A/N: So here it is...the ending (maybe). I must admit I cried a little while making this and I hope you feel the same. That you had as much fun reading it as I have writing it. Mushy ending I know but I feel like that's what this needed. By the way, the Kid Blink that ran the strike in real life was named Louis Ballatt hence the name. Anyway, I do not own Newsies. I do not own Oh Holy Night as written here nor do I own Auld Lang Syne also written here. Enjoy! May write a sequel if you guys want me to. Review and favorite! Check out my other newsie stories that are still continuing.

Epilogue

It's New Years Eve. The year 1899 is nearly over. The year of triumph is almost gone. The year of The Newsboy Strike is practically finished.

The nineteenth century's about to become the twentieth century. Aggie cannot believe this past year. In the beginning she was a boy, in public. She was a face among a crowd that no one would remember. She was alone. But today she shines brighter than any supernova.

When the strike first bloomed, so did love. Love between her and Kid Blink. They surpassed all the odds and love each other to this day. She has a mother again, one that loves her deeply. Medda and her living conditions are the best. As best as living with a fifteen year old girl can be. She has two new brothers, David and Les, along with a sister, Sarah.

Shortly after the strike, Denton decided to do a piece on her rather than take on the job as the Sun's Ace War Correspondent. He wanted to cover the really important stories and to him, that was Aggie. A girl who had to become a man. He told her story to millions and she is now the inspiration for many women, young and old. Now, when selling papers or just walking through New York, she is almost always recognized by one person.

Now it's eleven on December 31st, 1899 and there's a show going on in Irving Hall. Aggie is about to go one after Medda. They both decided to sing Christmas songs in their acts to joyfully bring everyone inside to a new year.

Aggie peaks from behind the curtain and spots Kid Blink amongst other newsies in their designated spot from the balcony. There's also Jack, Sarah, David, Les, Spot, Racetrack, Romeo, and Crutchy. She is next and hopes that Kid Blink likes her song. She picked it just for him.

After her introduction, Aggie strides on stage with more confidence than she has had since she first started with when she began performing at Irving Hall. How she never really meant to and was dressed like a guy. She can hear sound of applause and whistles that first filled her ears.

She smiles and smoothes out her silky green holiday dress that ends at her ankles with a big slit up to her thigh. She tucks a loose strand of hair from her messy yet formal bun behind her ear. Her sleeves go off the shoulder and her elbow high red gloves match her lipstick.

"I have something important to say before I start." she says without really thinking first.

"This song I'se 'bout ta sing is for a special beau in my life. I love him more than myself an' this song is a sentimental piece in his life. Makin' it one in mine. This is for youse," she hesitates on how to address him, "Louis Ballatt."

She looks at him with his confused expression. It is not clear to what she meant until she begins to sing.

"O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine."

Their gazes are locked as Aggie can see his mother singing to him in the reflection of his eyes. It is very clear to see how touched he is by this sincere gesture. A tear runs down Aggie's cheek.

"Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine."

She sings the final note and the crowd is cheering on their feet. She wipes away a tear but when she looks up looking for Kid Blink, he isn't there. She raises an eyebrow before walking off stage to let the act after her onstage.

She looks behind her to make sure the show is on schedule when she is engulfed in familiar arms. She lays her head on his shoulder and hears his muffled thank you.

He releases her and she sees the tears filling his eye but not falling.

"I though youse would get a kick outta that." She says with a smile and a thick accent. After some time she gave up trying to maintain no accent. She decided her speech shouldn't be the thing that makes her her so she embraced the New York accent.

They kiss once more before Kid Blink suggests they go outside for some privacy.

They step outside into the snow without proper clothes but both don't feel cold despite the fresh falling snow precipitating on the old six inches of snow already on the ground. Kid Blink places his hand in his pocket, takes out a box, and says, "Even though it's really late, Merry Christmas."

Aggie stares at it with awe and says, "I can't take this from youse. Hard eoined money shouldn't be spent on me."

"But youse is woith it. Take it an' at least see what's inside."

Aggie complies and her heart drops down into her stomach at the sight of it. She never thought she'd hold it again. Her mother's locket.

One day last week after Kid Blink and Aggie had finished selling, they were strolling hand-in-hand down the block when she spotted it. It was stolen the night her mother had been murdered and Aggie only ever dreamt of seeing it again. She wanted to buy it right there and then but it was too expensive. Her heart broke as she had to leave the store without it.

Unbeknownst to her, Kid Blink went to Medda to see if he could help clean up around Irving Hall without Aggie's knowledge to earn more cash so he could purchase it for his girl. When Medda heard it however, she went straight to the pawn shop and explained the story behind it saying, "If you want to be an accessory to a murder, I suggest you hand it over right now to its rightful owner free of charge."

