The last chapter. Don't forget to review!


Yukiko just blinked. Twice.

Yuusaku leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. No one spoke for a moment.

"I believe you," Yuusaku said suddenly. "And in your situation I think I'd have done the same."

"Why, thank you, dear," Yukiko said, poking him.

"However," Yuusaku continued unperturbed, "I'm not sure how her parents will take the matter."

"They'll be mad," Ran stated.

"I was afraid of that," Shinichi muttered. "Well, I guess it's better that you're alive and missing for three months than dead permanently."

Ran nodded in agreement. "Maybe we could have Conan break it to them," she suggested subtly.

Shinichi and his parents flashed a look between them. "Hmmph," Shinichi snorted after a moment. "Since when has he ever been on Kogoro's good side?" He stood up. "I'll be right back." He bent over and whispered something in Yuusaku's ear before hurrying to the restrooms.

Yuusaku chuckled. "Poor kid."

Ran looked at him quizzically.

Yukiko had caught enough of Shinichi's whispered remark to reconstruct the rest. She grinned. "I think he's afraid of you."

"Afraid?" Ran said, looking at her curiously. "Why?"

Yukiko glanced over at Yuusaku mischeviously. "Oh, probably because of the incident in the hot springs," she said, looking away innocently.

Ran set her elbows down on the table. "He should be!" she snapped. "The pervert."

"Whose idea was it?" Yukiko asked.

Ran blinked. "O-oh, I think it was... mine, I guess. But he could've said something!" she protested.

"No he couldn't," Yuusaku said calmly. "The organization he was trying to unseat was amazingly well-organized. The slightest slip and he'd have been caught, most likely dragging down those around him too." He took a sip of his drink. "It was for your protection as much as his, Ran-chan."

Ran looked down. "I wouldn't have--I could've kept his secret," she said in a low voice.

"Could you?" Yuusaku asked in a fatherly tone. There was nothing harsh or contradictory about the statement.

"I-I don't know," Ran said. "You're right, I guess."

"It was probably as hard on him as it was on you," Yukiko added. "Living right there and not being able to tell you--and believe me, there were times he tried desperately."

Ran was silent. "What about Ai-chan?" she asked finally. "Is she--"

"You should ask her," Shinichi said, sliding into his seat again. "In about three months."

Ran nodded. "Uh, Shinichi?"

Shinichi looked over at her hopefully. "Yeah?"

"I forgive you."

Shinichi's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah... after /this/!" Ran slammed Shinichi clean across the walkway into the wall. He coughed, clutching his stomach.

"You didn't have to hit that hard," he gasped, sitting back down--on the edge of his seat furthest from Ran.

"Hmmph," she said loftily, turning back to her drink.

Yuusaku and Yukiko exchanged a knowing glance. "Coincidentally," Yuusaku said, "our travel plans will be bringing us back home to Japan in about three months. Care to join us?"

Shinichi shrugged. "I suppose," he said. He glanced over at Ran. "Though I'm going to have to catch up on the year or so of high school that I missed."

"Look on the bright side," Ran said with a mischevious twinkle. "You have a stronger foundation in the basics now."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Thanks," he said snidely. "I was getting straight A's /without/ that."

They laughed merrily. A waiter came up to them at that moment and asked if they were ready to order. They quickly looked over the menus and found something to eat.

When the waiter returned, he handed out the food, and finished with, "And everyone lives happily ever after." He winked at Shinichi and vanished.

Yuusaku looked after him curiously. "Who was that, I wonder?"

Shinichi grinned. "I wonder." He dug into his food and refused to say more.

Three months later, a plane touched down at the Tokyo airport. A party of four people stepped out. They could have been mistaken for a father, mother, son, and daughter. They made their way through security and split up at the entrance.

Shinichi and Ran caught a bus to Beika City. Shinichi checked his watch. "Come on," he said, hopping off a few blocks away from their destination. "We're a couple minutes early. Let's walk."

Ran stretched and looked around. "It's so wonderful to be back home."

"Yeah," Shinichi agreed.

They were nearing Beika Street when a familiar yellow Beetle screeched around a corner right in front of a police car. Shinichi stepped in front of Ran, just in case. He felt odd watching himself flying down the road.

"Was that--" Ran began.

"Me," Shinichi admitted with some embarassment. "But watch." The Beetle was nearing a stoplight. Instead of slowing down, it suddenly started to spark and flash, and then there was a brilliant flare and it was gone.

"Whoa," Ran said, staring at the spot where the car had been. "You mean it just traveled backwards through time?"

"Yeah," Shinichi said, grinning. "Come on, we've got to get to the Professor's house. He's going to be worried."

As they rounded the corner, they could see Agasa standing in the street, staring past them and wiping his hands on a rag. When he saw Shinichi and Ran approaching, he did a double take, then hurried forwards. "Sh-Shinichi?! R-Ran-kun! You're alive!"

