"Oh, thank you God!" The girl breathes a quick sigh of relief as she grabs at the boy's wrist, feels the pulse thudding underneath the skin, he's alive; he's actually alive. With tears pricking at the corners of her eyes she takes his head in her lap, heedless of the vomit surrounding them, of the scarlet covering the walls, of the blasted body in the corner, aware only of the boy in her arms. A few feet away from her lies the gun, she stifles the sudden urge to pick it up, to cradle it just the way she cradles the boy now; it saved her, in its own way that gun, and just as she was cursing it moments ago, she now reveres it.

Through slightly parted lips a surge of laughter spring out, filing through the room with the air of something slightly deranged. She pays it no heed. She just keeps laughing, even as tears stream down in rivulets, taking the same trek as the tears from upstairs. She's not sure what these tears are for, but they feel right, like they are meant to be there. Her eyes fall, by chance, upon the body in the corner, a wave of emotions run through her but she doesn't give them time to process. She is still laughing when the boy wakes up.

"Max?" The shape of her arms is around him, as familiar to him as his own. A lock of tangled hair brushes his face but still he keeps his eyes squeezed shut, scared of what he may see should they open, scared of what it may be that makes this room smell so strongly of copper. After what he can only judge to be a minute, his eyes open; take in first the corpse, then the walls, and then her. Stay focused on her.

"Thank you." She whispers, her voice light and her smile radiant. "Thank you so much."

Her lips come down and touch his once, gently before pulling away. She brushes a strand of hair from his forehead, not quite looking him in the eye as she says it, but meaning it all the same. He can tell she means it; just the same way he can tell that he will end up with this girl. Marry her someday. With a smile he returns the phrase, and with a smile he remembers why he did everything that he did; for her. Everything has been for her.

The thought makes him strangely happy.

"I love you, too."

A/N: So, what did you think? This is the end and I'm hoping that it met all your expectations. The first time that I published this I also published a sequel from the point of view of both the old flock and the flock that Fang created. I haven't decided if I will do that this time, but if you want me to you had best leave a review and tell me. I'm not sure what it will be called if it is posted, so if you are wanting to read it, (assuming I get reviews enough to rewrite it), you could author alert me or put in your review that you would like to know if it is published. If I do choose to publish it I can PM you if you want, just put that in your review. Thanks for reading and fly on.