if we were ever to get married, you'd Maximum Ride Ride?"

I smiled, chuckling nervously. "Yeah, I guess so."

He met my gaze with the most serious expression I'd ever seen him take me in with, as if he was looking at me, seeing who I was all the way to the core and out the other side, and accepting every detail of it. "Then you'd better get used to that name."

There were a lot of somedays going around today. I guessed I could add one more.

The thing is, Fang really wasn't the only one who'd changed. And neither distance nor the knowledge that we'd once lived together under the legal jurisdiction of a court-assigned foster family situation could change how I felt about him.

He looked out at the sea one last time. "Mom will be waiting."

"Are you ready to go back down there?"

He looked down the path we'd come from. "No."

I took his hand. "Then she can wait a little longer."

We looked out at the sea together, not saying a word. And when he started to cry, I just leaned my head on his shoulder and waited for him to fall silent. Because this time, he didn't need comfort, just time.

If he wanted more, he'd let me know. And I'd always be waiting, ready at the sidelines whenever he needed me, always cheering him on.

I'd cared for him from the moment I first learned he'd be joining our family. But I'd fallen in love with him from the first moment he spoke.

O, speak again, bright angel! for thou artAs glorious to this night, being o'er my head As is a winged messenger of heaven Unto the white-upturned wondering eyesOf mortals that fall back to gaze on himWhen he bestrides the lazy puffing cloudsAnd sails upon the bosom of the air.

Romeo and Juliet: Shakespeare

Act II, Scene II