"Agasa-hakase!" Shinichi hollered in elation. "You're a genius, professor!" They ran towards each other and group hugged.

At that moment Ai raced out of the garage. "Professor!" she hollered. "He's gone?" She slowed in disbelief as she recognized Ran. "What--how--I saw--"

Shinichi looked at Ai. "Now this is really going to confuse me," he said, "but what do you remember?"

She looked at him narrowly. "You just went back in time to try to save Ran," she said. "About three months ago, to be exact. Then you ran into me, and I tried to help you save her, but then I lost contact with you and we failed. I was going to give this to you," she said, holding up an envelope, "because it would have given you what you needed to carry it out, but..." she shook her head. "Clearly I'm missing something here."

Shinichi smirked. "I had a friend of mine help," he said. "We swapped Ran for him, in disguise, right out from under their nose--and yours, I might add. He of course survived, but left the impression that Ran did not, thus preserving the timeline from paradoxes--including unintentional ones."

Ai shoved her hands in her pockets. "Thank you for your vote of confidence. Who was it again who nearly--" she hesitated and glanced at Ran.

"She knows," Shinichi told Ai. "But her parents don't--or that she's even alive, for that matter." He sighed heavily. "I'm trying to figure out how to tell them without getting my head chewed off."

Ai laughed. "Leave it to me," she assured Shinichi.

"You sure?" he asked skeptically. Ran didn't look too confident either.

"Of course," she said, waving it off. "Come on."

Ran and Shinichi exchanged a worried glance, but followed the apparently young primary school student.

"Mouri-san," Ai said, "how's it going?"

Kogoro grunted. "Eri's still mad at me, I have no one to clean the house, AND Yoko cancelled her last show. Go figure."

Ran clenched her fists. Shinichi wisely stepped out of her way. "Hiii-yaah!" she hollered, smashing down the door. "I heard that! Is that all I am to you, a housemaid?" she stormed at a stunned Kogoro. "If that's the case, you can just forget about--"

"R-Ran," Kogoro stammered. "Y-you're alive?" He stared at her in shock, then suddenly burst into tears. Ran looked on awkwardly, relaxing to a less hostile position, as Kogoro proceeded to vent his odd mix of feelings.

Shinichi glanced down the steps as the door opened and someone started up. "Shh!" he said, one finger over his lips as he recognized Eri. "Tender moment ensuing."

Eri blinked and peeked carefully into the office. Shinichi wasn't sure which startled her more, Kogoro crying or Ran alive. At any rate, she burst into the room crying "Ran!". The two women dove into each others' arms. Kogoro, realizing abruptly that he was making a scene, cut off his insane sobbing and quickly dried his eyes.

"Ran! Where have you been?" he asked her sternly. "We thought you were dead! Even that Shinichi brat you're so fond of."

"Eh--Shinichi?" Ran said suddenly, remembering.

"Don't tell me you forgot about him," Eri exclaimed.

"Ah, no, but--" she hesitated. "It--it's kind of a long story."

"Long and wildly improbable," Shinichi added, stepping discretely into the room. "I'd understand if you didn't believe it, or if you tried to kill me if you did believe it."

"That's not a very promising start," Kogoro growled. "Get it out."

Shinichi shrugged and calmly narrated the sequence of events, stumbling occasionally on the issues of time travel, and minimizing the three months they'd spent under the radar.

It didn't do any good. "So where have you been the past three months?" Eri asked angrily.

"Travelling with Shinichi's parents," Ran said, "trying to avoid a paradox."

"PARADOX BE &#!" Kogoro exploded. "This is my DAUGHTER you're talking about!"

"Precisely," Shinichi said coldly. "And if I hadn't taken the measures I did your daughter would be dead. Permanently."

His words stopped Kogoro in his tracks. "True," he admitted grudgingly.

Eri seemed to have a better grasp on the situation. "I guess we should be thanking you, then," she said to Shinichi.

Shinichi nodded slightly. "It wasn't a problem."

She smiled. "But," she whispered, leaning in close, "you're kind of getting in the way of an intimate family reunion."

"Oh!" Shinichi jumped. "Of course, I'll be going now..." he hurried out. Ai was waiting for him in the hallway. They headed over to Agasa's house together.

"That didn't quite go according to plan," Ai admitted.

"Talk about it," Shinichi grumbled. "I told you I'd get my head chewed off. I've been living with the guy for nearly a year now."

Ai shrugged. "Sorry. I tried."

Shinichi grinned. "I know," he said. "But anyway, I think everything's getting back to normal."

"Not quite everything," Haibara said.

"Oh?" Shinichi asked, looking at her.

"You still owe the Professor a Beetle."


Yay! It's done! Review, review, review... XD

Mitsuhiko2