The man has obviously done wrong things in the past and the last thing he needed was for a pissed off customer to sick the police on him so he handed over the locket sadly. Medda gave it to Kid Blink to give to her, as he explains how he got it.

"I-I-I can't believe it, I jus'-jus'-" she embraces him while sobbing into his shoulder.

"I thought youse would get a kick outta that." Kid Blink says stealing the line Aggie had used earlier.

She chuckles as she releases him. He helps her place the necklace around her neck and Aggie stares at the silver oval with love.

"I loves youse." She whispers before kissing him. She wraps her arms around his neck and he follows suit around her waist.

The world melts away unlike for the snow on the ground. They remain connected at the lips until a voice draws them apart.

"Agatha! What do you think you're doing?"

Aggie pulls away with widened eyes of fear for she knows that voice. A voice she had almost forgotten about through her couple of happy months since the strike ended.

The voice belongs to her father.

She slowly turns around to see the blond haired man with her sea green eyes standing a few feet behind her.

"Youse-no it can't." Tears swell in her eyes as she remembers all the strikes and the so called loving he gave her.

"I found you. You were mine. You are mine." He says as he grabs her arm and brings her to him. With one fluid motion he slaps her across the face. "What on earth are you wearing?"

Aggie freezes with terror unable to think or fight. Now shivering from the cold and being away from Kid Blink.

Her lips trembles as someone rips him away from her. Aggie weakly falls into the snow trying to stop hyperventilating. She's never been this useless.

Fight! Fight damn you! She shouts at herself but can't move a clenched muscle.

She manages to look up and she sees Kid Blink and her father fighting. After her ears stop ringing, she can hear the insults they are throwing at each other.

"I'm her father! She belongs with me, you greasy pirate!" Her father yells referring to his eye patch.

"No! No, I won't let her get hoit again by youse! Youse sick ol' man!" Kid Blink shouts referring to the many times he beat and raped her.

The stinging in Aggie's cheek soon goes away due to her body having built up resistance to pain after being in many bloody fights since she escaped.

She sees Kid Blink thrown onto the side of the building and her father's hands circle around his throat.

Aggie can't let Kid Blink die so she summons all her courage and strength before running over to them. She pushes her father away from Kid Blink who was so desperately trying to remove her father's fingers from his neck.

He now gasps for air, filling his lungs with sweet oxygen.

"Got a spine now, eh?" He asks smugly.

"Always has one. Jus' never used it on youse. But I shoulda." Aggie says trying to sound harsh but her voice catches as her lip trembles. She glares at him through her tear filled eyes but not a single one drops. He hesitates before saying his next sentence for now he sees his wife at fifteen through Aggie. Now he wants her even more.

"Don't talk to me that way, I'm your father!"

"No! No, you're not! What youse did ta me is-is-" she can't finish her sentence as she remembers many awful nights.

While off guard, her father seizes her around her waist but Aggie quickly begins to thrash her way out. Still, her father's grip on her is strong.

"You're coming with me." He whispers running a hand down her arm.

"No! No, let me go!" Aggie pleads unable to break away.

Kid Blink, now able to breath regularly puts him into a headlock until he lets go of Aggie.

The man is still able to maneuver his way out and punches Kid Blink on his bad eye, his weakest stop. The scream he lets out makes the hair on the back of Aggie's neck stand up. She is flooded with memories of the strike when the Delancys did the same.

This action fills Aggie with fury as she gives him her spectacular left hook causing him to fall on his butt. Now the tears are streaming down her face and the sobs are racking her body.

"I hated youse! I still do! Youse ruined my life!" She shouts as she grabs his collar and punches his face again with her left hook after ever sentence. "Youse stole my childhood! Beat me! Raped me! An' afta I finally get happiness, youse shows up again!"

Now his face is bloody and bruised. Her fingers are about to encircle his neck when she stops. She looks behind her and Kid Blink is there staring at her.

His eye tells her not to stoop down to his level. She grabs his lapels and brings his face closer to hers. "If I evah see yer face again, I swear I'll kill youse myself." She whispers before throwing him back down to the snowy ground. She lifts up her dress and gives her father a powerful kick rendering him unconscious. She also spits in his face for good measure.

Kid Blink and her rush back inside by fifteen minutes until midnight. Aggie wipes away her tears with a shaky hand because she must perform at midnight to bring in the New Year. She takes deep breathes to calm down.

"I'se proud of youse." Kid Blink says making Aggie turn around to face him.

"Youse finally stood up against yer fadda an' won."

"I feel bettah now too." Aggie says as she throws her arms around Kid Blink whispering to him a thank you.

"Why're youse thankin' me?" He asks.

"'Cause youse tried ta save me. Youse always tries ta rescue me. An' I wanna thank youse for that. For beatin' up creepy dudes who scare me, the Delancy bruddas implied, for savin' me durin' the rally from bein' arrested, but most o' all, for helpin' me when I have nightmares; to decipher what's real an' not. Youse is real. For yer arms that give such comfort. Thank youse, Blink, for protectin' an' lovin' me."

"Well then I wanna thank youse, Aggie. For all youse does ta make me smile. For cleanin' up my messes an' for always standin' up for me when no else does. For savin' my life jus' now. For always bein' there when I need youse. Thank youse, Aggie, for lovin' me." Kid Blink says as he leans in. Aggie does as well until the are interrupted by Medda's booming voice introducing Aggie. She is supposed to say a few words before she sings about the last year and she finally knows what to say.

"Hold that kiss for me. I'll be right back." Aggie says as she rushes onto the stage and Kid Blink hurries back to balcony beside his friends.

"What a year, huh?" Aggie asks as she takes center stage. This earns her chuckles and comments from the audience.

"This past year has been one o' the best o' times, one o' the worst o' times-" she quotes Charles Dickens, "I've finally shown myself to the woild. I'm not a lonely regular newsboy anymore. I'm a headliner here wit' family an' I've finally gotten rid o' some o' my demons. Thin's from my past that I was once too scared ta face have been dealt wit'. But that doesn't mean the year was a blast. I had participated in the newsboy strike. Hell I was a poster child for it." This earns chuckles from the people. "We stood up ta the most powerful man in New York an' won. Those days we truly found out who we were. Some found new friends. Others new lovers." Whistles are heard throughout the audience. "Some people found new dreams. There are days when I want to relive this year, scared o' what's ta come. Oddas, I can't wait for tomorrow 'cause o' the people I have ta share it wit'. So before we pop the champagne an' give out midnight kisses, think 'bout the ups and downs of your year. How they've changed youse for eidda good or bad. New Years itself can be a let down. Things nevah go as planned." Aggie says thinking of seeing her dad. She looks down and sees her mom'a locket and continues her speech, "But it's all part of yer life and eidda you can loirn from it, wallow in sadness from it, or make the most out o' it. Also, along on youse's New Years Resolution, make a list o' things youse is gonna keep doin'. Stuff youse don't wanna change. Do it soon 'cause the century is ovah in 5...4...3-" the crowd chants with her now, "2...1... Happy New Year!"

Cheering is heard, champagne bottles pop open, and kisses are given. Sarah and Jack kiss. The others find some other girl to kiss, whether it's a show girl or not, they all connect to lips. All except for Kid Blink. He happily and patiently waits for his girl Aggie. She blows him a kiss as the music starts. The crowd quiets as she sings the first note.

"Should old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should all acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne"

Aggie eyes fill with tears with memories, good and bad, as her eyes flicker to different newsies with whom she has shared them.

"And surely you will buy your cup
And surely I'll buy mine
And we'll take a cup o'kindness yet
For auld lang syne"

She remembers the first time she met Jack and he took her in. How close they have gotten. They sibling like love they share for each other.

"We too have run around the slopes
And picked the daisies fine
We've londoned many weary foot
Since auld lang syne"

She remembers David, Sarah, Les, and Spot all helping during the strike. How much they cared. Not just for the cause but for her.

"For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne"

She remembers Racetrack taking her to the tracks to make her feel better. The kindness that was shown, stuff he didn't like to share with others but shown to her. How touched she was.

"We too have paddled in the stream
From morning sun to night
But the seas between us broad have roared
From auld lang syne"

She remembers Crutchy and Romeo's happiness that always envelopes her when she's around them. The sweetness that radiates off them.

"For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne
We'll take a cup o'kindness yet
For auld langs syne"

Last, but most definitely not least, she remembers Kid Blink and hers first kiss. The warmth and love they shared. The first time she has completely loved someone since her mother died and her father turned on her.

The crowd cheers as some have tears glistening in their eyes brought on by a memory from this past years as well. Now it feels like the biggest weight has been lifted from her shoulders.

Aggie bows and runs off stage where Kid Blink is waiting with a coat. She looks at him with a confused look as he leads her to the roof.

There is where explosions of color pop into the sky. Fireworks. Bright reds yellows. Cool greens and blues full up Aggie's eyes with wonder.

"This is what I feel when I kiss youse." Kid Blink whispers.

"I thought I was the only one." She says with a smile.

"Wanna feel it, not jus' see it?" Kid Blink asks.

For a reply, Aggie kisses him. Things have never been so right before in her life.

"Happy New Years, Agatha Barter, my love."

"Happy New Years, Louis Ballatt, my beloved."